Chapter 651

Gan Lu was going to Beijing to upgrade her Yongning City development zone; the materials were well-prepared, a full half-person high.

I couldn't help but admire her foresight. Once a development zone is upgraded to a national level, the need for money becomes even greater. The state allocating a hundred million or several hundred million is as easy as pulling a hair from an ox.

Unlike the Central Province, where asking for thirty or fifty million is as painful as digging up Meng Xiaoyu's ancestral grave.

Tens of millions for the construction of a development zone is basically a drizzle. Yongning City's finances are not as good as my Hengyue City's, and they can't come up with much money to get things done. If they want to build the development zone to be on par with others, the only way is to find ways to strive for more financial subsidies.

Last time Gan Lu took ten million from Meng Xiaoyu, and I hadn't received a single cent. Now she's thinking of going to Beijing to get money, while I'm still struggling in the Central Province. If Gan Lu's plan succeeds, she can build another city in Yongning!

Gan Lu's plan made my heart flutter, but I couldn't eat a fat man in one bite. You have to walk the road one step at a time and eat rice one mouthful at a time. I understood this principle when I was very young.

I need to get money in the Central Province now, and after getting things started legitimately, once I have the goods in hand, I'll run to Beijing too.

Gan Lu has resources in Beijing; she has a classmate who is a fairly high-ranking official in Beijing, who is said to be in charge of this exact matter. Gan Lu's resources are my resources; as long as she succeeds in the upgrade, I don't believe I can't get it done.

While chatting with her, I started to activate all my memories to find resources. I also have classmates who are officials in Beijing; as for how high their rank is or what they do, I have no idea.

It's been over ten years since I've been in contact with them, so approaching them rashly now would be somewhat abrupt. But I can't waste these resources; I must use them reasonably. After all, they are in Beijing, officials under the feet of the Son of Heaven; no matter what, they are Beijing officials. In their eyes, a cadre like me from the local area is just a small sesame seed.

A small sesame seed is a small sesame seed, but we were classmates after all. As the saying goes, brothers who have shared a desk, carried a gun, and visited a prostitute together are true brothers.

Around two in the morning, the road finally opened.

After Gan Lu's secretary circled my car a few times, he finally reached out and knocked on my car door.

After seeing Gan Lu off, I followed the traffic flow and moved slowly.

Ahead, after Gan Lu's car passed several large trucks, its taillights flashed a few times and disappeared from my sight.

She had to catch the eight o'clock flight in the morning. Based on the current distance and speed, she would just make it to the airport in time for boarding.

I drank a few sips of water and lit another cigarette. Fatigue had already set in; driving at night, the most taboo thing is loneliness. Once a person is lonely, sleepiness will arrive like water. And like a tide, wave after wave, continuous and endless, growing and multiplying.

When I arrived at the Provincial Capital, the sky was already turning white.

This night, I spent it on the complicated highway.

At dawn, I have to go find Lao Bi; this is a matter of utmost importance and cannot be delayed in the slightest.

I opened a room at the Provincial Party Committee Reception House; it's close to where Lao Bi works, and you can walk there.

After entering the room and washing my face, I didn't dare to sleep, afraid that once I lay down, I wouldn't be able to get up.

I turned on the TV, adjusted the volume to the lowest, and stared at the TV expressionlessly, watching the man selling advertisements on TV shouting hoarsely.

The dawn outside the window grew brighter and brighter. The bright moon hanging in the sky had lost its luster and was slowly falling toward the horizon. Human voices began to rise in the morning light, along with the sound of the sprinkler truck playing monotonous music. I got up, walked to the window, pulled back a corner of the curtain, and silently watched the early risers exercising.

Besides the approval from Elder Xu Da in my bag, I also had a few copies of the Hengyue Daily. The front page of the newspaper carried a long report on Vice Provincial Governor Lin Shengmao's inspection of Hengyue City. Chen Meng's writing was brilliant; the entire report was not only enthusiastic but also contained a hidden power that made one want to applaud for the future of the Hengyue City Industrial Park.

My stomach felt a bit hungry. I checked my watch and estimated I could go down to the restaurant to find something to eat. So I left the room and went downstairs toward the restaurant.

Although the Provincial Party Committee Reception House is a three-star hotel, it provides free breakfast, which many three-star hotels don't. This is another important reason why I chose to stay here.

Quite a few people had already arrived at the buffet breakfast hall. From their attire and behavior, I could judge that these people were like me, cadres from local areas who had come to the province to handle business.

Anyone who stays in a hotel and gets up late is a boss-level figure. People like us who get up earlier than dogs are all small cadres from local areas. Because we are afraid of delaying time and missing things, provincial cadres are not like local cadres and generally don't have the patience to wait for people. We can only wait early at the door of their office, accompanying them with a smiling face as they enter the office.

I scooped a bowl of porridge, added two eggs, and sat by the window to eat.

The breakfast at the Provincial Party Committee Reception House is very rich. Basically, those who come to stay are cadres. Although their ranks are not high, they are cadres after all, so the reception house does quite well in this regard.

After finishing breakfast, I didn't plan to go back to the room; I wanted to walk around the street and, when the time came, head straight to Lao Bi's office.

Coming out of the hotel entrance, a cool breeze hit me. Not far away, several old men and women were practicing Tai Chi. Seeing the gauze hats on their heads, I suddenly remembered that the season had reached early autumn again.

