Chapter 507: Going Too Far

Su Xinghui hung up the phone and turned around to see Ji Tao and Zhang Kaishan standing at the door, looking at him with concern. Clearly, they had heard Su Xinghui talking to Hou Dali, and a call at this time was obviously not good news.

Su Xinghui walked out and briefly explained the situation to Ji Tao and Zhang Kaishan. Ji Tao was furious. “This is going too far! Just because they are the provincial capital, they can snatch people like this? No, I must report this to the superiors!”

Zhang Kaishan said, “Secretary, I think we shouldn’t be in such a hurry to report this to the superiors. We should clarify the situation first.”

Ji Tao asked, “Then how do we clarify the situation?”

Su Xinghui said, “How about I go to Jiangcheng and check out the situation?”

Ji Tao pondered for a moment and nodded. “Fine, you go to Jiangcheng.”

Ji Tao knew that reporting this to the superiors now wouldn’t be easy. Shangjun County hadn’t reported the Hou family’s return to the superiors in the first place. Why? Because they were afraid of exactly this kind of investment snatching. Which city wouldn’t want to pull a wealthy overseas merchant like the Hou family to their side?

If Shangjun County had told the city about the Hou family’s return, who knew if the city’s two districts would come to snatch the investment? Those two districts were relentless in snatching all kinds of resources; after all, they were close to the water and got the moon first, and in terms of conditions, they were much stronger than the counties below.

Therefore, Ji Tao hadn’t reported this to the city at all. He had planned to let the Hou family return to Shangjun County first, build a good relationship with them, and finalize the investment intent before reporting to the city. By then, the rice would be cooked, and there would be nothing to fear.

He hadn’t expected that while they guarded against the city’s two districts, they hadn’t guarded against Jiangcheng City itself. Now that Jiangcheng had stuck a foot in, things were a bit troublesome. In terms of investment environment, Jiangcheng was naturally far superior to Shangjun County—it was like heaven and earth. If the Hou family truly wanted to invest and make money, investing in Jiangcheng would naturally be much better than in Shangjun County.

Of course, Jiangcheng was in the wrong, but who could Shangjun County report this to? If they reported it to the city now, the city leaders would surely have thoughts: “Oh, so when there’s a good thing, you don’t report to us, but now that there’s trouble, you come looking for us?”

Whether the city leaders would lobby the province for them after having such thoughts was hard to say. Even if they didn’t hold a grudge and stood up for Shangjun County, it was hard to say how the province would rule. In Hudong Province, almost all resources were tilted toward Jiangcheng; it could be said that the entire province was built to support Jiangcheng. In the past, when similar situations occurred, the province generally sided with Jiangcheng.

The province’s actions had fostered Jiangcheng’s somewhat overbearing habits. They had snatched investors from cities and counties below more than once. In the past, Shangjun County hadn’t had anyone coming to invest, so they hadn’t encountered this, but this was the first time, which naturally made Ji Tao furious.

One had to know that this was a critical moment for Ji Tao. If the Hou family could invest in Shangjun County, or even just show an investment intent, it would add a heavy weight to Ji Tao’s promotion. Therefore, Ji Tao absolutely didn’t want to lose this opportunity.

Having thought through the cause and effect, he knew that reporting the situation to the city now was definitely not a good choice. It was better to let Su Xinghui go to Jiangcheng to check the situation. After all, Su Xinghui was the person the Hou family trusted most. No matter how Jiangcheng snatched, where the Hou family ultimately wanted to invest would depend on their own wishes.

As long as Su Xinghui could play the emotional card well, Shangjun County still had a good chance. After all, the Hou family were Shangjun people, not Jiangcheng people.

Ji Tao was a very decisive person. After deciding to let Su Xinghui go to Jiangcheng, he immediately informed the standing committee members present that today’s welcoming ceremony was canceled.

Jia Hequn said sourly, “This is too ridiculous. So many people were waiting for their family, and now they just don’t come.”

Ji Tao said irritably, “We can’t blame the Hou family for this. We can only blame those people from the Jiangcheng Investment Promotion Office.”

Jia Hequn said, “Who knows what’s going on? It’s all what they say now; we don’t know. Even if it really was the Jiangcheng Investment Promotion Office, we should go and reason with them. This is too underhanded, isn’t it?”

