Chapter 568: The Leader Tests the Waters

The nation’s first Wanlong Plaza had its grand opening, with ceremonies on a magnificent scale.

Aside from Liu Yutong, nearly every senior executive of Wanlong Society who could make it back attended the opening ceremony, including Yu Xin, Yang Xin, Ma Da, Li Xiaohui, and others.

Even Pearl City’s senior official personally attended, participating in the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Wanlong Society’s contributions to Pearl City were plain for all to see. In addition to generating tax revenue for the city, Wanlong Supermarket and Wanhui Preferred had created a large number of jobs. They had also helped attract investment to the new development zone, drawing in quite a few enterprises, most of which had cooperative relationships with the Wanlong Society Group.

The combined output value of the entire industry chain in a year was quite impressive.

Beyond that, Pearl City intended to build a software technology park near the headquarters that Wanlong Society Group was currently planning and constructing.

Actually, given Pearl City’s circumstances, pulling this off would be quite difficult, since the city lacked resources like talent and universities.

However, ever since the Wanhui Preferred platform’s rise, the officials’ eyes had lit up. They had inspected Wanhui Preferred and had a general understanding of the situation. Knowing that Wanhui Preferred had the potential to become as large as those major online shopping platforms in the future, they began to entertain ideas.

Maybe they could really use Wanhui Preferred as the lead company to create a software and high-tech industry park?

The senior official’s personal attendance at the ribbon-cutting this time, in addition to showing affirmation for the enterprise, had the more important purpose of testing the waters.

As the saying goes, one must attend to the duties of one’s position. If Wanhui Preferred could truly grow into a large enterprise worth tens or even hundreds of billions in the future, they would definitely want to keep the company’s headquarters in Pearl City.

But they also understood clearly that Pearl City’s appeal was certainly not as great as those first-tier cities; its shortcomings were too obvious.

But if they could truly make this happen, they could build a software technology park centered around Wanhui Preferred, using it as the anchor to attract more software and high-tech enterprises to settle in, and that would be a major political achievement.

After the ribbon-cutting ceremony concluded, the crowd gradually dispersed and customers began streaming into the mall.

At this moment, the senior official took the initiative to invite Liu Yutong for a tour of the mall.

“Chairman Liu, would you mind accompanying this old man for a walk inside? Let me also experience firsthand the commercial vitality of your Wanlong Society.”

He spoke these words very politely.

He couldn’t afford not to be polite. If he weren’t, in the event that Wanhui Preferred really relocated its headquarters, it would be a major loss for Pearl City.

Moreover, senior officials have well-informed sources. He had long heard that the provincial capital was already planning to poach them.

After all, the provincial capital had always wanted to transform itself into a high-tech industry city. Enterprises from other provinces might not be so easy to poach, because they would have to compete with other major provinces, especially those coastal provinces—there was simply no way to compete with them.

But if they were poaching enterprises from within the province, the advantage would be significant.

Take educational resources as an example: Pearl City only had two key undergraduate institutions—the University of Finance and Economics and the Medical University.

Whereas the provincial capital not only had several key universities, but also a top-tier double-first-class prestigious school—China University of Science and Technology.

There’s a saying that goes: if the two top prestigious schools in the Imperial Capital are, respectively, a cradle for engineers and a stronghold for humanities and social sciences, then China University of Science and Technology is a holy land for scientists.

In short, whether in resources or talent, the provincial capital was on a completely different level from Pearl City.

Upon hearing the senior official’s polite words, Liu Yutong immediately responded, “You’re too kind, Sir. It’s our honor. After you.”

She took the initiative to lead the senior official toward the main concourse, heading deeper into the mall.

The secretaries and assistants behind them tactfully hung back a few steps, both ensuring the senior official’s security and leaving enough private space for conversation.

As the senior official walked, he looked around at the constant stream of people and the bustling scenes in the brand-name stores, and offered sincere praise.

