Chapter 21: So It Was Little Tang Who Did It!

Not long after the inspection delegation departed, Wan Ming knocked on the door of Tang Ye’s office.

Tang Ye was busy using Adobe Premiere Pro to edit a promotional video. In 2005, video editing was not as convenient as it would be twenty years later, with tools like Jianying or AiJianji; Adobe Premiere Pro was significantly more difficult than Photoshop, and the complexity of its software language was on par with that of programming tools. To condense raw footage into a short film required exceptional copywriting skills.

Tang Ye closed his laptop and poured Wan Ming a cup of tea.

Wan Ming took a sip and said with a smile, "I want to ask you something."

Tang Ye set down his mouse. "What is it?"

Wan Ming lowered his voice. "Is our Pinghu actually going to invest in a resort?"

Tang Ye paused, then shook his head with a wry smile. "That’s just talk on the wind—there’s nothing to it!"

A mischievous smile appeared on the corner of Wan Ming’s mouth. "You’re keeping a tight lip. The city’s inspection delegation came today, and you gave a report that was reportedly excellent, receiving unanimous praise from the group."

Tang Ye hadn't expected the news to spread so quickly. He had a sudden inspiration and said with a smile, "The delegation just came to scout locations. There are many towns in the city suitable for a resort, and while Pinghu doesn’t have a competitive edge, it’s not without hope—after all, we do have excellent resort resources."

Wan Ming sighed softly. "I’ve been considering whether to buy an apartment in Pinghu, and after hearing you say that, I won't hesitate anymore."

Tang Ye nodded slightly. "Regardless of whether the resort is built or not, housing prices in first-tier cities have been rising these past few years, and it will eventually spread to third and fourth-tier cities."

Having gotten the information he wanted, Wan Ming downed the rest of his tea, set the cup aside, and said, "I’m off!"

Watching Wan Ming hurry away, Tang Ye felt a pang of guilt and managed a wry smile. He hadn't expected Wan Ming to trust him so implicitly. After feeding him a few lines of fluff, the man was actually planning to buy property in Pinghu. However, from a long-term perspective, buying property wasn't a bad move. Even if a house in Pinghu cost fifty or sixty thousand yuan now, in a few years, as economic development caused real estate trends to ripple from first and second-tier cities down to smaller ones, property in rural towns would also have room for appreciation.

Investment promotion was akin to "quenching one's thirst by thinking of plums"—a form of psychological strategy. Although the two-billion-yuan resort project was still a distant prospect, the hype had to be built first so the outside world would recognize Pinghu’s commercial potential, thereby attracting capital.

Tang Ye finished revising the suggestions proposed by Mayor Zhao and sent them to the email address left by the leaders of the Municipal Bureau of Commerce.

Chen Zhihua walked in. "Are you busy?"

Tang Ye stood up immediately. Knowing Chen’s habit of smoking, he quickly offered a cigarette and moved the ashtray to the coffee table.

Chen Zhihua tapped his cigarette butt against the table. "I was wondering why you were working so late last night, but I understood this afternoon—you were preparing that promotional video. Young cadres certainly have an innovative spirit; us old antiques could never pull off such fancy work."

Tang Ye replied modestly, "I was just thrown into the deep end, and the preparation wasn't sufficient. Logically, such important promotional material should have been discussed by the Party committee members to incorporate everyone's valuable experience before being presented on such an important occasion."

Although Tang Ye had performed well today, the officialdom was a place where one layer of authority pressured the next. Tang Ye risked overshadowing his superiors. Xu Yiping, in particular, appeared magnanimous and tolerant but was actually a petty man who envied talent. Tang Ye having stolen the spotlight today was bound to make Xu Yiping extremely uncomfortable, and he would surely look for an opportunity to make things difficult for him.

While Chen Zhihua was the second-in-command of the local leadership, he had long been sidelined by Xu Yiping. He anticipated the hardships Tang Ye would face but felt powerless to help.

"Pinghu Town is just a stepping stone for you. It would be better if you were a bit more mature in how you handle problems."

Tang Ye could perceive the sincerity and goodwill in Chen’s tone. "Thank you for the reminder. I will be more thorough in how I handle things in the future."

Chen Zhihua sensed a maturity and composure in Tang Ye that belied his age, and he genuinely admired this deputy mayor who was here on a temporary assignment.

The next day, around seven, after finishing his morning run, Tang Ye went to a noodle shop and ordered a bowl of wontons. The landlady wasn't complaining about her husband to the other women today.

