Chapter Thirty-Two: The Iron Lady, Fan Tiantian

Shi Zhonghua, Director of the Qiantang Municipal Construction Bureau, had been unable to eat or sleep well for nearly two months.

At nine in the morning, after just settling into his office chair, he picked up several approval applications and judgements from his desk and browsed through them, feeling a surge of irritation.

More real estate applications and factory requests—was there no one with a broader vision?

It wasn’t that Director Liu truly disliked these approvals; in the past, such projects could bring economic benefits, and he would hardly object. But things were different now. Since the previous year, Qiantang had begun experiencing unprecedented frequent smog, with air quality deteriorating sharply. And now, at the crucial moment of Qiantang’s bid for the World Expo, circumstances had changed.

What is the World Expo? It is a grand international exhibition showcasing humanity’s achievements in society, economy, culture, and technology, with immense renown and influence worldwide.

Accordingly, the conditions for bidding are extremely stringent. Economic strength is one of the key metrics, but Qiantang lacks nothing in that regard; what it is short of is natural environment and green space, a patch of blue sky and fresh air.

To increase the chances of selection and highlight Qiantang’s unique features, mere tree planting would not suffice.

This year, the city leadership set the target of expanding Qiantang’s ecological greening and renovation area by four million square meters—equivalent to over 6,000 acres of ecological zone—with the municipal budget covering only 30% of the cost.

What about the rest? Naturally, it must be filled by attracting investment, with various businesses pitching in.

But even if this ecological greening ultimately becomes a tourism venture, with shares allocated to the enterprises, it would take years to see results. Whether tourists would even buy into it is uncertain, and who would be willing to invest heavily? Building a sports center would certainly attract investment without worry.

Shi Zhonghua had been running about for half a year, convening rounds of business negotiations with minimal results.

Ecological greening is not just planting a few trees—it requires ensuring biodiversity and restoring the ecosystem, which demands substantial investment.

The economic environment in recent years had been bleak, and each enterprise faced its own challenges. For the clothing, service, and industrial sectors, which represent the bulk of Qiantang’s economy, ecological greening offers little economic benefit to themselves; even donations must have limits.

These companies weren’t in the tourism business, and Qiantang’s scenic beauty was concentrated around West Lake; what tourism potential lay in the other areas?

So now, with the city’s 30% accounted for, the total confirmed area for ecological greening barely reached 60%.

Shi Zhonghua couldn’t truly force businesses to contribute funds.

Last time, Shengtian Group intended to develop a large ecological mountain clubhouse—though only a few hundred acres, it was at least an ecological project. Director Liu gladly signed off on it.

The surrounding mountains of Xiaoshan had suffered devastating destruction in earlier years, with most trees felled and the animal ecosystem shattered; there were even quarry mines. Those mountains, until vegetation and ecological stability were restored, hardly counted as ecological green space. Shengtian’s ecological clubhouse would inevitably bear the heavy burden of tree replanting and maintaining ecological balance.

But, reportedly, the relocation of residents hadn’t been handled well, and the project stalled.

He sighed, sitting in his chair.

Director Shi, in the prime of his career, urgently needed a highlight to bolster his record. If Qiantang’s World Expo bid failed, city leadership would certainly raise the issue of ecological greening.

Though there were mitigating factors, a reputation for inefficiency would nonetheless stick.

Just as he was troubled, the phone on his desk rang.

Shi Zhonghua picked up the internal line.

“Hello, Director—Assistant President Fan Tiantian of Shengtian Group wishes to speak with you.”

Shi Zhonghua had some impression of Shengtian. “Put her through.”

After a click, the voice on the line became a clear, elegant female voice.

Fan Tiantian was still staying at the same five-star hotel as before; she hadn’t returned to the capital with her father, instead intending to clean up the mess left by Liu Weiliang.

“Good morning, Director Shi. I’m Fan Tiantian, Assistant President of Shengtian Group. Regarding our group’s ecological clubhouse project in the Xiaoshan area, I’d like to ask for your assistance.”

