Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 195 Miss Dong?
"Hello, Director Wang..."

"Okay, I'll wait for your call."

...

"Hey, Director Liu!..."

"Okay, okay, I'll wait for you!"

...

"Hello, Secretary Xia..."

"Oh, okay, okay! I'll bring the business partners over tomorrow!"

A series of reports at each level.

After several attempts, Zhang Xu finally got in touch with the person in question, Mayor Wu, who was in Zhuhai.

The amazing thing is that an ordinary staff member, who didn't even have a deputy section chief position, was able to contact the mayor through three phone calls.

"The mayor isn't in Zhuhai right now; he's in Guangzhou inspecting Gree stores. He heard you're going to Shenzhen and said he can come over tomorrow to treat you to dinner. How about we rest for the night and go tomorrow morning?"

Zhang Xu said somewhat embarrassedly, "Booking plane tickets at the last minute is too expensive, and our budget is limited."

Chen Xuebing smiled.

It seems they're even planning to cover their own and others' airfare.

“Let’s not make the mayor make the trip. Guangzhou isn’t far, let’s go to Guangzhou. We have a lot of people, let’s book the plane tickets ourselves. Ren Ying, please compile a list of their names and ID numbers, and then have Mr. He and Lawyer Wei come over to come with us. Oh, and what business documents do you need? We’ll provide them to you.”

Zhang Xu glanced at Kan Zhidong and hurriedly said, "No need, no need!"

He wasn't familiar with Shenyin Wanguo Securities, but he knew about Shenzhen Capital Group. Minister Jiang from the Publicity Department had been stationed in Shenzhen to attract investment recently, and the projects he discussed were all invested in by Shenzhen Capital Group. They were also learning about the investment model of Shenzhen Capital Group, and their people had to treat this large state-owned enterprise with utmost respect.

The founder and former president of Shenzhen Capital Group (SCGC) – there's no need for further verification of that identity.

Chen Xuebing knew why the other party was so proactive, but he didn't want to rely entirely on Lao Kan. After thinking for a moment, he smiled and said, "Xiao Liu studied securities, so he can understand stock accounts, right? Manager Xu, show them our holdings accounts."

Zhang Xu wanted to decline again, but Huang, the retired old man from the Finance Bureau who hadn't said a word, nudged him.

Old people are always cautious.

Xu Jin smiled and led his men inside.

At 7:30 p.m., a flight took off.

China Eastern's first class is very comfortable, much more so than China Southern, which Chen Xuebing used to frequently fly with.

It's very spacious; the sofa can be pulled up to be used as a bed.

I heard that international flights also have private rooms.

But it's also very expensive, more than four times the price of economy class. A two-hour flight costs 8600 yuan for a ticket.

The cabin is divided into two corners, with 12 seats in total.

These days, to maintain the prestige of first class, discounts and upgrades are not allowed. Tonight, the first class cabin was almost empty, with only one seat reserved. However, Chen Xuebing and his party took up almost half of it.

Those traveling with him included Kan Zhidong, Cai Zhijian, Ren Ying, Administrative Director He Yue, Financial Director Xiao Haidong, Risk Control Manager of Changzheng Capital Wei Zhixing, and three people from Hefei.

As soon as they took off, the flight attendant came over with the menu, knelt down to serve them, and took their orders.

Chen Xuebing was hungry, so he ordered a bunch of special auspicious dishes.

I ordered "Good Fortune Abounds" (lion's head meatballs), "Golden Jade Abundance" (crab roe and shrimp), "Auspicious Purple Qi Comes from the East" (stewed beef), and also a mango mousse.

Zhang Xu, standing next to him, was still in a daze. Just a week ago, they were arguing with a computer parts supplier about 60 acres of industrial land for a deal worth three million. And today, he suddenly saw a stock account worth 236 million!
They even flew first class!

This was the first time in his life he had boarded a plane and turned left. He felt a little awkward and hesitated to order food. He cautiously approached Chen Xuebing and said, "Mr. Chen, this is way over the limit. How much is this seat?"

"Order yours, the meal is free, it's all included in the ticket price, and you won't get a refund if you don't order," Chen Xuebing said with a smile.

After hesitating for a while, I ordered braised beef from the menu.

The flight attendant smiled and was about to leave when he called her back with an "Eh!" He then ordered a huge amount of food and drinks, including two drinks at once, as if he wanted to eat his way back the price of his plane ticket.

Once a person lets go, they become more and more open. He then asked for a blanket to cover his legs, just like Chen Xuebing had done.

Chen Xuebing chuckled at the sight; this young man was quite honest.

“President Chen, please don’t laugh at me! I’ve barely flown more than twice. When I got into university, my dad rewarded me with a plane ticket. Last month, my company selected me to join the investment promotion team. Secretary Sun personally saw us off at the airport and told us that if we brought in any clients, we could fly back to Hefei; if not, we could take the train. I never thought I’d actually get to fly in first class in my life,” Zhang Xu chuckled.

"Oh? The Party Secretary personally escorted you?"

