Returning wealthy individuals develop their hometowns and become rich in the 1980s

"Zai Dong, am I not too late?"

"Mr. Huang, you've come at just the right time!"

"Hahaha," Huang Bin laughed heartily upon hearing this, pointing at Chen Dong and saying, "Zai Dong, you've learned to be quite tactful these past few days in Ningcheng. It seems Ningcheng really does nurture people!"

"Mr. Huang, you're joking. The project is progressing smoothly, so naturally I feel relaxed. When you're in a good mood, your mindset becomes peaceful and you're less impulsive," Chen Dong laughed.

To be honest, Chen Dong has been in Ningcheng for eight days now, and he feels that he gets along quite well with Ningcheng. He has already made plans. When his fifth brother, Chen Zaixing, starts a real estate business in Ningcheng, he will make sure that Chen Zaixing builds a villa community in Dongqian Lake. He will then bring his wife Zhang Yi, son Chen Hui, and daughter Huiyi to stay there from time to time.

While Huang Bin and Chen Dong were chatting, Liao Yueming shook hands with Cai Shengju and then said to Ji Lianjun and Ma Liang, "Comrades, I've been waiting for this day at the Provincial Party Committee for a long time. You have gloriously completed this arduous task. Keep up the good work!"

"Without Secretary Liao's guidance and support, our Ningcheng Municipal Party Committee and Government would not have been able to reach an agreement with Mr. Chen so quickly," Cai Shengju said. This was not flattery, but a sincere statement.

Indeed, without the support of Provincial Party Secretary Liao Yueming, Ningcheng would not have been able to offer Shanghai such favorable conditions. In terms of policy, as the top provincial leader, he personally called the central government to apply for land. Liao Yueming, with his absolute authority, directly took responsibility and signed the documents.

As long as it was something Xiaochi wanted, Liao Yueming would agree. That's how we got to today's signing ceremony between the Ningcheng Municipal Party Committee and Xiaochi Company. It can be said that Liao Yueming, the then Provincial Party Secretary, played an indispensable role in Ningcheng's future rise to become the number one city in Zhejiang Province, thanks to the development of Xiaochi as an automobile city.

"I only did what I was supposed to do. You are the ones who deserve the most credit, especially Comrade Lianjun, who deserves the most credit," Liao Yueming said to Ji Lianjun with a gentle smile, showing no airs of a provincial party secretary. "Comrade Lianjun is a good comrade. If it weren't for the fact that Xiaochi's project couldn't do without you, I would have transferred you directly to Hangzhou."

"Secretary Yueming, I have no objection to your request to transfer Comrade Lianjun to the provincial capital. However, we need Comrade Lianjun to get our Xiaochi Auto City in Ningcheng up and running first," Cai Shengju said, making Liao Yueming laugh.

Liao Yueming pointed at Cai Shengju and laughed, "You, Cai Shengju, this person hasn't even been transferred yet, and you're already dividing things up between us. Comrade Lianjun, look at you, you're already kicking away the ladder after crossing the river."

"Hahaha!"

Lai Zhanggao glanced at his watch, walked over, and whispered to Ji Lianjun, "Boss, it's about time. It's time to go on stage and begin."

"Hmm," Liao Yueming also heard Lai Zhanggao's words. He glanced at Lai Zhanggao, a 25-year-old division-level cadre. Cai Shengju had naturally reported and consulted Liao Yueming afterward. After weighing the options, Liao Yueming agreed to the appointment.

The central government has always required local cadres to be younger, management to be more professional, and leaders to be more educated. Lai Zhanggao was able to get the recommendation of Ji Lianjun, the person in charge of this project, and he also made a small contribution in "snatching" Xiaochi from Shanghai to Nanjing. This promotion is a sign of being given important responsibilities.

If Lai Zhanggao remains just another ordinary person in the position of director of the development zone, then he will only reach the level of a division chief. His efforts to be promoted beyond his current level have exhausted all his merits and connections, and he will have to rely on his own abilities from now on.

