Zhiqiang Company. Zhang Guodong's face was a mystery to Pang Wu; he knew it was a small, well-known company, mainly engaged in logistics. It was the leading logistics company in the city, holding a third of the market share, and had close ties with the government and good connections in official circles!
The fat man knew quite a bit about this person. He gave a brief introduction.
"Mainly handling logistics?" Zhang Guodong nodded.
So, does that mean they've invested in other areas? Or is it a diversified company? Daring to diversify shows this person is capable. Cross-industry ventures are certainly not simple.
Sure enough, the fat man continued, "He's involved in real estate and entertainment. He's a big celebrity in the city, and he's also a representative of the Municipal People's Congress!"
"Oh!" Zhang Guodong nodded again.
"Nowadays, many businessmen want to be associated with the National People's Congress or the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Having that status gives them a huge advantage in doing business!" the fat man exclaimed.
That's true.
Businessmen fear the lack of political standing and resources. But being a National People's Congress representative or a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference represents a prestigious political status, which is very attractive to businessmen.
However, the number of slots for these "political identities" is limited at each level of government, so obtaining one is not easy.
In a short while, a group of people from the other side arrived, though they looked rather disheveled.
"Pah! Pah!"
"Damn, the temperature in this desert can rise so quickly, how can crops grow here?"
"Give me some water. I'm dying of thirst! Glug glug, ah, you only realize how precious water is when you're walking in the desert, so refreshing!"
"Shut up, all of you!"
".
Zhang Guodong heard every word of the conversations of those attendants.
One of them, a middle-aged man, was panting heavily, clearly unaccustomed to walking in the desert. Each step he took caused him to stumble back half a step, without any support. He was exhausted. Fortunately, two strong young men were there to lend him a hand from time to time.
This must be Zhu Lifu, right? He's wearing gold-rimmed glasses, which gives him a slightly more refined look. But his smile is anything but flattering; it's a forced, insincere smile. People like that are usually ruthless and insidious; it's best to avoid them and never get too close.
There were eight attendants who rushed over. Judging from their appearance and demeanor, apart from one person who seemed to be a real assistant, the rest looked more like thugs, most of them fierce and strong.
These people took off the clothes that were wrapped around their bodies, and their faces were all red and they looked a bit disheveled.
Like Zhang Guodong and Fatty, Zhu Lifu and his seven or eight assistants had no experience acclimatizing in the desert; they were complete novices. It's best not to take off the clothes wrapped around your neck.
"This must be Boss Zhang, right? Wow, quite the young talent!" Zhu Lifu spotted Zhang Guodong the moment he arrived, proving he had a good eye. Zhang Guodong, despite being wrapped up, was immediately recognized. Zhu Lifu, still panting, spoke stiffly.
His eyes were like a wolf's, and he forced a smile, but it was ugly. Whether he forgot or did it intentionally, Zhu Lifu didn't extend his hand to shake hands with Zhang Guodong.
Zhang Guodong noticed a hint of barely perceptible curiosity and disdain in Zhu Lifu's eyes.
"Who are you? What do you want with me?" Zhang Guodong asked calmly, looking at him.
"Uh..." The fat man and Section Chief Liu looked surprised. Hadn't they just been introduced? Zhang Guodong's first question was, "Who is this person?" which left them speechless.
"This young master Zhang is quite arrogant. Zhu Lifu usually walks in and out of the municipal party committee and government departments with impunity. Now he's met his match." Section Chief Liu glanced at the fat man beside him, then looked at Zhang Guodong, a cold smile playing on his lips. "Young Master Wang is Secretary Wang's son. Even if this young master Zhang didn't have any other connections, he's not someone Zhu Lifu can afford to mess with!"
Liu, the section chief on Manglu Road, had also noticed the extraordinary close relationship between Fatty and Zhang Guodong! Moreover, it was hard to say whether Zhang Guodong was also a princeling!
As for Zhu Lifu, he usually looked down on them, the section chiefs and deputy section chiefs. He was arrogant and haughty, and now Section Chief Liu didn't even bother to introduce him. He quietly took a step back, waiting to see Zhu Lifu make a fool of himself.
