Chapter 644

Well, well, rules can't be broken, right?

Ming Yuexin accepted Su Yang's toast with a smile as bright as a flower, then raised her wine cup again, preparing to toast Su Yang once more.

At this point, Su Yang said: "Enough, we two don't need to keep drinking back and forth endlessly. If we drink too much, we might easily end up with other stories. For me, it's actually no big deal, but for President Ming, an entrepreneur who came all this way, it could damage his reputation. We should eat, and after eating we should talk business; otherwise people might really think we're up to some romantic scandal here."

Su Yang didn't have the leisure to linger with Ming Yuexin; he wanted her to get straight to the point.

Ming Yuexin smiled sweetly: "County Magistrate Su, you're indeed blunt and straightforward. Actually, I invited you mainly to get to know you; if you could look after my business in the future, I'd be eternally grateful. Though this may be abrupt, I can see you're a straightforward person, so I won't beat around the bush."

Su Yang took a bite of his dish, smiling narrowly, and said: "Our Lieshan Xian warmly welcomes local returnees to come home and invest in building their hometown; we support any investment project. As long as it doesn't cause pollution, and as long as it's not aimed at swindling loans, it's good. Of course, I'm not saying this aimed at you, because the current big economic trend is investment and development; among them, some companies with ulterior motives raise this banner, randomly find a plot locally, invest a few tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands, then, under various pretexts, get the local government to help them secure loans; after obtaining the loans, they abscond with the money, leaving behind a Messy Situation that they don't care about. Such incidents are far too common; some governments, eager for development, have done plenty of such foolish things, but no matter what, I absolutely will not allow such things to happen in our Lieshan Xian."

Ming Yuexin's face flushed slightly with embarrassment; as to what embarrassed her, she surely knew it herself. Because she had originally intended to use the pretense of investment to acquire a plot of land, then mortgage it for a loan—exactly the scheme Su Yang had just mentioned. That's also one of the reasons she wanted to meet Su Yang, since genuine investment was out of the question; they only wanted to get something for nothing, to extract money from the government, and thereby test Su Yang's awareness of such tactics. Unexpectedly, before they had even finished hatching their plan, Su Yang ruthlessly shut them down.

"County Magistrate Su, you seem to have really done a deep investigation and understanding of economic development. Indeed, I've heard that some dishonest companies from the south come to our relatively closed-off northern cities to swindle money this way. But I'm not like that—I'm originally from Lieshan Xian; if I did that, wouldn't people stab me in the back? Moreover, I've heard that the business environment here isn't particularly good. If I really came to invest, once I poured money in, I'd likely be squeezed out later—what could I do? After all, nobody's money blows in on the wind. I want to set up a small wholesale market for consumer goods here, but I've heard that most local businesses are tied to the Twin Ditch Large Koji Winery, and that their conduct is rather overbearing, not allowing outside firms to meddle in their trade. I don't know what County Magistrate Su thinks about this."

Su Yang leaned back; this woman really is adept at probing his depths—Geng Miao is certainly not going into this battle without confidence.

"Regarding the situation you mentioned, based on the information I currently have, it doesn't seem that serious, and they haven't engaged in any bullying or monopolistic practices."

"Of course, I say this because in our Lieshan Xian, all businesses related to clothing, food, housing, and transportation—even street stalls—are relatives of the boss of the Twin Ditch Large Koji Winery, Geng Miao, that you mentioned."

"I'm sure they're reasonable, after all, the economy can develop only through diversification; a monopoly by a single dominant player anywhere isn't necessarily a good thing."

"We have also recently confirmed through the County Party Standing Committee our goal of attracting investment; thus, we welcome your investment no matter what you do, especially establishing a small wholesale market for consumer goods, which is precisely what we hope for."

"Overall, the economic situation of Lieshan Xian is still acceptable, and the Common People still have purchasing power. As long as you operate lawfully, I can guarantee here that no one will interfere with your normal business."

Ming Yuexin's big eyes flickered as she thought to herself: "Does Su Yang really look only twenty-five? Why is he so smooth and worldly? He talked on and on, but actually it feels like he said nothing at all."

She truly didn't believe Su Yang's claim that, as a newcomer, he still didn't understand the local situation, but Su Yang himself had spoken rather contradictorily—first saying he didn't understand, then claiming that all businesses in Lieshan Xian are tied to the Twin Ditch Large Koji Winery of Geng Miao.

Moreover, she couldn't figure out what Su Yang really meant—whether he would help protect Geng Miao's interests, or truly, through attracting investment, completely break Geng Miao's monopoly over all industries in the county.

However, just as she was still pondering her probing, Su Yang said directly: "President Ming, shall we keep eating, or do you have other business? Whether we chat or discuss matters, we can't let this big table of food go to waste. To be honest, I've always worked in poor townships before, and getting to eat such a good meal is truly rare."

Since Ming Yuexin didn't bring up the matter of Geng Miao, he naturally wouldn't mention it either; anyway, everyone would just pretend ignorance, and he was completely indifferent.

At this point, Ming Yuexin still couldn't relax; she had come with a mission, so she couldn't sit there eating and drinking as calmly as Su Yang.

Just then Ming Yuexin said: "County Magistrate Su, I've heard some things about your county. This Twin Ditch Large Koji Winery is a star enterprise; they also have considerable connections in the province."

"Today, the Public Security Bureau arrested that company's security department manager and even fired shots. If the Twin Ditch Large Koji Winery side is unhappy and has higher authorities pressure our county, what would we do?"

"Moreover, I've looked into it—the Twin Ditch Large Koji Winery is truly the fiscal backbone of the whole county, and even the city has received their contributions. To be frank, it's no easy feat for an enterprise to grow this large, and I recall this company started from the brink of bankruptcy and built itself up step by step to where it is now. If they were to directly call in higher-level authorities to intervene, what would we do?"