The good news brought by the director of the fertilizer plant, Zhou Jinmin, seemed to have injected a dose of stimulant into Liu Chengyin.

    In the spring of 1990, Chu County welcomed its first joint venture project worth over ten million dollars among the county’s key state-owned enterprises. This undoubtedly added strong impetus to the rapid development of the county’s industrial economy in the new year.

    True, ever since Liu Chengyin was transferred from Qingjiang to Chu County, he had been racking his brains over the industrial development of Chu County. He understood that without boosting the industrial economy in this agricultural county with a population of over a million, there would be no significant changes in the economic outlook, and the overall economic development would not flourish.

    Therefore, in addition to leading the township economic work meetings in 45 rural districts, he also emphasized the meetings of key backbone enterprises and key projects at the county level, asking the factory directors of the county level enterprises to report plans, schedule projects, and then select the enterprise leaders who were both representative and reached a certain scale for new projects to make a statement at the county industrial economic conference. In this way, Liu Chengyin wanted to push the factory directors of key county enterprises forward and fulfill their promises. However, in the past year or two, the results had not been at all negative, but there was a lack of influential major projects such as the “Heigao Marsh Development” that emerged in the great hall of rural economic work.

    Now things were different. For two years, Liu Chengyin had been secretly anxious about the lack of progress in industrial and economic development in Chu County. Finally, someone broke the stalemate and made a breakthrough with a major project, and it was a foreign investment project worth millions of dollars. This was a historic first for Chu County, and as the Secretary of the County Party Committee, how could Liu Chengyin not be excited? Speaking privately, since the Provincial and Municipal Committees praised him and made him a model of clean and honest leadership, he had become a key target for organizational training and a potential future leader of the Municipal Party Committee.

    These years were crucial for Liu Chengyin. He had demonstrated strong political qualities, a clean governance record, and achieved new results in rural economy and urban construction during his tenure. If he could also make new breakthroughs in the challenging area of industrial economy, it would undoubtedly be the icing on the cake for Liu Chengyin.

    In the reception room of the county-level backbone enterprise, the fertilizer plant, the county party secretary Liu Chengyin received the American representative of the newly established urea joint venture project, Mr. Jia Huaren, chairman of the Chinese Business Association in a certain city in the United States. In Liu Chengyin’s eyes, although Mr. Jia Huaren looked no different from a Chinese person, with his yellow skin and black hair, he had been living in the United States for a long time, and his manner, speech, and attire were absolutely tasteful and top- notch. Such a gentleman couldn’t be found in Chu County.

    During his conversation with Mr. Jia, Liu Chengyin found that Mr. Jia had a strong “dragon” plot. Despite obtaining the American citizenship, Mr. Jia never forgot his roots in China. The blood of the Chinese still flowed through his veins. He wanted to do something beneficial for China in his lifetime and serve his country.

    When Mr. Jia uttered the character “motherland” with a western accent, he immediately said “sorry”, saying that he no longer had the right to call China his motherland. He shrugged and looked extremely helpless after saying that.

    “It’s okay, Mr. Jia. We are very happy and proud to have patriotic overseas Chinese like you. I believe that many Chinese people, like us, still hope that you will consider China as your homeland.” Liu Chengyin took the initiative to shake hands with Mr. Jia and held on tightly.

    “Thank you, thank you! I am really excited and touched. As a government official, Secretary Liu’s emotional words have really touched my heart.” Mr. Jia, who was originally sitting with one leg crossed over the other in a very stylish manner,stood up from the sofa and unexpectedly bowed to Liu Chengyin as a gesture of respect.

    “Mr. Jia, there’s no need for excessive courtesy.” Liucheng Yin never expected a Chinese-American to be so familiar with the traditional Chinese etiquette. He quickly stood up, saying sincerely, “The county committee and government will fully support your joint venture project with the fertilizer plant, striving to sign the agreement, start construction, and achieve results as soon as possible.”

    “If that is the case, I would feel deeply honored and grateful!” Jia Huaren shook hands tightly with the county party secretary Liu Chengyin once again.

    Zhou Jinmin was originally a prominent figure in Chu county, as he managed a large enterprise with thousands of employees and an annual output value of millions yuan. It was hard not to be arrogant if constantly surrounded by admirable mouths. At a small gathering of influential figures in Chu county, the leading actress of the county Huai Opera troupe, Tang Qiaoqiao, set her soulful sights on him. After a few toasts, Tang Qiaoqiao’s eyes were full of affection and her admiration for him was evident.

