Chapter 126: Someone

The next morning.

Tang Ye summoned Tian Daming, the Village Chief of Qianjin Village.

On one hand, to understand the progress of the road construction;

On the other hand, to discuss with Tian Daming the idea of taking the lead through the village committee to establish a Hairy Crab Breeding Base.

Tian Daming now admired Tang Ye greatly, "Town Mayor Tang, please rest assured, everyone in the village gives you a thumbs up; we will certainly carry out the tasks you assign. However, we have no experience in raising crabs, and I am afraid we won't be able to complete the mission."

"It is Hairy Crab, not just crabs!"

Tang Ye smiled and corrected him, handing Tian Daming a business card.

"I have already contacted a team from the Agricultural College; they will come to conduct research in a few days to establish an experimental base. The team will provide the technology, and you will provide the labor. With a division of labor and mutual cooperation, we will farm scientifically."

Tian Daming's eyes lit up, "You have considered this so thoroughly."

At noon, Tang Ye paid out of his own pocket to treat the village cadres, including Tian Daming, to a meal.

Firstly, to give everyone a treat;

Secondly, to build rapport with everyone.

The village cadres all saw Tang Ye's methods.

It was a bit like "those who comply prosper, those who resist perish"!

He helped Qianjin Village, immediately arranged for road repairs, and even set up a Hairy Crab Breeding Base;

If you went against him, there would be no good fruit to eat; the two village chiefs of Xiahe Village and Liuqiao Village had been sent to prison by him.

However, there were still some stubborn ones who privately complained that Tang Ye was just messing around!

The sumptuous meal was served on the table.

Seeing everyone's eyes darting around, Tang Ye smiled and explained.

"I'll give everyone a heads-up: we won't be drinking alcohol this noon. From now on, I am also setting a rule: while we cannot control other townships, in Pinghu Town from now on, all staff, including village cadres, are strictly forbidden from drinking at noon. If anyone dares to break the rule I have set, that is easy to handle; we will find a time, and I will drink one-on-one with them."

The atmosphere instantly became less harmonious.

Guo Liang hurriedly tried to smooth things over, "Town Mayor Tang, who in Pinghu doesn't know you have a huge capacity for alcohol? Wouldn't drinking with you be asking for trouble?"

Tang Ye picked up his teacup and stood up, "I will toast everyone with tea instead of wine. My work cannot be separated from everyone's support. I hope everyone can work together to boost the economy and make the lives of the common people better and better."

Zhao Bin, the Village Chief of Qigang Village, felt disappointed when he heard there was no alcohol at noon.

Seeing Tian Daming sucking up to Tang Ye, he felt a surge of anger.

"Town Mayor Tang, I, Zhao, speak my mind. You want us to develop the economy, but just shouting slogans won't work! Shouldn't the Town Government provide support?"

Tang Ye had some understanding of Zhao Bin; he and Tian Daming were a well-known pair of thorns.

Under his leadership, Qigang Village had established a Village-run Factory, leading the villagers to prosperity.

But Zhao Bin had a violent temper and was addicted to alcohol; he would start cursing if things didn't go his way when he came to the Government to handle business after drinking.

Many Clerks in the Town Government would frown at the sight of him.

Tang Ye forbade drinking and stated the no-alcohol rule, and Zhao Bin mistakenly thought Tang Ye was targeting him.

"Qianjin Village is preparing to cooperate with the Hanzhou University Agricultural College to establish a Hairy Crab Breeding Base. Once the breeding technology matures, it will be popularized to other townships. This is the support we are giving everyone! Everyone, please don't be anxious."

Zhao Bin interrupted Tang Ye, "Town Mayor Tang, you must set a goal for the Qianjin Village breeding base in front of everyone; you can't just draw a pie!"

Tang Ye asked back with a smile, "What goal do you think is appropriate to set?"

"Since you have such confidence in this project, there should be no problem if the year-end sales exceed our Village-run Factory, right?"

Tian Daming was displeased, "Aquaculture has just started; it will take at least two or three years to develop, right?"

Tang Ye, however, waved his hand.

"Fine, let's go by what Village Chief Zhao said. If the aquaculture base in Qianjin Village doesn't outperform your Village-run Factory by the end of the year, I won't need to be this Town Mayor. If it exceeds it, you will resign from your position as Village Chief!"

Zhao Bin had originally just wanted to mock Tang Ye a bit; he didn't expect Tang Ye to be so tough, and he was immediately left unable to back down.

At this moment, Guo Liang hurriedly said with a smile, "I think we should make a gentleman's agreement; there is no need to be so serious about the stakes. Whoever loses just treats the other to a good meal with drinks, that will be enough."

