"Of course it's important," Chen Fang said. "Secretary Liu has been through ups and downs in his official career for so many years; he must have seen all sorts of people from all walks of life. Which one of them hasn't fallen from power because they trampled on the interests of the people?"

Chen Fang asked.

Liu Mingkai pondered for a moment.

"Go on," he said.

Chen Fang nodded.

"At the Standing Committee meetings, both you and I are at a disadvantage, a weakness that cannot be quickly remedied. What we can fight for is the people's hearts, especially for someone in your position. People like Xie Xuefeng won't add any strength to you but will only tarnish your reputation. After all, it's impossible to shut everybody up; if Xie Xuefeng is seen as a scoundrel by the people, then naturally, Secretary Liu, you would be seen as a…"

Chen Fang didn't finish his sentence, but it was enough for Liu Mingkai to understand.

"Guyang City is now vibrant and full of hope for development, but the prevalence of bureaucratic style is a problem. If Secretary Liu takes the initiative to reform the bureaucracy, returning a clear and bright sky to the people of Guyang City, such a reputation would spread from one to ten, and ten to a hundred. One day, it will reach the ears of the provincial leaders. By then, not even ten Dou Qingquans would be able to match you, Secretary Liu…"

Chen Fang spoke fluently, saying a lot.

Everything revolved around the benefits Liu Mingkai could gain.

Finally, the anger on Liu Mingkai's face gradually dissipated.

In its place was continuous nodding.

It seemed he had been persuaded by Chen Fang.

At this point, Chen Fang decided to administer a strong dose of medicine.

He paused and then said, "Secretary Liu, about the matter with Xie Xuefeng, it wasn't deliberate on my part. Rather, someone else set a trap for both of us."

"Oh? Who?"

Liu Mingkai was taken aback and asked.

With a sharp look in his eyes, Chen Fang said, "It's Dou Qingquan…"

In the following time, Chen Fang laid out Dou Qingquan's scheme in detail.

If the earlier part was about touching on feelings and reasoning,

then this analysis now was a strategy to win his heart.

Sure enough, after listening to the whole story, Liu Mingkai slammed the table and said angrily, "Dou Qingquan is truly a deceitful villain. I almost fell for his trick. It's fortunate that you, Brother Chen, saw through it. Otherwise, we might truly have become enemies."

With those words, "Brother Chen," Chen Fang knew that the rift between them had finally been bridged.

When he walked out of the secretary's office,

Liu Mingkai even went out of his way to see him off.

This was treatment Chen Fang had never experienced before.

"Did it go well?"

Just as Chen Fang returned to his office,

Pei Shanglian came in impatiently and asked.

Chen Fang nodded and said, "There's no problem for now."

"What do you mean 'no problem for now'?"

Pei Shanglian scratched his head and said.

Chen Fang smiled slightly and explained, "It's still the same—the official arena doesn't have permanent friends or permanent interests. Take Liu Mingkai for example, his compliance today is nothing more than a compromise made when he had no other choice. If a greater benefit tilts his way tomorrow, and if it requires stepping on me, he would not hesitate. Regardless, for the moment, the problem has been solved."

Pei Shanglian nodded, seemingly half-understanding.

"There are less than ten days left until your bet with Dou Qingquan. How are your preparations?" he asked.

Chen Fang smiled and said, "I'm planning to start this afternoon by visiting Puhua Technology followed by Daliu Net. Both companies have previously visited the Economic Development Zone for inspections and are quite interested, so we'll secure them first."

The Puhua Technology and Daliu Net mentioned by Chen Fang were high-tech enterprises headquartered in Wulan City.

When the Economic Development Zone was first established,

both companies showed a keen interest.

In particular, Puhua Technology had already signed an intention agreement with the Economic Development Zone, proposing to invest 150 million yuan to set up a product research and development headquarters. If that was secured, Chen Fang would indeed be off to a winning start.

Puhua Technology is a company that specializes in producing electric bicycles.

Currently, Puhua's electric bicycles have rather impressive sales nationwide, occupying a significant market share, and can be considered a rising tech enterprise.

Daliu Net, on the other hand, is an e-commerce platform established less than five years ago.

Though it hasn't been around for long,

its growth has been rapid.

It still lags behind the leading e-commerce platforms, but the trend is positive. During the early days of the Economic Development Zone, Luo Kaichong, the founder of Daliu Net, also visited several times, and he was always received by Chen Fang, with whom he got along quite well.

At that time, Luo Kaichong also verbally promised to invest 200 million yuan in the Economic Development Zone to build a data center.

The reason for selecting these two companies

was that Chen Fang had confidence in them.

In the following days,

Chen Fang had many more businesses to visit on his list.

Going through the planned list of companies, although the 6 billion yuan target wasn't quite met, it wasn't far off. If he could persuade these business owners to invest a bit more,

achieving 6 billion wasn't impossible.

However, while ideals are plump, reality is skeletal.

As Chen Fang and Pei Shanglian were chatting in the office, at Wulan City's Longjiang Pier, a luxury cruise ship slowly docked.

The cruise ship was large.

It seemed to have at least three levels,

and it was extremely luxuriously decorated, clearly a very valuable vessel.

About ten minutes after the cruise ship docked at the pier,

a series of luxury sedans drove up from a distance and stopped by the pier.

As the car doors opened, a man in a suit emerged from each car.

No one knew what these men looked like because they all wore black party masks.

The masks varied in shape, but they shared one common feature: the top half of the face was covered, so it was impossible to distinguish who was who.

At this moment, two people wearing white masks disembarked from the cruise ship and stood at either side of the entrance.

The first man in a black mask boarded the cruise ship and took out a golden invitation from his pocket.

The person in the white mask checked it, nodded, and allowed him to pass.

And so on.

16 men in black masks filed onto the cruise ship.

Once everyone was aboard,

the ship sounded its horn and slowly set off, leaving the pier and sailing into the vast expanse of Longjiang.

At this time,

within the row of cars parked at the dock,

one car's door remained firmly closed.

In the back seat, a man and a woman were seated.

The man was none other than Zhao Yiping, the Mayor of Wulan City.

The woman beside him was Hou Jingjing, who was staring intently as the cruise ship gradually vanished on the river, and she commanded coldly, "Drive."

"President Hou, can it be done?"

Zhao Yiping asked with some uncertainty.

Hou Jingjing smiled faintly and said, "In this world, there's no man who can withstand the hospitality of the Hou Family..."

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