Power and Wealth - Chapter 1879

"How are you speaking?"

"What attitude is this from you, Jiaolin County?"

"Reimbursement should go through our City government office."

The people from the City government office immediately shouted in anger.

Every word from Jiaolin County made Deputy Director Niu and the people from the City government office furious. This was too disrespectful to them and to the foreign guests. They had the audacity to slap the meal bill on their table and demand that they reimburse it, equivalent to publicly slapping them in the face. Never before had they heard of a county handing a restaurant bill to the city to reimburse, especially putting it right before Deputy Director Niu. It was unheard of.

Deputy Director Niu threw the bill on the ground, pointed at them, and said, "So this is how Jiaolin County works, huh? Very good."

Another City government office official angrily said, "Reimbursement? Do you think we’ll reimburse this?"

Meng Hanmei looked at them and said, "Director Dong said that we can’t go through the county’s accounts for this bill. Otherwise, it might appear that Jiaolin County is spending public funds on meals. Director Dong said we couldn’t take that responsibility, so Director Dong personally covered it when we paid. Seven tables, a total of 13,000 RMB." She bent down, picked up the receipt, and threw it at a staff member from the City government office. "So keep the receipt. I’m just passing on Director Dong’s instructions. If there’s nothing else, I’ll leave."

"You—"

"This is too much!"

"Do you have any sense of the bigger picture?"

The City government office staff was enraged, each of them scolding.

Deputy Director Niu suddenly nodded. "Okay, Jiaolin County, you’ve got quite the attitude. If I can’t invite you, I don’t need you anymore." He turned and angrily ordered his subordinate, Xiao Zhang, to contact the hotel, get the best rooms, and arrange accommodations for the foreign guests. Everyone is tired; go now."

His subordinate immediately replied, "Yes."

He and another person quickly left in a car.

The translator for the foreign guests looked displeased. "What’s going on?"

"A small issue, I’ll handle it," Deputy Director Niu said with a dark expression. "Apologies for the trouble. But don’t worry, I’ll make sure the foreign guests are taken care of."

To the city officials and staff, Deputy Director Niu was utterly dismissive. But when it came to the foreign guests, his attitude was completely different. Even though it was the foreign guests who had reneged on their promises and the failure of his staff that had caused this situation, Deputy Director Niu didn’t apologize to the Jiaolin County officials. Instead, he criticized them for the situation, playing the victim. But to the foreign guests, he repeatedly apologized.

It was utterly reversed.

And it made people uncomfortable.

At least the people from Jiaolin County increasingly felt that Deputy Director Niu’s attitude was a serious problem. He acted like a lackey for the foreigners.

Which side are you on?

Who exactly are you standing with?

There’s nothing wrong with hosting foreign guests or being enthusiastic with them. But the problem is, just because you’re hosting foreign guests doesn’t mean we should be their subordinates. We’re all human beings with two shoulders and one head. We all eat and drink the same, so why should foreigners be treated as superior? Deputy Director Niu’s attitude made the people of Jiaolin County feel disgusted and uncomfortable.

The translator explained the situation to the British guests, which sparked some discussions and protests among them. They were all quite unhappy and started to show their displeasure.

Deputy Director Niu glanced over and realized he couldn’t be bothered with the Jiaolin County people anymore. He ignored them and quickly went over to explain the situation to the foreigners with a very polite tone.

Meng Hanmei turned and said, “County Mayor Zhang, Secretary Wei.”

Zhang Dongfang’s eyes grew cold, “The reception is over. Let’s go back.”

Wei Zhixuan snorted coldly towards Deputy Director Niu’s direction and signaled for his subordinates to leave.

Both were older men, with Zhang Dongfang being more senior than Deputy Director Niu. Zhang Dongfang also outranked Niu, so there was no way he would continue to listen to Niu berate them. No matter how good his temper was, he couldn’t even tolerate it. ŖÁŊöΒΕS

In the blink of an eye, the people from Jiaolin County were all in the cars and ready to leave.

As soon as they got into the car, Zhang Dongfang turned to Meng Hanmei and said, “Notify Director Dong, let him know what happened here so he can prepare. This could escalate, and we need him to be aware. I don’t think this is our fault, but the county government and committee need to unite on this. Tell Dong Xuebing as soon as possible so he’s not caught off guard by the city government’s version of events, especially after seeing Niu’s attitude. He’ll add fuel to the fire when reporting back.”

Indeed, Zhang Dongfang didn’t like Dong Xuebing—there was an inherent conflict between the county party secretary and the mayor. But even though Zhang Dongfang didn’t like him, he still acknowledged Dong Xuebing’s work ability and the leadership qualities he showed when he saved people and acted decisively for the people’s benefit. Zhang Dongfang recognized that Dong Xuebing was always considering the county and its citizens, and his principles were solid.

