Power and Wealth

The next morning.

Dong Xuebing remembered he lend his car to Lin Pingping after he went downstairs and had to take a taxi to work.

Dong Xuebing had left for work early today, and it is before 8 am now. There is a traffic jam, and since Dong Xuebing is not in a hurry, he took out a document from his bag and wind down the windows for a smoke. Suddenly, he noticed a familiar figure by the roadside. This is somewhere near Zhong Xing South Road, and other than a supermarket and some apparel stores, there is a kindergarten. The main gate of the kindergarten is open, and parents are bringing their children to school.

Lin Pingping?

Dong Xuebing saw Lin Pingping holding a small boy, around five years old.

Lin Pingping kneels down in front of the little boy and adjusts his clothing. She patted his head. "Liangliang, go to school."

The little boy pouts. "Mum, we have an art competition today. Will you attend?" Lin Pingping kissed the little boy on the forehead. "Be a good boy. I need to work."

"But… but…" Liangliang is unhappy and is pouting.

Lin Pingping smiles. "Ok. I will take one day off work this weekend to bring you to the movies. Be a good boy in school."

Liangliang cheered. "Ok! I want to watch movies!"

"Ok. I will leave for work now." Lin Pingping kissed Liangliang on his cheeks and left.

The traffic in front had cleared, and the taxi driver was about to drive off when Dong Xuebing asked him to wait for a while. A few seconds later, Dong Xuebing saw Lin Pingping standing by the roadside flagging for a taxi. Dong Xuebing waved to her through the windows, asking her to board the taxi. Lin Pingping saw him and look at the kindergarten before walking over.

"Chief." Lin Pingping greeted.

"I happened to pass by and saw you. Come in."

"Ok." Lin Pingping laughed. "Thanks for giving me a ride." Lin Pingping had parked Dong Xuebing's Mercedes MPV at the Investment Promotion Agency last night. She dares not to use his Mercedes for her personal errands.

In the taxi, Dong Xuebing looks at Lin Pingping. "Is that your son earlier? He is cute."

Lin Pingping smiles and nods. "He is too clingy and kept wanting me to bring him out to play. Kids only think of having fun." Dong Xuebing nodded in his heart after seeing Lin Pingping did not avoid this topic. He knew Lin Pingping is single and was not divorced from her personal files. That's why Dong Xuebing is very surprised to know she is a single mom. He had never heard about this in the Agency. Most people will try to hide such matters if they are in the government service, as reputation is very important. But Lin Pingping had admitted that was her son openly to Dong Xuebing, and Dong Xuebing has a good impression of her. If she tried to hide this matter or change the topic, Dong Xuebing would think she is not responsible.

Dong Xuebing did not ask about Lin Pingping's family issues anymore as he is not interested.

Investment Promotion Agency.

"Chief Dong."

"Good morning, Chief Dong."

A few staff members greeted Dong Xuebing politely.

Dong Xuebing laughed. "Good morning, everyone." The mood in the Agency is very different from yesterday afternoon. After the series of announcements made by Dong Xuebing yesterday, all the staff no longer complain about the high target. After all, they will get a bonus on top of their commission to bring investments into the County. This is an opportunity for all the staff. Even if the Business Section teams bring in a total of 10 million worth of investments, each of them will get an average of 20,000 to 30,000 RMB of bonuses. This is equivalent to their six months' salary.

Dong Xuebing is pleased to see the change in attitude. "Section Chief Lin, come to my office later."

Lin Pingping replied. "Ok. I will go over after I place my stuff in the office."

Two minutes after Dong Xuebing entered his office, Lin Pingping knocks and entered. Dong Xuebing asked Guo Panwei to pour a cup of tea and said. "It's good to see everyone so motivated today."

Lin Pingping smiles. "It's all because of the bonus you announced." Dong Xuebing continued. "Being motivated is not enough. Are the staff confident of achieving this target?"

Lin Pingping paused for a second before reply. "To be honest, I spoke to my staff yesterday after. But the target of 500 million RMB is too high, and I can tell everyone is not confident of achieving it. All of them felt this is impossible. Chief, I think what we should do now is to give them a shot to the arm. If we can bring in a 10 million investment proposal this week, the staff will feel this target is impossible. With confidence and motivation, I believe we can achieve the target." Dong Xuebing thought for a while. "10 million RMB investment is not a lot. How much investment has our Agency brought in this year? Who has brought in the investment?"

