Chapter 9 – Twenty Minutes

Cheng Shaoguo, chairman of Hengyuan Group, had already stepped back from daily operations, handing full control of the company to his eldest son.

What no one knew was that just last month, Cheng himself had pulled strings multiple times in an attempt to secure a face-to-face meeting—claiming he wanted to personally consult Secretary Zhou on a 3-billion-yuan resort project.

Looking at things now… the man certainly raised a fine son—bold enough to block a government vehicle.

Xu Mo got the message instantly. He cast a subtle glance toward the back of the vehicle, then made the call.

Naturally, the call was extremely brief.

But the Public Security Bureau’s response was faster than anyone expected.

Gu Yao’s face burned with embarrassment—she wished she could vanish into thin air. She pulled out her phone and messaged Cheng Mu, urging him not to pick a fight and to wait until her business trip was over before dealing with anything.

As for the hotel opening… and the livestreamed proposal—

That was no longer her call to make.

Inside the vehicle, the silence was suffocating. The other officials didn’t know the full story and were holding their breath under the mounting pressure.

Compared to them, the young woman actually came across as unusually brave.

Right in front of the top leader, she kept tapping furiously on her screen, sending message after message without hesitation.

Within a few minutes, the roadblock was cleared. At the same time, a soft chime marked her phone screen going dark.

Calm returned.

Zhou Zhengliang’s expression relaxed ever so slightly. He tapped a few fingers on the armrest and quietly instructed the driver,
“Drive.”

The driver snapped out of it and quickly restarted the Coaster.

From Qionghai City to Tang County, the journey would take nearly two hours.

Gu Yao’s nerves never got a chance to relax. The whole time, she debated whether to explain the Porsche incident to Secretary Zhou.

She didn’t care how the leader judged her personal life.

What worried her was whether this trip to Tang County might be compromised because of it.

Thankfully, about an hour in, they stopped at a rest area.

As several of the officials got off to use the restroom, Gu Yao deliberately lingered until she was the last one. She waited for Xu Mo to finish discussing the itinerary up front before cautiously speaking up.

“Secretary Zhou, do you have a moment?” she asked softly.

The Coaster’s engine was still running. The cabin remained cool with the A/C.

At the sound of her voice, Zhou Zhengliang turned his head slightly. In his line of sight: a young woman wrapped in her jacket, her face tinged with guilt.

He looked away and replied in his usual low tone,
“What is it?”

The moment opened, Gu Yao didn’t hesitate.

Steadying herself, she got straight to the point.
“I’d like to talk to you about Tang County. It might take twenty minutes of your time.”

Xu Mo blinked in surprise.

He’d expected the young woman to plead for her boyfriend, or at least try to repair her image in front of the boss.

Instead, she went straight for the jugular.

A sharp detour—completely unexpected.

But the big boss’s reaction was calm to the extreme.

After hearing her out, Zhou Zhengliang simply asked in a cool voice,
“If you care so deeply about your hometown, then why did you apply for a post in Qionghai?”

Direct and ruthless—not giving her any room to retreat.