In the room, Qin Chuan tightly held Ye Qingping's hand, tearfully recounting his hardships.
Ye Qingping wanted to pull his arm away but found the grip so tight that if he used more force, the new clothes his wife had just bought for the New Year would be torn.
Beside them, Li Ya, Ye Meiyun, and Wu Qili, the three women who had been quietly listening, were all stunned and at a loss.
Everything had been fine just a moment ago, filled with laughter and joy. How could Qin Chuan's demeanor change so drastically in the next second, like a child throwing a tantrum?
Among those present, only Li Ya had a slight understanding of Qin Chuan's actual financial situation; everyone else truly knew nothing.
Ye Meiyun, too, wouldn't bother inquiring about the income from Qin Chuan's other businesses.
Even Li Ya only knew about the three projects she collaborated with Qin Chuan on: the property development, the supermarket, and their own clothing factory.
She was completely unaware of the electronics factory, the decoration company, and others.
"Meiyun, that electronics factory of Qin Chuan's, is the investment really that large?"
Wu Qili couldn't help but ask.
Ye Meiyun hesitated for a few seconds before finally nodding. "Very large!"
"I myself have already invested over five million!"
"Qin Chuan invested more than I did. If you count the initial acquisition of Xinhua Electronics Factory, it's probably around seven to eight million!"
Her words were by no means an exaggeration; they were the honest truth.
At the time, Qin Chuan had spent a full 1.5 million to acquire Xinhua Electronics Factory!
Later, they had extensively renovated the factory once, replaced a lot of new office furniture, and paid workers' salaries. These miscellaneous expenses added up to over 300,000.
The most significant expenditure was the purchase of a new set of advanced equipment, creating a production line, which cost a full 4.5 million.
Then there was the subsequent advertising campaign, which also incurred a substantial expense of about 2.4 million.
These combined already amounted to nearly nine million, and this didn't even include the main production component of the electronics factory—the electronic lockers.
Ye Meiyun estimated that the total cost from investment to the present had already reached four to five million.
When calculated this way, it indeed exceeded thirteen million, and the accounts matched perfectly...
After Ye Meiyun roughly listed the series of huge expenses for Xinhua Electronics Factory, the entire room fell silent. Li Ya's eyes widened in shock.
"Xiao Chuan, has your electronics factory already incurred such a large investment?"
That was over thirteen million, not 1.3 million, and certainly not 130,000. Even Li Ya had never imagined such an amount.
Her own clothing factory, up to this point, had only a total investment of barely around three million. Qin Chuan's electronics factory was more than four times the size of her clothing factory.
"About that!"
Qin Chuan replied.
He then continued to stare into Ye Qingping's eyes and said earnestly, "County Magistrate Ye, do you finally understand why I've come to you to complain!"
"My life these days is truly very, very difficult."
"Sister Yun is the factory manager of Xinhua Electronics Factory. Ask her if I gave her any bonuses during the Chinese New Year!"
"Her treatment is almost the same as that of ordinary employees. Apart from a New Year's gift package, and the 300 yuan she won in a lucky draw, there was nothing else!"
As he said this, glistening specks appeared in Qin Chuan's eyes.
"As for myself, I received nothing!"
"But I heard Meiyun say that your electronics factory was very generous during the New Year, with many people receiving substantial bonuses! The biggest bonus was as high as 100,000 yuan!!"
Ye Qingping suddenly recalled something and asked with confusion.
"Yes, that is indeed true!"
Qin Chuan readily admitted, "Because this is my principle of doing things. It doesn't matter if I suffer myself, but I absolutely cannot let my people suffer and toil with me."
"Employees are the solid foundation of an enterprise, a factory."
"Qin Chuan, well done! You're the best!!"
Wu Qili couldn't help but give him a thumbs-up, praising him.
Ye Qingping remained silent.
Seeing this, Qin Chuan felt the time was right. He appropriately released his hands that had been gripping the county magistrate's sleeve and carefully smoothed out the creases.
"You're crying poor to me, what do you want?"
Ye Qingping asked.
Qin Chuan's heart leaped with joy. He almost blurted out in happiness. The words he had long awaited had finally come.
Indeed, crying babies get milk. The ancients never lied.
"County Magistrate, two things!"
Qin Chuan forcibly suppressed his excitement and spoke quickly.
"The first thing is, I want the government to support us with a low-interest loan. The amount doesn't need to be too much, ten million is enough!"
"I want to use it to further increase product output!"
Currently, Xinhua Electronics Factory's account truly didn't have much money left. After paying the workers' salaries during the New Year and then distributing so many bonuses, only a few hundred thousand remained.
Such a small amount of money, for a factory, was almost depleted and represented a very dangerous situation.
This request was actually not too excessive. Ye Qingping pondered for a few seconds before asking, "And the second thing?"
Around them, Ye Meiyun, Li Ya, and Wu Qili listened quietly.
"This second thing, if the County Magistrate can accomplish it, it will also be a very beneficial matter for you."
Qin Chuan said slowly.
This immediately piqued everyone's curiosity. Ye Qingping also blinked his eyes.
"Road construction!!"
Qin Chuan slowly uttered the two words.
Deep within Ye Qingping's eyes, two brilliant rays of light immediately shot out. The others were also full of surprise.
Each of them had many speculations in their minds earlier, such as Qin Chuan wanting other preferential treatments from the government, or help in connecting with foreign investors, and so on.
They never expected that Qin Chuan would ultimately propose the requirement of road construction.
"The roads in our county are really too dilapidated!"
At this moment, Qin Chuan continued to speak.
"This is not just my personal ideal, but the hope of the entire people of Yongnan County."
"Every time I drive on the dilapidated roads of our county, I truly detest the uneven streets and the muddy roads and alleys after rain."
"A great person once said that to get rich, one must first build roads, which shows the crucial role of transportation in a city's economic development."
"My wish is for the County Magistrate to use your connections to preferably improve the road from the highway to our Yongnan County."
"As for the roads and streets within the county, they should be improved even more."
"If the County Magistrate can handle this matter well, then you will definitely be the best county magistrate in the hearts of the people of Yongnan County, the favored one of public opinion!"
After Qin Chuan finished speaking, everyone in the room had sparkling eyes.
However, everyone was tactful and did not speak, waiting for Ye Qingping's answer.
"Qin Chuan, do you know how enormous the funds required to build a road are?"
Ye Qingping did not answer directly but posed a rhetorical question.
Qin Chuan fell silent, and finally replied, "I know, that's an investment measured in the hundreds of millions. That's why I said earlier that if the County Magistrate can handle this massive undertaking, it will also be a very advantageous matter for you."
"Difficult, too difficult!!"
Ye Qingping shook his head with a bitter smile and sighed, "Currently, in our country, many first-tier big cities are in urgent need of construction, and the money required is almost an astronomical figure."
"Although the country has been providing funding and support in recent years, such a massive project cannot be changed overnight."
"First-tier big cities are fighting tooth and nail for this money. For small counties like ours, the hope is almost nonexistent."
"Unless a small county like ours suddenly achieves a breakthrough performance that surprises the higher authorities, then there might be a glimmer of hope..."