"Yes! The Party Secretary and Mayor both took office last year. They are very young and have great drive! They attach great importance to attracting investment! Last year, they were busy demolishing illegal buildings, removing 12 million square meters of illegal structures, just to make room for development. They did a good job in the preliminary preparations before starting to attract investment. Our delegation set off on the 6th of last month, and in 40 days, we have already reached agreements with more than 100 companies!"

Chen Xuebing nodded. When investing locally, the key is the leadership. He had already checked the relevant information about Hefei beforehand.

However, Zhang Xu's statement about "leaving room for development" sounds too official; to be precise, it should be interpreted as a pretext for selling land.

Faced with a poor and backward Hefei, it's likely that everyone would have to resort to the powerful strategy of "land finance" to accumulate their first pot of gold for development.

Another mayor, Wu, was previously a leader in the Water Resources Department. His move to Hefei was considered a promotion, since several previous mayors in Hefei had succeeded as party secretaries.

One is 43 years old, and the other is 42 years old; they are very young.

The previous leaders of Hefei were all promoted locally, but this time the two young leaders were parachuted in, probably because the higher authorities are determined to carry out a major reshuffle to save Hefei's economy.

Studying these things reveals something beyond the overwhelming reports of the "Hefei Model" in the past. In fact, the rise of Hefei could be seen from the appointment of these two people.

The will of those in power is the foundation for sweeping reforms, and both new officials need a powerful impetus to take office.

In addition, since Hefei was previously carrying out demolition of illegal structures and is now starting large-scale investment promotion, it must have sold some land and accumulated some capital.

"Stop saying nice things, say something bad to me," Chen Xuebing said.

"The only downside is that the urban development is a bit lacking, it's somewhat chaotic, and the land doesn't fetch high prices, unlike most provincial capitals. But I don't think it's a bad thing for you investors. If the area is poor, workers' wages will be low. The industries in the high-tech zone are also very concentrated. Our home appliance production capacity is third in the country. If we can bring in Gree, we might become second in the country. There's also the University of Science and Technology of China. The Party Secretary said that if we develop the industry, we can retain the talent from the University of Science and Technology of China."

Chen Xuebing's lips gradually curled up as he listened.

Poor urban construction? How is that a bad thing?
Isn't this a benefit?

Hefei is currently short of funds. Once he helps Hefei earn money, Hefei can then invest in the infrastructure market.

I, Chen, can help Hefei again.

Growing together with Hefei.

After half a day, he became more and more satisfied with Hefei.

Hefei has already entered his list of "five cities that have changed in twenty years".

Guangzhou was brightly lit at night, and it was already past ten o'clock when we arrived in the city.

Mayor Wu agreed to meet at the hotel, which greatly pleased Chen Xuebing.

The truly important decisions should be made in private, in a room with a few people, the atmosphere of which is just right. As for dinner parties, they are either for asking for favors or for leisurely negotiations. If a dinner is to be held for a specific matter, he prefers a celebration banquet.

The hotel is Vienna, the king of mid-range hotels, and the dominant player in Guangzhou. In his previous life, when Chen Xuebing visited Guangzhou, he opened a hotel app near Foshan and was surrounded by more than a dozen Vienna hotels.

The environment is quite nice; it's a detached house with a yard in front.

Three taxis and nine people got out at the hotel entrance, only to be met with an even bigger scene.

A dozen people were standing at the door. If Zhang Xu hadn't run over and called out, Chen Xuebing wouldn't have known which one was Mayor Wu.

Mayor Wu, with a fair complexion, no beard, and wearing thin-rimmed glasses, walked out from the crowd and, introduced by Zhang Xu, took the initiative to shake hands with Chen Xuebing and Kan Zhidong.

"Welcome! Mr. Kan! Mr. Chen! Mr. Chen, you are so young, promising, and decisive!" Mayor Wu looked Chen Xuebing up and down and said, "I originally planned to have all the investment promotion staff come and line up to welcome you tomorrow. I didn't expect that the investment promotion office would only receive the call this afternoon, and Xia Xia would only report this matter to me after dinner. I met Mr. Chen in the evening!"

Information flows smoothly in Hefei. Chen Xuebing and Kan Zhidong's identities, as well as the stock account with over 200 million yuan, have already reached Mayor Wu's ears, which is why we have the current situation.

For governments these days, it seems incomplete if such a large investor doesn't receive a warm welcome.

Chen Xuebing was secretly glad that he had brought out several members of the group's management team today to put on a good show, and that they were dressed quite formally.

If he were in a hot place like Guangzhou at any other time, he would never wear a trench coat with a suit underneath.

He wasn't intimidated, but he didn't want to waste time either, and smiled:
"Haha, it's getting late. Since Mayor Wu praised me for being decisive and efficient, I'll get straight to the point! I'm here today to discuss investment cooperation with your region. Here are the project documents; please take a look!"

After he finished speaking, Ren Ying, who was standing next to him, immediately came over and handed him a document.

Mayor Wu was surprised by Chen Xuebing's directness and took the book, flipping through two pages.

