Hearing Tan Hengqiang's sudden words, An Zecheng was a little confused. But after he reacted, he felt that this was not a good answer.
If you say no and reject the request outright, it will be like insulting the commander in person, which will instantly distance the two parties. But if you don't reject the request, it will seem like you are giving the other party hope.
.
After thinking for a long time, An Zecheng put down his chopsticks and chuckled, saying, "Haha, kids nowadays, do you still want to be her boss? I said a few words to her a few years ago, and she ran away from home. What a disaster it caused me in the end! How about this, I'll go back and ask her opinion. If she's willing, I definitely won't object."
"Haha, okay, okay. Let's find a chance to let the kids get to know each other themselves." Tan Hengqiang stopped talking, picked up his chopsticks again, and invited An Zecheng to eat.
…
Three days later, the Overseas Chinese Representative Conference was held as scheduled in Longcheng Municipal Conference Hall.
That morning, Longcheng dispatched a number of police officers to patrol and guard the entrance of the City Hall, responsible for protecting the safety of the venue.
In front of the Municipal Conference Hall, there are banners with various slogans, such as "Welcome Overseas Chinese to Gather in Longcheng" and "Warmly Celebrate the First Joint Representative Conference of the Chinese Association".
There were still many reporters lingering on the outer streets. Since they could not go up to interview, they could only wait outside, waiting for the guests to come out so that they could go up to interview and get first-hand news.
However, many people came to the meeting secretly and did not show up in front of reporters. At most, they could only interview some minor details.
At this time in the venue, Su Tianyu had a smile on his face and was welcoming guests.
"President Li, this way please."
"Mr. Zhuang, I didn't expect you to be here too. Please take a seat!"
"… "
A wide range of people attended the meeting, including Wu Boxin, Wu Taiyong, Wei Xiangzuo, Gu Baishun, Jin Maohui, An Qiqi, Dabai, Liu Hongxu, Zhou Tonghui, Xu Nan, Daxiong, Yao Doudou, Tang Yao, Sun Wei, Xin Xiaodong, Xin Chaojie, Lu Feng, Wang Xiao, Qiu Ge, Fei Pingsheng and his wife, and even Hou Guoyu came.
In addition, representatives from the Chijun side, some political and business figures recruited by Wu Boxin, and representatives and members from trade unions and chambers of commerce in various regions were basically all present.
The meeting room of the city hall was packed with people. In front of each table was a name tag symbolizing their status.
Li Mingsheng also arrived, but he was not the host of the meeting. He just sat beside him and greeted the guests politely. Jin Maohui and Li Yuan accompanied him and helped the leader to receive the guests.
Hou Guoyu had thick bandages wrapped around his hands and was looking for his name tag all over the place.
"Monkey, where is this!" Lu Feng stretched out his hand and shouted to Hou Guoyu.
Hou Guoyu looked over and found himself sitting next to Lu Feng, so he immediately walked over there.
Everyone here is familiar, including Dabai, Zhou Tonghui, Sun Wei, Daxiong, Tang Yao, Yao Doudou, Gu Baishun, Wei Xiangzuo and many more.
Looking at Hou Guoyu sitting next to him, Lu Feng couldn't help but tease: "You are quite positive. You still come here when you are injured like this?"
Hou Guoyu slung his arm and laughed, "Isn't it time to taste the fruits of victory? Can I not come over? I have to see what medal I got!"
"You've made a great contribution this time, so I'll give you a house." Zhou Tonghui, who was sitting on the other side, patted Hou Guoyu on the shoulder and said.
Hou Guoyu knew that they were making fun of him about the house division he had talked about in the past, so he laughed along with everyone else.
Everyone started chatting about other things. It was hard to get so many people together, and it was hard to control the chatter before the meeting started. Especially when Sun Wei joined in and joked with everyone, the atmosphere became lively again.
Wei Xiangzuo was a man of few words. He sat there smoking and seldom spoke a word. Only occasionally would Lu Feng pull him out for a chat and he would respond.
Xin Xiaodong sat with his father Xin Chaojie, next to Fei Pingsheng. They were all wearing military uniforms, looking very formal. They were all important contributors to this conference, and they were all waiting to be awarded medals today.
Wu Taiyong, who was sitting on the other side of the venue, was not very familiar with Dabai and the others, and did not talk much after they greeted each other. He was originally sitting near Wu Boxin, but he deliberately changed his name tag and sat next to Brother Qiu to chat with him.
In comparison, Wang Xiao seemed a little lonely. He sat alone, not actively chatting with others, and no one talked to him.
After fifteen minutes, most people had arrived and the meeting officially began.
"Thank you all for coming today..." The host took the microphone and began to read the opening remarks, reminding everyone to be quiet: "First, let our Mayor Li say a few words..."
“Pah, pah, pah!”
There was thunderous applause from the audience.
Li Mingsheng walked to the podium amid the applause and spoke first. He was wearing a very formal Tang suit, leaning on the podium with both hands, and glanced at the people below the stage, then pressed his hands down, and after the applause stopped, he slowly said: "It's not easy for everyone to get to where we are today. First of all, congratulations to you and me. Our Chinese Association is holding its first meeting, which is an epoch-making breakthrough. On behalf of the Longcheng Municipal Government, I sincerely hope that the conference will be held smoothly. In order to protect the interests of our overseas Chinese, the municipal government will also make more contributions!"
As everyone applauded, they couldn't help but look at the banner hanging above Li Mingsheng's head, which read "The First Joint Representative Conference of Overseas Chinese Associations."
After so long and fighting for six or seven years, the association was finally established.
The name of Huatonghui is a fusion of Tongji Society and Chinese Workers Association. It has a good meaning and sounds united. It is the result of Su Tianyu thinking about it for a long time.
When the applause died down, Li Mingsheng said with a smile, "Okay, now let's invite President Wu to speak."
Wu Boxin walked onto the stage amid applause and smiled at Li Mingsheng. Lao Li handed over the microphone and sat down.
"I am sitting in this position today because someone asked me to do so..." Wu Boxin said half-jokingly, and the audience burst into laughter.
Wu Boxin was still appointed as the president of the Huatong Association. Li Mingsheng was the mayor of Longcheng, so it was not convenient for him to participate in the work of social groups, let alone take up other positions.
Su Tianyu's situation is similar, he is more sensitive, so Wu Boxin is the most suitable person.
But everyone knows that the actual controller of Huatonghui is still Lao Li and his disciples.
After everyone finished laughing, Wu Boxin continued, "I won't say any more polite words to you. The battles that should be fought have been fought, and the turmoil that should have occurred has also occurred. Now is the day of victory! Today is not only the establishment of the meeting to establish the internal organizational structure of the Huatong Association, but also a commendation meeting! The meeting is mainly divided into three parts. The first is the administrative part, the second is the military management part, and the third is the commendation..."
The meeting went smoothly under the chairmanship of Wu Boxin.
…
At the same time, at the Corps Headquarters stationed in Longcheng.
Tan Hengqiang was sitting on the sofa in the office, fiddling with a set of classic tea sets.
At this moment, the office door was knocked open, and Tan Mingchao walked in with a stack of documents, gently placed them on the table in front of Tan Hengqiang, and said, "Dad, this is the budget of each unit after the reduction of expenditures that our Corps Finance Department has just made."
Tan Hengqiang fiddled with the tea set and suddenly asked, "Ming Dynasty... What do you think of An Qiqi?"