Chapter 2381: Financing (Part 16)

Liu Xiang first shot Wang Qiyi a sideways glance, then lowered his head and took a sip of tea that had grown quite weak. After a light sigh, he began with several questions unrelated to the day's agenda.

"Old Wang, what do you think about what I mentioned last time—establishing three to five textile factories based around residential areas, all using foot-pedal manual looms, employing the big-in-big-out method to lower production costs, and after turning a profit, gradually building supporting training classes, cafeterias, and kindergartens? What's your assessment of this idea?"

"Uh..." Wang Qiyi was caught off guard and couldn't quite follow the sudden shift.

While Wang Qiyi hesitated, Liu Xiang didn't wait for an answer and asked another question. "And last time, I talked those steel factory people into leaving. I told them: with your big-in-big-out operations, why insist on squeezing near the old Guangzhou city? Haizhu District still looks like it did two hundred years ago. The Pearl River waterway is squeezed into fragments by this island. If you want big-in-big-out, why insist on the old city riverbank? Can't you go east of Changzhou Island? They left cursing and swearing. Tell me, why did I invite that criticism?"

Hm? Wasn't it because you were afraid big state enterprises would interfere with local administration? Wang Qiyi couldn't help but grumble internally, though he felt it wasn't appropriate to voice this now.

"I know what you're thinking. But what I want to say is, WISCO also went to Qingshan. They didn't stick to Jianghan Road!" Liu Xiang sighed again.

"Alas, you people!" Liu Xiang tapped the "Seven Gentlemen's" draft paper and continued talking, seemingly to himself. "What image do I, Liu, have in your hearts exactly? Huh? Look at this proposal! Oh, establish a human resources company, charge the Nanyang Company one yuan per colonist, and require by contract that Nanyang Company colonists can only be obtained through the human resources company? Oh, and what's this—a subsidiary company wants to give me, Liu, 1% dry shares?"

"I've heard Zhou Wei mention this proposal too. They charge three yuan per 'piglet'!"

"What are you trying to accomplish? Am I going to occupy the Guangzhou mayor's seat for life? Why don't you just find me a white snake while you're at it." Liu Xiang suddenly lost his temper for some reason.

"Ah, Little Liu!" Wang Qiyi considered himself older than Liu Xiang—actually not by many years—and addressed him as "Little Liu."

"My Mayor Liu, Grand Prefect Liu!" Wang Qiyi quickly offered soothing words. "Everyone sees problems from different angles. Some misunderstandings are entirely normal!"

Liu Xiang took another gulp of tea. "I'm helpless too! 'Led by full employment' and 'reasonable industrial planning based on existing material and technical conditions'—I've written it plainly in the newspapers. Never mind the naturalized citizens; we can't expect them to have that awareness. But these 'Senators'? How come they also gloss over it as if it were official-sounding nonsense?"

Wang Qiyi chuckled along, thinking: Really now, you actually believed it yourself?

"Say you don't read newspapers—fine. Let's communicate face to face! Is my door that hard to enter? I won't complain about crowds surrounding Zhou Wei—he has documents in hand. But Zhou Wei? He only came twice, never discussed anything substantial. Do I lack his bit of tax money?"

Wang Qiyi continued grumbling internally: If you really don't lack it, then don't let your face fall the first time! And don't come asking me later! But aloud he just went "hehe hehe," playing dumb.

"One after another, not even pondering public information, all day scheming about what dry shares to send me!" Liu Xiang continued venting. "Isn't this position of Guangzhou Mayor basically a public account for our big 'Senate' guild? Every day I think about how to cultivate this public account better, making it easier for everyone to grind achievements, but everyone keeps suggesting I fleece the guild warehouse. What kind of thing is this! We're just this small broken circle. If I really did it, could I still survive?"

"Aiya, my Grand Prefect Liu! Let's not dwell on this anymore. Right now, it's just the two of us here. You've been talking for a while and no one else can hear it!" Wang Qiyi seemed to be comforting him but was actually being passive-aggressive. "Come, come, come, I see there are a few decent ideas in here. Let's pick through them and polish them together! Your guiding principles have been conveyed to me. I'll definitely follow this direction!"

"Old Wang! Big Brother Wang! You're still the reliable one!" Liu Xiang looked like he was about to bestow some comradely warmth, which scared Wang Qiyi into quickly sitting down and burying himself in the materials to dodge.

Knock knock knock.

"Chief! The boxed meals are here!"

Nothing more to say—time to eat!

When Zhou Wei followed the secretary into the municipal government, he already sensed something was off. The previous two times he had turned right, but today he was turning left? Before long, the puzzle was solved—today's venue was the small conference room.

When the door opened, Zhou Wei felt even more uneasy. The previous two times, Liu Xiang had gathered Senators from finance, taxation, commerce, and other relevant fields to listen. Today, how could it be just Liu Xiang alone, without even Zhang Yunmi who had appeared like an accessory the previous two times?

