Reborn as a Noble's Son

At this moment, Yi Jun felt a sense of joy in his heart. These days, all officials throughout the city were frustrated but dared not speak out. Furthermore, Zhou Chen was the acting Mayor, and his approval of expenses would be recognized by others. However, these bad debts would ultimately have to be paid by the city’s finance department. Xin Li Hotel was a different story because it was, after all, a business unit directly under the jurisdiction of the Xinli City Municipal Committee and Government. However, the situation with the Millionaire Hotel was different. Zhou Chen’s position as the Deputy Secretary of the Xinli City Municipal Committee and Acting Mayor meant that his expenses should be recognized. Others wouldn’t care about how they managed their internal affairs. As long as the bill was there, the Xinli City Municipal Committee and Government would have to acknowledge it, they would have to pay for it.

However, the bill signed by Zhou Chen left every leader of the municipal committee dumbfounded. In this year alone, Xinli City had received at least a hundred inspection teams. If all were treated to the same standard, it would lead to expenditures exceeding ten million. Even if Xin Li were wealthier, it couldn’t afford such extravagance.

As Yi Jun walked to his outer office to call Zhou Chen, Nie Zhenbang was carefully examining the expenses. At Xin Li Hotel alone, the cost of accommodation for three days was 18,000 yuan. Twenty people presumably rented luxury single rooms for 300 yuan each. They were not special leaders, just an inspection team from a brother city. Was such grandeur necessary?

Moreover, there was an expenditure of 49,000 yuan. Breakfast should practically be negligible. Over three days, a total of six lunches and dinners would have been served. Even if we include the Xinli city officials, and exaggerate a bit and calculate it at four tables, there would have been twenty-four tables in total over three days. On average, each table cost two thousand yuan. With ten people at a table, the average cost per person per meal was two hundred yuan. This was ten times higher than the official hospitality standard set by Nie Zhenbang.

Now, let’s look at the expenses at the Millionaire Hotel. On the night the inspection team arrived, three large boxes were opened in the KTV of the hotel. In that one night, the cost of drinks and room charges amounted to more than 36,000 yuan. It was even more lavish the night before,with nearly 50,000 yuan spent. What did they eat? What did they drink?

Nie Zhenbang was well aware of Zhu Lufeng’s Millionaire Hotel. Although Zhu Lufeng was a businessman with a sense of social responsibility, there were hostesses in the Millionaire Hotel. A bottle of foreign wine, which would cost a few thousand yuan elsewhere, probably costs tens of thousands in the Millionaire Hotel.

According to this estimate, tonight’s expenses would probably add tens of thousands to Nie Zhenbang’s bill. Thinking of this, Nie Zhenbang picked up the phone and dialed Zhu Lufeng’s cell phone.

After two beeps, Zhu Lufeng’s voice came across the line: “Secretary Nie, hello. Does the leader have any instructions?”

This confirmed Zhu Lufeng was not part of the system. At this moment, Nie Zhenbang didn’t care about that and went on to say, “Mr. Zhu, there’s a matter I need to discuss with you. If Acting Mayor Zhou Chen of our Xinli City comes to the Millionaire Hotel for consumption tonight, please ask them to pay in cash. l won’t recognize tonight’s consumption.”

Upon hearing Nie Zhenbang’s words, Zhu Lufeng stopped short. These few days, the Xinli city government had spent large amounts continuously. Zhu Lufeng had noticed since the party officials in Xinli City had never been so generous before. Zhou Chen’s lavish spending was bound to attract Zhu Lufeng’s attention.

At this moment, hearing Nie Zhenbang’s words, Zhu Lufeng responded with consternation, “Secretary Nie, I’m afraid it may be too late. This afternoon, Mayor Zhou called and booked three rooms. It wouldn’t be right for me to refuse.”

As expected, Nie Zhenbang hung up the phone. Yi Jun also walked in, with an embarrassed expression on his face, “Secretary Nie, I just called Zhou Chen’s secretary, Zhou Wang. He said that Zhou Chen is holding a seminar with the inspection team members at the Xinli Hotel and doesn’t have time to come over. He also said, he also said…”.

Looking at Yi Jun stumbling over his words, Nie Zhenbang’s eyebrows twitched, his voice low, “What else did he say, Xiaoyi? Why are you being so coy?”.

Seeing Yi Jun’s expression, Nie Zhenbang knew that there wouldn’t be any good news from Zhou Chen’s side. At this point, after being berated by Nie Zhenbang, Yi Jun blurted out, “Zhou Wang said that Zhou Chen is busy and if Secretary Nie has anything to speak about, he can go to Xin Li Hotel to find him.”

Upon hearing this, Nie Zhenbang was furious. Zhou Chen’s intention was clear—he was pulling rank. What is a secretary? They are the puppet and the mouthpiece of their leader. If Zhou Chen didn’t instigate it, there was no way Zhou Wang would dare to say something like this on his own.

The Secretary and the Mayor, on the surface, were of equal rank. However, the unwritten rule in Huaxia was that the Party commands everything. In terms of party posts, Nie Zhenbang was the Secretary, and Zhou Chen was the Deputy Secretary. It was natural for the Secretary to call the Deputy Secretary to his office to talk, but for the Secretary to seek out the Deputy Secretary, it would have been out of humility, being down-to-earth, and respectful. Generally speaking, what Zhou Chen did was almost unheard of within the system.

