Power and Wealth

Hundreds of thousands.

That was equivalent to their leaders’ salary for a year or two!

To just throw it away like that, paying for hotels where not a single person stayed, just to get rid of those foreign guests and to upset the people from the City government... My god, the cost was ridiculously high for this bit of spite. The price of this pride was too steep!

Wei Zhixuan slapped his forehead.

Zhang Dongfang also gasped in surprise.

Dong Xuebing personally funded this? He didn’t realize this new county party secretary had so much money, and he was spending it without batting an eye.

The spending was impressive.

The boldness was truly outrageous.

Hundreds of thousands to vent some frustration.

"This isn’t right," Wei Zhixuan spoke up.

Zhang Dongfang didn’t agree with Dong Xuebing’s approach either, but after thinking it through, he had to admit that Dong Xuebing’s method was satisfying. He couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief imagining how the people were driven away, looking all disheveled and embarrassed.

Dong Xuebing was indeed good at taking care of business.

However, Zhang Dongfang was unsure how Dong Xuebing would deal with the aftermath and the consequences. He had undoubtedly vented his frustration, and after Deputy Director Niu went back, he would lose face. Word of this would spread like wildfire among the cadres and government employees, becoming a laughingstock. But if Dong Xuebing himself ended up being implicated, was it worth causing so much trouble to vent?

No wall doesn’t have a crack.

These things couldn’t be hidden.

This incident didn’t spread immediately in the city, but it quickly became the talk of Jiaolin County.

When it was heard that Secretary Dong had spent hundreds of thousands of his own money to buy out the county’s prominent hotels, the county officials and civil servants were dumbfounded. They had already noticed that the new county party secretary was unusual, but they never expected him to be this unpredictable.

Hundreds of thousands!

And those were foreign guests!

Not only was there not welcoming, but he also kicked them out.

Many people cheered, thinking this was a satisfying and refreshing way to handle things. It felt like justice was served. But at the same time, many others started to worry about Dong Xuebing.

At home.

It was past ten o’clock.

Outside, things were already stirring. Yet Dong Xuebing, the person in question, was unfazed upstairs, sipping tea, smoking, and listening to music. It wasn’t that he was unconcerned. He knew the impact wouldn’t be good, and after Deputy Director Niu and the foreign guests reported back to the city, the City authorities would take action. He didn’t know in what form the trouble would come. But he couldn’t be bothered to think about any penalties or investigations. The reason he felt so calm was that he had vented his frustration. He had slapped their faces and extinguished their arrogance. So, he was in a good mood. As for how things would end, he didn’t care much. He had this personality—sometimes, you needed a bit of boldness when things happened. Otherwise, life would be exhausting, always living in fear. He believed that things would work themselves out. This was a principle Dong Xuebing had always lived by, and it had served him well through all his trials and tribulations.

Punish me?

Go ahead.

But you challenge me? That’s another story. Then we’ll see who’s stronger. I don’t care who you are or where you come from—if you’re a foreign guest and I don’t welcome you, you better leave. Who the hell are you? People may be afraid of you, but I’m not. I don’t care about your country or status. You can go wherever you like!

Five minutes.

Half an hour.

Just as it was getting late, the city finally called.

It was a Deputy mayor, Wang Cheng, and Dong Xuebing had already anticipated this.

“Hello, Mayor Wang, what can I do for you?” Dong Xuebing answered, pretending to know nothing.

Wang Cheng immediately launched into a tirade: “Dong Xuebing, what’s going on in Jiaolin County? The province had instructed to receive foreign guests, and the city’s officials were specifically assigned to accompany them. And this is how you received them? This is how you welcomed them? You even insulted officials, didn’t cooperate with the exchange work, didn’t contact the entrepreneurs, and in the end, didn’t even arrange hotels for the guests! You booked the hotels yourself and drove them out. What the hell do you think you’re doing? Dong Xuebing, what is your county trying to do?”

Dong Xuebing remained calm, replying indifferently, “Mayor Wang, please calm down.”

“Calm down? How can I calm down?” Wang Cheng snapped. “The complaints from the foreign guests have even reached the city party secretary. How am I supposed to explain this?”

