Reborn as a Noble's Son

Looking at Nie Zhenbang, Zhou Chen had a smug smile on his face. This time, he came for the pickings. The old city refurbishment was initiated by Nie Zhenbang, but now, once it was in his hands, the goal was simple: to snatch Nie Zhenbang’s credit. An ordinary person might not be able to steal Nie Zhenbang’s political gains. However, with brother Hua’s background, it was possible.

“Hehe, Mayor Nie, we meet again.” Zhou Chen, with the attitude of a winner, now had even fewer inhibitions than before after stepping out of the system and seemed even more powerful than Nie Zhenbang.

Nie Zhenbang had a fair understanding of Zhou Chen’s intentions. He had been suppressed by him in Jingcheng and had even been driven back to the Chunan Province. Afterwards, in New Li City, he made a fool of himself and lost face to work within the system. It could be said that Zhou Chen had always been suppressed. Now, several years later, he re-emerged, this time as an investor. He couldn’t offend Zhou Chen too much, or else he would leave a bad impression. Therefore, Zhou Chen seemed very pleased this time.

With a gentle smile, Nie Zhenbang also stepped forward and shook hands out of courtesy, almost immediately letting go. He then smiled and said, “President Zhou, we meet again. We welcome you to invest and thrive in Liangxi City. This promotes growth in our city. We welcome any investor who has strength.”

These words made Zhou Chen’s face drop, but he didn’t lose his temper. Nie Zhenbang was beating around the bush, implying something about “having strength”. Did that mean that the Zhou Clan Group didn’t have any strength? Losing his temper would make others believe that the Zhou Clan Group was incompetent.

Skipping unnecessary chit chat, the signing ceremony began. Media from many provinces and cities, along with some economic media, all arrived on site. Under a flurry of camera flashes, the representatives of the enterprises and Nie Zhenbang, representing the Liangxi City Government, signed their names on the contract.

After the signing ceremony, there was a break before a reception banquet hosted by Liangxi City Municipal Party Committee and Government would be held at night. It was to celebrate the success of the signing and provide an opportunity for other businessmen. With ten large projects and some not feasible for a single company, businesses that didn’t win the bidding might use this opportunity to find a cooperative opportunity.

“Mayor, Zheng Jiawei is seeking an audience outside. What do you think?” In the city government office, as Nie Zhenbang was reading his document, Huang Xuyang came in from outside.

“Oh? Zheng Jiawei is here? Looks like he’s here for project number ten. His companies Jiasheng and Dongsheng conducted substantial preparation, but the result was not what they anticipated. It’s hard for an enterprise such as Jiasheng to come away empty-handed. His visit was expected.” After thinking for a while, Nie Zhenbang nodded. He wanted to hear Zheng Jiawei’s take on the issue. With all the irregularities surrounding the bidding for the tenth project, he suspected the situation wasn’t as simple as it seemed. He adjusted his sitting position and said, “Hmm, let him in.”

With Huang Xuyang leading the way, Zheng Jiawei followed. Unlike most people, Zheng Jiawei didn’t appear nervous. It wasn’t surprising considering Jiasheng Real Estate was a large company in the real estate industry, and it was common for them to interact with leaders at the department level regularly. Also, Jiasheng is not a local company. Hence, they didn’t feel much fear towards Nie Zhenbang.

“Mr. Zheng, what brings you here?” Nie Zhenbang decided to get straight to the point. Zheng Jiawei was a businessman and it would be best not to indulge in the roundabout language characteristic of those within the system.

Zheng Jiawei was somewhat overweight, with bright eyes. At this moment, he did not appear destabilized by the unsuccessful bid. This behavior made Nie Zhenbang silently admire him. He might be young and inherited the company from his father, but the magnanimity he displayed was impressive.

At this point, Zheng Jiawei organized his thoughts and calmly said, “Mayor Nie, thank you for meeting with me despite being busy. Regrettably, Jiasheng Group couldn’t contribute to the economic development of Liangxi City this time. However, I believe there will still be opportunities for cooperation in the future.”

