Tanjia Village's National Day has never been as lively as this year.
Rural people all go out to work and earn money, and coupled with the lack of high-speed rail in recent years, returning home is actually quite difficult.
Even those who work in Yicheng rarely return home; on one hand, they don't have many holidays, and on the other, they are reluctant to spend on travel expenses and other costs of returning home.
But this time it's different, Tanjia Village's golden phoenix is returning.
CCTV, Wan Province Satellite TV, Yicheng TV, and local TV stations frequently air commercials for Shanchi and Fengchi series electric vehicles, and Tan Jincheng's figure occasionally appears in the news.
These Tanjia Village residents working in the city, especially those related to Tan Lihua, have all seen them, but they could never match them with the real Tan Jincheng.
Tan Jincheng is bringing his girlfriend back to his hometown, and those relatives who usually have social ties with Tan Lihua, especially close ones, need to give red packets.
In Tan Jincheng's situation, for a less promising junior, they wouldn't come back in the middle of the year, interrupting their work; they would just make up for it during the New Year.
However, this time, Tan Jincheng's paternal uncles and maternal uncles, who are of the same generation as Tan Lihua, all returned by coincidence, ostensibly to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Some workers from nearby villages have returned, as have some of Tan Jincheng's peers who are about to graduate or have less ideal jobs, all called back by their parents.
Tanjia Village suddenly felt like Chinese New Year in the first lunar month; the village regained its vitality, with many young faces, no longer just a village left with the old, young, sick, and disabled.
"Third brother, how much red packet are you preparing?"
Tan Licheng asked his younger brother Tan Liye, a cigarette dangling from his mouth.
Generally, when a nephew brings a girlfriend home, for direct relatives like them, 200 yuan is more than enough; for more distant relatives, 100 yuan suffices.
But it's clear that this eldest nephew, Tan Jincheng, is a bit different.
"Let's give 1,000 yuan. Too little would be embarrassing, and we can't afford too much,"
Tan Liye said with a laugh.
"Alright, I'll tell Lijuan too, our three families will give the same amount,"
Tan Licheng nodded, then he chuckled,
"A 1,000 yuan red packet, tsk tsk, this is a first! Nobody in our village has ever done this before."
Lijuan is Tan Jincheng's aunt.
In reality, the economic conditions of these three families are not affluent.
Tan Licheng is slightly better off as he only has one son, so his financial pressure is less, while Tan Liye and Lijuan both have a son and a daughter.
In those years, the economic stratification in rural areas was not yet severe; everyone's conditions were similar, so the folk customs were still very simple.
However, in a few more years, things changed significantly; the rich became truly rich, and the poor truly poor, and showing off became more serious.
"It's quite a headache; this kid earns too much. But it's not our headache; it's his maternal uncles' headache now."
"Lijuan will also have a headache."
"Hahahaha."
The two brothers laughed heartily.
They were paternal uncles, so giving a red packet this one time was enough, but aunts and maternal uncles were different.
From now on, whether Tan Jincheng gets married, has children, or celebrates a full-year birthday, they would have to give red packets every time.
Additionally, Tan Jincheng and his future wife's 36th birthday would also require a grand celebration, and the amount given couldn't be small; this is a local custom, signifying warding off disaster.
Conversely, Tan Jincheng wouldn't have to pay; all these social gifts would come from Tan Lihua.
---
"Dad, you and maternal uncle take Qingqing back first. I need to go to the county first."
Tan Jincheng's purpose for returning home wasn't to visit relatives, but to discuss Shanchi's third factory with the county leaders.
At the same time, Tan Jincheng looked at Gu Qingqing apologetically.
What kind of situation was this?
Bringing his girlfriend back to his hometown for the first time properly, yet he wasn't entering the house with her.
Gu Qingqing was very sensible; compared to accompanying her to meet a bunch of relatives she didn't know, official business was clearly more important.
"Can't you meet tomorrow? Tell me how you arranged your time; what does it matter if it's a day or two late?"
Tan Lihua said, a little displeased.
Although he said that, Tan Lihua actually knew that this wasn't something his son could unilaterally decide.
On the second day after returning home, the officials waited until evening to report Tan Jincheng's return, which gave him one free day to take his daughter-in-law around the city.
By the third day, his son was no longer free.
All sorts of phone calls came in, some even made personal visits, and even the sub-district office came to join the commotion.
Tan Jincheng had no choice but to spend two days accompanying these people on tours.
He also cooperated with the city's propaganda department for several interviews and filmed two promotional videos.
In his own words, he was "swamped," and he said this just to comfort Gu Qingqing.
Gu Qingqing smiled upon hearing this and said,
"It's alright, Uncle, let him go. This was a planned itinerary, and besides, Jinyue is with me, isn't she?"
"Jinyue, isn't that right?"
"Mm-hmm, I'll keep sister company."
"So well-behaved."
Tan Jinyue was very sensible; she would definitely make a fuss when it was time to, but she was also very well-behaved when she needed to be.
If Tan Jincheng went out to play without her, that would certainly not do, but if he went to work and couldn't take her, she would also be very obedient.
With Zhang Qingliang's family and Tan Jincheng taking the Audi, two cars were no longer enough, so Tan Lihua had to drive back himself.
