Chapter 1010: Dragon King Temple

Chapter 1010: Chapter 975: Dragon King Temple

Near the Zifang Tomb in Houshiliang Village, there’s a spot with stone inscriptions. On their way there, Xu Chunliang specifically pointed them out to Ye Qingya.

He Wanying looked at a nearby unused building with red walls and green tiles and asked, “What is that place?”

Xu Chunliang replied, “It used to be the visitor center. Later, it was allocated to the Culture and Tourism Bureau as the office for the vacation area construction command center. But the terrain is too low, leading to poor drainage. It flooded after just a few days, and the command center had to be relocated to the town government as a temporary solution.”

Lin Sijin said, “It looks well-built with an ancient style. It’s a pity to leave it idle like this. The drainage problem could be renovated.”

Xu Chunliang replied, “It’s no use. Even after several renovations, the flooding issue persists due to the terrain.”

He Wanying said, “The terrain isn’t that low. Although it’s slightly lower compared to Houshiliang Village, for the whole of Weishan Island, this area’s location isn’t low. It’s still an issue of drainage.”

Xu Chunliang glanced at her, listening to her tone as if she had expert knowledge.

In fact, she really was knowledgeable. Before engaging in administrative work, He Wanying had studied architectural design. Later, due to health issues, she stepped down from frontline teaching and shifted to administrative management.

Perhaps Xu Chunliang’s curious gaze encouraged He Wanying to express her intention to investigate.

As the wife of the Secretary made a request, Xu Chunliang had to comply and took her to see the command center.

It had rained a few days ago, so the ground was still somewhat muddy. Xu Chunliang led the way.

Lin Sijin walked slowly, stopping occasionally. She noticed that some paving stones had been there for years. She also circled around the building, carefully examining the cornerstone of the wall and corners, looking very earnest. After a while, she told Xu Chunliang, “Xiaoxu, was there an ancient building here in the past?”

Xu Chunliang replied, “I don’t know. Once I came here, it was already a deserted visitor center. As for what it was before, I have no clue.”

Lin Sijin pointed to a corner block and said, “If I’m not mistaken, there used to be a Dragon King Temple here.”

“What?” Xu Chunliang leaned over to check. Indeed, there were faint lines of small characters on the corner stone. Many characters had become unrecognizable due to weather erosion, but they could infer that they related to prayers for good weather. If it indeed was a Dragon King Temple, it would be a case of flooding the Dragon King’s home, where family members failed to recognize each other.

At that moment, Zhang Haitao drove over to pick them up. Xu Chunliang called him over and asked if there was a Dragon King Temple before the visitor center was built.

Zhang Haitao was also unsure, so he went to the village to find an elderly man to verify.

The elder informed them that there indeed had been a Dragon King Temple here. During its existence, the area never flooded. But after the temple was destroyed, every time it rained, flooding occurred. Elderly villagers believed it offended the Dragon King, bringing down punishment upon them.

At the end of the last century, the village hoped to raise funds to rebuild the Dragon King Temple. However, the town aimed to develop tourism, deciding to construct a visitor center at the site, utilizing many of the abandoned materials from the original Dragon King Temple.

During the visitor center construction, experts were specifically tasked with designing drainage. Nevertheless, after its completion, it continued to flood every year. According to the elder’s explanation, occupying the Dragon King’s grounds would lead to continued flooding unless the temple was rebuilt.

Lin Sijin did not believe such superstitious talk. After the elder left, she explained to everyone that the Dragon King Temple originally didn’t flood due to efficient drainage. Perhaps the destruction of the temple disrupted the drainage system, which remained neglected for years. The drainage pipes were blocked. In her opinion, once the original drainage pipes from the Dragon King Temple were located, restored, and cleared, the flooding issue should be resolved.

Lin Sijin’s professional knowledge proved useful. She quickly located the former drainage channel of the Dragon King Temple, as she suspected, it had been sealed off and overgrown with vegetation.

Zhang Haitao found a shovel and uncovered a section of the drainage channel. Finding its precise location made restoring the entire drainage system a straightforward task.

Xu Chunliang entrusted the matter to Zhang Haitao. The township government’s incident made him realize that temporary accommodations were not a long-term solution. Since the city decided that the command center needs to be independent, it appears the command center will play a significant role eventually. According to Qin Zhengyang’s perspective, due to the Jianjie Square situation, Secretary Wang recognized that Dongzhou Culture and Tourism’s future cannot be bet on a singular direction.

Qin Zhengyang is currently tasked with leading the command center. During this visit to Weishan Island, he privately discussed with Xu Chunliang, expressing desire to expedite moving the command center out of the town government. He initially authorized using the location for the command center, but now that he’s no longer in Hu Shan Town, there’s no reason to leave this matter unresolved for others.

Qin Zhengyang’s next step is to redefine the function of the command center. However, the impact the command center will have depends on Secretary Wang’s decisions. Qin Zhengyang now can neither refrain from acting nor commence large-scale efforts. He must continuously adapt according to leadership directives.

