Chapter 105: Three Rules

County A, Gui Province.

“Hey, hey, hey, what do you think you’re doing?” Lu Kun asked irritably as he watched Liu Shixun wandering around, peering here and there.

The moment he came in, Liu Shixun shoved a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes into Lu Kun’s hands, then began sneaking glances around the living room like he was looking for something.

“Heh heh, Brother Kun, isn’t this because I heard that Little Ya was sick? I came by to see her,” Liu Shixun said awkwardly, rubbing his hands together.

“Cut the nonsense. Little Ya’s fever has been gone for days. Where were you a few days ago?” Lu Kun rolled his eyes. He had heard all about it: a few days earlier, Sun Chengze had come back from Beijing, and the instant Liu Shixun got wind of it, he rushed over and clung to the man like glue. Nobody could get him to leave.

“Hey, I haven’t seen you for a while, and you’ve grown quite a bit,” Lu Kun said. Only after looking more closely did he realize Liu Shixun really had gotten taller over this stretch of time. He had been around five foot seven before, but now he seemed likely to be pushing five foot nine.

“Really? My cousin said the same thing,” Liu Shixun said, touching his forehead bashfully. A faint blush rose to his face.

Lu Kun: “...”

Could you please stop bringing up your cousin every other sentence? And what exactly are you shy about?

“Little Ya’s in the back garden playing with the other kids,” Lu Kun said, the corner of his mouth twitching as he lifted his teacup, the gesture clearly meaning: you may leave now.

Liu Shixun and Little Ya were inseparable. Every time he came over, he would secretly bring her all sorts of tasty snacks and fun little things.

At first, Lu Kun had been quite wary of him.

He had even suspected the boy of having impure motives, as though he were trying to play some kind of little-girl-raising game.

But in the end, it really was nothing more than an innocent friendship between the two of them.

A whole crowd of children was making a racket in the back garden, while Lu Kun sat on the second floor, drinking tea and reading in leisurely comfort.

As for the newspapers, he did not even need to look at them to know what they said.

Every single paper was devoting enormous space to yesterday’s signing, in which Sun Bowen, the corporate representative of the Huakun Chain Supermarket Group, and Liang Guanshi, the legal representative of the Tianxing Foundation, had signed an agreement for capital injection and equity participation.

The matter had even been mentioned for more than ten minutes in the evening news broadcast of Gui Province.

Li Erfu had kept his word and brought along all his friends to give the Tianxing Foundation a proper show of support.

The top officials of Gui Province were nearly overcome with delight.

At first, they had thought only the Tianxing Foundation people were coming to invest. They had never expected a whole group of big businessmen to arrive and inspect the province’s investment and business climate.

No need to say anything else: first, they would charm these plump, round-headed local bosses into staying.

For this purpose, the provincial government had even set up a temporary office called the Investment Promotion Bureau, which spent all day escorting these local tycoons from place to place, doing nothing but eating and drinking.

In truth, these local bosses and nouveaux riches were exactly the kind of investors Gui Province needed most right now.

Among them were people in the grain trade, the sand-and-gravel trade, the timber trade, the antique-and-jade trade, and more.

It did not sound all that elegant, but they were an ideal match for Gui Province’s needs.

The province’s industrial base was extremely weak, and the annual tax revenue from the secondary sector amounted to less than forty percent of what the primary sector brought in.

As for the tertiary sector, well, let us simply ignore it.

If these local bosses were willing to come to Gui Province to invest and build factories, the province’s tax revenue could rise substantially.

Once tax revenue increased and the local government had money in hand, it could carry out large-scale upgrades to infrastructure and create a better investment and business environment.

And truth be told, these local bosses had originally only come because of Li Erfu’s invitation. They were here out of courtesy, and all because of his face. But the people sent by the Gui Province government practically treated them like royalty.

As the saying goes: when you take someone’s favor, you eat their food and feel beholden to them.

These bosses all cared about their reputations. Quite a few of them had already decided to try investing here. Of course, many others were still watching and waiting, while a few made it clear they had absolutely no interest.

When the Gui Province government tallied everything up, it found that these local bosses had invested a total of more than five million Hong Kong dollars. Though there was a slight sense of disappointment, there was no real dissatisfaction.

After all, slow and steady wins the race.

Besides, weren’t there still plenty of bosses sitting on the fence? As long as they could be shown that the early investors in Gui Province were making big money, there was no way the others would not bite.

“Mm. From here on, the government’s economic work should focus on how to help investors make money,” the province’s second-ranking leader said to the people beside him.

Lu Kun was hiding at home to enjoy some peace and quiet, unaware that the public discussion outside had already reached a fever pitch.

A total of twenty million Hong Kong dollars in foreign investment had made Gui Province shine brightly among the western brother provinces.

The newspapers within Gui Province went even further, calling this foreign investment event a major step in Gui Province’s reform and opening-up, saying it had left the other western provinces far behind and concluding that Gui Province had excellent investment and business conditions.

Ridiculous.

Gui Province was covered in mountains and dense forests, and there were hardly any proper roads. What kind of superior investment climate could it possibly have?

Of course, the media chose to be selectively blind about all that. At a time like this, who would dare stand up and sing a different tune? That would be like a rat licking a cat’s tail, asking for trouble for no reason.

One should be careful not to get oneself written down in the little black book.

Besides, bragging did not cost taxes. Helping the government boast along with them could still count as making an outstanding contribution to Gui Province’s development.

...

Tap, tap, tap.

Little Ya came running upstairs, tugging Liu Shixun along with her.

“What now?” Lu Kun lifted his eyelids and asked, rather helplessly.

“Daddy, tomorrow I want to go to the park with Uncle Shixun and Uncle Chengze,” the little girl said, running over to shake his arm.

“Which park? Isn’t there already a park right across from our house?” Lu Kun answered the question, though his eyes were fixed on Liu Shixun, a cold glint flashing through them.

“Uncle Shixun said our provincial capital has opened a new park, and there are all kinds of cute little animals inside!” Seeing that Lu Kun was willing to pay attention to her, the little girl became even more excited.

“Don’t go running around. Your mother is almost ready to give you a little brother, and you’re still darting everywhere. Be careful some bad person comes along and carries your brother off.”

That was exactly how Lu Kun had coaxed the little girl a few days earlier, so she would stay home in peace for a few days instead of rushing out to play.

“Daddy, you’re lying! Uncle Shixun said it’ll still be a very, very long time before my little brother is born!” the little girl said angrily, raising a finger and stabbing it toward him so hard that Lu Kun, seated on the recliner, almost got poked under the chin.

...

Lu Kun said, “Then let’s make three rules.”

“Mm.” The little girl nodded hard.

“First, you must come home the same day.

Second, you are not allowed to get your clothes dirty.

Third, don’t listen to Uncle Shixun. Listen to Uncle Chengze!”

Little Ya: “Huh???”

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