Chapter 495

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

Before one knew it, evening arrived. Lin Xiaolong organized a dinner gathering, inviting not only Wang Zhiyang and a whole group from the Fire Department, but also asking Wang Erhai to come along.

Wang Erhai happily agreed.

Because he knew, to make it in the county town, one absolutely had to get on good terms with those people inside the system.

It's hard for those people to help you build a company well, but to ruin your company is a matter of minutes.

This fire inspection dragged on for a long time before it was finally settled, and that had already taught Wang Erhai a hard lesson.

At eight o'clock in the evening, Wang Erhai, Lin Xiaolong, and Huang Mengna arrived together at Nan Hai Food Street.

This is a major dining destination in the county town; many people entertaining guests either go to Huangsheng or come here.

Huangsheng is a notch higher in grade, but the prices are also more expensive, not something ordinary people can afford.

Nan Hai Food Street, on the other hand, not only has affordable prices but also a wide variety of delicacies, so it has been chosen by many as the best place to savor food in this county town.

When Wang Erhai, Lin Xiaolong, and the others arrived at Nan Hai Food Street, Wang Zhiyang and the Fire Department people hadn't come yet, but this was normal too — after all, they had arrived half an hour early to scout the venue.

Now they had booked a private room and were just waiting for Wang Zhiyang to arrive.

Half an hour passed in a flash.

Wang Zhiyang still hadn't shown up.

Seeing this, Wang Erhai couldn't help feeling a bit displeased.

He still had a lot of things to do; to him, time was truly too precious.

"Boss Wang, don't rush, wait patiently. They're all like this. Usually they say eight o'clock, but they'll deliberately wait until eight-thirty to come."

Lin Xiaolong noticed the impatience on Wang Erhai's face and comforted him like this.

"This is too unpunctual, isn't it."

There was no one else here, so Wang Erhai complained a sentence.

Not only did he complain, even Huang Mengna complained:

"Exactly, being this late, it's too disrespectful to people!"

Lin Xiaolong, however, gave Huang Mengna a cold sidelong glance:

"What do you know? This is the officials' rule. Only this way can they show they have face, have pomp."

Lin Xiaolong then said:

"Let's order dishes first. Leaving the last signature dish for Wang Zhiyang to order, we'll place the order for the other dishes first, let the chef start cooking. By the time they arrive, the dishes will probably be just about ready to serve."

Wang Erhai couldn't help but sigh:

"So many tricks and formalities, so much red tape. No wonder the county town's economy can't take off. How does this let people do business?"

It's normal for Wang Erhai to complain. After all, when he and his eldest brother ran a company in Guangzhou, when did they ever need to rack their brains like this?

The gap in business environment between a small county town and a big city — that's truly not just a little bit.

Public institutions in big cities serve enterprises; they do things however is convenient.

But public institutions in small county towns exist to manipulate enterprises — extortion, bribery, obstruction, all five poisons complete. If you want to keep your business going, you simply can't bypass them. Either you feed them until they're full, or you roll up your bedding and leave.

It's just this realistic.

This also shows clearly that Niu Chunsheng, without much in the way of connections or background, could still make it in the county town — how not easy that is.

By comparison, Wang Erhai right now is just a small newcomer; what he needs to learn, what he needs to comprehend, is still a lot.

Never mind comparing with Niu Chunsheng; even compared to Lin Xiaolong, his ability to curry favor with those bigwigs inside the system actually still falls short of Lin Xiaolong.

Although Lin Xiaolong is an uneducated good-for-nothing drifter, he knows how to call people sworn brothers, put arms around shoulders, understands the jianghu, understands righteousness.

Before one knew it, it was eight-thirty. Wang Zhiyang, leading a group, finally arrived.

Wang Erhai glanced at his watch. When Wang Zhiyang walked in, the time was exactly 20:30 — not a minute more, not a minute less.

Only then did he realize Lin Xiaolong's words were right.

They really did deliberately delay half an hour before coming.

