Chapter 174: Someone Is Looking for You

Today is the first Monday of December.

Early in the morning, Lu Kun received a call from a high-ranking official in the provincial government, stating that someone wanted to speak with him in private regarding the raw material production base of the Master Kong Food and Beverage Group.

Not daring to delay, Lu Kun immediately instructed his assistant to reschedule his day and asked Huang Mingbo to accompany him to the meeting.

In the afternoon, at a teahouse.

Lu Kun, Huang Mingbo, District Mayor Lin, and Secretary Xiao Zhang sat facing one another.

District Mayor Lin had just stepped into his forties, yet he had already risen to the high position of District Mayor. His influence and background were extraordinary.

District Mayor Lin took a sip of tea, set down his cup, and pulled two documents from his briefcase, gesturing for Secretary Xiao Zhang to hand them to Lu Kun and Huang Mingbo respectively. "Young Brother Lu, I've heard about your connection with Vice Governor Zhao, but this time, your plan to lease land and build an industrial raw material production base involves some complicated procedures."

Ever since Lu Kun had Huang Mingbo submit the proposal for the raw material production base to the district government, it had immediately caught District Mayor Lin's attention.

Within a mere half-month, District Mayor Lin had someone investigate Lu Kun's background from top to bottom.

A grassroots hero!

This was District Mayor Lin's initial impression of Lu Kun.

Starting from scratch in 1989, and accumulating such vast wealth in just two or three short years—it was truly no small feat!

Lu Kun held his teacup with both hands to warm his palms. "District Mayor Lin, please tell me whatever issues there are with the procedures. Although I am a businessman, that in no way diminishes my love for my hometown. As you probably know, I come from a proper rural background, and precisely because of this, I can better understand the hardships of the farmers."

Huang Mingbo and Secretary Xiao Zhang remained silent by mutual understanding. They knew their proper place; today, they were purely here to accompany these two men for talks. Listening more and speaking less was the wise approach in all matters.

"I understand Young Brother Lu's character. I heard that Young Brother Lu previously ran a worker-peasant cooperative project, helping farmer brothers lift themselves out of poverty and achieve prosperity?" District Mayor Lin said, feigning ignorance.

Lu Kun chuckled softly. "Such a thing did happen. However, it is a win-win situation between us and our farmer friends; they increased their income while we gained more supply channels. It serves two purposes at once."

Lu Kun knew that District Mayor Lin bringing up this topic was not without purpose. As for what play was to be performed next, he could only quietly wait and see how things developed.

However, one thing was certain: District Mayor Lin harbored no ill intentions toward Lu Kun, the Huakun conglomerate, or the Master Kong Food and Beverage Group. Otherwise, he would not have explicitly pointed out Lu Kun's connection with Vice Governor Zhao right from the start.

Lu Kun surmised that perhaps District Mayor Lin had to shoulder too much responsibility regarding the raw material production base. Even though he was leveraging the favor of Vice Governor Zhao, he still had lingering concerns.

District Mayor Lin motioned for Lu Kun to look over the document his secretary had handed him.

District Mayor Lin also flipped through his own document. "Back in 1988, the Ministry of Agriculture proposed the construction of the 'Basket Project'. The objective was to establish service systems ranging from the central to local levels for the production of meat, eggs, milk, aquatic products, and vegetables, as well as fine seed breeding and feed processing, thereby alleviating the tight supply contradiction in our country's non-staple food industry..."

Lu Kun frowned slightly. In his past life, the Basket Project had indeed been proposed in the late 1980s, but it seemed Angui did not truly launch the 'Basket Project' until around the mid-1990s.

"The butterfly effect?" Lu Kun pondered inwardly, maintaining a calm expression on his face while feigning an appearance of listening intently.

"Since the second half of this year, the higher-ups have been pressing quite hard on this matter, and even a high-ranking figure hinted to me in private that the Basket Project must undergo pilot testing no later than the second half of next year."

At this point, District Mayor Lin took another sip of tea before continuing, "You all know the situation in Angui. The pilot program for the Basket Project is most likely going to fall within the district under my jurisdiction. Although there have been many investors coming to Angui for ventures over the past two years, finding one that fits the Basket Project criteria is truly harder than searching with a lantern in broad daylight!"

Lu Kun finally understood. The district was now preparing to launch the first phase of the Basket Project.

This first phase of the Basket Project would last until the mid-1990s. The flourishing Basket Project effectively resolved the problem of short supplies of non-staple food products in the market. The continuous and rapid growth of "Basket" products fundamentally reversed the long-standing domestic shortage of non-staple foods.

