Chapter 168: Chapter 168 Brother San’s Prestige_1

Translator: 549690339

Upon hearing Nie Zhenbang’s words, Qian Jin also felt somewhat embarrassed. Initially, he had called Cao Zhuangzhi over with good intentions, hoping that through the influence of Cao Yangming, and with Cao Zhuangzhi’s intervention, the leaders of each department in the Autonomous Region would give them some face. However, Qian Jin had not anticipated that the father and son of the Cao family were in cahoots. Cao Yangming looked down on Nie Zhenbang and consequently, so did the young Cao Zhuangzhi. They didn’t help at all but instead caused more harm.

Looking at Nie Zhenbang, Qian Jin lowered his head and said, “Brother…”

Before Qian Jin could continue speaking, Nie Zhenbang again waved his hand, smiling, “Money-lover, when did you become so long-winded. This clearly isn’t targeted at you. You just happened to be in the crossfire. That’s enough. Don’t concern yourself with this matter anymore. I’ll take care of it myself.”

After leaving the Planning Commission of the Autonomous Region, Nie Zhenbang had no further plans to hustle. If things were this way with the Planning Commission, and at the Finance Department, Guo Chang had a similar situation. If his estimations were correct, Luo Hao’s calculations were also likely to fall through.

Indeed, in less than half an hour, Qian Jin’s phone rang again. As soon as he answered, Luo Hao’s voice came over: “Brother Jin, I have something urgent to tell you.”

At this point, Qian Jin wasn’t shocked anymore. He shared a glance with Nie Zhenbang and said, “It’s about the funding, isn’t it? Forget it, Rat, since they’ve already got me involved, what more can we say? Should we get our fathers involved too? If that happens, wouldn’t Xibei turn into a mess?”

On this end, Nie Zhenbang gave it some thought, then said to Qian Jin, “Alright, Money-lover, you can go home. I’ll find other leaders and think of a solution. A living person can’t die from holding their urine, right? If all else fails, I’ll go find Secretary Jiang. He should give me some face.”

Nie Zhenbang spoke casually, but Qian Jin frowned upon hearing this. This time, Cao Zhuangzhi had seriously offended Nie Zhenbang and himself. But given what Nie Zhenbang was saying, Qian Jin could only nod and said, “Brother, be careful. Call me if there’s anything.”

After Qian Jin left, Nie Zhenbang checked into a hotel. At this moment, seeking help from Li Yifeng would be useless. Since the rumors were started by Cao Yangming, if Li Yifeng got involved now, it would make him seem petty, making a joke of himself in front of others. Moreover, it would disrupt the unity of the Xibei team. Fearful of Elder Nie’s disapproval, he hypothesized that if Elder Nie knew, he would scold Li Yifeng after the act, as Elder Nie’s initial instructions were very clear: to not interfere unless it was a matter of life and death. Apparently, the current situation was not life-threatening, so Li Yifeng would not interfere. Seeking help from Jiang Zhenquan, given his understanding and appreciation of Nie Zhenbang’s background, might just work. But then, Nie Zhenbang would lose face. Although it would be just once, from Nie Zhenbang’s perspective, it was a show of support. But for Elder Nie, it would be a favor owed.

Nie Zhenbang carefully considered all the possible routes he could take in Xibei. But as it stands, the path in Xibei seems increasingly difficult to tread, and now he could only go through his connections in Jingcheng.

However, it was very unfortunate today, as he could not get through to Liu Kun and Li Wen’s* phone calls. This made Nie Zhenbang quite frustrated. Was today his unlucky day? Why did every problem seem to befall on him?

Nie Zhenbang then called Li Lixue. As soon as the call connected, Li Lixue’s excited voice came through, “Zhenbang, how come you have time to call today? Are you coming back to Jingcheng?”

From the side, Dong Wan’s voice also came, “Zhenbang, we, here, have arranged everything with Lixue. Dynasty*s side has also arranged reliable people to look after it. Lixue and I are probably going to go to Lixian in these few days. You just wait.”

Nie Zhenbang also laughed and said, “It seems like you guys are ready to bring An Bang’s supermarket over. In that case, you guys go to Urumqi first; I’ll wait for you there since I’m currently in Urumqi for some work. By the way, Wan, Did Liu Kun and Li Wen* stop by Dynasty today? I can’t reach both of them.”

In less than half an hour, Nie Zhenbang’s phone rang again. As soon as he answered, Li Wen’s* voice came through, “Brother, do you need anything in particular, calling us so urgently?”

