Chapter 80: An Investment of Over a Hundred Million

"You broke Young Master Rui's leg?" Zhang Xiu'e found Tang Long and glared at him as she questioned him. At that moment, Tang Long was in the midst of bantering with a table of tourists from out of town.

After exchanging a few polite words with the tourists, he pulled Zhang Xiu'e aside, let out a couple of sheepish laughs, and asked in surprise, "How did you find out?"

Zhang Xiu'e sighed helplessly. "How did I find out? How do you think I found out? The Wen family is out for revenge now. Why on earth did you have to break his leg?"

She remembered Tang Long mentioning it to her before, but she thought he was just venting—it never occurred to her that he would actually go through with it!

"When did this happen?"

Tang Long chuckled awkwardly. "A couple of days ago, when County Chief Wu called us into town to discuss things. Honestly, it wasn’t really my fault. Young Master Rui was the one who sent people to block our car first!"

Zhang Xiu'e, fuming, demanded, "So he blocked your car, and you broke his leg for that?"

Tang Long shrugged. There was nothing much to explain. What was done was done—what else could he say?

He hadn’t seen any reaction from that Young Master Rui these past couple of days, so he thought the incident had blown over.

"You just said the Wen family is planning to retaliate?" Tang Long changed the subject, asking curiously, "What are they planning to do?"

With a furrowed brow and a stern face, Zhang Xiu'e replied, "Just now, Qian Youwang called me to say that the Wen family spent thirty million to buy a piece of land in Donghe Town."

Thirty million to buy land in Donghe Town?

Tang Long asked with a smile, "What does that have to do with us?"

"You still have the nerve to laugh!" Zhang Xiu'e pinched his waist, her voice annoyed. "How could it have nothing to do with us? That land is right on the only road leading to our Yutou Village!"

Between Yutou Village and Donghe Town, there was only a single dirt road—a rough, potholed path that was difficult to traverse even in the best of weather. If it rained hard, it was completely impassable.

Who in their right mind would invest in Donghe Town, let alone in such a remote spot? There could be only one reason: they were targeting Yutou Village.

"Even with Wen Rui’s leg broken, they still won’t let it go?" Tang Long asked in surprise. But this approach didn’t quite seem like Young Master Rui’s style.

After a moment’s hesitation, Zhang Xiu'e said, "According to Qian Youwang, the person who came to sign the contract in Donghe Town was a young woman. She showed up unexpectedly, went straight to the top official to get the papers signed and the money transferred, all in one go—no delays at all. The county’s land approval had already gone through, so Donghe Town had no grounds to hold things up. The whole process took barely ten minutes!"

Tang Long considered this, then gently tried to reassure her. "Don’t worry. Let me make a call and find out what’s going on."

He led Zhang Xiu'e away from the crowd, pulled out his phone, and dialed Wang Feiyue’s number.

When something needed looking into, it was far more effective to go to Secretary Wu Zhengyao’s assistant than to the official himself—especially for things like gathering information.

As soon as the call connected, Wang Feiyue’s voice came over the line. "Just in time, brother! If you hadn’t called me, I was about to call you. There’s an urgent matter here, so let’s keep it brief.

"You broke Wen Rui’s leg. The Wen family definitely won’t let this go, but they’re people of status—they won’t stoop to lowlife tricks, so you don’t need to worry on that front.

"Wen Rui is Wen Chengfu’s grandson, third generation of the Wen family. He’s arrogant, but around here, nobody would dare show disrespect to old Master Wen Chengfu.

"The person who came today was Wen Rui’s cousin, Wen Nuanchun. She grew up in Wen Rui’s household, so the two are extremely close. She showed up with the clear intention of making trouble for you.

"The land they bought in Donghe Town isn’t small, right between your Yutou Village and the town. I’ve heard they’re planning to build a resort there.

"County Chief Wu can’t say much in your favor, because Wen Nuanchun is here under the name of investment. No matter who ends up developing successfully, it’s good for the economy of Taoyuan County as a whole. So it’s actually a positive thing."

Tang Long thanked him and hung up, repeating the name "Wen Nuanchun" under his breath, his brow furrowed.

Zhang Xiu'e, wide-eyed and anxious, asked, "So what’s the situation?"

Tang Long rubbed his nose and gave a dry laugh. If they wanted a head-on confrontation, be it legal or physical, he wouldn’t be fazed. But now, they were making it clear there would be no open conflict.

Thirty million to buy land and build a resort—this Wen Nuanchun was trying to strangle Yutou Village at the source and crush its tourism business.

"Give me Qian Youwang’s number," Tang Long said, a glimmer of shrewdness in his eyes. Since they wanted to use business methods to kill Yutou Village, an open tactic, he couldn’t afford to act rashly.

Yutou Village was no bandit’s lair, and Tang Long was no thug!

Zhang Xiu'e gave him Qian Youwang’s number, and Tang Long dialed immediately.

"Mayor Qian, the road between Yutou Village and Donghe Town isn’t going to be sold off, is it?" Tang Long got straight to the point.

Qian Youwang gave a wry laugh. "Of course not. If they sold that road, how would anyone from Yutou Village get out?"

Tang Long smiled. "Glad to hear it. We’re planning a joint venture in Yutou Village—a spring water company. We’ll be bottling mountain spring water, and for convenience, the investors are putting up five million to fix up the road between Donghe Town and Yutou Village."

"Fixing the road?" Qian Youwang was taken aback, his eyes widening in disbelief.

"Exactly!"

Tang Long continued cheerily, "And not just the road—Yutou Village is planning to lease all the mountain forest within a five-kilometer radius!"

Gulp.

Qian Youwang couldn’t help but swallow. "Lease all the forest within five kilometers? Xiao Tang, you’re not joking with me, are you?"

Tang Long laughed. "Of course not. The leasing will take time, but we’ll move step by step. Fixing the road is the first priority—we can start on that right away!"

Qian Youwang replied with a smile, "Fixing the road is a great thing. As long as you can provide the funds, both the town and the county will support you. And if you have any requests, let us know—the town will do everything possible to help!"

Tang Long smiled back. "Mayor Qian, you may be misunderstanding. It’s not about helping us; it’s about not disappointing investors who come to the town. For example, if someone tried to block access to Yutou Village, that would be absolutely unacceptable.

"This investor plans to put in over a hundred million to build a factory in Yutou Village, producing bottled spring water! Yes, you heard me right—the investment is over a hundred million!"

In all of Taoyuan Village, how many projects had investment exceeding a hundred million? In Donghe Town, that would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, far more impressive than the Wen family’s thirty-million resort plan.

A spring water company was real industry!

"Wait right there—I’ll report to my superiors immediately!" Qian Youwang, realizing the implications, hurriedly hung up after giving Tang Long a few instructions.