A convoy of three cars, Liu Suman leading in the GL8, Tan Lihua's Passat in the middle, and Li Yaohui following in the A6, headed towards Anjiu Road.
The road was still that dilapidated one, very bumpy.
Upon reaching the turn at the town's intersection, Tan Lihua started to lead the way, as village road navigation wasn't very reliable.
Tan Jincheng and Li Yaohui continued along Anjiu Road towards Wangjiang County town.
Leaving aside the scene of Tan Lihua's family returning home, in the county town at this moment, Tao Qinian was already waiting for Tan Jincheng in his office.
Today was the first day of National Day.
Ever since receiving news that Tan Jincheng would return to personally discuss factory matters with him, the county had been making all sorts of preparations for this meeting.
After Shanchi proactively held its performance and future development plan press conference, Tao Qinian clearly understood that this was Shanchi Technology's last expansion before 2009.
If the county, or rather, he himself, couldn't seize this opportunity, then there would be no more chances.
Whether the target of 1 million annual sales could be achieved within three years, given the current growth rate of the electric vehicle industry and Shanchi's market position, 1 million annual sales didn't seem like a major problem.
Don't forget, in addition to being among the top three in domestic market share, Shanchi Group, which started with foreign trade, currently ranks first nationwide in electric vehicle exports.
Building a third factory was not a reckless expansion for Shanchi, but a very important strategy.
Given the county's relationship with Shanchi, and the fact that the location of the third factory has not yet been decided, they should and must strive for it by all means.
Tao Qinian also knew that Shanchi and Tan Jincheng probably didn't think highly of Wangjiang's environment; the industrial chain wasn't complete enough, and transportation wasn't as developed as coastal areas.
However, he still held hope for this negotiation, even great hope.
This time, it was simply because a month had passed since the press conference, and Tan Jincheng still hadn't decided on the location for the third factory.
It's worth noting that the Tianjin factory was decided very quickly last time, giving no chance for negotiation.
High efficiency and decisiveness were impressions Tan Jincheng left on the outside world.
The fact that the location hadn't been decided in a month indicated he was hesitating.
And this hesitation was very likely due to their several sincere phone conversations.
This was Wangjiang's current opportunity!
Tan Jincheng was indeed hesitating.
On one hand, there was Changzhou's protective attitude towards small and medium-sized enterprises.
To safeguard the survival environment of local SMEs, they even went so far as to manipulate regulations and lobby leading enterprises not to engage in excessive price wars.
From the perspective of local development and self-interest, these actions were understandable.
However, it was precisely because of this that Tan Jincheng was somewhat hesitant.
In a market economy, price wars occur in any industry.
The price war in the electric vehicle industry had only just begun and would certainly become more severe in the future.
If you don't let me fight them, won't they fight among themselves?
Shanchi had only just started, and it was precisely for this reason that Tan Jincheng feared that if a factory were built there, it might inadvertently benefit local small and medium-sized enterprises.
On the other hand, his hometown showed great sincerity.
Although there was a risk of policy changes after Tao Qinian's departure, a large factory with a national reputation would surely not be messed with by whoever came into power, right?
Furthermore, Tan Jincheng remembered that around 2008, Shenzhou invested in and built Wan Province's largest textile industrial park in Wangjiang.
Later, Wen's also went there to raise pigs, along with various other enterprises of different sizes.
Being able to attract two large listed companies to invest, one of which also belonged to Beicang, indicated that the investment environment wasn't that bad.
Whether to go to Changzhou or return to his hometown, Tan Jincheng was undecided.
As for other locations, Tan Jincheng had not considered them for now.
With the Tianjin factory in the north, the most suitable place in the south would actually be Guancheng.
But as for Guancheng, Tan Jincheng didn't want to go there in recent years.
Firstly, it was too far, and secondly, it had actually been quite chaotic there these past few years.
At least not until after 2010.
The Audi A6 smoothly drove into the ZF Compound.
Shortly before arrival, Tan Jincheng had already called to inform Tao Qinian, who had long since dispatched his liaison to wait at the compound gate after receiving the call.
According to regulations, county-level officials do not have secretaries, but they do have an assistant, commonly known as a liaison.
Generally, their rank is not fixed, but this one was a deputy section-level official.
"Hello, General Manager Tan, I am County Head Tao's liaison, my name is Nie Yunlai."
As soon as the car stopped, Nie Yunlai hurriedly stepped forward and extended his hand, being very polite and enthusiastic.
He was newly assigned to Tao Qinian's side, and frankly, he had Tan Jincheng to thank for being able to work alongside the leader.
Tan Jincheng was startled:
"Hello, Section Chief Nie, are you from Xinba?"
"I wouldn't presume to be called Section Chief Nie, just call me Old Nie. General Manager Tan, you could tell?"
Nie Yunlai said, laughing heartily.
Nonsense, how could I not tell? You're speaking a local dialect.
The accents of various dialects in Yicheng differ, with distinct sounds every ten li.
For example, the accent of Chengguan in the county town and Tan Jincheng's hometown accent are distinctly different, and many local expressions are even unintelligible.
Tan Jincheng's accent carried a city tone, but Tan Lihua and Zhang Suzhi retained the accent of their hometown, Xinba Township.
"Impressive, the attention to detail is superb; they actually found a real fellow villager to be the liaison,"
Tan Jincheng couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
No one's success is without reason.
(End of chapter)