Chapter 301: Project Commencement

In late March, Nie Zhaohai, the person in charge of the Qinchuan Petroleum Oil and Gas Resource Comprehensive Utilization Project, arrived in Ganshui to visit County Party Committee Secretary Lu Fan. The two sides held an in-depth exchange regarding the project's construction.

Lu Fan promised that the County Party Committee and County Government would form a special team to provide "nanny-style" services for the project's initiation and construction, and would go all out to provide guarantees for the smooth advancement of the project.

At the same time, Lu Fan also put forward a request, hoping that the project could provide more employment opportunities for Ganshui County and support the development of local small and medium-sized enterprises. In particular, regarding the supply of infrastructure materials, he hoped that priority would be given to cooperation with local enterprises to promote the development of the local economy.

Nie Zhaohai readily agreed to this, stating that Qinchuan Petroleum, having long been an enterprise stationed in Ganshui County, would shoulder the mission and responsibility of an enterprise, continue to actively integrate into local development as always, demonstrate social responsibility and action, and contribute strength to the high-quality development of Ganshui County.

The two sides also discussed matters related to the project's commencement; the largest project in Ganshui County's history was about to break ground.

After reaching a consensus, Lu Fan and Wang Baoguo reported to the Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government respectively, and both principal leaders indicated that they would attend the commencement ceremony.

Subsequently, Lu Fan made a special trip to the Provincial Government to invite Vice Provincial Governor Niu Qianhua, who is in charge of industry, to attend the commencement ceremony.

After waiting for a full day, Lu Fan was finally able to see Vice Governor Niu.

After Lu Fan expressed his sincere invitation, Niu Qianhua looked at his schedule and said with a look of embarrassment: "Little Lu, there is also a commencement ceremony in Yinzhou on April 1st. I already promised Comrade Hongtao in advance, I am really sorry!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Fan felt a bit disappointed, but he still maintained his politeness and a smile, and quickly said: "Understood, understood, it is just a bit of a pity! Vice Governor Niu, after the project commences, the people of Ganshui look forward to you finding time in your busy schedule to come to Ganshui to inspect and guide our work!"

Niu Qianhua smiled and said: "Okay, as the largest project in Yingjiang, I will definitely go and take a look!"

Although the invitation was "ruthlessly" rejected, at least the tea brought this time was not rejected by the leader, which was already no small progress.

How could "getting close" to a leader be so easy? Without any family or friendship ties, why should someone look at you differently? Therefore, one can only leave a good impression on the leader through report after report of work.

Now, at the very least, Vice Governor Niu has an impression of him and can call him by his name; this is already a positive signal.

The first time is a stranger, the second time is an acquaintance, the third and fourth times are friends, and the fifth and sixth times are drinking together. Lu Fan firmly believes that as long as the effort is deep enough, an iron pestle can be ground into a needle; as long as one is thick-skinned and sincere, Vice Governor Niu Qianhua's heart will eventually be "melted" by him.

After several days of careful preparation, Ganshui and Qinchuan Petroleum completed all the preparatory work for the commencement ceremony.

On April 1st, the sky was clear and the sun was bright, and the crowds were surging. The site leveling and commencement ceremony for the Qinchuan Petroleum Coal, Oil, and Gas Resource Comprehensive Utilization Project were grandly held in the Ganshui Industrial Park. Li Mingzhou, Member of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee and Secretary of the Yingjiang Municipal Party Committee; Sun Weidong, Mayor of Yingjiang; Han Guishan, Director of the Provincial Department of Finance; Su Xingyu, Chairman of Qinchuan Petroleum; and leaders including the Deputy Director of the Provincial Development and Reform Commission and the Deputy Director of the Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology attended, along with leaders from relevant departments at the municipal and county levels.

Twenty-four dump trucks and 8 excavators were lined up neatly, and display boards introduced the project overview in categories using pictures and text.

After the commencement ceremony began, County Party Committee Secretary Lu Fan, with a smile on his face, delivered an enthusiastic speech on behalf of the Ganshui County Party Committee and County Government! He expressed sincere welcome to all the leaders and guests attending the ceremony! He expressed warm congratulations on the project starting today! He stated that Ganshui would create favorable conditions for the project's landing, construction, and industrial development through a higher-quality business environment and more precise enterprise services.

Project leader Nie Zhaohai introduced the specific situation of the project.

Construction enterprises such as Qinchuan Construction Engineering Group and Qinchuan Chemical Construction Company made statements respectively.

At ten o'clock in the morning, accompanied by the festive sound of firecrackers and the roar of engineering machinery, Municipal Party Committee Secretary Li Mingzhou announced the commencement order!

At the project construction site, machines immediately started up; the sound of machines running and the roar of engines rose one after another, sounding the horn of the charge.

After the commencement ceremony ended, Lu Fan took a group of leaders to investigate the Ganshui Industrial Park.

The only thing that could be shown off was the Bawanli Dried Tofu Factory. The leaders entered the workshop, looked at the products, and conducted on-site research on the enterprise's production and operation situation.

During the research, Han Guishan patted Lu Fan on the shoulder and said with a smile: "The spirit is good, keep up the good work!"

Then, he said to Qinchuan Petroleum Chairman Su Xingyu beside him: "Old Su, take care of Ganshui County when you have the chance!"

