Chapter 26: Assistance Work

  Lu Zhong lit a cigarette, took two strong puffs and said: "You have a good eye for Hong Kong capital, but we don't do things halfway. If we're going to do it, we'll do it big. The country's first high-tech zone has huge foreign investment, we need to make the most of this advantage, and plan carefully. I think, in addition to setting up an office, we can also hold an exhibition in Shenzhen."

  "What exhibition?" Chen San Shui was somewhat surprised.

  "Let's set up a booth, use photos and text to promote our Wushan human culture and investment environment. In short, we will magnify our advantages with a magnifying glass and showcase ourselves outside, not just in Shenzhen, but also in Beijing, Shanghai, and even Hong Kong after sufficient preparation!"

  "Hong Kong?" Chen San Shui was stunned. He had never thought that far, and setting up an office in Shenzhen was already the limit of his thinking.

  Lu Zhong nodded slightly, "However, all of this will have to wait until Changming Company has taken shape and our high-tech zone has a definite plan. For now, we need to focus on the present, for example, the $750,000 investment in Hengchang Glasses Trading Company, we must take it seriously. But San Shui, these unimportant investment negotiations don't need to be reported to me, I only care about the results."

  Chen San Shui did not expect that Lu Zhong would actually listen to his words from start to finish, and also clearly remember the name of the Hong Kong company.

  But Lu Zhong's last sentence made his face hot, originally it was just a habit he had developed in front of Deputy Director Gao, reporting every detail no matter how small, so as not to have Deputy Director Gao point fingers and draw pictures, and when Deputy Director Gao was drowsy, he could get various signatures done. But unexpectedly, this new leader was completely different from Deputy Director Gao, not only did he listen attentively to your report without missing a single word, but also appeared to be very familiar with the Western economic terms inside, which was totally beyond Deputy Director Gao's league.

  And the new leader's words, apart from implicitly criticizing himself for being disorganized and wasting his time, also seemed to show a lack of interest in these small investments, as if he had never seen the world before.

  The new leader's way of thinking is indeed unusual, making one's mind feel as if a window has been opened, a window that allows one to fly out and look at the world.

  The door of the office was lightly knocked on.

  As the door creaked open, a middle-aged man with a rustic appearance walked in. He was dressed in faded blue cotton jacket and pants, with his pant legs rolled up, revealing shiny black cloth shoes. On his head was a green hat, and in his hand was a black leather bag, giving off the typical image of a Wushan villager.

  Chen San Shui's eyes widened at that moment: "Hey, who are you looking for? Who let you in?" He generally looked down on working-class people.

  The newcomer smiled and showed a mouthful of yellow teeth, saying to Chen San Shui: "You, you must be Director Lu, right? I am the director of the Lingdong County Office in Wushan. My name is Wang Xiangyang. Here's my introduction letter and work permit." He rummaged through his black leather bag and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and a green plastic ID card, handing them to Chen San Shui.

  It seems that the man had a yellow tooth, Chen San's water disliked and frowned, pointing to Lu Zhong and saying: "This is our Director Lu." He took over the introduction letter and certificate, and handed it over to Lu Zhong.

  Lu Zhong took a glance and indeed it was Director Wang from the Lingdong Office in Wushan.

  Lingdong County is subordinate to the neighboring Wu Township area, and is one of the poorest counties in Eastern Hebei. Due to its proximity to Wushan, according to a document issued by the Provincial Committee, Lingdong County is a key recipient of assistance and support from Wushan within the province.

  Nowadays, the relatively developed coastal open special zones, such as Wushan, are completely two worlds compared with inland cities, whether it is ideology, spiritual outlook, or even personal dress and appearance. The economic special zone that has opened its arms to the world is simply worlds apart from the semi-closed inland provinces and cities, let alone a poor and closed county like Lingdong.

  Director Wang, who should be a deputy department-level cadre, while the deputy department-level cadres in various counties under Wushan are all wearing decent uniforms and suits, Director Wang is no different from an old farmer in the countryside of Wushan.

  "Director Wang, please sit down." Lu Zhong enthusiastically stood up to greet him, inviting Director Wang to the sofa and personally pouring him a cup of hot water.

  Director Wang became somewhat flustered, repeatedly saying: "Don't be polite, don't be polite." In the office of the Wushan Economic Commission, looking at these neatly dressed cadres with shiny leather shoes, not to mention their ranks, he himself felt a head shorter.

  Watching Director Wang stuttering and unable to say anything, Chen San Shui raised an eyebrow. He thought that the head of this office was really something, from Lingdong County, one of the poorest counties? It's said that there are still many families where several brothers share a pair of pants, and women from Lingdong all marry out, so there are more and more bachelors. Looking at Director Wang like this, rumors aren't far off.

  "Director Wang, is there something on your mind?" Lu Zhong and Yan Yuese's expressions were completely different in front of Yang Wenxue, but what could be done about his temperament?

