Next day. Morning.
Investment Promotion Agency.
Ring… ring… ring… Dong Xuebing’s office phone rang.
It’s Mayor Zhao Xinglong who called. “Chief Dong, how are you feeling?”
“Thank you, Mayor Zhao, for your concern. I am fine.” Dong Xuebing knew Zhao Xinglong was referring to the 1.5 liters of Maotai yesterday.
“You ah… Don’t do this again in the future. 1.5 liters of hard liquor is no joke. I almost got a heart attack when I saw you finish those three bottles. Haha…” Zhao Xinglong is in a good mood today. “But it is your credit for getting this deal. I had reported this matter to Mayor Xie, and she is very pleased with your performance. We have high hopes for the Investment Promotion Agency. This investment is crucial, and I heard the everyone in the Agency is motivated.”
“Thank you for the recognition. I will not let the leaders down.”
“Alright. It is all up to you now. Do your best.” Zhao Xinglong gave Dong Xuebing some words of encouragement.
After hanging up, Dong Xuebing asked Guo Panwei to call for a meeting with all the department heads in the Agency.
A few minutes later, Sun Shuli, Lui Dafa, Luo Haiting, Lin Pingping, and Jiang Hailiang arrived in Dong Xuebing’s office.
Dong Xuebing looks at them. “I think all of you have heard about what happened yesterday. We had signed the contract for the investment in our County’s pork processing plant investment. The estimated investment is about 20 million, and the County Government is very concerned about this project. This plant will be our County’s core industry, and Mayor Zhao had called earlier to inform us that the County Government and Mayor Xie has high hopes for us.”
Luo Haiting immediately clapped.
Clap… clap… clap… Lin Pingping and the rest started clapping.
Dong Xuebing laughed and said. “I would like to praise Lin Pingping and her team for their work in getting this investment. We can get this deal is all because of their efforts.”
Lin Pingping smiled embarrassedly.
News of what happened yesterday had spread. Jiang Hailing knew it was Dong Xuebing who had gotten this deal. If Dong Xuebing had not to drink those three bottles of Maotai, this investment would not be happening in Yan Tai County. Jiang Hailiang took a glance at Lin Pingping. He feels sore and jealous, as Lin Pingping will be getting a commission and bonus of 150,000 RMB.
But Dong Xuebing had called for this meeting is not to praise Business Section One. Everyone here is experienced Government staff, and they knew Dong Xuebing had called for this meeting for other motives. Lui Dafa continued to stare at the tabletop in front of him as if all these are not his concern. Luo Haiting took a glance at Sun Shuli. She knows Sun Shuli had been feeling jealous of Dong Xuebing. He felt Dong Xuebing is very young and has doubts about his capabilities. But Dong Xuebing had helped bring in an investment of 20 million, which is much higher than the few millions brought in by Sun Shuli. Dong Xuebing had also praised Business Section One in front of everyone, like putting Sun Shuli in place. Everyone in the meeting knew about Sun Shuli’s relationship with Jiang Hailiang, and Sun Shuli had only helped Business Section Two.
Sun Shuli remained emotionless, and no one can tell what he is thinking.
The meeting ended, and everyone left Dong Xuebing’s office.
Jiang Hailiang looks at Lin Pingping. “Haha… Section Chief Lin. Congratulations.”
Lin Pingping smiles. “I heard your team is negotiating a huge deal now, right? I should be the one congratulating you.”
“It’s still not confirmed yet.” Jiang Hailiang waved and walked faster to catch up with Sun Shuli.
Luo Haiting noticed Sun Shuli did not return to his office. Instead, he went downstairs with Jiang Hailiang. On their way downstairs, he started making calls to the investors. Luo Haiting knew Sun Shuli is still unwilling to submit to Dong Xuebing and wants to prove himself by getting more deals. Chief Dong is supporting Business Section One, and Sun Shuli is supporting Business Section Two. These two men will be using these two departments to compete against each other. As an outsider, Luo Haiting can see more clearly, and she felt this is what Chief Xiao Dong wants. The fiercer the competition between both Business Section teams, the higher the possibility of completing their target of 500 million.
Noon.
