After driving away Xiong Daling and Xiao Li, Shen Hua looked at some materials. At 7 o'clock, Yang Haipeng's phone call came over. He tidied up and left the government compound from a small alley on the east side of the government building that connects to Meixi Middle School, heading north.

  The town government, Mei Xi Middle School and the Cultural Station building stand one after another from south to north on the east side of Xuetang Street. Further east is a residential area with tile-roofed houses scattered and overlapping, with a narrow alley in between.

  The alley had no streetlights, only the light from the houses on either side, which made the alley dimly lit.

  The north side of the Cultural Station building is the Tongtang River, a tributary of the Mei Creek that runs through the town.

  The Cultural Station building was split in two, with the street-facing section belonging to the Zhuxi Hotel. The entrance to the Cultural Station's main hall was through the front courtyard, and on the north side there was a small street along the river, with the guest room department's entrance facing north, directly opposite the Tongtang River.

  The Cultural Station building, located by the street and beside the river, has a good location, but in recent years, both Meixi River and Tongtang River have been severely polluted, and you can smell a strong muddy odor when walking nearby.

  He Yuelian had previously taken over the reception station, spending her own money to install several streetlights along the river and connecting them to the power distribution box of the reception station. From Tanghe Bridge down to this section of the inner street along the river, He Yuelian had spent money to tidy up and even paved a few parking spaces with grass bricks. Shen Hua stroked his chin, thinking that from these points, He Yuelian still had some business acumen.

  However, under the streetlights, the dark river water was foaming white, which should be the textile mills in the upstream direction discharging wastewater again - Shen Hua temporarily had nothing to say about these things, and some things could only be done step by step.

  Even Meixi Steel Plant, the old plant's chimney is still emitting black smoke all day long, from time to time spewing out thick yellow smoke. He wants to drag it until after the New Year, when the steel plant's finances may be able to install a set of dust removal and desulfurization equipment, but for now he still has to prioritize keeping the rice bowls of the entire factory's 900 people...

  The private room was arranged on the third floor. Shen Huai went up from the side door staircase and saw Chen Dan standing there waiting for him at the corner of the stairs, startling him, saying: "You sneaked up without a sound, I thought you were a thief trying to catch me..."

  "Go ahead and be a thief, who has the heart to catch you?"

  Chen Dan gave him a sideways glance and waited for him to walk up before saying:

  "He Zhenchang, Du Secretary and several deputy secretaries, deputy town leaders did not come over, but they all asked Guo Quan and Huang Xinliang to bring gifts. Huang Xinliang ordered a table of wine on the second floor, saying it was a celebration for the comprehensive governance office's closing ceremony, and also pulled Guo Quan over to drink. Steel factory director Qian Changlong, old Shao, Wang Changlong, textile mill director Chen Changlong, blanket factory director Chu Changlong, water plant director Zhou Secretary, Zhao Changlong, He Yuelian, Sun Guangwu brought Sun Yuanguis gift money, I don't remember too many more, they all weren't small amounts. They came over and directly stuffed the gift money into the front desk, many people turned around and left, couldn't even refuse. I asked the accountant to record all the gift money, what do you think we should do..."

  Chen Dan was also taken aback by the sudden arrival of so many people bearing gifts today, and with a look of embarrassment, handed the gift receipt to Shen Huan.

  Shen Huai leaned against the stairs, flipping through the gift list, and found that several amounts were particularly large:

  He Molian sent a flower basket, a scroll and 4,000 yuan in cash; Sun Guangwu sent 2,000 and helped Sun Yuanguo bring another 2,000 as a gift; Du Jian and He Qingshe each sent 1,000; Chen Shizhong, who contracted the silk factory, sent 2,000; Chu Wenming, who contracted the blanket factory - his son was the town's Little Chu - also sent a generous 4,000...

  Shen Hua arrived at Meixi Town, and almost everyone on the list of people he remembered by name and recognized by face was there. Zhou Ming and his wife Xiong Danni gave 2,000 yuan; Zhao Dong and Xiao Mingxia contributed one share, and also brought an additional 1,000 yuan in gift money on behalf of Xiao Mingxia's parents.

  Yang Haipeng brought over an envelope with 20,000 yuan inside. Chen Dan couldn't help but show off in front of Shen Huai, "There's still a lot to do with the hotel, and tomorrow I'll have to go around returning the gift money, it's exhausting me."

  She had been carefully interacting with Shen Huan, without too much expectation, enjoying this life, and not wanting to leave a deep imprint of Shen Huan on her own life.

  Chen Dan thought that her relationship with Shen Huan had not been exposed to others, but looking at this gift list, she knew that she had been deceiving herself before. Meixi Town is just a small place, and any news will spread quickly, it's just that everyone doesn't say anything on the surface. Before, even if she wanted to curry favor with Shen Huan, there was no chance, but now that there is such an opportunity, she won't let it slip away.

  "It's not necessary to be so troublesome," Shen Hua said, "If you return all of them one by one and don't accept a single cent of gift money, how can you expect them to introduce business to the hotel in the future? Alright, let's return He Qing She and Du Jian's gift money, they are leaders, it's necessary to return theirs according to the rules. Sun Yuan Gui and Sun Guang Wu, if you feel guilty about accepting their gift money, also return them. As for the others, accept those below 200 yuan, and for those exceeding 200 yuan, accept 200 yuan and return the rest..."

  On the gift list, most people gave 200 yuan, including the 200 yuan given by Xiong Wenbin and brought by his younger daughter Xiong Dailing. However, even a gift of 200 yuan was considered a heavy favor in Donghua in 1993.

  "Besides, we didn't even host a banquet to thank everyone, how can we accept the gift money? Moreover, it's not good for you either..." Chen Dan said in a low voice.

