A young man from another world returned to his hometown.

Chapter 18 Negotiations at the Town Office

The town office building is quite old.

The aging tiles on the exterior walls clearly indicate that the building was constructed in the 2000s.

Section Chief Ma is in his late forties this year. With so many years of experience working at the grassroots level in townships, what kind of scenes hasn't he seen?

Back then, there was a panel manufacturer. Everything was settled, but in the end, they ran away with nothing.

But now that the house is clean, another person has run away.

His brow hadn't relaxed since he entered the office today.

On the table was a stack of documents with red lettering, a mess left behind by the previous boss who had absconded with the money: unpaid wages, unpaid rent, unfinished projects, and endless disputes.

This mess has been going on for so long and there's still no end in sight, especially with the recent viral news about Tamura returning to his hometown to start a business.

The boss has been emphasizing this point at every meeting lately, even though being criticized won't affect his work.

Section Chief Ma sighed, picked up his teacup, and took a sip of the old tea leaves.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

Clerk Xiao Zheng poked half his head in.

"Section Chief Ma, Village Chief Tamura has arrived, and he brought someone with him, the one from the news before..."

"Come in quickly."

All the doors were opened.

Lin Jiayao stood at the door, glanced around the office, and then nodded to Section Chief Ma.

"Section Chief Ma, hello. My name is Lin Jiayao, Lin Yan's cousin, and I am also the person in charge of this project."

Section Chief Ma put down his pen and stood up.

"Oh, I know, I know, the young talent in the news, welcome."

He wanted to pour himself a cup of tea, but Lin Jiayao simply waved his hand.

Xiao Zheng sized up the young man. He was dressed plainly, but had a strong presence, unlike the hunched-over manner of previous people who had entered the office.

"You're welcome, Section Chief. I know you're busy, so I'll just get straight to the point."

Xiao Zheng paused for a moment.

Should we just say it directly?

People who come here to discuss business will spend at least half an hour exchanging pleasantries, but this young man didn't even drink tea.

Section Chief Ma paused for a moment. A while ago, the village chief of Tian Village came to him. This young man had helped their village resolve some disputes. Why was he coming to him again so soon... Could it be that the investment that was agreed upon before was going to be canceled?

"Please sit down. What's the matter?"

Lin Jiayao didn't stand on ceremony. He pulled out a chair, sat down, and placed his hands folded on the edge of the table.

"The village chief has spoken with you several times before, asking for some policy support, and I understand."

Section Chief Ma nodded, waiting for him to continue.

"not enough."

"..."

Xiao Zheng quietly stopped. He didn't look up, but his ears perked up.

This person didn't seem to be testing us at all. Even though he'd been on the news, he was so straightforward. Was he really that amazing?

Section Chief Ma twitched his eyebrows and took another look at the young man opposite him.

"What the village chief mentioned are all peripheral matters. The scale of our investment next is not just about opening a small store. Section Chief Ma, what I need is a real policy channel, and it needs to be fast."

"hiss."

Looking at Section Chief Ma's expression, Lin Jiayao sensed that Ma seemed to have a feeling that this young man was terrifyingly powerful, so he continued speaking.

"You've seen our news report, haven't you?"

"I've seen it."

Not only he had seen it, but the entire town leadership team had seen it, and even the county had inquired about it.

"Section Chief, our current situation is that the March Red lychee is about to arrive, and you know more about lychees than I do. It's just a countdown now."

"so……"

"Therefore, we need to build cold chain facilities."

Cold chain base? They ran off with a bunch of subsidies before, causing chaos. Xiao Zheng witnessed that scene firsthand.

The young man in front of me just said it like that.

Section Chief Ma was startled; the last boss who ran away had also made such a boastful demand.

"The cold chain logistics base... well, regarding funding..."

Lin Jiayao waved his hand, interrupting him directly.

"The government does not need to provide the funding."

"hiss……?"

Section Chief Ma's breathing stopped.

Every business owner who comes to discuss projects asks immediately how much matching funding the government will provide, how large the land plot is, whether there are subsidies, and what level of reward it will be.

Not a single person came to tell him that the funding did not need to come from the government.

"Section Chief, to be honest, what we need right now is not money; we have enough."

"What we need is speed, the green light, and for those approvals to be stamped and implemented in the shortest possible time."

"We will invest in our own village, in the land that was previously disputed. We will not only invest in agriculture, but also in industry, hoping to increase the land's use attributes."

That piece of land was the most difficult part of the mess left by the previous owner; the villagers' disputes were still ongoing, and no one wanted to take on this burden.

Section Chief Ma's expression changed slightly, and he carefully considered his words before speaking.

"You should know about the situation with that land, the contract..."

"I know, it's our village, how could I not know?"

Xiao Zheng's mind started wandering. He was just a clerk, here organizing documents and doing odd jobs.

Does this person even know what he's talking about? Does he have no idea how complicated the land dispute is?

Lin Jiayao looked at him calmly.

"Section Chief, you see, this project of ours is probably the only highlight our town can be proud of this year, isn't it?"

Section Chief Ma didn't speak, but that pause was his answer.

Lin Jiayao continued.

"Then let me ask you, right now, who needs to help whom?"

Section Chief Ma frowned slightly.

"The mess left behind by the previous boss who ran away is something the town has been trying to resolve, but hasn't been able to, right?"

Section Chief Ma remained silent.

Lin Jiayao said calmly.

"So, it's not our village that needs help, it's the town."

Xiao Zheng glanced over instinctively.

Does anyone still talk like that in a leader's office? Generally speaking, visitors come to ask for favors, but the logic of that last sentence completely reversed the situation.

Isn't it offensive to say something like that? Yet this person did say it anyway.

"We came in as villagers' investors, revitalized that land, built up the cold chain, and once the lychee season arrives, the villagers will have a way out, the issue of unpaid wages will be easier to discuss, and the dispute will have a reason to be resolved."

"You, Section Chief, are better at calculating this than I am, so I won't say any more."

"Wow, these young people today have such a broad perspective; they see the big picture and the overall challenges."

Section Chief Ma pondered for a moment, then raised his head, looking more serious.

"What exactly are your demands?"

"We need policy approvals for the three connections and one leveling, a green channel, and we will provide the funding ourselves."

What about taxes?

"The rent will be paid in full, but it will be transferred to the village collective's account and distributed to the villagers proportionally. We will not take any of it, and the town will not retain any."