When he graduated from university, the twenty-three-year-old Wu Dao had several choices, his original plan was to take the postgraduate examination in Beijing or Shanghai, but the Wu family was very poor, Wu Yang and Li Mei hoped that he would join the work as soon as possible, so as to share the burden of the family and contribute to the Wu family. Wu Dao knows the situation of his family very well, although he was very frugal every day when he went to college, but his tuition, accommodation and living expenses for four years of college alone are enough to empty the Wu family, and the family can no longer afford to support him to go to graduate school, the most correct choice he can make is to work, and everyone in the Wu family thinks he should do this.

At that time, the number of college students was still very small, still the "pride of the sky", it was not difficult to find a job, Wu Dao could stay in the city to find a job, or he could return to his hometown, wait for the government to assign, enter the local institutions and institutions, the job was easy and stable, the vast majority of graduates chose these two roads, but he wanted to take not these two roads, but to sign up for the college students' volunteer service in the western plan, to the northwest region to teach, to make a little contribution to the poor areas, but also to see the blue sky, white clouds, deserts, grasslands composed of the vast world. Wu Yang and Li Mei resolutely opposed him going to the west, and his desire to teach in the west was put on hold. If he can't go to the west, Wu Dao wants to stay in the city to work, go to the provincial capital Jeju or stay in Maocheng, no matter how bad it is, he can go to Fangzhou, where Qicheng County is located.

When Wu Dao was in high school, his uncle Yang Chengzhi had already become the village director of Yangjiazhuang. Although in the huge China, the county-level cadre is just a small sesame official, and the village director is not even a speck of dust, but in the eyes of the Wu family, Yang Chengzhi is a big man, because he is the only one among relatives and friends who is an official. Before Wu Dao graduated, Wu Yang and Li Mei asked Yang Chengzhi to inquire about the distribution policy for college graduates in Qicheng County that year. Yang Chengzhi heard that graduates will be assigned to work in government agencies, schools and hospitals, and Wu Dao is a non-normal Chinese language and literature major, and nine times out of ten he will be assigned to government agencies, and the talents in that major are in short supply in many units.

The Wu family has been farmers for generations, and there has never been a person who works in the government, and even the members of the village committee have never been elected, so the elders of the Wu family have an instinctive awe of the government, and they tremble as soon as they enter the government gate. Wu Yang and Li Mei felt that if Wu Dao could go to work in the government, it would be a good way, and it would be good to stay in the city to work, but if he was working in a field and had no relatives, how could he rest assured? Yang Chengzhi planned to go further in the future, and became the secretary of the village branch of Yangjiazhuang, he also thought that if Wu Daozhen went to work in a government agency, maybe he could help him, so he persuaded Wu Yang and Li Mei to let Wu Dao return to work in Qicheng County. As for Wu Dao's grandfather Wu He, his heart is very conflicted, on the one hand, he hopes that Wu Dao will return to Qicheng County to work, so that the Wu family will be three generations in the same house, and he can enjoy the joy of family; But on the other hand, he hoped that Wu Dao would not return to Qicheng County, but work in the city, the bigger the city, the better, preferably Beijing, so that when he chatted with others, he could say confidently: "My grandson has the ability, he graduated from college and went to work in Beijing, which is the capital, where Chairman Mao used to stay, and ordinary people can't go." Therefore, on the question of where Wu Dao would work after graduation, he did not express substantive opinions, but just said: "It's okay to come back." ”

With the unanimous support of his family, Wu Dao had to give up the idea of staying in the city again and returned to his hometown Qicheng County. Soon after reporting to the county personnel office, he was told that he was assigned to work in the river town government, and then went to get a letter of introduction.

Hecheng Town is the seat of Qicheng County, and the town government is on the edge of the city, less than two kilometers away from the county government. Whether in terms of the importance of the unit or the geographical location, the Hecheng Town Government can be regarded as a very good unit among all the organs in Qicheng County. Therefore, the Wu family is very satisfied with this result.

After learning that Wu Dao was assigned to work in the Hecheng Town Government, the Wu family was happiest with Wu Dao's grandfather Wu He, who was seventy-three years old that year. Two years ago, Wu Dao's grandmother Yang Xiuxiu died of illness, although Yang Xiuxiu had a bad temper and managed Wu He all her life, which made him very uncomfortable and even a little aggrieved, but she was really gone, and he felt that there was no motivation in life. And Yang Xiuxiu's death also directly reminded Wu He that the day when he left this world would not be too far away. Especially after entering the age of seventy-three, he felt that he had reached the "hurdle", "Seventy-three, eighty-four, the king of Hades does not call himself to go." "Maybe one day, Hades will be unhappy and take him away. Wu Dao entered the work of the river town government, so that Wu He rejuvenated, he felt that the future is promising, he has not yet died, the excitement seems to be back to the time when Wu Dao was admitted to university four years ago.

Wu Dao was assigned to work in the government of Hecheng Town, and Wu He had a new capital to boast of, and he walked around the village, and when he met people, he said that his grandson was going to work in the commune. Although the People's Commune had been changed into a township 20 years ago, there are still many people in Wuhe who lived through that era and still call the township a commune, which has become a habit that is difficult for them to change.

Although Wu He didn't know what Wu Dao's position would be after he entered the Hecheng Town Government, he felt that his grandson would be the future mayor of Hecheng Town, and he would be the county magistrate in a few years. In the constant repetition, Wu He felt that Wu Dao had become the mayor of the town and would be the county magistrate the next year, his heart was full of joy and pride.

Although Wu Yang and Li Mei have always disliked Wu He's big mouth that brags all day long, but this time Wu He bragged about Wu Dao, Wu Yang and Li Mei also felt very comfortable, they felt that they had a backer for the first time, and they would no longer have to be afraid of being an official in the future, because the Wu family also had an official, and the Hecheng Town Government was in charge of Xiaohuangzhuang, and no one in the village would be afraid of them in the future, if Wu Dao could really become the mayor and county magistrate, they would be the parents of the mayor and county magistrate, what a glory it was! Who doesn't envy the entire river town and Qicheng County!

Of course, Wu Dao's uncle Yang Chengzhi was also very happy, his younger generation entered the higher-level government to work, and it would be much more convenient for him, the village director, to go to the town to do things in the future, and it would also be beneficial for him to run for the village branch secretary in the future.

After learning that Wu Dao was assigned to the Hecheng Town Government, he took wine and meat to Xiaohuangzhuang the next day, and drank a big meal with Wu He and Wu Yang, and Wu Dao was also arranged to sit at the banquet, and he was responsible for pouring wine for everyone. Wu Dao drank alcohol in college, but never at home, and his family thought he had never drunk it, so they only let him drink a glass.

At the banquet, Yang Chengzhi told Wu Dao a lot of things to pay attention to when working in the agency in the future, what to listen to the leader, to have a good relationship with colleagues, etc., and Wu He and Wu Yang also echoed. Although Wu Dao didn't like to listen to it very much, he could only listen, and nodded frequently, and kept saying "uh-huh" in his mouth, indicating that he had been listening and remembering everything.

Contrary to his family, deep down, Wu Dao was not so happy to enter the government work, and even resisted, but since he was a child, he was a good child in the eyes of his parents and in the village, and a good child would not go against the wishes of his parents, not to mention that his parents, grandfather and relatives were so happy that he went to work in the government, at this time, he found that he had no other choice but to work in the government of Hecheng Town, if he didn't go there, where could he go? Since he listened to his parents and returned to Qicheng County, he had no choice.

"Let's take one step at a time." Wu Dao said in his heart.