29: Chapter 29 When fellow villagers meet, their eyes well up with tears.

In the evening, at the Heyang Province Beijing Liaison Office, also known as the Heyang Building.

Inside, there was authentic Heyang cuisine.

The person Sun Ning was hosting today was a division chief from a certain department within the Planning and Finance Department of the Poverty Alleviation Office.

The main responsibility of this division was to draft support standards for the rural impoverished population and key counties for national poverty alleviation and development, as well as to research and propose opinions on designating or revoking poverty-stricken counties.

Although Gongfan County was not a nationally designated poverty-stricken county, there were quite a few impoverished rural residents in Mishui Township.

Therefore, it was reasonable, logical, and compliant for the Poverty Alleviation Office to support the impoverished population.

Most importantly, this Division Chief Zhang was originally from a city in the eastern part of Heyang Province.

The two had met while working on the Western Development project team.

The moment they spoke, they recognized each other in the vast sea of people through their thick local accents.

That fluent accent from eastern Heyang was truly too unique.

Meeting a fellow countryman, tears well up in both pairs of eyes.

Furthermore, since Sun Ning and Zhang Mengyang both had the intention of getting to know each other, they quickly began addressing each other as brothers.

As the host, Sun Ning arrived a step early.

Following Heyang customs, eight cold dishes were served first.

There were authentic Heyang specialties like catnip salad and braised meat.

The hot dishes were also Heyang specialties, similar to carp with baked noodles.

Before long, Zhang Mengyang arrived at the private room.

"Brother Sun, your big brother is late."

"Not late at all, Brother Zhang, please come in."

The two were not the type to speak deeply when their acquaintance was shallow, but they couldn't be called life-and-death friends either.

Within the system, there are always various kinds of relationships.

Although they couldn't be called friends, they could at least be considered fellow countrymen.

Therefore, in an environment with only the two of them, getting along wasn't that serious.

The two chatted for a while about their recent work, and then reminisced about the places where they had previously struggled.

After three or five cups of wine, they finally got to the main topic.

"Brother Zhang, I've come here today to ask for help. You also know the situation of the schools in our hometown's mountainous areas. As the Township Head, I am under a lot of pressure!"

"Brother Zhang, you happen to be in charge of this area. Can you support your little brother with some funds?"

When Zhang Mengyang heard that the purpose of Sun Ning's invitation was actually to ask for money, the smile on his face faded slightly.

Sun Ning realized that slight change, and without waiting for him to speak, continued: "I don't need much, seven or eight million will be enough."

After stating his terms, Sun Ning stopped speaking and took a sip from his wine glass.

It wasn't that Sun Ning was making an outrageous demand, but rather that everyone knows the principle of asking a high price and negotiating from there.

In Sun Ning's plan, getting three million from the Poverty Alleviation Office would be quite good.

So he was prepared to let Zhang Mengyang make a counteroffer.

And the reason he stopped talking was to give Zhang Mengyang space to think.

As a division chief in a critical department of the Poverty Alleviation Office, he was in contact with leaders from impoverished areas all over the country.

That pen in his hand had likely signed off on many 'favors' outside of the official plan.

And Sun Ning just wanted Zhang Mengyang to carefully consider how much his favor was worth.

Back when they were on the Western Development project, Sun Ning had not hidden the fact that his master was Elder Shang.

Furthermore, when those big leaders came to meetings, they often praised Sun Ning.

Otherwise, how could a small fry like him during his internship make so many people look at him with admiration?

Zhang Mengyang didn't think for long; in just a dozen seconds, he made his decision.

"Brother Sun, it's not that your big brother won't help you. You know that so many counties across the country are crying out for help. The key is that your big brother is just a division chief; that pen is too thin."

"Brother Zhang, it's not thin. For my Mishui Township, Brother Zhang, it's thick enough."

"How about this: I will squeeze out a quota of two million from the division and allocate it to Mishui Township."

Sun Ning was secretly delighted—a great start!

However, he feigned dissatisfaction in his tone: "Is Brother Zhang's pen only worth two million? One price, six million!"

"Three million."

"Five million."

"Four million, four million at most. Brother Sun, please spare your big brother."

"Four million sounds unlucky. How about 4.6 million? Six is a lucky number."

Sun Ning was like a merchant, haggling over even a few hundred thousand.

It wasn't that Sun Ning hadn't seen the world; it was that he had to haggle.

Even if it were just ten thousand more, it could provide more books for those village primary schools.

In the end, Sun Ning mentioned the figure of 4.26 million.

Zhang Mengyang smiled helplessly: "Brother Sun, this is truly a first. Why don't you calculate it down to the last cent? If you want to lose face, fine, but I don't want to become a joke in my unit. 4.3 million. Send the report to our unit tomorrow, and I'll approve it."

"Let's agree first, this money needs to come down earmarked."

"Fine, it will be earmarked, but you have to do the work with the Ministry of Finance yourself!"

Sun Ning quickly nodded in agreement. He also knew people at the Ministry of Finance, but they were just small fries; he wasn't sure if they could speak up for him.

For now, he couldn't worry about that much; he just had to get the money first.

Seeing that his efforts finally paid off, Sun Ning was overjoyed.

He quickly toasted three cups, and just like that, both host and guest were satisfied.

By the time the Yellow River carp was served, Zhang Mengyang was already slightly tipsy.

Sun Ning wasn't the type to force people to drink, so seeing that he had had enough, he ended the banquet.

Both of them were minor officials and didn't have secretaries to serve them, so they each hailed a taxi and went home.

When Sun Ning returned home, Shang Rou was still fast asleep.

After Sun Ning affectionately kissed her on the cheek, he went to wash up.

However, he didn't have the habit of locking the door in his own home.

Before long, a gluttonous thief snuck quietly into the bathroom to steal things.

When Sun Ning saw the thief arrive, how could he let her go?

Then, sounds of a fierce fight came from the bathroom.

At first, Sun Ning and the thief fought back and forth, but as it went on, the thief ran out of stamina and started begging for mercy.

Consequently, Sun Ning gained the upper hand.

It wasn't until the thief begged for mercy that Sun Ning let her go.

Shortly after, Sun Ning escorted the thief out.

Sun Ning looked gently at the Shang Rou before him and said lovingly: "Are you hungry?"

"I just ate!"

After saying this, Shang Rou wanted to get a kiss from Sun Ning.

Sun Ning immediately pushed her away with disgust and said with dissatisfaction: "Don't kiss me with that childish mouth of yours."

"You actually find me disgusting!"

Sun Ning looked helplessly at Shang Rou; this girl was becoming crazier and crazier, but he really liked her very much.

The two fought a great battle, and the time had already reached late night.

Sun Ning knew Shang Rou hadn't eaten dinner, so he went to prepare some late-night snacks.

After eating, Shang Rou dragged Sun Ning into the bedroom.

Sun Ning instantly felt threatened and could only shout in his heart: This crazy woman!

The next day, Sun Ning deeply experienced the joy of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, who from then on ignored the morning court.

The key was that Shang Rou, who woke up near noon, had the urge to exercise again.

She insisted on dragging Sun Ning to do sit-ups and pull-ups together, and in the end, she didn't stop until they had run five kilometers.

The final result was that Shang Rou was exhausted and passed out again.

And Sun Ning could only helplessly reschedule his morning trip to the Poverty Alleviation Office to the afternoon.