Chapter 94

Chapter 32: An Unavoidable Confrontation (Part 1)

Today, the Wangjiang Hotel was filled with the elite and influential figures of Hongshui County. Everyone knew that An Zai Shan was currently a hotshot in Hongshui County, and such a grand celebration was a great opportunity to build closer ties.

Especially in the political arena of Hongshui County, no one was unaware of the close relationship between An Zai Shan and the current county magistrate, Yang Zixuan, who was now in the limelight. An Zai Shan was almost like Yang Zixuan's right-hand man.

If one could connect with An Zai Shan, would the position of county magistrate be far off?

...

When Su Nan's car number one arrived, An Zai Shan hurried out to greet them, while Yang Zixuan remained calm and composed.

Zhuang Yixi, on the other hand, was watching Yang Zixuan and Lin Ruoshui with a cold eye, sensing that there must be some connection between them.

As a prominent figure from a political family, Zhuang Yixi naturally didn't take Yang Zixuan, a small county official, seriously, despite Yang Zixuan's unusually young age, which didn't make Zhuang Yixi take him seriously either.

"County Magistrate Yang is quite young, to be a county magistrate at such a young age, that's impressive!" Zhuang Yixi suddenly said to Yang Zixuan. "Which university did you graduate from? Where is your hometown?"

"I graduated from a second-rate university, a name you probably haven't heard of. As for my hometown, it's in the capital," Yang Zixuan replied with a faint smile.

"Then County Magistrate Yang must be very capable, to rise to the position of county magistrate from a second-rate university, that's quite rare," Zhuang Yixi said with obvious disdain. Zhuang Yixi, like An Zai Shan, was a high-achieving graduate from Luofu University's law program, and after graduation, he, like Lin Ruoshui, chose to study abroad, becoming a genuine "sea turtle."

Yang Zixuan, of course, could hear the sarcasm in Zhuang Yixi's words but didn't care, smiling faintly. If a dog bites you, there's no need to bite back.

"Yang Zixuan and I were classmates in university, but his achievements are far from yours, County Magistrate Yang," Zhuang Yixi continued sarcastically.

Lin Ruoshui couldn't stand it anymore and sneered, "County Magistrate Yang is impressive, but not as impressive as you, Zhuang Yixi. You, a 'sea turtle,' returned to start a business. Isn't your Qiao's Industry very impressive? It now holds more than half of the domestic market, right?"

The moment Lin Ruoshui mentioned Qiao's Industry, Zhuang Yixi's face turned a nasty purple, like a pig's liver.

Qiao's Industry was the company Zhuang Yixi founded in Luofu. Initially, he boasted about capturing over 80% of the domestic market, but due to his poor management skills, the company almost went bankrupt, becoming a laughingstock among the Luofu elite. Fortunately, his sister, who held a key position in the military, helped him secure some military contracts, and Qiao's Industry finally started to recover.

Despite Lin Ruoshui's sarcasm, Zhuang Yixi, who was known for holding grudges, didn't dare to respond. The Lin family's vast influence in the southeastern political arena was something the declining Zhuang family could only look up to. Moreover, Lin Ruoshui was the only daughter of Lin Zhengqiang, the current core figure of the Lin family.

Yang Zixuan didn't want to get involved in these conflicts and stood up to greet Su Nan, who had just entered.

"County Magistrate Yang arrived early," Su Nan said with a smile.

"Not really, I just arrived on time. The secretary is late, so he'll have to drink a few more cups," Yang Zixuan said with a meaningful tone.

Su Nan's face, which rarely showed emotion, turned red. He could tell that Yang Zixuan was mocking him for hesitating to attend the wedding, causing his tardiness.

The city committee sent Liu Zhen, and the father of the bride was a leader in the finance bureau of Daming City, so many officials from the Daming City finance bureau attended, including the bureau chief, Liu Zhangri. The vice mayor in charge of finance, Xu Yin, was away on a provincial report and didn't attend.

Liu Zhangri, with his beer belly, scanned the crowd with his slightly squinted eyes. When he saw Yang Zixuan, his eyes lit up.

"County Magistrate Yang is here too," Liu Zhangri walked over to Yang Zixuan, tightly gripping his hand while completely ignoring Su Nan, who stood beside Yang Zixuan.

This made Su Nan furious, but he couldn't do anything. Liu Zhangri was at the same level as him, and as the head of the city finance bureau, he was a powerful figure, not much different from Su Nan, the county party secretary. Moreover, their areas of responsibility didn't overlap much.

So, even though Liu Zhangri ignored him, Su Nan couldn't say anything.

"Mayor Xu is in the province for a report, so he couldn't make it," Liu Zhangri said, holding Yang Zixuan's hand in a very close manner.

