(Today's first update, seeking red tickets, seeking collection)

  The town held a party-government joint meeting. As usual, they would have dinner at the reception station in the town that day, but today's atmosphere was particularly oppressive.

  Chen Dan stood at the cashier's desk with a stone floor, seeing several deputy town mayors led by Huang Xiaokui coming in, his face gloomy, and even the little girl at the reception station didn't have her usual smile, she rushed to the small banquet hall with a straight face.

  Director Huang Xinliang of the Party and Government Office threw away the cigarette butt in his mouth before entering, stepped on it with force, twisting it as if to twist the cigarette butt into nothingness; he didn't even ask about the preparation for the lunch banquet when he came in...

  Chen Dan knew that Shen Huan officially started working in Meixi Town today. Looking at the situation in front of her, she felt inexplicably uneasy and looked out to see if Shen Huan's figure had appeared, but he was nowhere to be seen for a long time.

  "It's terrible! This morning's meeting, the new secretary almost got into a fight with Du Lao Hu. I heard Du Lao Hu nearly tore down the office this morning. Those town mayors were all putting on a sullen face inside. Xiao Hei was just pouring water for Huang Shu Lang and accidentally spilled a few drops, and he got scolded so badly that tears 'poured' out,"

  The head of the catering department, Qian Yun, ran over with her hand covering her chest and whispered into Chen Dan's ear, "Miss, I still need to go comfort that little girl. Chen Dan, can you help me get in there for a bit? The atmosphere is so oppressive, I can barely stand it!"

  Chen Dan knew that Qian Yun liked to exaggerate when speaking, but looking at the faces of several deputy town mayors who came in, he also knew that nothing good had happened in the town this morning.

  Although she wasn't as repelled by Shen Huan, the scene at the municipal steel factory also revealed his temperament. Despite being young and having a position that ordinary people couldn't match, when it came to doing things, he was even more impulsive than his younger brother Chen Tong.

  So, Qian Yun told Chen Dan about Shen Huai's conflict with Du Lao Hu, and Chen Dan still believed it. She felt a little anxious in her heart, fearing that Shen Huai had just arrived and didn't know the depth of Du Lao Hu and his men, and would rashly provoke them and suffer losses.

  Chen Dan originally didn't care about receiving guests, and this time she also didn't refuse, saying: "Alright, I'll go in first to help you keep an eye on things..."

  "Little Chen," just then, Mayor He Qing she and Shen Huai walked in one after the other. Seeing Chen Dan was about to enter the banquet hall, He Qing she called out to her and said: "This is the newly arrived Secretary Shen, come meet him; where's Manager He?"

  "Manager He just received a phone call and went to the government, didn't you meet him with Mayor He? " Chen Dan walked over, extending his hand, "Secretary Shen, hello, I'm Xiao Chen from the reception station, if there's anything in the future, please let me know."

  Looking into Chen Dan's eyes, Shen Hui knew she didn't want to appear too familiar with him in front of others. He stretched out his hand and shook hers lightly, feeling the softness of her skin, and couldn't help but pinch it gently before nodding and releasing her hand, surveying the reception desk's dining area.

  Although the reception station cannot be compared with Nanyuan Hotel, it is still quite luxurious and grand in Meixi Town.

  He Qing didn't know that Shen Huai and Chen Dan had known each other for a long time. Seeing Shen Huai's gaze on Chen Dan's face only stopped for an instant, his attention shifted to the decorations in the front hall, feeling somewhat strange. Could it be that Meixi Town's thorny rose was still not to his liking?

  "The reception station was built in 1990, when the town's financial situation was still good. At that time, it was said that it would be merged with Tangzhai District, and the town had some spare money, so they quickly built this building. The half of the building facing the street was used as a reception station, and the inner part was used as a cultural station," He Qing Society worried that Shen Huai did not understand the situation in Meixi well, so he took on the role of an interpreter, "Until last year, the province implemented a pilot project for tax division, and the town's financial income suddenly deteriorated. So looking at the reception station, it doesn't quite match with the current Meixi Town..."