During this trip to Dongzhou, Xu Chunliang arranged for Lin Sijin and her daughter to stay at his home, primarily considering that Lin Sijin is his godmother, and his home is spacious enough. While staying at home, Lin Sijin could converse with Grandpa about the past events of Huichun Hall.

The construction of the new hospital for the Infectious Disease Hospital has already begun. After some discussion among the hospital leadership, it was decided not to hold any groundbreaking ceremony and proceed low-key. After all, the previous foundation ceremony for the Confucius Temple turned into a public spectacle, making everyone aware, and now all levels of leadership in Dongzhou are very reluctant to attend groundbreaking ceremonies.

Originally, Director Yan Huaiyi wanted Xu Chunliang to invite Secretary Wang over for the groundbreaking ribbon-cutting. However, after the incident with the Confucius Temple, he also dismissed this idea.

The part under construction is for the Infectious Disease Hospital. According to their original construction plan, the comprehensive treatment area would also officially start in October, but so far they have not signed a formal contract with Equatorial Capital.

It’s not that there is an issue with Equatorial Capital, but rather Xu Chunliang indicated there is no need to rush.

As the construction of the infectious disease area progresses vigorously, the construction of the comprehensive treatment area also lies ahead. After this week’s leadership team meeting, Yan Huaiyi decided to have a good talk with Xu Chunliang and called him to his office.

After Xu Chunliang entered, he first presented him with some tea.

Yan Huaiyi didn’t stand on ceremony and quickly accepted it: “When are you returning… to Weishan Island?”

Xu Chunliang smiled and said: “A couple of days ago, just as Secretary Wang went for a break, I accompanied him for a trip.” There was no need to hide his relationship with Wang Jianming in front of Yan Huaiyi.

Looking at this young man, Yan Huaiyi admired him with a tinge of envy, seeing how well-connected he was, maintaining such harmonious relationships with two successive secretaries.

Yan Huaiyi said: “Secretary… Wang… wouldn’t happen to be entrusting you with important responsibilities, would he?”

Xu Chunliang replied: “You hit the nail on the head; he asked me to continue to oversee the construction command for the national-level vacation district.”

Yan Huaiyi was flustered upon hearing that: “No… no… that won’t do, our hospital’s construction… has only just begun… you… you can’t just… leave like that. If you leave, what… what… what should I do?”

Xu Chunliang laughed: “Don’t worry, you know the situation with the command, it’s just a makeshift team with no specific work. Secretary Wang asked me to help oversee it; he didn’t specify a particular position for me, nor did he say he wanted to transfer me. You know how I work, start something and finish it; even if you asked me to leave before the work here is done, I wouldn’t.”

Only then did Yan Huaiyi relax; Xu Chunliang really couldn’t leave. If this young man left, where would he find such a large investment? Don’t look at the fact that the land has been approved and the hospital construction has started; these are all thanks to Xu Chunliang, and none of the hospital leaders deny it.

Yan Huaiyi said: “Xiao… Xiaoxu, according to our scheduled plan, the construction of the comprehensive hospital should start in October, but now on Equatorial Capital’s side…”

Xu Chunliang asked: “Are you eager to sign the contract?”

Yan Huaiyi replied: “It’s more reassuring to have the contract signed.”

Xu Chunliang said: “We are not short of investment, but the choice of investors must be careful. Changxing Hospital is a lesson from the past; initially, Zhao Feiyang chose the Huayuan Group, which led us to take many detours. So, we must thoroughly investigate the background of the investors.”

Yan Huaiyi said: “Aren’t you… quite familiar with Equatorial Capital?”

Xu Chunliang responded: “I’m familiar with Mo Han, but business is business, and personal is personal.”

Yan Huaiyi said: “But… it still… needs to be expedited.”

Xu Chunliang said: “Rest assured, it certainly won’t delay construction. I have an idea: don’t put all eggs in one basket; introduce several investors to dilute their shares, letting them check and balance each other. Only this way can our hospital gain more say, don’t you agree?”

Yan Huaiyi nodded repeatedly, realizing this young man had ideas. However, he wasn’t Xu Chunliang, and wasn’t sure how much investment he could bring in. In his view, it was already good enough to attract investment, let alone be selective.

Only after giving Yan Huaiyi reassurances, did Xu Chunliang return to his own office.

Currently holding multiple roles, he hardly went to the administration office, spending most of his time outside, and nobody at the hospital checked him for it.

Upon returning to his office, Kang Yueqi came up to inform him that someone was looking for him. It seemed to be a big boss who was arranged to wait for him in the reception room. She handed Xu Chunliang a business card, and upon taking a look, Xu Chunliang saw it printed with “Chairman of Shennong Chinese Herbal Medicine Group, Cao Bingyi.”

Xu Chunliang had never met Cao Bingyi, but they had interacted a few times. Initially, Xu Chunliang approached things with a mindset of harmony, but Cao Bingyi disregarded it, so Xu Chunliang took a firm stand, leaving Cao Bingyi embarrassed and tripped up several times.