Chapter 217: The teacher advisor is the most important

Time goes back to Nanjiang 25 years ago. At this time, Nanjiang was in a period of rapid development, and the speed of Nanjiang, which shocked the world by building a floor a day, was also reflected at this time.

In front of the entrance to the International Convention and Exhibition Center, a large crowd gathered. Many of these people were holding cameras, carrying video cameras, or writing with notebooks and pens, which clearly showed their identity as reporters.

A temporary press conference is being held here. The reason it is temporary is because this press conference has not been organised at all, it is completely a spur-of-the-moment act. It is because a certain cadre from Nanjiang came here to inspect the construction of the convention and exhibition centre, and happened to be caught in the act by the reporters stationed here. These reporters had too many questions about Nanjiang, so they were forced to be interviewed.

The thin, tall official surrounded by the reporters like the stars surrounding the moon, wearing glasses, is Zhang Heng, director of the office of the Nanjiang City Development Leadership Committee. Although he does not hold any actual position in the city, he now assists all municipal officials and plans and leads the development of all aspects of Nanjiang. The officials of the municipal party committee and the municipal government all have their own workload to attend to, so for these development tasks, Zhang Heng can often make the decisions.

'Director Zhang, the Convention and Exhibition Centre is a core project for the development of the central district of Nanjiang. Will it be completed in time for the economic conference in January? May I ask if Director Zhang inspects the Convention and Exhibition Centre so frequently because there are problems with its construction?'

Of course, in addition to asking about the convention and exhibition centre, some reporters also asked other very newsworthy questions: 'Director Zhang, I heard that the preparations for the Nanjiang Stock Exchange have stalled because of internal obstruction within the authorities, is that right?'

Facing these questions from the reporters, Zhang Heng remained calm. Since he had been appointed as the director of the office, Zhang Heng had dealt with reporters for quite some time and had therefore basically mastered the methods of answering their questions.

'Dear fellow reporters, thank you for your concern about the construction of Nanjiang City. I want to say that there are no problems with the preparations for the convention and exhibition centre or the stock exchange. Everything is in good order. The claim that there is obstruction within the authorities is nonsense. At present, our Development Office has reported the matter to the Public Security Bureau, and we will definitely hold those who spread rumours responsible. Please also do not believe these rumours, and do not spread them!' Zhang Heng replied.

Zhang Heng's answer was very general and simple. How could such an answer satisfy these reporters, whose curiosity was bursting? So the reporters immediately asked more questions.

'Director Zhang, you said that there are no problems with the preparations for the convention and exhibition centre and the stock exchange, so why have they already exceeded the initial preparation time? And the project was stopped during the scheduled preparation time, and neither the municipal party committee nor the development office has given a clear explanation. You said that you want to hold the rumour-mongers responsible. Do you mean that you want to investigate internally to find out who leaked the news? If you catch someone, what will you do to them?'

The reporters asked one after the other, and the questions shifted to Zhang Heng: 'Director Zhang, you were once in charge of the securities company, and you are still in charge of the preparations for the stock exchange. You have made such a great contribution to the development of the Nanjiang securities market. Now the regional securities regulatory commission in Nanjiang is in the process of being established. Will you be the first chairman as a representative of the government?'

'None of this has happened yet, so it's hard to say. We'll have to wait for the municipal party committee to make arrangements. I'll do whatever they tell me to do.'

Zhang Heng replied. At this time, his assistant handed him a pager. Zhang Heng took it and glanced at it. His face immediately changed colour. The reporters around him quickly noticed the change and asked questions one after the other: 'Director Zhang, is something wrong? Is it about the convention centre or the preparations for the stock exchange? Or has the rumour-monger been caught by the public security bureau?'

Facing these questions from the reporters, Zhang Heng, who had just calmly answered, this time just said, 'I have something very important to do, excuse me,' and then hurriedly pushed his way through the crowd and left.

Seeing Zhang Heng's unusual behaviour, it suddenly stimulated the gossiping nerves of all the reporters. They desperately surrounded Zhang Heng, holding up their microphones and shouting questions at him. However, their efforts were in vain, and Zhang Heng just managed to get into his car and leave the convention centre under the escort of other staff.

As Zhang Heng's car started up and left, it left all the reporters with a lot of questions: what had happened?

The reporters looked at each other, none of them knowing exactly what had happened, but they could easily guess that something important must have happened. It could be about the stock exchange, or it could be about the municipal government or the central government, or perhaps there was a new policy or order from the central government. Otherwise, with Zhang Heng's current position and his usual prudent style, he definitely would not have behaved in such a manner.

He hurriedly left as soon as he received a pager message. This was something that had never happened even during the stock market crash!

Some sharp-eyed reporters saw the message that made Zhang Heng leave, but it surprised them even more, because the message simply said one thoughtless sentence: 'Teacher's flight has taken off.'

