Upon seeing the person who got out of the car first, Mayor Cen's eyes widened. That was the mayor of the city, far superior to his own deputy mayor, who wasn't even a member of the Standing Committee.
Mayor Cen dared not believe that Mayor Xue was there to compete with him for the more than 100 million US dollars in achievements.
But what surprised Mayor Cen was yet to come. After Mayor Xue got out of the car, he immediately moved to the other side of the car, opened the door, and the person who got out next made Mayor Cen break out in a cold sweat.
Mayor Cen couldn't possibly be unfamiliar with Director Xia of the Provincial Party Committee Office. This man is the big boss's chief steward. When the big boss appears on television, the figure behind him is usually Director Xia. In a sense, Director Xia represents Secretary Xiao.
Although Mayor Cen and they were roughly the same in terms of administrative rank, Mayor Cen knew that he, a vice mayor who hadn't even made it to the Standing Committee of the Municipal Party Committee, was incomparable to them at all.
Mayor Cen braced himself and went to greet them, saying, "Mayor Xue, Director Xia, what brings you two here?"
Director Xia ignored Mayor Cen and disregarded his outstretched hand. Instead, he looked at Mayor Xue and asked, "Is this the ceramics factory that Xu Guoqing owns?"
"Yes, that should be it..."
Mayor Xue glanced at the fully armed police officers, his face turning somewhat grim. He whispered to Mayor Cen, "Xiao Cen, what are you doing? What's with these police officers?"
On the way here, Director Xia had already revealed something to Mayor Xue: this ceramic artist named Xu Guoqing was highly valued by the boss, but upon arrival, he found the factory surrounded by police. If this got to Secretary Qi's ears, Mayor Xue would also have to bear leadership responsibility.
"Mayor Xue, I... I had no choice. Mr. Yamaki insisted on inviting Mr. Xu to Japan to exchange ideas on ceramic art; otherwise, he wouldn't be willing to invest that $150 million..."
Mayor Cen felt a little wronged. "I did all this for the economic development of the city or the province. But in these two people's eyes, it's as if I've made a huge mistake."
"Economic development cannot come at the expense of the environment or the interests of the people. Mayor Cen, let's not let people a hundred years from now criticize us behind our backs..."
Director Xia copied Secretary Qi's words verbatim. After finishing, he put his hands behind his back and walked into the ceramics factory with its gates wide open.
There were just too many people here today. The wolfhound at the factory gate was terrified and hid in its den with its tail between its legs. No one bothered to stop Director Xia.
"Xiao Cen, Director Xia's idea is also my idea. We can't just look at the problem from the perspective of economic indicators. People's livelihood is also very important. It's easy to destroy the environment, but it's very difficult to rebuild it..."
Mayor Xue glanced at Yamaki Taro in the car, said a few words to Mayor Cen in a low voice, and then followed Director Xia to the factory.
"What... what the hell is going on?"
Mayor Cen stood blankly in front of the car, somewhat at a loss. Just a few days ago, when the mayor's office meeting was held, Mayor Xue had told his deputies to take bigger steps and focus on economic development. How could the wind have changed so much in just two days?
That's 150 million US dollars! If you convert it to RMB, it's over 1 billion. Even in other economically developed provinces, that's a considerable investment. Judging from Mayor Xue and Director Xia's intentions, this investment was rejected outright.
For Mayor Cen, whether or not the investment was made was not important, but the achievement he had just gained was gone, which made him very unwilling. If he didn't find out the truth, Mayor Cen wouldn't be able to sleep well tonight.
"Mr. Cen, what exactly is going on? I feel that your side doesn't seem to value this investment very much?"
Yamaki Taro had vaguely overheard a few words of their conversation, but although he was an expert on China, he still couldn't fully understand the subtle way Chinese officials expressed themselves.
"I don't know, Mr. Yamaki, let's go inside and take a look..."
Mayor Cen wanted to try again. Of course, vigorously developing the economy would harm the interests of some people, but as long as the compensation work was done well, wouldn't that be enough?
