The First Project

The next morning.

After going downstairs, Dong Xuebin remembered that he had lent out his car yesterday, so he hailed a taxi to work.

He had gotten up fairly early that day, and it was not yet eight. Seeing the heavy traffic jam ahead, Dong Xuebin was in no hurry. He pulled out a document from his bag, rolled down the window, and read while smoking.

Suddenly, he caught sight of a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye. Dong Xuebin instinctively looked toward the roadside. This was near Central South Road. Besides a small supermarket and several clothing and accessory shops, there was also Nanchang Kindergarten. Its gates were open, and since it was school time, parents were leading their children inside one after another.

Lin Pingping?

Suspicious, Dong Xuebin saw Lin Pingping leading a little boy of around five.

Outside the kindergarten, Lin Pingping wore a loving smile as she crouched in front of the boy, straightened his collar, and patted his head. "Liang Liang, go to school."

The little boy pouted. "Mom, there's a drawing competition at school today. Can you come?"

Lin Pingping kissed his forehead apologetically. "Be good, Liang Liang. Mom still has to work."

"But... but..." Liang Liang looked unhappy, his lips sticking out in a deep pout.

Lin Pingping smiled. "How about this? No matter how busy Mom is this weekend, I'll take a day off and bring you to the movies. So you have to be good, okay? No being naughty."

Liang Liang cheered. "Yeah! Yeah! Thanks, Mom! I want to see a movie!"

"Then Mom's leaving." After giving Liang Liang one last kiss on the cheek, Lin Pingping picked up her bag and turned around.

The road ahead cleared, and the cars stuck in traffic began driving off one after another. The taxi driver was about to leave as well, but Dong Xuebin asked him to wait.

A few seconds later, when he saw Lin Pingping standing by the roadside and preparing to hail a taxi, Dong Xuebin smiled and waved to her through the window, signaling for her to get in. Lin Pingping saw him too. She blankly glanced back toward the kindergarten, then quickly walked over.

"...Director," Lin Pingping said.

"I happened to see you while passing by. Get in."

"Okay." Lin Pingping smiled. "Then I'll hitch a ride with you."

After using Dong Xuebin's Mercedes Business yesterday, Lin Pingping had returned it to the Investment Bureau Compound. She did not dare treat Director Dong's car as her private vehicle, which was why she had walked out that morning.

In the car, Dong Xuebin looked at her. "Heh, was that your son just now? He's pretty cute."

Lin Pingping smiled and nodded. "The little guy's really clingy. Every day, all he knows is asking me to play with him. Kids these days are just too playful."

Seeing that she admitted it without trying to hide anything, Dong Xuebin quietly nodded. He knew Lin Pingping was unmarried; there was nothing in her file about a divorce or anything similar. It now appeared that she was probably an unmarried mother, which surprised Dong Xuebin greatly.

At the very least, he had never heard about it at work. Most people would certainly avoid talking about such things. Working in a government office meant paying attention to one's reputation, yet Lin Pingping had smiled and said that was her son. Dong Xuebin could not help viewing her more highly for it. If she had hemmed and hawed and claimed he was not, Dong Xuebin would instead have thought she lacked responsibility.

Dong Xuebin had no intention of prying into someone else's family affairs. After saying that much, he did not mention it again.

Investment Bureau Compound.

"Director Dong."

"Good morning, Director."

Several staff members greeted him respectfully.

Dong Xuebin smiled. "Morning, everyone."

The atmosphere in the compound was clearly much better than it had been the day before at noon. After Dong Xuebin's series of efforts, the air of constant complaining had vanished. Everyone had also been relieved somewhat of the pressure from the five hundred million target.

After all, bringing in an investment could earn them an additional bonus equal to the original amount. That was an opportunity for anyone. Even if the entire Business Section worked together to bring in a deal worth over ten million, with the county's bonus and Director Dong's promised share, each person could average twenty or thirty thousand yuan. That was nearly half a year's salary.

Dong Xuebin was very pleased. "Section Chief Lin, come see me later."

"Okay, I'll come over after I put my things down," Lin Pingping said from beside him.

Two minutes after Dong Xuebin returned to his office, Lin Pingping knocked and came in. Dong Xuebin had Guo Panwei pour her a cup of tea, then said, "The atmosphere in the compound is pretty good today. I can see everyone's getting fired up."

"That's how it should be. You need drive to do the job well."

Lin Pingping smiled. "Your bonus system has had an effect."

Dong Xuebin said, "But drive alone isn't enough. Do they have confidence?"

Lin Pingping paused. "To be honest, before leaving work yesterday, I did some ideological work with everyone. But the five hundred million target is simply too heavy. I don't think they have much confidence yet. They all feel it's impossible to complete."

"Director, I think what we need now is a dose of reassurance. If we can sign an investment deal worth ten million within this week, it would undoubtedly stabilize morale. It would let everyone know that five hundred million isn't just a fantasy. With confidence and fighting spirit, I believe this year's five hundred million target definitely won't be a problem."

