Bai Zhenzhu couldn’t join them.
Liu Yong could go along though – Tang Hongen wanted to hear about the guesthouse renovation progress, at least according to Little Wang.
The modest car took Xia Xiaolan and Liu Yong directly to the municipal government office building.
The first person they met was Secretary Peng, whom they’d briefly encountered before. Back then, Secretary Peng had been busy arranging Tang Hongen’s hospital transfer and, despite his diplomatic nature, had no time to concern himself with irrelevant people like Xia Xiaolan. The leader’s wellbeing was always paramount, his safety the top priority. As for Xia Xiaolan’s help that rainy night – taking him to the hospital, and having Li Dongliang return to the city to report… wasn’t that just expected? If others had known the leader’s identity, they probably would have run away faster, not giving Xia Xiaolan a chance to curry favor!
Secretary Peng couldn’t empathize because, unlike Little Wang, he hadn’t personally experienced those difficult circumstances. Without sharing in the “hardships” with Xia Xiaolan and the others, he naturally dismissed her assistance as insignificant.
While this favor hadn’t impressed Secretary Peng, it had touched Tang Hongen’s heart.
After leaving the hospital, Tang Hongen had given away all gifts from others, except keeping the “local specialty” from Xia Xiaolan – that was one thing.
Secondly, he split the municipal government guesthouse renovation project into smaller parts, giving Liu Yong’s company a chance to bid. By coincidence, Liu Yong’s ‘Yuan Hui’ had won the entire project. Because Secretary Peng had spoken up for ‘Yuan Hui’ during the bidding, Liu Yong was seen as Tang Hongen’s man.
Others didn’t object, waiting to see ‘Yuan Hui’ fail, waiting to catch Tang Hongen’s mistake.
Yuan Hui’s qualifications were practically nonexistent. Forget comparing with giants like Hua Jian Corporation – even ‘Tian Chen Decorating’, established by Hong Kong’s Mr. Liu after tasting success in real estate, was far beyond Yuan Hui’s reach. Though Tian Chen’s qualifications weren’t extraordinary, at least Mr. Liu had money to hire experienced professionals from Hong Kong. What did Yuan Hui have? A small, thin man from out of town, speaking with a heavy Yunan accent, wanting to become a dragon in Pengcheng?
Tang Hongen was also new.
Wasn’t he overreaching?
Others misunderstood that Liu Yong and Tang Hongen had financial dealings and that Liu Yong was working on Tang Hongen’s behalf. This speculation peaked when Liu Yong sought a bank loan using the renovation contract. Getting something for nothing – Tang Hongen was truly bold.
Secretary Peng was anxious, yet the leader showed no concern about appearances, even calling Liu Yong to his office.
The whole thing had nothing to do with Liu Yong – it was all about that impossibly beautiful young girl. She just sat there, showing neither curiosity nor nervousness.
If not for knowing Tang Hongen’s character, Secretary Peng would have suspected the leader had taken a fancy to Xia Xiaolan – why else help so much?
The leader’s character was naturally beyond reproach – it was this Xia Xiaolan who was too calculating. She looked pitifully delicate and moving, and scoring top in Yunan Province’s science stream proved her brain wasn’t just for show!
Secretary Peng maintained a polite smile: “Please wait a moment, the leader is still in a meeting.”
Liu Yong felt somewhat awkward, but Xia Xiaolan returned the same polite distance: “Thank you, Secretary Peng. Please go ahead with your work, we don’t mind waiting.”
She called Tang Hongen ‘Uncle Tang’, and called driver Little Wang ‘Brother Wang’, yet deliberately addressed Secretary Peng as ‘Secretary Peng’ – Xia Xiaolan treated people according to how they treated her. She could tell who was distant and who was friendly… Shamelessly seeking Tang Hongen’s favor was one thing, but she couldn’t care less what a secretary thought.
Having met with a soft rebuff, Secretary Peng became more convinced that Xia Xiaolan was deeply calculating.