"The city sent an inspection group yesterday, and the new Mayor Tang gave a report that was really something. Mayor Tang is a cadre from the city; he has connections. They say the resort investment is over two billion! Our town has twenty thousand people—if you divide that up, that’s over a hundred thousand per person!"

"I heard that too! They’re going to demolish everything along the lake to the southwest, and they're paying a subsidy of thirty thousand per mu!"

"Is that for real? My family has a plot of land there—three point seven mu. Wouldn't that be over a hundred thousand?"

Tang Ye finished his wontons in a hurry, paid, and slipped away, feeling guilty. He hadn't expected that in the span of a single night, the streets and alleys would be buzzing with rumors. In such a small place, the speed at which gossip spread was incredible!

...

After arriving at work, Vice Mayor Zhao Disheng called his secretary, Xiao Ding, to organize the materials for the morning's Party committee meeting. Having led the survey of the resort site yesterday, he needed to report to Zhou Chengwu and the other standing committee members.

Secretary Ding reported, "The Municipal Bureau of Commerce sent over the promotional video from Pinghu. I’ve checked it, and it has been adjusted according to your revisions."

Mayor Zhao nodded in satisfaction. "Send the video to the municipal television station and have them make a promotional video for the city based on this standard."

Secretary Ding nodded, frowning. "I just asked a reporter at the TV station; a promotional video of this quality would cost at least two million!"

Mayor Zhao’s eyes widened. "Did I hear that right?"

Secretary Ding said in a low voice, "The promotional videos we’ve made before were quoted at one million for a five-minute version. This one is ten minutes long, and the copywriting and material collection are highly professional; they would have to hire outside help to produce it."

Mayor Zhao rubbed his temples and gave an order. "With a one-million-yuan budget, I need a ten-minute version. I’ll call Station Chief Zhu later and explain things clearly."

After Secretary Ding left, Mayor Zhao shook his head with a wry smile. He hadn't expected the Pinghu promotional video to be so "valuable"! During this visit to Pinghu, he hadn't expected to discover a piece of uncut jade covered in dust. He had learned from Jiang Jinpeng that Tang Ye once had the opportunity to be Zhou Chengwu’s secretary, but he had chosen to take a temporary post in a rural town instead...

Zhao Disheng prepared his materials and went to the office of the Municipal Party Secretary to report the results of the inspection.

In the conference room, besides Municipal Party Secretary Zhou Chengwu, there were the Mayor, the Deputy Party Secretary, the Head of the Organization Department, and the Executive Vice Mayor.

"Before I begin the report, I’d like to ask the leaders to watch a promotional video made by Pinghu Town," Zhao Guorong said softly.

"A promotional video?" Zhou Chengwu said with interest. "Let’s have a look, then."

The network administrator hurried over to set up the equipment, working until he was drenched in sweat. As the melody of "Spring Returns to the Earth" began, everyone's attention was captured by the video. The male voiceover was deep, resonant, and imposing. With dynamic scene transitions and a blend of scenery and culture, the town, imbued with historical depth, appeared full of vitality.

For ten minutes, the conference room remained silent.

After the video ended, Zhao Disheng said with a smile, "This video was the biggest surprise of our inspection. Pinghu Town wasn't originally in our primary scope, but after a suggestion from Dean Jiang Jinpeng, we added it to our itinerary. I didn't expect them to have made such thorough preparations."

"Producing this video must have cost a pretty penny, right?" Zhou Chengwu asked with a stern expression. It was clearly inappropriate for a backward town to spend a fortune on a promotional video for the sake of investment!

"This video was made by Tang Ye, the deputy mayor currently on a temporary assignment in Pinghu. He is a student of Dean Jiang and has participated in many urban planning projects; he is very experienced and highly capable."

The standing committee members exchanged glances. Pinghu Town had such talent?

Zhou Chengwu suddenly realized, "So it was done by young Tang?!"

Zhou Chengwu stroked his chin and said slowly, "I know of young Tang. He was sent down from the municipal office for this assignment, and he is very diligent."

The others looked at Zhao Disheng with complex expressions. It turned out that Zhao Disheng’s lavish praise had an ulterior motive—this could be seen as an extremely subtle way of choosing sides!

Before Zhao Disheng could finish his report, Zhou Chengwu issued an important directive: "Include Pinghu Town in the list of candidate locations for the resort."

This decision made the other members of the leadership feel a sudden, inexplicable tension. A project worth over two billion involved too many people and too many interests! Could Pinghu Town really become a dark horse and stand out from the rest?