  Shen Huai listened attentively with his ears down, but his understanding of Meixi Town's financial situation was not inferior to He Qing She.

  Mei Creek is not a small town. In 1990, the town's industrial added value reached 300 million yuan, ranking among the top in more than 200 towns and villages under Donghua Prefecture. The problem lies in the pilot project of tax distribution system. Starting from 1992, four-thirds of the newly increased industrial added value tax had to be submitted to the central government, while one-fourth was allocated to the municipal finance.

  After the pilot program of divisional tax system, it limited the way for local governments to increase revenue by expanding production scale.

  Because of the expansion of production scale, while corporate profits do not increase, all the increased industrial value-added tax is taken by the central government, and local governments have no benefits at all, so naturally nobody is willing to do such things.

  Shen Huai nodded and said, "After I arrived in Donghua, regarding the issue of tax distribution, there was also a thorough discussion at the municipal level: it is believed that local finance cannot rely solely on expanding production scale, but rather should focus on enterprise efficiency. Taxes related to enterprise efficiency, such as income tax and business tax, are still allocated to local finance. Moreover, according to the design of the tax distribution system trial, only the increment after 1992 will be collected, with the actual tax amount in 1991 as the base. This part of industrial value-added tax is still fully returned to the locality. Mei Xi's financial growth may stagnate in the short term, but it should not deteriorate..."

  "This has something to do with the division problem of Meixi Town in recent years,"

  He Qing saw that Shen Huai had raised the question to a crucial point and knew that he still had some real talent, so he simply explained the problem clearly to him.

  "The city has always wanted to separate Meixi Town from Xiapu County. On this issue, the county does not have the leading right. However, for the land that is going to be cut off, the county will naturally no longer use county-level finances to subsidize construction. The Meixi Bridge was originally planned to be rebuilt in 1991, and the lower Mei highway was also planned to be paved with asphalt at the same time. It's just because Meixi Town was going to be divided into Tangzhai District that the county directly withdrew the construction funds for Meixi Bridge and the lower Mei highway. The county no longer subsidizes Meixi Town, but also cut off a large piece of meat from the original value-added tax base number that should have been returned to Meixi Town... Last year's town finances, compared to 1990, not only did not increase, but sharply decreased by 2.6 million..."

  In 1993, the formal annual salary of a public servant in Mei Xi Town was only 4,000 yuan.

  Two million six hundred thousand yuan, not a lot at first glance, is enough to pay the annual salary of all primary and secondary school teachers and government staff in Meixi Town. The financial revenue has been reduced by two million six hundred thousand in just two years, which is a particularly heavy blow to Meixi Town.

  "At that time, Tangzhai District wanted to merge Meixi Town, just seeing the good financial situation of Meixi. Now looking at this situation, merging Meixi Town not only has no benefits, but also needs to immediately invest nearly 10 million to rebuild Meixi Bridge and lower Mei Highway. No one will mention this matter again," He Qing Society sighed and said, "Of course, the industry in Meixi Town mainly relies on the steel plant. If the steel plant is profitable, the town will be better off. From now on, it depends on Secretary Shen's great skills."

  Shen Huai was about to say a few more words to He Qing She, when he saw Du Jian walk in with a refined and elegant middle-aged woman.

  Although he was born and raised in Mei Xi Town, with nearly 50,000 people in the town, he only knew a few of them.

  However, from Chen Dan and He Qing's eyes, Shen Hua could recognize that the middle-aged woman was Du Jian's mistress, also the manager of the town reception station He Yuelian, who was also the mother of Wang Gang, who had just been appointed by Du Jian as the head of the steel plant's security department at the party-government meeting.

  According to legend, He Yuelian was almost forty years old, but looking at her pale face and the corners of her eyes with only faint wrinkles, she didn't look old. Her slender waist and plump arms made her appear elegant, and the key point was that she didn't have the rustic air of a rural woman, with light makeup on, she indeed had some charm.

  If compared with He Yuelian and Chen Dan, she would naturally be somewhat inferior, but a mature woman has her own unique charm. Shen Huai thought to himself: No wonder she was able to capture Du Jian's heart?