    Zhou Jinmin, with a height of 1.75 metres, was handsome and charming, often wearing a pair of sunglasses on his nose, which gave a look similar to Du Qiu from the Japanese TV drama “Chasing”. As the saying goes, heroes were fond of beauties, and Zhou was no exception. When he saw Tang sending him coy glances, he was effusive.

    There was a saying completely wrong in Zhou Jinmin’s view——the Golden Apple. How could women be troublemakers? Based on the current situation of Director Zhou, it was more accurate to say that women are angels.

    Ever since he started dating the lead actress Tang Qiaoqiao from the county Huai Opera troupe, not only Zhou Jinmin’s life became very moistened, but it brought him goodluck in a short period of time, truly a great fortune.

    Tang Qiaoqiao had a cousin working in Shanghai who introduced her to an American boss. He wanted to take advantage of the hot trend of the attracting foreign investment and cooperation in China, and invested in small projects in Chu City, a county with relatively scarce foreign investment.

    Tang Qiaoqiao was just a Huaiju opera performer and knew nothing about  foreign investment projects. She asked her cousin, “How much money does the  American boss plan to invest?” Her cousin replied, “Ten million US dollars.” “Wow, ten million US dollars, that’s several tens of millions of Chinese yuan! Is this considered a small investment?” It seemed that this American boss had really humbly tamed it.

    Although Tang Qiaoqiao might not understand foreign investment projects, she still had a general impression of the exchange rate between the Chinese Yuan and US Dollar. When her cousin casually mentioned a sum of 10 million US dollars, it really shocked her. “You really haven’t seen the world. Nowadays, in Shanghai, a foreign investment project often involves billions.” He continued to enlighten his ignorant cousin.

    “Billions of Chinese Yuan?” Tang Qiaoqiao made a common mistake in front of her cousin. If it was a foreign investment project, of course, the US dollar should be used as the statistical unit. Because the US dollar was an international currency, while the Chinese Yuan was not, it should not be used as a statistical unit.

    “Silly  sister,  of course not, it’s  over a billion US  dollars,”  said the knowledgeable cousin jokingly in Cantonese, looking at his dumbfounded cousin. He continued to explain to her that the reason this American boss chose a small county town like Chu County was to obtain favorable conditions and high attention from the local government. Such an investment amount would be impossible to attract attention in Shanghai. However, in a small county like Chu County, the local leaders would naturally pay attention and give it importance.

    Now, the problem was to find a cooperating enterprise, and you needed to first beat down the factory director on board. And then everything else could be discussed for the joint cooperation, and the benefits would be significant if the project was successful. He extended his right hand, rubbing his thumb, index finger, and middle finger together in a gesture of counting money. As he spoke, Tang Qiaoqiao’s eyes were filled with hundred-dollar bills, and they were all in US dollars, flying toward her heart.

    After accepting such an important task from her cousin, Tang Qiaocao searched for the potential business partners among the entrepreneurs in the whole county.

    During this process, she had her own “little idea”——she must find someone handsome and with charisma; otherwise, she would be at a disadvantage. Being an actress, Tang Qiaoqiao still believed that wise man and pretty girl were important factors in this kind of matter. This thought of hers was quite cute.

    It could be said that Tang Qiaoqiao’s search was quite smooth. In fact, in a small place like Chu City, it was rare to have a beauty like her who looked good, and talented in singing and dancing——not an easy target.

    Although Chu County was known for raising beauties, with Tang’s figure, appearance, talent, and insight, she was still a rare woman in Chu City. With her beauty, it was hard for any man to resist her advances, unless he was a reincarnation of Liu Xiahui,resisting her temptation and avoiding her moral corruption.

    However,  even if it were Liu Xiaohui himself, living in the  current environment, and being influenced by it, it would be difficult to resist the beauties like Tang Qiaoqiao. What he heard and saw was either a certain CEO, keeping many mistresses, fighting for favor and profit resulting in a widely-known scandal; or a certain leader using the new “MBA” theory to scientifically and systematically manage his mistresses, but due to a lack of proficiency in the theory the management system failed, and Zhang and Li’s mistresses collided, causing a complete mess and naturally being exposed; or a certain celebrity formulating a “third five-year action plan” and planning to complete the grand goal of having sex with a thousand beautiful women in 15 years. He insisted that he had scientifically calculated that he could choose a beautiful woman in a week, and for a celebrity like him, with beautiful women around him, completing such a goal would be a piece of cake.

