Chapter 110 - 90: He Is the Li Yuan Farm Boss

Chapter 110: Chapter 90: He Is the Li Yuan Farm Boss

"I appreciate it, Director Zhao!" Zhang Lin replied with a smile.

Zhao Han didn’t forget about President Li standing beside them and immediately made an introduction. "Boss Zhang, let me introduce you. This is President Li, Li Shenglin, the owner of the Midtown Grand Hotel. The only two major hotels in You City are his, and he also has businesses in foot spas, bars, and KTVs. He mentioned before that he wanted to meet you!"

"Director Zhao, is this Boss Zhang the owner of Li Yuan Farm?" Upon hearing Zhao Han’s words, Li Shenglin’s face filled with surprise. He then enthusiastically stepped forward to shake Zhang Lin’s hand. "President Zhang, a pleasure. I’ve been wanting to meet you for some time now, our very own God of Wealth."

He was genuinely surprised.

Because of Li Yuan Farm, You City had been flooded with tourists.

Many of these tourists needed a place to stay overnight in You City.

His two hotels were the only two respectable ones in You City, so they naturally absorbed a large number of guests. By promoting his own KTVs, bars, and foot spas, he also attracted many tourists to his other establishments.

It was safe to say that thanks to Li Yuan Farm, his business had improved tremendously.

That was why, during the last meeting Director Zhao held to provide guidance on standardizing hospitality practices for tourists, he had asked the director about the owner of Li Yuan Farm.

He never imagined that the young man standing before him was the owner of Li Yuan Farm.

The man was unbelievably low-key, arriving on a scooter caked in mud.

If Director Zhao hadn’t made the introduction, who would have believed this man was the owner of Li Yuan Farm?

"President Li, I can’t accept a title like ’God of Wealth’!" Now that Zhang Lin knew Li Shenglin’s identity, his enthusiasm was no surprise.

In fact, this was precisely why the county valued his project so highly. The tourists it brought truly benefited all of You City’s industries and fueled economic growth.

"You two can exchange contact information and chat later. For now, let’s head into the conference room," Zhao Han said, leading the two men toward it.

He was mainly guiding Zhang Lin; Li Shenglin was just tagging along.

The county government’s conference room wasn’t overly luxurious, but it was formal and dignified. One glance was enough to tell it was an official venue.

Quite a few people had already arrived and were chatting in small groups of two and three.

When Zhao Han led Zhang Lin and Li Shenglin into the room, they drew everyone’s attention.

After all, the conference room was rather small.

As soon as Li Shenglin entered, he headed for a seat in the back.

It was only then that Zhang Lin noticed the tables were set with nameplates.

Clearly, seating at this kind of meeting was arranged according to rank and seniority.

Even though Li Shenglin owned the two largest hotels in You City, plus foot spas and KTVs, these weren’t large-scale operations in a small county, and certainly not chain businesses. Therefore, in this conference room, he was only qualified to sit at the very back.

If it weren’t for those two large hotels—if he only had one—he might not have even qualified for a seat here at all.

However, the sight of Director Zhao Han personally escorting a young man toward the front section of the room caught many people’s eyes.

This was especially true when the young man took a seat in the second row, even if it was the last one in the line.

There were hardly any young people in the room; the few who were on the younger side were around thirty-five. Moreover, the representatives in the first two rows were from You City’s most powerful companies, their status self-evident.

And now, a young man had actually taken a seat there.

This piqued everyone’s curiosity.

The moment Li Shenglin sat down, some people next to him asked curiously:

"President Li, who is that? How did he get a seat up there?"

"Yeah, it looked like the director of the Tourism Bureau personally brought him in."

"You two came in together just now, right?"

Li Shenglin didn’t hide anything. "That’s President Zhang," he explained, "the owner of Li Yuan Farm!"

His words surprised the people around him even more.

"Li Yuan Farm?"

"He’s that young?"

"No wonder he’s in the first two rows."

"..."

The voices of these few people were overheard by others, and one by one, they all turned to look at Zhang Lin, their gazes filled with admiration and wonder.

Among all the businesses in You City recently, if you had to name the one with the best reputation and the highest profile, it would have to be Li Yuan Farm.

The farm was selling 10,000 tickets a day. At 50 yuan per ticket, that was 500,000 yuan.

The tax on scenic area ticket revenue was 13%. That meant they were paying 65,000 yuan in taxes from ticket sales alone each day. That’s 1.95 million yuan a month, and 23.4 million a year.

And that was just the tax on ticket prices, not counting anything else.

To put that in perspective, You City’s top tax-paying enterprise last year paid how much? 48.5 million yuan, and that was the tobacco company.

The other companies paying over 30 million yuan in taxes were either the power company, the agricultural credit union, or the old-guard companies in plastics, textiles, and mining.

So, it wasn’t the least bit strange that the owner of Li Yuan Farm was seated in the first two rows.

Besides, the significance of Li Yuan Farm to You City couldn’t be compared to that of tobacco, mining, or textile companies.

Because Li Yuan Farm brought more than just tax revenue.

