The air in Andu County was filled with the thick smell of tar. Countless chimneys pierced through the clouds, puffing out smoke like an opium addict. The entire county was shrouded in thick smoke. The busy coal trucks on the road weaved through the traffic. Even the pedestrians were in a hurry, afraid that they would miss out on making money if they were too slow.
To determine whether a place was rich or not, one had to first look at the level of urbanization. Passing through the 'clouds', the entire county gradually appeared. Rows upon rows of high-rise buildings were densely packed, stretching as far as the eye could see. Countless tower cranes were waving their arms in the air, extremely busy, creating one miracle after another.
Entering the county, luxury cars were common on the streets. In Nanyang County, a BMW on the streets would attract attention, but in Andu County, BMWs and Mercedes-Benzes seemed to be common cars. Only Lamborghinis, Maseratis, Ferraris, and Rolls-Royces could be considered luxury cars. Who would have thought that an inconspicuous place on the Loess Plateau would have such amazing creativity? Getting rich overnight was no longer a myth.
Lu Yiwei passed by a government office. The twelve-story building was grand and majestic. In front of the building was a long and narrow walkway with parks on both sides. He thought it was the local government building, but upon closer inspection, it turned out to be the cultural bureau. Even a cultural bureau was more luxurious than the Bei Zhou Municipal Party Committee's compound, not to mention the small Nanyang County.
Staying in Nanyang County all year round did not make much of a difference. But it was only here that he personally experienced the difference between them.
Lu Yiwei stopped the car near a billboard and saw the words: 'Build the largest coal and chemical base in the western region, build the largest energy exporting county in the Xi Jiang region, and build the largest transportation hub in the Bei Zhou region.' The three 'largest' were enough to show the confidence and boldness of Andu County.
In addition, there were 120 projects planned to start construction this year. There were 15 renovations and expansions, including three million tons of Guoyuan Coal Mine, ten new steel smelting projects, five power plants, and one car city. A series of livelihood projects, such as a library, a stadium, a cinema, and a People's Square, a two billion investment in the construction of the Andu County Airport, and a two hundred million investment in the construction of an ecological cultural corridor … Seeing this, Lu Yiwei was dumbfounded. Their investment projects were all in the hundreds of millions, and every project was huge. Even Bei Zhou City did not have such boldness.
In such a small county town, there was no extravagant appearance or beautiful environment. It was quietly building a kingdom on black gold in an extremely low-key manner.
Dongcheng Coal Mine was located in Yuze Town, which was under the jurisdiction of Andu County. It was more than ten kilometers away from the county. Arriving at the town, as far as the eye could see, there were rows of neat rows of small three-story houses. Big hotels could be seen on both sides of the road. The scale and standard of construction here were even larger than that of Nanyang County. Even the town government building was better built than the County party committee building.
Lu Yiwei sighed and lamented along the way. Why was Andu County developing so well, while Nanyang County was still stuck at the early stage of reform and opening up? Having participated in the corporate restructuring with Zhang Zhiyuan, he basically had an answer in his heart.
Seven to eight kilometers from Yuze Town, they arrived at Banpo Village. After a few turns along the way, they finally arrived at Dongcheng Coal Mine.
This was his second time here. Compared to the last time, there were some obvious changes. The plaque on the gate had been replaced with 'Dongcheng Coal Mine', and the walls had been repainted with white paint, with the words' Safety in Production, Alarm Ringing 'written on it. The yard was clean and tidy, and there were workers sweeping and dusting. It gave people a very comfortable feeling. Seeing that everything in front of him belonged to him, Lu Yiwei was secretly proud of himself. Choosing Pan Chengjun to manage the business was a very correct move.
The gate was tightly shut. Lu Yiwei honked twice, and an old man staggered out of the guard room. He stared at the license plate a few times and immediately became alert. He walked over and knocked on the glass, signaling for Lu Yiwei to roll down the window.
Lu Yiwei rolled down the window, and the old man asked with a surprised look, "Who are you looking for?"
Lu Yiwei said with a smile, "Hello, I'm looking for Pan Chengjun."
"Oh, you're looking for Mine Manager Pan? He's not here."
"Where did he go?"
"How would I know? He didn't even tell me when he left. Please go back." The old man said with an unfriendly tone.
Lu Yiwei saw that the old man was acting strangely, but he did not get angry. He asked again, "Is Li Haidong here?"
The old man turned back and frowned. "Are you a reporter?"
"Me?" Lu Yiwei smiled bitterly. "Do I look like one?"
"You look like one!" The old man said intuitively. "If you want an interview, go to the county to get a certificate. You can come back after that. These days, people are going crazy thinking about money! "
Lu Yiwei did not expect that he would not be able to enter his territory. He got off the car and passed a cigarette to the old man. The old man saw that it was a Hongtashan and passed it to Lu Yiwei without looking. "Sorry, I don't smoke."
Lu Yiwei knew that the old man looked down on his Hongtashan, so he took out a Chunghwa cigarette from his pocket and handed it over. The old man took it and lit it up. "Even if I smoke your cigarette, I can't let you in. Reporters like you have nothing better to do but stare at the coal mine. There are no accidents here, so you should go back."
