Chapter 2596: Special Mission

After Su Xinghui washed his face in his room, there was a knock on his door. Su Xinghui opened it, and it was Xing Guodong.

Su Xinghui let Xing Guodong into the room. Xing Guodong said with some dissatisfaction, "Director Su, this Shanghai city only sent a deputy director from the Municipal Government General Office to welcome you. Isn't this taking you too lightly?"

Su Xinghui said, "Old Xing, that's enough. Don't worry about these things. A person's true strength does not lie in these things."

Xing Guodong's expression turned solemn, and he accepted the instruction with awe: "Director Su, I understand!"

Before long, Mu Dezhang came upstairs to call Su Xinghui and the others to go downstairs for dinner. The group went downstairs together.

The dining place was in a private room in the restaurant on the second floor. On the way, Mu Dezhang had called the guest house to prepare the dishes, and they were just right now.

Mu Dezhang had called the staff member and the two drivers to accompany them, making for only four companions. Mu Dezhang himself knew this lineup was too thin. He said apologetically, "Director Su, Vice Mayor Pan was supposed to come and have dinner with you today, but something came up at the last minute, so he couldn't make it. He asked me to take good care of Director Su and have a few drinks."

Su Xinghui smiled and said, "It's fine. Let's not drink at noon."

Although it was called noon, it was actually past two o'clock. Mu Dezhang said, "Let's have a little drink. It's so late now, and there's nothing to do in the afternoon. Director Su, you all should have a good rest in your rooms."

Su Xinghui nodded noncommittally.

Mu Dezhang had the staff member pour wine for everyone, then raised his glass and said, "Director Su, you've had a hard journey. I'll toast you all!"

The group drank a glass together.

What surprised Mu Dezhang was that Su Xinghui didn't ask at all what had happened to Vice Mayor Pan. He remained cheerful and chatted with Mu Dezhang, and drank quite readily, which made Mu Dezhang breathe a sigh of relief.

Mu Dezhang knew that Shanghai's actions were somewhat impolite. He didn't know why Vice Mayor Pan hadn't come to welcome the Planning Commission's research team. Even if he didn't meet them at the station, he should have come to the guest house to make an appearance and meet them. Vice Mayor Pan was the vice mayor in charge of industry and was the appropriate person for the reception.

Generally speaking, in the past, when research groups or working groups came from the Planning Commission, the city would at least have a corresponding deputy official to receive them. People from the Planning Commission were equivalent to imperial envoys, and their rank was three levels higher. Although Shanghai's leaders weren't afraid of them, there was no need to offend them.

However, it seemed this young Deputy Director Su was quite amiable and didn't look angry, which made Mu Dezhang breathe a slight sigh of relief. He was to accompany this research team for the entire duration, and if Deputy Director Su gave him a hard time, he would just have to take it.

Mu Dezhang became even more enthusiastic, constantly toasting Su Xinghui and drinking several glasses in a row. He also urged Su Xinghui to eat. The dishes at the Municipal Government Guest House were quite good; he had specifically told the chef today not to make the dishes too sweet, so as not to make the guests uncomfortable.

Now it seemed the guests were quite satisfied with the dishes.

After drinking a few glasses, Su Xinghui said, "Director Mu, no more drinking. Let's eat. We've been on the train for so long, we're a bit tired. We'll go up and rest after eating."

Mu Dezhang urged him once more, but Su Xinghui refused to drink any more. Mu Dezhang stopped insisting, and the group began to eat.

It was already past two o'clock, and everyone was indeed hungry. Su Xinghui quickly finished two large bowls of rice, and everyone else ate quite a bit. After putting down their chopsticks, Mu Dezhang sent them up to the eighth floor, saw them into their rooms, and told them to have a good rest.

After leaving Su Xinghui's room, Mu Dezhang wiped the sweat from his forehead and went downstairs.

In fact, everyone had rested quite well the previous night, as they were in a soft-sleeper with good conditions. Therefore, Su Xinghui did not rest. He called Xing Guodong into his room to talk to him privately about the research this time.

Over the past two years, the reform of state-owned enterprises had reached a critical period, and many problems had emerged during this process. Many of these problems were very serious, which put Premier Nan under great pressure, so he needed to understand the actual situation on the ground.

Su Xinghui and the others were here for research against this background. It wasn't just Su Xinghui's team; the central government had sent a series of research and working groups to the grassroots to investigate and supervise the reforms of key enterprises. ===== CHAPTER 2598 =====