Nie Zhenbang didn’t babble at this moment and directly got to the point, “Wen*ge, my brother, today, I’ve had my face shamed. Now, I can only rely on our brothers.”

Upon hearing Nie Zhenbang’s words, Li Wen* was taken aback. He then furiously exclaimed, “Brother, who’s this prick who dares to bully you? Just say the word, and we brothers will take care of it.”

Nie Zhenbang laughed at that moment and said, “No need for that much trouble. Just get in touch with Kun and see which one of our brothers in our circle holds an important post in agencies like the National Planning Commission, Finance Department, Transportation Department, Agriculture Department, or any other ministries. I need someone who can make decisions. This time, I came to the Xibei Autonomous Region for some funds but to my surprise, I was played by a Vice-Chair’s son. Now, every department in the entire Autonomous Region sees me as a pestilence, keeping my funds held up. Brother, I’m leaving this matter to you.”

After hearing Nie Zhenbang’s words, Li Wen*ge also began to laugh, and then said, “Third Brother, is it just about this? Honestly, your old man behaves too low-profile. Look, now even the nobodies are stepping on your head, it’s only because of your patience that you didn’t explode. Don’t worry, we’ll take care of this for you.”

After hanging up the phone, Li Wen*ge purposely put on a gloomy face. Liu Kun and many others in Jingcheng’s circles were stunned.

Liu Kun chuckled, “What’s the matter? One phone call with Third Brother and you’re like this. What happened?”

Li Wen*ge spoke in a grave tone, “Alas, we brothers are impotent. Third brother went to the province of Xibei for funding, unexpectedly he was snubbed by the son of a Deputy Chairman there. If word got out, our face in Jingcheng’s circles would be gone. Guys, give me leave. I’m off to my aunt’s place to try and get some funds from the Ministry of Construction. Let’s allocate this funding specifically for Li County Government.”

After Li Wen*ge’s words, those who gathered under his banner were all close folks to Nie Zhenbang. They all sprang into action. In no time, leaders from various departments in Jingcheng, even some very high-ranking officials, received calls for help from their own sons or nephews, all with the same aim of helping Li County in Bazhou City, Xibei Autonomous Region to secure funding.

The leaders were all wondering how everyone had suddenly built connections with the remote region of Xibei. A random check clarified it all. Elder Nie’s grandson was there.

In an instant, various departments in Jingcheng transferred funds directly to the accounts of various bureaus in Xibei Autonomous Region.

At this moment, in the residential area of the Xibei Autonomous Region’s Transportation Bureau. The bureau-level building. This is the only high-end suite in the residential compound of the Transportation Bureau. There are three bureau-level buildings in total, with four units each.

As the head of the Transportation Bureau, Luo Yimin naturally lived in the bureau-level building. The moment he got home after work, he happened to see his son Luo Hao. Considering the peculiar events, Luo Yimin also asked: “Hao Hao, come here. I have something to ask you.”

Luo Hao was stunned. His father usually never interfered with his affairs. Today, what was going on? Luo Hao sat down, slightly bewildered, he asked: “Dad, what’s the matter?”

Luo Yimin hesitated for a moment, then said, “Do you know who this Nie Zhenbang from Li County really is?”

Luo Hao was even more puzzled, “Nie Zhenbang? I’m not sure. Only heard Qian Jin mention him once. This man was acquainted with Qian Jin in Li County, and Qian Jin seems to respect Nie Zhenbang a lot, referring to him as ‘Third Brother’. Also, it appears that Secretary Jiang highly values Nie Zhenbang.”

On hearing Luo Hao’s response, Luo Yimin regretted a little, he immediately said, “Why didn’t you mention such important matter earlier? Now it seems we can only make up for our oversight.”

“Dad, what exactly happened? What do you mean by making up for an oversight?” Luo Hao was even more confused now.

At this moment, Luo Yimin spoke gravely, “News hasn’t come down yet, it’s just a recent message. Suddenly, within a day, several ministries including the National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Transportation, and Ministry of Agriculture have transferred a sum of funds to us here. Our Transportation Bureau has received thirty million. But the use of this money is specified, it must be used for the infrastructure construction of Li County, as a special fund for special purposes. Moreover, I called Old Guo in the Finance Bureau, their situation is the same, although under different names. But all the funds, nearly one hundred and twenty million in total, are for special purposes. It’s specified to be allocated to Li County. Our district and various cities are not allowed to withhold the funds under any excuse.”

After speaking, Luo Yimin couldn’t help but sigh, “It looks like this time, Cao Yangming has hit a wall.”

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