Late morning.
Zhenshui Hotel.
Large red Double Happiness Characters were pasted up, firecrackers hung from the entrance, and the hotel doorway was bustling.
But although this was said to be the best hotel in Zhenshui County, it did not even have a star rating. Never mind Capital City or several first-tier cities—even an ordinary hotel in Fenzhou City, where Dong Xuebin had stayed for a long time, would have been better than this place in both decor and size. But Zhenshui County was simply poor. Objective factors and historical reasons had created its current situation. Ordinary investors would never put money into this place, because there was no spending power here at all. Investing here would just be throwing money away. Under this vicious cycle, Zhenshui County had declined further and further. Having one or two hotels or guesthouses was already considered decent.
A great many people had gathered outside. Their ranks were not high; at the very least, they were not cadres who lived in the County Party Committee Family Compound, nor were they qualified to go there to receive the wedding parties.
A rough count put them at around twenty or thirty people.
Everyone stood outside the hotel, eagerly looking toward the west and waiting for the wedding processions to arrive.
Inside, there were naturally also classmates, colleagues, and friends of the two couples, all waiting as well.
"Why aren't they here yet?"
"Yeah, they're already an hour late."
"Shh, keep it down. I heard something happened."
"Huh? Something happened? What happened?"
"Something at the Family Compound, I think. I'm not too sure either—I just heard it from a friend."
"Hey, stop talking. Look, the procession's here. It's Secretary Zhang's family's procession."
The first things to appear before everyone were several Audis, followed by a long line of