"District Mayor Lin, are you implying...?" Lu Kun probed cautiously.

The Master Kong Food and Beverage Group could barely qualify for inclusion in the Basket Project. If they could secure the support of the district and provincial governments, it would undoubtedly bring numerous benefits in the future!

This was a golden opportunity for the Master Kong Food and Beverage Group to take off.

Of course, Lu Kun's mind remained clear; in this world, getting all the advantages without suffering any losses was a rare occurrence indeed.

Lu Kun reflected that District Mayor Lin had specifically requested a private meeting and used such polite language not only out of regard for Vice Governor Zhao's side, but likely also with the intention of dragging him into investing in the Basket Project.

"What I mean is," District Mayor Lin deliberated for a moment before proceeding, "Your Master Kong Food and Beverage Group could entirely join the Basket Project. The government has always favored food processing enterprises."

Lu Kun waited quietly for the rest, a trace of interest showing only faintly on his face.

District Mayor Lin stopped playing suspense. "Didn't you want to set up a raw material production base? You can! I can make the decision: the district government will step forward and carve out one thousand mu of agricultural land for you to build the raw material production base!"

Sitting on the side and previously keeping his head down to drink tea, Huang Mingbo suddenly raised his head, his face beaming with unconcealed ecstasy.

Lu Kun's fingers tapped rapidly on the table surface as his brain functioned at high speed. For District Mayor Lin to offer such a huge benefit was clearly an act of goodwill, an attempt to forge a personal connection with him.

Of course, the premise of all this was investing in the district's Basket Project. If this matter fell through, the raw material production base would most likely evaporate as well.

If Lu Kun refused right now, this gesture of friendship would likely turn into enmity, or at the very least, their relationship would instantly grow cold.

The production factories of the Master Kong Food and Beverage Group were located under his jurisdiction. The old saying "a magistrate close at hand is better than a prefect far away" held true as an absolute truth at any time.

No, he could not simply refuse like this. The idle cash in his hands was insufficient, so at the very least, he needed to rope in a scapegoat to make the investment.

This was not a good business for making quick or massive profits, but it was a great business for building personal favors and connections.

"District Mayor Lin, to be honest with you, the idle cash in my hands is not that much. After setting up the raw material base, I'm afraid I won't have the capacity to invest in the Basket Project as well," Lu Kun said.

A hint of disappointment surfaced on District Mayor Lin's face. "Oh, I see."

During these past few days, District Mayor Lin had spoken with quite a few external investors, running into walls every single time. This time, he had approached it with a mindset of trying his luck to see if any enterprise within the province possessed the strength to invest.

Coincidentally, the report from the Master Kong Food and Beverage Group regarding the establishment of a raw material production base landed on his desk as district mayor at this exact moment, which naturally caught his attention.

"That doesn't matter either. Since you want to build a raw material production base, what if we just slap a different label on it, Young Brother Lu? What do you think?" District Mayor Lin asked, looking as though he had made up his mind.

"Oh? Slapping the Basket Project label onto the raw material production base?" Lu Kun's eyes lit up, but they quickly dimmed again.

Lu Kun knew all too well how tightly the state monitored the Basket Project.

If they really did that—defrauding the state of preferential policies—the future trouble would be endless. Whatever they swallowed down would sooner or later have to be spat back out twofold.

Lu Kun guessed that District Mayor Lin must truly have been pushed to his wits' end by his superiors to come up with such a workaround.

"No," Lu Kun slowly shook his head under District Mayor Lin's expectant gaze.

The risks of using a borrowed label were simply too high. Once exposed, neither District Mayor Lin nor Lu Kun himself would escape heavy repercussions.

District Mayor Lin's expression tightened slightly, and he made a move to stand up and leave. Secretary Xiao Zhang, sitting nearby, also wore an anxious look.

"However, I can try to help District Mayor Lin pull in some investment," Lu Kun smiled, gradually regaining the initiative in the conversation.

District Mayor Lin, whose buttocks had already lifted halfway off the stool, sank back down. Suppressing his nervous anxiety, he calmly listened to what Lu Kun had to say next.

In a flurry of rapid thoughts, Lu Kun filtered his usual business partners through his mind, but could not recall a single person with the idle cash and strength to invest in the Basket Project. Just as he was at his wit's end, the image of Li Erfu, who had come to Angui to escape trouble, suddenly flashed into his mind!

During this period, Li Erfu had been leisurely touring the sights of Angui the entire time!