Shen Huai sized up Chu Yiliang, the contractor of Maozhuan Town Carpet Factory, who had a sturdy build, a square face, and a serious expression with his eyebrows furrowed in silence.

  Shen Huai had heard of Chu Yiliang before, but they had never met. He had thought that Chu was a market runner and sales promoter who made his fortune by currying favor with the government, and should be a middle-aged man with a flattering smile and a clever look on his face.

  Chu Yiliang shook hands with Shen Hua, and only then did a smile appear on his face. He put down his guard and introduced himself: "I am Chu Yiliang from the Maozhuan Factory in Chengbao Town. I used to be a worker at the Maozhuan Factory, so I can be considered one of Secretary Shen's men. Chu Qiang just called me and said that from now on, he will have to rely on Secretary Shen to take care of things, so I wanted to come over in person to thank you."

  "Director Chu was being polite, Xiao Chu has education, brains and is quick on his feet, the assets office needs people like him who can get things done." Shen Hua smiled and invited Director Chu and his son into the inner office, asking Guo Quan to help brew two cups of tea. Chu Qiang quickly took them over with his nimble hands.

  Chu Yiliang felt a little surprised in his heart, he had never met Shen Huan before, but Shen Huan's reputation for being strict and difficult to get along with had been too well-known in Meixi Town recently.

  It's no wonder, really. With a strong background and youthful vigor, he has real talent and ability. He was able to revive the Mei Xi Steel Factory in such a short time, almost shattering everyone's expectations - how could such a young official not be arrogant and condescending?

  After the town's asset management office was set up, Chu Yiliang knew that he couldn't avoid dealing with Vice Secretary Shen, but he had been waiting for a good opportunity.

  The hotel's ribbon-cutting ceremony and gift-giving was one thing, but actively letting his son apply for a transfer to the assets department was another.

  The red envelope sent to the Zhuxi Hotel was returned this morning, and at the same time, my son's transfer to the asset management department was also approved by Shen Huai.

  Chu Yiliang heard that He Qing and Du Jian were not in town, so he thought of using his son's job transfer as an excuse to invite Shen Huai alone for dinner and improve their relationship. It was undoubtedly the best opportunity; of course, he had also considered the possibility of being met with a cold face, but he hadn't expected to be treated with such kindness.

  After sitting down and chatting for a while, Chu Yiliang suggested that he would invite Shen Huai and Guo Quan to dinner in the evening.

  It was a bit abrupt to mention or respond to the invitation at first sight. However, Guo Quan and Chu Yiliang had known each other for a long time, and Guo Quan's wife worked in Chu Yiliang's factory. Moreover, Chu Qiang would later become an employee of the Assets Bureau, so Shen Hua agreed to Chu Yiliang's invitation and also brought Hu Xuebin from the outer office along.

  Walking into the big yard, looking at Chu Yiliang inviting them to sit in his black Nissan car parked in the government's big yard, knowing that Chu Yiliang was going to arrange a banquet in the city, he asked Guo Quan: "Is Mayor He at home?"

  Chu Yiliang hastily replied: "Mayor He is not in town, I'll send a car to pick him up later..."

  Shen Huai didn't care about the surprise in Chu Yiliang's eyes. The interests involved in the town were narrow, and the struggle for power among town officials was not as severe as that of county-level or above party and government organs. Moreover, he had Tan Qiping as his backing, so his position in Meixi Town was transcendent, and there was no need to put a lot of effort into it, nor did he need to engage in intrigue with others. Heo Qing She didn't pose any threat to him either, so what he needed to do was maintain his relationship with Heo Qing She and work together to do a good job in the town, rather than trying every means to trample Heo Qing She underfoot.

  If they really wanted to guard against He Qing She, Shen Huai wouldn't have appointed Guo Quan, He Qing She's uncle-in-law, as the deputy director of the Assets Management Office.

  Shen Huai tossed the keys of his Passat to Chu Qiang and said, "Don't bother too much, Xiao Chu, drive my car and go directly to He Zhenchang's house..."

