Power and Wealth

It's past eight.

The morning sun is rising, casting a gentle glow over the sky.

A blue wave-like expanse fills the horizon.

A black Land Rover leads the way, followed closely by a bus. The convoy has gradually left the city and even caught up with the three tourist buses escorting domestic investors. Dong Xuebing was worried that people from the city and other counties would discover and intercept them, so he had Gong Na take a slightly longer route. He had also arranged for the foreign investors he contacted, led by Zhang Longjuan, to depart early. As a result, on the outer roads of the city, they coincidentally caught up with Gong Na's bus. The two convoys merged.

Honk, honk.

Dong Xuebing pressed the horn.

Gong Na, on the bus in front, also noticed them. She held her head out the window, vigorously waving at Dong Xuebing's car. Dong Xuebing smiled, responded with an OK gesture, and then pressed the car window button to extend his hand. He signaled to the driver of the foreign investors' bus behind him, pointing to the three buses in front. The bus driver understood, accelerated, and followed behind the three buses. The four tourist buses formed a line, looking imposing. Dong Xuebing, seeing that there was no place for him, stepped on the gas and sped ahead, taking the lead in front of the four buses. He opened the car's audio system.

A rock song burst out.

It was both majestic and passionate.

Dong Xuebing hummed with gusto, glancing at the several buses in the rearview mirror. He was in a great mood. It's like finding what you want without much effort. Hua Li, oh Hua Li, Lu Weiguo, oh Lu Weiguo, and comrades from the county Investment Promotion Bureaus, sorry about that.

One minute…

Two minutes…

Three minutes…

The phone suddenly rang.

Looking at the number, Dong Xuebing saw that Deputy Mayor Hua Li was calling.

Shortly after setting off, Hua Li and the City Investment Promotion Bureau staff called, but Dong Xuebing didn't answer any of them because he was afraid of accidents. However, now that the car was out of the city and about to enter Zhen Shui County, Dong Xuebing didn't care anymore. He simply turned off the music, answered the phone, and enjoyed hearing the enemy's defeated cries. For Dong Xuebing, this was also a kind of enjoyable fun.

"Hello, Mayor Hua," Dong Xuebing said while driving.

On the other end, Hua Li's voice came out coldly, "Why did you only answer the phone now?"

Dong Xuebing smiled. "Oh, I was busy with something just now. I didn't hear your call. Sorry, it's a bit chaotic here."

Hua Li immediately said, "Where are you now?"Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on novelenglish.net . ꜰɪre.nᴇt

Dong Xuebing looked at the road signs. Technically, they were still in Chenggang County, but he casually said, "I'm in Zhen Shui County now. I just entered the suburbs and am heading towards the county town. What's wrong, Mayor Hua? Is there something going on with the investment promotion fair?"

Seeing that he was deliberately asking, Hua Li became angry, "You tell me where you are now."

Dong Xuebing laughed, "I'm already in the county. Is there something urgent for me to come back?"

Hua Li said angrily, "I told you to come back. Come back now and bring back all the investors."

Dong Xuebing sneered, "I was wondering what this was all about. So, Mayor Hua, why are you getting angry with me?"

Hua Li shouted, "What do you mean? Why am I angry? The contact and arrangements for investors from each county have already been made. What are you doing, meddling halfway, disrupting everything? Tell me, what are you up to? Are you rebelling? This investment promotion fair is crucial. The city has emphasized it multiple times. What are you doing in Zhen Shui County? You're destroying unity without any consideration for the bigger picture. I won't say much more. Now, turn around and come back. I want to see every investor in an hour, not one less."

Dong Xuebing found a duck already in hand amusing, and he could still let it fly away. He retorted, "We can't go back now."

Hua Li said sternly, "Say that again."

Dong Xuebing calmly replied, "I said we can't go back."

Hua Li couldn't contain his anger. "So, you're not following the city's instructions?"

Dong Xuebing laughed, "Mayor Hua, don't put labels on me. It's not that I'm not following the city's instructions. I just think your current demand is unreasonable. If you want to confront me, then let's discuss it. I need to make it clear beforehand. This time, it's not that I actively wanted to take away investors from other counties. The situation was critical. This morning, the investment promotion comrades from other counties were nowhere to be found. Numerous calls from investors went unanswered. The scheduled inspections at six o'clock were all stood up. You didn't see the scene. The investors were furious, all angry. The hotel staff can testify to this. If you don't believe it, you can ask them. In the end, the investors found me, asking about the whereabouts of the county investment promotion staff. I had no idea and couldn't answer. At that point, the investors had already lost trust in Meihe City. That's the most fatal blow. If this continued, everyone could leave at any time. For example, Mr. An and others have already intended to return home. Seeing the situation was not right, I had to help the comrades from other county Investment Promotion Bureaus defuse the situation. I explained to them. But the matter still needs to be resolved. We can't let the investors wait foolishly at the hotel. I decided to have everyone come to Zhen Shui County for inspection. It helped ease the situation for the absent Investment Promotion comrades. Did I make a mistake?"