When I saw this, I was stunned.

The project will be completed within a year and a half, with an investment of over 13 billion yuan.

The investment promotion office had relayed this information to him, but he thought they were exaggerating. They said it was an investment of 1 to 2 billion yuan, and if you look ahead, there will be a second, third, and fourth phase, which would add up to a 10 billion yuan project.

This is the trend these days—to grab attention and get noticed. The bigger the project, the more attention it gets from the government, and the better policies it can get.

Little did people know that Chen Xuebing had actually reduced this figure. In his previous life, BOE's total investment in building a factory in Hefei in 08 was 175 billion yuan. He was afraid of scaring Hefei, so he intentionally lowered the figure.

As for the actual investment required, it is unknown whether it will be higher due to insufficient technological development or lower due to lower construction costs than in 08. Only BOE can make the calculation.

Mayor Wu looked down and was even more stunned. He pointed to a stall and showed it to Chen Xuebing.

"Why is this Chongqing?"

The document also bears the words "Chongqing Government".

Chen Xuebing smiled.

This was by no means a technical error. When he had the materials printed, he deleted a large section about Chongqing's economic history, but he also instructed that the word "Chongqing" in the plan should not be deliberately modified.

Since Chongqing doesn't want it, we might as well give it to them to save on communication costs.

"Mayor Wu, this document was originally prepared for Chongqing, and the Development and Reform Commission has already reviewed it. However, after the project funding was approved, Chongqing changed the investment direction. How about we go up and discuss the specifics?"

Sure enough, Mayor Wu's expression became much more serious when he heard that the Development and Reform Commission had approved it.

"Let's go up there, I want to take a good look!"

Mayor Wu raised his hand in invitation from close range, and only then did Chen Xuebing smell the alcohol on him.

As the group entered the lobby and was about to go upstairs, a woman wearing a thin trench coat walked in from the side of the lobby, one hand in her pocket and the other carrying a bag.

Mayor Wu!

Mayor Wu turned his head and looked at the scene, his expression becoming somewhat embarrassed.

"President Dong, what brings you here?"

When Chen Xuebing saw this woman, a question mark appeared in his mind.

Could I really run into Miss Dong?
"I arrived earlier. I saw you were coming downstairs to pick someone up, so I didn't have time to call you. Are these investors?"

Dong Mingzhu smiled broadly and raised her chin towards Chen Xuebing.

Mayor Wu hesitated slightly, then suddenly realized that this was a good opportunity to elevate Hefei's image.

"Oh! Let me introduce you! This is Mr. Kan, the founder of Shenzhen Capital Group! This is Mr. Chen, the general manager of Chongqing Gu'an Group! He just came from Chongqing!"

"This is Ms. Dong, the General Manager of Gree Group!"

"President Chen and President Kan brought their LCD project to Hefei for investment! Gree Group has also reached a strategic cooperation agreement with Hefei! These are all major projects in the home appliance industry! Seeing you all, I believe that Hefei's development will definitely reach a new level!"

Mayor Wu burst into laughter as he introduced the situation.

Normally, the correspondent would come to take photos.

But Ms. Dong seemed somewhat dissatisfied.

She lifted the bag in her hand and smiled.

"To move up the steps, Mayor Wu hasn't had enough drinks yet. It just so happens that the investors have come from afar. You provide the dishes, I'll provide the drinks, let's have another round of drinks."

Mayor Wu immediately gave a wry smile: "Let's not drink anymore. President Dong's drinking capacity is extraordinary, I admit defeat."

He didn't expect that Shenzhen Capital Group, with a scale of nearly 10 billion yuan and being a local investment company, would still have such a cold and unfriendly response from Dong Mingzhu.

If Chen Xuebing knew what Mayor Wu was thinking, he would probably laugh.

Shenzhen Capital Group certainly couldn't control Ms. Dong.

No matter how brilliant you are in the investment field, they don't need you.

Great companies, especially cash giants like Gree, don't need to choose investment even if they need money; they have a better financing path: issuing bonds.

"I won't force anyone to drink. If the mayor doesn't want to drink, you can have tea and I'll drink with you."

Dong Mingzhu stared intently at Mayor Wu, her gaze piercing:

"Why don't you give me those 60 points and I'll leave right away? Otherwise, I won't be able to explain it to Chairman Zhu when I get back."

Mayor Wu was at his wit's end: "50% of the value-added tax has to be handed over to the state, and the remaining 50% is the maximum we can retain, which has already been fully returned to you! Any higher, and if you produce, we'll have to pay out of our own pockets!"

"Tsk, Mayor Wu, there's still income tax, right? It's driving such a huge increase in output... think of a way."

Dong Mingzhu persisted relentlessly, driving Mayor Wu to the point of scratching the back of his head.

A group of people were frozen in place by a woman, unable to move in the hall.

Chen Xuebing, however, remained silent and watched with amusement.

It seems that being domineering is indeed a woman's prerogative.

Even though Ms. Dong is around 50 years old, this trick still works.

We need to hire a woman for the sales department in the future!

(End of this chapter)