Chapter 280: Divergence (Part 1)

The Yang Hotel had undergone a renovation, and the Huangshan Pine private room now gleamed with opulence. When Hou Weidong arrived, Jiang Dali, Gao Wang, and Zhang Xiangyu were chatting and laughing heartily.

After dinner, the group moved to the tea room on the top floor. By ten o’clock, Jiang Dali, still full of energy, insisted on taking everyone out for late-night beer. It was not until the early hours of the morning that Hou Weidong finally returned home. After a night of drinking and playing, he was exhausted, his stomach heavy with alcohol.

Once inside, he went to the balcony to check on Professor Guo Lan’s residence. The windows were dark. He thought to himself, “I wonder how Professor Guo is doing? I’ll ask Yang Liu to send some flowers to the professor tomorrow.”

After taking a shower, he habitually turned on his computer. On the desktop was a solo photo Xiaojia had just sent. It was taken in Singapore, with a backdrop of lush green trees stretching into the distance. To Hou Weidong, it didn’t look like Singapore at all; it felt more like a well-landscaped hillside in Shangqinglin.

He browsed the news and then opened his email. To his surprise, there were two new messages. One was naturally from Xiaojia, and the other was from Zhu Mei.

Xiaojia emailed him every day, sharing trivialities of life, expressing her longing, and reiterating their plans to meet in Shanghai. Since becoming the director of the New Management Committee, Hou Weidong had gained much more free time and had been planning a trip to Shanghai. However, he had been busy negotiating with Xiuyun Pharmaceutical Factory these past few days. Although the matters were not overly complex, it was inconvenient for him to leave Yiyang.

This was the first email he had received from Zhu Mei. A few days earlier, Hou Weidong had sent her a text message to test if she could receive it. Zhu Mei had replied quickly and had specifically asked for his email address.

Hou Weidong felt a deep sense of pity for this deaf-mute girl. It was not only because she was Zhu Yan’s daughter, but also because of her profound love for life.

He was quite surprised by the length of her email. It was filled with a young girl’s dreams for the future: “Having a computer has connected me to a colorful world full of music. Someone praised me. From childhood to adulthood, I have only received pity. Now, finally, someone truly likes me… Uncle Hou, can I email you often? Can you reply to me? I also want to hear about the things adults talk about. Zhu Mei.”

Hou Weidong had not realized that his casual gesture had opened up a wonderful world for little Zhu Mei. Perhaps this event would have a profound impact on her.

He carefully drafted a reply. However, as he began to write, he found it difficult. After all, she was a deaf-mute little girl; what could he possibly talk to her about? After thinking for a long time, he wrote a rambling message of encouragement and shared some trivial anecdotes about Zhu Yan before sending it off.

After emailing Zhu Mei, Hou Weidong sent a brief email to Zhu Yan. The main content was a report on the most important recent events in Yiyang County.

Using email to report work to Zhu Yan was a practice Hou Weidong had maintained for a long time. Whenever he deemed something important, he would promptly report it to Zhu Yan via email. Zhu Yan usually replied once a week. His responses were generally brief, consisting of phrases like “Noted,” “Continue to monitor this,” “The high-tech park is the right direction,” or “Real estate development is feasible.”

Every time he received a reply from Zhu Yan, Hou Weidong felt a special sense of reassurance.

On May 20, Gao Wang arrived at the county government to hold direct talks with County Mayor Ma Youcai. Vice County Mayor Gao, Hou Weidong of the New Management Committee, Zhang Jin, and Zhang Xiangyu attended the symposium.

The negotiations were highly effective. Xiuyun Pharmaceutical Factory signed an intent agreement. The New Management Committee would acquire three hundred mu of land, with construction of the factory buildings scheduled to begin in July and official production to start next year. Since the pharmaceutical factory required a large amount of raw materials, the county convened a meeting with the heads of various towns to assign the task of planting shame grass.

By the end of May, the first installment of construction funds from Xiuyun Pharmaceutical Factory arrived in Yiyang. Seeing the money credited to the account, Hou Weidong finally breathed a sigh of relief.

At the enlarged meeting of the County Party Committee in early June, a divergence of opinion emerged between Yang Senlin and Ma Youcai.

During the discussion session of the “Construction System and Two Zones” group at the enlarged committee meeting, both County Party Secretary Yang Senlin and County Mayor Ma Youcai participated.

Gu Tiejun spoke up: “The employees of the Native Produce Company have strong objections to relocating the factory. Although the current factory buildings are dilapidated, they can resume normal production with minor repairs. Relocating to the New Management Committee would mean building a completely new factory. The employees’ capital contributions are not enough to cover the construction costs, let alone revitalize the enterprise.”

Yang Senlin immediately interrupted: “The Yiyang Native Produce Company operates in a fully competitive sector. National policy encourages the retreat of state-owned capital and the advancement of private enterprise. I support moving the factory to the New Management Committee. The vacated commercial land can be publicly auctioned, and the proceeds can be partially used to help the enterprise build its new factory.”