Lin Pingping replied embarrassedly. "I had not done a good job. Section One still has not brought in any investments. Only Chief Sun had brought in an investment of a few million, and it is parked under Section Two." Lin Pingping sounded unhappy when she mentioned this. Business Section One is also part of the Agency, but Chief Sun has been only Business Section Two all this while. As the Deputy Chief, Sun Shuli is more advantageous when he met investors. With him helping Business Section Two, Business Section One has no chance to win.

Dong Xuebing smiles. "You sounded unhappy."

Lin Pingping paused for a second. "Chief, everyone in Business Section One is unhappy with this and felt the Agency is biased. Why are the investments brought in by the leaders registered under Business Section Two? Section One is also a team in the Agency, how can this…" Lin Pingping knew it is useless to complain to Dong Xuebing. To the Agency Head, he won't care which team is performing better, as it makes no difference to him as long as there are results.

Dong Xuebing laughed. "I can tell you are very unhappy."

"No… I just felt…" Lin Pingping did not continue. "Oh, here are your car keys. Thank you for lending me your car." Dong Xuebing kept the keys and asked. "How was the dinner with the investor?"

Lin Pingping replied in a serious tone. "I was just about to report to you on this matter. The investor's name is Liang Zeyuan, a former farmer. After he becomes rich, he increased the scale of his farms and started to make investments. Our Agency's promotion brochures had mentioned a pork processing plant which Liang Zeyuan is interested. The total investment is around 20 million, and this is a significant amount for us. This amount would be one of the top ten investments if it happened last year. That's why my team and I had been following up on this investment closely these few days. But… it is not looking good." Dong Xuebing asked. "What happened?"

Lin Pingping replied. "Our neighboring County, Da Feng County's Investment Promotion Agency, had also approached Liang Zeyuan. Errr… they are the ones who had approached Liang Zeyuan first, and Liang Zeyuan had come to our County to make a comparison. Da Feng County's economy is better than ours, and their policies given to Liang Zeyuan are similar to ours. That's why the gap is obvious, and I can tell Mr. Liang is more interested in investing in Da Feng County. My team and I had tried our best, but it is not working."

Dong Xuebing tapped on his desk. "What are your considerations?" Lin Pingping is good at reading the investors' minds. "Chief, Mr. Liang's character is straightforward, generous, and loves to make friends. An investor like him will not mind giving up some benefits. What I meant is, investing in Yan Tai County or Da Feng County makes no difference to him. The difference is less than 100,000 RMB, and he doesn't care about it." Dong Xuebing nodded. "You are saying we still stand a chance?"

"Yes."

"20 million is not a small amount, and we must do our best to get this investment."

"I am also thinking of getting this investment, and I hope you can assist us."

"Me?" Dong Xuebing agreed. "Sure. How can I help?" Lin Pingping said. "I tried being friends with Mr. Liang, and it is not working well. That's why I want to use another strategy. I hope Mr. Liang will feel he is more respected in Yan Tai County compared to Da Feng County. I will fix a lunch appointment with Mr. Liang, and if possible, I hope you and a County Government Leader can…"

Dong Xuebing understood what Lin Pingping wants. "Alright. Go and fix the lunch appointment. I will speak to Mayor Zhao." Lin Pingping quickly fixed the appointment with Liang Zeyuan through the phone.

After receiving the news from Lin Pingping, Dong Xuebing called Deputy Mayor Zhao Xinglong. "Hello, Mayor Zhao. We will be meeting an investor for lunch this afternoon and would like to invite you to attend. This investment is for our pork processing plant, and we want to make the investor feel respected in our County. Can you…"

Zhao Xinglong agreed without any hesitations. "No problem. I will do my best to support you all."

Dong Xuebing started reading the pork processing project's proposal by Lin Pingping to prepare himself after hanging up. Although he is the Agency's head, he cannot be unaware of things. This investment is very important to Dong Xuebing. If they can get this investment, they would complete 4% of their target. Secondly, this will also boost the morale of the Agency. Thirdly, Dong Xuebing was newly appointed and needs to show his capability and some results. He wants others to know that other than Police work, he can also bring in investments.

This investment is Dong Xuebing's first project.

He must not fail!