Big Data Cultivation
Chapter 1187: Playing the Villain Once

Chapter 1187: Chapter 1187: Playing the Villain Once

Feng Jun had not yet waited for Dou Jiahui to arrive, but the deputy mayor with a commanding presence from last time showed up.

The deputy mayor failed in his attempt to solicit funds last time, so he had some pent-up frustration. As soon as they met, he chuckled lightly and said, "President Feng finally has time to come out?"

In fact, he’d come specifically for Feng Jun, which Feng Jun was all too aware of.

Upon hearing this remark, Feng Jun felt a bit annoyed, but he couldn’t afford to be argumentative. "Mayor Wu, aren’t you in charge of tourism? Why are you suddenly interested in looking at lighting fixtures?"

"The cultural and tourism sector is a key focus for provincial support recently," Mayor Wu replied with a smiling face. "Dou Jiahui has been involved in municipal bidding, and lighting fixtures are a significant component. He’s been drinking with me several times, saying he wanted to introduce you to me... I said no need for introductions; we’re all acquaintances, right?"

Feng Jun felt like walking away, but this was his childhood friend’s business. Leaving like that wouldn’t be appropriate.

If he could change Dou Jiahui’s thinking, he would rather have him train in cultivation alongside him than engage in government procurement.

So he chatted idly with Mayor Wu, saying one thing and leaving another unsaid, while constantly scrolling through his mobile phone.

Mayor Wu was in no hurry. He came with one purpose: to pull Feng Jun into the game.

Over the past two years, the entire province had been developing cultural and tourism industries. Yunyuan City had started investing in this project early on, but when the industry chain truly began to take shape, Yunyuan City couldn’t keep up. Their tourism resources were severely lacking.

As the provincial capital, Jiangxia naturally received preferential policy support... Yunyuan shouldn’t even dream of competing with Jiangxia. Being better than other prefecture-level cities would already be an achievement.

Everyone wants the money for supportive policies, but when that can’t be secured, development at the local level still has to proceed, doesn’t it?

That’s precisely Mayor Wu’s mindset: if I can’t get fiscal allocations, I’ll knock on doors for private contributions.

But the problem was, Feng Jun didn’t want to be solicited—just recently, to save face for him, he had already donated one million.

Everything has its limits; you can’t just catch one sheep and keep shearing the wool off it.

After chatting for a while, Dou Jiahui finally returned, bringing along a guest.

This guest was a private enterprise owner from the neighboring city, who operated three hotels. Dou Jiahui had taken on the lighting project for one of his hotels, and today he had gone to collect payment, which is why he’d been delayed till late.

The hotel owner surnamed Gao already knew that Dou Jiahui and Yunyuan’s richest man were like brothers—otherwise, this job wouldn’t have been so easy to land. Upon hearing that Feng Jun was in Chaoyang, he decided to follow President Dou to come and see for himself.

Feng Jun wasn’t here alone either; Gazi, Feng Jing, and Zhang Caixin were present too.

With so many people, one table wasn’t enough, but Dou Jiahui had already made arrangements with a farmer’s restaurant that had a table for twelve people.

At the dinner table, glasses of liquor passed back and forth, and Feng Jun’s plan to chat leisurely with Dou Jiahui fell apart.

President Gao, who had some business ties in this area, even wanted to get a couple of female attendants for the drinking session, but Feng Jun and Dou Jiahui stopped him.

By the time everyone was half-drunk, Mayor Wu started cracking some dirty jokes to liven up the atmosphere, even occasionally trying to tease Feng Jing and Zhang Caixin.

Gazi looked visibly displeased, but seeing Feng Jun grinning indifferently, he didn’t say anything and focused on eating his food.

Feng Jun, who’d worked in business sales before, genuinely didn’t mind these things. If possible, he hoped the atmosphere could stay this lively.

But to his disappointment, when Mayor Wu had finished joking, he finally began discussing serious matters.

He wanted Feng Jun to take over the water-based resort project in Jixiang County.

This project... in short, it was a mess, an abandoned construction site for over three years, with too many complexities attached to it.

Feng Jun would rather the deputy mayor talk more dirty jokes than bring this up. Hesitating briefly, he smiled and said, "Let’s drink; no serious talk while drinking."

"I just want to drink too, no serious talk," Mayor Wu waved his hand ambiguously. "But President Feng, you’re a busy man with so many commitments. If not this time, who knows when the next time will be... Can you come to the city tomorrow? If not, tell me a time, and I’ll head over to Chaoyang."

Feng Jun’s expression turned a little sour. He forced a smile and said, "I really do have a lot on my plate. It’s rare for everyone to sit down together; let’s just drink and chat casually. Why sour the mood with such topics?"

"This isn’t a sour topic; it’s a major issue concerning Yunyuan’s development," Mayor Wu declared righteously, as if the person cracking lewd jokes earlier wasn’t him, "President Feng, you’re also a Yunyuan native; why not contribute a little to the homeland’s construction? It’d be a worthy cause."

Feng Jun put down his chopsticks, stared straight at him, and deliberately enunciated his response, "But I’m not from Jixiang County!"

Mayor Wu remained unyielding. "With greater ability comes greater responsibility. If you say that, I might consider suggesting to the municipal government to shift Chaoyang’s support towards Jixiang. You’ve contributed to Chaoyang; wouldn’t that be natural and proper?"