    Zhou Jinmin was not Liu Xiaohui. When Tang seduced, he immediately agreed. Within a few days, Director Zhou was seen attending private events with Tang Qiaoqiao. In the eyes of their friends, Tang was a petite and lovely beauty, causing envy all around. Unfortunately, Chu City could not find another Tang Qiaoqiao.

    When the time was ripe, Tang notified her cousin of her progress in returning to Chu County and informed him that she had successfully dealt with the chemical plant director Zhou Jinmin.

    Naturally, her cousin expressed approval and satisfaction that Tang was able to quickly choose a target, and instructed her to seize an appropriate opportunity to present the “million-dollar urea joint venture project.” When the big American boss appeared, she could wait to collect a generous reward, forget not, that was in US dollars. The clever Tang Qiaoqiao naturally understood the “appropriate” meaning of her cousin’s “appropriate opportunity.” So, while enjoying intimate moments with Zhou Jinmin at a certain hotel, she told him the good news.

    This great news made Zhou Jinmin excited instantly, “My sweetheart, you are truly an angel, sent by God to my side. If you can successfully negotiate this urea project for me, I am willing to marry you.” Zhou Jinmin, who was naked, was still rogering her. Upon this news, he became even more energetic, and his genitals became even more erect as he thrust back and forth, causing Tang Qiaoqiao to moan underneath him, “Who wants to be your wife? If you have the ability, stop fuckings now.”

    “What a little slut; do you think you’re invincible? I don’t believe it at all!” Zhou Jinmin, who was carried away by his emotions, started to use foul language.

    The signing ceremony of the $10 million joint venture urea project in Chu County fertilizer plant was held in the county government hall. The meeting was chaired by County Magistrate Gou Daosheng, and Deputy County Magistrate Zhu Rui congratulated the signing of the $10 million urea project on behalf of the county party committee and government. After Gou Daosheng was officially elected as County Magistrate by the County People’s Congress, Liu Chengyin went to the Municipal Party Committee Organization Department several times and strived for the personnel arrangement of letting Zhu Rui enter the standing committee and serve as the executive vice magistrate. This made Zhu Rui feel grateful to the young Secretary Liu.

    There was a detail needed to be mentioned. Initially, Zhu Rui was very bitter  about not being able to join the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during her  university years. However, she was fortunate enough to be selected as a “non-party  female cadre” and was sent to work in Chu County because she was a “non-party.” She had tasted the sweetness of being “non-party” and wanted to continue in that  capacity. Later, an old comrade who cared about her reminded her that she was still  young and couldn’t just settle for being a “Deputy Director.” She still needed to join  the party. We didn’t believe in the notion of “joining the party to gain power”, but  clearly, not joining the party would make it difficult to serve as a better “official” of the Communist Party. Ultimately, this “official” was a “servant of the people” who  was there to better serve the people. After being educated on this matter, Zhu Rui  was deeply moved and voluntarily submitted her application to join the party. The  result was self-evident. The party’s doors were always wide open for outstanding  female comrades like Zhu Rui.

    After an address by the Standing Deputy County Magistrate Zhu Rui, the director of the fertilizer plant, Zhou Jinmin, along with the representatives from the joint venture and Mr. Jia Huaren, a Chinese-American, officially signed the contract. Outside the hall, firecrackers sounded in unison and the prepared waist-drum team beat out a cheerful rhythm with “dong dong dong dong.” The dragon dance team rolled up and down with the beat, and two golden dragons danced joyfully at the entrance of the hall.

    After a lively and bustling moment, Mr. Jia Huaren, on behalf of the American joint venture, gave a speech of thanks, expressing gratitude to the Chu County Committee and County Government for their attention and support for this project, thanking the sincere cooperation and trust of Mr. Zhou Jinmin, the plant manager of the fertilizer plant. The American side will work wholeheartedly with Mr. Zhou to strive for the early implementation and production of the project and make contributions to the development of the industrial economy of Chu County.

    The final agenda was presented by Liu Chengyin, the Secretary of the Chu County Committee, on behalf of the million people of the county. He awarded Mr. Jia Huaren, the representative of the United States, with the “Honorary Citizen of Chu County” certificate and presented a symbolic golden key.

    As Mr. Jia excitedly raised his certificate and golden key, the auditorium erupted into a long round of applause. This applause made Liu Chengyin feel sentimental. This auditorium had almost become a testament to his achievements in Chu County. Every success seemed to be born here. In his mind, he wondered what the next success would be. He was confident that he would showcase his success in this very auditorium once again.