His action was actually unnecessary. As long as he didn't speak and was wrapped up so tightly, who could tell who he was?
Zhu Lifu's face stiffened, he narrowed his eyes, and laughed heartily, "Mr. Zhang is straightforward. I won't beat around the bush either! I am Zhu Lifu from Fuqiang Company."
"I'll take over Mr. Zhang's land with his slogan, no price is too high to ask!"
"Sure enough, this Boss Zhu is like a dog, with a keen sense of smell. He won't come without a benefit! Now he's eyeing the slogan area!"
"This boss is in trouble."
Aside from the fat man and Section Chief Liu, the others knew nothing about the fat man's background, let alone Zhang Guodong's origins, and immediately began to worry about Zhang Guodong. Zhu Lifu had a large and powerful group, all driving brand-new Hummers. Those Hummers were clearly privately owned.
"Not for sale!" Zhang Guodong said calmly.
Upon hearing this, the fat man's eyes narrowed immediately.
"Wow, that's some serious confidence!" The fat man was itching to try it.
He doesn't believe Zhang Guodong relies on political power, but rather on his own terrifying abilities.
That imposing, disdainful aura made Zhu Lifu's breath catch in his throat. His face immediately turned red and stiff.
I doubt anyone has ever so blatantly humiliated him!
"You've got some nerve, you bastard!"
"Damn it, you're asking for it! How dare you talk to the boss like that?!"
Zhang Guodong's face turned cold as he glanced at the henchmen. The voice immediately subsided.
"Hehe," Zhu Lifu chuckled, not stopping his men's intimidation, this time without even panting. "Mr. Zhang, are you really sure? If you agree to the subcontracting now, you can take an extra million!"
One million?
Zhang Guodong could hear the people around him swallowing hard. Clearly, for most of them, renting out the desert for free and then subcontracting it for a million yuan was the best thing ever. It was like a windfall!
Several intense gazes focused on Zhang Guodong. Everyone was watching to see how this young master Zhang would respond to Zhu Lifu. One million! He should have known money was so valuable.
Some people have more complicated thoughts: who wouldn't want to lease the desert for free?
Zhang Guodong's answer? He simply turned around, got into his car, and drove off. The others, seeing this, were immediately astonished, then quickly followed suit, their expressions incredibly varied. Zhu Lifu's face was even more dramatic, changing from red to green, then from green to purple, until it became utterly ferocious.
"You've got guts!" Zhu Lifu squeezed out two words. His voice was cold, and even more so, it revealed his anger.
"Boom!" The off-road vehicle started and sped forward, leaving Zhu Lifu and his group with a mouthful of sand.
"Boss, what should we do? I think we should arrest that kid! If we don't teach him a lesson, he won't know why the flowers are blooming so brightly!"
"Damn it, he won't listen to reason, so he'll have to suffer the consequences. This kid actually looks down on a million? It's just a free lease of desert land, what a stroke of luck! Boss, I think we should 'discuss' it with him again later, I guarantee he'll change his mind!"
"Good! If it's done, each person will receive a bonus of 50,000, but remember to keep your mouth shut!" Zhu Lifu said fiercely.
His men's eyes lit up immediately. A reward of 50,000—such an easy task; such opportunities were rare.
"Don't worry, boss!"
"Boss, should we return that million?" the only assistant asked.
"Give him a chance? Give him a chance my ass! The boss was so nice to him just now, he already gave that kid a chance!"
"Get out of here!" the assistant frowned and cursed. "The boss has his reasons. Do you need to interfere?"
Seeing Zhu Lifu's gloomy face, his men obediently walked towards the car.
“We don’t have that million anymore. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If we miss it, we miss it!” Zhu Lifu sneered.
Clearly, Zhang Guodong's decisive refusal was tantamount to slapping Zhu Lifu in the face, and Zhu Lifu could not swallow this insult no matter what.
