The call came from an official in a certain department of Pengcheng.
Li Dong was notified to attend a meeting organized by the Pengcheng authorities on the 5th of next month.
This was a high-level meeting.
Ordinary wealthy individuals below a certain tier wouldn't be mobilized, nor would they even receive notification.
As for the authenticity of the call—would Li Dong not know?
Over the past six months, Li Dong had been regularly interacting with officials from Pengcheng, Yangcheng, and Dongjiang City.
His factories frequently received orders from official sources.
Officials often called to instruct Li Dong to ensure smooth material supply for Skyhua Supermarket and avoid any mistakes.
Li Dong's phone also contained private numbers of some high-ranking officials.
At this level, when officials personally call to notify someone of a meeting, ordinary people would never have access to such communications.
In their entire lives, the highest-ranking official most ordinary people might encounter would be at the township level—if even that.
The luckier ones might interact with county or municipal-level officials, but anything beyond that would be out of reach.
The Li family's recent large-scale investments had earned them a place in the notebooks of certain high-ranking officials.
With hundreds of billions in investments poured in, the authorities couldn't possibly turn a blind eye.
As an entrepreneur controlling means of production, it was inevitable that he would be mobilized to participate in some official projects.
As the saying goes: Those with money contribute money; those without contribute effort.
During dinner that evening, Li Dong mentioned this matter to his brother, concluding, "I wonder how the authorities plan to mobilize us."
"Don't overthink it. It might actually be a good thing," Li Tiang reassured him.
Li Tiang wasn't particularly concerned anyway.
As for the authorities trying to extort them—that was completely impossible. The resources controlled by Pengcheng authorities were thousands, even tens of thousands of times greater than those of Great Qin Heavy Industries Technology Company.
With an entire nation backing them, they wouldn't spare a glance for such trivial amounts.
"You're attending the meeting on the 5th next month? How long will it last?" asked their mother, Xu Yajun.
"Probably several days, maybe even over ten days," Li Dong shook his head.
At this level of mobilization, the scale would be enormous, involving enterprises nationwide. It definitely wouldn't be wrapped up quickly.
After mobilizing these enterprises, the authorities of Daxia would continue mobilizing down the chain.
"That long?" Song Weiwei expressed surprise.
She genuinely couldn't comprehend what kind of meeting would require such duration.
By now, Song Weiwei's belly had begun showing a slight bulge.
"Of course. This concerns the lives of the entire nation's population. The higher-ups can't afford to take it lightly," Li Dong shook his head.
"Should I ask my father about it?" Lin Yu offered.
"No need to trouble your father," Li Dong immediately declined.
Constantly seeking help from his father-in-law—what would that make him?
Did they think he lived off his wife's family?
As for Lin Yu, Li Dong had developed some affection for her—perhaps what they called love growing through time together.
After achieving her goal, Lin Yu had reverted to her original temperament, appearing somewhat cold and detached.
Moreover, she had used her family connections to help Li Dong resolve numerous thorny issues.
She hadn't even minded Li Dong keeping other women outside, even suggesting he bring them to live together.
During their time together, Li Dong had probably figured out Lin Yu's intentions. Her nature wasn't bad, and she hadn't resorted to any underhanded tactics.
Perhaps she just wanted a child and then planned to leave him afterward.
Li Dong: ??? Using me as a sperm donor?
But as the two grew closer, Lin Yu eventually abandoned that idea.
Now, Li Dong had sold off almost all the family's real estate holdings, and the entire family lived in the main building of the base.
Even the yacht had been sold, though a few sports cars were kept as collectibles.
Apart from Skyhua Supermarket, which remained unsold, everything else that could be liquidated had been.
The equipment from several contract factories and their employees had all been relocated into the base.
...
April 5th.
Around 8 a.m., after staying overnight at the Junlong Hotel in Pengcheng, Li Dong finished breakfast and boarded an official vehicle sent for him, heading straight to the Pengcheng government administrative building.
There were even Iron Cavalry units clearing the way ahead.
Along the route, Li Dong spotted many similar official vehicles.
Thus, without any hindrance, he arrived at the Pengcheng government administrative building.
The building didn't appear particularly tall—only a dozen or so stories—but it was impressively grand.
It occupied an expansive area, at least 100,000 square meters.
"Director Li, long time no see! Were you also invited to the meeting hosted by the Pengcheng government?"
Just as Li Dong stepped out of the car, a hearty voice reached his ears.
He turned toward the source of the sound and saw a middle-aged man of average height, bald, with unremarkable features.
Li Dong recognized him—he was a supplier for Great Qin Heavy Industries Technology Company, primarily providing steel materials.
Great Qin Heavy Industries had absorbed a significant portion of his steel mill's production capacity, which explained the bald man's enthusiasm.
"Director Ye, aren't you here for the same reason?" Li Dong chuckled.
"Haha, shall we walk in together?"
"Sure."
"No idea why Pengcheng invited us to this meeting. The call came out of the blue, and we couldn't refuse. Do you know anything, my friend?"
"Me? I'm in the dark too." Li Dong shook his head.
Even if he knew the reason, he couldn't reveal it.
Along the way, Li Dong spotted many familiar faces—CEOs, major business owners, even executives and chairmen from some of Pengcheng's largest conglomerates.
There were also state-owned enterprise leaders from the region.
The companies these people represented all controlled substantial production resources.
The fact that Pengcheng's government had summoned them made it clear: whatever was happening was big. Serious.
Soon, Li Dong noticed the grim expressions on the faces of these CEOs, tycoons, executives, and chairmen.
They recognized one another too.
Some even spotted high-ranking officials they'd only ever seen on television.
Many immediately realized that today's meeting was no trivial matter.
"Oh? Shenzhou, you're here for the meeting too?"
As they crossed the central hall and approached the conference room, someone suddenly tapped Li Dong's right shoulder.
Turning, he saw Li Jiadong, the second son of Third Great Uncle—his cousin.
"Yeah."
"Want to sit together?"
"No need, it seems every seat has a name tag." Li Dong had excellent eyesight and could immediately see that each seat in the conference hall was labeled with the attendee's name and abbreviated job title.
Clearly, the Pengcheng authorities had prearranged and assigned everyone's seating in advance.
"Then never mind." Hearing Li Dong's words, his uncle Li Jiadong shook his head and gave up.
The layout of the conference hall inside the administrative building somewhat resembled an assembly hall from his past life, though with differences—it was much smaller, less grand and opulent, but brimming with a strong technological aesthetic.
The entire conference hall could accommodate roughly two thousand people.
By Li Dong's rough estimate, at least a thousand attendees had arrived today. It seemed nearly all the local and nearby corporate CEOs, executives, major business owners, and state-owned enterprise leaders from Pengcheng had been summoned.
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