Chapter Forty-sixth: The Project Isn't Going Well

  Gao Fei took a bite of his food and said, "Mayor Chen, come on, let me hear about the Fuhai Industrial Park."

  To put it bluntly, Gao Fei is just a businessman through and through; he only thinks about what benefits his own company.

  Huaxia Steel Group is a major project, so the policy is very open. Chen Gong wouldn't dare to apply the policies for large companies to this medium-sized shoe company. "It's like this, General Manager, our Fuhai Industrial Park was just established not long ago, but we've already signed several big projects. Huaxia Steel Group has already signed an intention contract with the management committee and will be moving in soon. I'll also talk about something practical - the infrastructure in the park still needs to meet requirements within a year. If your company moves here now, it will take almost half a year to complete construction and start production, which won't affect your logistics, life, etc."

  Gao Fei thought for a moment, Chen Gong said a lot but didn't get to the point I wanted to hear, it seems he's still too young, how can I trust him with running the factory on his turf? "Director Chen, tell me something concrete."

  Chen Gong finally knew that Gao Fei wanted to hear about the money, and immediately said the conditions for introducing medium-sized enterprises set by the management committee. The land is controlled within 40 mu, the price is 160,000 yuan per mu, and it is allowed to build 30 sets of employee dormitories, canteens, bathhouses, etc., with no mandatory requirements for area and location. Tax-free for two years. Finally, Chen Gong mentioned that only enterprises that have passed the environmental assessment by the environmental protection department are eligible, he knew that this shoe factory was built in a rural area and must be renting land without procedures.

  Gao Fei told Chen Gong, "Don't worry about this, Director Chen. We are a regular enterprise. The adhesives and spray paints used in our production process have all passed national quality certification and fully meet environmental protection requirements."

  Gao Fei then brought up the Nanshi City Industrial Park, telling Chen Gong and Song Huiyun that they were also looking for him to discuss entering the park. They would provide land first, build factories first, and handle procedures later. Moreover, the conditions offered by Nanshi City Industrial Park in terms of price and preferential treatment were very enticing.

  Chen Gong also felt that enterprises need to survive, and it's normal to make comparisons. However, some of the requirements were indeed beyond his authority. "Okay, General Manager, please state your conditions, I'll report back to the park management committee leaders after I return, and we'll give you a reply within a week, how does that sound?"

  "Alright, I'm also a straightforward person. Plus, you're the younger brother of my high school classmate, so I'll make some concessions too. For the land, I'll only charge 1 million yuan per mu, but I need at least 60 mu of land. For employee dormitories, I want to build at least 50 suites or more. As for taxes, we'll be exempt from paying for the first five years, and starting from the sixth year, we'll pay normally. Within these five years, all personal income tax paid by our company's high-level executives will be fully refunded to us. Actually, my demands aren't excessive, they're quite reasonable. Mayor Chen, go back and discuss this with your leaders. If it works out, I'll move over here quickly."

  Taking the opportunity of Gao Fei going to the bathroom, Song Huiyun also told Chen Gong her opinion. Gao Fei was definitely bluffing, and when he came back, she should directly say that she had already consulted with the leader on the phone, and then press down on the conditions again. Moreover, it must be said to Gao Fei that this price is a preferential treatment considered by the leader as an acquaintance, and there will be no more changes.

  Chen Gong tidied up his thoughts, and Gao Fei was about to walk over. Chen Gong pretended to talk into the phone by his ear, "Alright, boss, got it, thanks. Although the scale isn't big, the potential is endless, yeah, alright, bye."

  Gao Fei naturally heard Chen Gong's words, it seems that this young man is still very sincere, and immediately contacted the leader. I should think about it carefully.

  "Director Gao, after you sat down, I reported your company's situation to our leaders and told them it was my friend's business, asking them to give the greatest preferential treatment. If Director Gao is still not satisfied, I think everyone has tried their best. Even if we can't reach an agreement, it won't affect our friendship."

  Then Chen Gong made his best offer: 120,000 yuan per mu of land, 50 mu in total, for a total of 6 million yuan. The dormitory can be built with 40 suites, and the tax can only be exempted for two years. This cannot be changed. You mentioned the personal income tax issue, and it will be fully refunded to your company's senior executives within three years.

  "Old Gao, even if the business doesn't work out, we still have a good relationship. In the future, come to Xin Qiao and talk to my sister or me about anything that comes up. For ordinary matters, I can handle them myself, but for big things, my sister won't be left out either." Chen Gong slowly led Gao Fei to ask about Song Huiyun's identity, wanting to give Gao Fei another reassurance pill. Currently, Gao Fei only knew that Song Huiyun worked in the government.

  Gao Fei indeed fell into Chen Gong's trap and then asked Song Huiyun "Where is our old classmate Gao Jiu now?"

  Song Huiyun humbly said, "I don't dare to accept the high praise. If there's a need, I can still speak up at Xin Qiao District Organization Department."

  Gao Fei was shocked after hearing, he's a local tyrant, but also deeply aware that the Minister of Organization is a big official, and it's specifically in charge of officials. Gao Fei's heart moved, actually Chen Gongkai's conditions were much more favorable than Nancheng already, adding less Song Huiyun's relationship, in Xin Qiao they would definitely have a smooth ride. "Alright, just based on my and Song Huiyun's classmate relationship, I'm willing to lose a bit, no problem, so it's settled then. Chen Town Mayor draft an agreement over here, the sooner the better, I'll sign first, I'll go with you guys to choose a location, as soon as possible tear down and hand it over to our company."

