Chapter 506: Snatching Investors

Su Xinghui nodded. “Since you saw it too, I’m afraid this matter is likely true.”

Lei Ming asked, “Do you think we should report this?”

Su Xinghui pondered for a long time before shaking his head. “Forget it. Let’s not report it for now. If we are going to report it, we should wait a while. For one, we don’t have enough evidence, and for another, the county cannot afford to be in chaos right now. Let’s maintain stability first.”

Lei Ming nodded in understanding. The county was currently in a prime moment for development, and with overseas merchants like the Hou family coming, causing such a scandal now would indeed disrupt the county’s stability.

Furthermore, it was already December, and the new year was approaching. County Party Secretary Ji Tao had been in Shangjun County for four years, and the economic development was looking good. There were rumors in the city that Ji Tao might be promoted. At this critical moment, if such a major scandal occurred in the county committee, superiors would question Ji Tao’s ability to control the situation, and opposition would surely arise, which would certainly affect his future.

If Ji Tao were promoted, who would succeed him as County Party Secretary? The most likely candidate would be Zhang Kaishan. This was a situation where one move could affect the whole body; as long as the county remained stable, Zhang Kaishan could steadily become the County Party Secretary. At a time like this, Su Xinghui would certainly not act recklessly.

Besides, the relationship between Jia Hequn and Shu Rong hadn’t been caught in the act; it was currently only what Lei Ming had seen. Moreover, conduct issues could be interpreted as major or minor, and without other evidence, it would be impossible to truly harm Jia Hequn, who also had his own connections.

Su Xinghui added, “Brother Lei, don’t go investigating Deputy County Head Jia anymore. It’s not a good thing for you either. If he really has any problems, the truth will eventually come out. He will reveal his own flaws one day.”

Lei Ming smiled sheepishly. If it weren’t for Su Xinghui, he really would have had the intention to investigate Jia Hequn. But hearing Su Xinghui say this, Lei Ming felt it was indeed inappropriate for him to do so. A subordinate investigating a leader was a major taboo in Chinese officialdom. If word got out, it would have a significant impact on Lei Ming’s reputation.

Su Xinghui raised his glass. “Come, Brother Lei, I’ll toast you. I know you’re doing this for my sake, but please don’t investigate this matter anymore. Come, this drink is to thank you!”

Lei Ming claimed he had seen Jia Hequn enter Shu Rong’s store by accident, but how could there be so many coincidences? Su Xinghui knew he must have been staking the place out. Why would Lei Ming do that? Naturally, it was because Jia Hequn had once pushed for an investigation into Su Xinghui, and Lei Ming wanted to vent some frustration for him. However, for Su Xinghui, this was unnecessary, and he didn’t want Lei Ming to ruin his impression in the eyes of the leaders and delay his future.

Lei Ming raised his glass to drink with Su Xinghui. The two looked at each other and smiled, everything understood without words.

The next morning, Su Xinghui accompanied Zhang Kaishan to take a look at Zhuangyuan Lane. The Hou family was returning today, and the county government had carried out protective renovations on the Hou family’s old residence. Su Xinghui wanted to see how the renovations had turned out, and Zhang Kaishan wanted Su Xinghui to see if there was anything amiss.

As soon as they reached the entrance of Zhuangyuan Lane, Su Xinghui saw that the massive white marble archway had been scrubbed clean, and the four characters “Zhuangyuan Gate” on the archway shone brilliantly in the sunlight.

Walking into the lane, the winding bluestone path had also been scrubbed very clean, almost spotless. The blue bricks on the walls had been washed one by one, and damaged areas had been replaced with new blue bricks, seemingly restoring the original appearance from a hundred years ago.

Zhang Kaishan pushed open the gate of a courtyard. The sheds in the courtyard had all been dismantled, and the house had been repaired. Every piece of damaged tile on the roof had been replaced, and the new tiles were specially fired according to the original style, identical to the old ones.

The courtyard had also been repaved with blue bricks and swept clean. Flowers had been replanted in several flower beds. Although it was early winter and the trees weren’t blooming, it already added much vitality to the courtyard.

Several large vats were placed in the courtyard, filled with water. These were used by wealthy families in the past for fire prevention. Although there were faucets now, these vats were still placed in the courtyard of Hou Dali’s family; this was a tradition of the Hou family for many years, and Hou Dali was using this way to preserve the family’s traditions.

The doors and windows of the main rooms and side rooms had also been repaired, maintaining the style of the original old residence. There were carved wooden lattices on the doors and windows, and the entire courtyard looked antique, a far cry from the crowded compound Su Xinghui had seen last time.

Zhang Kaishan smiled. “Xinghui, you have an eye for art. Help me take a look—how did this renovation turn out?”

