Chapter 1923

Chapter 1923: Chapter 1923

"Damn, this money really burns my hands!" One of them cursed viciously.

The reason they went to hassle those companies was indeed because they’d taken money.

"That kid can’t possibly go to Mayor Liang over something this trivial just to screw us, right?"

"Of course he can’t. You really think the Mayor’s got nothing better to do? Besides, we didn’t violate any rules or discipline."

Song Guanchao’s visit left the three of them inwardly uneasy, afraid Song Guanchao would go to Mayor Liang and make things hard for them.

...

"Fire department won’t be giving them trouble anymore."

Song Guanchao started the car and drove out of the fire brigade.

Zhou Xingjian still had worry written on his face. "I’m afraid the other side won’t let this go so easily."

This Jiang Heng, the way he does things is ugly.

When he can’t lock down supply from these companies, he uses his connections and gets the fire department to go mess with them.

Now that the fire department issue has been taken care of by Song Guanchao, if they could lean on fire, they can definitely lean on industry and tax as well.

"I’ll deal with this," Song Guanchao said.

Zhou Xingjian hummed in response, and only then did his heart settle a little.

Back at the City Government, Song Guanchao pulled out Jiang Heng’s business card and called him.

If he wanted to completely settle this, he had to talk to the other party face-to-face.

And he happened to want to see just who this Jiang Heng really was.

Beep beep...

"Who is this?" Jiang Heng’s rough, careless voice came on; judging from the sound, he wasn’t very old.

"I’m Song Guanchao." Song Guanchao didn’t bother with polite greetings, he opened directly by reporting his name.

Jiang Heng went silent for a second, then the next moment burst out laughing heartily. "Hello, Director Song. What can I do for you?"

Song Guanchao asked, "Chairman Jiang, do you have time? Let’s go have some tea."

"Sure." Jiang Heng said, "There’s a place called Yunjian Tea House in Jinpings District. Their Longjing’s pretty good, shall we go there?"

"Works for me." Song Guanchao hung up, checked the location; it was very close to the City Government.

He went on foot, and in a bit more than ten minutes, arrived at the teahouse.

He had just walked up to the front desk, preparing to book a private room, when footsteps sounded behind him, and the man from the phone called out from behind his head, "Director Song."

Song Guanchao turned around and saw a man who was at most thirty.

About one seventy-five, in pure white dress pants and a white shirt, hair slightly wavy, wearing an exaggerated pair of sunglasses, extremely flashy.

From the look of him, Song Guanchao guessed this guy had to be either a rich second generation or an official second generation.

People who truly built themselves up from scratch don’t show off like this.

And proper businesspeople don’t go around acting as middlemen either.

Song Guanchao shook hands with him, and Jiang Heng snapped his fingers at the front desk. "Same room, same rules, have Ah Xiang come up to brew tea."

"Yes, Young Master Jiang." The pretty receptionist addressed him with a typical second-generation flair.

Thinking it over, Song Guanchao realized he’d actually dealt with quite a few second generation types.

As flamboyant in style as Jiang Heng, there was really only Lu Xiaotian.

And that guy didn’t end all that well.

They went up to the second floor, and Jiang Heng, clearly very familiar with the place, led him into a tastefully decorated private room.

They had just sat down and hadn’t even exchanged a couple of pleasantries when a long-haired beauty in a light blue qipao, with a tall, slender figure, came in carrying a small bamboo basket.

"Young Master Jiang." The qipao beauty called sweetly, then sat to the side and took tea leaves out of the basket.

Jiang Heng didn’t care at all that someone else was present, and started talking with Song Guanchao. "Director Song, you’re here about those companies in the industrial park, right?"

The way he went straight to it took Song Guanchao a bit by surprise; he’d thought this second generation kid would play dumb.

Song Guanchao lit a cigarette and said, "The industrial park is a priority area for the city’s next phase of development. If Chairman Jiang wants to get projects there, you’ll have to go through the proper procedures."

One sentence, pointing to two things.

First, he made clear the City Government’s emphasis on the industrial park.

