Chapter 16 Whose Courtyard Will the Flowers Fall Into?

ne was eager to learn about Su Can's background; being well-known among children there might mean he was someone important’s child. It turned out later that he was Zeng Quanming's nephew, and his fami...Chapter 16: Whose Flower Will Bloom

The tender documentation was written by Su Can himself, using his maternal uncle's computer. It was stored on a floppy disk with a capacity of 1.4MB. In the past, he had prepared countless commercial reports and business documents. To ask him to produce something impressive right now would be somewhat limiting. However, he had seen many classic templates and knew some techniques for highlighting key points effectively. When Xiao Tian glanced at it, she felt that this tender documentation was different from ordinary ones.

The bidding process proceeded smoothly with each step carried out in an orderly manner. The government announced the results of bids for various projects such as electronics, automobiles, daily necessities, and financial supplies. Some people were jubilant while others were dejected; some even left disappointedly. Finally, it was time to clarify questions regarding office supplies. A member of the expert panel reviewed the qualified tender documents before looking towards Su Can's family.

"Representative of 'Summer Sea Cultural Stationery Company', according to clause 11.2 on page eight of your tender document, you have requested an annual budget allocation from the municipal finance department amounting to 200 thousand yuan. Your bid is higher than the average value in the government's budget estimate. Do you want to add anything else regarding this point"

The audience was taken aback by this statement. While bidding involved a competitive price war, most businesses were trying to reduce their bids. It was unusual for someone to offer a high bid.

Su Licheng smiled at the people around him who had already taken an interest in them. "As Mayor Hong mentioned earlier, under the planned economy system, fiscal supply has many drawbacks. I would like to boldly state that everyone is afraid of our city's fiscal supply system!"

Though Su Licheng spoke with some trepidation, as per Su Can’s instructions, he made his last statement softly and emphasized their reliance on Mayor Hong Xiao Tian. Without knowing their background, the audience did not think they were making unfounded claims about city affairs but rather nodded in agreement.

Seeing everyone's smiles, Su Licheng felt more confident. He continued with his prepared speech though it was somewhat disjointed and nervous given the high-level atmosphere of the gathering. Drawing on past experience from company meetings, he managed to express himself coherently: "Under the fiscal supply system, the government is the main purchaser of goods, leaving consumers no choice but to accept them passively. With a procurement system in place, however, the government only participates and supervises the purchasing process to ensure fair transactions and effective use of funds; the actual purchasers are various bureaus and departments present here today. They will be responsible for the quality and performance of products purchased according to their needs."

"Our budget requirements are reasonable under this procurement system, and we voluntarily accept supervision from the municipal finance department, commerce commission, and supervisory bodies' latest monitoring procedures, ensuring every item in our budget is properly executed."

The crowd applauded. They could not help but admire his boldness; without solid backing, one couldn't easily make such grand claims.

Among the audience, Jiang Chaoyang snorted dismissively. As head of Summer Sea Department Store, he had been struggling with insufficient supplies from their stationery department, and his staff had already filed several reports about it. With his connections, obtaining orders was feasible, but winning this procurement bid would make things much easier for him. Hence, he was determined to win.

...

"According to our evaluation committee's deliberations, we now announce the results of the bidding process and the list of four government-designated purchasing units for cultural supplies: the first place goes to 'Dragon Soaring Sports', Culture Department..."

The crowd erupted into applause.

"The second successful bidder is Office, a chain of office supply stores," said a middle-aged man in a gray suit as he stood up and bowed to the audience in all directions, eliciting another round of applause.

Su's parents glanced at Su once. All three of them were clearly feeling anxious inside.

They had done their best; now they could only wait for the outcome. If it failed, at least they would have tried their hardest. However, thinking about how his parents would face this failure when they returned home couldn't help but hurt their self-esteem as middle-aged adults to some extent.

Whether or not they could bounce back was uncertain.

"The third successful bidder is the Xiahai Branch of the New China Bookstore, specializing in office supplies," said a vice-general manager of the Xiahai branch of the New China Bookstore as he stood up and smiled while clapping for others.

Zeng Quaming on stage couldn't help but grip his heart tightly. These department heads were still just small soldiers when facing the mayor; although they could put forward their procurement requirements this time, in terms of the vast volume of procurement documents and influence, they were merely a drop in the ocean. As director of construction, what impact could he have He saw that all these successful bidders were strong, established enterprises. In comparison, Su's stationery store was too weak.

The most pleased person was Jiang Chaoming. Sipping on his tea and swallowing the bitter leaves in his mouth, he had a sense of certainty. The New China Bookstore and Tenglong Sports—these were all powerful state-owned enterprises in Xiahai City, which also happened to be part of the state-owned enterprise alliance initiated by him, Jiang Chaoming. Both companies' CEOs would follow his lead, leaving no room for any pretense or defiance towards Red Little Heaven.

Now it seemed that if Red Little Heaven wanted to challenge them, they might as well give up since he had to consider the interests of these state-owned enterprises first; otherwise, on this economic project, he wouldn't be spared the displeasure from Jiang Chaoming leading a group against him.

Right now, the CEOs of Tenglong Sports and the New China Bookstore were both giving him looks. According to the established rules, the fourth successful bidder, who would also be the last one announced, was clearly going to be Xiahai Department Store; there was no doubt about it.