After a moment of contemplation, Nie Zhenbang stood up and said in a deep voice, “Xiaoyi, prepare the car. We’re going to Xin Li Hotel.”

Nie Zhenbang’s car drove directly into the courtyard of Xin Li Hotel. At this point, the security guard at the entrance had already greeted them and respectfully opened the car door, offering a standard salute.

Zhou Chen, the General Manager of Xin Li Hotel and Chief of the Reception Office of Xinli City Municipal Committee, also learned this approach from Millionaire Hotel.

Once implemented, the classiness was immediately apparent, and the level was elevated. Nie Zhenbang marched straight into the hotel lobby, where Liu Zhifang had already arrived upon hearing the news.

The moment Nie Zhenbang saw Liu Zhifang, he snapped angrily: “Director Liu, what is going on? Don’t you know the public reception regulations of the Municipal Committee and Government? There’s a per person per meal limit of twenty yuan. Anything over this limit is to be rejected. What kind of Director are you to allow us to exceed the limit by tenfold?”

Listening to Nie Zhenbang’s words, Liu Zhifang was a bit frightened. In the past, Secretary Nie would always address him cheerily as Manager Liu. This tone indicated that Nie Zhenbang was furious.

At that moment, Liu Zhifang felt quite wronged. As nothing more than a Reception Director, pleasant words would mark him as a popular figure of the Municipal Committee and Government, frequently meeting leaders and even higher-ranking authorities. However, he knew well his position. Everything was fine when the Committee was peaceful, but now he was sandwiched in a tricky situation, damned if he did and damned if he didn’t.

Nie Zhenbang snorted coldly and headed upstairs. Inside the conference room on the fourth floor of Xin Li Hotel, Zhou Chen was cheerfully introducing the economic situation of Xinli City: “Our Xinli City, in the Economic and Technological Development Zone, focuses on high-tech industries. With a firm grounding in high technology, we provide support and attract high-value enterprises. We estimate that Xinli City will participate once again in the spring Canton Fair. Preliminary estimates show inflow of over 30 billion yuan and we have already launched fifty investment attraction projects…”

Unable to endure Zhou Chen’s words any longer, Nie Zhenbang interrupted. Though it was confirmed that they would participate in this year’s Canton Fair, the units and projects to be introduced this time were different from last year. This year, Xinli City primarily aimed to attract businesses focused on deep processing and farming of agricultural products. Nie Zhenbang didn’t care about the specific inflow of funds, the key was that it must suit Xinli City’s development.

However, in Zhou Chen’s mouth, it was high tech and high value. 30 billion. Was he sure it wasn’t in yen? Introducing an experience like this could harm people, it would be disastrous if others actually followed Zhou Chen’s introduction. Given the location environment of the Northwest Region, bringing in even 300,000 was doubtful, let alone 30 billion.

Putting aside the issue of excessive reception expenses, out of responsibility to colleagues from other counties and cities, it was time for Nie Zhenbang to step in. Without considering too much, he pushed open the door of the conference room.

At that moment, Zhou Chen was seated in the chief place in the conference room. To one side were the inspection groups from other counties and cities, and to the other side were Deputy Director of the Development Zone Management Committee Gao Yuanshan, Director of the Construction Bureau Xiong Jianming, Director of the Health Bureau Huang Wenbiao. Middle-level cadres from the Development Zone, Construction Bureau, and Health Bureau were all seated by the side.

Seeing Nie Zhenbang come in, a smirk of satisfaction appeared on Zhou Chen’s face: so Nie Zhenbang, who asked me to meet him, has unexpectedly come to me.

Immediately, Zhou Chen also stood, adopting a victorious posture as he announced: “Secretary Nie is here. Have a seat, hear how it’s going?”

Nie Zhenbang was thoroughly incensed. Looking at Zhou Chen, he growled, “Comrade Zhou Chen, what other tricks are you playing? Do your inspection speeches and summaries really benefit our comrades from the other counties and cities?”

Nie Zhenbang’s tone was bad, and his voice rang out louder. The meeting room fell silent. It was not uncommon for a Secretary and a Mayor to be at odds, but such a confrontation by Nie Zhenbang was a first.

Without waiting for Zhou Chen to speak, Nie Zhenbang turned back to the others: “My apologies, comrades. The experience of our New Pear City Development Zone is very simple: we focus on our own resources and industries while fully considering local sustainable development plans. We don’t indulge in empty pursuits or chase high technology or efficiency. We only choose the enterprise development that suits us. That’s how our investment attraction effort can grow and strengthen. My apologies, tomorrow I will arrange for Yan, the Director of the Development Zone Management Committee, to personally introduce our Development Zone experience to you.”

Having said that, Nie Zhenbang turned to face Zhou Chen, slamming a stack of documents on the table with a bang, shouting, “Zhou Chen, let’s discuss the issue of reception expenses. According to public reception standards and regulations in Lixian County from last year, the limit was twenty yuan per person per meal. According to your bill, we are at least ten times over the limit. Also, what’s the story with the KTV box charges at the Millionaire Hotel?”

Losing his composure, Zhou Chen attempted to laugh it off, mumbling, “Secretary Nie, what do you mean by this? As the mayor, don’t I have this little power?”

As soon as the words fell, Zhou Chen did not expect Nie Zhenbang to suddenly rush forward. Ni Zhenbang grabbed Zhou Chen’s collar, and with a smack, slapped Zhou Chen’s face.