Dong Xuebin thought for a moment. "Would a ten-million deal really have that much effect? How much investment has our bureau brought in this year? Who brought it in?"

Lin Pingping said awkwardly, "It's all because I haven't done my job well. Section One hasn't produced any results these past few days. Only Director Sun has brought in a deal worth several million, and it's currently credited to Section Two."

As she said that, Lin Pingping's tone turned somewhat sour. Section One truly was the neglected stepchild. Sun Shuli had always been bringing deals to Section Two. As the deputy director of the Investment Bureau, he naturally had a certain advantage in status when approaching investors. Combined with his decent work ability, it was hardly strange that he was more efficient than Section One. Still, Lin Pingping refused to accept Section Two's success.

Dong Xuebin laughed. "That tone doesn't sound right."

Lin Pingping hesitated. "Director, I'm not afraid you'll laugh at me, but Section One has always had strong opinions about this. Isn't the bureau being too biased? Why are all the investments brought in by the bureau leadership credited to Section Two? Section One is also a business department of the Investment Bureau, so how can we..."

She knew there was little use saying this to Dong Xuebin. To the Top Leader, whether it was Section One or Section Two, as long as they brought in a deal, it was all the bureau's achievement. There was no difference to Dong Xuebin.

Dong Xuebin smiled. "So the opinions are pretty strong."

"Not exactly. It's just that we feel..." Lin Pingping did not continue. Saying too much would only be improper. "Oh, right, here are your car keys. Thank you for lending me the car."

Dong Xuebin accepted the keys. "How's that investor doing?"

Lin Pingping's expression turned serious. "I was just about to report this to you. The investor is Liang Zeyuan. He used to be a farmer, then made his fortune and became a major livestock breeder. Later, he got into investing."

"In one of the promotional materials our bureau issued this year, Director Liang took an interest in a Pork Processing Plant Project. The total investment is around twenty million. That's quite a substantial investment for our county. Last year, it would have ranked in the top ten. That's why I've been leading the people in our section in following up on this matter these past few days, but the situation... isn't very optimistic."

Dong Xuebin asked, "What's the problem?"

Lin Pingping said, "The Investment Bureau of our neighboring Dafeng County has also approached Director Liang. Well, to be exact, they approached him first. Liang Zeyuan only came to our county to compare and inspect things."

"To put it bluntly, Dafeng County's economic environment is better than ours, while the preferential policies they offer are roughly the same. That makes the gap obvious. From what I can tell, unless something unexpected happens, it will be difficult for us to keep him. Dafeng County is more attractive to him. I've led Section One in making some efforts, but the results have been limited."

Dong Xuebin tapped the desk with his fingers. "What are you thinking?"

Lin Pingping had done a great deal of research into analyzing investors' personalities and psychology. She said, "Director, Director Liang has a straightforward personality. He's generous and loves making friends. For investors with that kind of personality, a small difference in benefits is no big deal."

"What I mean is, whether he invests in Yantai County or Dafeng County, the saved costs or annual profits would differ by no more than a few tens of thousands of yuan. It's only that little bit, so Liang Zeyuan doesn't really care where he invests. He won't care much about such a small amount of money."

Dong Xuebin nodded. "So we still have a chance?"

"Yes."

"Twenty million. This is no small investment. We have to find a way to secure it!"

"That's what I think too, so I wanted to ask you to step in."

"Me?" Dong Xuebin readily agreed. "Fine. How do you want me to cooperate?"

Lin Pingping said, "I already tried approaching him as a friend, but the effect wasn't great. So I want to take a different angle and let Director Liang feel that our county values him far more than Dafeng County does."

"If you think it's feasible, I'll invite him to lunch at noon. If possible, you and the County Leaders could..."

Dong Xuebin understood. "All right, go arrange it. I'll invite County Chief Zhao."

Lin Pingping quickly called and arranged a meeting with Liang Zeyuan.

After receiving the news, Dong Xuebin also called Deputy County Chief Zhao Xinglong. "Hello, County Chief Zhao. There's a lunch meeting at noon to discuss a project with an investor, regarding a pork processing plant. I'd like to invite you to attend. It's mainly to let the investor feel how seriously the county takes him. What do you think...?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xinglong agreed without a second thought. "No problem. I'll fully cooperate with your work."

After hanging up, Dong Xuebin felt reassured. He carefully read through the Pork Processing Plant Project proposal Lin Pingping had given him from beginning to end, making thorough preparations.

Although he only needed to grasp the overall direction and could leave the business details to Lin Pingping and the others, as the Top Leader, he could not afford to know nothing when asked.

Dong Xuebin attached great importance to this project. Twenty million was an opening victory. If they could secure it, it would immediately solve four percent of the five hundred million target. It would also give the Investment Bureau a Pill of Reassurance.

Moreover, Dong Xuebin had only just taken office. He urgently needed a major deal to prove his ability and achievements, to let others know that he was not only capable of doing discipline inspection work, but also capable of handling Investment Promotion Work well.

This was the first project Dong Xuebin had personally handled.

He would not allow failure.