84: Chapter 84 Taiwanese Businessmen Return Home

They not only brought valuable foreign exchange capital but also carried advanced technology and management experience.

As Municipal Party Secretary Guo Zhenhua said, if this opportunity can be properly grasped, it will truly bring earth-shaking changes to Guantian Township.

Li Dakang knew well that these wanderers who had left home for many years often held deep feelings for their homeland.

When many businessmen from Taiwan returned home, seeing every blade of grass and tree in their hometown would stir their emotions, leading them to generously open their purses to support the construction of their hometown.

Just a moment ago, he was still worrying about the funding gap for the school renovation, but now a golden opportunity had fallen from the sky; wasn't the appearance of this Mr. Tie just the timely rain needed to solve an urgent problem?

Thinking of this, a glint flashed in Li Dakang's eyes, and he had already begun to conceive a reception plan in his mind.

He knew that this was not only a good opportunity to attract investment but also a key turning point to solve the educational dilemma in Guantian.

If he could use hometown affection as a bond and move this Mr. Tie with sincerity, perhaps he could secure a brand new future for the children of Guantian Township.

"Uncle Guo, when will he arrive?"

"Tomorrow morning."

Municipal Party Secretary Guo Zhenhua paused: "Li Dakang, this is an opportunity. Vice Governor Lu specifically instructed that we must find a way to get him to invest."

Li Dakang's mouth curled up slightly: "Uncle Guo, don't worry, I guarantee that I will make this Mr. Tie open his wallet willingly."

After hanging up the phone, Li Dakang immediately called Director Su Zhiguo over and gave him a few instructions in a low voice.

After hearing the instructions, Director Su Zhiguo widened his eyes: "Secretary, this... will this work?"

"Whether it works or not, we'll only know after trying."

Li Dakang's eyes flashed with confident light: "You go to Tieshan Village now and prepare according to what I said."

The night grew deeper, and the lights in the Guantian Township Government compound went out one by one, except for the light in the office of the Township Party Committee, which remained on until the early hours of the morning.

...

The morning sun spilled onto the road leading to Guantian Township, and a black bus was driving steadily.

Sitting on the bus were the old man and the young woman who had been at the Mingzhou airport earlier, along with their bodyguards.

The old man was Tie Qichang, and the young woman was his granddaughter, Tie Min.

Inside the bus, Tie Qichang looked at the passing scenery outside the window, his wrinkled hands unconsciously gripping his cane.

In the eyes of this man approaching seventy, there was an undisguisable excitement.

His gaze passed through the window, looking toward the undulating mountains in the distance; those familiar outlines stirred up long-sealed memories.

Forty-eight years; a full forty-eight years.

That cold winter in 1946, the scene of corpses littering the fields in Tieshan Village was still vivid in his mind.

Tie Qichang remembered that he was only eighteen at the time, the last person in his family who could still stand.

To survive, he dragged his weak body out to beg for food, but was forcibly conscripted halfway. Since then, there had been no news of him, and the villagers all thought he had died outside.

Fate played tricks on people; later, Tie Qichang followed his unit and eventually reached Taiwan.

Relying on his exceptional business acumen and catching the good timing of the electronics industry's takeoff, he started from a small electronic parts shop and gradually built his own business empire.

Today, Tie Qichang is one of the giants of the electronics industry in Taiwan, with a net worth of over a billion.

But behind the halo of success was an inescapable nostalgia.

How many nights had Tie Qichang dreamed of the old house in Tieshan Village, dreaming of the old locust tree where he played as a child.

Even though he had started a family and established his career in Taiwan, with children and grandchildren around his knees, this longing grew with each passing day.

"I have waited for this day for too long."

Tie Qichang looked at the scenery rushing past outside the window, his eyes welling up with tears.

When the policy opened up a few years ago, allowing visits to the mainland, he had intended to set off immediately, but had to postpone the trip due to a sudden heart attack.

During the two years he spent recuperating, he worried every moment, fearing that he would never return to this land in his lifetime.

"Grandpa, didn't you say our hometown was very poor?"

Tie Min, who was sitting to the side, pointed out the window in surprise: "But this road is built even better than many places in Taiwan!"

Tie Qichang was stunned upon hearing this and did not answer immediately.

His wrinkled hand tightly gripped his cane; in his memory, Guantian Township was full of muddy dirt roads, low and dilapidated thatched cottages, and sallow, thin fellow villagers.

That cold winter in 1946, it was on such a bumpy little road that he...

"This..."

A trace of bewilderment flashed in Tie Qichang's cloudy eyes, as the scene before him overlapped and separated from the images in his memory.

He subconsciously raised his hand to wipe the bus window, as if to confirm this was not an illusion.

Forty-eight years; had this once barren land actually burst forth with such vitality?

"Yes, the changes are truly great..."

Tie Qichang murmured to himself, his voice somewhat choked with emotion.

At this moment, Xiao Wang from the Anjiang County Government Office, who was sitting in the front row acting as a guide, turned his head and explained enthusiastically: "Old Mr. Tie, this road was only built last year."

"It used to be full of potholes, and driving would take more than two hours of bumping!"

"Oh?" Tie Qichang became interested.

"Who was in charge of building it?"

"It was Li Dakang of Guantian Township."

Xiao Wang's tone was filled with admiration: "He hadn't been in office long before he accomplished this major task. Now Guantian Township is famous throughout the whole county, and it is developing very fast!"