Chapter 19: Please Everyone Watch a Short Video!

The inspection team said they would arrive at ten o'clock, but because it has been raining for the past few days, the road conditions are extremely poor.

One of the cars was going too fast, rushed off the road, and plunged into a field; it took a lot of effort to tow it back up.

It was already twelve o'clock noon when the motorcade arrived at Pinghu Town, and because of this little episode, a shadow was inevitably cast over everyone's mood.

The officials of Pinghu Town all felt that this inspection was highly likely to fall through.

The leaders of the inspection team walked out of their cars, each with a livid face; one could tell from their expressions that they were full of complaints about this trip.

Walking at the very front of the crowd was Vice Mayor Zhao Disheng, who is in charge of the economy.

County Magistrate Du Chengfeng walked on the right side of Mayor Zhao.

In addition, there was also a consultant group specially hired by the Government.

Xia Haiqiao walked toward his classmate, "It was a hard journey."

The classmate shook his head and sighed, "The traffic is too terrible. If you want to get rich, you must first build roads; why haven't you thought of a way?"

Xia Haiqiao made a mournful face, "Building roads also requires money!"

He felt wronged in his heart; the car had rushed off the road on a highway in another town, not in Pinghu Town, so even if he wanted to build roads, he couldn't build them on someone else's territory!

Xia Haiqiao thanked his classmate in a low voice, "I owe it to you for bringing people here this time; you've given me plenty of face."

The classmate glanced at Xia Haiqiao in surprise, secretly wondering how he himself would have the qualifications to bring this up?

He gave a sheepish smile, "I'm just a follower, after all."

Xia Haiqiao thought his classmate was being modest and patted his classmate on the shoulder, "I've prepared some local specialties for you; I'll have them sent to your home later."

Xu Yiping has no real say in this kind of setting, and although he is very close to Mayor Zhao, he cannot get many words in.

Du Chengfeng put in a lot of effort, and when communicating with Mayor Zhao, he explained the situation in Pinghu Town very clearly.

Du Chengfeng is a capable leader, but he has stayed in Tianling County for too long. However, the arrival of the new Municipal Party Secretary in Hanzhou has given Du Chengfeng an opportunity.

Xu Yiping has no confidence in this project, so he first invited everyone to eat, "Although Pinghu Town is a small place, we have our own specialty dishes. Since everyone is here to inspect the project, you must also inspect our local dining culture. We have ordered a simple meal at the restaurant; please move there."

The inspection team was also starving; seeing the table full of various river delicacies and highly tempting local dishes, they tucked in heartily, and the originally gloomy atmosphere eased quite a bit.

After a short rest following the meal, the rain finally stopped.

A group of people walked a mile or two to the dam before returning to the Town Government conference room for a discussion.

Seeing that the items on the table were promotional brochures, Mayor Zhao flipped through a few pages and laughed with County Magistrate Du, "Pinghu Town really prepared with care to welcome us!"

Du Chengfeng was quickly attracted by the exquisite copy and nodded slightly, "Old Xu, tell everyone about the situation in Pinghu!"

Xu Yiping finally waited for his opportunity; he picked up his manuscript, stood up, and began to read.

Although the manuscript had been revised many times, reading it verbatim in such a formulaic, cliché style made it tedious to listen to.

Everyone was pinching their thighs, and a few people sitting in the back row still couldn't help but doze off, nodding like chickens pecking at rice.

Du Chengfeng felt a bit disappointed; seeing that the brochure was made with such depth, he thought Xu Yiping would be able to say something brilliant—even if he couldn't secure the project, he could at least make a good impression.

As it turned out, he didn't expect Xu Yiping's speech to be as it always was, unable to spark any interest in anyone.

Mayor Zhao sipped his tea from time to time; he felt a bit of disgust, but due to the occasion, he did not show it immediately.

Sure enough, the level of township-level civil servants is limited!

Xu Yiping finally finished reading the manuscript, and with his ability to read the room, he immediately saw from everyone's faces that his speech did not seem to have achieved a good effect.

However, he didn't pay too much attention to it; this reception wasn't meant to secure the project, but to make a better impression, and as long as the surface was passable, that was enough.

Tang Ye noticed that the atmosphere in the meeting room had suddenly turned cold, so he stood up to refill everyone's teacups with hot water, making a round before returning to an inconspicuous corner in the back row.

In this setting, being able to sit in as an observer was already good enough; no matter what, it wouldn't be his turn to speak.

But, his keen eye had been honed over many years at the Old Cadre Bureau; the seemingly menial task of serving tea and water actually held opportunities, and perhaps one day a leader would notice the details, and his fate would change because of it.

Tang Ye held a notebook, constantly recording key points while observing these people's expressions and pondering their thoughts.

Mayor Zhao is the highest-ranking person among this group; whether in his sitting posture or his speech and demeanor, he exudes an air of being in command of the overall situation.

County Magistrate Du has a relatively steady personality and does things by the book, giving people the impression that he is stern and humorless, but his language is layered and logical.

Although Xu Yiping is a few years older than them, he is cautious and follows in their footsteps.

As for Chen Zhihua, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth—gloating and disdainful!

Seeing that no one was speaking, Mayor Zhao tapped his right hand lightly on the table a few times to make the atmosphere more harmonious, "Since this is a discussion, everyone should speak freely, especially the comrades from Pinghu; you must seize the opportunity to explain the advantages of Pinghu thoroughly!"

For about a minute, the meeting room was silent.

Sitting beside Mayor Zhao, a fifty-year-old middle-aged man suddenly spoke up at this moment:

"Mayor Zhao, I have a suggestion; I would like to ask my student, little Tang, to say a few words. Little Tang is the Deputy Town Mayor currently in charge of the economy in Pinghu Town."

Mayor Zhao's gaze landed on Tang Ye not far away, "Your teacher has spoken; aren't you going to stand up and say a few words?"

The eyes of the entire room locked onto Tang Ye in a flash.

Tang Ye cast a look of gratitude toward Jiang Jinpeng.

He had already seen Jiang Jinpeng in the crowd.

However, he hadn't taken the initiative to disturb him.

The Pinghu leadership team thought that the addition of Pinghu as a stop for this inspection team was an opportunity secretly provided by Xia Haiqiao's classmate.

In reality, it was Jiang Jinpeng who provided the suggestion to the Government.

Xia Haiqiao's classmate was merely a section chief in the Municipal Investment Promotion Bureau; what qualifications did he have to propose adding an inspection site?

Jiang Jinpeng said to Mayor Zhao with a smile, "I take in quite a few graduate students every year, but Tang Ye is different; he has traveled north and south with me since his first year of graduate school and has participated in the planning and design of many large-scale government projects."

Tang Ye didn't expect Jiang Jinpeng to call his name directly, and even less did he expect to be asked to speak in public.

He was only a Deputy Town Mayor who had been in his post for half a month.

Xia Haiqiao felt his whole body go cold!

The script wasn't playing out as expected!

How did Tang Ye end up in the spotlight so inexplicably?

Xia Haiqiao was praying inwardly, certain that in such a grand setting, this kid wouldn't be able to squeeze out a single word!

Tang Ye had nerves of steel; he slowly stood up, "Could you give me ten minutes? I would like to show everyone a short video!"

What?

Watch a video?

As soon as Tang Ye said this, looks of curiosity appeared on everyone's faces.

What kind of medicine is this kid selling in his gourd?