HLM -Chapter 1097 Successful Re-election

Wang Bo didn’t make things too hard for Ben McGee, because he had never regarded this man as a real opponent. Competing with someone like him would only feel beneath him.

Ben McGee only dared to play petty tricks behind the scenes—he didn’t even have the courage to face Wang Bo head-on once. On top of that, he’d been outmaneuvered and lost the investment for the central plaza. All in all, it was rather pitiful.

Wang Bo poked him in the chest and said viciously, “Hurry it up. Type out your resignation letter and hand it to me. I’ve got decent patience, but my guys don’t.”

Atulu and the others rolled up their sleeves, cracked their knuckles, and glared menacingly. Frightened out of his wits, Ben McGee nodded repeatedly. “Understood, understood, Mayor. I’ll write the report right now.”

Watching him, Wang Bo felt a trace of pity—like looking at a little chick pecking at rice. The reason for the pity was simple: that chick was destined to become roast chicken in the end.

“Hurry up. Ralf, you’ll act as interim director. After Mr. McGee resigns, you’ll take over his duties. Any problem with that?”

Ralf Jackson smiled. “No problem, boss. I’ll do a good job.”

Wang Bo patted his shoulder. “I trust you. Work hard—I have high hopes for you.”

McGee froze for a moment. Thinking back on how Ralf’s attitude toward him had changed over the past few days, he suddenly understood everything.

Furious, he pointed at Ralf and shouted, “You betrayed me, you traitor!”

Ralf Jackson adjusted his watch and said leisurely, “When did I ever swear loyalty to you? Mr. McGee, you were never my lord, let alone my king. We were merely superior and subordinate at work.”

McGee rushed forward and grabbed his collar, roaring in rage, “You bastard! And now you say that? Ha! I must have been damn blind!”

Ralf spread his hands. “Calm down, Mr. McGee. You can think of me as the villain if you like. But as I said before, my salary is paid by the state. I’m loyal to the country and to Sunset Town. That really has nothing to do with you.”

McGee didn’t dare challenge Wang Bo, but he had plenty of courage when it came to Ralf. He spat on the ground and sneered, “Say whatever you want. Do you really think throwing in with Wang Bo will give you a bright future? You think he’ll actually treat you as one of his own?”

Atulu and the others looked at Ralf with clear hostility, especially Atulu. Having come from gang life, he valued loyalty above all else.

Wang Bo saw this clearly. He patted Ralf on the shoulder and said, “You’re right—you should be loyal to New Zealand and to Sunset Town. But if we’re talking about loyalty, guys, Ralf has done very well. In fact, he visited me on the very first day we met. And the grand gift for Sunset Town’s central plaza was actually arranged by him.”

Hearing this, Ralf Jackson felt deeply moved. Wang Bo was deliberately saying this to protect his reputation and standing.

But it cut McGee to the bone. “What?! The central plaza—Ralf, you bastard! No wonder you went to such lengths to persuade me to invest in sponsoring the central plaza!”

Ralf Jackson shrugged. “I said it already—I’m loyal to Sunset Town. I only seek benefits for the town. If you truly had the town’s interests at heart, you wouldn’t be saying this now.”

Earlier, McGee had merely resented Ralf. Now, he wanted to hit him.

But with Wang Bo present, there was no way McGee could act recklessly. Wang Bo said, “Alright, this farce ends here. Go handle the handover procedures. Uncle Bing, stay and help Ralf.”

He was worried McGee might lash out in humiliation and start a fight.

After McGee resigned, Wang Bo’s campaign practically had no real opponents left. Tuhao Jin and Zhuang Ding were nothing more than hired jokers and posed no threat whatsoever.

However, since McGee had withdrawn from Sunset Town, Tuhao Jin and Zhuang Ding had to remain in the race. According to the constitution, township elections required at least three candidates.

For the final few campaign speeches, Wang Bo followed convention and invited people to support him. Naturally, they were all big names—just having Bartier, the CEO of South Pacific Bank, was enough to dominate the entire venue.

In addition, Parker also helped him with a campaign rally. This was because when Parker and Hill were in crucial negotiations over the film adaptation rights of Death Note, Wang Bo had stepped in to help communicate and ultimately made the deal happen.

By late September, with the arrival of early spring, the cold winter winds finally disappeared for good.

The Sunset Town election unfolded amid great fanfare. The election’s vote-counting machines had already been taken away, and Wang Bo decided to use manual counting instead.

Election supervisory committees from Omarama City and Cromwell were dispatched to oversee the process. They were responsible for counting the votes—and when they learned it would all be done by hand, they nearly burst into tears.

Nearly four thousand ballots!

Just like the general election, portraits of Wang Bo, Zhuang Ding, and Tuhao Jin appeared on the walls of the government hall. Alongside them were the welfare policies Wang Bo had previously promised the townspeople, as well as detailed implementation plans.

Voting began in the morning. Wang Bo, dressed neatly in a well-tailored Tang suit, stood at the entrance of the office building to greet voters. Eva, smiling gently, accompanied him at his side.

Many media outlets were paying attention to this election. First, Sunset Town had been in the spotlight for several years. Second, this election was quite interesting—two of the candidates were animals. And lastly, Wang Bo’s connections were simply impressive.

Moreover, Sunset Town had no shortage of celebrities.

Oakley was undergoing rehabilitation in town, and his appearance at the polling site alone attracted a wave of sports media. The Sunset Band also returned that day, drawing in entertainment reporters as well…

Wang Bo was all smiles, carrying himself with an unusual level of seriousness, trying to leave a good impression on those following the Sunset Town election through the media.

Ryan, Reddy, and the other two lined up to cast their votes. They were at the very front of the line. Seeing Wang Bo, they all greeted him, and Reddy even let out a loud whistle.

After an intense production schedule, Roaring Songs’ new album had hit the market and was selling extremely well in New Zealand. They were no longer just half the sky red—they had successfully risen to the top, becoming New Zealand’s newly crowned king band.

Wang Bo was quite surprised to see them. “Your image and aura have changed a lot.”

Reddy proudly whistled again. “Of course, boss. We’ve got professional stylists and image consultants taking care of us now.”

Atulu said, “Actually, we should have brought ours too. This is a big day for the boss. Who did his hair? It’s honestly hard to look at.”

“Haha, Eva did it,” Wang Bo laughed.

Atulu’s face stiffened. “I misjudged—shit, this hairstyle is amazing!”

The other three booed him in unison.

Although there were many ballots, there were also plenty of committee members. By afternoon, the count was completed. After verification confirmed everything was correct, the results were announced at eight o’clock in the evening:

Tuhao Jin: 511 votes
Zhuang Ding: 402 votes
Wang Bo: 2,955 votes!