National Tide 1980.

After the meeting at the Tourism Bureau, Gong Mingcheng did not go home, but stayed and went to his old leader's office to inquire about the news.

A deputy director of the Tourism Bureau named Hua is Gong Mingcheng's backer.

It was also this person who nominated Gong Mingcheng to take over the position of director of the Temple of Heaven in the bureau.

Although there are many people here today, Director Hua cannot accept Gong Mingcheng's invitation to lunch at noon.

However, considering that Gong Mingcheng came to his home to pay New Year's greetings during the Spring Festival and gave him generous gifts, Director Hua could not remain silent and had to privately reveal some inside information to Gong Mingcheng in advance.

"Yes, the news you heard is true. The man named Ning who you squeezed out of the Tan Palace Restaurant wants to invest in Chen Shuping. Chen Shuping didn't come to this meeting today because someone from Japan came and he was needed to meet with the people from the domestic architectural design institute to discuss the implementation process of the plan. To be honest, according to the news brought back by our head of the bureau who just attended a briefing at the Chongwen District Government last week, the current design plan of the aquarium and the extent of the construction of Longtan Lake Park are beyond imagination."

"According to the plan, they will connect the two islands in the lake to create a mythical beast lying in the water - Ao. The small island is the Ao's head, and the larger island is the Ao's body. The Ao's body, which is shaped like a turtle's back, will be the main building of the future aquarium. That's not all. On top of the small island at the Ao's head and the main building of the aquarium, pavilions will be built to imitate the crystal palace of the Dragon King in myths and legends."

"As for the Dragon Palace Restaurant you mentioned, it is true. In particular, I heard that the district government decided to sign away the third river and lake management office in the southeast corner of Longtan Lake Park, clear that area and give it to Longtan Lake Park to make up for their lack of land and limited renovation. Now the scale of the restaurant is even larger. I heard that it will be connected to the Dragon Palace on the back of the giant aurora from bottom to top, and a seafood city with pavilions and terraces will be built. It will be at least three times larger than the Tan Palace Restaurant outside your north gate."

"Can you imagine? On top of a huge aquarium that looks like a turtle, there is a Chinese-style palace and garden hidden by corals and reefs. Visitors can overlook the entire park and the scenery outside the park from above? They can even watch the sea fish under their feet through the glass floor. If this aquarium can really be built, not to mention Beijing. I'm afraid that people all over the country will want to come and see it."

"Especially, I heard that the restaurant not only offers food and views, but also performances. In addition, fish from the sea can be seen from the walls of many rooms. Just think about it, if a restaurant like this opens, it will surely attract all the wealthy people in Beijing."

It’s really a big deal!
This news was too shocking. Just imagining such a scene, Gong Mingcheng became dumbfounded and could hardly close his mouth.

In fact, he thought that Ning Weimin was forced to leave the Tan Palace Restaurant and was probably unwilling to do so. If things went wrong, he might join hands with Chen Shuping and do the same thing as what happened to the Temple of Heaven.

But Gong Mingcheng didn't take it too seriously.

Because Longtan Lake has such a weak cultural foundation and the park is so small, how can it be compared with the Temple of Heaven, which is internationally renowned and famous even overseas?

Of course it is not as good as that.

Even if they opened another restaurant together serving palace cuisine, and even if they poached a lot of employees from Tan Gong Restaurant, they would not be able to compete with the current Tan Gong Restaurant in the short term.

But he never expected that Ning Weimin and Chen Shuping would not play by the rules and would do such a big thing.

This idea is so brilliant, it's simply out of this world.

If there really is such a place in the capital, not only others but even he himself would want to go and see it.

So it is entirely conceivable that if they succeed in this and the Dragon Palace starts selling palace cuisine, then the throne of the Tan Palace Restaurant as the number one palace cuisine restaurant would probably be greatly threatened.

"This... this is just making up stories. They dare to brag, but do the district leaders believe it so easily? Such a big project is not just a matter of hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars. What if something goes wrong? Who will take the responsibility? Pierre Caton makes clothes, not an aquarium."

Whether out of jealousy or envy, or fear that this would make him a laughing stock, Gong Mingcheng's first reaction was to express doubts, attempting to overturn the project from a rational perspective.

However, Director Hua is not a fool. He can certainly see why Gong Mingcheng, who was a little angry and embarrassed, said such words.