If you do a good job and revitalize the development zone, you will naturally continue to rise in rank. Even if you do a bad job, or even if you are slightly unsatisfactory, someone will immediately come and take over.

Don't underestimate this development zone director. The provincial party committee and even the central government are watching him closely. For Lai Zhanggao, it's about advancing his career; for the children of high-ranking officials in the central government, it's about gaining prestige.

Huang Bin reached out to pull Chen Dong onto the stage, but Chen Dong just smiled and waved for Huang Bin to go first. After the two secretaries, Liao Yueming and Cai Shengju, went up on stage, Chen Dong then walked up with Ji Lianjun and Ma Liang.

Huang Bin sat in the center of the stage, with Liao Yueming to his left and Cai Shengju to his right. Chen Dong sat in the fourth chair. Chen Zaixing did not go up on stage but sat in the first row below the stage, with his hands crossed in front of him, a smile on his lips, and his eyes squinting at the stage.

Lai Zhanggao, as the host, announced the start of the signing ceremony, and applause immediately rang out. The people present, mostly cadres from Ningcheng and a group of reporters, sat below the stage, waiting for Chen Dong, Huang Bin, and Liao Yueming to give their speeches. Lai Zhanggao, holding the microphone, turned to the side and said, "Next, please welcome Mr. Chen Zaidong, Chairman of Xiaochi Company, to give a speech."

"Distinguished leaders, honored guests, and fellow villagers," Chen Dong's voice wasn't loud, but it was amplified by the microphone to every corner of the venue, "It is an honor for Xiaochi Company to receive the invitation from the Ningcheng Municipal Party Committee and Government to invest and set up a factory in Ningcheng. Here, I would first like to thank Minister Huang Bin of the Ministry of Industry... and Secretary Liao Yueming of the Provincial Party Committee..."

Every time Chen Dong spoke a short segment, the audience applauded enthusiastically. The CCTV cameramen kept their lenses fixed on Chen Dong, and also captured the people around him in the frame from time to time.

"Times are progressing. As the old saying goes, let those who get rich first help those who are still poor. Let our Ningcheng Xiaochi Power Automobile City be the pioneer, leading our fellow villagers of Ningcheng onto the road to prosperity. Thank you everyone!"

The applause was continuous, and Huang Bin, Liao Yueming, and other leaders on the stage were very satisfied with Chen Dong's speech, which was neither complacent nor unmotivating.

As Chen Dong and Ji Lianjun exchanged contracts and signed them again, shaking hands while holding the contract books, reporters from the publicity departments and television stations of Ningcheng and Hangzhou cities below the stage snapped photos incessantly, recording this important historical moment for Ningcheng, Zhejiang Province, and even China.

After the signing ceremony, everyone moved to the foundation stone. The granite monument covered with red silk stood in front of the excavated pit. A layer of fresh soil was spread around the monument. Huang Bin, Liao Yueming, Cai Shengju, Chen Dong, and Ji Lianjun, each with a shovel, scooped up a shovelful of soil and threw it onto the base of the monument.

A reporter from Huaxia News Agency captured this scene and published it on the front page of the People's Daily, making it a new historical photograph of China at the end of 1983.

The ceremony ended, and Huang Bin and Chen Dong walked on the dirt road, with Liao Yueming and others following closely behind. Huang Bin suddenly looked at Chen Dong and said, "Zai Dong, in Shanghai, Gao Yueming has been transferred to Guizhou Province, and Guo Yifu has been transferred to Gansu Province."

After hearing this, Chen Dong simply nodded without saying anything. The gains and losses of a five-hundred-million-dollar project meant that someone had to bear the wrath of the central government.

The successive transfers of Shanghai's top two officials demonstrate the deep-seated aversion of the central leadership to the inaction of local officials.

Will you go back to Shanghai again?

"We'll see!"