Chapter 816: Meeting with Village Leaders

I seized Cui Chengshan's hand in one go,

"Enough, Chengshan, slap your own face—do I look good? Your father asked me to cultivate you properly."

I don't want you to be so incompetent.

Go make contact right now.

I'll first meet these village leaders.

Cui Chengshan immediately stood up,

"Alright, Mr. Zhao, I'm going right now."

Cui Chengshan left.

After a while, Xixi called,

She had already communicated with the villagers.

The villagers' demands mainly concern land occupation, tree cutting, and compensation.

A big tree costs 500 yuan.

A mu of land costs 1,000 yuan per year.

The village leaders told them the county offers no compensation at all, wanting to occupy the land without payment, so they refuse.

On the phone I told Xixi and Xiao Shitou to come back, so they could also attend the afternoon meeting.

In the afternoon, Cui Chengshan summoned those village leaders to the Xueguo Dajiudian, a total of five villages.

The five village leaders,

they were sitting at the meeting, smoking and speaking loudly.

Accompanied by Xixi and Xiao Shitou, I entered the conference room,

Cui Chengshan immediately scolded, "Enough, Mr. Zhao, what have you become? What the hell are you still trying to do."

When the leaders of these villages saw Cui Chengshan lose his temper, they instantly composed themselves.

I looked at these village leaders; they really fit the image of rural officials,

each one chubby‑headed with big ears,

wearing upscale clothes, yet their behavior was very crude.

And they spoke loudly, looking completely indifferent.

At that moment Xixi came over, leaned on my ear and whispered, "The biggest‑bellied one surnamed Li is the leader of Li Jiaba Cun and the head of their group."

I nodded,

I scanned them with my gaze.

They each stood up, greeting me.

I waved my hand, telling them to sit down.

Then I said to Cui Chengshan, "Chengshan, tell them not to be so nervous. As for me, it's my first time meeting the big fellows.

My surname is Zhao, I'm Zhao Jianqiang, I'm sure everyone knows me."

"So you're Chairman Zhao, we've heard of you for a long time," the biggest‑bellied Village Head Li stood up again and said.

"I'm not Chairman any more, don't call me that. May I know your surname?" I asked the person.

"My name is Li Baogui, I'm the village head of Li Jiaba Cun. Then we shall address you as Mr. Zhao," Village Head Li said with a smile.

"Village Head Li, please sit and speak," I said, looking at him.

Village Head Li sat down at the conference table.

"Mr. Zhao, Cui Xian has already told us,

regarding the development and utilization of the Gucheng Qiang, it's a good thing and we certainly support it.

You should know that Xue County has nothing else, only this stretch of Gucheng Qiang left; if we don't develop it, in a few years when it rains, it will collapse," Village Head Li said.

The other few also echoed Village Head Li's words.

"Thank you for your support, but I heard how the villagers are opposing,

our work team hasn't even moved in yet, and the villagers are already causing trouble. What's going on?" I took out a cigarette and handed them one by one.

They politely accepted.

"The situation is this: that piece of land has had no one planting on it; later someone started planting trees to make money, and other villagers also want to plant trees there.

Now the county wants to develop the Gucheng Qiang, but the condition is expropriation without compensation, and all these planted trees must be cut down.

These people refuse to cut, so they clashed with the county staff. The villagers' stance is that development is fine, but only with compensation." Village Head Li finished speaking and lit his cigarette.

"How much compensation are they demanding?" I asked directly.

"They? Of course, the more the better—a tree costs 1,000 yuan,

and a mu of land requires 5,000 yuan compensation.

I told Cui Xian it's impossible to give them a single cent," Village Head Li said loudly on purpose.

At that moment Xixi seemed about to say something, I immediately stopped her with a look.

Actually the villagers might not be making such huge demands; it's just these guys who are.

I looked at Village Head Li and smiled,

"Village Head Li, this price is a bit high; a good poplar is only 400–500 yuan. I went there and saw the trees are only as thick as a bowl; such a tree is worth at most 200 yuan."

"Mr. Zhao, you're right, but our place is too poor,

the big fellows also have no income, so as soon as they see someone invest, they go crazy for money," Village Head Li said.

"Even if they're crazy, they can't extort like this. Village Head Li, let me tell you, you must find a way to resolve this. Otherwise, will you still be able to serve as village head?" Cui Chengshan deliberately lost his temper in front of me.

"Cui Chengshan, sit down, don't lose your temper," I said to him.

Cui Chengshan had to sit down.

「Cui Xian, you know the situation there; if Mr. Zhao doesn't give compensation, those villagers will surely cause trouble. How can I persuade them? 」

I also have no way to give them compensation." Village Head Li looked at Cui Chengshan and said.

Cui Chengshan still wanted to say something,

I waved my hand,

「This matter, we can negotiate.

Village Heads, you go back and do ideological work with the villagers.

We also need to discuss with the Major Shareholder, work out a compensation plan together—we can't pay nothing, but we can't pay too much either.

As soon as the investors see that we're extorting money here, they won't dare invest again.

As for us, we'll do our best to get things done.

Only when we get things done will it benefit everyone.

Imagine if our Ancient City development succeeds—this will become the biggest tourism project in the city, and then we'll welcome how many visitors each day.

Moreover, our villagers won't be idle; they'll all work inside the Ancient City.

Village Head Li, you also shouldn't just look at this immediate point.

We need to think more long-term.

Our tourism development project is a long-term project.

Today, meeting everyone is just to get to know everyone.

If there are matters, everyone should communicate more.

Any matter should be resolved through negotiation.

Not by exacerbating contradictions to solve problems.

Here I reiterate one point to everyone: we will compensate for the trees, and for the land we will try to resolve it through negotiation as much as possible.

It's not that we won't compensate at all. I hope everyone will go back and convey this.

After I finished speaking, I stood up and shook hands with these village heads to say goodbye.

After they left, Xixi immediately said: "This Village Head Li is deliberately raising the price; the villagers simply don't have that much money."

"Mr. Zhao, like this, I will first dismiss Village Head Li. I also think this kid is causing trouble." Cui Chengshan then said.

"Xixi, the villagers want to make a profit from this opportunity, and the village head also wants to do good deeds. Everyone only acts when there is profit."

"Cui Chengshan, we need to learn to employ people, not just fire them casually."

"In that case, I think this Village Head Li is someone who dares to take on responsibilities."

"Give him some benefits, let him think of a way to calm this matter down,"

"We are willing to take out some compensation money for the villagers' trees."

"Of course, not only should we give Village Head Li benefits, you also need to warn him a bit, let him know that if he's not careful, he will really get into trouble." I said to Cui Chengshan.

"Okay, Mr. Zhao, I will now privately communicate with Village Head Li, give him benefits, and let him settle this matter." Cui Chengshan said.

I nodded,

Then I said to Xixi,

"Tomorrow, we will go take a look at the Gucheng Qiang."

"Right, Xiao Shitou, bring your Uncle Jinhe along, let's go together."

Xiao Shitou said: "My Uncle Jinhe has been waiting for you."