Chapter 622

Su Yang thought to himself, these people really haven't seen much of the world—50 million is nothing, it's just something like Princess Tian Xiaofei's young masters moving their lips.

Moreover, he can grab a handful of such backers.

But then he thought, perhaps the most they've ever handled is only three to five million, or at most one or two million investment projects.

That's the limit of their vision, there's nothing to be done.

In the moment of his hesitation, the others' eyes flashed with blatant contempt and scorn.

He thought to himself, indeed he's still just a youngster—though he might sound impressive at the township level, he's nowhere near enough to be taken seriously in the county leadership team.

Does he still think he's the township Party Committee secretary or town mayor, where whatever he says goes? Anyway, whether he succeeds or not, he'll just pretend he never said it.

As soon as he entered the county government leadership team, he realized that old approach simply wouldn't fly.

Especially Vice County Magistrate Jin Kailai, who added from the side: "County Magistrate Su, I know you've just joined the county leadership team and aren't yet familiar with many aspects. If you publicly retract your 50‑million‑level investment proposal, I think we could forgive you once. After all, being thrust into this meeting to speak all of a sudden, you're bound to feel a bit out of your depth—or perhaps your promotion speed hasn't caught up with your growth."

He's over fifty, only became a Vice County Magistrate two years ago; he had finally managed to latch onto Geng Miao's coattails, and although Geng Miao's recommended list this time doesn't include him, if those two candidates fall through he would be the third pick.

After those two were rejected, he was overjoyed, thinking his luck had turned—only to have Su Yang appear out of nowhere, which made him anything but pleased.

So whenever he gets the chance, he lectures Su Yang, adopting a condescending, senior‑official attitude.

He even forgot that he's merely an ordinary Vice County Magistrate; in such a rigidly hierarchical bureaucracy he has no standing to criticize Su Yang.

It's nothing but jealousy that has long robbed him of his reason; jealousy has twisted his inner self.

Su Yang naturally sensed Jin Kailai's attitude toward him; he turned his head and said to Jin Kailai, "County Magistrate Jin, why don't you take on this 50‑million task? I think 50 million is no small amount—completing it has already exhausted me. I set a six‑month deadline just to give myself some pressure, to spur myself on; I can't just while away my days in this position, doing nothing."

"If I keep coasting like this, I'll still be here at fifty—how could I face the Cultivation Organization that nurtured me, or the tens of thousands of Common People who expect something from me?"

"If that's really the case, I might as well go home early to look after my kids, step aside and let someone more capable take over. Perhaps my way of speaking makes the comrades a little uncomfortable, but that's just who I am."

"How about this: County Magistrate Wen should be fully responsible for the county government's work, so he naturally can't spread his energies too thin."

"County Magistrate Gao is the same—he should assist County Magistrate Wen with many tasks; then, could we take charge of the investment promotion sector? The National Level is now pushing for investment promotion; only by bringing in enterprises and funds can we revitalize and develop our local economy."

"So I'm overreaching and raising the bar for myself—I want to complete a 100‑million investment promotion project, but at the same time, shouldn't the other few Vice County Magistrates also each achieve 10 million?"

"We're all comrades on the same team; if I do this, superiors will see it as highly abrupt and think the team lacks unity, which would harm the whole government team. County Magistrate Wen, County Magistrate Gao, what do you two think?"

Su Yang's sharp retort made the several people present instantly furrow their brows; the earlier contempt, scorn, and mockery were all withdrawn in that moment.

Just moments ago they thought Su Yang was a guileless Hotheaded Youth who only knew the township ways, and yet he had actually brought those ways into the county meeting.

Who would have thought that this Hotheaded Youth Su Yang would also know how to turn the tables on them.

The key is, as the top leader, Wen Qiren surely wants a standout achievement. It's not just for the sake of climbing up; having reached this position, his mind is far from ordinary—he has long sensed the superiors' dissatisfaction with him.

It's precisely because these people are inactive, or rather incompetent, that they brought in someone like Su Yang—nicknamed the bureaucratic killer Hotheaded Youth. Otherwise, how could there be such a major shake‑up?

Given the superiors' strong dissatisfaction with him, only by delivering a standout performance can he keep his position. Otherwise, this time, whether Su Yang can prevail over Geng Miao, the county government's top leader won't gain any benefit.

If Su Yang loses, Lieshan Xian will remain as it is, and the provincial leaders will surely fly into a rage, because whoever loses face and dignity in this affair won't be just those so‑called county leaders.

If Su Yang really manages to eliminate Geng Miao, it will prove that these people are utterly incompetent, and the superiors will still hold them accountable. Moreover, besides being inept, they themselves are not clean.

Now he fears both Su Yang's failure and Geng Miao's downfall; the only way to extricate himself is to deliver a standout performance, which can only mean aligning with current policy and stepping up investment promotion.

He hadn't never considered pursuing an investment promotion project, but he knows full well what kind of business environment Lieshan Xian really is.

Any outside businessman who wants to invest in Lieshan Xian will surely first check out the operating conditions; and if you casually ask around Lieshan Xian, you'll hear that everything is tied to Geng Miao's enterprises—outsiders wanting to enter must either pay him protection money or let him squeeze them dry.

Simply put, investing in Lieshan Xian is just throwing money away; if it goes badly, you lose everything, and you might even walk away missing an arm or a leg.

Because of Geng Miao's presence, Lieshan Xian is trapped in a dead end: all government units and the Common People of Lieshan Xian must rely on Geng Miao's Twin Ditch Large Koji Winery; otherwise the whole county would collapse.

This is why Geng Miao can grip all the county leaders in his palm: they dare not oppose him, they cannot prevail against him; anyone who dares to think ill of him or feel dissatisfied will either be locked up or forced to slink away. There's even no chance to stay here and go along with the corruption.

Moreover, after his careful analysis he discovered that Su Yang surely has powerful connections behind him—connections that could thrive even at the township level, let alone in Lieshan Xian.

And if this Hotheaded Youth Su Yang really comes into conflict with Geng Miao, it's up to Su Yang himself to resolve it; all he needs to do is find a way to stay out of the fray.