Chapter One Hundred and Eighteen: The Road to Implementation (Please Bookmark)

He Zhixing went to Leshi again, and after asking around, found an old childhood companion named Gou Quan. Gou Quan was overjoyed to unexpectedly see the friend he had grown up with, and the two embraced each other in a bear hug.

Gou Quan said, "You rascal, it’s been so many years. Who would have thought you’d end up as the village chief’s friend and a big boss? I actually wanted to come find you and work for you, but I was afraid you wouldn’t take me in, so I never had the nerve to come."

"Oh, really? So you’ve learned to be polite with me now, have you? Tell me, what are you doing these days? You must be doing all right, no?"

"Don’t even mention it. I only help people drive and deliver goods now, running that stretch from Leshi City to Ping Town, hauling fruit, dried goods, and the like."

He Zhixing said, "That’s not bad at all. You can still make five or six thousand, even ten thousand or more a month. Pretty good."

Gou Quan replied, "It’s not as good as you make it sound. Driving freight is hard work. I’m always losing track of normal hours, and sometimes I have to drive through the night just to make a delivery. It’s exhausting."

"Then how about this? Come work for me. I’ll pay you eighty thousand to a hundred thousand a month. Be the logistics supervisor for my company, and you’ll only be responsible for receiving and recording shipments and dispatches. How does that sound?"

When Gou Quan heard that, he was thrilled. "Brother, you’re not teasing me, are you? You really can give me that much?"

He Zhixing said, "Of course. My word counts. I’ll advance you twenty thousand right now as proof that I’m sincere about hiring you."

As he spoke, He Zhixing took from his bag a bundle of cash he had prepared in advance and handed it over. It was exactly twenty thousand.

Gou Quan accepted it and said, "All right, then I’ll work for you. I won’t beat around the bush either. I’ll go back immediately and tell my boss I’ve found other work and won’t be staying. Since you think highly of me, I’ll even put it in writing for you. If I fail to come, you can deal with me however you like."

He Zhixing said, "That’s too serious. Oh, right, when you go back, help me find one more person. I’ve got something coming up soon and need two people to handle it. Find me someone trustworthy. I’ll have use for him."

"Sure, no problem."

The next day, Gou Quan brought another man to Wuzhen to meet He Zhixing. As soon as He Zhixing saw them, he drove them straight to the city in an SUV. There, he had them pick out clothes and tailor a whole polished tycoon image for them.

The two had no idea what He Zhixing was up to. After he bought their clothes and brought them back, he explained everything: he wanted them to pose as his advance emissaries and go from village to village in Wuzhen, pretending to inspect investment opportunities in rural hydropower stations.

He planned to build several more hydropower stations, making everyone believe that the two men sent by He Zhixing were trying to penetrate the village hydropower grid investment in Wuzhen. The whole point was to create the illusion that He Zhixing really intended to invest in multiple rural hydropower stations there. If Li Tianlai hesitated even a little, he would lose everything to He Zhixing, without even a bone left to chew.

Unexpectedly, Li Tianlai really believed it. He thought He Zhixing wanted to compete with him for the hydropower investment market. At once, he rushed to Li Hongsheng and demanded that Li Hongsheng help him figure out a way to get ahead of He Zhixing and secure the hydropower stations first, so he could seize the many stations that ought to be his.

Li Hongsheng had a bold idea. "Use the assets of your existing four hydropower stations as collateral, and you can borrow a very large sum. Then, at top speed, you can seize the best sites for building small hydropower stations in the various villages."

What He Zhixing wanted was for Li Tianlai to speed up his grab for the village hydropower projects. He never expected Li Tianlai would really do it, and do it so broadly at that. Everything was unfolding exactly as He Zhixing had predicted. What would become of Li Tianlai’s fate? Could He Zhixing stage a triumphant comeback? Stay tuned...