Hua Li was still furious. "Why didn't you report to the city?"

Dong Xuebing dismissed it, "The situation was urgent at the time. I couldn't report in time. Besides, why didn't Director Lu and the other county Investment Promotion comrades report this matter to the city first? They are the ones who abandoned the investors first. I find it strange that Director Lu and those who left the investors unattended have faced no consequences. I'm the one who desperately helped them save and resolve the situation, and yet I'm getting scolded for nothing."

His anger thrown into his throat, Hua Li said, "Why didn't Lu and the others wake up in the morning? It might be their responsibility, but the direct reason is that you drank with them last night. Am I wrong?"

Dong Xuebing chuckled, "Mayor Hua, what kind of logic is this? You can't speak nonsense with your eyes wide open, can you? With so many people present last night, I don't believe everyone was blind. There were even service staff who saw it. This can be testified to. Did I force them to drink? I made it clear from the beginning that I don't drink. It was Director Lu and the others who insisted on forcing me to drink. My subordinates blocked the drinks for me several times, and I was almost forced to vomit. I made it clear that I didn't want to drink anymore. However, Director Lu and the others ignored me. They repeatedly toasted me. What could I do? I had to drink with them to save face. How can you say I forced them to drink? Mayor Hua, I think anyone with a bit of logic can understand that fifty people are toasting me one after another. Who forced whom to drink? Isn't this a joke? They willingly drank, and I didn't have a gun to their heads forcing them. Now, they're all drunk and delayed the proper work. Yet, they blame it on me. Mayor Hua, I find this reasoning absurd. You know, I don't usually drink. I expressed my unwillingness to drink, but Director Lu and the others ignored me. They toasted me repeatedly, and I could only drink with them. Now, they're turning the situation around, saying that I forced them to drink. Mayor Hua, I think a person with a bit of logic can understand that when fifty people are desperately toasting me, one by one, who's forcing whom to drink? Isn't this a joke? They drank willingly, and I didn't have a gun to their heads. Now, they're all drunk and have delayed our work. Yet, they blame it on me. Mayor Hua, I find this reasoning absurd."

Hua Li was momentarily speechless.

Dong Xuebing firmly stated, "I'll say it again. If you insist on having me bring the investors back now, I will have to refuse to execute that order. I will seriously doubt whether this decision has personal motives, and I will seriously question your judgment. You can report this to the city and take disciplinary action against me—I don't care. But I'll clarify: I can justify my actions anywhere I go. Dong Xuebing stands upright, unafraid of any shadows."

Suspecting my decision?

Suspecting my judgment?

Hua Li was once again infuriated. Even though he knew that the new Deputy Mayor of Zhen Shui County was not easy to deal with, he didn't expect him to question the city's leadership openly.

Before Hua Li could rebuke, Dong Xuebing fired again, "If they force me to drink, should I allow myself to get drunk? They got themselves drunk, and now it's all my responsibility. Director Lu helped other counties snatch the investors originally supposed to come to our Zhen Shui County. It's normal work for us to help them resolve the situation, stabilize the investors' emotions, and reluctantly bring them to our county for inspection. It's ridiculous to talk about a broader perspective. I want to ask, whose perspective is this? Yours, Mayor Hua, or Director Lu's? I can't see it as the city's broader perspective. Our Zhen Shui County is also a part of Meihe City. Now that Director Lu and the others have made a mistake, our Zhen Shui County helped salvage the situation, which is normal. If the investment falls into our Zhen Shui County, it also falls into the city. But why, Mayor Hua, do you seem to have such bias and prejudice against our county? Today, I'm in a bad mood and might speak harshly. Don't take it personally. But no matter how you look at it, our Zhen Shui County is not at fault."

Enraged, Hua Li shouted, "Fine, fine!"

Dong Xuebing said indifferently, "I still have a lot of work to handle here. I won't disturb Mayor Hua's work. Once the investors' emotions stabilize, I'll send them back."

Click.

Dong Xuebing hung up on Hua Li for the second time.