73: The complicated thoughts of the two sisters

"How am I being weird, sister? Didn't I bring him up because I'm thinking of you?"

Seeing her sister's slightly flustered expression, Chen Yuqing spoke again: "Yuxi, something is wrong with you. Do you have feelings for Lin Zifeng? Don't try to lie to me. Don't forget, we sisters grew up together, and you can't fool me."

"Sister, you know just like me, I've grown up without ever having been in a relationship. I've never even held a boy's hand. He is the first man in our lives. Since you've admitted you have feelings for him, how could I be indifferent? The reason I haven't shown it is because I was afraid it would make you uncomfortable. The reason I've been urging you is that if you married him, I would feel better about it. If he were to marry someone else later, I would truly feel upset."

Facing her sister, Chen Yuxi poured out her true feelings. Finally, she hesitated for a moment before telling her sister about her chance encounter with Lin Zifeng earlier.

Hearing her recount the event, Chen Yuqing took her hand and said: "Sister, I feel much the same as you, but I will not marry him. If you have feelings for him, you can try to get to know him. If you end up together in the future, I will sincerely wish you well."

"Sister, I haven't thought about being with him; right now, I just have some feelings for him," Chen Yuxi quickly explained.

"Who can say what will happen in the future? Let nature take its course! What I want to tell you is that if you really do end up with him, don't have any worries or psychological pressure." Chen Yuxi nodded slightly and said nothing more.

"Yuxi, I also want to tell you something else. I've looked at the brochure that Lin Zifeng and his team put together, and it does have some investment value. I plan to have my assistant contact them to get more materials. If it's truly feasible, I will go to the site for an inspection before deciding whether to invest. Would you like to come with me then?"

"Sister, are you planning to help him?"

Chen Yuqing shook her head again. "Yuxi, I am a businesswoman. In business, we talk business; I pursue profit. If his project cannot bring me sufficient profit, I will not invest. There is no question of helping him."

"Oh, then I'll ask my advisor for a few days off and go with you. Summer break is coming up soon anyway, and I'll be a senior in the second half of the year, so I have very few classes left."

The two sisters chatted for a while longer, and then Chen Yuxi returned to her room to sleep. The night passed without incident. The next morning, after Lin Zifeng and the others finished breakfast, they left the hotel together and headed toward the venue for the investment promotion conference.

Because they arrived quite early—it wasn't even eight o'clock yet—and the conference wasn't starting until nine, there was no one else at the venue besides some staff members.

Cao Shuang took the supporting documents issued by Yushu County and negotiated with the staff at the entrance, who finally allowed them to drive their car in.

Seeing the booths on both sides of the event venue, they found that, just as they had expected, they had all been occupied by other units in advance. Unwilling to give up, Cao Shuang found the staff again to negotiate, but the answer remained the same. They had no choice but to set up their promotional display frame and hang their banner in an inconspicuous corner.

After everything was set up, Lin Zifeng smiled and said: "Committee Member Jiang, you'll have to leverage the advantages of being a female Comrade today. Director Hu, you'll take Xiao Liu, Zhongyu, and Li Qiang to hand out the brochures. Town Chief Cao and I will be your assistants, Committee Member Jiang. Director Hu, handing out our brochures on-site probably isn't allowed, so you all need to be discreet and not get caught by the staff."

"Understood, Secretary. Don't worry! We will be careful and definitely won't get kicked out," Hu Yulin quickly replied.

Everyone started laughing. After the laughter died down, Jiang Yufei smiled and said: "Having a Secretary and a Town Chief act as my assistants, I'm a bit flattered!"

"Just as the Secretary said, we need to leverage our respective strengths, right? As long as Committee Member Jiang can achieve some results, let alone acting as your assistant, even if you asked me and the Secretary to be your lackeys, it wouldn't be a big deal," Cao Shuang said cheerfully.

"Town Chief Cao is right. Over the next three days, everything we do must center on investment promotion; everything must be subordinate to this premise."

Time slipped by, and the flow of people at the venue began to increase. Besides the on-site staff, personnel from other units coming to attend the investment promotion conference also arrived one after another.

As it neared nine o'clock, the hundreds of chairs set up in front of the Rostrum were already full. Among these people were officials from various places, as well as many invited Investors.

Soon, a group of people walked onto the Rostrum. The director of the Provincial Development and Reform Commission hosted the meeting, and a representative of the Investors gave a speech. Subsequently, a Vice Governor from the Provincial Level delivered a welcome address and encouraged the various units. When this Vice Governor announced that the investment promotion conference had officially begun, amidst the sound of firecrackers, the conference kicked off.

People began to flock to the booths, and staff from various units were vigorously promoting the advantages of their respective regions in front of their booths. Some Investors, accompanied by assistants and secretaries, stopped at booths that interested them and listened attentively to the staff's presentations.

Bosses interested in a particular project would take the initiative to ask about issues they cared about. For such Investors, dedicated staff would provide detailed explanations. If they saw they had piqued the other party's interest, they would invite them to a conference room provided by the organizers for a detailed discussion. If the other party expressed an intention to invest, they would persuade them to sign a Letter of Intent to Invest.

Everyone else's booths were busy, but Lin Zifeng and his team's booth was desolate because of its remote location and lack of advantages compared to other units. Occasionally, someone would pass by and cast a curious glance at their unique booth, and Jiang Yufei would do her best to introduce their investment promotion project. Lin Zifeng and Cao Shuang would also quickly introduce the preferential policies and describe the prospects for future development. However, once they saw that they were from a remote township, the other party would shake their heads and walk away.

The morning passed quickly. Facing the result of having achieved nothing, the group was a bit dejected, but Lin Zifeng remained high-spirited.