Me! A high-ranking official!

Zhang Baocheng swallowed hard and quickly opened the proposal that Zhao Jianguo had "refined" at noon. Although he hadn't slept well last night, the proposal was fortunately extremely thorough and solid. He cleared his throat and began his report.

"Secretary Zhou, County Head Han, and other leaders. Regarding the development of the Xiaozhai Village Borderless Ancient Style Life Experience Area, our Culture and Tourism Bureau has worked overnight to develop a concrete implementation plan. Currently, the preliminary on-site assessment has been completed. As for the NPC training and revenue-sharing model, which are of most concern to everyone, our approach is as follows..."

Zhang Baocheng read aloud the key points Zhao Jianguo had written down, one by one: "immersive and natural performance," "strictly prohibiting modern items from entering," "banknote exchange mechanism," and "self-governance to resolve internal conflicts."

It must be said that this plan was truly refreshing. What was originally a dry presentation became quite engaging, prompting the leaders present to nod slightly in approval.

As Deputy County Head Lian Wei listened, he jotted down a couple of notes in his notebook. After Zhang Baocheng finished reading, he was the first to ask, "Director Zhang, this 50/50 profit-sharing model for the banknotes is very innovative, but how do we ensure that tourists are willing to exchange them for tips? How do we monitor the flow of funds back into the market?"

Zhang Baocheng had at least glanced at the materials Zhao Jianguo had submitted last night, and Zhao Jianguo had also bombarded him with valuable information this morning. Therefore, he didn't falter and answered fluently: "County Chief Lian, the exchange of silver notes will be handled through an official bank, with funds going directly into the county's industrial investment group's corporate account. We will set up many interactive activities in the village, such as tossing embroidered balls or solving ancient riddles. Tourists will need to use silver notes to pass through or obtain special experiences, thus forming a closed loop."

Subsequently, Han Baomin asked two questions regarding the fire safety renovation and budget, which Zhang Baocheng answered one by one according to the prepared explanations Zhao Jianguo had given.

After several rounds of questioning, Zhang Baocheng's tense back gradually relaxed, and he even shifted his posture slightly to be more comfortable, a hint of smugness showing in the corner of his eye. He thought to himself, "I've definitely passed this test."

However, just when he thought he could finally breathe a sigh of relief...

"Smack."

Zhou Qingyan suddenly put down the pen in her hand. The very soft, crisp sound instantly silenced the entire conference room.

Zhou Qingyan placed his hands on the table, his deep phoenix eyes fixed on Zhang Baocheng, his tone revealing no emotion: "Director Zhang, the plan is very detailed, but working in isolation won't work. Yesterday at noon, a mass incident occurred in Xiaozhai Village where villagers collectively surrounded a wealthy businessman. You should be aware of this, right?"

Zhang Baocheng froze, his smugness instantly vanishing. He quickly nodded, "I understand, I understand, things have calmed down."

"It's calmed down?" Zhou Qingyan sneered, his eyes sharp. "It was calmed down yesterday, but what about the aftermath? The villagers' core demand was to buy their houses at a high price. Then a wealthy businessman from out of town suddenly appeared and demanded double the price in cash to buy the houses, which disrupted the situation. Now I'm asking you, how did your Culture and Tourism Bureau assess this sudden situation?"

Zhou Qingyan leaned forward slightly and fired off three extremely sharp and crucial questions in quick succession: "Have you figured out this wealthy businessman's background? What impact will his massive acquisition of properties in the core area have on our overall development and rental pricing? If he's maliciously hoarding properties and controlling our cultural tourism project, how much of your elaborate operational plan will have any chance of being implemented?!"

boom!

It was as if a muffled thunderclap had exploded in Zhang Baocheng's mind.

He slipped back to the bureau early yesterday afternoon, completely ignoring the subsequent developments in Xiaozhai Village. In his view, with the county head and secretary present, and the police already there, wouldn't it be over once the crowd dispersed? Why would he bother to think about the wealthy businessman's acquisition or any subsequent impact?

Facing Zhou Qingyan's piercing gaze, Zhang Baocheng's forehead instantly broke out in a fine layer of sweat, which streamed down his cheeks. He opened his mouth, his Adam's apple bobbing violently: "Secretary Zhou... this, this... that wealthy businessman..."

He stammered for a long time, but couldn't squeeze out a single useful word.

Han Baomin, sitting on the left, frowned, and Lian Wei, the executive deputy county head, also put down his thermos. Dozens of eyes in the entire conference room were fixed on Zhang Baocheng.

This extremely eerie and awkward silence caused Zhang Baocheng's psychological defenses to completely collapse. Driven by extreme panic and the instinct to shirk responsibility, he made an extremely foolish move.

He abruptly turned his head to look at Zhao Jianguo sitting behind him, and blurted out as if grasping at a straw: "Secretary Zhou, regarding the specific emergency situation in Xiaozhai Village yesterday... I, I arranged for Comrade Zhao Jianguo to be on-site closely monitoring it! This... this situation is rather complicated, so please have Comrade Zhao report it to the leaders on my behalf!"

Upon hearing this, the air in the conference room seemed to instantly drop to freezing point.

Han Baomin's face immediately darkened, and he slammed the thermos on the table with a loud bang, his eyes flashing with undisguised disappointment and anger.

Zhou Qingyan's face was frosty, and his phoenix eyes revealed extreme dissatisfaction.

A director of the Culture and Tourism Bureau, the chief coordinator of key projects, was asked about the core risks of a project at an executive meeting and was completely clueless! Not only did he not know, but he also, in front of everyone, shifted the blame to a deputy section-level clerk sitting at the back who wasn't even qualified to sit at the table!

What is this? This is utter incompetence! This is a complete lack of responsibility!

Even Guo Nanguo, who was sitting next to Zhang Baocheng, couldn't help but close his eyes and sigh inwardly. This old Zhang had essentially ruined his political career in public.

Faced with the murderous glares from Zhou Qingyan and Han Baomin, Zhao Jianguo cursed Zhang Baocheng's ancestors in his mind. But he knew that if Zhang Baocheng were to completely fall from power at this moment, the Bureau of Culture and Tourism would lose all face, and the project would suffer as well, and all his hard work would be in vain.

He has to step forward!

"Whoosh!"

Zhao Jianguo stood up without hesitation: "Secretary Zhou, County Chief Han! I really need to apologize to the leaders for this matter."

As soon as he opened his mouth, he immediately drew all the criticism to himself, his voice loud and sincere: "Yesterday, the incident in Xiaozhai Village happened suddenly. Director Zhang and Deputy Director Guo gave me a strict order at the first moment, instructing me to stay hidden at the scene and closely monitor the development of the situation and the background of that wealthy businessman from out of town."

With a single sentence, he cleverly transformed Zhang Baocheng's incompetence—his complete ignorance—into a masterful scheme orchestrated by a leader who arranged for undercover agents to conduct reconnaissance.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Baocheng's heart, which was about to leap out of his throat, suddenly fell back into his chest, and he looked at Zhao Jianguo as if he were looking at a living bodhisattva who had saved him from suffering.

Han Baomin's expression softened slightly, and he raised an eyebrow: "Oh? So what did you find out?"