89: Chapter 89 The First Tourist

Everyone present was in the civil service.

Everyone understood the true meaning of investigating a matter with such fanfare.

If they were truly going after a "tiger," it would only be a secret investigation, and it would only be made public after the evidence had been gathered.

Conducting an investigation with such fanfare now was simply sending a signal to the Discipline Inspection Commission or the parties involved.

The matter ended with Zhao Bo; there was no need to investigate any further.

Sun Ning looked at Gao Feng and asked, "Senior Brother, what was your stance?"

"Of course, I supported Secretary Zhan Zhong."

"Senior Brother, Secretary Zhan Zhong feels guilty towards you right now. When you go to work next Monday, shouldn't you go and report your work to him?"

Sun Ning's reminder made Gao Feng's eyes light up.

He felt that Sun Ning was truly a master at manipulating people's hearts.

Who else would exploit someone's sense of guilt like this?

Yet, Sun Ning had acutely brought it up during their conversation.

"Sun Ning, it really has to be you. Your way of thinking is born for this line of work. I will go and communicate with Secretary Zhan Zhong tomorrow."

"Don't forget to communicate with Deputy Secretary Zhao Weicai about our Secretary Wang Pingan's promotion to Vice Mayor."

Just as Gao Feng agreed to see Zheng Zhanzhong, Sun Ning was already secretly urging Gao Feng to pull some strings.

Zhao Weicai would certainly agree to transferring Vice Mayor Wang Pingan to the Municipal Government to serve as an ordinary vice mayor.

Moreover, it had to be Zhao Weicai who handled it himself; Gao Feng just needed to assist.

During this time, Sun Ning also briefly explained the cave dwelling project he had been working on.

Sun Ning's purpose in doing this was simple; he wanted to ask Gao Feng for media resources, travel agency resources, and so on.

"That's simple. I'll give a call to the person in charge of advertising at CCTV later. Don't even think about prime-time ad slots, but I can get you an ad slot right after the weather forecast."

Zhao Xue's casual remark almost made Sun Ning spit out the wine he had just drunk.

Although the ad slot between the weather forecast and the start of the TV drama wasn't as expensive as the hourly time signal, it was still beyond what a tiny place like Mishui Township could afford.

In Zhongzhou City, only big companies like Yutong Bus had the capital to place such advertisements.

If he had that kind of money, Sun Ning would rather distribute tens of thousands to every household.

Sun Ning knew that Zhao Xue wanted to help him.

CCTV had quotas for public service announcements, and Zhao Xue could get them to record and air one, creating a soft advertisement.

But he dared not let Zhao Xue help him like that.

Not to mention that the target audience for those cave dwellings was just Zhongzhou City and Luozhou City.

And considering the complex web of relationships at CCTV, while it would be easy for Zhao Xue to make a phone call, it would mean owing a favor.

As the saying goes, debts of favor are the hardest to repay.

This small matter was not worth Zhao Xue wasting such a big favor.

"Sister Xue, stop joking! I don't intend to use traditional media or television media."

"I am targeting young people, and I plan to promote it online."

"It's just that we want to cooperate with China Youth Travel Service, and I need Senior Brother to put in a word!"

It would be a lie for Sun Ning to say he wouldn't use traditional media.

But using traditional media wasn't to promote the cave dwellings themselves, but rather for promotion with a political flavor.

Taking this opportunity, Sun Ning also communicated with Gao Feng about the "Village-to-Village Connection" project in Zhongzhou City.

It's no wonder people say Zhongzhou is the favorite child of Heyang; in later generations, it even earned the nickname "Zhong the Absorber."

According to Gao Feng's description, the first batch of funds allocated by the Central Government would prioritize the construction in Zhongzhou.

This was the advantage of its unique political and economic status.

Sun Ning was very glad that he was serving as Township Head in a county under the jurisdiction of Zhongzhou.

If he had returned to Bianzhou, he would probably have had to continue "running to the ministries for money," but there would be no guarantee of success.

