Chapter 816

After settling this matter, Su Yang called Bai Zhantang again.

Normally, he might not want to use such a favor right now, but he has no time. If he really had to do it step by step, it would take donkey's years.

Bai Zhantang's phone rang for a while without being answered, so Su Yang began to doubt his judgment. Of course, by common sense, someone like a Chief Secretary No. 1 wouldn't even bother with someone like him, let alone an ordinary prefectural-level leader; they'd ignore him. Unless the connection was exceptionally strong, that's another story.

But Su Yang still felt it might be okay; the last time this Chief Secretary No. 1 had been very friendly. Moreover, recalling earlier, when Old Zhou comrade returned to Ganzhou Sheng, Secretary Sha had specially come from the provincial capital to meet him. He didn't know what they talked about, but the fact that Secretary Sha came over already explained a lot.

Logically, even out of respect for Old Zhou, he should have answered the call; not doing so is rather embarrassing. If this got out, it wouldn't just lose him face, but the entire team would lose all face.

Fortunately, less than half an hour later, Bai Zhantang returned the call: 'Su Lao-di, I was just accompanying a leader to an activity; because there was media present, I heard the phone ringing but couldn't answer. After the activity finally ended, I rushed out to call you. Is there something? If you have anything later, you can just send me a message; I'll help you resolve it as soon as I see it.'

Hearing Bai Zhantang say that, Su Yang finally put his heart back in his belly; it seemed his judgment was correct. This Chief Secretary No. 1 was still decent to him—such treatment, others probably hadn't received yet.

He said: 'Director Bai, I just wanted to invite you for a meal, to see when you have time. There's nothing else, but I truly didn't know you had an activity; this was really presumptuous of me. From now on, if I have anything, I'll send you a message in advance to confirm first.'

Bai Zhantang said: 'Do you still need to be so polite with me? Others need to send a message first, but you don't—you can just call; I'll answer if I can, and call you back if I can't. Why are you inviting me to eat? I guess you have something to say; just say it. Of course the meal will be eaten, but I'll treat you. Let me know when you come to the provincial capital, and I'll make arrangements.'

Since they'd put it that way, Su Yang couldn't stand on ceremony anymore, and he said: 'Director Bai, I won't go into our situation now; in order to make up for the lessons we missed earlier, while we're attracting investment we also want to improve our transportation facilities.'

'These aspects involve improving the main arterial roads inside our county seat, including widening, hardening, installing streetlights, and building an Yingbin Dadao. Most importantly, we plan to build a highway directly connecting to Jinzhou. This project must be reported layer by layer to the Provincial Transportation Department, then await their approval.'

'But I inquired, just going through this procedure alone would likely take half a year. Moreover, the higher authorities have already scheduled road projects for two years from now; that is, even if we managed to complete the procedure smoothly, we wouldn't be able to build the road until two years later, but our situation can't wait that long.'

'The investment promotion work has been fully launched, even the Industrial Park has started planning. If we still don't have a decent highway at this point, I fear that even the enterprises we attract will refuse to take root here because of our conditions.'

'So, see if we can make some concessions to speed up the process, and try to break ground before March next year; also have them provide more funding on the financial side—I estimate our county can't even come up with 20% of it.'

Bai Zhantang said: 'You're really opening your mouth like a lion—such a big project is normally handled by your local Vice Mayor or other Municipal Party Committee standing members who come to the province specially for this. Moreover, according to normal procedure, you should first report it to your city, get their approval, then report upward.'

'Doing it this way completely deviates from organizational procedure; in principle it's definitely not allowed. I'll certainly help you get the process sorted, but road construction needs money—some highways cost tens of billions. Our province's situation is also not optimistic, and unlike Jiangnan Province, those economic powerhouses can launch projects worth hundreds of billions or even trillions instantly and get them approved directly.'

'But we can't—every penny must be spent where it counts, and the projects submitted by our 14 prefectural-level cities are probably all slated for two years from now. The people at the Transportation Department are probably swamped; just relying on them they definitely couldn't come up with that much money, and besides, it's year-end now, with construction supposed to start at the beginning of the year—where would the money come from?'

'How about this: let me know when you have time to come to the provincial capital, and I'll arrange a meeting for you with the leaders of the Transportation Department and the Finance Department. Oh, right, the relevant divisional leaders will also attend. Otherwise, having me call them directly about this wouldn't be appropriate either, would you agree?'

Su Yang said: 'Yes, yes, yes—if you can help me with this, I'll be eternally grateful, and I'll treat everyone to a meal when the time comes.'

Bai Zhantang laughed and said: 'You're going to treat everyone to a meal? You just set the rule for your county yourself—no public funds for dining, no official receptions. You taking the lead in breaking it isn't good.'

Those words made Su Yang a bit embarrassed; this was indeed his suggestion, but he still said: 'How many people wanting to treat you to a meal can't even get in line? I can pay out of my own pocket too—although I don't have much money, I can still treat you to a meal.'

Bai Zhantang said: 'All right, stop being obstinate—when you call me, I'll take care of all this. You set the rule, you can't lead by breaking it; moreover, the province is now earnestly learning Lieshan County's good style of thrift and frugality. This has already been promoted province-wide, and you've been established as a model. So when you're lifted up high, you must absolutely avoid any problems. This is settled.'

He said it in an unquestionable way, giving Su Yang no chance to rebut. If it were someone else, that would be a huge stroke of luck; if it were another person they'd probably feel it inappropriate, but since he's giving him face like this, he can't be ungrateful, so he can only say: 'Then I'll come find you in these two days.'

After this matter was settled, he finally stretched a little; one task after another kept him so busy he didn't even have time to drink water. He had just brewed a cup of tea and was about to take a couple of sips when his secretary knocked and came in, saying there were distinguished guests visiting.