The reason Liu Zhangri held Yang Zixuan in such high regard was simple. Xu Yin's abilities were widely recognized in the city government, and the bureau chiefs under his jurisdiction were all very obedient to him.

However, Xu Yin had a proud personality and a deep background, and there were few people in the city government who could gain his favor. Despite Liu Zhangri's desire to connect with Xu Yin, Xu Yin hadn't shown much interest, making Liu Zhangri somewhat anxious.

But the news of Xu Yin's strong support for Yang Zixuan in the city committee meetings had already spread, indicating that Xu Yin truly favored Yang Zixuan, a young county magistrate, even to the point of risking a conflict with Tang Lu, the head of the government.

So, Liu Zhangri decided to take an indirect approach, hoping to connect with Xu Yin through Yang Zixuan.

Yang Zixuan could vaguely guess Liu Zhangri's intentions and smiled, "Director Liu is the city's financial god. Your presence is a great honor for An Zai Shan."

They exchanged a few pleasantries and then took their seats, leaving Su Nan, who was ignored, with a pale face.

...

"Little Yang, how is the development of the Tianma Mountain Tourism Area progressing?" Lin Pei asked, looking at Yang Zixuan sitting across from him on the sofa, while smoking.

This young man, though somewhat impulsive, was truly a lucky charm for him.

The arrest of Fang Ling was a slap in the face for Tang Lu.

As a result, Tang Lu had become much more low-key and silent, often going with the flow in committee meetings, no longer opposing Lin Pei as he used to. Many of the committee members who were previously close to Tang Lu had also begun to take a neutral stance.

Lin Pei's prestige in Daming was growing.

All these changes were largely due to the young man sitting on the sofa.

"The preparations are in the final stages. The president and CEO of Taiwan's Xiangwan Group, Zeng Jingzi, will arrive in Gangzhou tomorrow and is expected to reach Daming by tomorrow evening to discuss the signing of the agreement. The formal signing ceremony will be held soon, and I hope Secretary Lin will attend!" Yang Zixuan reported formally. "I will have the county prepare the specific agreement content for discussion and archiving at the city committee and government tomorrow."

Lin Pei nodded, "The Tianma Mountain project is the first investment project in Daming this year, and it is of great significance. Even the provincial government has called to ask about it. Well done, Little Yang!"

"Due to the conflict caused by Fang Ling, the Tianma Mountain project faced some minor setbacks, but your county government's ability to retain the Xiangwan Group despite the challenges shows that your work has been thorough and deserves recognition!"

Lin Pei looked at Yang Zixuan with some appreciation. If this young man was indeed talented and a bit more stable, it might be worth considering grooming him. However, it seemed that he was close to Xu Yin, and it was unclear if he had already joined Xu Yin's camp.

"I heard that your county government is reforming the Hongshui Textile Factory, right?" Lin Pei continued.

Yang Zixuan nodded, "Yes, Secretary, we have already achieved some results."

"I have also reviewed the documents on the Hongshui Textile Factory's reform. The main points of the reform are the ones you mentioned in your speech at the factory: introducing market mechanisms to guide production, establishing specialized sales and market analysis departments to study market trends and avoid product accumulation." Lin Pei flicked the ash from his cigarette and smiled, "These are all excellent ideas and concepts. Young people's minds are indeed sharp. The central government's push for younger officials has its reasonable side."

"I went to the provincial capital for a meeting a few days ago, and I saw the latest products from the Hongshui Textile Factory selling well in several famous malls."

"That's the brand building you mentioned at the factory, right?" Lin Pei said. "Is the Hongshui Textile Factory now basically breaking even?"

Yang Zixuan sat up straight and replied, "Last month, we achieved basic balance, and we have purchased the most advanced textile equipment in the country. Sales have improved, and many workshops have resumed operations."

"Great job! The reform of the Hongshui Textile Factory can serve as a model for the state-owned enterprise (SOE) reforms in our entire city. This will be a key topic of discussion at the next city committee meeting. We have many heavily loss-making SOEs in Daming, such as in Jingyang District and Hong County. If we don't revitalize these loss-making SOEs, it will be a heavy burden on the city's development."

"Currently, your Hongshui County government should focus on the Tianma Mountain project and the SOE reforms. As for the Economic Development Zone project, put it on hold for now."

Yang Zixuan was somewhat taken aback. Lin Pei's words clearly indicated that he did not support the Economic Development Zone project in Hongshui County.

However, Yang Zixuan quickly understood the underlying reason.

Clearly, Lin Pei did not want to further provoke Tang Lu. If the Economic Development Zone project in Hongshui County were to proceed, it would likely undermine Tang Lu's prestige, and he might resort to drastic measures, which Lin Pei, as the leader, did not want to see.

...

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