Power and Wealth
Chapter 1450 – The leader of the inspection team?
The city.
Investment promotion venue.
“A surprise?”
“Yes, didn’t Sister say that?”
“Sister Zhang, what is it?”
“You’ll know when the time comes.”
“Come on, why are you selling me suspense?”
“Haha, I won’t say it. I’ll hang up. Just wait.”
“Okay, if you need arrangements or pick-up, call me.”
After hanging up the call, Dong Xuebing put away his phone and returned to the Zhen Shui County exhibition stand. He saw that the leader from the city’s investment promotion office had already been scolded away, and it seemed like they were going to complain to Lu Weiguo. Dong Xuebing didn’t bother to look at them again and withdrew his gaze into the exhibition stand.
” Mayor Dong.”
“What’s going on with this?”
“They’ve been doing this over and over again.”
“Yeah, why should they cancel our exhibition stand? What mistakes did we make?”
As soon as Dong Xuebing returned, Zheng Dayou, Chen Yunsong, and others complained to him, each looking indignant and annoyed.
Dong Xuebing looked at everyone and comforted them, “If they want to talk, let them talk. Their mouths are on them, and we can’t control that. Everyone, don’t be influenced by them. We won’t cancel the exhibition stand. Even if Lu Weiguo reports it, it won’t affect us since we haven’t made any mistakes. So everyone, don’t be bothered by them. Let’s continue with our preparations. The investors are coming.”
“Uh, they’re already here.”
“What do you mean, they’re already here?”
“Look outside, and the cars have arrived.”
Dong Xuebing and the others looked outside. They saw the open gate of the park and cars with provincial license plates entered. These should be the cars prepared by the province for the investors. Only the foreign inspection team would receive such treatment.
They’re here.
Finally here.
Hua Li immediately went to greet them.
Lu Weiguo, who was listening to the complaints from the investment promotion office’s leader about Zhen Shui County, also waved his hand to interrupt their words. He quickly followed Deputy Mayor Hua to greet the visitors. No matter how much trouble Zhen Shui County caused, this group of foreign investors was the real focus.
For a while, everyone started to move.
The heads of investment promotion bureaus from various districts and counties all went up.
Although Dong Xuebing didn’t take it seriously, the necessary work still had to be done. However, Zhen Shui County was too far away, so they were the last to approach.
The car stopped. The doors opened.
Many people got out of the cars one after another.
The first to get off was a middle-aged woman with short hair. Although her hair had turned white, she looked elegant in a suit. This woman was a leader from the province, most likely the leader of the provincial investment promotion. Dong Xuebing noticed that Hua Li and Lu Weiguo greeted her very politely. The woman’s rank should be similar to Deputy Mayor Hua’s or even higher. That was hard to determine.
That woman told Hua Li, “I’ve brought the people to you. I’ll introduce them shortly. After the introductions, you can take over, and I’ll leave.”
Hua Li said, “How can that be? What about lunch?”
The woman waved her hand, “I won’t eat. I also have matters to attend to. Everything the secretary and mayor should convey to you has been said. Don’t make any mistakes.”
Hua Li said, “Rest assured, we will treat them well.”
The woman nodded, “That’s good. Whether you can retain these investments depends on your abilities. This is a chance for your city. Seize it.”
Hua Li responded with an “Okay,” and the woman continued, “We understand.”
The other cars stopped one by one in the front square around ten cars. As the car doors opened, foreign investors got out one by one. There were men and women, young and old, with a majority being women. More than half had Western faces, blond hair, and blue eyes, looking like genuine Westerners. One seemed to be of mixed race, and the rest had Asian features, probably Chinese. Their demeanor indicated that they differed from the small investors who attended the previous investment promotion event. The appearance and attire of these foreign investors were not very luxurious, but their temperament unmistakably revealed substantial wealth.
Dong Xuebing and others also went up, but they were at the outermost periphery, with the front occupied by the city’s and county districts’ investment promotion personnel.
Foreign beauties, huh? Their figures are really good. Dong Xuebing couldn’t help but admire their bodies.
