Divine Lucky Star
Chapter 353 - Chapter 353 Chapter 352 Mid-Autumn Festival Auditions

Chapter 353: Chapter 352 Mid-Autumn Festival Auditions Chapter 353: Chapter 352 Mid-Autumn Festival Auditions “Well,” Wang Mingjing nodded, “that works. Let’s go in and ask first!” By now, he had completely written off Wang Hao as a kid who loved to boast. Anyway, they had a car to drive around in.

Soon they arrived at their destination. Wang Mingjing led the team inside. This time they encountered no obstacles. Several people entered the office, where a man in his early thirties asked, “What brings you gentlemen here?”

“Ah, we’ve come to inquire about fixing the road in our village,” Wang Mingjing asked, nodding and bowing, “Comrade, how may I address you?”

“I am Mr. Liu, a staff member of our division.” Mr. Liu invited them to sit and then asked, “Did you just say you want to have the road to your village repaired?”

“Yes, yes, the road,” confirmed Wang Mingjing. “I was wondering, Mr. Liu, would it be possible for you to inquire whether the road can be fixed?”

“Well,” Mr. Liu, sipping his tea, said, “first, we need to clarify what kind of road it is because you didn’t specify. If it’s a national or provincial road, it should be maintained by the highway section of your county. If it’s a county or township road, then it depends on the system in your area. If the highway section is separate from the township road section, then you’d go to them, otherwise, it’s still the highway section. If it’s not a main road but just a rural town road, it is the responsibility of the local town or village government to maintain and repair it.”

Once he began discussing professional matters, Wang Mingjing and his companions were all at a loss; they couldn’t understand a thing!

Wang Mingjing asked, “Could you simplify that a bit, Mr. Liu? I didn’t quite catch it…”

“To put it simply,” Mr. Liu smiled and said, “if your village wants to fix the road, you have to go to your county. This is Zhonghai City, we don’t handle local roads.”

Damn it, they’d been sent right back where they started from, being told to go find someone in the local county town…

They couldn’t just go back like this after all the trouble of coming here.

“Well,” Wang Mingjing hesitated, “we’ve already been to our county, Mr. Liu. They won’t take care of it – they say it’s a major project that requires upper-level funding. Without funds from above, there’s no money to fix it. What do you think about this…”

“Funding, huh?” Mr. Liu stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Then you need to find the Finance Bureau.”

“We’ve been there too,” said Wang Mingjing. “They told us we need to go to the higher-ups; that’s why we came to Zhonghai…”

“In that case,” Mr. Liu continued, “go ask Zhonghai City Finance Bureau. If they can provide funding, you can go back to your county and start discussing road repair plans. Our department is the Zhonghai City Road Administration. We don’t deal with local affairs.”

Great, they’d gone to the wrong place again. Now they had to go to the Finance Bureau.

The group left, got in the car, and headed straight for the Finance Bureau.

After another half hour, they arrived at the Finance Bureau. Wang Mingjing led his group into the office, where they were received by a female staff member, Ms. Zhang.

“So you’re from local towns and villages and planning to fix the road, right?” Ms. Zhang glanced at the map, “My goodness, your road isn’t an easy fix; it has to cross several mountains. That’s not a small amount of money.”

“Yes, yes, it’s difficult to repair, hence why we’ve come to you as a last resort,” Wang Mingjing said. “Ms. Zhang, what do you think…”

“I really can’t decide on this,” Ms. Zhang shook her head. “This isn’t a small sum. I have to report to my superiors, then we have a meeting to discuss it. And besides,” she continued, “your case involves mountain excavation. It’s not just about providing money. You need to go to the Agricultural Bureau to see, because if there are trees on the mountain, even if you want to repair the road, you need their approval and a felling permit. Otherwise, recklessly destroying forests to fix roads is illegal.”

So off they needed to go to the Agricultural Bureau.

By the time they reached the Agricultural Bureau, the staff member there said, “There’s a river where you want to fix the road; you’ll have to build a bridge, maybe even a dike. Otherwise, come the rainy season, rising waters could be a disaster. Go ask the Water Resources Bureau for their opinion.”

So they raced off to the Water Resources Bureau.

The staff member at the Water Resources Bureau said, “Building the bridge isn’t hard if there’s funding from above. But have you conducted soil and rock surveys of the land? If the soil is poor, it’s easy for the bridge to have problems. If it gets washed away by water later, the consequences would be severe. So, you should go to the Geological Bureau and have them send a specialist to conduct an assessment. If there aren’t any problems, then you can apply for the funding to build the bridge.”