Looking at the intimate actions of the two, Su Xingyu laughed and said: "A 24 billion project has been placed here, how else do you want me to take care of it?"

Han Guishan laughed: "That was a matter of the past, it has nothing to do with me; I am talking about the future! You have so many projects, why not give them to someone? Wouldn't it be wonderful to take care of one of your own?"

Su Xingyu leaned over and asked in a low voice: "What kind of relationship?"

Han Guishan replied in a low voice: "One of our own, the child is also quite promising, I think highly of him!"

Su Xingyu nodded and said: "Since you have spoken, how could I let your face fall to the ground? We are going to launch an equipment manufacturing plant this year, with the direction being oil and casing thread processing and the production of pump unit reducers. I will consider it."

Han Guishan immediately waved to Lu Fan, signaling him to come over, and instructed: "There is a good opportunity; Chairman Su has a big project on his hands. I have already fought for it for you; you must grasp it well and 'tangle' him tightly!"

Hearing this, Lu Fan became excited and said emotionally: "Thank you, Director, for your care, and thank you, Chairman Su, for your deep friendship and for your support and help in my work! I will keep this friendship in my heart. As long as there is anything I can do, please give your orders at any time, Chairman Su; I will definitely not shirk!"

Su Xingyu smiled and said: "Secretary Lu is too polite. Supporting local development is the responsibility of our Qinchuan Petroleum. Let's visit each other often in the future!"

There are two reasons why Su Xingyu agreed so readily: First, he genuinely wanted to get to know Lu Fan because he perceived that the relationship between Lu Fan and Li Mingzhou was extraordinary, and Li Mingzhou's future was limitless! Second, he had to give Han Guishan face; do not underestimate the Director of the Department of Finance, as Su Xingyu often had to ask him for things.

One must know that Qinchuan Petroleum and the Provincial Department of Finance are the "two legs" of Provincial Party Committee Secretary Chen Jiazhong, taken wherever he goes. Once Secretary Chen opens his golden mouth, the two of them must prepare funds at any time; they can be considered two "purses," so the relationship between the two is extremely close.

Just as Han Guishan said, it doesn't matter where the project is placed, it is better to give it to "one of our own."

After the research ended, Ganshui County held a grand luncheon to entertain the leaders who participated in the commencement ceremony today, and also carefully prepared local specialties for every leader.

During this period, the two offices and economic departments of Ganshui County were extremely busy; their reception tasks and pressure were constantly increasing, and the specifications for receiving leaders were getting higher and higher.

One must know that in the past, few leaders came to Ganshui for research; it belonged to a county district that "chickens don't touch and dogs don't smell."

Therefore, the promotion of Ganshui's cadres was very slow, and there were very few opportunities for external exchanges.

However, ever since Lu Fan served as County Party Committee Secretary, he has brought new vitality and vigor to this silent land, making the Ganshui political scene glow with vitality, and everything is developing in a good direction.

The 24 billion big project broke ground, and more than a dozen construction teams entered on the same day, showing a busy scene.

At the same time, the project also had to recruit a large number of workers in Ganshui. With the influx of people, logistics, and capital, this small county town became completely lively, making business people beam with joy.

Starting from April 2nd, Lu Fan began to go to townships for research, with the heads of the County Party Committee Office, Finance Bureau, Agriculture Bureau, and Poverty Alleviation Bureau participating.

The first stop was arranged at Siwan Town, which can be considered Ganshui's oil town.

Accompanied by Town Party Committee Secretary Yang Benyuan, Lu Fan visited community factories, sweet potato planting demonstration points, integrated agricultural demonstration parks, and demonstration villages one after another, and learned about the development situation of Siwan Town in detail through on-site observation, listening to reports, and exchanging questions.

But the research results made Lu Fan very disappointed; there was a feeling of lifelessness everywhere, and the industrial development had no merits at all, which made him increasingly disappointed with Yang Benyuan. Moreover, this person's age had no room for upward mobility, and his current state was just muddling along.

Lu Fan could not let such a person continue to muddle along; for the development of Siwan Town, he already had a strong desire to adjust his position.

During the research process, Lu Fan had a very good impression of Town Mayor Ren Tongxin; at least he was very familiar with the work in the town. Lu Fan asked questions suddenly several times, and he answered fluently every time.

Lu Fan learned that Ren Tongxin was a selected cadre of the Provincial Party Committee Organization Department in 2006, starting from being a town mayor's assistant, and was relatively pragmatic. Organization Department Head Guo Tongyu had a good evaluation of him.

In the afternoon, Lu Fan came to Dao Town, because Li Xinbo was adjusted to be the Director of the County Party Committee Office, and currently the town party committee work is presided over by Town Mayor Yang Yuteng.

Out of respect for Li Xinbo, Lu Fan did not criticize the work of Dao Town, but to be honest, the development of this township was also unremarkable, and the life of the common people could only be said to be not poor enough to die.

Town Mayor Yang Yuteng performed very actively, and Li Xinbo also consciously recommended this person to Lu Fan.

But what Lu Fan considered was that he could not use a group of mediocre people as secretaries, so he said to Yang Yuteng: "You know better than I do how Dao Town is actually developing. If you have good ideas, you can come to the County Party Committee to report to me." This could be considered giving him a chance.

Yang Yuteng naturally attached great importance to this rare opportunity and began to concentrate on studying the development ideas of Dao Town. ===== CHAPTER 302 =====