Mayor Cen was unaware that right after Secretary Qi finished his speech on the importance of environmental protection, all the heavily polluting projects in the province, such as paper mills, were put on hold.
Of course, Zhuang Rui had no idea that his single phone call had shifted the economic center of an entire province. If the investors knew that this was all Zhuang Rui's doing, they would probably drown him in their spittle.
"Mr. Xu, Cizhou ware is the most important cultural heritage of Hebei Province, representing the advanced ceramic technology of Hebei in ancient times. Your ability to restore it is a significant contribution to the cultural development of Hebei Province..."
On his way here, Director Xia had brushed up on what Cizhou kiln culture was all about. Now, holding Xu Guoqing's hand, he spoke quite eloquently. However, Director Xia's eyes were darting back and forth between Peng Fei and Zhuang Rui.
As instructed by the boss, we should be polite to the young man surnamed Zhuang, but there are two young men in the room, and Director Xia can't figure out who Zhuang Rui is.
"Director Xia, those people who came just now didn't say that..."
Xu Guoqing curled his lip, just in time to see Mayor Cen walking in, and continued, "Just now, someone tried to be a traitor and handed over the Cizhou kiln firing technique to the Japanese..."
Mayor Cen heard this as soon as he entered the door, and his face immediately turned red. He did not expect that this person would point at a monk and curse him as a bald monk, without giving him, the mayor, any face at all.
“Mr. Xu, I don’t need your firing techniques. I hope you can go to Japan. I can provide you with the world’s most advanced ceramic laboratory, which is a hundred times better than the conditions here…”
Yamaki followed Mayor Cen in and heard Xu Guoqing's words. The Japanese man stepped forward and bowed ninety degrees again, but what he said made everyone in the room frown.
"Does Mr. Yamaki mean that the conditions in our country are no longer suitable?"
Zhuang Rui spoke up.
"That's right. I can say with certainty that your country's experimental conditions are far inferior to ours..."
Yamaki was also a little annoyed. Since he came to China, officials from all over the country had been vying to invite him. They were not exactly obsequious, but they were close. However, when those two officials arrived just now, they didn't even glance at him, which hurt Yamaki's pride.
"oh?"
Zhuang Rui raised an eyebrow and said, "As far as I know, you Japanese have been studying Cizhou ware official porcelain for decades, right? Since you have the best laboratories in the world, why haven't you achieved any research results so far? Are your researchers too stupid, or is what you said, Mr. Yamaki, untrue?"
"Baka! You're not allowed to insult our Great Japanese Empire!" Yamaki Taro, who had been looking respectful, suddenly turned fierce upon hearing Zhuang Rui's words, as if he were about to fight Zhuang Rui to the death.
"Damn it, he's a militarist, that son of a bitch..."
After cursing, Zhuang Rui looked at Mayor Cen and said, "You're going to bring this kind of rubbish to invest in China? Aren't you afraid your ancestors will crawl out of their graves and curse you?"
Mayor Cen had never heard such words before. His lips trembled as Zhuang Rui spoke, his face turning ashen, but he couldn't utter a single word in rebuttal. He wished an earthquake would strike right now, cracking open a gap so he could crawl into it.
"Baka! I challenge you to a duel..."
Upon hearing Zhuang Rui's insult, Shanmu angrily charged towards him, but before he could get close, Peng Fei blocked him. Peng Fei gently pressed down on Shanmu's ribs with his right hand, and with a great force, pushed Shanmu backward.
"Mr. Cen, I am extremely dissatisfied with your country's investment environment. All previous investment agreements are hereby nullified..."
After being blocked by Peng Fei, Shanmu realized the situation. If a fight really broke out, even Mayor Cen probably wouldn't help him. After saying a few polite words, Shanmu didn't want to stay there any longer and walked out.
"Damn it, the Great Japanese Empire, huh? If my grandpa saw this little Japanese, he'd chop him up with a knife..."
After Yamaki Taro left, Zhuang Rui was still somewhat indignant. Zhuang Rui, who rarely swore, felt really suffocated if he didn't curse a few times.
Zhuang Rui suddenly had a crooked idea. He nudged Yu Zhengjun next to him with his elbow and whispered, "Old Yu, how about we get a few people to cause that little Japanese guy a car accident?"