    However, things didn’t go as planned. He could never have imagined that after today, he would have fewer opportunities to sit on the podium as the county party secretary in Chu County. What awaited him was a severe test.

    The entire industrial system of the county was eagerly anticipating the early start of the multi-million dollar foreign investment project in the fertilizer plant, and as the county party secretary, Liu Chengyin’s mood was more urgent than anyone else. He almost ran to the fertilizer plant every three days to check the progress of the project.

    At the beginning, Mr. Jia Huaren sincerely reassured Secretary Liu that there were no issues with the project. The American board of directors had made some adjustments to the project and it was possible that the project scale would be further expanded. After conducting research on the Eastern Chinese market, the board of directors believed that this project in Chu County could fully cover the urea market in the entire East China region.

    Hearing this news, Liu Chengyin was naturally happy, but the project had still not been decided. Finally, in the midst of Liu Chengyin’s anxious wait, Zhou Jinmin reported to Secretary Liu that the American side had invited a delegation from Chu County to visit the project site in the United States. For such a significant project, Zhou Jinmin hoped that the county would send several heavyweight officials to the United States, demonstrating China’s sincerity and level of importance. County Secretary Liu believed that Director Zhou’s thoughts were reasonable, so he decided to lead a delegation of over ten people himself to visit the project site in the United States.

    At this time, Tang Qiaoqiao acted as a special assistant to Zhou Jinmin, assisting him in preparing for his trip to the United States, including applying for a visa and booking flights. Tang Qiaoqiao had strong organizational skills and Zhou Jinmin trusted her very much. Therefore, the fertilizer factory allocated more than 200 000 yuan and entrusted Tang Qiaoqiao with full authority to handle all matters related to his trip to the United States.

    Just when Zhou Jinmin was sound asleep and dreaming at night, Jia Huaren disappeared, and Tang Qiaoqiao, who was always behind him, also vanished. Furthermore, Tang Qiaoqiao used her special relationship with Zhou Jinmin to transfer one million yuan from the fertilizer plant in the name of Zhou Jinmin, claiming it was a fund for a new major project.

    When Zhou Jinmin couldn’t see Jia Huaren, he wasn’t too worried, but when he couldn’t see Tang Qiaoqiao, he knew something was wrong, but he couldn’t speak out at first. It wasn’t until he went to the finance department to check the cost of more than 200 000 yuan for the trip to the United States that he realized that Tang Qiaoqiao had transferred more than 1.2 million yuan from the fertilizer plant.

    Zhou Jinmin was so furious that he smashed the porcelain tea cup on the desk of the chief accountant in the finance department. He lashed out at the chief accountant for being a fool and transferring one million yuan out of the factory without informing him, the factory director. The chief accountant remained silent and could not argue back. Tang Qiaoqiao, who was full of charm, had the support of Director Zhou, and every employee in the fertilizer factory respected her. Even some deputy factory directors dared not offend her, let alone the finance staff in this department. She confidently stated that the one million yuan was the new project research and development fund personally designated by Director Zhou, and no one dared to doubt her words. Besides, as a large foreign investment project was being introduced to the company, it was worth spending more on research and development. As the saying goes, you couldn’t catch wolves without spending money on bait. As long as the foreign investment cooperation project ran smoothly, they believed that spending one million yuan was worth it.

    At this point, even if Zhou Jinmin smashed the tea cup of the general accountant or was taken out to be executed, it would be of no use. Zhou Jinmin thought to himself, “It’s over now.” Being deceived by a fake foreign investment project was embarrassing enough, but causing a loss of more than 1.2 million for the company would make it difficult for him to escape responsibility this time.

    The fake joint venture of the fertilizer plant caused a stir and soon attracted the attention of the public security organs for investigation.

    As a result, the whole thing was completely exposed. Liu Chengyin, as the leader, was powerless to block the news. This incident was a heavy blow to him, and it could even be said that it was the heaviest blow he had experienced since he entered politics.

    During this period of time, Liu Chengyin’s mood became extremely bad. Even his beloved son, Liu Yong, dared not speak to him at home. Liu Yong was very clever and knew that his father was facing a big trouble at work, and he couldn’t afford to make his father angry or upset at this time. His wife, Su Hua, and his parents-in-law were worried, but they dared not ask him about it, for they might be scolded. However, they were not sure how serious the situation was. They were worried about Liu Chengyin, but could not help him.

