Upon hearing this, Li Xiuyuan immediately agreed: "It's alright, Yun County. I'm very honored that you like to eat it. When I cook for my parents at home, they always complain about my cooking skills."
"Haha, so you're using me as a guinea pig?"
"How could that be?"
Both of them laughed. Yun Yanchang had other work to do in the afternoon. After Li Xiuyuan came out of Yun Yanchang's office, the first thing he did was call Meilin Village. He would not go to distribute the money tonight and would leave the matter to Zhang Xingdong.
Although he said he wouldn't go, he wouldn't hand over the distribution of money to the village. There must be a reason why the money came from. He couldn't just say it was given to the village, because then the villagers would think that the money was given by the village and had nothing to do with the town, and the town's word wouldn't carry any weight.
If Zhang Xingdong distributes the money on my behalf, everyone will know that I simply had something to do and couldn't go, rather than that I gave the money to the village.
After making the call to the village, Li Xiuyuan called Hou Peng again.
"Mayor Li."
"Hou Zhen, I'd like to ask for leave," Li Xiuyuan said with a smile.
"Are you taking leave? Isn't it supposed to be a holiday? Do you have something to do on your shift?" Hou Peng didn't react immediately and asked.
Li Xiuyuan shook his head: "No, Hou Zhen, didn't we make plans to have dinner together tonight? Something came up at home and I really don't have time tonight, so I wanted to ask you for leave."
Hou Peng was taken aback for a moment, then realized what he meant and said with a smile, "Xiuyuan, it's normal for you to have something to do, why are you asking for leave? Haha."
If Li Xiuyuan had made an appointment and then stood Hou Peng up, Hou Peng would definitely have felt uncomfortable. But now that Li Xiuyuan had said this and asked for leave, adopting such a humble attitude, Hou Peng immediately felt no resentment.
"Oh, no way! I finally managed to get an appointment with the mayor, but something came up at the last minute. I'm so sorry, Mayor Hou. I'll treat you to dinner the day after tomorrow as an apology," Li Xiuyuan said.
“Sure, any day is fine. The main thing is to sit and relax. You can decide the time,” Hou Peng said with a smile.
After chatting for a few more minutes, Li Xiuyuan hung up the phone. He had originally planned to invite Hou Peng to dinner in Meilin Village that evening. He thought that seeing the brightly lit Meilin Village and everyone working hard for the construction of the new countryside would surely move Hou Peng, the town mayor.
In addition, it can also demonstrate one's influence in Meilin Village, which can be regarded as laying a foundation for future cooperation between the two parties.
Although Zheng Qian from Zhengda Construction Company, whom Zhang Xingguo had previously brought along, had not made any moves after being rejected by Li Xiuyuan, Li Xiuyuan remained vigilant. If there were any further developments, he would be prepared to meet them head-on.
The fact that there has been no movement so far can only mean that something big is brewing, and we can't afford to be careless.
But all of this had to give way to Yun Yanchang's invitation to dinner at his home. Winning over Hou Peng could be postponed, and someone else could handle the money, but the dinner at Yun Yanchang's house was the one thing that couldn't be postponed.
Li Xiuyuan called Wang Yonghua and told him that the appointment for tonight would be postponed, adding that he had already spoken to Mayor Hou.
After hanging up the phone, Li Xiuyuan drove out of the county government compound and went straight home. He asked his father how to knead dough and pull noodles. Although he had been exposed to it since childhood, he had never systematically learned it. Learning it now at the last minute was better than not learning it at all.
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