Inheritance of Two Trillion

Chapter 488: Chapter 488: Must Overtake Them!_1

The report was all very successful, how could there still be bad news?

Ji Mingyang looked at Bai Xiaosheng, also giving a helpless smile.

”I’ll start with the good news,” he began, ”the good news is... it was very successful, and the leaders were all very satisfied. Especially Minister Fan, he was very impressed with you! Just now, he praised you for quite a while.”

Ji Mingyang was also very pleased with Bai Xiaosheng’s performance today.

Bai Xiaosheng smiled.

”The bad news...” Ji Mingyang sighed slowly, ”Just now, Minister Fan brought up that Mayor Su Shu of Langbei City has already submitted their schedule for the second phase of review, which is at the end of this month, less than three weeks away!”

Tianzheng Media had already fixed the date for submitting the content for the second phase of the review!

Bai Xiaosheng nodded, ”Their first-phase submission was about ten days ahead of us, so the second phase in three weeks isn’t too surprising, is it?”

Then, Bai Xiaosheng looked puzzled, ”Is this what you mean by bad news?”

It doesn’t sound all that terrible.

”The problem is, the nature of the enterprises in both of our cities overlaps, both are media companies! In principle, the province wants to set up only one benchmark in each industry, so what does this result in? If the other prefecture-level cities pick nine different industries for benchmark enterprises and both of our overlapping businesses pass the review, how do we determine who is the benchmark?” Ji Mingyang retorted.

This hypothesis assumes that the enterprises submitted for review by the other cities don’t overlap at all!

It’s an extreme scenario, but it’s also a possibility.

”Well then, just look at which one generates more profit and tax.” Zhang Meng, who had driven out of the underground parking lot and was leaving the provincial committee, couldn’t help but interject.

”If it’s just based on profit and tax, then I think both companies can be included in the top ten benchmarks, and we can simply kick out the other lower-performing ones, right?” Ji Mingyang sighed, ”It’s not that simple! Profit and tax is just one factor, innovation ability, growth, and influence on the industry are all things the leaders value just as much as profit and tax!”

”First come, first served!” Bai Xiaosheng, who had been silent and contemplative, suddenly spoke up.

Zhang Meng, surprised, glanced at Bai Xiaosheng through the rearview mirror.

Ji Mingyang gave a wry smile, ”Not exactly the same words, but the meaning is pretty close. Minister Fan told me that this is also what the province intends. Between the two companies, whichever completes the entire review process first will be ranked higher. If there’s an issue with quotas, the one who passes the final review first will come out on top.”

”Unexpected, what unexpected?” Bai Xiaosheng asked.

”Unless out of the thirteen prefecture-level cities, three completely fail to meet the standards, leaving only ten, they would allow two media companies to be included in the top ten benchmarks together. But what do you think the chances of that happening are?” Ji Mingyang sighed.

Bai Xiaosheng remained silent.

”To be on the safe side, we must catch up, no, we must surpass Langbei City Tianzheng Group in completing our submission!” Bai Xiaosheng said firmly.

”The key question is, can we outdo them? They’re at least ten days ahead of us, and as for the second phase... Sheng, how confident are you?” Ji Mingyang’s eyes sparkled as he looked at Bai Xiaosheng.

Bai Xiaosheng did not immediately promise anything, instead, he fell into deep thought.

”Mr. Ji, please allow me to plan this thoroughly!” Bai Xiaosheng said gravely, ”Actually, I’ve thought about the issue of progress, too. If we proceed by the book, we can only follow behind Tianzheng Media. You’ve mentioned that the first submission might come with impression points, but I think if we keep trailing them, the gap in impression points will widen even more! Also, you talked about homogenous enterprises; the province’s intention is to avoid this as far as possible. I was thinking then that what we lack won’t just be impression points, but quite possibly the quota itself!”

Bai Xiaosheng had already considered this?

These words made Ji Mingyang nod, watching Bai Xiaosheng with a face full of relief, ”Alright, I’m relieved to leave this matter in your hands!”

”Sheng, I’ve always had ninety percent confidence in you, but there’s still that one percent of worry. You’re quite young and your experiences might be a little lacking. I’ve worried whether you’d get nervous or anxious when facing leadership, or if you’d fall short in your consideration of issues. But today, seeing how you conducted yourself before the leaders, seeing your thought process regarding this matter, I’m reassured. You’re fully capable of handling this responsibility!” Mayor Ji Mingyang said candidly.

Zhang Meng also smiled. After this briefing, his admiration for Bai Xiaosheng was boundless. As the mayor’s chief secretary, he seldom admired anyone, especially young people of Bai Xiaosheng’s age.

Bai Xiaosheng responded with a modest smile.

”You flatter me, but I said I would secure this spot, and I will definitely do so!”

Bai Xiaosheng’s expression was resolute.

All along the way, Bai Xiaosheng was deep in thought, and Ji Mingyang did not interrupt him.

By the time they returned to Zhongjing, it had grown dark. Ji Mingyang had Zhang Meng drive, taking Bai Xiaosheng all the way back to his residence.

Having a mayor personally drop him off at home was a great honor, but Bai Xiaosheng seemed to have an idea in his mind, he hastily bade farewell to Ji Mingyang without even the courtesy of inviting him in for a while and left on his own.

”This guy, he’s such a workaholic. In his rush, he even overlooked you,” Zhang Meng couldn’t help but chide, though in reality, he was making excuses for Bai Xiaosheng, worried that Ji Mingyang might be upset.

”Actually, I was thinking of inviting him for dinner. Well, that’s a saving now. Let’s go, back to the city government,” Ji Mingyang joked. He obviously wouldn’t make a fuss over such a trivial matter.

Bai Xiaosheng hurried back home and went straight to his computer desk. He turned on his computer, switched off the main light and turned on the desk lamp, putting himself in a calm state.

Facing the document, Bai Xiaosheng typed away, capturing all the fragmented thoughts he had on the way in his writing.

When he came back to his senses, two hours had passed, and the document was filled with thousands of words.

Bai Xiaosheng slowly combed through the text, deleting and refining, extracting the essence, and carefully organizing his thoughts with numbers.

If he wanted to outpace Tianzheng Media, he couldn’t resort to common methods; he needed to be unconventional and surprising!

Some ideas were impractical, some difficult to implement, some simple, but their effects seemed unlikely to be significant.

He had not only to choose, but to choose the best of the best.

Moreover, this wasn’t merely a competition between two enterprises.

It was also a clash between two prefecture-level cities!

Langbei City, in terms of both its total economic volume and other aspects, was no less than Zhongjing.

In fact, for the past few years, Langbei had always been ahead of Zhongjing.

”Once we play our cards, I believe Mayor Su Shu won’t sit idly by! Langbei City will follow up immediately, so some measures we take must be so striking that Mayor Ji Mingyang will announce them to the province, securing a favorable impression right away,” Bai Xiaosheng muttered to himself.

Finally, when everything seemed to be in good order, Bai Xiaosheng let out a sigh of relief, simultaneously feeling ravenous.

After all, it was already very late!

Bai Xiaosheng ordered a takeout, and while waiting, his phone rang.

At first, he thought the delivery person had arrived, but upon answering, it was a familiar yet unfamiliar voice.

”Is this Bai Xiaosheng? It’s me, Ariel!”