Zhuang Rui figured that since there was one less Japanese businessman, the Japanese would at most protest a few words, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would handle it. It was all just diplomatic rhetoric anyway, and he would have left long ago.
"No, I wouldn't dare..."
Yu Zhengjun almost jumped up from Zhuang Rui's words. This Beijing guy seemed so quiet, how could he be so terrifying when he went crazy? He could kill someone directly.
Although Zhuang Rui spoke softly, the room was not large, and everyone in the room heard what he said. Mayor Cen now understood that this man surnamed Zhuang was not a kind person.
People who dare to say such things in front of government officials are either brain-deprived from childhood or have powerful backgrounds and are not afraid of future repercussions. Looking at Zhuang Rui, he doesn't seem like an epileptic patient at all.
Seeing that Zhuang Rui still looked a bit resentful, Peng Fei leaned close to Zhuang Rui's ear and whispered, "Brother Zhuang, I just gave that guy a little stab, a hidden injury. If that old bastard still hasn't noticed in half a month, it'll be enough to kill him..."
Peng Fei's move is similar to the "pulse-cutting" technique in traditional Chinese medicine. It sounds mysterious, but it's actually like driving a nail into a place where blood and qi are abundant in the internal organs. If there's too much blood stasis over time, it becomes very difficult to treat. However, this technique is very insidious, and it's the first time Peng Fei has used it.
"Okay, serves you right, haha, Peng Fei, when you get married, I'll give you a big red envelope..."
Upon hearing Peng Fei's words, Zhuang Rui felt incredibly relieved. The frustration he had felt all afternoon was completely dispelled by his laughter.
Peng Fei's voice was much softer than Zhuang Rui's. Director Xia and the others didn't know what Zhuang Rui was laughing about, but they were all wondering if this audacious young man would actually become a Japanese.
"Mayor Xue, Director Xia, this... I must apologize for this. I only focused on economic development and neglected environmental and livelihood issues, and I also failed to consider Mr. Xu Guoqing's thoughts. Mayor Xue, I must apologize to you..."
Mayor Cen realized that Director Xia's trip was most likely orchestrated by that young man. With the provincial party secretary's chief steward personally handling the matter, he could forget about turning the tables.
Mayor Cen is a decisive man. He immediately changed his mind and overturned his previous proposal. He had a serious expression on his face and actually made a self-criticism in front of Zhuang Rui. This guy is definitely a man who can bend and stretch.
"You must be Zhuang Rui, Mr. Zhuang?"
Director Xia ignored Mayor Cen and walked towards Zhuang Rui. When she was still three or four meters away from Zhuang Rui, she stretched out both hands. Mayor Cen saw it clearly; it was two hands. Not only Mayor Cen's eyes widened, but Mayor Xue was also shocked. These two were mayors of the provincial capital and had frequent contact with Director Xia, so they naturally knew how arrogant Director Xia usually was.
You have to understand that in this small corner of Hebei Province, the number of people who can get Director Xia to lend a hand can be counted on one hand.
Chapter 797 Background
As the chief steward of the provincial party committee, Director Xia's words and actions can, to some extent, represent Secretary Qi. In China, the number of people who can get Secretary Qi, a powerful regional official, to extend his hands and shake hands with is probably only a handful, apart from those retired old men.
Given Zhuang Rui's age, and considering the car with a Beijing license plate at the entrance, everyone present, except for Yu Zhengjun who was still a bit confused, knew perfectly well that this young man was definitely not someone to be underestimated.
Mayor Xue's expression was thoughtful. He was thinking about how to get closer to Zhuang Rui. He knew that if he wanted to advance further in his position, he would need an appointment from the Organization Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, which was not something that the province could decide on its own.
Mayor Cen was deathly pale. Although he hadn't acted rudely earlier, the appearance of the joint enforcement team made it obvious to anyone that it was related to him. Coupled with Zhuang Rui's blunt reprimand, Mayor Cen realized that he had really messed with someone.
