88: Chapter 88 Qiang Ge's Dilemma

The sunset's afterglow spilled through the car window onto the two men. Li Dakang felt a heavy weight on his shoulders; this was not just a donation and investment of 56 million, but the sincere devotion of a wanderer to his homeland.

"Rest assured, Old Tie. I guarantee that every cent of the donation will be used where it is needed most. The township will establish a special supervision group, and the detailed accounts will be publicized monthly."

Li Dakang's voice was resonant and firm: "I will personally supervise the electronics factory project. Regarding land, taxes, and labor, I will certainly provide you with the most favorable policy support."

Tie Qichang's face, covered in age spots, revealed a gratified smile. He patted Li Dakang's hand: "Good, very good. With a public servant like Secretary Li, I can invest my money with peace of mind."

The two immediately agreed to hold the donation ceremony in Guantian Township one week later.

The vehicle slowly drove away, and Tie Qichang's figure gradually faded into the distance, but that deep affection and commitment to his hometown blew through every corner of Guantian Township like a spring breeze!

...

In Anjiang County, there was a restaurant called "Ruyi Pavilion" that was quite prosperous, but the atmosphere in its private room was currently very somber.

Gao Qiqiang sat steadily at the head of the table, surrounded by a few of his capable lieutenants. The table was spread with a sumptuous feast, but no one had the heart to eat, focusing only on discussing their current predicament.

A subordinate was the first to break the silence, saying worriedly: "Brother Qiang, we can't keep going like this! We need to quickly find a way to get some construction projects, otherwise, we'll eat through all our savings, and the brothers won't be able to hold on for much longer."

Another subordinate quickly chimed in: "That's right, Brother Qiang! Aren't you on pretty good terms with that Township Head Li from Guantian Township? Didn't we get those two roads previously thanks to his help?"

"Why don't you go visit Township Head Li and ask him to give us some more work?"

Someone nearby suddenly interjected: "Hey, hey, hey, don't shout nonsense! He's already been promoted to Secretary, so from now on, you have to call him Secretary Li."

The subordinate who had spoken earlier opened his mouth wide in surprise: "What? He got promoted to Secretary that quickly?"

"I've never even heard of someone so young becoming a Township Party Committee Secretary."

As he said this, the subordinate suddenly lowered his voice: "Do you guys think this Secretary Li might be the illegitimate son of some big leader from above?"

The private room erupted in laughter, but the laughter soon came to an abrupt halt. Everyone looked at Gao Qiqiang, who had been silent the whole time, waiting for him to make a decision.

Gao Qiqiang suppressed his irritation and retorted grumpily: "If I had a good solution, would I need you guys to tell me?"

Having said that, he picked up his wine glass and drained it in one gulp, then slammed the glass heavily onto the table.

At this moment, Gao Qiqiang had bitterness in his heart that he couldn't express.

After listening to Li Dakang's advice last time, he had decisively established a construction company and specifically gave it the impressive-sounding name "Qiangsheng Group".

Not only that, he spent a large sum of money to rent an imposing office building in the center of the county; anyone who didn't know better would probably think this was one of the nation's top 500 enterprises.

In reality, it was just a small county-level construction company with only about a hundred people under its command.

Initially, by undertaking the construction projects for those two roads in Guantian Township, Gao Qiqiang had made a small fortune.

Moreover, because the construction quality far exceeded expectations, Li Dakang was quite satisfied at the time and even explicitly said, "In the future, if Guantian Township has similar engineering projects, I will prioritize giving them to you to undertake."

At that time, Gao Qiqiang was overjoyed, thinking he had finally latched onto a powerful backer and would no longer have to worry about the source of his projects.

But who could have predicted that since then, there had been no movement from Guantian Township, and no new engineering projects had been launched.

Gao Qiqiang secretly speculated whether it was because he hadn't slipped Li Dakang any kickbacks the first two times, making the other party unwilling to give him more projects?

Just as he was pondering whether to prepare some valuable gifts and pay a visit to sound him out, he never expected that his cousin-in-law, the former Guantian Township People's Congress Chairman, Chairman Shen Dawei, would be suddenly transferred away.

This news was nothing short of a bolt from the blue for Gao Qiqiang!

After all, his cousin-in-law, Chairman Shen Dawei, could at least help him out to some extent relying on his position and connections. Now that this relationship was gone, how would Li Dakang still treat him as he did before?

Furthermore, several new leaders had just arrived in Guantian Township, each with their own network of relationships to look after. It was likely that future engineering projects in Guantian Township would be completely out of reach for his Qiangsheng Group.

Thinking of this, Gao Qiqiang felt as if a thousand-pound boulder was pressing on his heart, making it hard to breathe, and his mood grew increasingly bitter and agitated.

Just as Gao Qiqiang was sinking deep into his worries, a burst of urgent ringing suddenly sounded, instantly tearing through the heavy atmosphere in the room.

It turned out to be that brick phone he had gritted his teeth to buy just to keep up appearances, which was now ringing shrilly and inopportunely.

Gao Qiqiang frowned and, very reluctantly, pulled himself out of his deep thoughts, his gaze falling on the flashing brick phone on the table.

After hesitating for a few seconds, he finally picked up the receiver, signaled for everyone to be quiet, and pressed the answer button.

"Hello, this is Li Dakang. Where are you living it up, Boss Gao?"

A low, magnetic voice came from the other end of the line.

"Secretary Li!?"

This name gave Gao Qiqiang a sudden jolt. He unconsciously straightened up and hurriedly replied respectfully: "Hello, Secretary Li, do you have any instructions?"

"Hehe, I wouldn't call them instructions."

Li Dakang's tone was unhurried but carried an unquestionable authority: "Boss Gao, if it's convenient, could you come to my office tomorrow morning? There are some things I'd like to discuss with you."