Others applauded one after another.

Zhao Bin kept the bet in mind.

By the end of the year, if Tang Ye broke his word, he would not save face for Tang Ye!

……

Two o'clock in the afternoon.

Tang Ye rushed to Qinge Clothing Factory.

After waiting for half an hour, the television station's interview vehicle finally appeared.

After Gao Yang got out of the car, he saw the charming and peerless Gu Wenqin in the crowd at a glance.

Gu Wenqin was dressed very simply, in a jacket and jeans, but she was eye-catching.

Gao Yang tried to invite Gu Wenqin to meet, but was rejected by Gu Wenqin on the grounds of being busy with work.

He knew that Gu Wenqin was very career-minded, so he started by offering to help with publicity to see if he could move her.

"Sorry, we encountered a traffic accident on the way and were delayed for a while."

"Teacher Gao, thank you for your hard work. Please come into the conference room and take a rest first."

Gao Yang introduced a middle-aged man beside him to Tang Ye, "This is the director in charge of our program team, Director Zou Zhen."

Zou Zhen wore sunglasses and nodded toward Tang Ye; he only slowly shook hands after Tang Ye took the initiative to reach out, "Hello, Town Mayor Tang. Pinghu is cleaner than I imagined, and Qinge Clothing Factory is also larger than I imagined."

Tang Ye heard a hint of arrogance in Zou Zhen's words and felt a bit displeased, but he did not show it.

In Zou Zhen's view, he was from the City Television Station to help Pinghu Town, and Pinghu Town had requests of him, so he held the upper hand.

"Qinge is our town's star enterprise. This is just one of the factory areas; there is another factory area that is even larger than this one," Tang Ye introduced to Zou Zhen.

Zou Zhen nodded slightly, "It is indeed rare to have an enterprise of this scale in a township. Gao Yang has a good eye! An enterprise like Qinge should be promoted more."

Zou Zhen was originally not interested in rural enterprises.

However, the moment he saw Gu Wenqin, he immediately perked up.

No wonder Gao Yang kept praising Gu Wenqin on the road!

Zou Zhen's attention was quickly captured by Xu Qiao.

Xu Qiao reminded him of his first love in college; she had no obvious traces of makeup and delicate features, appearing much purer than those hosts on television who liked to plaster their faces with thick powder.

After touring the two factory areas, they filmed quite a bit of promotional material.

Tang Ye introduced to Zou Zhen, "Pinghu is now fully promoting E-commerce; not only has Qinge achieved results through E-commerce, but other enterprises have also tasted the sweetness of it."

However, Zou Zhen showed little interest.

"I have been to Pinghu before, and it feels completely different now. I heard that a Resort Project is to be built here, and there will surely be great development by then. Town Mayor Tang, you have great vision. I personally quite like mulberry fields, ponds, bamboo forests, and streams. Once the Pinghu Resort Project begins construction, the city will certainly concentrate resources to promote it. As for now, there isn't much to promote yet, so there is no need to be overly impatient."

Tang Ye sensed Zou Zhen's perfunctory attitude and said with a smile, "Director Zou's words make sense, but we cannot passively wait for opportunities; we must actively strive for them."

Zou Zhen secretly thought Tang Ye was a bit overly ambitious and changed the subject, "I heard from Gao Yang that the specialty dishes in your Pinghu are quite good."

"Everything has already been arranged; let's head to the hotel now!" Tang Ye realized that today's reception would likely end in disappointment!

They arrived at the Jindu Hotel.

Seeing dish after dish of delicacies served on the table, Zou Zhen's mood improved quite a bit.

Tang Ye was puzzled.

He had thought three bottles of wine would be enough, but he didn't expect that after finishing them, it still wasn't enough, so he had to get three more.

This meal was arranged by Gu Wenqin, so there was no need to worry about reimbursement issues.

However, the feeling of being sponged off made Tang Ye feel uncomfortable.

Zou Zhen was interested in Xu Qiao and insisted that she drink a few more glasses.

Xu Qiao had no choice but to bite the bullet and drink several glasses, her fair cheeks looking as if they had been dyed with red clouds.

Gao Yang suddenly stirred up trouble, "Director Zou, since you like Xu Qiao so much, why don't you two have a cup of nuptial wine?"

Xu Qiao instantly froze in place, looking at Tang Ye at a loss for what to do.

Tang Ye was displeased!

It was one thing for this man surnamed Gao and this man surnamed Zou to come here to freeload!

But to even want to drink nuptial wine—were they trying to take advantage of Xu Qiao?