They started with polite small talk which indicated that Zheng Jiawei was a reasonable man. Then, Zheng took a turn in the conversation, saying, “Mayor Nie, there’s a detail about this bidding process that I’ve thought about and decided I’d better discuss with you. In this round for Project Ten, our joint bid with Dongsheng Real Estate and a construction company in Yuedong was 3.06 billion. Of this,2.9 billion was in cash and the other 160 million was allocated for the redevelopment of Neihu. Our plan was to connect Neihu and Liangxi River to create a circulating water system with a modern high-end residential area centered around the lake. Unfortunately, that is not going to happen.”

Nie Zhenbang gave Zheng Jiawei a meaningful look, pondering as he did. Zheng’s conversation skills were top-notch, simply informing him what their bottom line was while avoiding any mention of the Zhou Clan Group’s behaviour. However, to anyone with discerning eyes, the Zhou Clan Group’s bid was too precise, exceeding theirs by only a million. Their overall planning concepts were also eerily similar. In this world, things couldn’t be that coincidental. There had to be something fishy going on here.

This was where Zheng Jiawei showed his cleverness, bringing up the doubts about the situation but not making any direct accusations. Had Zheng straightforwardly suggested that Liangxi City was up to some clandestine scheming, in order to maintain a positive investment image for the city, Nie Zhenbang might well have flatly denied it. As it stood, the way Zheng put it made people more willing to accept it.

After a moment of silence, Nie Zhenbang chose not to elaborate on the matter. He simply smiled, “Chairman Zheng, why didn’t we see President Fu?”

“Mayor Nie, I’m sorry, President Fu has already left Liangxi City.” Zheng Jiawei replied apologetically.

He had mastered the art of gaining wealth through harmony to perfection, Nie Zhenbang realized. It seemed that Dongsheng Real Estate was now growing cold towards Liangxi City but there was nothing he could do about it.

With that, he made up his mind. This was a dead end investigation. If Li Guohua had forged ahead with this, then he would have made sure there were no loose ends and nothing was traceable. Nothing would come from pursuing it, except for stirring up trouble.

So Nie Zhenbang wore a shallow smile and said: “Chairman Zheng, regardless, we’d still like to thank Jiasheng Real Estate for its trust and support for Liangxi City. I’m confident the truth will eventually come out. Even if this project didn’t work out, there will be plenty more opportunities in the future. It’s a golden era of reform and opening up now, opportunities are everywhere. I believe we’ll find a better project for cooperation soon.”

This was his implicit promise to Zheng Jiawei. For a company like Jiasheng Real Estate, Nie Zhenbang was more than willing to give his unequivocal support and encouragement.

When he had sent Zheng Jiawei off and was alone once more, his expression turned serious. After all, Zheng Jiawei was an outsider; it did no good to disclose too much to him and possibly tarnish the image of the government.

At that moment, his mind was occupied with thoughts about Zhou Chen. He was the face of the Zhou Clan Group and seemingly successful, but everyone in Jingcheng’s circles knew that the Zhou family had been in decline since the elder patriarch had passed away. Zhou Chen himself had become a dispensable figure in Jingcheng, merely another satellite in Li Guohua’s orbit.

This corporation – Zhou Chen probably didn’t have the final say in its affairs. But why would Li Guohua include Zhou in the old city development project? Unlikely for money; at this level, money didn’t mean much other than to cover the bases. What mattered more was political achievement.

It seemed that Guohua had Zhou bid for Project Ten with the intention of monopolizing the entire redevelopment of the old city, effectively sidelining Nie Zhenbang as chief commander. On top of that, there would be media publicity casting him in a positive light with the public. Therefore, Nie would be excluded from the credit for future successes. As both families were of similar status and the Nie family was relatively on the back foot, public opinion would ultimately be the measure of their political achievements. Understanding the situation now, Nie Zhenbang grew deeply concerned.

As he was about to leave his office, he heard a familiar voice: “Secretary Huang, how are you? May I ask if Mayor Nie is in his office?”

Nie Zhenbang paused at the sound. It was Sun Minghao, who held a role in the organization that had no direct relationship with his own position. What could his unexpected visit mean? Nevertheless, he didn’t dare to dally. He immediately rose from his desk and swiftly walked out of the office. (