As a mere township-level cadre, if it was just three or five million, people might give him some face and let it pass with a wave of their hand.

But if it involved tens or hundreds of millions in funds, no amount of deep connections would be of any help.

You, a Township Head, go to a ministry to ask for one hundred million.

Then, could the child of the old Liu Family, serving as a County Party Committee Secretary, ask for one billion?

What about the Liu Family? What about the He Family?

What about those second-generation descendants of noble families who serve as powerful regional officials?

Wouldn't the country's first batch of 500 billion in funds be quickly carved up?

Where would there be any relative fairness?

This was also the reason why Sun Ning had never gone to the ministries from the very beginning.

He did not want to leave others with the impression that he relied on his connections.

The previous times he "ran to the ministries for money" didn't count; first, he had just taken office, and second, that money was used for education.

Money used for education, even if it went to the ends of the earth, was still justifiable.

During this time, Gao Feng also intended to transfer him to Zhongzhou to join the Municipal Government's Policy Research Office or the High-tech Industrial Development Zone.

But Sun Ning rejected all of them.

His current official rank was simply too low; he wouldn't be able to reach a substantive deputy division-level position anytime soon.

He was currently too comfortable in Mishui Township; not only did he hold real power, but Mishui Township was like a blank sheet of paper, waiting for him to paint on it.

Once he filled this blank paper with color, this painting would forever bear his mark.

No matter where he was in the future or what position he held, the achievements of Mishui Township would always be his political accomplishments.

Several hours later, the dinner ended.

Sun Ning and Zhao Xue walked side by side towards their accommodation.

"Xiao Ningzi, I want to be the first tourist at your Mishui Township cave dwellings."

"That thing is still a semi-finished product. The mountains are bare right now; it's incredibly boring!"

"What do you know? When I was little, my grandfather would sigh every winter that back in the Holy Land, if it weren't for the cave dwellings, the survival of tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians would have been a problem."

Looking at Zhao Xue's serious expression, it seemed she really wanted to experience the cave dwellings.

Sun Ning really wanted to say that the cave dwellings in Mishui Township were not exactly the same concept as the cave dwellings in the Northwest.

He thought about it but didn't stop her; since Zhao Xue wanted to be the first to eat the crab, he might as well let her have her way.

Sun Ning took Zhao Xue to Mingyue Village and settled her in at Tian Xiujun's home.

It was mainly because this old man's cave dwellings were the cleanest.

However, things like high-end quilts and other types of food were not available.

However, the cornmeal porridge, sorghum flour steamed buns, and the sweet potatoes she roasted herself made her trip to Mishui Township colorful.

During this time, Zhao Xue also offered Sun Ning a few suggestions.

Such as a hot spring hotel project, or an artificial ski resort project...

Sun Ning didn't even bother to pay attention to her.

Zhao Xue was always having sudden whims; she would give Sun Ning a suggestion based on whatever she felt like playing, making her not a very good tourist.

After playing for a few days, she was politely asked by Sun Ning to leave Mishui Township.

Sun Ning felt that if she continued to wander around the mountains, the wild dogs in the villages would not be able to help but have their eyes glow green.

In the end, Tian Xiujun received his first income: exactly 600 yuan.

The news that Tian Xiujun had earned money through the cave dwellings was instantly spread across several villages by someone with a purpose.

This person with a purpose was, without a doubt, Sun Ning.

After some back-and-forth between Zhao Xue and Old Man Tian, Tian Xiujun couldn't resist Zhao Xue's enthusiasm and accepted it.

Sun Ning clearly saw that the old couple's hands were trembling as they held the money.

This was hope; it was the old couple's expectation for a future filled with children and grandchildren.

They had something to look forward to!

In their eyes, even the fairy-like Zhao Xue liked this place.

People from the city would also like this place.

They would like the corn porridge and sweet potatoes that they themselves were tired of eating...