"Do you still need to consider these things? You know all about it, how could the superiors not know? At the briefing last week, almost all the relevant departments were present, and they discussed the doubtful parts of the project face to face. All the concerns and questions that could be thought of were raised. They were confident and answered them one by one. No problem could stump them. I also tell you that this time it has nothing to do with Pierre Cardon Company, it is the personal investment behavior of that surnamed Ning. But the key is that they are really powerful. They have people and money. They have arranged almost everything. The aquarium equipment, electronic equipment and technicians are all from Japan. The construction company is from our state-owned units. The sculpture departments of two art colleges in Beijing are waiting for the approval to start construction. Even the contract for regular transportation of seawater from Tianjin has been negotiated with the company there. The initial start-up capital of 1 billion yen has also been remitted to the designated account in China. They have only two requirements, one is the place, and the other is electricity. As long as the land and electricity are provided and the power supply is guaranteed to be uninterrupted, they will guarantee that the matter will be done. Then tell me, who can not believe it?"

Director Hua's words dispelled Gong Mingcheng's last insistence, and he couldn't help but exclaim.

"The start-up capital alone is 1 billion yen, which is equivalent to 30 million RMB, right?"

"Of course not." Director Hua nodded in agreement.

“How much will the whole project cost?”

"I heard... from what I understand, their current budget is about 70 to 80 million RMB."

"Are you sure? This is a personal investment? This... How is this possible! Where did that Ning guy get so much money? Even if he embezzled all the money from the Japanese Tangong Hotel, he shouldn't have so much money!"

Gong Mingcheng blurted out, expressing his disbelief again.

Director Hua didn't have the patience to argue with him any further, and was a little unwilling to listen to such words. "Your biggest problem is that you lack vision. What era is it now? He is doing business overseas. Apart from other things, can he ask a Japanese bank for a loan? Do you think that in our country, even the banks are tight on money. And don't forget, his wife is a Japanese star. I heard that the movie "Li Xianglan" made him earn hundreds of millions of yen. If you add "Crazy Rich Asians", is it difficult for him to invest this little? In short, this is the realm of doing things. Only people like this can create economic miracles."

Gong Mingcheng was completely speechless.

What Director Hua said were all facts, but he just didn't want to face them.

What does 70 or 80 million RMB mean?
That is enough to build two super luxurious five-star hotels in the country.

What does 30 million RMB, which is equivalent to 1 billion yen, mean?
This is about it, if you add up the annual revenue of Dangu Restaurant's three branches in Japan.

But everyone knows that this number is calculated by the finance department, and most of the profits have to be reinvested in operations.

Even for the Tan Palace Restaurant, it is not easy to earn such a huge amount of money in two years.

This number is especially important for companies with three current shareholders.

If it is allocated to the Temple of Heaven Park, it will be reduced to one third.

This means that if they want to receive dividends from shareholders, it will take at least six years.

It is unimaginable that one person can come up with so much money.

Originally, Gong Mingcheng was surprised when he heard that Ning Weimin could get a bonus of one million RMB from Tan Gong Restaurant every year according to the agreement, and he felt quite unbalanced.

Unexpectedly, this million-dollar bonus was nothing to Ning Weimin. No wonder he was so generous and actually used it to win people's hearts.

But how could Ning Weimin have such great financial resources? How powerful was he?
It would be unreasonable for this news not to shock Gong Mingcheng and make him think deeply.

"You, you should never, ever think you have it all your own way and let the God of Wealth go for nothing. Are you stupid or not?"

Director Hua did not have the habit of indulging Gong Mingcheng. He was not afraid that he would not like to hear it, nor did he care whether he felt humiliated or not, and continued to poke at his heart.

"To be honest, it seems that you have not handled the management of the Tan Palace Restaurant properly. Ming Cheng, I understand that this is your first time as the boss and you are eager to take all the power into your own hands. As the saying goes, you can't let others snore beside you."

"But don't you think about it? He is an outsider, and he has no relationship with the old director. How can he be an ordinary person who can be protected by that old man? Moreover, he has created such a world in Japan single-handedly. Just based on this point, this person must be extraordinary. Not to mention that he has Pierre Cardon Company behind him."

"You are too impulsive when dealing with things and always lack patience. Why can't you wait a year or two to really understand the situation and the other party's details before taking action? I have said long ago that you will fall sooner or later with this kind of character. This incident is a lesson. Even if this incident had not happened, you would have fallen in other things. If you don't learn from your mistakes, you will suffer in the future."