“Excellent, truly excellent! Chairman Liu, look at this popularity, look at this spending momentum—Wanlong Plaza hasn’t just opened a shopping mall, it’s practically injected a shot of adrenaline into our entire southern district! Your Wanlong Society is now the undisputed flagship enterprise of our Pearl City.”

“You’re too kind, Sir.”

Liu Yutong responded modestly, then continued, “Our ability to develop is inseparable from Pearl City’s excellent business environment and the support of officials at all levels, especially your strong support, Sir. Wanlong Society is rooted in Pearl City; having grown and strengthened, it naturally must give back to this land.”

The senior official nodded with satisfaction. “Chairman Liu, I’ve been pondering a question recently, and I’m somewhat conflicted. I’d like to hear the perspective of a young entrepreneur like yourself.”

“Please go ahead, Sir,” Liu Yutong said.

“To be honest, seeing how well your company’s Wanhui Preferred is developing, I’m both delighted and truly losing sleep over it.”

This time, Liu Yutong didn’t respond. The moment wasn’t right for her to speak up and state her position. She only needed to listen attentively.

“Actually, I know that a high-tech company like Wanhui Preferred, which can stimulate domestic demand and create jobs, is extremely valuable. But precisely because of that, I’m worried. Pearl City has a fairly solid industrial foundation. The industry chain driven by your Wanlong Society Group, along with our traditional advantageous industries like glass and filters, are the current ballast stones for stable employment. But in the long run, if a city wants to avoid falling behind in the next round of development, it must cultivate new growth points.”

“So I often think: a city, especially one that wants to move to a higher level, cannot have only a solid body—it must also have an intelligent brain and a high-tech soul. Every time I visit those few technology hubs in the south for inspection and see the internet enterprises and software companies they’re incubating, I feel both envious and anxious.”

Liu Yutong still listened quietly, and still didn’t speak.

After talking at length and seeing that she still hadn’t spoken, the senior official grew somewhat anxious.

“How can this girl hold her ground so well? Say something!”

In reality, it wasn’t that Liu Yutong was holding her ground, but that he himself had lost his composure first.

Who could have imagined such a complete reversal in such a short time?

A year ago, she was a girl leading a bunch of street thugs in reselling lobsters. Now she had grown to the point where even he had to scheme to win her over and keep her from leaving.

The senior official was at his wit’s end and decided to be completely direct. “Fine, fine! You insist on me spelling it out, don’t you, girl? I’ll be frank: after several discussions, the city plans to build a software technology park, concentrating resources to develop high-tech industries, but we need a lead enterprise. Can you give me a straight answer—can Wanhui Preferred stay in Pearl City and not relocate?”

It was only then that Liu Yutong spoke up. “Uncle Gao, if you have something to say, you could just say it directly. Why go around in such big circles with me?”

The senior official was dumbfounded and laughed. “You… you…”

“Sir, to be honest, Wanhui Preferred won’t have just one headquarters, but I will keep a headquarters in Pearl City.”

The senior official immediately understood her meaning. But he also understood that for an enterprise like Wanhui Preferred to develop and grow, attracting talent was an essential path.

The multi-headquarters model had a benefit: it allowed for the implementation of a job rotation system, just like other major internet companies, having employees and key personnel rotate positions regularly. This could both prevent internal rigidity and allow some talent to flow to the Pearl City headquarters.

If some people were willing to stay long-term, Pearl City’s talent pool would naturally improve.

However, to truly get talent to settle in Pearl City, compensation alone wasn’t enough. Once people had money, they still tended to prefer setting up homes in big cities.

This required Pearl City to produce things that could attract them to settle—such as creating a more livable environment, better educational and medical resources, and so on.

Pearl City’s medical conditions were fairly decent, and the Medical University had some reputation. Education was a matter of perspective, as different regions had different educational characteristics.

The living environment—that was the direction that truly needed focused attention.