Chapter 106: Corporate Tensions and Festival Shocks

Yang Yuan, can I speak frankly?

Across the office desk, Liu Qing hesitated briefly before finally whispering.

“Go ahead!”

Yang Yuan glanced up at Liu Qing.

“Yang Yuan, I feel that with this proposal there’s really no point in additional investment. What’s the use of pouring more money in? We simply can’t compare to Mingsha County! And frankly, their desert construction has long left Ning’an in the dust.”

Liu Qing shared his opinion.

He had been keeping a close eye on the desert projects in Mingsha County recently. Judging by the hustle in the desert, Mingsha Tourism must have funneled over 500 million into construction.

On that front alone, neither Ning An Cultural Tourism nor Tianchen Culture could compete.

Besides, Xu Hao over there hardly streams anymore, while Zhang Chi here is live every day, incessantly bombarding the other side—always seeming blissfully self-absorbed.

“So, what about the Ancient Building Courtyard and the guesthouses? The board has already called to inquire!”

Yang Yuan rubbed his brow in frustration.

He was, after all, a professional manager. Although he oversaw project development and operations, the annual performance review was unavoidable. Poor results or a questioned project could easily jeopardize his next appointment.

“Yang Yuan, as long as our ‘Master Chef Detectives’ becomes a breakout hit, nothing will matter!”

Liu Qing quickly added.

“A breakout hit? This project should be fine! Besides, no comparable company is gearing up to release a similar series any time soon.”

Mentioning ‘Detectives’ noticeably brightened Yang Yuan’s expression.

This series was his first response to the board.

“So… Yang Yuan, why not just veto that desert greening plan? After all, we’ve already finalized our wager agreement with Ning An Cultural Tourism.”

“Then, contact Qi Haoyong. Starting tomorrow, devote all your energy to this series.”

“Understood!”

Lanshi, capital of Su Province

Though nominally a second-tier city, being in the west meant its geographic and economic limitations still lagged behind those eastern second-tier cities.

Ningwozhuang was an official guesthouse primarily used for hosting strategic meetings.

Nine in the morning

Xu Hao and Qin Xuan, after breakfast and armed with relevant documents, entered the meeting room.

Today’s meeting was led by Peng Yuan, the head of the Su Province Cultural Relics Bureau, along with several other provincial leaders—a clear sign of how high the tourism festival ranked in priority.

The arrangement differed somewhat from their expectations.

Mingsha County had been assigned a rear, edge position, while the front rows were reserved for Su Province’s key, established tourist areas.

At nine-thirty, under Peng Yuan’s chairmanship, the meeting officially began. After a round of introductions,

Peng Yuan started outlining this year’s tourism festival requirements, visions, and other details, followed by speeches from other leaders. Before they knew it, it was time for a break.

There was no discussion about the festival’s location, and the meeting atmosphere remained cordial.

“Xu County, I suspect this year’s tourism festival will be held at one of three sites: Mogao, Maiji, or the Danxia landforms. I kept sneaking glances at the leaders while they spoke.”

After leaving the building, Qin Xuan visibly relaxed.

All along, he had worried about Mingsha County’s selection, but things now appeared better than he’d imagined. If the higher-ups favored them, Mingsha would likely be placed at the front.

“No matter who leads, just capture our spirit.”

Xu Hao nodded in agreement.

Anyway, from the seating chart it was clear the arrangement had little to do with Mingsha County—it seemed Wang Xun and the others had overthought it.

“Mm.”

“Xiao Xu, what are you doing here?”

Just as Qin Xuan was about to add something more to Xu Hao, a figure passing by in the distance caught his eye. Upon spotting Xu Hao and Qin Xuan, the figure suddenly stopped and called out.

“Director Feng!”

Xu Hao immediately looked over and hurried to greet him.

The passerby turned out to be none other than Feng Wancheng, a senior official from the Su Province Cultural Relics Bureau. Xu Hao and Feng were long-time acquaintances, greeting each other warmly, while Qin Xuan maintained a more reserved demeanor.

“Didn’t you call this meeting to kick off preparations for the Su Province tourism festival? By the way, Director Feng, what brings you here?”

Xu Hao replied.

“Tourism festival? What a coincidence! We also have a handover meeting today!”

Feng Wancheng laughed, “So, how’s business over there? I was even thinking of taking my team over to have a look.”

“It’s quiet enough. If you could come, that’d be perfect.”

“Great!”

Before they knew it, the two had chatted for over ten minutes. Meanwhile, the second half of the tourism festival promotion meeting was about to begin, with attendees steadily filing into the hall.

“Director Feng, we’ll catch up later. I need to get going.”

Xu Hao glanced back at the building as he turned away.

“Xiao Xu, how about this: for these meetings, only one of you two needs to represent Mingsha County. Either have Xiao Qin join in to listen, or let me head over to the meeting hall. There are plenty of ancient building scrolls there that you can study.”

Feng Wancheng paused to think before replying, not letting Xu Hao off the hook.

“This…”

“This is a rare opportunity! These scrolls will eventually be sent to the Dragon Kingdom Museum. Missing this chance might mean few future opportunities for close study.”

“Alright then, Qin Xuan, you go in first; I’ll head over with Director Feng.”

After a brief pause, Xu Hao looked over at Qin Xuan.

Lately, he had been planning to construct the Tingchao Pavilion and Wudi City—after all, Tengwang Pavilion was inspired by ancient building scrolls.

“Okay, Director Feng, I’ll head in first!”

Qin Xuan quickly nodded.

There was no other choice; Director Feng was a bona fide provincial official. You never knew when he might be transferred, so appearances had to be maintained.

Most importantly, the tourism festival wasn’t as nerve-wracking as expected. He was confident he could handle it on his own.

Once Qin Xuan left, Feng Wancheng turned to Xu Hao, “Come on, Xiao Xu. Let’s head this way.”

“Thank you, Director Feng.”

“Don’t mention it!”

Before long, it was already four in the afternoon.

After Xu Hao finished studying the ancient scrolls and planned to chat a bit longer with Feng Wancheng, his phone suddenly rang. He picked it up—it was Qin Xuan.

“Qin County, are you done over there? I’ll let Director Feng know and then be right out!”

Xu Hao answered the call.

He had assumed the meeting on the other side was over; Qin Xuan’s call was to coordinate returning to Mingsha County together.

“Xu County, I… I made a mistake.”

The next moment, Qin Xuan’s voice over the phone was laced with guilt and self-reproach.

“A mistake? What do you mean?”

Xu Hao was momentarily stunned.

“They’ve just handed over this year’s tourism festival to our county.”

“Our county?”

Xu Hao was instantly frozen in shock.