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Chapter 469: Chapter 384: Myanmar Bank Group (Please subscribe!)_1
The main conference room in Xin’an Town was a large shed constructed from steel structures. It was somewhat akin to certain domestic vegetable markets in appearance. This was largely due to the limitations of their circumstances. The town was currently investing heavily into infrastructure development, and funds were tight, which naturally ruled out any elaborate architectural projects.
The structure of the shed was simple, its main function being to shield from wind and rain, and to block the glaring sun above.
At this moment.
The main conference room was full of people.
Nearly three hundred in all.
They were all influential figures within the territory. Having received the notice last night, many had set out before dawn, making their way here by special vehicle.
This was the second time the main conference room was in use. The first time was when the village heads were appointed and future development plans in the territory were announced; without this, the village heads wouldn’t have accepted the new leadership so readily.
To foster a certain level of solidarity, such collective meetings were held once a month, during which development achievements and future plans were discussed.
Today.
The first of June.
The meeting had been moved forward by a week, and not everyone had arrived yet. The assembled village heads and local merchants were all whispering amongst themselves, unsure why they had been summoned ahead of schedule. Only a few seemed to have an inkling, their brows furrowed in thought.
Li Sheng was one of them. He was a Chinese man from Myanmar, 41 years old. His parents were born here, but he remembered his heritage well. His grandfather was a scholar who had passed down some knowledge to him, enabling him to write simple Chinese characters, and speak fluent Chinese.
Back when Wei Jun’s family was here, Li Sheng had been the village head. The village was home to about 800 residents, most of them descendants of Chinese immigrants. When Naidan arrived, the entire village moved to a valley near the Thailand border, not far from Wangsa’s territory. Naidan didn’t want to stir trouble near the Thai border, so he left them be.
After the new leader took over these lands and promised not to grow poppy flowers, they moved back.
"Old Li, why aren’t you saying anything?" A man next to Li Sheng, who had been listening enthusiastically, asked when he noticed Li Sheng was silent. 𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓅𝓊𝒷.𝓬𝓸𝓂
"What’s there to say?"
Li Sheng raised his head with a smile. This man was a businessman from his village, two years his junior, also a descendant of Chinese immigrants. His name was Wei Hao.
"Everyone’s guessing what’s going on." Wei Hao was speechless. Everyone had been discussing this for ages, but Li Sheng seemed nonchalant.
"Why guess? We’ll soon find out." Li Sheng replied nonchalantly. He had a lot of speculation, Myanmar Bank being one of them, but until the announcement was made, any guess was just that. There was no point in voicing it.
Seeing Li Sheng’s ’mysterious’ demeanor, Wei Hao leaned over and whispered: "Old Li, do you know something?"
"I don’t know anything." Li Sheng shook his head.
"I don’t believe you; you’re too clever." Wei Hao didn’t believe him.
"What use is cleverness? Even if we guess correctly, so what? All will be revealed soon." After finishing, Li Sheng resumed reading the book he brought with him, the "Journey to the West," a gift from a friend from home. He had nearly worn out the copy his grandfather had left him, the pages yellow and faded, so he had someone bring him copies of The Four Great Classical Novels.
Immersing himself in the profound richness of Chinese culture and the rhythm of the language, he never tired of reading it.
"Hmph..." Wei Hao sulked, his old friend was good overall, albeit a little slow which was sometimes exasperating, like right now. Despite this, his measured approach and fair judgement were well respected within the village.
"..."
Just then.
"Quiet, the meeting is beginning."
An ear-piercing sound echoed within the shed. Shockingly, it wasn’t amplified by a speaker but shouted out by a soldier.
"Is that the Lion’s Roar?" Li Sheng, a martial arts novel fan, thought jokingly.
Many people inwardly complained.
But no one dared to voice their complaints.
At this moment.
They saw Ling walk onto the podium.
"Alright, everyone quiet down, the meeting is about to begin." Ling’s stern voice echoed throughout the room.
In truth, everyone had already gone silent. The shed was as quiet as a tomb, a testament to Ling’s intimidating presence.
Although Ling hadn’t employed any ruthless tactics against them, no one dared to question the powerful strength and execution ability of his subordinates. Seeing Ling’s methods, they truly understood the meaning of the phrase ’a man of few words is not to be trifled with.’
Naidan used to act so arrogantly, and yet he was quietly pulled down. He and his confidants all met their end, followed by a series of quiet punishments for those who had committed evil deeds. No public executions were necessary; just a simple announcement, but it was the silent handling of these matters that truly instilled fear.
It was the same with the town development and road construction - no announcement was made, work just began immediately. They didn’t have to pay from their own pockets; they merely had to provide workers, who of course, would be paid wages.
This did not dilute Ling’s ’demonic’ image, however.
Fortunately, there were now legal regulations and judgements in place which relieved some of the people’s concerns, but they certainly didn’t dare to take the man before them lightly.
Critical too, was the fact that the peace and order were maintained by armed soldiers.
Who dared to utter a word?
Seeing that everyone was ready, Ling began, "Good morning everyone. The main reason for calling you here today is to discuss one matter - Myanmar Bank." He paused, allowing people a moment to digest this.