He didn’t spell it out, but anyone with a brain would understand: if you mess around with a project the City Government values, be ready to face the Mayor’s fury.

Second, he was warning him to drop his plans for those companies. If he kept pushing, Song Guanchao would keep coming after him.

Jiang Heng took a couple drags on his cigarette with a smile, glanced at him over the smoke, and didn’t rush to respond.

Once the tea was steeped and set before the two of them, he waved his hand. "You can go out first."

The beauty answered with an "Okay," and quietly left the tea room.

Jiang Heng picked up the white porcelain cup, sniffed the heat carrying the tea fragrance, and said without lifting his head, "All the small and medium manufacturing companies in Jiangzhou work with me. And it just so happens that more than half of the enterprises that moved into the industrial park are manufacturers."

"I can supply the raw materials they need at lower prices, and the quality’s no worse. Killing several birds with one stone; if you were in my shoes, Director Song, what would you choose?"

Song Guanchao hadn’t come to discuss how to run a business with him, and besides, what this guy was doing and what he was saying were two different things.

"If you want to get their orders, you talk to them. Quote your prices, give them samples. Whether they choose you or not is their decision; the City Government doesn’t interfere."

"But!"

Song Guanchao deliberately paused and said, "If anyone tries to force a sale or a purchase, in Jiangzhou, that’s not allowed."

Jiang Heng fell silent, thinking, his fingers lightly tapping on the warm, jade-smooth porcelain cup. After quite a while, he looked up with a smile and nodded. "I get it."

"Try it, Director Song, this is pre-Qingming tea."

Song Guanchao took a symbolic sip, then stood up. "You enjoy your tea, Chairman Jiang. I’ve got other matters, so I’ll be going."

"I’ll see Director Song out." Jiang Heng hurriedly put down his cup and respectfully escorted him all the way downstairs.

Watching him walk off into the distance, Jiang Heng shoved one hand in his pocket, the other pinching his chin. "Since when did the City Government have such a tough nut who doesn’t take any bait?"

When he returned to the tea room, the qipao beauty, Ah Xiang, followed him in, poured out the cooled tea in front of him and refilled his cup.

"Young Master Jiang, please have some tea."

"Mm."

As Jiang Heng took the cup, he noticed a bruise around Ah Xiang’s wrist.

He grabbed her wrist, turned it over, stared at the bruise and asked, "Who hit you?"

Ah Xiang tried to pull her hand back but couldn’t, so she just lowered her head without speaking.

Jiang Heng asked, "Was it Wei Zejun?"

Ah Xiang still stayed silent. Jiang Heng’s mood clearly swung violently; after several deep breaths, he gently brushed his fingers over the bruise on her wrist and said, "Let me send you abroad."

Ah Xiang shook her head. "Young Master Jiang..."

"When there’s no one else around, call me by my name."

"Brother Jiang, I bumped it on the table by accident, it wasn’t Wei... Young Master Wei." Ah Xiang explained, but Jiang Heng was never going to believe that.

He knew Ah Xiang was afraid he’d lose his temper and do something reckless.

Never mind that he carried the title of chairman; in reality he was just Wei Zejun’s dog.

Wei Zejun was a bona fide rich second generation.

His father had once been Jiangzhou’s richest man, and rumor had it his mother’s family held important official posts in Nanjiang Province.

He was merely one of Wei Zejun’s moneymaking tools in the public eye, and just one among several.

By leveraging the people Wei Zejun had introduced him to in earlier years and the relationships he’d built through those circles, he now no longer needed Wei Zejun to show his face; he could easily win this kind of procurement order and then resell it downstream, pocketing the difference.

Over a year, the margin alone came to more than twenty million.

And out of that eight-figure sum, the money that actually ended up in his own pocket was barely a tenth.

Even so, that was already plenty for him.

For someone like him, from the very bottom, with no education, a poor kid, earning two or three million a year was something he’d never even dared dream of before.

He cherished this hard-earned opportunity very much.

Yet fate had played a huge joke on him.

He’d actually fallen in love with a woman Wei Zejun had already played with—Ah Xiang, standing right in front of him.