  Song Huiyun also knew that Gao Fei had agreed, "Classmate, after moving over, your current factory address will be sold and become prosperous again."

  Gao Fei said helplessly that the factory was built on rented rural land, and if it moved away, it would just move away. The only thing is that next year they won't pay rent anymore, but the money can't be recovered at all.

  Chen Gong is also happy to have pulled in this project, but still feels that even government departments are now vying for business, and it's not easy to discuss projects.

  ……

  After a hard day's work, I had planned to have dinner and rest at Song Huiyun's home, but Li Fenghua called and insisted that Chen Gong go to his house for dinner, saying it was an extremely urgent matter, but he refused to tell Chen Gong what it was about.

  After kissing Song Huiyun at the door, "Sister Song, I'll come back here after dinner." Song Huiyun also repeatedly reminded Chen to not drink too much wine.

  When Chen Gong arrived at Li Fenghua's home, he finally understood that the extremely urgent matter was Huang Liang of Da Tou Cai Company wanting to move into the industrial park. Chen Gong thought it was a win-win situation and carefully discussed it with Huang Liang.

  Li Jiangtao knew that he couldn't intervene in the details, "Nephew, Huang is an old acquaintance of mine, if I can help, I'll do my best to help them out, they have their own difficulties." Li Jiangtao called Chen Gong "nephew" in order to appear closer to him.

  Chen Gong didn't mince words, "We're all old acquaintances now. Huang Zong will come to my office tomorrow and I'll take you there to choose some products, but your scale needs to be increased, sales need to be increased. Originally it was in various places within the province, now it's best to promote nationwide."

  Huang Liang knew that Chen Gong didn't understand business either, pushing it nationwide? How easy is that, all local protectionism, he can sell the products of a township enterprise to all parts of the province, which is already against the sky.

  Chen Gong seemed to have remembered something and thought for a moment, "Hey, Huang, last time your company owed foreign debt, I let the town guarantee it, have you paid back the money or not?"

  Huang Liang started to get anxious again, "Oh dear Mayor Chen, now those distributors are so black-hearted, they take our factory's money and turn it around in their hands, they get fatter and fatter as they turn it around, but I'm the one who gets turned over. If our company moves into the industrial park and introduces two new production lines, we can apply for national exemption from inspection, at that time we'll have the upper hand, a penny for a penny's worth of goods. Now it's still difficult."

  Chen Gongke was puzzled, how can you still want to enter the park when it's so difficult? Your company has so many upfront costs to pay in advance. Just the land alone requires tens of millions, and that needs to be paid in cash, otherwise if there are problems found by the higher-ups, it will be serious.

  Li Fenghua was also aware of the situation and wanted to facilitate it, "I told Town Head Brother, let Huang Zong and his team use the land first, once the benefits come in, we can immediately make up for it. Moreover, they still have a lot of unpaid debts that haven't been collected yet, with that money, we can also set up another factory. We must be confident in Da Tou Cai Company."

  Chen Gong glared at Li Fenghua, "Fenghua, what are you getting mixed up in? You're a mid-level cadre in the town government, how can you be thinking about these illegal and disorderly things? The higher-ups already have big opinions about the towns, saying they just follow the rules and leave behind problems that the towns mess up. You should have heard this many times."

  Huang Liang said, opening the skylight and speaking frankly, "Mayor Chen is too conservative. Let my company use it first, and I'll take care of the procedures. After I mortgage it and get a loan, the money will be replenished immediately." Huang Liang was probing Chen Gong's bottom line.

  Chen Gong listened and really wanted to get angry, isn't this pushing himself into the fire pit? Doesn't he even think about it, can this procedure be done just by saying so as the town head?

  Huang Liang saw Chen Gong's worry, "Town Mayor Chen, it's actually like this. I've already contacted the leaders in the district and there won't be any problem with handling the procedures first. The money can just be transferred from the district finance department itself. We just need to start work before we get the procedures done, so Town Mayor Chen only needs to tell the people below not to come and check, not to report it upwards, that's all."

  Chen Gong had heard Li Fenghua mention that Huang Liang didn't have any background in the district, and it seemed like another case of money trading for power. Chen Gong thought about it after learning about Huang Liang's entire plan, and since the violation was minor on his part, with the main responsibility lying with the district, he decided to turn a blind eye and help out a friend. He agreed, but required Huang Liang to settle the debt owed to the material suppliers first after taking out a loan for the land, or else they might directly cause trouble for the Qinghe Town government later on.

  Huang Liang walked onto the balcony to answer a phone call, and when he returned to the living room, he was beaming with joy. "Good news! This phone call was from the secretary of the leader upstairs, the one who agreed to help me with my paperwork. According to his secretary, he's going to become the district party secretary soon. Looks like I need to get closer to him, I must hug this big tree."

  Chen Gong heard the district party secretary, it seems that Huang Zhengming is indeed leaving. "Director Huang, what's there to hide? Just among us, who is the new secretary?"

  Huang Liang looked around mysteriously before turning his head and saying, "District Director Yuan Weihua."