  "Yes, yes, something's up. I heard that if our office has any business to attend to, we can look for you?" Director Wang said, possibly feeling hot, took off his green military cap and scratched his head, which further provoked Chen San Shui's disdain.

  "Yes, I'll be in charge of contacting the liaison offices of brother provinces and cities in Wu." Lu Zhong nodded.

  "That's good, that's good." Director Wang rubbed his head and said: "It's like this, a young man from our Lingdong was caught by your police station, Director Lu, can you handle it?"

  Lu Zhong was slightly taken aback and said: "Is he a relative of Director Wang?" If there's no connection, how would these public security matters be handled by the Urumqi Office?

  Director Wang waved his hand repeatedly: "No, I have nothing to do with him, nor... well, maybe a little bit." He looked flustered, as if being related to the captured young man would be utterly shameful.

  Lu Zhong smiled: "Director Wang, don't be in a hurry, take a sip of water and speak slowly."

  Director Wang grabbed the cup of water, gulped a few mouthfuls, wiped his mouth and said: "He used to be a soldier, after retiring from the army, he was the militia company commander of Liu Dian Commune. I worked in the commune at that time, so I knew him, just this relationship."

  Lu Zhong nodded: "Then how did he get caught?"

  Director Wang sighed and said, "He came to find his younger brother. Last year, his younger brother went to Wushan as a labor export according to our assistance agreement, but it seems like he lost contact after that. Now he's making a fuss about his younger brother's disappearance. He must come to Wushan to find his younger brother, but who knew that his grain coupons were stolen on the way? Then he heard that there was a restaurant in Wushan that didn't require grain coupons, so he went there. Who knew that after eating, he got into a fight with the people at the restaurant? It seemed like the owner of the restaurant was overcharging him, and he said the boss was a petty capitalist exploiter, full of greed. Then, he took action, and wasn't he taken to the Hongqiao Police Station?"

  Lu Zhong listened, actually already knew what was going on. Wushan indeed had many restaurants and hotels that no longer required grain coupons, but correspondingly, the prices of staple foods would also increase several times. For example, rice at the Wuzhou Hotel, with a grain coupon, two liang of rice cost only three cents, without a grain coupon, two liang of rice would rise to one jiao and five cents, which was an increase of five times. Those who didn't know the inside story would certainly think they were being cheated.

  "Is it Hongqiao Police Station? I'll get to the bottom of this." Lu Zhong picked up the phone and dialed Director Zheng of the Municipal Bureau's Public Security Division.

  When Lu Zhong was in the Guangning public security system, he was already familiar with Old Zheng. Now that the phone call is made, Old Zheng hears Lu Zhong's self-introduction and first freezes for a moment, then warmly laughs: "Ah, Director Lu, no, should be called Director Lu now, how are you? Ah, why did you suddenly think of me, Old Zheng?"

  As a deputy department-level cadre, in charge of one of the largest and most important departments in Wushan's public security system, Old Zheng was also considered to be in control, but compared to Lu Zhong, he was just a small sorcerer seeing a great sorcerer.

  Lu Zhong told Director Wang about the situation and finally said, "Zheng Chu, it's not easy for outsiders to come to Wushan to make a living. If it doesn't count as a crime, can you help coordinate things? It's almost okay, don't be too hard on him."

  Old Zheng laughed and said: "Alright, no problem. You can call me directly, that's giving face to old Zheng. I'll go ask now, you just wait for news."

  Lu Zhong, the youngest director of the Wushan Public Security System, rose like a meteor and fell quickly, but in just a few months, he became one of the most popular middle-level cadres in Wushan City. Who dares to underestimate him again?

  Putting down the phone, Lu Zhong looked at Director Wang, whose eyes were full of expectation, and said, "It's probably nothing, don't worry."

  Director Wang's face lit up with joy, "Thank you, Director Lu, thank you so much!"

  Lu Zhong waved his hand and said, "It's just doing my job, no need to be polite."

  Director Wang hesitated for a moment, then lowered his head and pulled out the black leather bag that he had just stuffed under the tea table. He rummaged through it for a while, pulled out a stack of documents, and said cautiously: "Director Lu, take a look at this, can we get approval?"

  Lu Zhong took a look and saw that it was an application from the Lingdong County Government for 200,000 yuan in assistance funds. The language was vague, seemingly saying that the county allocated additional assistance funds to repair some kind of agricultural market, but in reality, it didn't seem like they knew what they wanted to do either.

  Lu Zhong closed the file and said: "Let's put it aside for now, I'll go back and study it with the relevant departments."

  Director Wang's small eyes blinked a few times, and only then did he realize that Director Lu was affable but not so easy to talk to.

  It seems like we have to follow the old rules again.

  Director Wang was thinking in his heart.