Good thing I'm a man, there's no red couch here, and you, Old Liu, aren't sitting with your legs spread.

Liu Xiang was reviewing a briefing in his hand. Seeing Zhou Wei arrive, he greeted him amiably. "Aiya, Little Zhou is here! Come, come, come, sit first."

"Today it's just the two of us, and I'm also responsible for the meeting notes." Liu Xiang pointed to the seat across from him and explained. "Several Senators who are very concerned about Guangzhou's development and construction came from Lingao to investigate for more than ten days. Just yesterday, they submitted a series of comprehensive proposals. We worked until very late last night to finalize the outline. Right now, Director Wang, Director Ai, Director Zheng, and the others are studying the details with those Senators in the large conference room. Little Liang and the legal team were doing circuit court work and just returned at noon today. They wanted to participate without even eating, but I talked them out of it. They're having a late meal in the cafeteria now. Little Zhang needs to help over there, so today it's just the two of us here."

Listen! Listen!

Senators who are "very concerned about Guangzhou's development and construction" and "investigated for more than ten days"... Old Liu, are you trying to tell me the longest investigation was seventeen days? Describing connection-seeking so elegantly and refreshingly—you really deserve your background of rising from the grassroots.

Damn! Complaining is complaining, but I really want to know what they proposed over there. Will it affect my plan? No, there will definitely be an impact, but how much exactly?

Zhou Wei's heart was pounding, but he chose to probe indirectly. "Aiya, Old Liu, you're still the one who wins people over! I can't manage it. My own house is having internal affairs issues. In some comrades' eyes, I'm afraid my reputation stinks terribly."

"Oh!" Liu Xiang thought, you, Zhou Wei, are laying your cards on the table so quickly? "Director Mu already issued a notice this morning. This matter in your house is really not small."

Mm... Mm? And then? "Really not small" and that's it?

Zhou Wei didn't receive any further evaluation and had to explain himself.

"I'm an airborne cadre taking up the post alone! Sigh, just unlucky. My wife only just arranged a life secretary for me, not even three months ago! I really had no one at hand. During this period, I had to inspect everywhere, so I had no choice but to let her temporarily cover the mailroom. And even so, she could cause trouble for me!"

"I don't know how life secretaries are trained nowadays. Taking care of life, that's fine..." Saying this, Zhou Wei unconsciously paused before continuing. "But getting hands-on with work, how come it's so..." Zhou Wei didn't characterize it, just shook his head.

Hmph? Nani? Liu Xiang was surprised internally—how come you, Zhou Wei, still want to shift blame? Don't you know life secretaries actually shouldn't be mixed with work secretaries? You really think "secretaries work when there's work, and you work the secretary when there's not"? This Prefect... mm, it was this Prefect who personally tutored and trained her, barely making her usable...

Zhou Wei didn't notice Liu Xiang's surprised expression and remained immersed in his performance of aggrievement. "My manpower was already insufficient. I had to run around myself. When tired, I definitely said things to her like 'put it off for now,' 'handle it later,' 'report the important ones first.' Who knew she'd take mere hints as imperial edicts!"

Oh, that's your characterization! Also... fine, let's see how you calm those people's anger.

Liu Xiang nodded noncommittally and said, "Aiya, regarding such matters, some Senators here have also reflected on them. We several permanent Senators discussed it and felt we should do a self-check to see whether this is a common phenomenon or a special case involving just a few people. We also wanted to see if we could uncover some deeper causes. Yesterday, we conducted a snap inspection and randomly checked relevant personnel in several departments."

Hearing this, Zhou Wei finally understood what Liu Xiang was doing with this self-check! This was fighting for the authority over characterization! So what's your verdict, sir?

Zhou Wei tensely watched Liu Xiang, waiting for what came next. But Liu Xiang deliberately slid past it, leaving him hanging. "Right now, the inspection results are still being compiled and analyzed. Sigh, let's not talk about these annoying things first. Let's chat about our Senate's national policy company." Saying this, he opened the meeting notes notebook and took out a pen, assuming a posture of being ready to take notes seriously.

Zhou Wei was left hanging uncomfortably. Knowing this was Liu Xiang waiting for him to make an offer, he had no choice but to take over.

"We've introduced it several times now. Our Nanyang Company is..." Zhou Wei first recited the official text again.

Liu Xiang's shorthand level actually wasn't high. By the time Zhou Wei finished his recitation, Liu Xiang had only managed to write down the keywords. Seeing this, Zhou Wei also couldn't continue his endless stream and had to wait for Liu Xiang to finish writing, making the entire meeting process incredibly awkward.

Liu Xiang also wasn't planning to shorthand all of Zhou Wei's speech. After noting the keywords, he wrote "L: What's the main business," then asked, "Little Zhou, I've heard these quite a few times, and read the bulletins too. But I just have one question. This Nanyang Company—what business is it actually doing?"

(End of Chapter)