The First Project

The next morning.

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

He got up relatively early today, just before eight o'clock, so when he saw the heavy traffic jam ahead, Dong Xuebin wasn't in a hurry. He took out a document from his bag, opened the window, and smoked while reading. Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure. Dong Xuebin subconsciously looked up at the roadside. This was near Central South Road. Besides a small supermarket and a few clothing and jewelry stores, there was also Nanchang Kindergarten. The kindergarten gate was open, and it was time for school, with parents leading their children by the hand as they walked inside.

Lin Pingping?

Dong Xuebin was suspicious. He saw Lin Pingping leading a little boy of about five years old.

Outside the kindergarten gate, Lin Pingping wore a loving smile, squatted down in front of the little boy, straightened his collar, and patted his head. "Liang Liang, go to school."

The little boy pouted and said, "Mom, there's a painting competition at school today. Can you participate?" Lin Pingping kissed him on the forehead apologetically. "Liang Liang, be good. Mom has to go to work."

"But... but..." Liang Liang was a little unhappy, his mouth pouting high.

Lin Pingping smiled and said, "How about this? Mom will take a day off this weekend, no matter how busy she is, and take you to see a movie. So you have to be good and not be naughty, okay?"

Liang Liang cheered, "Oh, oh, thank you, Mom! I want to see a movie!"

"Then Mom is leaving." After kissing Liang Liang on the cheek one last time, Lin Pingping turned around with her bag.

The road ahead was clear, and the cars that were stuck there drove out one by one. The taxi driver was about to leave, but Dong Xuebin told the driver to wait a moment. A few seconds later, seeing Lin Pingping on the roadside preparing to hail a taxi, Dong Xuebin smiled and waved at her from the car window, signaling her to come up. Lin Pingping also saw Dong Xuebin, stunned, and looked back at the direction of the kindergarten, then quickly walked over.

"...Director Dong." Lin Pingping said.

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

"Okay." Lin Pingping smiled. "Then I'll hitch a ride with you." Lin Pingping had returned Dong Xuebin's Mercedes Business to the Investment Bureau compound yesterday after using it. She didn't dare to use Director Dong's car as her own, so she had walked out.

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

Lin Pingping smiled and nodded. "The little guy is so clingy. He just wants me to take him to play every day. These kids nowadays, they're all too playful." Seeing that she answered without hesitation, Dong Xuebin nodded secretly. He knew that Lin Pingping was unmarried. There was no record of divorce or anything on her file. Now it seemed that she was an unwed mother, which surprised Dong Xuebin very much. At least he had never heard of this in the office. Most people would definitely keep quiet about this kind of thing. You have to pay attention to your image when working in a government agency, but Lin Pingping smiled and said that was her son, which made Dong Xuebin think highly of her. If she had stammered and said it wasn't, Dong Xuebin would have thought she lacked responsibility.

Dong Xuebin had no intention of asking about her personal affairs and didn't mention it after saying one sentence.

Investment Bureau compound.

"Director Dong."

"Director, good morning."

Several Clerks greeted him respectfully.

Dong Xuebin smiled and said, "Good morning, everyone." The atmosphere in the compound today was obviously better than at noon yesterday. After a series of efforts by Dong Xuebin, there was no longer that atmosphere of constant complaining. Everyone had also been relieved of some of the pressure from the five hundred million task. After all, attracting an investment could also add a double bonus, which was an opportunity for everyone. Even if the Business Section collectively worked hard to pull in an order of tens of millions, the county's bonus plus the share promised by Director Dong would average out to twenty or thirty thousand for each person, which was equivalent to half a year's salary for everyone.

Dong Xuebin was very pleased. "Section Chief Lin, come see me later." "Okay, I'll go over after I put my things down," Lin Pingping said beside him.

Two minutes after returning to his office, Lin Pingping knocked on the door and came in. Dong Xuebin asked Guo Panwei to pour her a cup of tea, and then said, "The atmosphere in the compound is good today. I see that everyone has perked up a bit. That's how it should be. You can only do a good job if you have energy."

Lin Pingping smiled. "It's the effect of your reward method." Dong Xuebin said, "But it's not enough to just have energy. Does everyone have confidence?"

Lin Pingping paused. "To be honest, I did everyone's ideological work before I got off work yesterday, but the five hundred million task is too heavy after all. I don't think everyone has much confidence in their hearts. They all feel that it is impossible to complete. Director, I think what needs to be done now is to give everyone a shot in the arm. If a ten million yuan investment plan can be signed this week, it will undoubtedly stabilize morale and let everyone know that five hundred million is not a dream. With confidence and hard work, I believe this year's five hundred million task will definitely not be a problem." Dong Xuebin thought for a while. "A ten million yuan order won't have much effect, right? How much investment has our bureau attracted this year? Who attracted it?"

