Big Data Cultivation

Chapter 474: Chapter 474 I Am Illiterate

The gatekeeper at Luohua Manor, having seen all sorts of people, dared to stop anyone at the gate.

But when they heard that the visitors were foreign friends, they couldn’t help but be startled: people from Shinra, they must consider the international implications.

The nation’s attitude towards foreign friends is well-known; needless to say more on this topic.

The gatekeepers didn’t dare to decide on their own, so they directly radioed President Feng.

Feng Jun was annoyed when he heard it, “As long as they don’t have a search or arrest warrant, let them hang outside. This is my house!”

The gatekeeper’s voice trembled slightly, “The visitors are from the Investment Promotion Agency, saying they admire Huaxia culture and want to exchange ideas with you.”

“I’m illiterate, not qualified to exchange with others, so I won’t embarrass my fellow Huaxia citizens,” Feng Jun tossed the walkie-talkie onto the sofa, “Damn it… what the hell is this.”

The visitor that day was the Director of the Investment Promotion Agency, named Zhao Wenzhang. Seeing that the gate was still closed, he became angry, “You two won’t open the gate, can you bear the consequences?”

The two gatekeepers wanted to stand up for President Feng, but the other party was too powerful, so they could only stiffly respond, “Leader, this place is privately contracted, we’re just working here, why make it difficult for us?”

“Don’t know to look at the big picture, do you?” Director Zhao’s face grew ever darker, but he still dared not raise his voice too loudly, as there were foreign friends behind him. “Think the Investment Promotion Agency is too small to be bullied? Believe it or not, one phone call… and your gate will be demolished?”

The shorter gatekeeper was not happy, “If you want to ruin our livelihood, we can’t fight back… then find someone to do it.”

In the end, having Master Feng as a backup gave the gatekeepers some confidence.

Director Zhao became furious at the response, ready to explode, but then suddenly saw a motorcycle coming up the mountain road and smirked coldly, “There are still some who understand how things work, you two… learn a bit.”

The two gatekeepers exchanged looks and turned back to see, both astonished — oh crap… why is it Gao Qiang?

Gao Qiang stopped his motorcycle more than three hundred meters away, retrieved a tripod from the bike, carried it to the pavilion at the No. 1 pump, set up the tripod, and even put a camera on top, aiming the lens straight at the gate.

The gatekeepers watched him complete all operations, then turned their heads, faces relaxed with relief, their gazes filled with a bit of playfulness — you want to push down the gate? Go ahead.

Seeing this, Director Zhao’s brow furrowed slightly, and after pondering for a moment, he adjusted his attitude.

No fool could occupy his position. He could shout at two gatekeepers, but when Luohua Manor showed obvious enmity, he had to weigh his options.

The owner of Luohua Manor was a billionaire, even possibly worth more than a billion — alright, this wasn’t particularly important. In a society where official rank dominates, no matter how much money, it’s nothing in front of power.

The key lay in that Luohua Manor had close ties with Yuan Zihao, an official from the capital, retired but still residing in the capital city.

People of Chaoge might not care about Yuan Zihao, but since they’re after profits, Zhengyang, seeking achievements and political correctness, really didn’t want to offend the old man.

Zhao Wenzhang furrowed his brow in thought, then lifted his hand to wave to the person in the pavilion.

Gao Qiang, straightforward as always, seeing the gesture, fiddled with the camera a bit more, then exited the pavilion and rode the motorcycle over.

He parked the motorcycle behind the gate, secured it, walked over, and asked Director Zhao coldly, “What is it?”

Director Zhao still wanted to show his authority, so he pointed at the camera in the pavilion and asked with a dark face, “What’s the meaning of this?”

“What’s it to you?” Gao Qiang’s face darkened as he replied curtly. He was a demobilized soldier focused on exposing fake traditional Chinese medicine, how could his temper be good? “This land is contracted by President Feng, what I do here is none of your business!”

Director Zhao, failing to look impressive, was left nearly choking with frustration. However, he didn’t get angry, instead, because the other party revealed too much, he noticed a new detail, “Your accent… from the capital?”

“That’s right, from the capital,” Gao Qiang didn’t hide it, looking coldly at him, “even if I was from Zhengyang, you have no right to dictate to me, understand?”

Do you know who I am? Zhao Wenzhang was a bit angry and really wanted to ask that question.

However, he only thought about it; in this situation, he couldn’t afford to be impulsive. “How do you address Elder Yuan?”

“I came here with the old man’s family,” Gao Qiang lifted his chin, radiating confidence, “I like the scenery here, planning to settle down, and help plant some trees on the side.”

Director Zhao was stunned for a moment, then forced a smile onto his face, “Well, that’s welcome, Zhengyang welcomes you volunteers, but since you’re from the capital, you should know that sometimes managing a place requires a sense of the bigger picture.”

“Talking about the bigger picture is fine, in the capital they say the same,” Gao Qiang looked unimpressed, “but telling me this… what’s the use? I’m just helping President Feng with some work.”

