Chapter 231 Yi Xuexi's Disguised Corruption Shocks Qi Tongwei
The interior of the tea house is decorated in an extremely tranquil manner.
Rosewood furniture, and antique shelves filled with various purple clay teapots.
A faint aroma of tea filled the air.
The middle-aged man led Qi Tongwei to a tea table in the inner room and sat him down.
He took out a gold-embossed price list and pushed it in front of Qi Tongwei.
"What does the boss want to do?"
Qi Tongwei picked up the price list and his gaze fell on it.
The top line clearly states:
Top-grade pre-Qingming Longjing tea, 5,000 yuan per gram.
Starting price: one million.
There are even more expensive ones below, costing 10,000 or 50,000 per gram.
"interesting."
"I'm going to have a go at this old workhorse of yours."
The middle-aged man pushed over the gold-embossed price list.
Qi Tongwei didn't even glance at it. He directly took out five bundles of 100-yuan bills with bank seals from the canvas bag he had brought and slammed them heavily on the tea table.
"500,000 yuan in cash to buy 100 grams of top-grade pre-Qingming Longjing tea."
The middle-aged man stared at the money on the table but didn't immediately take it.
He looked Qi Tongwei up and down, tapping his fingers on the tea table.
"The boss looks unfamiliar. What kind of business does he run?"
Qi Tongwei leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs.
"Hong Kong investors who do real estate business come to Luzhou with money to look for land."
"A friend said that the tea at Qingfeng Pavilion is good for quenching thirst, so I came here."
The middle-aged man confirmed the other party's identity and purpose before putting the money into the drawer.
He turned and went into the inner room. After a moment, he took out a palm-sized brown paper package, along with a note with an address and a string of numbers written on it, and pushed it in front of Qi Tongwei.
"Take this and knock on the door."
"When you arrive at your destination, just give the numbers; don't say anything else."
Qi Tongwei put away the paper package and note, then turned and left the tea shop.
An old residential compound in the south of the city.
This is one of the earliest welfare housing projects in Luzhou. The red bricks on the exterior walls of the building have turned black, and ivy has grown all the way to the roof along the rusty drainage pipes.
The stairwell was plastered with little "GG" signs for unclogging drains and unlocking doors. The motion-sensor lights had been broken for a long time, and only the moonlight leaking from the top floor could barely illuminate the steps.
Qi Tongwei walked through the cigarette butts and sunflower seed shells scattered on the ground to the fourth floor, stopping in front of the peeling security door on the left.
He knocked on the door.
The sound of slippers slid inside could be heard.
The door opened a crack.
Yi Xuexi was wearing a faded tank top and pilling gray sweatpants.
He was wearing a pair of plastic slippers, and his left big toe was sticking out conspicuously from a hole in his sock.
A smell of cheap soap mixed with green onions wafted out from under the door.
This act of being incorruptible and frugal was so convincingly disguised.
"Who should I look for?"
Yi Xuexi looked warily at the stranger outside the door, his hand still on the doorknob.
Qi Tongwei put on a warm smile and handed over a gold-embossed business card.
"Hello, Secretary Yi, I am Mr. Qi, a Hong Kong businessman."
"I brought 30 million yuan with me this time, and I want to invest in some projects in the Luzhou Development Zone. I came here specifically to visit you."
Yi Xuexi didn't even take the business card; his face immediately darkened.
"Playing nonsense!"
"Our Party is disciplined! We discuss work at the management committee office; what kind of nonsense is this, coming to my home?"
"Your behavior is corrupting Party members and cadres!"
Easy Learning was about to close the door.
Qi Tongwei used his wrist to forcefully block the door frame, squeezing half of his body inside.
"Secretary Yi, don't worry, I'm just here to familiarize myself with the place, I definitely won't cause you any trouble."
The living room was narrow and dark, with a low-wattage energy-saving light bulb hanging from the ceiling.
A large piece of plaster had peeled off, revealing the grayish-white cement underneath.
The springs of an old sofa had long since collapsed, and a faded plaid cloth covered it.
On the coffee table, which was badly chipped, were two enamel mugs with the words "Serve the People" printed on them.
On the white wall directly opposite, there is a framed calligraphy and painting with four large characters: "Upright and Honest".
Yi Xuexi stood with his hands behind his back in front of the old CRT television and began to speak in official jargon.
"Luzhou is now the focus of attention in the entire province, and Secretary Sha has extremely high requirements for the development of the development zone."
"All projects must undergo strict approval; there is no room for carelessness."
"We certainly welcome foreign investors to bring their own capital here."
"But we must go through the proper procedures and participate in open bidding."
"Trying to take shortcuts or use underhanded methods won't work here at Yi Xuexi!"
These words were resounding and righteous.
An uninformed person would probably be moved by the integrity of this "hardworking ox".
Qi Tongwei pulled over a small plastic stool and sat down, placing the brown paper package in his hand on the coffee table.
"Secretary Yi, I understand the process, and I will definitely participate in the bidding."
"But before I came, I went to Qingfeng Pavilion for a cup of tea."
"The boss said this tea is good, so he specially asked me to bring it for you to try."
Qi Tongwei read out the string of numbers according to the contents of the note.
"0472".
Yi Xuexi stopped pacing.
He walked to the door, looked out through the peephole for a while, and after confirming that there were no suspicious people in the hallway, he locked the security door from the inside.
When he turned around, that rigid and serious face had disappeared, replaced by a familiar and greedy smile.
"Boss Qi is truly a refined person; he knows how to appreciate tea."
Yi Xuexi walked to the coffee table, picked up the brown paper package, and skillfully weighed it in his hand.
"One hundred grams, five hundred thousand."
"This is a good enough stepping stone."
He casually tossed the paper package into the pile of clutter in the corner of the sofa, then turned and walked towards the large bookshelves at the far end of the living room.
Yi Xuexi reached out and pressed a button on a thick dictionary in the third row.
A dull groan of mechanical friction echoed in the cramped living room.
The entire row of bookshelves slid open to both sides, revealing a thickened, soundproof steel door.
He quickly entered a string of numbers on the keypad, and the steel door popped open.
The blinding incandescent light poured out, turning the originally dim living room into a stark white light.
Qi Tongwei followed Yi Xuexi into the secret room.
The furnishings inside are completely different from the dilapidated state outside.
Thick carpets covered the floor, and a constant temperature and dehumidification system operated in the air.
One entire wall is covered with a giant blueprint that is three meters long.
The words "Top Secret" were clearly printed on it: "Panoramic Plan of Luzhou Economic Development Zone for the Next Ten Years".
The drawing was covered with red and blue markings.
The red circles represent prime real estate that is about to be demolished.
The blue lines represent the future routes of subway lines and main roads.
The green areas represent planned large-scale commercial complexes and key school districts.
This is no ordinary blueprint at all.
This is a map showing the distribution of billions of yuan in wealth in Luzhou!
Whoever controls this map will be able to profit from future land development, by making advance arrangements.