Chapter 21: So It Was Tang Ye Who Did It!

Not long after the inspection team left, Wan Ming knocked on the door of Tang Ye's office.

Tang Ye was using video editing software—Adobe Premiere Pro—to revise the promotional video.

In 2005, video editing was not as convenient as it would be twenty years later with tools like CapCut or Ai Jianji.

The difficulty of Adobe Premiere Pro was much greater than Photoshop!

The software's technical language was no less obscure than those programming tools.

To cut raw footage into a short film, one also had to have outstanding copywriting skills.

Tang Ye closed his laptop and poured a cup of tea for Wan Ming.

Wan Ming took a sip of the tea and said with a smile, "Let me ask you something."

Tang Ye let go of the mouse, "What is it?"

Wan Ming lowered his voice, "Is our Pinghu going to invest in a resort?"

Tang Ye was stunned for a moment, then shook his head with a wry smile, "Blowing a trumpet on an airplane—it's just talk, nothing to it!"

A mischievous smile appeared at the corner of Wan Ming's mouth, "You're still keeping your mouth tight. The inspection team came to the city today, and you even gave a presentation. It's said the report was exceptional and received unanimous praise from the inspection team."

Tang Ye hadn't expected the news to spread so quickly.

He had a flash of inspiration and said with a smile, "The inspection team just came to scout the location. There are many towns in the city suitable for investing in resorts. Pinghu Town doesn't have a competitive edge, but it's not without hope; after all, Pinghu Town possesses excellent resort resources."

Wan Ming sighed softly, "I had been considering whether to buy a house in Pinghu. After hearing you say that, I won't hesitate anymore."

Tang Ye nodded slightly, "Regardless of whether the resort is built or not, housing prices in first-tier cities have been rising these past few years, and sooner or later, it will extend to third and fourth-tier ones."

Having gotten the information, Wan Ming drank the remaining half cup of tea in one gulp and set the cup down, "I'm off!"

Tang Ye watched as Wan Ming hurried away.

Tang Ye smiled bitterly with a guilty conscience, not expecting Wan Ming to trust him so much.

After fooling him with a few words, he actually planned to buy a house in Pinghu.

However, from a long-term perspective, buying a house wasn't a bad thing. Even if a house in Pinghu cost fifty or sixty thousand yuan now, a few years later, as the economy developed and real estate spread from first and second-tier cities to third and fourth-tier ones, property in towns would also have room for appreciation.

Attracting investment was similar to drawing a cake to satisfy hunger or looking at plums to quench thirst.

Although the two-billion-yuan resort project hadn't even begun, the bluff could be made first to let the outside world know that Pinghu Town had commercial investment value; only then could it attract the attention of capital.

Tang Ye finished revising the suggestions proposed by Mayor Zhao and sent them to the email address left for him by the leaders of the Municipal Investment Promotion Bureau.

Chen Zhihua walked in, "Are you busy?"

Tang Ye hurriedly stood up. Knowing Chen Zhihua had a habit of smoking, he quickly offered a cigarette and moved the ashtray to the coffee table.

Chen Zhihua flicked his cigarette butt on the table twice, "I was quite curious last night why you were working overtime so late. It wasn't until this afternoon that I understood you were preparing a promotional video. As expected, young cadres have an innovative spirit; if it were us old fogies, we couldn't come up with these fancy tricks."

Tang Ye said modestly, "I was just forced into it, and the preparation wasn't sufficient. Logically speaking, such important promotional material should be submitted to the Party Group Leadership for discussion, and only after absorbing everyone's valuable experience should it be displayed on important occasions."

Although Tang Ye had performed very well today, in officialdom, there was a strict hierarchy.

Tang Ye was suspected of overshadowing his superiors.

Especially since Xu Yiping, while appearing magnanimous and tolerant, was actually a petty person who was jealous of talent. Tang Ye having stolen all the limelight today was destined to make Xu Yiping feel extremely uncomfortable, and he would certainly find an opportunity to make things difficult for Tang Ye in the future.

Although Chen Zhihua was the second-in-command of the leadership team, he had long been sidelined by Xu Yiping. He anticipated that Tang Ye would soon face many difficulties, but he felt powerless to help.

"Pinghu Town is just a stepping stone for you. It would be better if your way of handling problems were a bit more mature."

Tang Ye could see the sincerity and kindness in Chen Zhihua's tone, "Thank you for the reminder. I will consider things more thoroughly when handling matters in the future."

Chen Zhihua sensed a maturity and steadiness in Tang Ye that didn't match his age, and he appreciated this Deputy Town Mayor on secondment from the bottom of his heart.

The next day, around seven o'clock, Tang Ye finished his morning run and went to a noodle shop to order a bowl of wontons.

The landlady wasn't complaining about her husband to the other women today.