Dong Xuebing showed no sign of guilt and responded confidently, “Alright, then let me explain. I’ll answer your questions one by one. First, yes, I did insult someone. But why? Because the foreign guests had changed their plans at the last minute and hadn’t shown up. These kinds of situations are inevitable. There will be unexpected things, but at least they could’ve told us. The City government office didn’t even inform us. Many entrepreneurs and county officials were waiting for an hour in the cold. That’s why I was upset. I was a bit hasty and impulsive but stood up for everyone. It was bad enough that no one bothered to do their job.”

Wang Cheng sneered, “So you think you’re right?”

Dong Xuebing replied rationally, “I’m not saying I’m right. I know insulting people was my mistake. I admit that. But I want to explain why I did it. It wasn’t just about what that person named Niu said. It’s not just his version of the story. The whole situation wasn’t just a matter of him speaking as if everything was fine and our fault. He only talked about the outcome and what was favorable to him but didn’t acknowledge his mistakes. It’s as if everything went wrong because of us, and he acted all innocent. It’s ridiculous. Mayor Wang, you can criticize me, I accept that. But I need to clarify the facts.”

Wang Cheng paused, then said, “Alright, go ahead. What about the rest of it?”

Dong Xuebing took a deep breath and continued, “Now, about the second issue you raised. You’re questioning why we didn’t bring in entrepreneurs. Well, the entrepreneurs did come, and we did reach out. We heard that the British were trying to attract investments to their country, but none of the entrepreneurs were particularly eager. You also know their country has a prejudice against our republic; their attitude has always been poor, and many of their policies are against us. They don’t offer a good investment environment. But County Mayor Zhang Dongfang called each entrepreneur and sincerely invited them, saying everything right. We managed to get a dozen entrepreneurs to come, all coming because of Zhang County Head’s face and our county’s reputation. But what happened? After waiting a long time, the guests didn’t show up, and there was no word of explanation. They completely forgot about us. When Deputy Director Niu came, he was half an hour late, and instead of apologizing, he started yelling at us. He demanded we get the entrepreneurs for an exchange meeting. How can I explain that? How do I get them if they weren’t informed? They were left waiting for so long. Now, when they want people to come, we should just drop everything and rush over? I just don’t get it. The foreign guests only arrived today, and Deputy Director Niu only started his reception today. How is it that he’s already learned the foreign guests’ disrespectful way of doing things in less than a day?”

Wang Cheng interrupted, “Watch your language!”

Dong Xuebing said, “Mayor Wang, I may be rough in my words, but I’m not wrong in my reasoning. As for the hotel issue you mentioned, they kept changing their plans. First they said they would come, but didn’t. Then they said they would come again, but still didn’t. How were we supposed to know their itinerary? Our county is currently renovating the county party committee building, and financially, we’re not in the best shape, so naturally, we try to save where we can. The central government has been advocating frugality and saving resources, so we canceled the hotel reservations. If they didn’t show up, wouldn’t that waste the country’s and the people’s money?” After a pause, he added, “As for me funding the hotel, I originally planned to hold an investment conference soon. I just hadn’t finalized the details yet, so I wanted to invite a few investors I’ve worked with to come and see if they were interested in investing and to get their feedback. I used to be the head of the investment department and the executive Deputy county mayor in charge of investment, so I have some connections and know a fair number of investors. That’s why I wanted them to come. Of course, I had to arrange accommodation for them since I invited them. It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to use the county’s official procedures for reimbursement, so I covered the costs myself. I didn’t want to add any financial burden to the county.”

“And where are they now?” Wang Cheng asked.

“I just found out on the phone that there was an issue with their schedule, so they won’t be coming today,” Dong Xuebing responded.

Dong Xuebing was lying through his teeth. He had a way with words. In his mouth, anything black could sound white.

Wang Cheng wasn’t a fool, and of course, he knew Dong Xuebing was making up stories. He was so infuriated for a moment that he almost couldn’t think straight. But he had to admit that in terms of verbal skills, Deputy Director Niu was no match for Dong Xuebing.