At this time, the female leader from the province had probably already had quite a few interactions with these investors. She spoke in English, smiling as she said a few words to them. Then, she pointed at Hua Li, Lu Weiguo, and others. Dong Xuebing couldn’t understand, but she was likely introducing the local leadership to them. Several nearby foreign investors nodded to Hua Li’s group as a form of greeting after hearing the introduction.
The female leader from the province pointed at the frontmost foreigner, saying, “This is Mr. Frank, the owner of Lande Corporation.”
Lu Weiguo led the applause. Clap, clap, and the other investment promotion personnel also welcomed.
Hua Li immediately went up to shake hands with him, saying, “Welcome to Meihe City.”
He spoke in English, but it was somewhat stiff, clearly something he had just learned at the last minute.
The foreigner called Frank shook hands with Hua Li and said a long sentence in English.
It seemed that these big foreign bosses didn’t bring interpreters this time. About a dozen of them were from a different company, and most didn’t bring secretaries or translators. They were the only ones present, so the English translation was done by a Meihe City Investment Promotion Bureau employee with decent English skills. Originally, the translation was repeated in Chinese after Deputy City Mayor Hua spoke. Hua Li only understood it after the other person praised them politely in English. He quickly exchanged a few more words.
After a moment, the female leader from the province introduced the next foreigner. She didn’t seem to know his name, only mentioning the company, “This is the owner of Huanmei Group.”
Clap, clap, clap, once again, applause welcomed them.
As they applauded, Dong Xuebing and the others naturally joined in. This wasn’t about formalism but a way of expressing Meihe City’s importance to these foreign investors. However, Dong Xuebing was not too focused on this. He clapped his hands perfunctory, looking towards the park entrance because Zhang Longjuan had already called and should have arrived. Dong Xuebing didn’t know when she would arrive, but he was most concerned about Sister Zhang’s situation.
One…
Three…
Five…
After introducing the first five individuals, the female leader from the province seemed to struggle a bit. It looked like she wasn’t familiar with the names and companies of the people behind it and, being relatively new to dealing with foreign investors, couldn’t remember everyone. She apologized and glanced at the next investor, using English to ask for their introduction, indicating that it was necessary.
It was a Chinese man, likely of overseas Chinese descent. However, he might not have lived in the People’s Republic of China long, as his Mandarin was not very proficient. He said, “Wait for our, the leading, to come, then introduce.”
The provincial female leader clarified, “Wait for the person leading them. She spent over twenty years living in China and has a good relationship with these foreigners. They know each other well. I won’t introduce him now; it’s more suitable when he arrives. He should be coming over shortly. Don’t just stand there; chat with each other and communicate for a bit.”
Hua Li and Lu Weiguo immediately found several investment promotion personnel with good English skills, intending to establish some initial communication with these foreign investors. However, their English, learned in college, was somewhat stiff. Despite being college graduates, none had studied abroad, so they could only understand slower or simpler sentence structures. Many of the foreigners had accents and spoke quickly, and after communicating for a while, neither the translation team nor Hua Li and Lu Weiguo understood much. The atmosphere became somewhat awkward.
Hua Li turned around, frowned at the few English-speaking staff brought in temporarily, and said, “You call this knowing English? You can’t even translate their words.”
“They speak too fast.”
“They have accents, and we can’t understand them.”
After all, they were not professional translators and had limited abilities.
Hua Li turned to Lu Weiguo, “Contact the city, get a few translators here as soon as possible.”
Watching the chaotic interaction of the group, Dong Xuebing found it somewhat amusing. He shook his head helplessly, feeling that their interest was dwindling.
Suddenly, another car with a provincial license plate arrived. Seeing the car, many foreign investors smiled.
The female leader from the province promptly said to Hua Li and the others, “Alright, the person leading them is here. With her, communication won’t be a problem.”
All eyes turned towards the arriving car.
The car stopped, and a staff member from the province politely opened the other side’s door for the person inside to disembark.
As the door opened, a pair of legs wrapped in black stockings emerged, and the black high heels made a crisp sound as they touched the ground.
The next moment, a mature and glamorous middle-aged woman stepped out of the car.
Seeing this person, Dong Xuebing, who had been indifferent, was immediately stunned.