The spacious private room was filled with the echoes of Wan Baohua's phone call.
"Hello, is this General Manager Zhang from Hongxing Building Materials? This is Wan Baohua from the Provincial Development and Reform Commission. You should know me, right?"
"I'm in the private room of the Huaining County investment delegation. Would you like to come back for a meal?"
"Of course, I'm always here. You can come and see me!"
...
Wan Baohua only needed to give his name, and all the business owners agreed and rushed back.
Director of the Provincial Development and Reform Commission!
This title carries immense weight.
The reasons are simple: First, the Development and Reform Commission is known as a small government. While county and city-level commissions may not have much power, at the provincial level, they possess considerable authority in the economic sphere. Being on good terms with Wan Baohua would definitely bring significant benefits.
Second, this Director Wan is a confidant of the provincial governor; in a sense, he is their spokesperson.
No one dares to offend him.
In business, the key is to be agreeable to all sides. Whether it's the provincial officials or Wan Baohua himself, they don't want to offend anyone; they only want to curry favor and make money through harmony.
Wan Baohua made one phone call, and everyone obediently returned the way they came, without any problems.
Except for Du Wanming!
The latter was still in the dark, not saying a word to anyone.
"Is everyone here?"
Wan Baohua looked around and said, "I just heard County Chief Qin say that you tricked Huaining County? You invited them to come and attract investment, and you didn't even offer them a meal?"
"Isn't that a bit too much of a bullying?"
These words caused the atmosphere in the private room to freeze.
"Director Wan, this is all a misunderstanding."
Zhang Yuan of Hongxing Building Materials quickly said with a forced smile, "We are actually all members of the Provincial Chamber of Commerce. Chairman Du gave us orders to participate, but we are not allowed to invest; he will make all the arrangements!"
"Chairman Du has some resources, and we couldn't refuse, so there was a misunderstanding with County Head Qin."
At this crucial moment, Zhang Yuan didn't hesitate to betray Du Wanming.
If he had known that Wan Baohua was the backer in Huaining County, he definitely wouldn't have agreed to Du Wanming's plan.
What a joke!
For Du Wanming's own private affairs, they would offend Wan Baohua?
Only an idiot would agree!
Therefore, at this time, the wisest choice was to betray Du Wanming.
"Yes, it's all Chairman Du's fault!"
"Director Wan, we're just small businesses, we can't compete with the Chamber of Commerce."
"Chairman Du has many resources, we really can't afford to offend him, we can only listen to him."
...
With Zhang Yuan taking the lead, everyone else naturally echoed him, pushing all the blame onto Du Wanming.
This outcome didn't surprise Qin Mu and Wan Baohua.
Of course, this wasn't the focus today.
Wan Baohua wasn't saying this to assign blame.
Investment is a matter of personal freedom; no one can hold a knife to a businessman's throat and force them to invest.
"Since this whole thing was planned by Du Wanming alone, then today I'll take the liberty of announcing here that all cooperation with Huaining County will return to normal, how about that?"
Wan Baohua smiled and said, "Du Wanming is too arrogant, someone will always deal with him. You should keep your distance, there's no need to fight him to the death!"
Hiss...
What does that mean?
Director Wan is going to deal with Du Wanming?
Zhang Yuan and the others were slightly startled.
Director Wan might not be able to directly attack Du Wanming, but if the latter really wanted to, it would be very easy.
Direct action wouldn't work, but indirect action would be effortless.
After all, no matter how powerful Du Wanming is, he's ultimately just a businessman. How could he possibly contend with a leader of Wan Baohua's caliber?
To put it bluntly, if Wan Baohua really wanted to deal with Du Wanming, it would be as easy as crushing an ant. It's just a matter of whether Wan Baohua has the will to do so.
"Let's get back to today's main topic."
Wan Baohua said that simply to intimidate them, then continued, "Huaining County is a poor county in our province, and development is not easy. You are all entrepreneurs from the provincial capital; if you have investment plans, you could consider Huaining County!"
"Investing in Huaining County not only brings policy benefits and a sufficient labor force, but also contributes to the country and the people—it's killing several birds with one stone."
After these words, Zhang Yuan and the other business owners lowered their heads slightly and remained silent.
Clearly, no one was willing to invest in Huaining County at this time.
Going now would be openly offending Du Wanming!
Moreover, they probably wouldn't even consider the policy benefits Huaining County offered.
"So… all that effort for nothing?"
Qin Mu, who had been sitting to the side, watched everyone's expressions and felt a chill in his heart.
Even Director Wan of the Provincial Development and Reform Commission couldn't bring in any investment for Huaining County. This investment promotion work was truly too difficult.
"If none of you have any investment plans, that's fine. Consider this meal a chance for us to make friends and get to know each other."
Seeing the awkward silence, Qin Mu immediately said, "Director Wan, how about we order some more dishes? We didn't know you were coming, so we didn't prepare anything..."
"No need!"
Wan Baohua politely declined, saying, "This food is enough!"
He wasn't in a good mood either. He had personally come, hoping to show off his influence in front of Qin Mu, but it turned out these companies weren't exactly appreciating him!
He felt a little embarrassed.
"What are your plans for tomorrow?"
Wan Baohua asked while eating.
"Nothing's decided yet for tomorrow. We'll see how things go."
Qin Mu explained casually. After all, he couldn't very well tell companies that weren't interested in cooperation to just go back to Huaining, could he?
Returning empty-handed would be quite humiliating!
"Okay, I'll contact a few companies for you tomorrow and we can talk individually."
Wan Baohua felt that he had already put in the effort; if Huaining County went back empty-handed, it would be a slap in the face.
He had to make sure Qin Mu returned with some results.
Otherwise, wouldn't Old Li laugh at him?
A director of the Provincial Development and Reform Commission, and he didn't even have this much face?
It was utterly shameful!
"Director Wan, thank you so much! I'd like to propose a toast!"
Qin Mu raised his glass and solemnly said, "On behalf of the hundreds of thousands of people in the county, I thank you for your support!"
He then downed his drink in one gulp.
"County Chief Qin, you're too kind."
Wan Baohua took a small sip and said, "Your work in Huaining is outstanding, excellent. The provincial leaders are paying close attention to you; they even praised you to me the other day!"
"If you keep going like this, you'll eventually come to the provincial capital. Then you'll have your chance to shine."
This…
Really?
Provincial leaders are all paying attention to this County Head Qin?
Zhang Yuan and his businessmen hesitated upon hearing this, unsure whether Wan Baohua was exaggerating for Qin Mu or if there was any truth to it.
If it was true, then County Head Qin's future would undoubtedly be bright.
If it was just boasting, then they could ignore it.
But the problem was, how to distinguish between boasting and the truth?