That day.
At 2 PM.
In the temporary county committee office, the office of the county committee secretary.
It was May, and the weather had already ward up. Dong Xuebing had taken off his coat and changed into a lighter shirt. Sitting behind his desk, he reviewed the statistical report sent from the county’s investnt bureau—total investnt amount, itemized projects, and how much initial funds had been received. Each record was ticulously detailed, clear and easy to understand, stirring emotions and excitent.
One billion.
He had done an excellent job.
Dong Xuebing felt at ease and in a great mood. The tasks were completed and exceeded expectations—beyond what Dong Xuebing had anticipated. This was the result he was most pleased with. Since entering the system, Dong Xuebing had undergone another personality transformation, from a fresh graduate battling his way through society and the system. From then on, he had always been competitive, aggressive, never willing to lose. He believed a saying described him perfectly: even if Dong Xuebing ended up with nothing one day, setting up a stall by the roadside selling stead buns, he would still sell better than anyone else.
This was stubbornness.
This was a life attitude.
It was also a deep-rooted pride.
Just as he was enjoying these thoughts, his phone rang.
Dong Xuebing looked at the caller ID. It was his wife, Xie Huilan. He answered with a smile, "Hey, Huilan. It’s rare for you to call ."
"Hehe." Xie Huilan’s laughter was still the sa, neither deep nor shallow, "Every ti I think about calling you, you’ve already called . Naturally, it’s not my turn to call you."
Dong Xuebing rolled his eyes. "Alright, just tell what’s up."
"Do you miss , you rascal?" Xie Huilan teased.
Dong Xuebing’s heart felt sweet. "Yeah, I do."
Then, Xie Huilan said, "Well, there’s still sothing I need to tell you, rascal."
Dong Xuebing sighed, "I knew it. Fine, say it. I’m busy here too."
"Busy with the investnt stuff, right?" Xie Huilan had learned about Jiaolin County’s big moves over the past month through TV and the dia. "Hehe, I also found out about this from the dia. Our province’s recent investnt results have been poor. Or you could say, they’ve been terrible. Originally, Jiangnan had a good investnt environnt with talent and natural resources. Still, due to economic conditions and various complex reasons, investnt outcos have been flat for the past three years. From a monetary perspective, flat ans a decline. There’s also the issue of poor performance in so cities with low investnt results, including Xiexing City. So, the province held a few etings and devised so asures and plans. One of them is to visit other provinces and cities to learn about their investnt experiences, like Shanghai and Suzhou. But your Baohong City recently had a booming investnt culture festival. It’s said that your county alone brought in one billion in investnt, which is quite astonishing. So, I decided to lead a team to exchange investnt experiences with you guys in Baohong City. Hehe, it’s supposed to be the job of the investnt bureau chief or the deputy mayor in charge, but since your big sis misses my little husband so much, what do you think?"
Dong Xuebing was surprised. "Really? You’re coming?"
"What, can’t I co?" Xie Huilan laughed.
Dong Xuebing quickly responded, "Of course, you’re welco. When are you coming, and how long will you stay?"
Xie Huilan’s side seed noisy, full of background sounds. She must be outside. "I’ve already made arrangents with our city’s airport. The plane will take off soon, arriving in about three hours. The inspection exchange will start tomorrow and last about two days, not long."
"You’re almost here, huh? Why didn’t you say sooner? Dong Xuebing realized he hadn’t prepared anything. "You always do this, springing these surprises on . I have a lot going on today, and there’s likely a celebration tonight. How am I supposed to accompany you?"
Xie Huilan replied, "I’ll just co with you."
"Uh, well, that works too." Dong Xuebing said, "I’ll arrange a car to pick you up from the provincial city airport."
"No need," Xie Huilan chuckled. "I’ve already contacted soone in Baohong City in advance. Soone from your city will send a car. Just text about the celebration venue's location later." She paused, "Alright, my flight is boarding now. I’ll turn off my phone. See you tonight."
"Has everything been arranged for the kid?"
The babysitter is looking after him. So no worries."
"Alright then. Take care and let know when you arrive."