However, for Deputy Director Niu, Zhang Dongfang couldn’t stand him. A deputy division-level official from the city had no right to act like that on Jiaolin County’s turf, lecturing and criticizing them. Who did Niu think he was? Zhang Dongfang and Wei Zhixuan agreed with Dong Xuebing’s criticism earlier on the phone—they both felt that this kind of sycophantic, foreign-worshipping attitude from officials was despicable.

The foreigners are your parents?

The foreigners are your masters?

You’ve lost all principles, all sense of right and wrong. You treat them like servants, and they don’t even take you seriously. How do you think that looks? It’s not funny to us.

If you enjoy that kind of behavior, go ahead and indulge, but we’re leaving.

Everyone from Jiaolin County had left within minutes, and not a single person stayed behind.

Meng Hanmei’s phone call got through: “Director Dong, we’ve just left the restaurant. The guests were received, but there were some issues. County Mayor Zhang asked me to let you know about it immediately. Here’s what happened...” Meng Hanmei recounted everything truthfully to Dong Xuebing, describing the developments and their reactions objectively without exaggerating.

“Okay, got it,” Dong Xuebing responded calmly.

Meng Hanmei coughed lightly and asked, “What do you think we should do about this?”

Dong Xuebing said, “Everyone go back and get some rest. Tomorrow, do what you need to do. There’s no need to make a big deal out of this.” After that, the phone call ended.

Meng Hanmei put away her phone and blinked.

Zhang Dongfang asked, “What did Director Dong say?”

Meng Hanmei said, "The Secretary said that everyone should just go back to work tomorrow and do whatever they need to do."

Hearing this, Zhang Dongfang immediately understood Dong Xuebing’s stance and grunted, "Alright, let’s do that."

Dong Xuebing’s point was clear: there was no need to care about the city officials or the foreign guests anymore. Let them do whatever they want. Zhang Dongfang shared the same sentiment; he wasn’t interested in catering to them.

It was past 9 o’clock.

At the County Party Committee staff quarters.

Dong Xuebing sat on the terrace, smoking a cigarette as he reflected on his earlier phone conversation. A cold smirk appeared on his face. The foreign guests had arrived late without even offering an apology, and they showed no remorse. After criticizing the people of Jiaolin County, they said they hadn’t learned any lesson upon their arrival. He had scolded them a bit to clarify that they shouldn’t go too far, but they kept acting up in his county. Did they think he was air?

After thinking this over, he picked up his phone and called his secretary, Su Yan. "Xiao Su, you’re at the staff quarters, right?"

"Yes, Secretary. I moved in two days ago," Su Yan replied. He was now a full department-level official, unmarried, living in a one-bedroom apartment at the staff quarters. Although, as the secretary to the county party secretary, he could have gotten a two-bedroom or even a three-bedroom, he declined the offer. He felt it would be inappropriate to accept special treatment, so he chose to live modestly like everyone else.

Dong Xuebing said, "Come to my place right now. I have something for you to do."

"I’ll be right there." Just two minutes later, Su Yan arrived, panting, and knocked on the door.

Dong Xuebing invited him to sit. "How many good hotels do we have in the county?"

"Good hotels?" Su Yan hesitated before answering, "Probably three decent ones."

"How about the more presentable ones? How many are there in total?" Dong Xuebing asked.

Su Yan thought for a moment. He had done similar work arranging hotels for leaders, so he was familiar with the situation. "There are a few more, about six or seven. The rest are motels and smaller hotels, older and less impressive."

Dong Xuebing nodded and pulled out a bank card from his wallet. "Okay, here’s a task for you. I want you to visit these six or seven hotels with my driver immediately. You may not have time to go in person, so call them on the way. Tell them to stop accepting reservations. Book all the vacant rooms, from standard to business and presidential suites, in all six or seven hotels. I want every available room booked today."

Su Yan was stunned, "What?"

Dong Xuebing threw the card to him. "This card has 500,000. That should be enough. Call the hotel managers first and notify them. Then, settle the bill using my name. Don’t worry about anything else; just do as I said. Hurry up and move as quickly as you can."

Su Yan took the card, confused and blinking in disbelief. He quickly stood up and said, "Okay, I’ll go take care of it now." His hands were even shaking. He still had no idea what was going on.

So many hotel rooms, all reserved?

Sweat beaded on his forehead. What was the Secretary planning? Was he going to make sure no room would be left for those foreigners and city officials?

Thinking about this possibility, Su Yan wiped the sweat off his brow. "Damn, this is too ruthless."