Wang Hu finally had time to go home, and now that he's gone, who knows when he'll see him again.

After leaving Shi Yan's place in a great hurry, Zhang Haili got on her electric scooter and sped off like an arrow to Wang Hu's house!

However, when she arrived at Wang Hu's house, breathless, she found that Wang Hu had already driven to the county town. Standing at the door, Feng Fenfen looked at Zhang Haili's dejected expression and couldn't help but feel a surge of pity.

"Haili, is there something urgent you need to see Wang Hu about? Should I call him and ask?" Feng Fenfen asked with concern.

Zhang Haili suppressed her disappointment, shook her head, and said, "No need, Auntie, you go ahead with your work, I'm leaving."

After saying that, she turned and slowly walked away. Her dejected figure made Feng Fenfen sigh.

Feng Fenfen wondered to herself, looking at Zhang Haili's appearance, could there be some kind of special relationship between her and her son?

Meanwhile, Lan Bing, sitting in the passenger seat, stared intently at Wang Hu, who was driving, and asked with a half-smile, "Where did you go last night? I didn't see you all night!"

Wang Hu's heart skipped a beat. Although he didn't know what the deeper meaning of Lan Bing's words was, judging from her ambiguous smile, it was definitely not a good thing.

So he decided to play dumb and denied it outright, saying, "No, I came back very early last night."

"Stop pretending! You didn't get back until after 4 a.m., and I woke up when you opened my door!" Lan Bing suddenly raised her voice, her tone revealing a hint of anger.

"Oh? If I had known it was you, I wouldn't have slept on the sofa!"

Wang Hu's words completely baffled Lan Bing. What she originally wanted to ask Wang Hu turned into, "If you're not going to sleep on the sofa, where are you going to sleep!"

Wang Hu said, "Of course I'll go in and hold you while we sleep. With such a beauty like you, wouldn't I be a fool not to hold you!"

Lan Bing coughed lightly. "Pah! Who wants you to hold them!"

However, judging from her expression, she was quite pleased with what Wang Hu said.

Around 9 o'clock, the two arrived at the luxury hotel where Mu Yun and Professor Luo were staying. Why was it called a luxury hotel? Because there were no hotels in their county!

In a huge conference room in the hotel, Wang Hu and Lan Bing were taken aback by the grand scene inside as soon as they pushed open the door!

There were at least 30 people inside, both men and women. After Wang Hu came in, the county's top official stood up and grabbed him!

These people were divided into three groups, one of which consisted of Mu Yun, Professor Luo, and the employees who had just arrived from Beijing today!

The other group consisted of people from the county, including even the county's top official!

"Oh! My dear Mr. Wang, you've finally arrived!"

"Secretary Liu, what are you doing here? I was planning to bring Professor Luo to visit you today!" Wang Hu was also a little confused.

Secretary Liu laughed immediately upon hearing this, but was interrupted by a voice just as he was about to say something!

"Hello, Mr. Wang!" The one who spoke was from the third group, also wearing an executive jacket, but Wang Hu didn't recognize him!

"Hello! May I ask..." Wang Hu hadn't even finished saying "you are..."

Secretary Liu interrupted him, saying to the man, "Director Lin, President Wang has already said he wants to build an airport in our county. You can't just forcibly take it!"

"When did they say that...?"

After arguing for a while, Wang Hu finally understood what was going on. The third group of people who arrived were from the city, and the one who spoke was the director of the Development and Reform Commission.

Wang Hu quickly stepped forward to dissuade them, saying, "Two leaders, let's talk things out slowly!"

Lin Guoqiang, director of the Municipal Development and Reform Commission, broke the deadlock by slamming a stack of planning drawings onto the conference table: "President Wang, look at this city's transportation network map—if the airport is located in Linjiang District in the northwest of your county, it will not only seamlessly connect to the intercity high-speed rail under construction, but also radiate to the three surrounding economic development zones. In the long run, it can maximize the synergistic effect of the transportation hub." He quickly slid his finger across the map, with the location of Linjiang District marked in red standing out.

Secretary Liu stood up abruptly, the chair scraping against the floor with a screeching sound: "Director Lin, you're just talking without understanding the situation! Our county's per capita annual income is less than one-third of the city's, our road network is underdeveloped, and logistics costs are high. The airport's establishment could directly create 100,000 jobs for farmers!"

He unbuttoned his collar, grabbed a county-level economic data report from the table, and slammed it down. "Look at these numbers! We can't afford to wait for so-called 'long-term planning'!"

"Shortsighted!" Lin Guoqiang's pen slammed heavily on the blueprint. "Linjiang District has already reserved a 100-square-kilometer airport economic zone, capable of attracting high-value-added industries such as aviation manufacturing and cross-border e-commerce. This is the only sustainable economic engine. Shihe County doesn't even have a supporting highway; building an airport here will only turn it into a 'vanity project'!"

Li Jianjun, deputy director of the Municipal Transportation Bureau, interjected at the opportune moment, pushing up his glasses: "Secretary Liu, if the airport is built in your county, it will require a supporting expressway, which is another huge investment. Can you afford it right now?"

Secretary Liu suddenly turned to Wang Hu, his gaze burning, "President Wang, your initial intention in investing was to alleviate poverty. We promise to build a fast route directly to the airport within three years, and we can also provide the lowest land transfer fee in the province!"

Lin Guoqiang sneered and pulled out a stack of official documents from his briefcase: "According to the '14th Five-Year Plan for Urban Transportation,' the municipal government's subsidies for projects in Linjiang District are 50% higher than those in Shihe County, and land transfer fees are cheaper. How will your county afford to build roads! Unless President Wang builds the roads too!"

Finally, both groups turned their attention to Wang Hu.

Wang Hu listened to each of the suggestions and felt they all made sense, but he still preferred that they build an airport locally in order to develop their local economy and get rid of the label of one of the ten poorest counties in the province.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!