Big Data Cultivation-Chapter 516 - : Scheme Falls Through

Chapter 516: Chapter 516: Scheme Falls Through

The old judge had no good attitude towards those who took advantage of the nation.

As a veteran legal professional, he believed more in the principle “fairness resides in the hearts of people.”

He thought that in matters of land contracting, if you didn’t have extremely powerful connections, it was best not to attempt taking advantage of the state.

As long as your contract bid was fair and there was no breach of regulations, even if government policies changed later on, generally speaking, the state wouldn’t let you suffer too much of a loss, you might even just earn a little less.

Of course, if you racked your brains to take advantage, once the state turned against you, it could happen faster than flipping a book—aside from financial loss, being sent to prison was not out of the question.

Upon hearing this, Yang Yuxin couldn’t help but interject, “Director Jiang, the contract price offered by President Feng is absolutely fair. The upfront payment isn’t about saving money but because the county needs it, and they hope he can make the payment all at once.”

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“I know this,” the old judge was indeed nitpicking everywhere, “But the current leaders have spent the money; they couldn’t possibly leave it for their successors, could they? The key point is… Hu Changqing might be watching, and who knows, he might still be around for another ten or twenty years.”

Feng Jun thought for a moment, then cautiously asked, “So, if I go through the bidding process and win the bid, and then it’s approved through an organizational decision, would that significantly reduce the risk?”

The old judge pondered for a moment before cautiously responding, “But as you said, aside from you, no one else is likely to participate, which is also an unreasonable point… In the future, people might question why those companies came to bid.”

Li Xiaobin was getting a bit impatient; she didn’t like this old man making her out to be utterly useless, “So according to you, no matter how hard we try, it’s useless?”

The old judge had no interest in such a young upstart and was only being polite because of Yang Yuxin’s presence.

“Young lady, you are right. That’s the system we have in our country. If those above want to deal with you, there’s no escaping it. My job is to point out potential risks… As for the magnitude of the risks, that’s for you to assess,” he said diplomatically.

Feng Jun realized that the old man was stubborn so he said with a smile, “It is certainly necessary to point out risks, and as for the size of these risks, we would appreciate your help in scrutinizing them… especially in interpreting local policies and regulations.”

The old judge was relentless in his scrutiny, wanting to showcase not only his expertise and worldliness but also to make Yang Yuxin feel the value of his presence.

So, after hesitating, he nodded, “Director Yang asked for my assistance, and I will omit no detail, sharing all I know. I’ve said so much just to tell you, you absolutely must not take this lightly.”

“No problem at all,” Feng Jun replied with a nod and a smile.

The conversation lasted for over an hour, stretching into lunchtime. By then, the old judge was drained and went to rest.

It was only then that Yang Yuxin spoke to Feng Jun in a low voice, “Don’t worry about the provincial leaders; who would fuss over such trivial matters? Once the county has made an organizational decision and the city leaders give their directive, no one will pick faults on this issue anymore.”

Director Jiang had made some valid points earlier, but as far as she was concerned, the provincial leaders were as high up as she could reach to pull strings.

And for leaders at that level, were a few billion yuan in contract fees really a big deal?

In fact, she thought that if there wasn’t a targeted issue, no provincial leader would care about such trivial matters—who would bother with it if you spent real money without taking undue advantage of public resources?

Feng Jun nodded with a laugh, “To be honest, Director Jiang’s words have almost made me want to give up on this project… Whatever I do seems inappropriate; why bother at all?”

“That’s up to you,” Yang Yuxin said lightly, “Whether you give up or not, I’ll support you.”

Feng Jun felt that when she talked about these matters, she was nonchalant, as though discussing cultivation, exuding a confidence as if everything was under control.

Indeed, there’s a specialist for everything.

Due to Feng Jun’s arrival, negotiations for the matter sped up, and within two days, the county provided their latest response.

The response covered many aspects, and the old judge finally started to display his professional skills.

He identified two clearly inappropriate conditions, and also flagged a potential risk, without elaborating further.

After two more days of negotiation, the county agreed to clarify the two inappropriate conditions, but regarding the potential risk, they believed it pertained to local policies and regulations which lacked a dedicated department at the provincial level.

After all, it wasn’t a national policy but a provincial one. Currently, Yuyuan lacked a responsible department, so they decided to put it on hold and just add a stamp later once that department was established.

To allay Feng Jun’s concerns, County Chief Chi personally visited him to explain the situation.

It’s common these days to “board the train first and buy the ticket later.” If a required stamp keeps something grounded, should all work cease?

Just look at real estate developers; without a single stamp, they dare to build and even pre-sell.

But the old judge unusually insisted on this point, suggesting that if there was no local department to provide the stamp, then go to the provincial level for approval.

He fixated on this step because he believed that this could become the biggest risk if someone wanted to cause trouble in the future; it had to be dealt with.