The flight took off and Zhang Heng left? Is he going to pick someone up at the airport? Is some important leader coming? But if that was the case, it should be the municipal party committee leader going over, he is just the office director of the Nanjiang City Development Leadership Committee, not too big or too small, if there really was an important leader, it wouldn't be his job to pick someone up at the airport. And there would definitely be news from Baiyun City, so if it wasn't an important leader, why would he need to hurry?

This question was like an unsolvable paradox that drove these reporters crazy, only because they didn't know that the person who sent this message to Zhang Heng was Chen Shu, the head of the finance class who was interning at the securities company.

While Zhang Heng was hurrying away, at the securities company he was going to, there was also a flurry of activity. Dozens of finance students were tapping away at the keyboards, cracking and popping, very fast, as if they were rushing to finish a job.

In the meeting room next door, Li Hong, the marketing manager of the securities company, was also rushing around apologising to several company executives: 'I'm sorry everyone, I have something to deal with over there, so please wait here for a moment.'

As he said this, Li Hong stood up, and his words made the other party unhappy at the time. One person just patted the table and said, 'What do you mean, Manager Li? You've been distracted since just now, and now you're yelling that you want to leave before we've finished talking. Do you look down on us that much?'

His words resonated with the others, and one person next to him said, 'That's right, Manager Li. I am the chairman of Nanjiang Glass Company. Our company is the largest glass manufacturing company in the entire Lingnan region. We want to go public locally because we want to support the securities company's transition to the Nanjiang Stock Exchange. We and your leaders all know each other. Why do you look down on us here?'

Li Hong immediately shook his head and said, 'That's not true, you've misunderstood. I didn't mean to slight you. Our Nanjiang Exchange is currently in the process of preparation and we do need your help. However, I do have something very important to deal with right now, so I hope you can understand.'

With that, Li Hong ignored them and got up to leave the room. However, as soon as he walked out of the room, he saw two young people coming towards him. These two people were Chen Shu, the monitor, and Li Yang, the vice monitor, who were interning at the securities company. Li Hong walked quickly over to them.

'Manager Li, the work you assigned us has been completed. Now, everyone in our finance class is going to the airport to pick someone up. On behalf of my classmates, I'd like to let you know,' Chen Shu said to Li Hong.

Facing the company's boss, Li Hong was very tough, but when facing Chen Shu and Li Yang, he spoke gently: 'But at this critical time when preparations are being made for the NSE, there is still a lot of data that needs to be compiled. I know your business is important, but you can always leave some people behind to continue the work, right?'

'No way!' Chen Shu said, 'Manager Li, our finance class is a whole, we must act together, and data aggregation is not a task that can be completed in a day or two, it's not a big deal to wait a little while.'

'I know, but leaving some people behind can also deal with other unexpected situations and whatnot.'

Li Hong tried to say something, but Chen Shu remained adamant: 'Manager Li, we are only here for an internship, not forever. What if we are not here? And Manager Li, you also know that we are going to the airport to pick someone up, which is the most important thing. Don't say there is nothing going on now, even if something big happens, can't the teacher handle it?'

Li Hong then gave up and bowed his head: 'I understand, you go quickly, and give my regards to Consultant Zhou.'

'Thank you, Manager Li.' Chen Shu and Li Yang said, and turned to leave, taking the other students with them from the securities company.

When Zhang Heng's car arrived at the door of the securities company, he saw a bus parked here, and dozens of students from the finance class were waiting here. The monitor Chen Shu and vice monitor Li Yang were at the door of the car. When they saw Zhang Heng's car coming, they hurriedly walked up and said, 'Director Zhang, why are you so slow? The teacher's flight has already taken off for almost half an hour. What if we can't catch it?'

The one speaking was the impatient Li Yang, and in the face of Li Yang's questioning, Zhang Heng, who had just been in the limelight in front of the reporters, just smiled apologetically and said, 'I'm sorry, everyone. Just now, when I was inspecting the exhibition centre, I was surrounded by reporters. You have also dealt with reporters and know how difficult they can be, so I was delayed a little. I'm sorry to everyone here.'

Li Yang wanted to say something more, but Chen Shu pulled him back and said, 'I know Director Zhang has a lot of work to do, and we all understand that, but please also understand how we feel about our teacher.'

'Of course I understand,' Zhang Heng said, glancing at the bus behind them, 'Are all of you from the finance class going?'

'Of course. The teacher once told us that our finance class is a whole. Then when it comes to such an important matter as picking up the teacher, we can't possibly leave any of our classmates behind!' Chen Shu said proudly, and then added, "Of course, we haven't left things at the securities company behind either. We've already dealt with all the important matters, and we won't cause any trouble at the office.'

Zhang Heng gave them a thumbs-up: "You are worthy students of Consultant Zhou, understanding and united with your classmates, and so proactive and conscientious at work. You are all very capable!'

Chen Shu and Li Yang also proudly raised their heads: 'Director Zhang, we are even more grateful to be students of Mr. Zhou Ming than you say!'

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