Facing Director Hua's criticism, what else could Gong Mingcheng do? It was impossible to refute, so he could only say with great fear, "The leader taught me that I did not handle this matter well. I was a little careless and failed your expectations of me. I will definitely keep your words in mind and reflect on them seriously. However, they are obviously targeting my Tan Palace Restaurant by doing this. I am worried that when they really open for business, it will definitely pose a threat to the operation of Tan Palace..."

The more Gong Mingcheng spoke, the more confused he became, but Director Hua was a little angry at him for not fighting back.

"What are you talking about! You mean, if they want to open this restaurant, then the Altar Palace will have to close down, so you might as well not run it? I say, as the director, are you a person or just a decoration? Besides, didn't you sign a cooperation agreement with that Shangri-La Hotel? Don't you have confidence in the management ability of this partner? What's more, it will take at least two or three years for them to build this aquarium. If you have so many advantages, and you still tell me that you are incapable of managing your own affairs, then I really have to doubt whether you are still capable of being the director of this aquarium. You are given such a good position, and you still have the nerve to complain to me? Either you are not capable, or I will replace you with someone capable..."

After this warning, Gong Mingcheng's face turned pale, and he immediately changed his words and attitude to show his determination.

"No, no, how can that be possible. Leader, don't worry, I will not let you down and run the Tan Palace Restaurant well. What I mean is that the speed of a train depends on the locomotive. I hope you can pay more attention to my small shop. You are welcome to come to the Tan Palace Restaurant to inspect and guide our work at any time when it is convenient. If we grassroots cadres want to do a good job, we still need the support of our superiors."

Director Hua then nodded with some satisfaction.

"Well, I'll go when I have time. Oh, by the way, let me remind you again. Since the matter of the Tangong Restaurant has come to this, you should try to get it on track as soon as possible and hand it over. Don't create any friction at the last minute to cause trouble. I know that the latest project over at Longtan Lake has been launched, and you may not be very happy. I also know that you and Chen Shuping and this Ning have a bad relationship. But you have to be smart. The aquarium is now a key project that the district has high hopes for. No one can influence the progress of this matter, otherwise it will undermine the overall situation. And that Ning, he has financial resources and a wide network of contacts. Not only does he have acquaintances and friends in many government offices, but he has also become a celebrity in the district government. So don't be emotional and provoke him casually. Otherwise, even if I want to take care of you, I may not support you as I did in the past. Do you understand?"

Although the tone of this statement was not harsh, it was a blunt statement that made the situation clear.

Ning Weimin has created a big situation. In Chongwen District, he is fully qualified to ignore anyone except the district government.

Therefore, it would be best if the handover between the two sides did not encounter any more setbacks. Let alone risking Ning Weimin's neck, it was time for Gong Mingcheng to step back and avoid the situation.

Gong Mingcheng had no choice but to suppress his depression and said yes.

That day, after returning to the Temple of Heaven, I felt extremely depressed.

Gong Mingcheng couldn't help but call the district service bureau to complain to Director Luan.

Needless to say, because of this news, Director Luan realized that if the performance of Tan Palace Restaurant declined after taking over, his situation in the service bureau might become passive.

The two met at a restaurant under the service bureau in the evening. When they talked about this incident, they both said it was like seeing a ghost.

The two of them complained a lot to each other and drank a few more glasses of wine.

Finally, at nine o'clock in the evening, he got into his imported Crown car in a daze and asked the driver to take him home.

The driver saw from the rearview mirror that the director looked unhappy. After parking the car, he took the initiative to help Gong Mingcheng into the house.

Gong Mingcheng's wife saw that he looked disheveled and reeked of alcohol, and after the driver left, she couldn't help but complain.

"Why did you drink so much? Did someone force you to drink?"

Gong Mingcheng shook his head. "Hey, you don't know. I thought I was good at judging people, but I didn't expect that I was still blind. If I had known, I would not have let him go."

His wife asked him who he was talking about.

Gong Mingcheng mentioned Ning Weimin's name and briefly described what happened between them.

Then he smiled bitterly, "Now the old saying has come true, a golden fish should not be kept in a pond, now he has soared into the sky."

My wife said, "How could that be? He is just a small businessman, how can he soar to the sky? He has no backing, and the district government will continue to coax him. After the aquarium is built, won't he return to his original state?"

