I See through Everything

Now that the local government supported Hailufeng Company’s investment, they naturally had to complete all preliminary preparations as quickly as possible to facilitate the upcoming large-scale expansion.

They needed to make good use of the three-year tax exemption period to lay a solid foundation.

After receiving Jiang Miao’s go-ahead, Zhang Xincheng hung up the phone.

He went to Kong Keji’s office.

"Manager Zhang, you’re here. Have a seat for a moment. I just need to finish up with this document."

Anyone unfamiliar with his personality would surely be angered by such treatment. After all, Zhang Xincheng’s rank was higher than Kong Keji’s, and he was also Jiang Miao’s brother-in-law.

Zhang Xincheng complained to himself, ’This Old Kong really has a one-track mind. Anyone else would secretly hold this against him for insubordination and look for a chance to make his life difficult.’

A moment later, Kong Keji finished with the document and finally asked, "Manager Zhang, what can I do for you?"

"The boss has already approved the cooperation with Gannan, so we need to go and iron out the details with them. Let’s go to Gannan together tomorrow!"

"Since the boss has agreed, isn’t it enough for you to go, Manager Zhang? There’s still a mountain of work here in Luling," Kong Keji refused rigidly.

Zhang Xincheng was speechless. ’You sure have a way with people! No wonder you were ostracized at your last company.’ He didn’t hold it against Kong Keji, instead explaining, "Keji, it’s not appropriate for me to make public appearances right now. You need to be the one out front."

"Oh, is that so?" Kong Keji was finally starting to get it. The company had, after all, issued an announcement stating that Zhang Xincheng’s duties were suspended.

If Zhang Xincheng were to appear at the Gannan partnership signing ceremony now, he would definitely be reported on by local television and news media. If West Yuan Group were to notice, the trap they had prepared might all be for naught.

Of course, Kong Keji didn’t know that the company was scheming against West Yuan Group. However, Jiang Miao had already called him and told him to fully cooperate with Zhang Xincheng’s work, help conceal his identity, and prevent him from appearing in public.

Thinking of this, Kong Keji nodded. "I’ll arrange things here as quickly as possible. Let’s meet at the branch office entrance at eight tomorrow morning."

"Sounds good. You get back to it. I’m heading out." Zhang Xincheng had no desire to continue the conversation. Aside from work, that guy Kong Keji had a knack for killing a conversation in three sentences flat, which was just too awkward.

In his first few days at the Gannan Branch, Zhang Xincheng had experienced that awkward silence that fell mid-conversation several times. He’d learned his lesson now; as soon as they were done talking about work, he left immediately.

Besides, with Kong Keji’s personality, he wouldn’t think Zhang Xincheng was giving him the cold shoulder anyway.

「Early the next morning.」

The two men, each with an assistant and accompanied by two members of the branch’s legal staff, made a group of six as they took the high-speed train to Gannan.

「Meanwhile.」

The Gannan Commerce Bureau was also taking this matter very seriously. They had specially dispatched people to wait at the Gannan high-speed rail station and had also prepared the office for the upcoming negotiations.

「A little over an hour later.」

Led by a few government clerks, they arrived at a business hotel in the Gannan city center.

"Hello! Manager Kong, Mr. Zhang, welcome to Gannan. Please, come in."

"Hello!"

"Hello!"

After the two parties exchanged greetings, they entered a private business suite on the third floor of the hotel.

As this was an informal meeting, no television stations were invited for interviews or photos.

After they were seated, Zhang Xincheng didn’t beat around the bush. "Everyone," he began, "our company’s chairman, Mr. Jiang Miao, is aware of your invitation and terms. He has agreed to proceed with this cooperation and has fully authorized Manager Kong and me to negotiate with you. We will accept the conditions as you’ve stated them, but we require a formal announcement and the relevant documents."

"Not a problem." Dong Qixian, the man in charge of the negotiations, nodded, his face beaming. "We understand your company’s request, and we also understand your concerns."

"We’ve already held a meeting on our end," another person in charge guaranteed. "As long as your company confirms its investment, we will immediately establish a dedicated liaison office to serve you and resolve any and all concerns."

Zhang Xincheng said with certainty, "Since we’ve agreed, we won’t go back on our word. However, our chairman is currently tied up and may not be able to come sign the contract in person."

Dong Qixian was really going the extra mile to attract this investment. "No problem. When the time comes, we can send someone to Shanmei to have General Manager Jiang sign the documents."

"Also, I have a small personal request. For some personal reasons, I’d rather not appear in any media reports for the time being. At the signing ceremony, please have Manager Kong represent us on stage."

Although Dong Qixian and the others found this a bit strange, they didn’t suspect anything and expressed their understanding.

Soon, the two sides began to discuss the details of the cooperation terms. The two members of the legal staff refined every condition as much as possible to avoid any ambiguity.

For example, how exactly would the three-year tax exemption be implemented?

After all, as a branch company, the taxes were split into two parts: one was the personal income tax for Jiang Miao paid by the parent company, and the other was the branch’s value-added tax and so on.

Since the local government didn’t have the authority to directly exempt Hailufeng Company from value-added tax, they could only use policies to provide corresponding subsidies to offset this portion of the tax.

The same went for the other conditions.

The two sides discussed these matters for two full days before finalizing all the details of the conditions.