After the divorce, he settled in Northwest China and became a Shennong (a legendary Chinese farmer).

Chapter 0036 Head-on Confrontation, A Mysterious Gift

When Gu Tong arrived at the agricultural machinery office, he was greeted by a young man in his early twenties.

"Mr. Gu, you see, you didn't specify that the purchase of the agricultural machinery was a loan when you filled out the form. Also, the photocopy of your ID card is a little blurry, so you need to make a new copy."

The young man took out Gu Tong's information and pointed out the problems in the information while looking down.

Gu Tong almost spat out a mouthful of blood after hearing this. Such a trivial problem had been dragged on for more than half a month?

"Whose ID card copy isn't like this? The basic information is clearly visible, and the photo isn't blurry, so why doesn't it meet the requirements? Also, if you need to indicate the source of funds for purchasing agricultural machinery, you can just mark it, but you've dragged it out for so long."

"Whoever is in charge of the review, I need them to explain to me personally, otherwise I'm going to file a complaint with the county government. This is called inaction, deliberately making things difficult for the people, do you understand?"

Gu Tong's anger finally erupted. He was indeed an outsider, but he had completed the proper household registration procedures.

Subsidizing farmers who purchase agricultural machinery is a provincial policy, not something that any individual can decide to do at will.

"Excuse me, Mr. Gu, why don't you go ask Director Zhao?"

The young man had an innocent look on his face. This matter really had nothing to do with him. The person in charge of the review was Director Zhao Zhigang of the Agricultural Machinery Office.

Gu Tong nodded and, following the direction the young man indicated, saw the plaque for the director's office.

He took the documents, got up and walked over, then knocked on the door a few times.

After a long while, a sound came from inside the door: "Come in."

Gu Tong pushed open the door and went in, and saw a short, stout man in his forties sitting in a chair behind a desk.

The other person looked up at Gu Tong and said calmly, "What is it?"

"Is this Director Zhao? My agricultural machinery subsidy application was said to have failed the review, but I think the problems the staff pointed out are nitpicking. I want to know why my application has been delayed for so long, far exceeding the promise of being completed within 10 working days."

Gu Tong didn't stand on ceremony. He immediately walked to the desk, placed his documents on it, and stated his opinion directly.

He believes that someone is nitpicking and deliberately delaying the completion of the matter.

Upon hearing this, Director Zhao subconsciously sat up straight, frowned, and carefully examined the other person.

"Gu Tong..."

When Director Zhao saw the name on the application form, the scene of having dinner with Li Yong and others immediately came to mind.

That day, Li Yong brought up the current competitive situation in agricultural machinery services at the dinner table, specifically mentioning an outsider named Gu Tong who had stolen a business from the cooperative.

Immediately, someone nearby chimed in, saying that the county shouldn't have brought in these so-called talents, providing them with housing and land, only to have them start taking jobs from the locals after they arrived.

Others mentioned agricultural machinery subsidies.

Director Zhao immediately understood Li Yong's intention. The next day, he checked the application records and, sure enough, saw Gu Tong's application.

He then pulled out Gu Tong's application form and put it in his desk drawer.

He only took it out yesterday and signed the review comments: application not approved.

In reality, Director Zhao couldn't completely block Gu Tong's application, since the policy was clearly stipulated in regulations. He just wanted to make things difficult for her to give Li Yong an explanation.

Unexpectedly, the person in question came to my door today, and he doesn't seem like the kind of person who's timid or afraid of trouble.

"Please don't get agitated. We have fixed standards for review, and no one is deliberately making things difficult for you. It's our fault that the processing deadline has passed, but please understand our difficulties; we've been extremely busy lately."

Although Director Zhao felt that Gu Tong was not someone to be trifled with, he subconsciously thought that outsiders wouldn't dare to make a big fuss.

He has consistently opposed talent recruitment programs and has never been friendly to these outsiders.

So even now, he's still using bureaucratic language.

Gu Tong tried hard to control his temper. During his time in Nasu, he had met people like Liang Qin and Technician Liu, who were all very serious and responsible in their work.

Needless to say, Liang Qin was also the subject of a soil testing report delivered to him by Technician Liu a few days ago.