"Sorry, sorry, kept you waiting long. I had some matters to attend to, got delayed a bit."

As Wang Zhiyang walked in, his face wore a full smile of fake politeness.

"No problem, no problem, old classmate. We only just got here ourselves! Just ordered dishes, and you arrived!" Lin Xiaolong hurriedly stood up to welcome him, then introduced: "This is my partner, Huang Mengna. Mengna, quickly call Brother Yang!"

"Brother Yang, hello!" Huang Mengna obediently greeted.

"This girl of yours is really slender. You've got luck, kid. Really envy you. Being a Deputy General Manager is just different!" Wang Zhiyang laughed heartily.

Lin Xiaolong replied with a polite smile:

"No matter how much luck I have, I still don't have as much as you, old classmate. Your current job — how many people yearn for it but can't get it!"

The two chatted away, leaving Wang Erhai, the head of the Mountain-Sea Real Estate Branch Company, cast to one side.

Old classmates chatting — Wang Erhai couldn't get a word in, could only wait for them to finish talking, then say a few sentences himself.

At this moment, Wang Zhiyang finally noticed Wang Erhai and asked:

"This should be your company's boss, right?"

Lin Xiaolong hurriedly said:

"Got so caught up talking I nearly forgot to introduce. This is Wang Erhai, Boss Wang, my direct superior. My becoming Deputy General Manager of Shanhai Real Estate — aside from my brother-in-law's connections, the most important thing was Boss Wang's appreciation!"

Wang Erhai hurriedly greeted Wang Zhiyang:

"Bureau Chief Wang, hello. I've only been back in my hometown county town a short while. Please, Bureau Chief Wang, take care of me in the future!"

Wang Zhiyang chuckled:

"General Manager Wang, you're burying me with that. What Bureau Chief am I? I'm just a lowly Section Chief — still a long way from Bureau Chief!"

Wang Erhai hurriedly said:

"Seeing how adept you are at Yi Ren Chu Shi, Bureau Chief shouldn't be far off. Wishing you a brilliant future, promotion and fortune!"

Wang Zhiyang laughed out loud:

"General Manager Wang truly lives up to being a businessman — such a way with words. I just like making friends with people like you, General Manager Wang!"

Wang Zhiyang then also said:

"I heard from my colleagues that earlier General Manager Wang you personally came running to our department several times, yet couldn't get the fire safety inspection approved. Truly embarrassed — you should've said you knew Xiao Long sooner. As long as you mentioned that connection, I'd have given them a heads-up and things would've been processed quickly!"

Wang Erhai smiled politely:

"This isn't Bureau Chief Wang's fault. It's me not understanding the regulations here, my own mistake — how could I blame you, Bureau Chief Wang? I'll toast Bureau Chief Wang a cup!"

Wang Zhiyang laughed even more happily:

"A toast is fine, but don't call me Bureau Chief anymore. I'm afraid the real Bureau Chief might hear and be unhappy!"

Wang Erhai hastily raised a cup, drank up, and said with a smile:

"Afraid of what? There's no outsiders here. Believe me, before long you'll become Bureau Chief! I'm hoping you become Bureau Chief soon — after all, my company just registered in our County Town, and there'll be many places in the future needing Bureau Chief Wang's care!"

Then he took out the gift he had prepared in advance:

"Bureau Chief Wang, this is a box of mooncakes. Mid-Autumn Festival is coming up soon, right? A small token, not much respect implied — please accept!"

Actually, it was still over a month away from Mid-Autumn Festival.

Wang Zhiyang instantly understood, hurriedly accepting the mooncakes.

He slightly opened the box to look, only to see inside the mooncake box, besides mooncakes, there was actually a small stack of bright red RMB.

Wang Zhiyang laughed heartily, proactively returning a toast to Wang Erhai:

"General Manager Wang, if there's anything in the future, just say the word. As long as I can help, I'll go through fire and water, absolutely without hesitation!"