"Small businessman? Only a small businessman can come up with 70 or 80 million to build such a big project? Do you know that even Pierre Caton's investment in Chongwen District doesn't have that much money? And you're still going back to square one? Childish. Not to mention that this aquarium will be the face of the district government in the future, just say that it will create tax revenue, create jobs, and provide political achievements. Which one of them would not be taken seriously by the district government?"

"Oh, if you put it that way, I think I understand a little bit. Is it possible for you to ease the relationship with him?"

"Oh, it's difficult. Although I originally wanted to keep him, I actually forced him to leave. This person must be very angry with me. I have an additional rival in the future."

"No way. What you said is a bit unreasonable. If it's not good, it's not good. He is a businessman and you are an official. You and he have nothing to do with each other. Why are you fighting?"

My wife disagreed with what Gong Mingcheng said.

"No, you don't understand." Gong Mingcheng looked sad and shook his head. "Nothing in the world is that simple."

His wife reached out and massaged his forehead. "I've never seen you like this. You're the head of a garden, a director-level state cadre of the Beijing Tourism Bureau. If you were in other places, you'd be the director. How could you be afraid of a businessman like him? This is a socialist country. Even if he's good at business, he's just a nouveau riche. Can he influence the leaders of the bureau?"

Gong Mingcheng said, "What do you know! The old director was very kind to him and repeatedly told me to value this person. Now I broke my promise. The two things together, not to mention that the old director and Ning Weimin hate me to the core, there are also many other people who are dissatisfied with me. The most crucial one is Chen Shuping, who was robbed of the position of director by me. If this aquarium is successful, not to mention that Longtan Lake Park will suddenly become a hot commodity from a run-down place. He will also directly enter the eyes of the bureau leaders and receive special attention. The grievances in the past will definitely be compensated. At that time, those who are dissatisfied with me will stand on his side. Think about it, won't he suppress me everywhere in the bureau in the future? Being hated by a small person is at most like being bitten by a mosquito, which is nothing great. You can just slap it to death. But if the wolf is thinking about it, things will be difficult. Ning Weimin is not a mosquito now. If Chen Shuping is promoted again in the future..."

Thinking back to the news he had received today, Gong Mingcheng felt extremely depressed. Although he was the head of the Temple of Heaven Park and the envy of all his peers, and everyone thought he was extremely wealthy, how much money did he actually have? In addition to the activities held at the end of the year and the beginning of the year, he collected a lot of money and recovered some of his losses, but he still didn't even have 7 million.

Ning Weimin could actually make such a big investment. If this aquarium project is a great success, how much money can he and Chen Shuping make in the future?
The sense of accomplishment that I had felt when I replaced Chen Shuping and seized this position disappeared without a trace.

If they have such a successful cultural and tourism plan in the future, it would be equivalent to starting from scratch again, so why should they take themselves seriously?

Oh, I seem to be becoming a joke.

God knows how my old colleagues in the Tourism Bureau and my peers in Beijing will view me after this matter is exposed...

Thinking of this, Gong Mingcheng's face was filled with desolation, but his worry was a little incomprehensible in his wife's eyes.

"How come you are a tiger one moment and a monkey the next? Even if they are all vicious wolves, so what? Really. You are the director of the Temple of Heaven. At most you can come up with a big project to compete with them. You can't allow them to do it but not you, right? Don't make Ning sound so great. I think his only advantage is that he is brave and has some experience from going abroad. Isn't that how business is done? The brave will die of overeating, and the timid will die of starvation. I'm not saying anything bad about you, but you officials are always afraid of taking responsibility. You tie your own hands and feet, and that's why you give others the opportunity to show off..."

Ok?
It’s true that my wife’s way of thinking is the way old women fight with each other, but it does make sense.

After hearing her say this, Gong Mingcheng immediately remembered that Director Hong of the Grand View Garden had revealed that he wanted to invest in a big hotel.

Isn’t that the case? Even a new tourist attraction like the Grand View Garden is now considering building an international hotel.

It seems that in today's society we really can't stick to the old ways. The more obedient you are, the more you suffer.

Yes, if they are allowed to invest, why can’t I invest myself?

Even though he is not as rich as Ning Weimin, the seven million in the account is real money, and he can do a lot of things in the domestic environment.

In the current situation, if he invests, he will at least not be left too far behind by the other party. If he is lucky, he may be able to compete with the other party in the future.

However, he had all the money in his hand but couldn't find any good projects. What should he do? (End of this chapter)