Hearing this, Lin Pingping said embarrassedly, "It's all my fault for not working hard enough. Section One hasn't had any results these days. Only Director Sun has attracted a few million yuan order, which is now recorded under Section Two's name." Speaking of this, Lin Pingping's tone was a little sour. Section One was really a place that no one loved. Sun Shuli had been pulling orders for Section Two. As the Deputy Director of the Investment Bureau, Sun Shuli had a certain advantage in terms of identity when contacting investors. In addition, his work ability was good, so it was not surprising that his efficiency was stronger than Section One's, but Lin Pingping was unconvinced by Section Two.

Dong Xuebin was amused. "Your tone is not right?"

Lin Pingping pondered for a moment and said, "Director, I'm not afraid of you laughing at me. Everyone in Section One has had a lot of opinions about this matter. Is the bureau too biased? Why should the investments attracted by the bureau leaders be recorded under Section Two's name? Our Section One is also a business department of the Investment Bureau. How come..." She knew that it was useless to say this to Dong Xuebin. As far as the top leader was concerned, whether it was Section One or Section Two, as long as they attracted orders, they were all the bureau's achievements, and there was no difference to Dong Xuebin.

Dong Xuebin smiled, "You have a lot of opinions."

"Not really, it's just that I feel..." Lin Pingping didn't continue, saying more would be inappropriate. "Oh, here are your car keys, thank you for the ride." Dong Xuebin took the keys. "How's the investor doing?"

Lin Pingping said solemnly, "I was just about to report this to you. The investor is called Liang Zeyuan. He used to be a farmer, then he became rich and became a large-scale breeder, and later he got into investment. The bureau provided a promotional material this year, and Liang Zeyuan took a fancy to a pork processing plant. The total investment is about 20 million, which is a very significant investment for our county. It could have been in the top ten last year, so I've been working on this with the people in my section these days, but the situation... isn't very optimistic." Dong Xuebin asked, "What's the problem?"

Lin Pingping said, "The Investment Bureau of Dafeng County, our neighboring county, has also contacted General Manager Liang. Well, it should be said that they contacted him first. This time, Liang Zeyuan came to our county just to compare and investigate. To put it bluntly, Dafeng County's economic environment is better than ours, and the preferential policies offered are similar to ours, so the gap is obvious. From what I can see, it will be difficult for us to keep him unless something unexpected happens. Dafeng County is more attractive to him. I and Section One have made some efforts, but the effect is not significant."

Dong Xuebin tapped the table with his hand. "What are your thoughts?" Lin Pingping was very good at analyzing investors' personalities and psychology. She said, "Director, General Manager Liang's personality is relatively forthright, very generous, and loves to make friends. For this type of investor, a little bit of profit doesn't matter much. What I mean is, whether he invests in Yantai County or Dafeng County, the cost savings or annual profits won't be much different, just a few tens of thousands of yuan. So Liang Zeyuan doesn't care where he invests, he doesn't care too much about this small amount of money." Dong Xuebin hummed in agreement. "So we still have a chance?" "Yes." "Twenty million, this investment is not small, we must find a way to get it!" "That's what I think too, so I want to ask you to come forward."

"Me?" Dong Xuebin readily agreed, "Okay, how do you want me to cooperate?" Lin Pingping said, "Start from the friendship aspect. I've tried this before, but the effect wasn't great, so I want to change the angle and let General Manager Liang feel that our county values him far more than Dafeng County. If you think it's okay, I'll invite him to dinner at noon, and if possible, you and the county leaders..."

Dong Xuebin understood. "Okay, you go make the appointment. I'll ask County Chief Zhao." Lin Pingping quickly called and made an appointment with Liang Zeyuan.

After receiving the news, Dong Xuebin also called Deputy County Chief Zhao Xinglong. "Hello, County Chief Zhao, there's a dinner at noon to discuss a project with an investor, about a pork processing plant. I'd like to invite you to attend, mainly to let the investor feel the county's attention. What do you think..."

Hearing this, Zhao Xinglong agreed without thinking. "No problem, I will fully cooperate with your work."

After hanging up the phone, Dong Xuebin felt confident. He thoroughly reviewed the pork processing plant project plan that Lin Pingping had given him, and carefully prepared for the work. Although he was only in charge of the overall direction and left the business aspects to Lin Pingping and the others, as the top leader, he couldn't be ignorant of everything. Dong Xuebin valued this project very much. Twenty million was a good start. If he could get it, he could solve four percent of the five hundred million task at once. Secondly, it could give the Investment Bureau a sense of security. Thirdly, Dong Xuebin had just taken office and urgently needed a big deal to affirm his ability and achievements, so that others would know that he was not only capable of doing ** work, but also capable of doing a good job in investment promotion.

This was the first project Dong Xuebin had handled.

He would not allow failure!