At the start, I had to choose one of four options, and I immediately picked the Brahmin from the cou

The groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for July 15th.

Cao Weidong personally chose the date, saying that he had consulted someone who said it was auspicious for breaking ground and for receiving wealth.

Li Xiao neither commented nor objected—these social norms were necessary for Cao Weidong, for Jiangyang County, and even more so for the contractors and suppliers who would soon be making a living on this construction site. He didn't need to go against everyone's wishes over such trivial matters.

Three days before the ceremony, the hotels in the county town were already full. Reporters from the provincial capital, research teams sent by the city, engineering teams from Hengji that had come to survey the site in advance, as well as building material merchants and fast food chains that had come to Jiangyang in advance to rent shops, filled up the few decent hotels in the county town.

On the day of July 15th.

Before dawn, dozens of searchlights had already lit up that once desolate wasteland in the south of the city.

A red carpet was laid out on the temporary ceremony square, and potted plants borrowed from various units in the county were placed on both sides. The stage was even larger than the one used for the county's two sessions, and a line of gold-stamped characters was printed on the backdrop: "Jiangyang County Provincial High-tech Industrial Park Phase I Project Commencement Ceremony".

A large crowd of over a thousand people stood below the stage, including construction workers wearing hard hats, county officials in suits, nearby villagers taking photos with their phones, and a group of high school students organized to create a lively atmosphere—their inflatable batons clattered in the morning breeze, sounding like a never-ending string of firecrackers from afar.

Jiangyang County has never seen such a scene before.

At 8:00 a.m. sharp, the city's convoy arrived on time.

Leading the procession was Executive Vice Mayor Liu Wenyuan, followed by the Director of the Municipal Development and Reform Commission, the Director of the Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, and a division chief specially dispatched by the Provincial Development and Reform Commission to read out the official document. Cao Weidong, along with the main members of the county's four leading bodies, lined up at the end of the red carpet to greet them. Their suits were impeccably pressed, their shoes were polished to a shine, and they couldn't suppress their smiles.

When he accompanied Liu Wenyuan onto the podium, he deliberately slowed down by half a step—this position is important in officialdom; being half a step fast is considered taking credit, while being half a step slow is considered tactful. He had mastered this half-step technique for half his life and had never made a mistake.

Liu Wenyuan stood on the platform, his gaze sweeping over the barren land below, illuminated by the morning light.

He recalled that when he came here to conduct research six months ago, the land was nothing but weeds and stones, and there wasn't even a decent farm road to be found. The planning bureau told him that this land wouldn't be included in the development plan for at least five years.

Now, the pile driver has been tamping the foundation for two whole weeks, and the planning red line map of the light rail hub station covers an entire wall of the county planning bureau. Investment delegations from the province are lining up to visit Jiangyang.

His speech was prepared in advance by the municipal party committee office, and the wording was very conservative. It was nothing more than the standard bureaucratic approach of implementing the provincial party committee's decisions and plans and promoting high-quality regional economic development.

The groundbreaking ceremony started promptly at 10:00 a.m.

According to official practice, the first shovel of soil should be shoveled by the city leader, but Liu Wenyuan waved his hand, indicating that Cao Weidong should go first.

Cao Weidong declined a couple of times, his face displaying just the right amount of humility: "Mayor Liu, this first shovel of earth must be laid by the municipal party committee and government. The success of Jiangyang's development is entirely due to the city's foresight. How can I, as the vanguard, overstep my bounds?"

Liu Wenyuan smiled and didn't insist anymore, but when he grasped the shovel tied with red silk, he deliberately pulled Cao Weidong to his side.

The two stood side by side in front of the stone inscribed with the foundation stone, each holding a new shovel tied with red silk, and shoveled their first shovelful of soil amidst the clicks of the camera shutter.

"boom--"

Dozens of heavy excavators and bulldozers sounded their horns simultaneously, the deafening roar of machinery instantly drowning out the ceremonial music. Colorful smoke billowed into the sky, adorning the early autumn morning sky with dazzling beauty.

The flashbulbs went off wildly, capturing the image of Liu Wenyuan and Cao Weidong wielding shovels side by side, shaking hands and chatting, which will undoubtedly be the headline of tomorrow's city newspaper.

After the groundbreaking ceremony, Liu Wenyuan and the section chief from the Provincial Development and Reform Commission, accompanied by Cao Weidong, left the site first. As the convoy drove out of the construction site, Liu Wenyuan rolled down the car window and glanced back at the wasteland shrouded in colored smoke.

The roar of the pile driver hadn't stopped yet, and the inflatable baton formations on both sides of the red carpet were orderly withdrawing under the teacher's direction. Several workers wearing safety helmets were squatting on the roadside eating boxed lunches, their chopsticks moving quickly through the food in their lunchboxes—they would continue working in the afternoon.

The car window slowly rolled up, completely shutting out the clamor of voices and the roar of machinery from the dark bulletproof glass.

Liu Wenyuan leaned back in his soft leather chair, rubbing his slightly throbbing temples. His secretary, observant of the situation, offered him a cup of warm tea, but Liu Wenyuan waved it off, indicating he didn't need it.

He pulled a personal cell phone without a contacts from the inside pocket of his suit jacket and skillfully dialed a number.

The phone was answered after only two rings, and Li Jianguo's hearty and familiar laughter came through the receiver: "Mayor Liu, today is a big day for Jiangyang County. Instead of listening to Cao Weidong's declaration of determination at the dinner table, why do you have time to call me?"

"Jianguo, let's skip these fancy titles," Liu Wenyuan chuckled casually. "Cao Weidong's performance today was indeed brilliant, but wasn't the stage base built by your Li family?"

Although Liu Wenyuan only glanced at the rostrum a few times, he is the executive vice mayor in charge of urban construction and development and reform, so his eyesight is extremely sharp.

The heavy concrete trucks and uniform trucks carrying heavy-duty dump trucks coming and going on the outskirts of Jiangyang County—only the Li family could handle such a large volume of earthwork and building materials, and keep those out-of-towners from the provincial capital in check.

"Brother Wenyuan, you can't just say things like that. That was the work of Lansheng Capital; it has nothing to do with a lazy person like me who's about to retire," Li Jianguo chuckled, leaving no room for argument.

"Alright, you can fool others, but you can fool me. If it weren't for the old man's support back then, and Brother Jianjun speaking up for me in the province, how could I have such a stable position?"

Liu Wenyuan sighed, not delving into the topic further, but instead changing the subject, "Let's get down to business. I heard Li Xiao's scores came out today? How did he do? If he's not satisfied with any of the universities in the province, I have some connections with the president of Jianye University. I can probably get him a sponsorship or a special admission through that channel."

Liu Wenyuan's words were by no means polite. Li Xiao was the only son of the third generation of the Li family, and the old man protected him like the apple of his eye. Liu Wenyuan knew very well that in Tianshui City and even the province, maintaining a good relationship with Li Jianguo was just a facade. What could truly sustain his political career was the intricate network behind the Li family.

Showing concern for Li Xiao is the greatest show of support for the Li family.