Chapter 406: Zhou Zhixiang

Although Chen Yang did not agree to relocate the Old Citizen Meat Industry Limited Company to the new city, after careful consideration, he still decided to advance the plan to set up a branch in Jiangmen Town.

Zhou Zhixiang still has one year left in his term. This year's time is neither long nor short. As long as his conflict with Zhou Zhixin remains unresolved, many variables could still arise in the meantime.

What frustrates Chen Yang is that he has yet to meet Zhou Zhixin in person, yet he has already incurred two grudges. The last time was with Wu Junhui; this time it is with Zhang Daguo.

And this conflict with Zhang Daguo directly affects Zhou Zhixin's interests.

Although Zhou Zhixin reclaimed his investment in the Zhang Group through legal means, he could have earned even more profit with Zhang Daguo's help, but Chen Yang ended up spoiling it.

Therefore, Chen Bing must guard against Zhou Zhixin's vengeful retaliation.

However, just as Chen Yang was preparing to set off for Xingcheng, he suddenly received a call from Zhou Zhixiang's secretary, saying that Zhou Zhixiang wanted to meet him about something.

Although Chen Yang had already met Zhou Zhixiang several times, this was their first private meeting. He had no idea what Zhou Zhixiang was up to.

He went to Zhou Zhixiang's office with doubts.

Zhou Zhixiang is now fifty-nine years old; he has served in Qingshui City for seven years, rising from mayor to municipal Party secretary.

However, during those years in office, it happened to be the period of most severe economic decline in Qingshui City. State-owned enterprises collapsed in large numbers, laid-off workers kept increasing, and social order became chaotic.

In his previous life, Zhou Zhixiang was ultimately found to have serious corruption while holding a position in the Provincial Political Consultative Conference. The reason was that in the final year of his term he aggressively pursued real estate development and, both openly and secretly, demanded that developers buy building materials from the Zhixin Group at high prices.

And the present Zhou Zhixiang is even more frenzied than his past self, selling off all the prime land in Qingshui City's urban area at once. Moreover, he gave all the best locations to Zhang Daguo, Zhou Zhixin's spokesperson in Qingshui City.

If Zhang Daguo did not provoke Chen Yang, the Zhou Zhixiang brothers would surely profit handsomely from this wave of large-scale real estate development in Qingshui City.

Now Zhang Daguo has been arrested with solid evidence. Zhou Zhixiang suddenly contacted Chen Yang—what is his purpose this time?

Chen Yang sat in Zhou Zhixiang's office for a full five minutes, while the other party kept examining documents seriously and paid him no attention at all.

Naturally, Chen Yang did not dare to disturb him.

And this quiet atmosphere continued for fifteen minutes before Zhou Zhixiang set down his documents. He looked at Chen Yang, smiled, and said: "Chen Yang, you have led entrepreneurship in Qingshui City, setting a good example for the youth. I have long wanted to have a proper talk with you, but work has been too busy—I couldn't find the time, so I delayed until now."

Chen Yang did not understand the meaning behind Zhou Zhixiang's words, so he responded respectfully: "Secretary Zhou, I am young and energetic; if I have done anything poorly, please feel free to correct me."

Zhou Zhixiang waved his hand and said: "Chen Yang, you need not be modest. Among young people, you have actually done very well. For example, the Old Citizen Meat Industry Limited Company's sausage has become a flagship brand of Dongjiangsheng in just half a year. This is a remarkable achievement."

Moreover, the Clear River Building and the Southern City District residential‑commercial project are truly far‑sighted, allowing our municipal Party and government officials to see the future development direction of Qingshui City.

Upon hearing this, Chen Yang immediately sensed hidden meaning in the words. Clearly, the Old Citizen Sausage is his greatest success so far, yet Zhou Zhixiang places more importance on the Clear River Building and the Southern City District residential‑commercial area.

It is obvious that Zhou Zhixiang's true purpose is still the real‑estate project.

"Secretary Zhou, I am not familiar with the real‑estate industry; I merely invest to gamble on its future. In fact, I lack confidence in my heart."

"Experience grows through practice. Young people like you have strong learning abilities; do a few more projects and experience will come naturally." Zhou Zhixiang gave Chen Yang a meaningful look, then added: "The development of Qingshui City needs more young people like you who are passionate and idealistic to step forward!"

Seeing that Zhou Zhixiang was determined to draw him into real estate, Chen Yang politely refused: "Secretary Zhou, I currently have many projects underway; I'm afraid I won't be able to spare the time for a new one."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhixiang bluntly said: "Chen Yang, I know you are better at investment. After the Zhang Group ran into trouble, several real‑estate projects were delayed due to funding problems. Are you interested in helping these projects move forward smoothly, like the Clear River Building, by investing in them?"

Chen Yang replied helplessly: "Secretary Zhou, I would also like to invest, but I don't have enough money! The Old Citizen Sausage can capture the Dongjiangsheng market thanks to its price advantage; the company actually makes little profit. Moreover, the several projects currently underway are all financed by bank loans, and I already owe several hundred million."

Zhou Zhixiang remained unmoved: "As long as you are willing to invest, I can negotiate with Qingshui City's banks to get you low‑interest loans."

Chen Yang countered: "Secretary Zhou, if you can get the banks to offer low‑interest loans, why not give them directly to the developers in charge of the projects? As far as I know, the real‑estate developers in our city are all strong. If you could provide them with steady financial support, Qingshui City's urban construction would surely take a big leap forward."

Zhou Zhixiang sighed helplessly: "I know they are capable, but compared to you, their credit standing with the banks is far worse. After the Zhang Group's incident, the banks downgraded their credit ratings for Qingshui City's real‑estate developers. Even if I intervene, the funds I could secure would not be enough for them to launch all existing projects simultaneously."

Chen Yang said to Zhou Zhixiang: "Secretary Zhou, since the existing funds are insufficient to launch all projects at once, why not focus on one or two projects first? Once the funds recycle, we can launch the others."

Zhou Zhixiang shook his head: "Chen Yang, I understand your point, but now is Qingshui City's best chance to turn things around. Only by launching these projects simultaneously can we economically surpass the neighboring sister cities, thereby attracting more investors to Qingshui City."

If Chen Yang did not know Zhou Zhixiang's background, he would truly believe him to be a benevolent official who serves the country and the people.

In his view, Zhou Zhixiang's simultaneous launch of all real‑estate projects serves only two purposes. Politically, Qingshui City's rapid development would give him impressive political achievements, and even hope of advancing further. Economically, it would allow Zhou Zhixin's building‑materials company to earn greater profits.

However, since Zhou Zhixiang has made his stance clear, if he were still to refuse, the other side would likely turn hostile ahead of time.

Chen Yang temporarily did not want to become an outright enemy of Zhou Zhixiang, so he devised a compromise.

"Secretary Zhou, I can arrange a loan from the banks for them. However, they must mortgage the project land to me."