Ji Tao said, “Fine, Deputy County Head Jia, the county committee will send you to Jiangcheng to reason with them. How about that? If you can get this done, the county will give you a big credit.”

Jia Hequn said sullenly, “I have a lot of other work these days, so I won’t go.”

Ji Tao said, “Fine, then please stop talking. Everyone, don’t gather here; disperse.”

The crowd dispersed. Ji Tao said to Su Xinghui, “How about this: I’ll have the office assign you a car.”

Su Xinghui said, “Fine, no need for a driver. I’ll drive myself and leave immediately.”

Ji Tao nodded. “What else do you need? Do you need money? If you need money, ask the County Head to approve it.”

Su Xinghui said, “No need, I have money on me. If there are any expenses during the process, I’ll get the receipts and come back for reimbursement. By the way, I need to make a few calls first.”

Ji Tao said, “Go make them in my office, and close the door.”

Ji Tao knew that Su Xinghui was most likely going to call Lu Zhenghong. Such calls were best made in the most private places, and in the county committee compound, the most private place was his office.

Su Xinghui entered Ji Tao’s office and closed the door. He first called Lu Xiaoya’s office. At this time, Lu Xiaoya had just started work. She answered the phone, and upon hearing it was Su Xinghui, she asked, “Xinghui, why are you calling at this time? Aren’t you supposed to be receiving the French merchants?”

Su Xinghui said, “Don’t mention it. These French merchants were intercepted halfway at Jiangcheng Airport by people from the Jiangcheng Investment Promotion Office. They can’t even come now, so I’m rushing to Jiangcheng to check the situation.”

Lu Xiaoya said happily, “You’re coming to Jiangcheng? Now? That’s great!”

Su Xinghui smiled bitterly. “Our county is in trouble, and you’re saying it’s great.”

Lu Xiaoya said, “Do you know how long it’s been since we’ve seen each other? It’s great that you can come. Come to think of it, I should thank the Jiangcheng Investment Promotion Office.”

Su Xinghui said, “Alright, when I get to Jiangcheng, I might need to see Uncle Lu first. I’ll call you after I meet him.”

Lu Xiaoya said, “Fine, then I’ll wait for you in the office. I was planning to go out this afternoon, but I won’t now.”

After calling Lu Xiaoya, Su Xinghui called Lu Zhenghong’s office. He said he was coming to Jiangcheng this afternoon to handle some business and had something to tell him. Lu Zhenghong said, “Then come over. I should be in the office after 3:30.”

After Su Xinghui finished his calls and came out, Ji Tao had the County Committee Office Director, Gu Kangping, arrange a Santana for him. He handed it to Su Xinghui and said, “Go ahead, and let us know if there’s any situation.”

Su Xinghui nodded and started the car.

In about an hour, Su Xinghui arrived in Jiangcheng. He went straight to the provincial committee compound and met Lu Zhenghong in his office.

Come to think of it, this was Su Xinghui’s first time in Lu Zhenghong’s office. After Lu Zhenghong let him in, he smiled and intended to pour him tea. Su Xinghui quickly poured the tea himself, refilled Lu Zhenghong’s cup, and sat down.

Lu Zhenghong asked, “Why are you here at this time? Did something urgent happen?”

Su Xinghui told Lu Zhenghong about how Shangjun County had done a lot of work to invite the Hou family back, only for the Jiangcheng Investment Promotion Office to intercept them when they got off the plane.

After telling Lu Zhenghong this, Su Xinghui didn’t show much anger, because given his relationship with Lu Zhenghong, he didn’t need to put on such an act. He knew Lu Zhenghong understood what he meant.

Sure enough, Lu Zhenghong furrowed his brow. He was well aware of Jiangcheng’s overbearing style; this wasn’t the first or second time such things had happened. Cities and counties below often went to the province to complain, but he hadn’t intervened because it fell under the scope of the provincial government, which generally favored Jiangcheng. He knew this, and if he intervened, it would be overstepping his authority.

However, this matter involved Shangjun County and, even more, Su Xinghui, which made Lu Zhenghong have to intervene. Regardless of closeness, just looking at right and wrong, Shangjun County was in the right. Moreover, Su Xinghui was already his prospective son-in-law.

Lu Zhenghong said, “The Jiangcheng Municipal Government is indeed getting out of hand and becoming more and more overbearing. What do you plan to do?”