After eating lunch at the cafeteria, Dong Xuebing visited the different departments. He is pleased with what he saw. The Investment Promotion Agency is different from one week ago. All the staff members are working hard. The staff from the Business Sections and even the receptionist are highly motivated and excited.
The Agency no longer has any problems after Dong Xuebing made a series of changes. Dong Xuebing’s focus will shift from internal affairs to external affairs, attracting investors. As the Agency’s head, his result depends on the Agency’s result. What Dong Xuebing needs to do is to achieve the target as soon as possible for the County.
With this target in mind, Dong Xuebing cannot stop with the 20 million RMB investment. This is only the first step, and they are far from achieving the target.
Dong Xuebing called Lin Pingping to his office in the afternoon.
“Chief, are you looking for me?” Lin Pingping entered Dong Xuebing’s office.
Dong Xuebing asked. “How is the progress of your team? Do you all have any more new deals to follow up?”
Lin Pingping had prepared the documents and passed them to him. “We had been following up on four projects this year. The pork processing plant is one of the four projects, but other than this, the progress for the other projects had been slow. For example, the electric bicycle factory investor had told us he will be setting up his factory in Fen Zhou City. The other investors are the same, and none of them expressed interest in investing in our County. I had planned to sort out our current projects and will give up some of them.”
Dong Xuebing took the documents from Lin Pingping and started reading them. “Is it too early to give up on them now?”
Lin Pingping blinked. “But we might not get results if we follow up on them. We might as well use our resources on getting other investors.”
Dong Xuebing placed the documents on his desk. “You want to throw a net? I am not saying this method is wrong. But if I am an investor, I will also hesitate before I make any investment. After all, I will be investing my hard-earned money, and I need to be cautious. That’s why I think we should do our best for all investors. We must not give up on every investor, and the investor will have the impression that they are treated with respect. Even if they have no intention of investing, we must still do our best to convince them.”
Lin Pingping thought for a second and said. “Then I… I will follow up on these projects?”
Dong Xuebing smiles. “I know you disagree with me and felt this is a waste of resources, right?”
“No.” Lin Pingping quickly replied.
“I am not sure if my suggestion will work or not, but we must change the way our Agency work. Just treat this as trial and error.” Dong Xuebing continued. “If we still use the method as before, do you think we can achieve our 500 million targets? Keep this between both of us. In front of others, I looked like I am confident of achieving the target. But to be honest, I am unsure if we can really do it.”
Lin Pingping smiled. By telling her all these means, Chief Dong trusted her, and it warmed her heart.
“So…” Dong Xuebing tapped on the table. “It’s time to change our usual practice.”
Lin Pingping nodded. “Two out of the remaining three projects will not work, as the investor had signed the contract with other Counties. But we still have some hope for the last project. I will meet the investor personally and try my best to get his investment.”
Dong Xuebing nodded. “Alright. Tell me the details of this project. I will also participate in all your team’s future deals.”
Lin Pingping paused and asked. “You are going to join us in getting deals?!”
Dong Xuebing is amused. “What’s wrong? Do you doubt me?”
“No… absolutely not.” Lin Pingping replied. “I only think that these deals are only worth a few million and ten million at most. You don’t need to…”
“Why is can’t I help? I am the Agency’s Chief, and I need to set an example for the rest. What’s wrong with a deal worth a few million? Is it too little?” Dong Xuebing took a sip of tea and smiled. “I will help even if the investment is worth a few hundred thousand. 500 million is not a small amount, and every investment counts. We must not overlook those small investors.”
Lin Pingping replied with a straight face. “Yes, Sir!”
“… tell me about this project.”
“This is a processing plant for chicken excrement. It is considered an environmental project and is set to be built near the large scale chicken farms south of our County. When this project is completed, it can process 100 tons of chicken excrement daily and produce 9736 tons of animal feed. The estimated investment of this project is around 10 million.”
“This is not a small project.”
“Yes.”
“Ok. Try to contact that investor in the afternoon, and we will have dinner with him this evening.”
“Ok. I will contact him now.”
After so many days of being the Agency’s Chief, Dong Xuebing finally got used to his position. But sitting in the office the whole day is not his style. That’s why he decided to go to the frontlines to get investments. Every single investment counts!
