Zhang Wen's name

Two hours later.

Wang Defa, accompanied by his secretary, arrived at Li Daniu's office, looking furious.

Li Daniu calmly got up to greet Wang Defa.

"Mayor Wang, why didn't you call to let me know you were coming? I could have come to greet you."

Wang Defa was amused by Li Daniu's words. "You, Li Daniu, are pretending not to know anything. I don't believe you haven't read my self-criticism."

"Li Daniu, how could I dare let you pick me up? You only had a phone call with me, and I've already lost so much face."

Li Daniu knew that Wang Defa was really angry, so he immediately comforted him.

"Mayor Wang, I didn't mean to ruin this project. Who knew that people wouldn't buy our fireworks?"

Wang Defa was speechless. "You're the only one in all of Handong, and you can't even sell your products? Are you that useless?"

"Li Daniu, I don't really understand. Since you know it won't sell well, why are you preparing to develop a fireworks project?"

Seeing that Wang Defa's attention had been diverted, Li Daniu immediately explained.

"Mayor Wang, I did some research at first, and I found that all the fireworks we use in Handong come from Hunan Province. So I was very optimistic about this project, but after we made them, we couldn't sell them, even at much lower prices. I don't know what's going on."

Wang Defa was also baffled. How could such good products not sell? Unless there was a problem with the quality.

"Li Daniu, have you never sold your products in other cities, or is your quality poor?"

"Mayor Wang, we've tried selling to other cities, and although they ordered a small number of fireworks, nothing has happened since."

Wang Defa was even more dumbfounded. How could this be?

"Li Daniu, I just asked Lin Zhijun, and he said that there are three medium-sized fireworks factories in your industrial park that are doing quite well."

Li Daniu felt a little embarrassed after hearing this. He had just shut down their factory, and he was too ashamed to face them now.

"Mayor Li, I apologize. I failed to manage my subordinates properly. I allowed them to shut down a factory that was in operation. But don't worry, that official has been suspended from his duties pending investigation."

Wang Defa was furious. "Are you out of your mind? There are already so few factories in the industrial park, and you've shut them down."

"Li Daniu, what is your county committee doing? Do you know how much this is damaging to our city's image? Governor Zhang has repeatedly emphasized the need to properly support law-abiding and ethical businesses."

Li Daniu was also very frustrated, feeling that he had been implicated. If Wang Defa could hear Li Daniu's inner thoughts, he would definitely say, "You know how unpleasant it is to be implicated, right?"

"Mayor Wang, I apologize. It's all my fault, and it has nothing to do with the other comrades in the county."

"Alright, that's enough. You take me to those three fireworks factories first, and we'll finish the tasks assigned to us."

Li Daniu nodded. He had made a pledge, and if he failed to complete the mission, he certainly wouldn't be able to retire peacefully.

................................................

After half an hour.

Li Daniu brought Wang Defa to the fireworks production base.

Seeing so many empty factory buildings made Wang Defa very uncomfortable; this was all money!

"Li Daniu, at its peak, what percentage of the factory buildings inside were rented out?"

"If you include all the small factories, it accounts for about 6%. They were initially very optimistic about this project, but when they saw that they couldn't sell the products, they all moved away and changed industries."

Wang Defa also expressed his understanding, saying that only an idiot like you would do a business that loses money.

"Talk to the factory manager there; we need about 500 tons of fireworks. Ask them if they have any problems."

"Mayor Wang, let's go to the office and wait for them. I'll go and inform them."

Twenty minutes later.

Wang Defa met the three bosses who looked nervous.

Seeing the three bosses looking nervous, Wang Defa said in a friendly manner.

"Bosses, don't be nervous. I've called you here today because I have some good news to tell you."

The three bosses exchanged glances, wondering if they were up to some new trick.

"Mayor Wang, even if you want us to leave, you have to wait until our lease expires. We still have quite a few orders on hand. If we can't deliver these orders, we'll have no way to make a living."

Wang Defa listened to the three men's tearful complaints and was speechless. "Do I look like the villain?"

"You've misunderstood me. We have a fireworks project for you to work on, weighing around 600 tons. Do you have the capacity to handle it? I can only give you about 24 days."

"That's what Li Fugui, the boss of the largest operation among the three, said."

"Mayor Wang, rest assured, we can make any kind of fireworks. We didn't make them before because the whole of Handong didn't trust us. So we only made some small fireworks and firecrackers."

Wang Defa looked at Li Fugui with curiosity. He hadn't expected Li Fugui to be so capable. He had originally planned to go to Liuyang to find a group of designers.

"Boss Li, are you sure? This batch of fireworks is going to be set off during the New Year's Day fireworks show. If something goes wrong, you know the consequences."

Although Li Fugui was a little nervous after hearing this, he immediately became excited when he heard the words "fireworks show." Wasn't this an opportunity?

"Mayor Wang, don't worry. I used to be the chief technical engineer of a state-owned fireworks factory in Liuyang. I only chose to start my own business because the factory was not doing well back then."

Wang Defa's eyes lit up; he had actually found a treasure. He knew about the state-owned fireworks enterprise in Liuyang; it was now the leading enterprise in Liuyang City. The chief engineer there was definitely qualified.

"Boss Li, I'm assigning you to be in charge of these 600 tons of fireworks. How the three of you coordinate is your problem, but I have only one requirement: you absolutely must guarantee the quality and quantity."

Li Fugui was visibly excited. 600 tons of fireworks—that's tens of millions!

The other two watched Li Fugui eat meat and drank soup with a bit of envy. But there was nothing they could do; neither their scale nor their skills were as good as his.

"Mayor Wang, we guarantee to complete the mission."

Wang Defa was very pleased. As expected of a veteran Party member from a state-owned enterprise, his words were inspiring.

"We'll pay you half the deposit upfront. If you encounter any difficulties, please contact me directly. I'll have my secretary call you later, so you can make the arrangements now."

Upon hearing this, Li Fugui was overjoyed. This was the mayor's business card! With this business card, no one in Jianhu County would dare to shut down his factory so easily.

Watching Li Fugui and the others leave, Wang Defa immediately took out a penalty document.

"Li Daniu, if you make a mistake, you should admit it and stand up straight when you're punished. I know you have high moral character, so you can take early retirement. I can retain your benefits as a division-level cadre."

Li Daniu looked at the document with a complicated expression, but he was still very grateful to Wang Defa, after all, this project had indeed lost many hundred million yuan.

"Thank you, Mayor Wang. I'll go and hand over the task right away."

"Li Daniu, what do you mean? Are you trying to desert?"

Li Daniu was a little confused.

"Mayor Wang, I don't quite understand what you mean."

Wang Defa said in an annoyed tone.

"What you start, you finish. This matter began because of you, and it should end because of you."

Li Daniu looked at Wang Defa with excitement.

"Mayor Wang, I guarantee I will complete this mission and will absolutely not let Yanshi lose face."

"Li Daniu, if you handle this matter well, I will personally hold a retirement ceremony for you."

After saying this, Wang Defa walked out of the office.

Li Daniu was still excited as he watched Wang Defa walk out of the office.