As for the owner of this place, Xu Guoqing, he was completely unaware of what had happened and still believed that good would prevail over evil and that justice would prevail in the world.
"I am Zhuang Rui, and you are..."
You can't hit a smiling face, right? Zhuang Rui guessed that the person in front of him must be someone his uncle had found. Seeing that Mayor Cen didn't dare to say a word in front of him, Zhuang Rui knew that this person must be someone of high status.
"My surname is Xia, and my name is Xia Yanbing. I work at the Provincial Party Committee. This time, I'm here on Secretary Qi's instructions to visit folk artist Mr. Xu Guoqing..."
Although Xia Yanbing claimed he came to see Xu Guoqing, he kept his hands clasped with Zhuang Rui's. The matter was already resolved, so why would he care about Xu Guoqing? His real goal was to find an opportunity to find out about Zhuang Rui's background.
Although Secretary Qi did not explicitly state Zhuang Rui's identity, the fact that he specifically instructed him to make this trip shows the importance he attaches to Zhuang Rui or his background. For Secretary Qi to do this, the person must have a background at the vice-national level or above. If it were someone of the same level, Secretary Qi would not have made such a big fuss.
So, although Xia Yanbing didn't say much, she had already explained the whole story clearly, and pointed out that it was Secretary Qi who had instructed her to handle it, giving Zhuang Rui's powerful background a lot of face.
"Good heavens, Secretary Qi..."
Upon hearing Director Xia's words, Yu Zhengjun's mouth dropped open in astonishment, and he quickly covered his mouth with his hand.
Not to mention Secretary Qi, even Director Xia was someone Yu Zhengjun considered unattainable. He never expected that Director Xia would be so kind to Zhuang Rui... no, perhaps "respectful" would be a more appropriate word.
"Old Yu, you've listened to me, haven't you..."
Li Dali gently nudged Yu Zhengjun from behind with his arm. In fact, Li Dali's mind was also in turmoil. He made his living in Hebei Province, and he was shocked to see this scene. Zhuang Rui was a man who, once he made a move, caused a huge upheaval.
"That's right, that's right, Mr. Li, I'll make the arrangements tonight. I'll make sure Mr. Zhuang is well taken care of..."
Yu Zhengjun nodded repeatedly, thinking to himself whether he should ask his college student mistress to find a few of her classmates to fill in for him, since Zhuang Rui probably preferred someone younger and more innocent.
"Hehe, I'm afraid this situation won't be yours, brother..."
Li Dali chuckled and gestured towards the two people shaking hands. If Zhuang Rui didn't leave, it would definitely be Director Xia who made the arrangements; Yu Zhengjun was simply not up to the task.
"Oh, then I must thank Secretary Qi, and thank Director Xia for taking the time out of your busy schedule to handle this matter..."
Zhuang Rui had no idea who Secretary Qi was. But guessing, his uncle must have a lot of influence; he was most likely the top dog in Hebei Province. So it was only natural that Mayor Cen would back down and admit defeat.
"Mr. Zhuang, Mr. Xu Guoqing has been wronged by what happened today. I would like to invite you and Mr. Xu to dinner tonight, and I hope you two can do me the honor..."
Even bosses need to give face to people like him, so he definitely needs to serve him well. Besides, Xia Yanbing has been the head housekeeper for five or six years, and next year a vice governor will be appointed, so he still has a good chance of being promoted.
While Secretary Qi certainly needs to nominate someone for this matter, the decision-making power still rests with the central government. As the old saying goes, having connections in the court makes it easier to get an official position. Director Xia also wants to get to know more people, in case they can help him someday.
"night?"
Zhuang Rui glanced at his watch; it was already past 5 p.m. Looking at the sky outside, the sun was about to set. He had come here to talk to Xu Guoqing about something, but he hadn't expected to encounter such a scene, and they hadn't been able to discuss anything of real importance.
"Looks like I won't be able to go back to Beijing again today..."
Zhuang Rui sighed inwardly. "One is often caught in the web of affairs," he thought. What he thought could be accomplished in a day was bound to go wrong. He nodded and said, "Alright, then I'll trouble Director Xia tonight..."