After Yang Senlin finished speaking, Ma Youcai unexpectedly chimed in: “The Yiyang Native Produce Company has long been insolvent. My opinion is to follow the Company Law and enter bankruptcy proceedings. After bankruptcy, if the enterprise is restructured, it becomes a fundamentally different entity. The government has no obligation to help a joint-stock company build a factory.”

Yang Senlin paused, then quickly smiled. “County Mayor Ma makes a very reasonable point.” He slowed his pace, saying, “The situation of the Native Produce Company is not optimistic. If the government does not step in to help, the company will remain bankrupt forever, with no possibility of restructuring. The banner of Tonggan Ru will fall. How will we resolve the issue of over a thousand employees? I suggest the government must provide financial support.”

Ma Youcai spoke seriously: “The government can consider tax reductions and offer maximum concessions on land in the new urban area. All fees related to factory construction can be waived. My main point is to thoroughly separate government functions from enterprise management. The county finance will no longer make investments in enterprises. If we truly want to help build the factory, the investment must be converted into state-owned shares.”

Seeing the two leaders debating their differing opinions openly in the meeting, the attendees were surprised. Previously, although Zhu Yan and Ma Youcai had been in severe opposition, they had still carefully maintained decorum in such formal settings. Now, Yang and Ma had been cooperating for less than two months, yet they had exposed their differences in front of all their subordinates.

Disagreement between the two main leaders was not a good thing for most bureau directors and bank presidents.

Ma Youcai continued: “After the four amino acid factories in the development zone stopped production and applied for bankruptcy, it turned out to be a shell game. As far as I know, these bosses have bought land in Linjiang County and are preparing to rebrand and continue production. As a result, we will not only fail to collect the annual tax revenue of twenty million yuan, but we will also have to pay over two million yuan to the farmers. If there is no significant change in the second half of the year, we will likely fail to meet our expected targets for GDP and fiscal revenue. We will not be able to account for this to the municipal Party Committee and government, nor to the deputies at the People’s Congress.”

The decision to let the four polluting enterprises go bankrupt had been made on the spot by Yang Senlin without prior consultation with Ma Youcai. When trouble arose, the county government was left to bear the burden. This had happened many times. Ma Youcai was determined to mount an appropriate counterattack at the full committee meeting to prevent Yang Senlin from being too autocratic and putting the county government in a passive position.

Since arriving in Yiyang County, Yang Senlin had always been autocratic, issuing orders and demanding immediate execution from his subordinates. He had not expected that at the first enlarged meeting of the Yiyang County Party Committee, the usually low-profile County Mayor Ma Youcai would suddenly raise objections during the discussion. He scanned the entire hall. Everyone was bowing their heads, diligently taking notes, trying to avoid eye contact with him. Gu Tiejun, who had sparked the controversy, was even more restless, constantly writing in his notebook.

Yang Senlin suppressed his anger, smiled magnanimously, and said, “County Mayor Ma’s opinion is very good. Since this issue has been raised, let’s hand it over to the Planning Commission for careful study and a proper proposal. Let’s put it aside for now and continue with the other speakers.”

The divergence of opinion between Yang and Ma spread like wildfire through the Yiyang officialdom. At this time, Zhu Yan’s mobile phone began to ring incessantly. Vice County Mayor Zeng and others called one after another, deliberately or inadvertently bringing up the matter. Zhu Yan did not judge the issue, saying, “Both leaders have valid points; they are just standing from different perspectives. Hehehe, I have no opinion.”

Hou Weidong firmly remembered Zhu Yan’s instructions: neither to curry favor with Yang Senlin nor to show goodwill to Ma Youcai. He reported and applied for everything according to regular procedures.

The various matters concerning Xiuyun Pharmaceutical Factory were handled by Zhang Xiangyu, Deputy Director of the New Management Committee, who was responsible for liaison and coordination.

Zhang Xiangyu had accompanied Jiang Dali and Gao Wang to Guangdong. He was first shocked by the towering skyscrapers of the big city. He truly felt what it meant to be on the front line of reform and opening up, and he truly felt what it meant to be a country bumpkin. Upon entering Xiuyun Pharmaceutical Factory,

he was shocked again by its modern factory buildings. In his impression, factories were always associated with gloom, clutter, and decay. Yet Xiuyun Pharmaceutical Factory was like a garden, with extremely bright tones.

After the inspection concluded, Gao Wang had his office director take Zhang Xiangyu to Hong Kong. They bought him some gifts, had dinner, and then took him to a bathhouse. He was shocked again by the Japanese women who served him while kneeling. Fortunately, he was young and did not lose face for the men of Yiyang during the encounter.

When he returned from Guangdong to Yiyang, looking at the narrow streets and low-rise buildings, he couldn’t help but sigh: “How can Yiyang County be so backward? The gap is at least fifty years.” He sighed again: “What am I, a deputy director of the New Management Committee? Even with bonuses, I only earn a little over a thousand yuan. Damn, we are so poor.”

With these various complex thoughts, Zhang Xiangyu became exceptionally attentive in his service to Xiuyun Pharmaceutical Factory.