"Secretary Sun, could you please inform Secretary Lu that there's a document from the investment invitation meeting that requires his signature?"

Secretary Sun lazily lifted his eyelids, deliberately ignoring him for two seconds, then emitted an "uh" sound from his nose, slowly stood up: "Wait."

Song Guanchao was baffled. Has this guy really become so arrogant now?

If it weren't for dealing with Secretary Sun for a long time and knowing him inside out, he would have really wanted to get rid of this guy and have Secretary Lu pick a new secretary.

Forget it, no need to stoop to his level.

His targets are Zheng Bihui and Secretary Lu.

Once he takes down these two, Secretary Sun won't escape being settled.

Secretary Sun came out and said, "Go in."

Entering the office, Song Guanchao sat down, and without waiting for Secretary Lu to ask, he handed over the document.

"Secretary Lu, this is the procedure for the investment invitation meeting, and this is the promotional budget. Please sign."

"Let me have a look first."

Secretary Lu picked up the document, saying, "The promotional budget is a bit high."

Song Guanchao said, "Because it needs to be promoted across the province."

"Across the province..." Secretary Lu asked, "What was the scope of the promotional budget for previous investment invitation meetings?"

"Not sure."

This old thing is starting to make things difficult.

Song Guanchao said, "If Secretary Lu wants to know, you can call Director Liu yourself."

Secretary Lu is not as irritable as Mayor Zheng, but this attitude also made him somewhat displeased.

He threw the document back: "Secretary Song, please organize the previous promotional budgets. Next time bring it along. If the budget is reasonable, you can sign it. If it's too much, it's hard to sign. You know the finances are tight..."

"Bang!"

Song Guanchao couldn't be bothered to listen to his nonsense and tossed the loan contract over: "Secretary Lu, take another look. Finish reading before you speak."

He pulled out a cigarette and lit it in front of Secretary Lu.

There were no outsiders here; respect wasn't given, it depended on Song Guanchao's mood.

Secretary Lu realized this young secretary was becoming more and more unreasonable, yet he couldn't say anything.

This young man is an expert at making a fuss over nothing. Quarreling over small matters with him would only be bad.

All he could do was endure.

There will be a day you'll regret this!

Secretary Lu glanced; it was a loan contract.

For this kind of contract, the key points are the interest rate and repayment period.

Upon seeing that the loan interest rate was marked at 24%, he didn't immediately react; after two seconds, he sharply looked back.

He stared at the numbers for several seconds, confirming he hadn't seen wrong; it was indeed 24%.

With his sharp mind, he couldn't react for a while.

For a moment, he thought, could it be that Song Guanchao had taken the wrong contract?

"Secretary Song, you must have missed a decimal point in this loan interest rate, right?"

"Where?"

"Here."

He pointed to the number.

Song Guanchao stretched his neck to take a look, calmly said, "No mistake, it's 24%."

"Are you sure?"

"Does Secretary Lu find it problematic?"

"..."

Secretary Lu wouldn't speak further; he calmed down, roughly understanding what Song Guanchao was trying to do.

This brat is staging a coup!

What concept is 24%?

This is the highest interest rate allowed by law!

Exceeding 24% becomes usury!

Wu Qiangwei wants to hold an investment invitation meeting, which he doesn't mind.

Because he's certain such meetings are useless; if the city doesn't support them, no one will invest.

But despite being cunning and scheming, he never expected, that Song Guanchao could put him at a disadvantage here!

If this contract gets circulated, even though everyone knows Lingjiang is unsupportive of the high-speed rail project, it wouldn't stop them from investing.

After all, this is a 24% interest rate!

Signing directly with the government!

If the government doesn't repay, they could sue directly!

If a suit and no repayment ensue, the government's credibility will plummet!

Lu Zhizhong might not care because, by the time the old city renovation project is completed, he can leave Lingjiang... he wouldn't even need to wait until completion.

Then he wouldn't worry whether Lingjiang thrives or falls.

But it's different for Zheng Bihui.

He's agreed with Zheng Bihui that once he leaves, the City Secretary would be Zheng Bihui.

Such a big mess, Zheng Bihui definitely wouldn't agree to it.

Secretary Lu's expression remained normal, but internally he cursed Wu Qiangwei to the heavens.

Clearly, Wu Qiangwei had already guessed what kind of private agreement he reached with Zheng Bihui.

This nearly usurious contract was deliberately crafted to trap the two of them.

This is forcing them to compromise.

"Hehe."

Secretary Lu chuckled lightly, "The promotional budget isn't a problem, it's just that this contract has a bit too high of an interest rate."

He picked up the pen and signed his name on the promotional budget application.

But he didn't sign the other document from the investment invitation meeting process.

"How about this, you can tell Secretary Wu, let the interest rate be normal."

"After all, our finances are really tight."

"For financing over a hundred billion, such a high interest rate puts too much pressure on the budget."

Song Guanchao said, "Secretary Lu is right, I also think the interest rate is too high."

"But as for the project, Secretary Lu, you're also clear."

"Now there's news outside saying the city has already given up on investing in the high-speed rail, and people lack confidence in the project, how would they be willing to invest?"

"Recently, I consulted with banks, and they aren't willing to lend, not to mention the investors."

"Sigh."

He sighed and said, "So we can only raise the interest rate, using the high-interest rate to attract investors."

Song Guanchao wouldn't relent.

Secretary Lu could tell; he still had some schemes.

"Aside from the interest rate, there are always other ways, Secretary Song even managed to bring back tens of billions transferred overseas. What is this small matter to you?"

"Oh, Secretary Lu, don't praise me; I can't handle flattery, but..."

He shifted his tone, "Indeed there is one more way."

"Hmm, tell me, I can also help you think."

"Heh, it doesn't count as any method, but since Secretary Lu mentioned, I'll say."

Song Guanchao said, "High-speed rail is a livelihood project, whether banks are willing to lend or investors willing to invest mainly depends on the city's support for the project."

"If Secretary Lu and Mayor Zheng stand by the project and record a promotional interview, this investment invitation meeting will certainly see better results."

"Of course, personally, I still feel that proactively raising the interest rate would yield better results."

"After all, tangible benefits are more appealing."

"24% interest rate, even if the government really can't come up with the money later, investors can still resort to legal actions for a lawsuit."

"If the city won't repay, isn't there still the province?" Secretary Lu, what do you think, isn't that the logic?"

Secretary Lu's brow twitched, already understanding Wu Qiangwei's ultimate goal.

She wants the city to fully support the project, changing external perceptions of the project.

Make them understand that Lingjiang has not abandoned the high-speed rail project.

He was weighing the pros and cons.

Simply standing by doesn't necessarily achieve good results.

The investment invitation meeting itself is not important; the crucial issue is demolition compensations.

If demolition compensations can't be secured, how would their standing do any good?

People look at concrete actions.

No matter how nice the talk, if compensations can't be secured, who believes you're supportive?

Understanding this, Secretary Lu nodded: "For such an important project, the city will surely support it. Even if you didn't say, Mayor Zheng and I would stand by it."

Song Guanchao extinguished his cigarette and stood up, "Alright, I'll inform Secretary Wu."

"No rush." Secretary Lu said, "First, go to the City Government and get Mayor Zheng's signature."

He pointed at the loan contract, "Let Mayor Zheng also have a look at it."

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