Official title: Refused to stay at the university, started his career in a rural town.

"Shunfa Textile's aging equipment and industry decline are not problems that just started today." Yang Fan picked up his enamel mug, took a sip, and put it down.

"Qian Shunfa himself should know best. If he really wants to do a good job—that's fine. The government can help him connect with potential partners, facilitate the introduction of new technologies, secure orders, and arrange loans for technological upgrades; any of these can be negotiated."

He pushed the enamel mug forward, and the bottom of the mug made a soft, crisp sound as it tapped against the table.

"But what he came for wasn't technological upgrades, it was arbitrage! He wanted land and low-interest loans!"

"To put it bluntly—he knew he couldn't hold on much longer and wanted government money to bail him out. When the government refused, he threatened to withdraw his investment." He paused. "This is using the government's credit to pay for his own actions!"

Upon hearing this, everyone present seemed to be deep in thought.

"Since it's arbitrage, it's not a question of whether to keep it or not—it's a question of whether to allow the arbitrage to proceed." Yang Fan leaned back in his chair and glanced around.

"Perfect timing. Our county is planning to build an industrial park. There are still companies that want to leave and try to profit from the situation. We can take this opportunity to clean them up – those who stay are the ones who are willing to develop with Ninghe County."

Su Shunda remained silent. He leaned back in his chair, a cigarette between his fingers, wisps of smoke rising between them. When Yang Fan finished speaking, he stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray and cleared his throat.

"County Chief Yang's analysis is very insightful." His voice was calm and unhurried, each word as if it had been carefully considered.

"The Shunfa incident is not essentially about the survival of a company—it's about a company shifting its operational risks to the government. Qian Shunfa's threat to withdraw investment is based on his confidence that we are afraid of losing the company and tax revenue. If this mentality is tolerated, we will no longer be called Ninghe County Government—we will be called ATMs."

He stood up, his hands gripping the edge of the table. "But then again—learn from past mistakes to avoid future ones, cure the disease to save the patient. County Magistrate Cao—"

Cao Dezhu raised his head.

"Please take the trouble to go talk to Qian Shunfa again! Lay out the situation that County Chief Yang just analyzed—the current state of the textile industry, the problems with his equipment, and the future risks—to him."

"If he wants to run the business properly and transform his business, the government will fully support him! But if he still wants to threaten to withdraw investment—"

Su Shunda paused for a moment.

"Then please let him do as he pleases. But before he leaves, according to the terms of our county's investment agreement, the corresponding liabilities for breach of contract, the taxes that should be paid and the land transfer fees that should be refunded, must all be paid in full."

He picked up the enamel mug, blew away the tea leaves, and took a sip.

Meeting adjourned.

The chair legs creaked and groaned as they scraped against the floor.

Only Yang Fan and Su Shunda remained in the conference room.

Su Shunda leaned back in his chair, looking at Yang Fan. After a long while, he suddenly smiled—not a smile of joy, but of resignation.

"I understand both ring spinning and air-jet spinning." He flicked his cigarette ash and looked at Yang Fan's remarks that he had noted down in his notebook.

"You little rascal, is there anything you don't understand?"

Yang Fan smiled and said, "When I was young, I flipped through the industry reports of the Textile Association when I had nothing to do."

pull!

Su Shunda didn't press the matter further. He stood up, brushed the cigarette ash off his coat, and said, "Let's go, come sit in my office."

In the county magistrate's office, the leaves of the clivia on the windowsill drooped, and the edges were yellowing—it hadn't been tended to for some time.

Su Shunda didn't look at the paper, but went straight to sit behind the desk, took out his cigarette case, lit one for himself and handed it to Yang Fan. Yang Fan took it, took out his lighter and lit one for Su Shunda first, then lit one for himself. The two sat on opposite sides, with an enamel ashtray between them.

"Besides the one at the administrative center, I noticed you've also requested financial statements from county-owned enterprises?" Su Shunda asked.

Yang Fan exhaled a puff of smoke: "We've been reviewing the industrial base of our county. After going through it all, we've discovered a problem—all the large enterprises are labor-intensive. Textiles, food, building materials—they're all built entirely by manpower. This structure can support current tax revenue, but it can't support future development."

Su Shunda flicked his cigarette ash but didn't interrupt him.

"There's some information from across the Han River. I wonder if the county magistrate would be interested in hearing it?" Yang Fan flicked his cigarette ash and leaned forward slightly.

"There's something called 'Xiaolingtong' (小灵通), which is quite popular in the Han River area right now. I heard that the authorities might pilot it in several cities—it's a wireless local loop technology, basically something between a landline and a mobile phone. It's cheap, the call quality is so-so, and ordinary people can afford it."

Su Shunda tapped his fingers slowly on the table. He'd vaguely heard someone mention "Little Smart" at a provincial meeting, but hadn't inquired further.

"I've studied it carefully," Yang Fan paused.

"The number of PHS (Personal Handyphone System) users may experience explosive growth in the next two to three years. The entire industry chain—terminal equipment, base station equipment, and supporting components—has enormous potential. If Ninghe could attract a PHS terminal manufacturer and build an electronics industrial park around it—"

Before he could finish speaking, Su Shunda raised his hand, stopping him from saying anything more. He was silent for a few seconds, tapping his fingers slowly on the table twice before speaking.

The voice wasn't loud, but every word carried a warning: "Go and investigate first, see which company is suitable. Come back and get a proposal."

He stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray. "Building an electronics industrial park requires utmost caution. Can a single mobile phone really support an industrial park? I'm not trying to discourage you, but you should think about it carefully first."

Yang Fan nodded, lit another cigarette, and didn't elaborate further.

He also knew that in the electronics industry, where technology is constantly being updated and the obsolescence rate is very high, many people couldn't quite grasp his approach.

So the general idea is that if you don't understand something, try not to do it.

Yang Fan leaned back in his chair, but his mind started to wander – in his previous life he had seen too many industrial parks, some were treasure troves, others were just territorial disputes.

A blueprint unfolds into factories, but when it's actually implemented, it's a mess of debts.

It's too early for him to say this now, but if he doesn't speak up and waits for someone else to do so first, he'll be the one patching up the holes, not the one proposing solutions.

Yang Fan stood up and stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray. "County Chief, I'll go and schedule a time with the Municipal Telecom Bureau to inquire about the deployment of PHS base stations here."

"Go."

Su Shunda nodded.

"That's the right approach. New industries and new technologies require careful consideration!"

After leaving Su Shunda's office, Yang Fan was still thinking about the Little Smart phone on the way.

This thing seems to require a lot of base stations. If we want to distribute it throughout the province, we first need to reach an agreement with the operators. Otherwise, it would be ridiculous if the PHS phones produced couldn't be used in Handong.