    At work, he hardly scolded anyone. But now even the diligent and steady administrator, Lao Chen, was scolded by him, which frightened Jin Aiguo, who usually followed him closely, to the point where he didn’t dare to stay by his side. Because Jin Aiguo had already been scolded to the point of not being able to bear it. The situation was that Jin Aiguo himself hadn’t felt anything was wrong, but Liu Chengyin would scold him with a fearful tongue-slashing.

    Of course, as a follower secretary, Jin Aiguo would soar above party secretary Liu’s attitude. Jin Aiguo knew, Secretary Liu, was this not a stumper. Man always had a difficult time, there being always a bad mood, with their own complaints, their own grievances——it counted nothing. Anyway, Jin Aiguo knew that, in fact, Secretary Liu had always been good to himself, and very concerned about him.

    Since assuming his position in Chu County, Liu Chengyin had never been so passive. Even when his superiors sent the people to investigate the issues raised by the “People’s Letter”, he had never felt so vexed and frustrated. For such matters, it was simple: just let the authorities investigate. Falsities couldn’t be made true, and truths couldn’t be false. Liu’s actions in Chu County were known to everyone from top to bottom, including the county committee and government. Something was beyond their reach to fabricate and frame. Even those with ulterior motives would find it difficult to bring down Liu Chengyin. If someone had a problem with him, they should come forward and confront him face-to-face. If they refused to accept Liu as the county committee secretary, they could challenge him one-on-one. As the saying went, donkey or horse, led out to paraded around.

    On the matter of “People’s Letters”, Liu Chengyin was very confident and believed that it was best for the provincial and municipal discipline inspection commissions to investigate  and  clear his name.  Otherwise, those  small - minded people would keep spreading rumours behind his back, which would be uncomfortable. If the provincial and municipal discipline inspection commissions investigated and clarified the matter, everything would be clear and those small- minded people would no longer have any place to hide and not be able to cause any more trouble.

    In fact, the joint investigation team of the provincial and municipal disciplinary commissions actually found a typical example of clean governance by the leading cadres. Liu Chengyin was awarded the third-class and second-class merits respectively by the provincial and municipal levels. Many media, such as the People’s Daily, reported on his deeds of clean governance, which unexpectedly gained him some political capital, something Liu Chengyin did not expect beforehand.

    Now, the fake joint venture project left him feeling anxious and frustrated  because there was nothing he could do to change it. It was completely fake. As  the county party secretary, he failed to see through the fake “overseas Chinese” involved. He even presented an honorary citizen certificate and a golden key that  symbolized the ability to open the doors of Chu County to “Jia Huaren” during the  project signing ceremony held in the county government auditorium. Wasn’t this a  farce? County Party Secretary Liu Chengyin played an unsavory role on the stage.

    The economic losses caused by this incident would be punished by the party’s discipline and national law against Zhou Jinmin. More importantly, as the county party secretary, he couldn’t evade the responsibility for the negative political impact of this incident. If one delved deeper, it reflected a bad habit of seeking quick success and instant benefits in the thinking of Liu Chengyin. As the leader of the county party committee,such a habit must not exist. Otherwise, it might lead to mistakes and more seriously, harm the cause of the party and the people, causing losses.

    Liu Chengyin was seriously reflecting and introspecting. It could be said that he had many thoughts and no one to confide in. It was so important to have a trustworthy friend by your side when you were in trouble or confused. Actually, who did Liu Chengyin want to talk to about his thoughts the most? Of course, it was Lu Xiaoying. Since Fang Guojian was appointed as the deputy county head, Lu Xiaoying became the party secretary of Yuduo Town.

    The promotion of Lu Xiaoying was first proposed by Zhu Rui, the deputy County Magistrate and vice commandant of the Black High Mountain Development Project. However, Secretary Liu requested that the County Organization Department follow the organizational procedures for the promotion and appointment of cadres and conduct a careful investigation before submitting it to the County Standing Committee for discussion. The results were unanimously approved. Comrade Lu Xiaoying’s ability and level were recognized by all. As the Party Secretary of Yuduo Town, she was well-deserving of the position.

    For Liu Chengyin, he couldn’t be so calm about Lu Xiaoying. His little thoughts made him feel that he couldn’t add trouble to her when he was in trouble. He also knew that she would not be able to stop worrying about him. He faced such a big matter, and Lu Xiaoying couldn’t help much. In order to seek some comfort, he made a big fuss, which made him even more passive. Moreover, his wife Su Hua had always harbored jealousy toward his female classmate and ex-girlfriend.

    After much contemplation and inner turmoil, Liu Chengyin came up with a plan to salvage the negative impact of the fake joint venture incident——to untie such a knot, one must find the person who had tied it.