Su Xinghui gave a thumbs up and nodded. “Uncle Zhang, you are truly amazing. To be able to renovate this courtyard so well in such a short time, I’m impressed!”

Zhang Kaishan asked, “Are you being sincere? Did it really turn out well? I’m not very confident about it.”

Su Xinghui said, “Of course I’m sincere. I think this courtyard was renovated very well. I estimate that when the Hou family returns and sees this, they will be very satisfied.”

Hearing Su Xinghui’s words, Zhang Kaishan finally felt relieved. He trusted Su Xinghui’s aesthetic judgment and cultural cultivation very much. Since he said it was good, it must be true.

Zhang Kaishan nodded. “Then I can rest easy.”

Su Xinghui said, “Actually, renovating this courtyard didn’t need to be overly complex or flashy. The main thing was to restore its original appearance. This courtyard looks about the same as Hou Dali’s, and the materials used look the same as the original ones. That’s already enough.”

Zhang Kaishan nodded. “Right, that’s what I thought at the time. If we made it too flashy, it would be like painting a snake and adding feet.”

Su Xinghui gave another thumbs up. “Uncle Zhang is wise!”

Zhang Kaishan laughed. “Stop flattering me. By the way, Xinghui, do you think they will arrive on time this afternoon? There won’t be any accidents, right?”

Su Xinghui smiled. “What kind of accident could there be? It’ll be fine, don’t worry.”

Zhang Kaishan said, “Haha, I’m not afraid of you laughing at me, but these days, I haven’t been able to feel at ease because of this. Seeing that they’re coming this afternoon, I’m still nervous. I wasn’t even like this when Secretary Gu came to the county.”

Su Xinghui said, “That’s normal. The Hou family’s return might bring a large investment, which is very important for the county’s economic construction. It’s only right that you’re concerned, but don’t worry, there won’t be any accidents.”

Su Xinghui had been quite confident that nothing would go wrong, but he didn’t expect that an accident would indeed happen.

At a quarter past one in the afternoon, all the county standing committee members, relevant leaders and staff from the United Front Force, plus Su Xinghui—a group of about twenty people—gathered in the courtyard, ready to set off for the eastern outskirts to welcome the Hou family. Everyone was beaming; everyone knew that if the Hou family could really bring back a large investment, it would be beneficial for everyone.

Just then, Su Xinghui’s pager went off. He checked it and saw it was a Jiangcheng number. He said to Ji Tao, “Secretary Ji, let me return a call.”

Ji Tao nodded. “Go ahead, but be quick. The cars are about to leave.”

Su Xinghui nodded and ran into the county committee office, picked up the phone, and dialed. The phone was answered after only one ring; clearly, the person on the other end was very anxious.

The person on the other end was Hou Dali. He asked in a hurried voice, “Is that Xinghui? It’s Hou Dali.”

Hou Dali? Why was he still in Jiangcheng? Hadn’t they left? Su Xinghui asked with a belly full of questions, “Uncle Hou? Where are you? When did you arrive in Jiangcheng?”

Hou Dali said, “Xinghui, I’m really sorry. We arrived in Jiangcheng at ten this morning and are now at the White Rose Hotel. I don’t think we can make it back to Shangjun today.”

Su Xinghui said in surprise, “What happened? Uncle Hou, tell me slowly. Did something go wrong? Is everyone okay?”

Hou Dali said, “Everyone is fine. It’s like this: as soon as we got off the plane, we were surrounded by a group of people from the Jiangcheng Municipal Government’s Investment Promotion Office. They were extremely enthusiastic and insisted we get into their cars, taking us straight to the White Rose Hotel. At first, we thought they were sent by you to pick us up. We only realized they weren’t when we got to the hotel. But they were so enthusiastic that they wouldn’t let us leave, saying they wanted us to play in Jiangcheng for a few days.”

Su Xinghui’s brow furrowed. The Jiangcheng Municipal Government’s Investment Promotion Office? Were they here to snatch investors from their Shangjun County? He knew that such things were not uncommon; local governments would do anything to snatch investments. But the question was, how did they know the Hou family was returning today?

Su Xinghui said, “Uncle Hou, our county has already made preparations. The county standing committee members are all here waiting to welcome you.”

Hou Dali said, “I know, but they have so many people here, watching us one-on-one, not letting us leave the hotel. But they are so enthusiastic, using soft tactics, that we can’t get angry at them. I was afraid you’d be worried, so I pretended to go to the bathroom and ran outside to page you. Xinghui, don’t worry, I will try to get away as soon as possible and rush back to Shangjun.”

Su Xinghui said, “Uncle Hou, I understand. Don’t worry, I’ll go report this to the leaders.”