"Mayor Wu, what sort of reasoning is that?" Even Zhang Caixin couldn’t hold back anymore. "Supporting one’s hometown construction is a favor; refusing to help is a right. Where is the logic in forcing someone to help and calling it... natural and proper?"

"I’m not forcing President Feng to assist," Mayor Wu was clearly drunk. "That water park project is actually quite good. With President Feng’s capabilities, if he takes it over and works on it earnestly, profit is guaranteed."

Feng Jun looked at him helplessly. "The shady dealings with that water park? Even someone like me, who rarely comes back to Yunyuan, knows about them. And now you want to tell me it’s profitable?"

"For others, it might pose problems, but for you, absolutely none," Mayor Wu said earnestly. "Only you... someone both wealthy and capable, can take on this project successfully."

Mayor Wu’s words weren’t just directed at Feng Jun but also hinted at those backing him, like Elder Hu or Yang Yuxin. The water park was tied to numerous vested interests; simply being wealthy or capable wasn’t enough to secure the project.

But Feng Jun wasn’t one to get swayed by mere flattery. If he wanted, of course he could take on the water park project. No one would dare obstruct him, but, given the time wasted on disputes, he’d rather focus on cultivation.

Moreover, he detested Mayor Wu’s forceful matchmaking approach, so he shook his head and said, "I have no intention of managing small-time businesses like this; why don’t I donate some more money instead?"

President Gao, who’d remained silent, couldn’t help the twitch at the corner of his mouth. "An investment of over a billion yuan, and you call it small-time?"

He’d always thought of himself as doing quite well. Feng Jun might be Yunyuan’s richest man in name, merely richer than others. But now, seeing this, he realized their perspectives were worlds apart—over a billion wasn’t even within Feng Jun’s sights.

Mayor Wu froze for a long moment before finally digesting Feng Jun’s words. "Alright then, have a think about it later."

Ultimately, he still hadn’t given up on persuading Feng Jun to invest.

But Feng Jun immediately grew irritated—what was this endless pestering?

There were things he didn’t want to do, but circumstances often forced one’s hand.

He smiled and said, "Mayor Wu, you truly have deep feelings for Yunyuan."

"That’s a given," Mayor Wu nodded, speaking earnestly. "As long as it benefits Yunyuan, I’ll do my best to fight for it."

"That’s good to hear," Feng Jun clapped his hands with a grin. "Gazi, go fetch a bottle of Wuliangye."

Gazi promptly returned with the bottle. Feng Jun grabbed the enamel mugs used in rural homes for pouring drinks, lined up six of them.

Enamel mugs weren’t large, but they could hold about half a kilogram of liquor. Gazi opened three bottles and filled all six mugs to the brim.

Feng Jun had always thought such movie-like scenarios, particularly those involving villains, shouldn’t occur in his life. But now he realized some people needed to be handled this way.

"Mayor Wu, please drink," Feng Jun gestured with a smile. "For every mug, I donate one million yuan. How many mugs you drink, I’ll donate that amount. But no puking... anything under three mugs doesn’t count!"

That meant starting from three mugs—two mugs got you nothing, three mugs earned three million, four mugs earned four million.

Mayor Wu’s face instantly turned dark.

He didn’t come alone; he had a driver and a secretary with him. While the driver couldn’t join the table, the secretary’s face turned visibly furious as he spoke up, "President Feng, isn’t this rather offensive?"

"Offensive? How?" Feng Jun leisurely replied, glancing at him. "I just want to see how deep Mayor Wu’s feelings for Yunyuan really are."

Then he signaled Gazi again. "Go grab more mugs! Six mugs can’t possibly show Mayor Wu’s affection for Yunyuan."

Gazi stepped out, leaving the room steeped in silence. Nobody spoke; Mayor Wu sat there with a grim, stony expression.

Eventually, the secretary broke the quiet. "President Feng, this is rather difficult. The leader’s alcohol tolerance..."

"Shut up!" Feng Jun snapped, glaring at him. "Who do you think you are? We’re having a conversation—where do you get the nerve to butt in? I didn’t address you earlier as a courtesy; don’t push it!"

He turned to Mayor Wu, his expression softening to a grin. "Sorry, you know, some people just can’t be indulged."

Mayor Wu’s face grew darker. "Are you talking about me?"

"And what if I am?" Feng Jun’s tone hardened. "Last time, when you asked, I donated one million. Wasn’t that enough face for you? Yet here you are, pushing it further—really think I owe you something?"

At that moment, Gazi returned, carrying another stack of enamel mugs. Strangely, his other hand was clutching yet another crate of Wuliangye.

"Pour for Mayor Wu," Feng Jun said nonchalantly. "One bottle, two million. Drinking from the bottle counts too. Today, I must see just how much affection Mayor Wu has for the people of Yunyuan!"

"Well... President Feng," President Gao finally couldn’t stay quiet. "Mayor Wu’s already had quite a bit tonight; he might not handle more. Sometimes words exchanged at a drinking table need no follow-up—they vanish with dawn."

"President Gao, this has nothing to do with you. I’ve tolerated him long enough," Feng Jun dismissed him casually. If not for Dou Jiahui’s presence, this mid-level hotel owner wouldn’t even deserve to speak with him.

He squinted coldly at Mayor Wu. "Think back to how you spoke when you came to ask for favors. Now it’s your turn to show your hand..."

Finally, enraged, Mayor Wu slammed his hand hard onto the table, shaking all the plates and utensils violently.

He snarled through gritted teeth, "Feng Jun, are you insulting me?"

(To be continued. Place your monthly votes now.)