"The inspection team came from the city yesterday, and the new Town Mayor Tang gave a report that was incredibly effective. Town Mayor Tang is a cadre from the city, and he has resources there. It's said the resort investment is over two billion! Our town has twenty thousand people; if you divide that among everyone, that's over a hundred thousand each!"

"I heard that too! The area along the lake to the southwest is all going to be demolished, with a subsidy of thirty thousand per mu."

"Is that for real? My family has a plot of private land there, three point seven mu; wouldn't that mean I could get over a hundred thousand?"

Tang Ye finished his wontons in a hurry, paid the bill, and slipped away with a guilty conscience.

He hadn't expected that in the span of one night, the streets and alleys would start spreading rumors.

In such a small place, the speed at which gossip spread was too fast!

……

After arriving at work, Vice Mayor Zhao Disheng called for his Secretary, Ding, to go over the materials needed for the morning Party Committee meeting.

Yesterday, he had led the team to research the resort site and needed to report to Standing Committee Member Zhou Chengwu and the others.

Secretary Ding reported, "The Municipal Investment Promotion Bureau has sent us the promotional video for Pinghu Town. I've taken a look, and it has already been adjusted according to your revision suggestions."

Mayor Zhao nodded with satisfaction, "Send the promotional video to the City Television Station and have them make a promotional video for the city according to this standard."

Secretary Ding nodded, then frowned, "I just asked a reporter from the City Television Station; a promotional video of this quality would cost at least two million!"

Upon hearing this, Mayor Zhao widened his eyes, "Did I hear you correctly?"

Secretary Ding said in a low voice, "The promotional videos we made before were quoted at one million for a five-minute version. This one is ten minutes long, and the copywriting and material collection are very professional; they would have to hire outside people to cooperate in the production."

Mayor Zhao rubbed his temples and gave the order, "With a budget of one million, a ten-minute version must be produced. I will call Station Head Zhu later to make things clear."

After Secretary Ding left, Mayor Zhao shook his head with a wry smile.

He hadn't expected the "gold" content of Pinghu Town's promotional video to be so high!

This time, the inspection team went to Pinghu Town for research, and he hadn't expected to discover a dust-covered piece of jade.

He had learned from Jiang Jinpeng that Tang Ye once had the opportunity to become Zhou Chengwu's secretary, but he had chosen to be seconded to a town...

Zhao Disheng prepared the materials and headed to Building No. 1 to report the results of the inspection activity.

Inside the conference room, besides Municipal Party Secretary Zhou Chengwu, there were the Mayor, the Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, the Organization Department Minister, the Executive Vice Mayor, and others.

"Before the report, I would like to ask the leaders to watch the promotional video made by Pinghu Town," Zhao Disheng said softly.

"A promotional video?" Zhou Chengwu said with interest, "Then let's take a look!"

The network administrator hurried over to calibrate the equipment, taking ten minutes and working until he was covered in sweat.

As the melody of "Spring Returns to the Earth" began, everyone's attention was drawn to the video.

The male voiceover for the monologue was deep, resonant, powerful, and grand.

Dynamic scene transitions blended scenery with human culture.

The small town, imbued with cultural depth, was full of vitality.

For those ten minutes, the conference room was very quiet.

When the promotional video ended, Zhao Disheng said with a smile, "This promotional video is the biggest surprise we have received during this inspection. Pinghu Town was not originally in our key inspection scope, but following the suggestion of Dean Jiang Jinpeng, we added the Pinghu Town itinerary; I didn't expect them to have made such thorough preparations."

"It must have cost quite a bit to produce this promotional video, right?" Zhou Chengwu asked, his expression serious.

It was clearly inappropriate for a backward township to spend a huge sum of money on a promotional video for the sake of investment attraction!

"This promotional video was made by Tang Ye himself, the Deputy Town Mayor on secondment in Pinghu Town. He is a student of Dean Jiang and has participated in many urban planning projects in the past; he is very experienced and highly capable."

Several Standing Committee Members exchanged glances.

Pinghu Town actually had such talent?

Zhou Chengwu suddenly realized!

So it was made by young Tang?!

Zhou Chengwu rubbed his chin and said slowly, "I know a bit about young Tang; he was sent down by the Municipal Party Committee for secondment, and he is quite diligent in his work."

The others looked at Zhao Disheng with complex expressions.

It turned out that Zhao Disheng's praise was just a pretext; his true intention lay elsewhere, which could be seen as taking a side in a very subtle way!

Before Zhao Disheng could finish his inspection report, Zhou Chengwu gave an important instruction: "Include Pinghu Town in the candidate options for the resort."

This decision made the hearts of the other members of the leadership team tighten inexplicably.

A project worth over two billion involved too many people and matters!

Could Pinghu Town really become a dark horse and stand out?