Chen Jun from Xiahai Material Trade looked grimfaced. Under these big players' tactics, a small vice-general manager of a declining state-owned enterprise like him could hardly make any moves. Originally, he had planned to use the honor of being a government-designated procurement supplier to revitalize his company; now it seemed that this wouldn't be possible. With several project areas not in their favor, disintegration seemed inevitable.

Red Little Heaven flicked through the list and narrowed his eyes as he scanned the entire audience, announcing, "The fourth successful bidder is Xiahai City Cultural Products Specialty Store."

The voice wasn't loud, but it was clear enough for everyone to hear.

Zeng Quanming felt a sudden blockage in his heart. Why did this name seem so familiar

Su Chen distinctly felt his mother's grip on his hand tighten, causing him pain, but his father Su Licheng was still sitting there blankly without reacting until Zeng Ke urged him to do something.

The father stood up with a dazed expression, completely different from the composed demeanor he had just put on. With an excited mood, he kept saying "thank you" as applause broke out around him.

Su Chen slumped in his seat like someone who had recovered from a severe illness, feeling incredibly relieved inside. After putting in immense effort and enduring hardships, he finally secured this development quota by riding on the city government's wave of support. Looking back at it all, there was still quite a bit of luck involved. Thinking about how certain he was before that he would get what he wanted, he couldn't help but feel cold sweat break out due to his previous arrogance.

The extent of Jiang Chaoming's shock could be seen; placing down the tea cup made a heavy sound which instantly quieted everyone around him.

He exchanged glances with Hong Xiaotian, and the air was filled with tension. However, the other directors who had won did not look over at them, knowing that by doing so, Hong Xiaotian would be undermining Jiang Chaoming's support base and disrupting his alliances in order to benefit himself.

Hong Xiaotian smiled slightly and asked, "Mr. Jiang, do you have any opinions"

Jiang Chaoming was still an old hand at this game and replied indifferently, "No, our questions were answered during the Q&A session earlier. I fully support the city government's tendering decision. However, regarding Xiahai Cultural Supplies' qualification, I've started to question the credibility of the government. How did they pass the eligibility review"

Su Chen cursed inwardly; this old man was trying to find fault by questioning the government's credibility, which could be used later as grounds to overturn the tender.

Hong Xiaotian's eyes flashed with a sharp light and he calmly said, "Oh, this is after our evaluation committee personally reviewed them. Although they are young in experience, their qualifications have no issues and meet our requirements. Moreover, we value their dedication to business and precise project documentation; for tender documents, they were the most detailed and thorough. Therefore, using them also serves as a way to cultivate more private enterprises with such an attitude!"

These words from Hong Xiaotian carried weight because he was now vouching for them under his position as mayor. If anyone questioned this further, it would be questioning his qualifications. Furthermore, the statement implicitly criticized Jiang Chaoming's lack of dedication to business.

This marked a complete rift between Hong Xiaotian and Jiang Chaoming.

Jiang Chaoming was so furious that his hands were shaking, but he maintained an outward calm as he drank from his cup, only finding it increasingly bitter.

Su Cen's family achieved a great victory. To others, it was surprising that Mayor Jiang Chaoming had supported such an insignificant office supply store. This kind of support aroused much speculation. Even the head of the municipal Administration for Industry and Commerce noticed Su Cen’s family and memorized their names and appearances—this would be within his jurisdiction in the future. However, he naturally needed to be "flexible" when dealing with them.

As the bidding clarification session ended, a crowd surged out of the Kerry Hotel filled with various expressions of joy and disappointment.

In this sea of people, a group walked out under the dim light approaching dusk. Chen Jun was complaining with other CEOs of Xiahai City companies about how they had missed out on being designated as "city定點采購單位的名譽" (Note: This phrase doesn't directly translate well into English and likely refers to an honorary title or designation for city-level procurement units). They all felt regretful, while beside them were their children. Chen Lingshan was the center of attention among this group, who were all students at No. 1 High School and treated her with great enthusiasm.

"Forget it! I reserved a spot at 'Shuxiang Village.' Let's go have a few drinks to cheer ourselves up. Besides, our nephews and nieces are getting along well today; let them gather and enjoy themselves!" A businessman laughed heartily.

Then the group noticed Zeng Ke’s family waving down a taxi and started discussing their background.

Chen Jun opened his mouth to greet them, then thought better of it and withdrew his hand as he watched Su Cen's family leave in a taxi.

Standing there, Chen Lingshan ignored the people from her father’s circle. She blinked at them with bright eyes before finding an opportunity to ask quietly, "Dad, is that... Zeng Auntie's family"

Chen Jun looked at his daughter in surprise. He didn't know how she knew this woman who used to hold a minor position in their organization. However, it could be that he had mentioned her often and his daughter remembered. This confirmed that what he had experienced was not just an illusion.

He nodded dejectedly, "Oh well... Let's go, Lingshan. Uncle Liu is treating us to dinner."

Chen Lingshan obediently nodded her head and got into the Santana car with her father. Through the gray windows reflected her thoughtful gaze and a complex expression.

Thank you for your votes and favorites, brothers! With your support, Aubergine can go further and develop stronger!hool, who couldn’t figure out how Su Cen could finish his test so early. Did he give upThe other person was Tang Wu. Watching Su Cen walk along the corridor and disappear past a window, her thoughts w...