However, the assistant prompted, "Boss, we didn't see clearly who was accompanying that person in the crowd. It would be better if we knew."
Zhu Lifu frowned; indeed, he hadn't paid much attention to that earlier.
Knowing that his boss never cared about those lowly section chiefs and deputy section chiefs, and that even if they removed their headscarves, they might not recognize them, the assistant explained, "The boss came here to inspect the land, accompanied by Director Zheng from the Land Bureau's office. I don't know who accompanied him."
Zhu Lifu is flamboyant, but not stupid. His assistant is right!
"This kid is self-employed? That can't be wrong, right?"
"Boss, the identity investigated by the Municipal Party Committee is usually accurate, and the Industry and Commerce Bureau doesn't have any company registration information for this person either. This individual business owner identity should be genuine!" the assistant said.
"Okay, go investigate again! That old guy Zheng Chen should know something!" Zhu Lifu said impatiently.
Zheng Chentong, in his forties, is the director of the office of the Municipal Land and Resources Bureau, a position above that of a typical deputy director. In addition to being a member of the bureau's Party Committee, he is also the director's confidant! For this reason alone, even a typical deputy director would treat him with great respect.
But this time when Zhu Lifu went to Ningbing, the bureau still sent him to accompany him. Several deputy directors of the office and section chiefs and deputy section chiefs of various departments were basically busy.
Zhang Guodong and his group stopped when they were called. Director Zheng didn't go over, so he naturally didn't know who was in the crowd. Besides, in this kind of situation, everyone was masked, and it wasn't the time for superiors and subordinates to catch up. He simply pretended not to have seen them.
In fact, Director Zheng was also puzzled and somewhat uncomfortable. Normally, there would be officials from the Land and Resources Bureau in the group, but none of them came over to greet him, the director. Why? Deputy directors and above generally wouldn't accompany these contractors to take over the desert land.
His position as office director is high enough.
Of course, there's also the possibility that the Land Bureau is quite busy these days, and the person who came might just be an errand boy. He has no idea which company owns the plot, nor does he know that Director Zheng is actually here.
A short while later, Boss Zhu and his group returned, while the other party had actually left first? This surprised Director Zheng. It was obvious even to a fool that Boss Zhu had been put in a difficult position. The negotiations hadn't reached an agreement!
Sure enough, a group of crude and vulgar thugs returned first, cursing and swearing. From their curses, Director Zheng basically understood what had happened.
However, since it didn't concern him, he remained indifferent. He knew Zhang Guodong was a "self-employed individual." Among all the contractors this time, he was the only exception; it was impossible not to remember him.
But this "individual business owner" actually managed to give Boss Zhu a hard time?
When Zhu Lifu returned, he had a gloomy expression on his face.
"Hurry up and put up the boundary markers. We're leaving soon. This damn desert!" Boss Zhu gave the order, and everyone got to work.
He got into the car himself, unable to bear the scorching desert air, and turned on the air conditioning. His assistant, however, went over and started chatting with Zheng Chentong.
Meanwhile, once Zhang Guodong and Fatty's group were far away from the old location, the oppressive and eerie atmosphere inside the car began to ease. Of course, Zhang Guodong and Fatty weren't in such a bad mood. Such a person didn't even deserve their attention. They continued to do as they pleased, chatting and laughing, as if the earlier unpleasantness hadn't happened at all.
"Secretary Wang, Young Master Zhang, Zhu Lifu is a very vindictive person. We'd better be careful! He'll definitely think that Young Master Zhang has offended him when his attempt to subcontract the slogan failed," Section Chief Liu said through gritted teeth in a low voice.
"Him?" the fat man scoffed. "He's the one causing trouble for Guodong?"
Section Chief Liu was taken aback, and his heart immediately became unsettled.
It seems this young master Zhang is no ordinary person. Judging from Secretary Wang's tone, Zhu Lifu is at best a clown in front of young master Zhang?
He swallowed back any further words of persuasion.
Note: I'm a bit pressed for time today, so this is only 3600 words in one update. I slept too much, ugh.
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