  At that time, the number of private cars in the country was still limited. According to regulations, township officials were not allowed to have a full-time driver, and the party and government offices had only two drivers on staff. The big courtyard had only two Santana cars and one old Beijing Jeep. At that time, it was also very troublesome to learn how to drive and get a driver's license. When the town mayor and secretary needed to use a car, the two drivers were not enough, so Chu Qiang became an unofficial driver in the government compound.

  Shen Hua agreed to transfer Chu Qiang to the asset management office, which is equivalent to the asset management office having an additional full-time driver. This way, Guo Quan can move around more easily and doesn't have to fight with other town mayors and secretaries for a driver.

  Chu Yiliang had a driver, and his car could only hold Shen Huai, Guo Quan, and him, three people; Chu Qiang heard his father mention a place name, and took Hu Xuebin directly to He Qing's house to pick up someone.

  Zhu Xi Hotel in Mei Xi Town is a boutique restaurant, but Dong Hua's high-end banquet still represents Yan Yi Bao. There are only two or three high-end restaurants in Dong Hua that serve Yan Yi Bao. Zhu Yi Liang asked the driver to go directly to Hu Xi Shu Yuan.

  Huxi Academy, in the Ming and Qing dynasties, was indeed a gathering place for scholars in the Donghua area, and it is also a cultural relic protection unit of Donghua City. However, the Municipal Cultural Bureau, Planning Bureau, and other government agencies are all located in Huxi Secretary's office. At the same time, a wooden building from the Ming and Qing dynasties facing the lake to the north has been contracted out to a private boss and has become a catering club specializing in abalone dishes in Donghua City.

  Unlike the Cuihua Building banquet hall in Nanyuan, the wine and water at Huxi Academy are expensive, but they don't discriminate against guests based on their identity.

  Chu Yiliang's driver drove very smoothly, probably also Chu Yiliang's style. Shen Huai and others took a car to Huxi Bookstore, where Chu Qiang and Hu Xuebin received He Qing She, arriving one after another.

  He Qingci didn't even bother to have someone go pick him up, or maybe this time he just happened to bring him along.

  Chu Yiliang had always invited people from the town to eat at the town's reception station; this time, he went to Huxi Academy to invite them to eat swallow's nest abalone, obviously for Shen Huai's face.

  Hu Xuebin had the opportunity to accompany leaders in and out of Huxi, Secretary Cuihua Building and other occasions? Get off the bus and look around, but it's very quiet and doesn't speak.

  He Qingci saw Hu Xuebin like this, and his heart was delighted. He secretly felt that Shen Huan, who was only in his early twenties, had a truly impressive way of handling people: someone like Hu Xuebin, who was suppressed to the lower ranks, never seeing any hope of promotion, yet actually having some talent, was bound to have a strange personality. If he wanted him to obey orders, he would have to flatter him appropriately...

  He Qing She was also familiar with Chu Yi Liang, and after sitting down in the private room, He Qing She and Guo Quan were by their side to help facilitate the conversation. Shen Huai and Chu Yi Liang didn't have a chance to feel awkward, and the conversation flowed smoothly.

  Although Shen Huai had never met Chu Yiliang before, he was no stranger to him.

  Chu Yiliang indeed had a good hand in managing the contracting business, and Du Jian even proposed appointing Chu as deputy mayor in charge of industry. However, Chu himself did not have the intention to enter the system, so he declined Du's invitation but sent his son into the town government.

  Mei Creek Town is after all a small town, and the scope is smaller. The people who can really go on stage are just a few. Apart from Chu Yiliang, there are a few others with poor eating habits, and Shen Huai is too lazy to deal with them.

  Chu Yiliang wouldn't directly get to the point at the first banquet, instead starting with some small talk, thanking everyone for his son's job transfer. Chu Qiang was in charge of driving and didn't drink; the trunk of Chu Yiliang's car always had two boxes of Wuliangye liquor, he brought one box into the private room, opened a bottle first, and divided it equally among Shen Huai, He Qing She, Guo Quan, and Hu Xuebin.

  He Qing mentioned the matter of raising funds to build a house with Hu Xuebin on the bus, and it was brought up as a topic at the dinner table.