I stood in the courtyard and smoked a post-meal cigarette. Just as I was feeling like an immortal, a series of phone rings sounded in my ears.

Taking it out to look, I was suddenly stunned. The call was actually from Zhu Hua Yu, saying she knew I had come to the Provincial Capital and asking where I was now.

I asked curiously, "You didn't sleep all night?"

She laughed on the phone and said, "I slept. But I couldn't fall asleep. Thinking of you driving alone in the night, I was worried."

My heart felt warm. Zhu Hua Yu is truly like a flower that understands language, always sending her warmth at the most needed moments without missing a beat.

"I'm fine!" I said with a smile, "You didn't sleep all night, aren't you sleepy now?"

"I am!" She yawned on the phone and said, "I didn't want to call you now, but I really couldn't help it. Did I disturb you?"

My heart felt warm again. I said, "I didn't sleep either, didn't dare to sleep, afraid of oversleeping. I still have to go find someone to handle business later."

She remained silent on the phone, and after a long while, she said, "If you don't sleep for a while, how will you have the energy to handle business? You must rest."

I smiled noncommittally and said, "Used to it, it's fine."

She clarified my location and said on the phone, "Wait for me, I'm coming over."

Just as I was about to stop her, she had already hung up the phone.

Since Zhu Hua Yu was coming over, I couldn't go out, lest she come and be met with a closed door. So I turned back, returned to the room, and watched TV boredly, waiting for Zhu Hua Yu to arrive.

I didn't continue to stop her because I knew that even if I wanted to stop her, I had no way to stop her arrival. Zhu Hua Yu is pursuing advanced studies at the Central Province University; the school she is attending now is exactly the place where I spent four years of hard study back then.

Memories returned to my college days, as if everything were yesterday. I suddenly felt close to this city, even feeling that the chair I was sitting on still carried the residual warmth of yesterday.

During my college days, I had walked almost every corner of this city. How many mornings like this one had I spent riding a bicycle alone, wandering through the streets and alleys of this city.

About half an hour later, Zhu Hua Yu knocked on my door.

As soon as I opened it, I saw a figure drilling into my arms. After I closed the door, Zhu Hua Yu's hands were already hooked around my neck, her cold face pressed against my chest, smiling shyly.

I didn't push her away and let her hold me. After a long time, I whispered, "You came too fast."

"Really?" She let go of her hands hooked around my neck, walked to the chair and sat down, staring at me with her blinking eyes, and said, "You don't want me to come?"

I shook my head and said, "Not at all. I'm happy you came. It's just so early, aren't you tired?"

"Not tired!" she said readily, "As long as you are happy, I'm never tired."

I sighed secretly, such a good girl, how could Huang Qishan bear to let go?

Seeing my expression was a bit unnatural, she asked me with surprise, "What's wrong with you?"

I smiled faintly and said, "I'm tired."

"I know. That's why I came!" she said, stood up, spread the quilt on the bed, pointed to the bed and said, "You sleep, I'll watch you. When the time comes, I'll call you."

"No!" I refused decisively. She hadn't slept all night either; how could I let a young woman watch over me?

"Behave!" she comforted me softly, "If you don't rest well, your efficiency in handling business will definitely not be high. Don't worry, I will call you on time."

She pushed me to the bedside, used force, pushed me onto the bed, and pulled the quilt to cover me.

I still wanted to struggle, but she was already sitting by my bed, reaching out to press the quilt, saying, "Can't you be a little more obedient? Look at your eyes, they are all bloodshot."

My heart trembled, remembering that I really hadn't had a good night's sleep in a while. Even if I had time to rest, my brain was full of things about the industrial park, making my brain as chaotic as paste all day long.

"Sleep!" she said in a voice as soft as a mother's. I immediately felt warm all over, as if I were in a womb as warm as spring, and sleepiness crawled all over my nerves in an instant.

In a daze, I felt a small hand gently soothing my cheek, and my mood spread out like water.

In my dream, I seemed to see a young girl sitting on a white horse in front, her long hair fluttering, her face bright and clean. She looked like Xue Bing, like Chen Meng, like Yue Bai, and also like Xuelai.

She rode the horse and galloped happily, and I chased after her with all my might.

She stopped, and I chased to her side, panting. Only then did I see clearly that the girl sitting on the horse was actually Zhu Hua Yu.

I took the reins and looked at the girl on the horse, "I want to take you back to Hengyue."

Zhu Hua Yu laughed until she shook; she gestured to refuse me.

I got anxious and woke up immediately. Opening my eyes and seeing Zhu Hua Yu sitting by the bed, I was as happy as if I had recovered something lost. I reached out and hugged her, murmuring, "I want to take you back to Hengyue."

Zhu Hua Yu was stunned for a moment, gently stroked my hand, and said, "Okay, I'll go with you!"

I sat up from the bed, remembered what I had said to the Mayor, and said, "Hua Yu, come back to Hengyue City! I have things I need your help with."

"I promise you!" Zhu Hua Yu smiled shallowly, her smile making my heart almost melt.

"I want to establish an investment promotion group, and I want you to be the team leader."

"I don't want to be the team leader. I'd rather just be your secretary."

"No." I said loudly, "The current you is no longer someone who should just be a secretary; there are more important burdens that need you to carry."

"I'm afraid I won't do it well!"

"You have me!"

We looked at each other and smiled.