  She no longer wants to clear her relationship with Shen Hui, just like when He Yu Lian took over the reception station, apart from the town and steel plant's public funds for food and drink, the town's cadres and several bosses who undertook the contract, if they didn't entertain in the reception station, they had to weigh whether they could bear Du Jian's face and petty actions——she took over the management of this hotel, knowing that some things are not completely clean and transparent.

  "Domestically, it's all about personal relationships," Shen Hua said helplessly. "I won't be a corrupt official, but I don't want to be a clean official either. To achieve something in the country, you have to follow this social network of personal relationships, and sometimes it's also for your own peace of mind. You accept the gift, just remember to return the favor later."

  Shen Huai said, looking up to see Chen Dan still a bit uneasy, patted her buttocks wrapped tightly in the cheongsam dress, "If you're still feeling uneasy, just send the gift money you received to the Education Office in two days and say it's corporate sponsorship for the town school..."

  "Speak clearly, you have no discipline at all." Chen Danjiao scolded, twisting her body to shake off Shen Hua's hand that was placed on her buttocks.

  "Has anyone told you that your outfit is really beautiful today?" Shen Huan stood up, wrapped his arms around her waist, and gently kissed her soft lips. "Those 200,000 yuan from Yang Haipeng, hand it over to me, I'll return it to him, so you won't have a hard time..."

  "I was in a dilemma, just thinking of you to return it to him." Chen Dan sniffed the faint tobacco scent on Shen Hua's body, somewhat dizzy, and took out a large envelope from her handbag to hand over to Shen Hua.

  "This kid." Shen Huan shook his head and smiled, taking over the envelope was indeed a handful, he also grabbed Chen Dan's buttocks like a lecher, and jokingly said, "This butt can only be pinched by me in the future; anyone else who pinches it will have their hands cut off." He let her go first, and he went straight to find Yang Haipeng and Zhao Dong.

  Chen Dan glared at Shen Hua with a mixture of shame and anger, but she couldn't do anything about it.

  Inside the private room, there were Zhao Dong, Xiao Mingxia, Zhou Ming, Xiong Daini, Xiong Dailing, Qian Wenhui, Shao Zheng and his wife, Deputy Factory Director Wang Kangsheng and his lover, as well as Xu Xiting, Zhao Haipeng and his wife.

  Today, most of the people who came to give gifts just handed over the money and left; those who stayed were treated to a banquet by the hotel owner to help boost business; the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new store was just a formality, and the hotel is still operating normally, with more than a dozen tables set up in the grand ballroom downstairs for a birthday banquet.

  Looking at Yang Haipeng sitting next to Wang Kangsheng, Shen Huai smiled and said: "Give me a seat, let me sit with Haipeng; Old Wang, you can't ask this kid to drink a few more cups of wine, I'll do it..."

  Wang Kangsheng shifted one position over and gave up his seat next to Yang Haipeng, allowing Shen Huai to sit down.

  After Shen Huai sat down, he casually took the alligator leather briefcase from Yang Haipeng and put the envelope in it. When nothing seemed to have happened, he picked up his wine glass and asked Xiong Danni to fill it up, saying: "Today's dinner is on Mr. Yang, so let's drink more and have him arrange for cars to send us back later tonight..."

  Yang Haipeng certainly knew that the envelope Shen Huai brought back was the gift money he sent, but it wasn't good to take out the envelope again in front of everyone and hand it over to Shen Huai.

  Peng Hai Trading has six partners, plus a loan from the credit union, they managed to scrape together 5 million yuan in start-up capital.

  Yang Haipeng did not generously share the loan resources with other partners, but instead directly attributed the 30 million credit union loan to himself and then allocated shares with the investment funds of other partners.

  Thus, Yang Haipeng held 60% of the shares in Penghai Trading; with a loan of RMB 500,000 credited to Xiong Daling's account, Xiong Daling then held 10% of the shares in Penghai Trading, and the remaining 30% was divided among the other five partners.

  These small actions were still somewhat against the rules; however, Shen Hua also chose to turn a blind eye.

  Shen Hua decided to reduce the number of levels in the steel sales distribution system, supporting Hai Peng Trade and other distributors to directly cover the building materials market around Donghua's surrounding counties and cities. He also sent all employees from the steel plant's marketing department to work with distributors to develop the market, ensuring that profits were not diluted by too many layers of distribution.

  In this way, Penghai Trade even if it takes goods from the steel mill, is three to five points higher than Wanhao Trade before, but because the market is made fine enough, the actual profit margin is not low.

  This month, Peng Hai Trade has achieved a trade volume of 50 million, and the profit that can be taken out will not be less than 3 million. This is something Yang Hai Peng did not dare to dream of two months ago.

  Yang Haipeng was clear in his mind:

  He can be a distributor for Meixi Steel Plant, and Shen Hua nodded in agreement.

  He can also pull out a few partners, which is also borrowed from Shen Hua's reputation.

  He was able to borrow 30 million funds from the credit union, and suddenly increase the trade volume, which was also facilitated by Shen Huai. The Meixi Town Credit Union has a loan amount of only 200-300 million per year. Without Shen Huai and the steel factory backing him up, who would have the face to borrow 30 million directly from the credit union?

  Yang Haipeng knew in his heart that without Shen Hua's help, he would be nothing with his small building materials store in Donghua; even if Shen Hua took half of the profits, Yang Haipeng felt he had no right to complain.

  So Shen Hua stuffed the envelope back in, and Yang Haipeng was also confused for a while, whether Shen Hua refused to accept even one cent or thought 200,000 yuan was too little.

  Yang Haipeng's nervous thoughts were beyond the understanding of others at the table.