  Du Jian's face turned dark when he saw Shen Huai.

  He Molian's eyes sparkled as she smiled and said, "So you're the new Secretary Shen? I was on my way to report for work at the government office, but it seems I've missed you. Please, follow me to see Director He first..." Her soft voice was pleasant to hear.

  "Is that Manager He?" Shen Hua took over He Yu Lian's pale and smooth hand, shook it, and smiled, "Secretary Du assigned me to be in charge of the steel factory's work, there's nothing for Manager He to report to me..."

  "I was looking for Secretary Shen to report on the steel plant's reception work," He Yuelian said, clearly not wanting to let Shen Hua off easily, her body leaning in, "If Secretary Shen thinks it's not suitable for me to report to you, then who do you think is suitable at the reception station?"

  The town's finances have deteriorated further, with tens of thousands of yuan in entertainment expenses every year that cannot be avoided; the situation at the steel plant is similar.

  He Molian no longer works on family planning in the town, occupying a government position while also contracting the town's reception station, relying on these two things to live a comfortable life.

  Du Jian saw that Shen Huai was already unhappy in his heart, and when he saw He Yuelian sticking to him like a fly, he became even more displeased. With a gloomy face, he said: "What's the point of talking so much? It's all pointless, and it's making people lose their appetite!"

  Chen Dan stood beside him, but didn't dare to get close. Just by looking at Du Jian's face, you could tell that he had a real conflict with Shen Huai in the morning.

  He Yuemei smiled and invited Du Jian, He Qing and Shen Huai into the house.

  It can't be compared to the Nanyuan Hotel, but the reception station's small banquet hall has three round tables set up, and it still feels very spacious. The beige stone-patterned floor tiles, wallpaper, and lighting fixtures all look luxurious and grand, you can tell that Meixi Town was really wealthy two years ago.

  "This reception station is contracted out, and the annual contract fee must be a lot of money, right?" Shen Huai sat opposite Du Jian, asking He Qing directly.

  He Qing Society also counted a number under the table with her hand.

  Shen Huai pursed his lips and didn't speak. The 800,000 yuan annual contract fee wasn't even enough to cover the depreciation of these decorations.

  He Qing Society said another sentence: "Three years one contract, this year is due."

  At this time, Chen Dan brought in a box of wine. Shen Hua looked up and said, "The municipal government has repeatedly ordered that civil servants are not allowed to drink during working hours; take the wine away!"

  Chen Dan was somewhat bewildered, holding the box of wine and standing at the door, unable to decide whether to go in or back out.

  Those who were eager for wine stood up and were about to go and divide the wine, but when they heard Shen Huai's words, they all stopped there, looking at Du Jian together.

  "Damn it!" Du Jian slammed his hand on the table and stood up, causing the bowls and plates to shake. His eyes stared at Shen Huai, with anger about to erupt.

  "Director Du, what's wrong?" Shen Hua sat in the chair, his hands placed on the table, motionless, and looked up at Du Jian with a smile still on his face. "Regarding the ban on drinking during work hours, I think the county should have issued a document about it too. Our party members can't take the lead in violating policies, right..."

  Chen Dan worried that Du Lao Hu would really pounce on Shen Huan and start punching and kicking.

  Du Jian was hot-tempered and had been used to being the big boss of Mei Creek for many years, often scolding government personnel with foul language. There were even instances where deputy town officials got ear slapped by him.

  Du Jian's face twitched, and he flung his sleeve to kick the stool aside, cursing: "I'm not eating this meal anymore."

  "Hmph!" and he walked out, almost knocking over Chen Dan who was blocking the doorway. The others knew Shen Hui was a tough cookie, able to slap Huang Xinliang in the face during the meeting that morning in front of Du Jian, so although they were annoyed, they didn't dare curse him out loud and make an enemy of this new secretary directly, but they also got up and followed Du Jian out.

  Chen Dan only then realized that He Yun's words earlier were not exaggerated at all: this Shen Huai was indeed a dragon in the river, a demon king of the mortal world.