Off they went to the Geological Bureau.

The folks at the Geological Bureau said, “We’re a grade A city; we don’t handle the rural areas. You’ll need to go back to the county town to find a specialist for evaluation. If there’s no problem, you can apply to the upper levels. Approval from the meeting above is necessary. However, the road construction needs approval from the Transportation Bureau. They have to approve the traffic conditions, or else it’s not viable. Go there now and ask if they support it.”

They had come full circle… only to be sent back again…

Back at the Transportation Bureau, when we finally arrived, they were at lunch break, and no one was receiving visitors…

Wang Hao: “…”

Damn it, it’s really not easy to get things done these days. What a runaround, drove over a hundred kilometers just to find out it was all for nothing!

“Damn these people!”

Waiting in the car for them to come back to work in the afternoon, Wang Mingjing angrily said, “This is like kicking the ball around! They’ve kicked us around in a circle and then kicked us right back to where we started!”

“What do we do now?” Wang Hui said, frustrated, “We’ll never get this done if it goes on like this!”

“Or maybe…,” said Wang Hao, who had been quiet until now, tentatively, “we wait a bit more? I just remembered, I actually do know someone here. Not sure if he can help or not.”

Thinking about it, last time we came here we did see the director, and it seemed like he was Fang Wenbin’s father. It should work if we find him…

“Why keep waiting? Waste of time,” Wang Mingjing dismissed Wang Hao’s words as if they were just a bunch of hot air; he had no faith Wang Hao really knew anyone! Lighting a cigarette, he said gruffly, “Fixing the roads is a special project; you have to deal with the relevant departments. Let’s call it a day and find another solution when we get back.”

Fine, if they don’t want to go, I’ll just wait until I’ve dropped them off and then check it out myself.

After dropping Wang Mingjing and the others back at the hotel and preparing to head back to the Transportation Bureau, Wang Hao’s phone rang. He picked it up and couldn’t help but laugh, “Hey, Little Yueyue!”

Picking up the phone, Wang Hao asked with a smile, “What’s going on?”

“Brother Hao, hurry to the Zhonghai TV station,” Little Yueyue said urgently on the other end of the line, “All the big guys from our stage are here. They’re auditing programs today, Brother Hao, you’ve got to come and support me! I’m scared on my own!”

“I was wondering what it was,” Wang Hao replied with a laugh, “Just tell a comic dialogue on stage, and then come down. With our level in comic dialogue, it’s definitely not a problem. What are you afraid of?”

“It’s a big problem!” said Little Yueyue, “The city leaders are taking this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival Gala very seriously. Mayor Su’s secretary is here personally auditing. A lot of programs have been rejected already, which is why I’m feeling unsure.”

“You don’t need to be scared… Wait a minute,” Wang Hao then realized something and asked, “Who did you say is auditing the programs?”

“The head of the TV station, as well as Mayor Su’s secretary!” Little Yueyue answered, “Why?”

This was like finding something one has searched for in vain, without even trying! Perfect timing, with the home road repair situation, and Mayor Su being the Executive Deputy Mayor of Zhonghai City. If I could get a clear answer on this…

Well then, what’s there to say, rush over there!

“Wait for me,” Wang Hao said, “I’ll be there in about twenty minutes!”

Little Yueyue agreed, “Okay, I’ll meet you at the entrance!”

Soon after arriving at the Zhonghai TV station building, Wang Hao had just gotten out of the car when Yue Peng came up to meet him, saying, “Brother Hao, hurry up. Today’s event is quite big, and the situation doesn’t look optimistic!”

Just how ‘not optimistic’ was it?

Curiosity filled Wang Hao’s stomach as he followed Yue Peng inside. As they walked, Yue Peng said, “This time, the top performers of several big stages from our city and others have come. We prepared over twenty comic dialogue and skit programs, and thirteen have been rejected already. It’s almost my turn, and I am scared!”

“So many have been rejected!” Wang Hao patted Yue Peng on the arm, “Don’t worry, with Brother Hao here, Little Yueyue has nothing to fear!”

Yue Peng smiled and said, “That’s our Brother Hao, you’re making me feel a lot calmer now!”

As they talked, they arrived at the venue, and Yue Peng led Wang Hao into a not-so-large room in the TV station.

At that moment, the room was filled with at least a hundred people, all dressed in various styles. A skit was being performed on the stage at the front, Wang Hao glanced at it and then looked over at the presidium. Indeed, there sat a young man. Wang Hao looked closely, and sure enough, it was Secretary Lin, Mayor Su’s secretary, whom he had seen on television before!