“Ah, young man,” Director Zhao sighed, pointing to the back of the guardhouse, “Shall we go over there, have a smoke, and talk a bit?”

What’s impossible about that? Gao Qiang might not have the best temper, but there’s no way he would offend anyone on behalf of Feng Jun, so the two of them found a shady spot and began to chat.

Director Zhao explained the whole situation, “… Since you know Elder Yuan, you must be aware that President Feng is capable of treating vegetative patients, and once this injured friend from South Shinra recovers, they will invest in building a factory in Zhengyang, which is also a matter of great interest to the province.”

Gao Qiang patiently waited for him to finish, then shook his head, “First of all, I don’t know how Elder Yuan cured him; secondly, President Feng himself doesn’t have a medical license…”

“A medical license is easy to handle,” Director Zhao said bluntly, “We can borrow a clinic for him to use; we can consider this as TCM nursing, and without a license, no one will pursue it.”

“Do you not understand courtesy?” Gao Qiang frowned, “Can you let me finish speaking before you respond?”

The corners of Director Zhao’s mouth twitched; he assumed that since the other party was listening patiently, he was taking it in, clearly a sign of refinement.

Gao Qiang continued, “Thirdly, even if President Feng can cure vegetative patients, he is under no obligation to do so.”

“I really don’t agree with you there,” Director Zhao spoke with seriousness, “Attracting investment is not only a matter for Zhengyang, but it is also our national policy. The overall situation must be considered.”

Gao Qiang responded with a cold laugh, “Heh, you actually believe in South Shinra’s investment attraction? Are you sure they will stay after the tax incentives end?”

Although these words might sound like unnecessary worrying, coming from someone with a Beijing accent, they were quite normal.

Director Zhao was also at a loss for words—South Shinra’s reputation in this regard was really not very good; there had been a large number of South Shinra companies that had completely cleared out at the very moment their tax incentive period ended.

This was something not only reported in confidential briefings but also covered by the public newspapers.@@novelbin@@

He didn’t want to talk about foresight, so he could only say, “You know that President Ge, who gave the city officials a heads-up, is a major investor in Zhengyang, and the city has to give him face.”

Gao Qiang had also heard of President Ge, who not only invested in Zhengyang, but also in many other provinces, where he made substantial investments in labor-intensive industries. Although the wages weren’t high and the workload was heavy, it solved a lot of employment issues.

This individual had a tremendous influence in Huaxia; even when Yuan Zihao was still in power, he would have to be polite when meeting this person.

However, Gao Qiang didn’t have a good impression of this man and scoffed, “You sell him face, but what does that have to do with President Feng? He invests billions to build factories, and that’s an investment, but when President Feng spends billions on tree planting and afforestation, that’s not investment?”

Investing a few billion and investing tens of billions, can these be the same? Director Zhao sneered inwardly; it was a matter of scale.

But such words, when spoken, would be meaningless. He didn’t want to offend anyone, so he just said, “I’ve made my point clear. I suggest you inform President Feng, why push him to the other side when you can be friends?”

Gao Qiang didn’t expect that President Ge would be involved in this matter.

If only Secretary Shen hadn’t been so troublesome; he could have just mentioned this person first before continuing to talk with Feng Jun. But he chose to slightly provoke Feng Jun from the beginning, causing the discussion to break down; naturally, there was no need to bring up President Ge anymore—it would be pointless.

This trivial tactic even escaped Mayor Zang’s notice.

Gao Qiang had a poor impression of President Ge, but he couldn’t guarantee what Feng Jun’s attitude would be, so he just laughed nonchalantly, “Doesn’t South Shinra have its own Korean medicine? Why bother with Chinese medicine to stir things up?”

Director Zhao felt that the other party was giving in, so he took the opportunity to apply pressure, “In that case, we can’t keep our friend from South Shinra waiting. How about we let the car in first?”

Gao Qiang replied lazily, “Only President Feng has the authority to let the car in; speaking to me about it is useless.”

Director Zhao stood up, “Looks like I need to give Elder Yuan a call.

“Then go make your call,” Gao Qiang watched him leave, speaking indifferently—If Master Feng doesn’t want to let anyone in, not even Elder Yuan’s word will work.

But as much as he said that, with the emergence of new circumstances, he definitely needed to give Feng Jun a call to report.

Upon hearing that President Ge had a word with the city, Feng Jun laughed coldly, “His surname is Ge, and mine is Feng; why should I listen to him?”

Not just Gao Qiang, but Feng Jun also didn’t have a favorable impression of this individual.

He was familiar with President Ge; after all, this person had also made substantial investments in Roc City, and Roc City was full of his legends.

Setting Roc City aside and just considering President Ge’s investment in this place, he indeed chose Zhengyang, but at the same time, wasn’t it also Zhengyang that had made him successful?

His investment in labor-intensive industries aimed purely for victory through volume, with extremely low profits. His exploitation of workers was particularly harsh, with high work intensity and long working hours.

For President Ge, production costs had to be strictly controlled, or there would be no profit, but for the workers, if they had other choices, they certainly wouldn’t choose his factories.

His overseas investment in factories could serve as evidence.