After a half-month tug of war.

Harold paved the way with U.S. dollars, forcefully striking out competitors who had previously wanted to build golf courses.

The competitors couldn’t even confront Harold about it, as he was a foreign guest.

Their frustration was immeasurable.

But as Xia Xiaolan had said, free internal test accounts couldn’t beat yuan-paying players, who in turn couldn’t compete with dollar-paying super VIPs. This investment involved tens of millions of dollars – no matter how strong the competitors’ government connections were, they could be swept aside!

In 1985, no city would turn away tens of millions of U.S. dollars.

That amount could build a Great Wall Hotel.

The Great Wall Hotel had over a thousand rooms and provided many employment opportunities!

Secretary Peng sighed while looking at Harold’s investment proposal:

“If these millions were being invested in a factory, that would be even better.”

Factories meant manufacturing, and China lacked everything except people.

A factory worth tens of millions of dollars would need several hundred workers at least. It would provide many jobs and pay taxes based on production value. With a golf course, besides selling the land, how could the government generate continuous income? That was a problem.

“Secretary Peng, Mr. Wilson, and his party have arrived.”

Secretary Peng immediately stood up, “Please show them to the conference room.”

They had their translator too – they couldn’t completely trust the foreign guests’ translator, even though it was Ji Jiangyuan recently.

The strange father-son relationship gave Secretary Peng a headache. Almost no one in the city government knew Ji Jiangyuan was Tang Hongen’s son – different surnames, and they didn’t look very similar. Ji Jiangyuan looked more like the Ji family.

Thinking of Mayor Tang’s ex-wife made Secretary Peng’s head want to explode.

He didn’t know how the leader endured it – if Secretary Peng had to live with Ji Ya for a year, he’d probably go crazy too. In comparison, no wonder the mayor’s taste changed, now wanting someone like Comrade Liu Fen… much more pleasant to be around!

Secretary Peng tried hard to push these messy thoughts from his mind – today he needed to hear Harold’s investment plans and stay focused.

Harold appeared.

He shook hands with Secretary Peng, both men followed by several people as the group flooded into the conference room.

Secretary Peng got straight to the point:

“Mr. Wilson, after discussion, the city government agrees to your request to lease 2,500 mu of land near Xiangmi Lake, though the specific land price needs further negotiation. Of this, 1,900 mu will be for sports use with a 30-year lease term, and the remaining 600 mu for residential construction with a 50-year lease term… After the lease expires, the city government has the right to reclaim the land with reasonable compensation. If you wish to extend the lease, you’ll need to renegotiate with the city government at future market rates.”

After hearing Ji Jiangyuan’s translation, Harold raised objections:

“This differs from our initial letter of intent to the city government. Only 30 years for sports land? Secretary Peng, it seems the city government still hasn’t shown sincerity.”

Secretary Peng understood some vocabulary.

Though he needed translation for the content, he could already feel the pressure.

Secretary Peng also feared the project would fall through.

A total investment of tens of millions of dollars landing in Pengcheng would be an achievement for the leadership and him as the handler.

But after talking with Xia Xiaolan, Secretary Peng still said this.

It was still 1985, and the “Provisional Regulations on the Grant and Transfer of Urban State-owned Land Use Rights in China” wouldn’t be issued until 1990. Xia Xiaolan knew nothing of this and had directly shared what she knew with Secretary Peng.

After returning from Jiangcheng, Tang Hongen had another private discussion with her.

The next day, Tang Hongen proposed the “Pengcheng Provisional Regulations on the Grant and Transfer of State-owned Land Use Rights” at a city government meeting, based on the future land use regulations Xia Xiaolan knew about.

Pengcheng’s development was ahead of other cities.

The fundamental principle that state-owned land couldn’t be bought and sold couldn’t change, so they could only “lease.”

But previously signed “lease” contracts had chaotic terms, and Tang Hongen felt it was time for unified management.

Xia Xiaolan had spoken based on her memories, and Tang Hongen brought it up for public discussion. Finally, Pengcheng’s provisional land use regulations were established: 1) Residential land 70 years, 2) Industrial land 50 years, 3) Educational, scientific, cultural, health, and sports land 50 years, 4) Commercial, tourism, and entertainment land 40 years, 5) Comprehensive or other land use 50 years.

These were maximum terms – they could be shorter but not longer.

Pengcheng’s version was a reproduction of what would become the national standard after 1990. The flutter of Xia Xiaolan’s butterfly wings had brought this forward in time.

The specific impacts were hard to predict, but currently, the biggest impact was on Harold’s investment.

His initial proposal to the city government was to lease 2,500 mu of land near Xiangmi Lake for 60 years, with the same term for both residential and golf course areas.

Without the golf course, the residential project couldn’t continue – what good was an early expiration of the course?

Harold’s expression was certainly not good.

Secretary Peng struggled to maintain his composure, trying not to appear more anxious than Harold:

“This isn’t targeted at you. All urban state-owned land in Pengcheng will follow these standards from now on.”

Secretary Peng silently added in his heart: At least during Mayor Tang’s tenure, these provisional regulations wouldn’t be overturned.

Harold looked at Ji Jiangyuan, who knew nothing about these regulations.

The negotiation ended somewhat unhappily.

Secretary Peng watched Harold leave with his people, unable to call them back. The provisional regulations just agreed to by the entire city government under Mayor Tang couldn’t immediately be contradicted and overturned just to retain Harold’s investment.

They couldn’t yield so quickly.

Xia Xiaolan’s proposal to the leadership was correct – without rules, there’s no standard, and unregulated land use rights would cause future chaos.

Xia Xiaolan was also thinking of herself – with Pengcheng’s state-owned land use rights standardized, when she wanted to acquire land, as long as she followed regulations, no one could find fault.

Secretary Peng muttered:

“Clever as a monkey indeed!”

Secretary Peng was somewhat worried – if Harold’s investment negotiations fell through, it would affect not only Mayor Tang but also himself significantly – Monkey Xia… no, Xia Xiaolan had guessed correctly, Secretary Peng was about to be assigned to a district position.

Pengcheng had established four county-level administrative offices: Luohu, Shangbu, Nantou, and Shatoujiao. Among them, the Shangbu District Office administered the area from west of Hongling Road to east of Chegongmiao, overseeing Shangbu and Futian Street offices.

Xiangmi Lake was under the Futian Street Office’s management.

Now with Harold wanting to build a golf course near Xiangmi Lake, the city government intended to establish a new district in Futian. The plans had been submitted, and Secretary Peng was headed to the not-yet-officially-approved Futian District!