Me! A high-ranking official!

Upon hearing this, the dozen or so villagers around fell silent, their brows furrowed into tight knots.

If we sell, we risk losing a significant portion of our future profits; if we don't sell, we risk the cultural tourism project becoming a dud, leaving us unable to even make any quick money now.

Zhao Jianguo hid in a shady corner behind the crowd, watching the comical way they scratched their heads, and couldn't help but smile.

He never intended to be a sucker who throws money around and emptys his pockets to take over these thirty households. That would be stupid. He had a clear plan. He would just pick three or five households that needed money urgently and buy them. Even Zhou Qingyan was worried about whether the project would succeed. Zhao Jianguo was feeling his way in the dark. He would throw in four or five million as payment for Zhou Qingyan's political achievements.

The reason Liu Tao was cast in this play was to break the deadlock.

Look at them now, these holdouts have no intention of blocking the government and demanding an explanation. The once unbreakable alliance of rights defenders crumbled instantly with Liu Tao's 14 million yuan balance. What's even more insidious is that if they decide not to sell today, the interests of these troublemakers are completely tied to the Xihua County cultural tourism project. Who will dare to stop the construction team from entering the site? These villagers are definitely more concerned than the government. Anyone who dares to affect the progress of the cultural tourism project is cutting off their future path to wealth!

"What do we do now?" someone in the crowd asked in a hoarse voice.

No one answered. Wary glances were exchanged among the villagers. Their spirits were low, and the group could no longer be led. In less than ten minutes, the two or three hundred people dispersed in twos and threes like deflated balloons.

At 11 p.m., there was a knock on Zhao Jianguo's hotel room door.

Liu Tao trudged in, covered in dirt and grime. His once-shiny leather shoes were now stained with mud, and his custom-made suit was soaked with sweat and looked sour. He picked up a glass of cold water from Zhao Jianguo's table, gulped down half of it, wiped his mouth, and grinned.

"Brother Jianguo, it's all settled! I've been running around like crazy. We've finalized deals with three households, all of whom are in dire need of money. The highest offer was 1.8 times the market price, and the lowest was 1.5 times the market price for that lady. It adds up to a little over four million. We've all arranged to go to the housing management bureau to transfer the property tomorrow morning!"

Zhao Jianguo handed him a cigarette and nodded: "Thanks for your hard work. Four million, three courtyards... no more, no less, just right."

Even if the cultural tourism project fails, we can consider it a lesson learned. If it succeeds, these courtyards in the core area will become a treasure trove in the future.

Early the next morning.

As soon as Zhao Jianguo entered the dilapidated office building in the county government compound, he bumped into Zhang Baocheng.

Director Zhang, whose hair was usually styled in a messy, split mess, had wrinkles on the collar of his white shirt today, and dark circles under his eyes. When he saw him, Zhang Baocheng's face twitched. He didn't even bother with his usual fake politeness. He snorted coldly, lowered his head, and walked over quickly, looking like a defeated quail.

Zhao Jianguo sneered inwardly, but calmly pushed open the door to the department.

Hey, the sun must have risen in the west today! Wang Pingping actually sat down at her workstation on time, not even bothering to eat her leek dumplings for breakfast. As soon as she saw Zhao Jianguo, her eyes widened like saucers, and she came over mysteriously.

"Director! Big news! Have you heard?" Wang Pingping lowered her voice, her tone revealing barely suppressed excitement: "Yesterday, a big boss from the south really went to Xiaozhai Village and spent money to buy up dilapidated houses! Give me a hint, is there some kind of official document guaranteeing a minimum investment for this cultural tourism project our bureau is working on? Otherwise, why would businessmen be so stupid as to take over at such a high price?"

"We can't fathom the minds of businessmen, we're just salaried employees. Whether the project succeeds or not depends on Secretary Zhou's determination." Zhao Jianguo smiled as he hung his bag on the coat rack and slowly wiped the dust off the table with a rag.

"Hehehe..." Wang Pingping covered her mouth and laughed gleefully, "Who cares if it works out or not, someone's in big trouble anyway! Let me tell you, yesterday Director Zhang came back from Xiaozhai Village looking utterly dejected, without even a sip of water, and was immediately summoned by the county party committee office. I heard that in the small conference room, Secretary Zhou and County Head Han slammed their fists on the table and gave Director Zhang and the general manager of the county's industrial investment company a thorough dressing-down! Everyone in the compound is talking about it, saying they practically pointed their fingers at them and called them good-for-nothings!"

Zhao Jianguo threw the rag into the basin, wrung it out, and clicked his tongue: "I'm also puzzled. It's just a simple mobilization effort, how did it turn into a mass incident?"

"It's all that section chief from the investment group's grassroots unit's fault!" Wang Pingping rolled her eyes and scoffed, "I heard that everyone was fine at the beginning of the meeting. The villagers were clamoring to sell their houses at the original price and not become NPCs (non-residential residents), but that young section chief from the investment group lost his mind. He put on airs and mocked them on the spot, saying that they couldn't see the situation when they were told to sell back then, and now they want to sell at the price they paid back then? Dream on! Good heavens, that one sentence ignited the powder keg! The villagers overturned the table on the spot and called people to detain them at the village committee!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Jianguo paused, the lid of his teacup clattering softly.

idiot!

This is the most terrifying phenomenon in the current system: people who are all talk and no action, yet have tempers bigger than county magistrates. When you go down to work with the people, you have to go along with them. If you're going to provoke a group of already resentful holdouts with barbed words, what is that if not courting death? Needless to say, that section chief from the production investment department, forget about promotion, his political life is basically over in the mud pit of Xiaozhai Village.

When you're working at the grassroots level, you can stall, you can play dumb, you can even "study it out," but you absolutely cannot openly mock the masses—that's a major political taboo! That section chief from the investment group is probably used to acting like a big shot in front of contractors, and he's still putting on that act when he gets to the village.

"A single sentence caused a mass incident; this section chief's job is done for." He blew on his tea leaves and concluded casually.

Around noon, Zhao Jianguo was looking at documents on his computer when his phone vibrated in his pocket. It was Liu Tao.

"Brother Jianguo, all the paperwork is done. At 1:30 this afternoon, take those three households to the housing management bureau to complete the transfer." Liu Tao's voice on the other end of the phone had a quick and clever quality to it.

"Okay, stay calm." He hung up the phone.

He turned halfway around in his office chair, looking out the window at the holly trees in the county government compound, which were wilting under the sun, while his fingers unconsciously stroked his phone screen.

These three houses absolutely cannot be registered in my name. If someone within the system suddenly has several properties worth millions under their name, the disciplinary committee's complaint box will be overflowing tomorrow. Registering them in Liu Tao's name isn't safe either; that kid has a weak foundation, and if there's a dispute later, it won't be easy to explain.

Zhao Jianguo took out a cigarette, lit it, took a deep drag, and then scrolled down to the bottom of his contacts to find a number and dialed it.

The phone rang for a long time before being answered. The background noise of a tractor chugging along the other end was accompanied by a hoarse, aged voice: "Feeding? Jianguo?"

"Dad, it's me." Zhao Jianguo exhaled a puff of smoke, his voice very soft, as if he were having a casual chat: "Let Second Uncle help with the work in the fields for half a day. You and Mom take your household registration book and ID cards, and take the long-distance bus to the county town this afternoon. Yes, to buy a house. Don't ask too many questions. Call me when you get there."