Even the bosses in the first two rows glanced at him subconsciously and then nodded with a smile, a silent greeting.

But they too were astonished. Although You City was a small place, it had taken them the better part of their lives to earn their seats here. The young man’s age was truly staggering.

Zhang Lin returned their smiles.

A moment later, County Head Liu entered the conference room, and the room instantly fell silent.

Now that the main man had arrived, the meeting naturally began.

Just as Zhang Lin had guessed from the start, the meeting was mind-numbingly boring and a complete waste of time. The speech was so dry and tedious that he felt no one in the room, himself included, would be able to remember a single thing County Head Liu was saying.

But this type of meeting was mandated by the Capital City, so every region had to hold one.

The meeting dragged on for over an hour before finally ending.

After it was over, it was naturally time for the big shots to go up to County Head Liu one by one to curry favor and build connections.

Each and every one of them was incredibly enthusiastic.

Zhang Lin had no interest in such things and was about to leave the conference room as soon as it ended. But just as he stood up, a voice called out, "Zhang Lin. President Zhang. So you’re the owner of Li Yuan Farm. You really are young!"

"And you are?" Zhang Lin looked at the middle-aged man in confusion, certain he had never seen him before.

"Zhao Neng, from You City’s Kailin Investment Co., Ltd.!" the middle-aged man introduced himself. "President Zhang, the investment in Li Yuan Farm is truly jaw-dropping, and its growth rate is astonishing. You’ve certainly taught us investors a good lesson—that agricultural investments can be this explosive."

"You flatter me, President Zhao." When faced with such praise, Zhang Lin knew humility was the best response.

"It is indeed an overstatement!" Zhao Neng said with a sudden, mocking smile. "I have to say, President Zhang, you have great luck. The kind of person on a major lucky streak. No matter what people like you do, you always seem to stumble upon a gap in the market and succeed!"

"But this kind of person also has no real entrepreneurial experience. They make a mess of many things, unable to even perfect a company’s most basic functions, yet they’re always thinking about taking the next big step. In the end, they take a stride that’s too wide, tear something, and end up in the hospital."

"It’s just that society develops so quickly. Often, by the time they get out of the hospital, everything has changed. Even the fruits of their labor have been snatched away by someone else."

"President Zhao, what are you trying to say?" Zhang Lin’s brow suddenly furrowed.

He could read between the lines. The man’s words were laced with hostility, clearly carrying a hidden meaning. Moreover, their sharp edge was like a sword pointed right at him.

"President Zhang, it’s alright if you don’t understand now. You will soon enough!" Zhao Neng gave a smug smile and walked directly out of the conference room.

Zhang Lin found the man baffling. Just as he was pondering this, Li Shenglin’s voice sounded, "President Zhang, why were you talking to him?"

Zhang Lin turned and smiled. "Ah, President Li. What’s his story?"

Li Shenglin asked in surprise, "President Zhang, you don’t know? For you to get a seat in the first two rows, someone had to be bumped down. That President Zhao is the one who was bumped. Firstly, your Li Yuan Farm is on a hot streak. Secondly, his investment company made bad bets on two major projects in the last two years and took a serious hit."

"But no matter the reason, anyone would be unhappy about having their spot taken. So, he definitely doesn’t have good intentions toward you. Also, you absolutely shouldn’t believe a word he says. I heard he’s been busy working on a project recently, and it seems to be related to your Li Yuan Farm, President Zhang."

"Thank you for the warning, President Li!" Zhang Lin’s brow furrowed upon hearing this.

’Zhao Neng’s words just now were clearly loaded and barbed. All that nonsense about hospitals and getting your work snatched away... It was all so cryptic. Does he mean he’s going to make a move on Li Yuan Farm? That he wants to hijack my success?’

’In this day and age, I’m not afraid of him using any underhanded tactics. My Li Yuan Farm has almost four million followers, after all.’

’If he really tried any dirty tricks, he’d be the one to go viral online first, and his reputation would be dead in the water.’

’But trying to use legitimate means to hijack the success of someone with a cheat system like me? What a joke.’

Li Shenglin warned again, "President Zhang, you should still be careful. That guy’s an investor, and he’s used his capital to pull some dirty moves in You City. Whenever a project looks good, he wants a piece of it, using his money to squeeze out the original owner. He acts like he’s one of those big-shot monopolists."

"Thank you again, President Li." Zhang Lin felt indebted to him for the favor. At the very least, his warning had made things much clearer.

’Actually, I’m not surprised. It’s normal for people to start scheming now that Li Yuan Farm is a hit. Today it’s this Zhao Neng; who knows who it’ll be tomorrow.’

’So, to avoid future trouble, the only way is to chop off Zhao Neng’s outstretched claws and make an example of him to deter others.’

’I just wonder what move he’s so confident about making.’

Before he could even walk out of the county government building, Zhao Han hurried after him. "Boss Zhang, Wei just called County Head Liu with a report about your Li Yuan Farm. The County Head feels it’s necessary to inform you about it and has asked you to come up to his office."