After hanging up, Dong Xuebing’s mood improved even more. He hadn’t seen his wife for a long ti and missed her. Though Xie Huilan said she was here for official business, Dong Xuebing knew better. The exchange and inspection were secondary; seeing him was the real reason. The good results from Baohong City’s investnt weren’t even valid; it was just an excuse to attach the event to Baohong City. The reason for this roundabout was because Xiexing City is a prefecture-level city. Any exchanges would usually be with other prefecture-level cities, not Jiaolin County, as the levels weren’t equal. Dong Xuebing understood the lengths his wife went through to find an excuse to spend ti with him. He knew she was still very attached to him.
He sipped his tea.
Dong Xuebing pondered montarily, then picked up the newly installed phone on his desk and called Su Yan. "Hey, Su, co to my office."
Knock-knock.
Su Yan quickly knocked and entered. "You called for ?"
Dong Xuebing smiled. "Can you ask the county committee office to arrange the banquet hall, book a large venue, and arrange a feast? Then notify everyone, including county leaders and the investnt bureau, for a celebration tonight. Invite anyone who contributed during this investnt culture festival, not just the leaders. Everyone has worked hard for so many days; we should comnd them."
Su Yan replied, "Oh, there will be many people. One banquet hall probably won’t be enough."
Dong Xuebing thought for a mont. Considering that Xie Huilan would be coming today, it would be much more convenient for her to go directly to the city from the airport instead of traveling to Jiaolin County first. He said, "Then we’ll go to the city. Find the best hotel in the city. Their banquet hall will be much larger than ours here. It’ll be more than enough. It’s not far to the city; it’s just a half-hour drive. Also, have the county committee office arrange a bus—if one bus isn’t enough, book five, and if five isn’t enough, ten."
Su Yan sweat-dropped. "We won’t need that many."
Dong Xuebing took a card from his pocket and placed it on the table. "As for the expenses, don’t use the county’s account. Use mine. The password is written on the back."
Su Yan quickly replied, "But Secretary, how can I accept this?"
"Just take it when I give it to you." Dong Xuebing flicked the bank card on the table, sliding it across.
Su Yan caught it quickly to prevent it from falling to the ground and reluctantly accepted it. "Okay."
Dong Xuebing chuckled. "By the way, it’s okay to bring family mbers, or rather, it’s better to bring family. This is a rare chance for our county to shine. We should make it lively because this successful investnt was everyone’s effort. Everyone contributed."
Su Yan left.
Monts later, Zhang Dongfang entered the room. "Xuebing."
"Hey, Old Zhang, co in. Sit." Dong Xuebing stood up and filled a cup of water from the kettle for him.
Zhang Dongfang looked pleased as well. The county had secured such a significant achievent, garnering praise from Baohong City’s leaders and provincial authorities. After compiling the report, he heard that the province might organize a study session on Jiaolin County’s successful investnt festival as a case study, which was a great honor. Zhang Dongfang was naturally elated. Although there had been so awkwardness between Jiaolin County, the city, and the province recently, the province was still organizing this learning session, highlighting the county’s outstanding investnt work.
Who benefited from this?
As did many others, Zhang Dongfang knew that this entire investnt festival was Dong Xuebing’s doing. Overcoming key difficulties and organizing the event were all Dong Xuebing’s efforts—others didn’t contribute much. Zhang Dongfang was thoroughly impressed by Dong Xuebing’s capabilities. Everything was right there, plain as day.
"I heard there’s going to be a celebration tonight." Zhang Dongfang said, "With the city?"
Dong Xuebing nodded. "I had Su arrange it. There’ll be a car to pick her up. Has your wife arrived yet? I’ve been here for over two months and still haven’t t her."
Zhang Dongfang chuckled. "I’ll check on that. Co to think of it, I haven’t t your wife either."
"Haha, then you’ll et her tonight." Dong Xuebing replied, "She’s on a business trip in our province. It just so happens she’ll have ti tonight."
Zhang Dongfang raised an eyebrow. "You’re working so much since coming into this new role, why didn’t you bring your wife along? Being separated like this isn’t ideal, especially since your child was just born." Zhang Dongfang knew about the tense relationships between Dong Xuebing and the city and provincial authorities, so he offered, "If your wife wants to co, I can help. If there are any work arrangents, I’ll take care of it for you."
Dong Xuebing coughed awkwardly. "Thanks, Old Zhang. It’s nothing like that; she’s in a special situation."
Zhang Dongfang blinked. "A special situation? Is it a state-owned enterprise, private company, or a governnt job? Any of those can handle this situation."
Dong Xuebing hesitated to explain. "Her situation is a bit special. Thanks for the offer."
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