A dozen minutes later, seven or eight people, men and women, arrived downstairs and went straight upstairs to the seventh-floor reception room, where tea and some simple fruit had already been laid out.
Lu Feng, dressed in a formal suit, sat there drinking tea, while Zhang Fengxia sat in a chair in the corner, holding a cup of coffee. She was wearing overalls and jeans, looking somewhat like someone from Hong Kong or Taiwan.
“To tempt people’s interests is no less than to kill their parents!” Zhang Fengxia whispered.
"You're right, they've taken away my interests."
Several people pushed open the door and walked in. Lu Feng stood up and said, "Hello, are you Editor-in-Chief Wei Lan?"
"Hello, I am." A woman in her thirties, wearing glasses and exuding an intellectual air, came out, shook hands with Lu Feng, and introduced, "These are my colleagues, and some are from other newspapers, a total of four. To ensure the seriousness of this interview, we will be recording. Do you mind?"
"It's alright." Lu Feng pointed to the sofa next to him and said, "Please sit down."
"What is your surname?"
“This has nothing to do with the interview content, including my profession, family situation, and purpose for exposing this matter. None of these are relevant to the interview.” Lu Feng looked at the people present and said, “Let’s talk about this directly. This year, the local government will allocate a special amount of money and land for investment promotion, as well as tax exemption conditions. However, these quotas have been mostly occupied by a company called Wantong Industrial.”
"Was there insider trading involved?"
"Yes, and this company has problems. It didn't disclose the whole process to the public. This company mainly makes furniture, but it only has one raw material supplier. This company's turnover last year was more than 20 million, while Wantong Industrial sold for several hundred million."
Lu Feng handled his words very well, hinting at many things without explicitly stating them, thus concealing many of the more pointed issues.
The interview lasted for two hours. Lu Feng watched them leave and stood at the door for a long time, stunned.
"You're counting on them? You want to escalate a local issue to the national level? If things get serious, you won't get anything out of it. The investment promotion program has only been around for a few years, and it's already a mess in every region. To put it bluntly, it's all about favoring their own people. Anyone with a brain knows that." Zhang Fengxia said, watching his retreating figure, "If they investigate, will you be all set?"
Lu Feng turned to look at her and said, "I bet those people won't dare let me cause trouble!"
Zhang Fengxia stood there stunned for a while, then sneered and said, "You madman, those people are really unlucky to have met you. I've heard some stories about people getting into car accidents for no reason."
“That’s normal. Last time I went to Baiyuan City to deal with the raw material factory, a guy got hit by a car and died.” Lu Feng took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and leaned against the door, saying, “Fortune favors the bold. Business is very easy to do now. There are no barriers to entry. If you’re ruthless enough, you can do business. There’s gold everywhere. But in another ten years or so, that won’t be the case. There will be industry barriers. To put it bluntly, everyone is a peasant now.”
Zhang Fengxia looked at him, somewhat dazed. He had an indescribable aura about him—bold, meticulous, daring, and with the air of a powerful and ruthless leader.
Back in his room, Lu Feng called Hao Dongren. He had done everything he could, and he couldn't just sit idle.
"Hey, Mr. Lu, how's it going?"
"The newspapers will report on these things tomorrow. I only need you to do one thing: tomorrow, give an interview to a TV station or a newspaper and talk about the survival status of furniture companies. You don't have to name Wantong Industrial, just mention it indirectly."
"Will this work? Let's see how it goes first. It's best if we talk about this privately; it's not good to make a big fuss." Hao Dongren's voice sounded timid.
Lu Feng frowned slightly, clearly aware of the intricacies involved. Otherwise, a big boss like him, a local bigwig, wouldn't be so afraid.
“If you want to get things done, you have to be ruthless, otherwise people won’t listen to you. Let me tell you, I’ve done everything I could. I’ll lead the charge, and you’re not even willing to offer a word of support?” Lu Feng took a deep breath and said, “President Hao, everyone wants to be the fisherman, but someone has to be the fish. I’ve already thrown myself into the water. You can’t just wait to reap the benefits and take on all the risks. Besides, do you think they’ll kill you if you say a few sarcastic things? If you don’t even have that much guts, you should go home and coax your kids.”
After Lu Feng finished speaking, he hung up the phone and lay on the bed with his eyes closed.
The next morning, a large local poster prominently displayed the headline: Why is there so much shady stuff going on in the investment promotion?
The content was undeniably sharp, the topics directly threatening the red line, digging deep into the details of Wantong Industry. The entire article, over three thousand words long, was truly insightful. Lu Feng felt a chill run down his spine after reading the newspaper, and he couldn't help but admire the reporter's writing skills.
Immediately afterwards, Hao Dongren gave an interview in the morning, mainly discussing furniture safety and industry secrets. In an instant, many local leaders had that newspaper on their desks, and many people broke out in a sweat after reading it.
The atmosphere became somewhat tense.
Inside the villa, President Cui's hands trembled as he looked at the newspaper. All morning, the phone rang incessantly, with people calling to inquire what had happened and who had leaked the internal information.
Liu Zhennan was in a real bind. The local TV station was broadcasting an interview program where Hao Dongren was talking big to the camera, mentioning Wantong Industrial in every word he spoke.
"Mr. Liu, someone called and told us to lay low for a while."
"The business's shut down? I don't need to ask to know it's the owner of Jiamei Foods. That kid's ruthless. He's probably never suffered before. If we tell him to shut up, nothing will happen." Liu Zhennan's face was sinister.
"What are you going to do?" President Cui asked, his voice trembling slightly.
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