Although the test data wasn't of much use to him, the staff's work attitude left a very good impression on him.

But now, he has also encountered people like Director Zhao who refuse to admit their mistakes.

"Director Zhao, my application form is right here in your hands. Could you please give me your review opinion again? Is it approved?"

Gu Tong wasn't sure where Director Zhao's malice towards him came from, but he could sense it.

Therefore, he didn't want to continue entangled with the other party; he just wanted a result.

"Leave it with me for now, and I'll give you a definite answer before noon tomorrow."

Director Zhao was very unhappy. Even though he knew in his heart that the other party's subsidy application met the requirements, he still refused to sign it readily.

To be honest, his position as director doesn't really qualify him as a rank, but he has quite a temper.

Gu Tong was both amused and annoyed. At this point, the other party was still trying to save face. Was her time worthless? Why did she have to come all this way for no reason?

"Fine then. Give me the documents, and I'll go to the county now and ask the leaders to judge this matter."

His patience ran out, and he was ready to escalate the situation.

Upon hearing this, Director Zhao's expression changed. He never expected that Gu Tong would be such a troublemaker.

If he really makes a scene in the county, I'll definitely be in big trouble.

"Why are you in such a hurry, comrade? I didn't say I wouldn't do it for you. What's the big deal about waiting another day? Fine, since you're in such a hurry, I'll just get it done for you."

A wise man doesn't suffer a loss in front of him, and Director Zhao smoothly turned the tables on him.

He then called in the clerk outside and had him take Gu Tong to have her ID card re-copied. He also personally noted the source of funds for purchasing agricultural machinery on the application form.

He immediately signed the papers and waved to send Gu Tong and the clerk away.

Gu Tong was speechless. He had learned something new, and at the same time, he realized that he had offended the other party thoroughly.

However, he did not regret it. The incident was caused by the other party deliberately making things difficult for him, so of course he had to make his stance clear.

"Mr. Gu, the next step is to process the payment. It should be in your account within three business days. Please check your account."

The clerk quickly completed the formalities and provided instructions.

Gu Tong thanked him and then turned to leave.

This matter was now over for him. He might not have many opportunities to deal with the Agricultural Machinery Office in the future, but he had already secretly written down the name Zhao Zhigang in his notebook.

I have no grudge against the other party, yet the person surnamed Zhao is full of malice towards me. What is the reason for this?

Gu Tong kept this question to himself and decided to go and see the little white dragon and the submersible pump.

These things will be needed sooner or later, especially since the White Dragon is a consumable item, so it's better to be prepared.

He then visited several more shops, made his selection, paid the money, and the shopkeepers promised to deliver the goods to his door the day after tomorrow morning.

These items aren't expensive; with all the accessories, the total cost is less than 5000 yuan.

His bank card balance was originally close to 15 yuan, but now it has become 14.5 yuan.

Starting this month, he will need to repay interest every month, which is like reminding him that he still has a loan of 20 yuan, putting him under tremendous pressure.

After finishing his business, Gu Tong bought some daily necessities, vegetables, meat, and beef bones, then drove back home.

He had just parked the car and jumped out when Little Stone rushed over and stayed by his side almost every step of the way. Wherever he went, Little Stone followed.

"Stop fooling around, I'll make you something delicious for lunch."

Gu Tong played with Xiao Shitou for a while, then went inside to wash her hands and cook.

He first stewed the beef bones, and then used the broth to make hand-pulled noodles. Just thinking about the taste made his mouth water.

Next, he started kneading the dough. After kneading, he covered it with a bowl and let it rest for at least half an hour.

Just then, his phone beeped. He opened it and saw a message from Zhang Chen.

"Old Gu, congratulations on successfully completing the spring planting. I sent you a small gift earlier, it should arrive in the next couple of days."

"What gift? Old Zhang, why did you suddenly decide to give me a gift when it's not a holiday?"

Gu Tong was puzzled. She had known Zhang Chen for so many years, but she had never received any gifts from him.

He couldn't help but feel very curious.

"This is just a small token of my appreciation; I hope you can settle down there."

Zhang Chen didn't explain, and then no matter how Gu Tong asked, there was no response from him.