“Assistance from me? Ms. Fan, the issue of relocation must be resolved through negotiation; there’s nothing I can do.”

“It’s like this, Director Shi. Previously, there may have been some misunderstandings between Shengtian and the villagers of Xugou, so the relocation process hasn’t gone smoothly,”

“But,” Fan Tiantian’s tone shifted, “we’ve discovered multiple violations in Xugou—illegal land allocations, fraudulent claims, unauthorized livestock farming.”

“And the only remaining party for relocation, the Wu family, is even more outrageous. The scale of their fish ponds is nearly double what’s listed on their approval documents; they’ve illegally built a new house without demolishing the old one; the area they’ve fenced after contracting the hillside clearly exceeds the permitted use; and there’s a small chicken farm with no livestock permits whatsoever.”

Upon hearing this, Shi Zhonghua’s brows furrowed; many of these were persistent rural problems, but as Fan Tiantian described them, the Wu family’s issues seemed especially numerous.

“What kind of help do you want from the municipal bureau?”

Fan Tiantian curled her lips into a smile on the other end.

“Director Shi, you and the bureau need do nothing except issue a compulsory demolition permit to Shengtian based on the Wu family’s illegal constructions. Rest assured, we will pay every cent of the compensation within reasonable limits, and we also plan to expand the ecological park by 50%, contributing further to the city’s ecological greening.”

What a formidable woman, Shi Zhonghua thought.

...

Wu You’s injuries had completely healed, and there was nothing for Zhang Guihua or Wu Jianguo to notice.

So that morning, he first went to the hospital and applied a fully prepared and tested restorative ointment to Wu Jianguo’s wounds.

Zhang Guihua and Wu Jianguo already knew Bai Yanxi was staying at their home, and remembered well Bai Lao’s medical skills, so they accepted his ointment without any resistance.

Then Wu You went to the public security bureau to apply for a passport; once it arrived, he’d need to get a visa—why? To go abroad, to the United States or another country where legal firearm possession was allowed.

After nearly being killed by that brown bear in the depths of Beast Mountain, Wu You could hardly let it go.

This time, he planned to be armed to the teeth before returning to Beast Mountain for revenge. He had plenty of money, and if circumstances allowed, he was ready to haul an entire arsenal into the mountain.

He’d always heard that government offices in the country were inefficient, but the passport process was remarkably swift this time. Perhaps, with more people traveling abroad in recent years, reforms had been made.

He just needed to fill out a form, hand over his ID, and within a week the passport would be mailed to his designated address. The whole process took less than five minutes.

Driving home, he noticed two Audi A8s parked outside the Wu family garden. Several men and women stood beside the cars, holding documents, and a strikingly elegant woman in professional attire was observing the garden’s entrance.

The gate was no longer the simple wooden door it used to be, but rather two robust vines entwined together.

These vines were commonly found in the wild, but Wu You had infused them with rose alchemy, creating a new plant: rose-thorn vine.

They grew at the entrance, their thick branches twisting together and connecting at the top, forming two symmetrical cloud-shaped arches.

On the vines, green leaves and rose blossoms dotted the surface, their gentle fragrance wafting through the air.

Fan Tiantian had seen countless flowers, but never such beauty or wonder. Were it not for her reluctance to disturb the harmony, she would have wanted to pick a rose herself.

Hearing the sound of a car parking and a door opening behind her, she turned, locking eyes with the puzzled Wu You.

Seeing Fan Tiantian, Wu You’s first reaction was: beautiful. His second was confusion.

Fair skin, tall and slender figure, graceful curves, radiant complexion, delicate features—she was clearly a superstar-level beauty. What was she doing here?

Once, Wu You would have been shy speaking in front of such a woman, perhaps avoiding eye contact, but now, having experienced both loss and triumph, life and death, he could maintain a relatively calm demeanor.