In their first real face-to-face encounter, neither took a liking to the other. Unable to discuss other matters here, Liu Yong and Xia Xiaolan could only talk about their affairs. Liu Yong became animated discussing the municipal government guesthouse renovation project.
“It’s not that difficult – decorating 50㎡ or 500㎡ is the same thing. It was chaotic at first, but you get used to it.”
Liu Yong was trying to save face in front of his niece.
Initially, it was more than just chaotic. Given his small stature and outsider status, except for the two workers called from Shangdu, local hires were very uncooperative. Only after Liu Yong played a good cop and Li Dongliang played a bad cop did they manage to control the local workers. Experience didn’t matter as much as an attitude – when the design called for curved gypsum lines workers made them straight and showed passive resistance… Liu Yong had faced such infuriating situations.
What could he do but endure?
Xia Xiaolan smiled without exposing her uncle’s pretense: “Is the bank loan enough?”
For the renovation, Liu Yong had personally advanced 110,000 yuan, the guesthouse had paid 300,000 yuan upfront, and Liu Yong had borrowed another 300,000 yuan from the bank. This was a million-yuan project – all main materials were ordered, and Liu Yong hadn’t spent much in other areas. He felt confident about lasting until the guesthouse paid the final installment.
“I have enough money here. Xiaolan, if you’re opening a shop with others, uncle can give you another 20,000…”
After receiving the bank loan, Liu Yong had already sent 50,000 yuan back to Xia Xiaolan. Of his 110,000 yuan initial capital for taking the project, 70,000 had come from Xia Xiaolan. It would be tight for Liu Yong to spare another 20,000 now, but he couldn’t let Xia Xiaolan’s affairs be delayed. At the current renovation pace, they wouldn’t exceed the timeframe, though materials were slightly over budget. The overall project would be profitable.
Liu Yong knew how this project had come about – Tang Hongen had originally wanted to help his niece Xiaolan, but she was busy with college entrance exams in Shangdu and couldn’t leave, so this business opportunity was given to him. A million-yuan project would surely yield at least 10% profit even at its lowest; the bid had been calculated with 15% profit in mind. Having never handled a project of this scale and encountering various problems early on, the overall profit wouldn’t reach 15%.
But it was still profitable.
The opportunity had been forced on him by Xiaolan, and most of the capital had come from her too – how could he keep all the profits?
Being in the municipal government office building made it inappropriate to discuss profit-sharing after the project’s completion; Liu Yong planned to wait until they were alone. Just as Xia Xiaolan was about to say she wasn’t in urgent need of money, the restroom door opened and Tang Hongen walked in holding a white porcelain teacup: “What shop are you opening now? You’re meant for academics. Young people shouldn’t be so hasty – everything has its time, you’ll have your chance to shine.”
“Hello, Uncle Tang!”
“Mayor Tang, look at this girl…”
If Xia Xiaolan called him uncle, how could Liu Yong call him brother?
Having spent over a month in Pengcheng, Liu Yong already knew Tang Hongen’s position and couldn’t pretend ignorance anymore.
“Call me whatever you’re used to – when I met her, I wasn’t a mayor either.”
That was before his appointment in Yangcheng, let alone working in Pengcheng. Today’s officials were indeed more down-to-earth – thirty years later, meeting an official of this rank on a train would be an impossible dream. Tang Hongen’s attitude was notably different from their previous meetings, perhaps due to Xia Xiaolan’s help at the fishing port, or because she’d become the top scorer in the college entrance exam. When someone proves their excellence in some way, others treat them more seriously.
When Xia Xiaolan mentioned opening a new shop, Tang Hongen recalled their meeting at the construction site when she’d said others built houses while she did renovations. Wasn’t she already in the renovation business? What was she up to now?
Secretary Peng’s expression subtly changed – was she deliberately mentioning this in front of the leader, seeking his help again? Truly a deeply calculating person!