"Are there a lot of reporters coming here recently?" Lu Yiwei asked curiously.
"That's right, there are reporters every day!" The old man said, "They are all blind reporters from a newspaper company. They don't even know the name of the newspaper company, and they are here to interview. Who knows if they are real or fake reporters? To put it bluntly, they are here to ask for money. F * * k!"
Similar incidents had happened in Nanyang County before. Some so-called reporters came to the coal mine with a reporter's certificate and a camera to show off. Most people would not check the authenticity of the reporter's certificate, afraid that it would affect their business. Most of the time, they would give some money to buy peace. However, there were more and more 'reporters'. Even reporters from children's newspapers, women's newspapers, and story clubs came to interview. They understood the mentality of the coal mine owners. Every coal mine had a small problem, and if it was infinitely magnified, it would be a big problem. So, they would just give some money to calm things down.
The 'reporters' even formed an industrial chain. Some specialized in informants, some specialized in writing articles, and some specialized in scaring people for money. They shared resources and exchanged information. Every coal mine would bribe one or two insiders. As long as something happened, even if it was a small matter, the reporters would immediately rush over from all directions and surround the coal mine, waiting for the coal mine owner to give them money.
What the "reporters" were doing had completely violated their professional ethics and manners. Instead of conveying valuable information to the people, they were greedily sucking the black gold that was stained with blood like blood-sucking bugs through supervision, intimidation, and even fraud. As a result, when the coal mine owners mentioned reporters, their scalps would go numb and they would have a headache. Fire, theft, and reporters were the true portrayal of these people who were active in various coal mines.
Lu Yiwei had only heard of them, but he had never come into contact with such reporters. However, he believed that regular reporters still had their professionalism and social morality. It was the small group of 'fake reporters' that had corrupted the industry. When dealing with such people, one must not spoil them. Instead, they should bare their fangs and put an end to this evil trend. However, once a certain trend was established, it was impossible to completely destroy it with the strength of a single company. They still needed to strengthen management and supervision from the source.
Lu Yiwei said with a serious expression, "How do you deal with such reporters?"
"How can I deal with them? They're here for the money. Will they leave obediently without paying? " The old man spoke the truth. He suddenly realized that he had said too much and hurriedly said, "What are you doing? If there's nothing else, then leave."
At this moment, Li Haidong staggered out from the second floor of an office building. When he saw a black car parked at the entrance, he took a closer look and saw that it was Lu Yiwei. He quickly ran downstairs and shouted, "Brother Lu, why didn't you tell me that you were coming? I could have gone to pick you up." After that, he scolded the old man, "Are you blind? Do you know who he is? Who asked you to block the door? Open the door! "
Seeing that the old man was trembling in fear, Lu Yiwei quickly comforted him, "Uncle, don't mind him. You did the right thing!" After that, he took out the Chunghwa cigarette from his pocket and stuffed it into the old man's hand.
The car drove into the yard, and Li Haidong took Lu Yiwei to the second floor. With a smile on his face, he said, "Brother Lu, I've redecorated this office building. Are you satisfied?"
Lu Yiwei nodded, "Not bad!"
After entering Li Haidong's office, Lu Yiwei was shocked by the luxurious decoration inside. There were large leather sofas, high-end furniture, solid wood floors, and a large fish tank. There were televisions, computers, air conditioners, and all kinds of electrical appliances. Compared to Xu Liu's office in Xuzhaigou Coal Mine, it was too much.
Lu Yiwei was a little unhappy. He didn't even do much and Pan Chengjun was already spending so much money. There were still many places to spend money. This Pan Chengjun was too extravagant.
Li Haidong didn't see that Lu Yiwei was unhappy. He continued with interest, "Brother Lu, this is my office. Old Pan's office is next door. There's an office left for you at the end of the corridor. Do you want me to take you to have a look?"
Lu Yiwei didn't say anything and followed Li Haidong. As expected, the decoration was equally luxurious, and there was even a mahjong table. Looking at how old the mahjong table was, Lu Yiwei guessed that someone often played here. Lu Yiwei didn't object to this. After all, there wasn't much entertainment in the deep mountains. It wasn't impossible to play occasionally. Also, if a superior came, he could play with them.
Lu Yiwei explained, "The room is tight, so we occasionally come here for entertainment. You won't blame us, right?"
Lu Yiwei waved his hand. "You can play. Haidong, you didn't have to prepare a room for me at all. I don't even know how many times I've come here. "
After leaving the room, Lu Yiwei passed by Pan Chengjun's office and entered. Old Pan's office was the complete opposite of Li Haidong's. It couldn't be any simpler. There were a few business sofas, a desk, and a bookshelf. That was all.
Lu Yiwei asked suspiciously, "This is Old Pan's office?"
Li Haidong nodded. "This Old Pan is an antique. When we were decorating, he wouldn't let me do it no matter what. Since he didn't like it, I didn't let him do it."
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