Feng Jun agreed that it made sense, and even Yang Yuxin thought that it would be somewhat difficult to ask for favors at the provincial level for a policy already in place.

It truly isn’t a national policy, nor is it effective local execution—yet if you wish to explain, others must be willing to listen.

Just at that moment, Chao Ying approached Feng Jun. She had already figured out Feng Jun’s choice of scheme, and she planned to partner with someone on a tourism development project close to that plot of land.

Her intent in coming was simple; it was to see if there were any mutual interests between them, as they were going to be neighbors in the future.

However, Feng Jun indicated that he might not purchase the land, as there was a particularly thorny issue. If it could not be resolved by the city, the likelihood of him giving up was high.

At first glance, the problem didn’t seem significant. Still, the experienced judge was well-versed in related policies and knew the extent of the issue this could lead to. If someone like Feng Jun had asked a judge from the capital to come, it was likely the problem would not have been detected.

That’s not to say the most excellent is necessarily the most useful. Being down-to-earth is very important.

After hearing this, Chao Ying’s expression turned sour, and she hastily stood up to take her leave.

Watching her departing figure, Feng Jun felt a bit odd: Why didn’t she try to persuade me?

What he hadn’t expected was that the moment Chao Ying left the hotel and sat in her car, she made a direct phone call with a grim expression on her face, “Brother, Feng Jun has found the loophole in the contracting management method.”

“What?” Chao Gang’s voice sounded unusually surprised, “You mean… the one related to autonomous resource mediation?”

“Yes,” Chao Ying replied in distress, “I don’t know how he discovered this… He indicated that if this issue isn’t resolved, he might give up on the contracting plan.”

“Tsk,” Chao Gang clicked his tongue in annoyance and muttered under his breath, “Why would this happen?”

Before long, Chao Ying arrived at her brother’s office with a gloomy face, “Brother, what should we do?”

Chao Gang was reviewing documents. He looked up at his sister, “Take a seat first; it’s not a big issue.”

At this moment, his demeanor had returned to normal. Two minutes later, he put down his pen, looked up, and spoke with a smile, “This loophole was bound to be discovered sooner or later. Why so angry?”

“But it’s different,” Chao Ying snapped back, “I should have been the one to tell him about this loophole!”

This was what the siblings had agreed on earlier. Back then, Hu Changqing had expressed that he was willing to support Feng Jun in contracting the wasteland, a stance that made Chao Gang somewhat suspicious—he thought Elder Hu might not be that magnanimous.

However, Elder Hu had delegated the task to him, leaving Chao Gang to wonder how to handle it.

Chao Gang mulled it over and felt that Elder Hu’s words must be heeded. But to wholeheartedly assist Feng Jun in managing the matter could possibly anger Elder Hu—was he just paying lip service? Feng was my enemy; by doing this, are you failing to see the big picture?

But it was necessary to act—was he to ignore the old leader’s wishes?

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After much deliberation, Chao Gang concluded that the matter should be addressed, and not just addressed, but done so with great fanfare to signify Elder Hu’s concern for his hometown.

However, he needed to prepare a backup plan, like leaving a backdoor in electronic equipment. He had to embed traps within the contract so that if Elder Hu accused him of “naivety,” he could reveal the traps—I’ve already dug the hole for him.

Yet just setting traps wasn’t enough to satisfy him. Regardless, Feng Jun’s willingness to contract such a large plot of land without commercial use and to preserve the natural beauty was a great deed for the local people.

At the same time, he didn’t want to overly upset Feng Jun. Elder Hu was scary, sure, but was the Gu Family any less so?

Moreover, how old was Feng Jun now? Just in his early twenties, and he has already made such advancements. Where might he be in another twenty years? His future was limitless!

Chao Gang belonged to the Yuyuan faction but was not a direct descendant of Elder Hu’s lineage. While being careful not to offend Elder Hu, he also planned for his own future. So he had calculated that he ought to leave a backdoor just in case, but at the same time, he intended to hint about this backdoor to Feng Jun.

The backdoor was solely to appease the old leader, but his true aim was to win Feng Jun’s favor.

No matter how influential Elder Hu was locally, his sun was setting, whereas Feng Jun had powerful patrons and was like a rising sun. It was self-evident who was worth investing in—besides, Chao Bo had a good rapport with Feng Jun.

Of course, the process of hinting had to be done tactfully. A certain reserve was also necessary, as people do not value what comes too easily.

Thus, he let Feng Jun hang for a few days, allowing him to communicate with Chi Zhijie.

But now, he was suddenly informed that Feng Jun had found the trap himself, which caught him off guard.

However, he quickly adjusted his mood.

Chao Ying’s feelings, however, were far more mixed—she had hoped to curry favor with Feng Jun through this gesture, then advance her endeavors in the tourism industry.

Now, all her plans had come to nothing.

(Updated, summoning the minimum guarantee for July’s monthly votes.)