  In the countryside, any wind blows and grass moves, news spreads easily, and there's no need to keep anything particularly secret; another thing is that if we really want to raise funds to build a house, it's inevitable to ask for sponsorship from bosses like Chu Yiliang.

  He Qing She mentioned raising funds to build a house, and Shen Huai made his plan more transparent: "Mei Xi Bridge and Xia Mei Highway have seriously restricted the development of Mei Xi Town. Whether we can be divided into Tang Zha District next year or not, we must think of a way ourselves to rebuild Mei Xi Bridge and Xia Mei Highway..."

  He Qing nodded, otherwise he would have thought Shen Hua was just bragging.

  From Meixi River to Xiamei Highway, the water surface is very open. The main bridge plus the approach bridges on both sides need to build a high-grade highway bridge. The previously designed plan would cost around 100 million yuan. In recent years, the prices of building materials and other goods have risen sharply, and the budget will exceed one billion yuan. Adding the construction budget for the widening of Xiamei Highway...

  Even if it is merged into Tangzhai District next year, the finance of Tangzhai District also has fixed expenses and cannot afford to take out nearly 20-30 million yuan at once for road expansion and bridge construction in Meixi Town.

  Only Meixi Bridge was not rebuilt, which has too much restraint on the development of Meixi Town.

  The Meixi Bridge, built in the 1960s, has been battered by thirty years of wind and rain, leaving its surface pockmarked. The key issue is that the bridge's original design had limited load-bearing capacity, which cannot be maintained with minor repairs.

  Because the ferry to Pingjiang City on the south bank of Dongting Lake is located in the southwest corner of Tangzha District, the steel materials from Meixi Steel Plant need to take the ferry south to enter the market in Pingjiang area, and cannot go through Meixi Bridge. Going north via Meipu Highway Bridge, and then taking the Ring North Road, would add an extra 30 kilometers.

  And in the towns adjacent to Donghua City, the main roads are still gravel roads, leaving only Meixi Town.

  He Qing thought that if Shen Hua could bring back several million yuan from the city to build a bridge, and the county and town levels would add some more, it was likely that the Mei Creek Bridge and the lower Mei Highway project could be started next year.

  Building bridges and roads is a truly beneficial thing for Meixi. Building houses on the side of the lower plum highway by dividing up land to raise funds, however, is just adding flowers to brocade.

  Chu Yiliang and other bosses also feel that the traffic in Meixi Town is a bottleneck, which brings them great inconvenience. Even if they know that building bridges and roads will require them to pay a price, Chu Yiliang is willing to pay this price, which will also benefit the future development of enterprises.

  The preliminary work for building the bridge and road had been completed long ago, and by 1990, even tens of millions of construction funds had been raised. However, because the city wanted to assign Meixi Town to Tangzhai District, the county directly withdrew this funding.

  Five people drank three bottles of Wuliangye, Shen Huai and He Qing She both stopped drinking.

  Yu Yiliang had intentionally arranged for a change of venue for entertainment, and Shen Huai would not have taken Yu Yiliang to drink flower wine on their first meeting, that would be too unbecoming.

  It happened that Yang Haipeng called, saying they had dinner at the Zhuxi Hotel and were taking Xiong Dailing and Xiao Li to the Shiguang Tunnel Disco in the city to see the sights, and asked Shen Huai to hurry over and join them.

  Shen Huai could guess that it was Xiong Dailing who instigated him, he had drunk a lot of wine and thought about hurrying back home to rest, after all, he still had to take responsibility for sending Xiao Li back. Shen Huai tossed the car key to Chu Qiang, letting him send He Qing She and the others back to Mei Xi Town first.

  "Secretary Shen is busy, so let Chu Qiang be your driver?" said Yi Liang.

  Work and life are two different circles. Shen Huai has only just begun to let Chu Yiliang and Chu Qiang enter his work circle, it's not possible to go further so easily.

  If relationships were so easy to build, it would only make him seem insignificant. How can he earn others' respect?

  Shen Hua refused Zhu Qiang's offer to be his temporary "full-time driver", saying: "I still have an appointment with a friend, I'll take a taxi there..." He shook hands with Zhu Yiliang, and warmly patted the shoulders of He Qingxia and Guo Quan before walking out to hail a taxi.