Chapter 556: Business Trip Assignment

Ning Xiaoyu begged for mercy all the way, then finally said with a grin: "At worst, I'll squeeze in with Kunlan and Chuxue."

Before long, the two of them came back together.

Ning Xiaoyu held a plate of raisins in her hands: "Come, come, come, my cousin brought these back from a business trip to XJ. I earned these by massaging my mom's shoulders and back — try them."

Ji Kunlan watched her clowning around, smiling as she took a small handful: "These are good stuff. I heard XJ over there produces grapes in abundance, and the locals, unable to eat them all, dry them into raisins."

Ning Xiaoyu nodded: "My cousin said every household over there dries raisins. The price is quite a bit cheaper than on our side too. He brought back quite a lot and gave some to relatives and neighbors — you could call it a local specialty."

Chuxue looked at the raisins in her hand: These days really were different from the later era. Even good stuff, if you couldn't transport it out, naturally wouldn't fetch a good price. On top of that, people nowadays were all very honest, and there were few who jacked up prices on the spot. Buying locally was bound to be cheap.

Thinking of her own space, she thought: If only there were a chance for a business trip, she could enrich her space then.

What she hadn't expected was that the very next day, not long after she arrived at the office, the section chief came looking for her: "Comrade Xiao Liu, come to my office for a moment."

Chuxue glanced at Hong Big Sister, saw her shake her head, and her mind filled with all kinds of guesses: "Section Chief."

Section Chief Li pointed at the chair opposite: "Sit."

Chuxue wasn't the least bit stiff, after all she was now a regular employee, and hadn't made any mistakes, so being called in was probably about work.

She heard Section Chief Li say: "Comrade Xiao Liu, you've been in our section for over a month now. From my observation along the way, your professional ability is very strong — you could say it's already surpassed a new level. And you're quick-witted, calm and cautious when things come up. Really not bad."

Chuxue hadn't expected the section chief to rate her so highly: "Section Chief, you're too kind. It's not as good as you say, but Hong-jie really did teach me a lot. I'll keep working hard in the future too."

Section Chief Li looked gratified: "You're a modest one, but what I said is also fact. I called you over today because there's something I need to tell you."

Chuxue instinctively sat up straighter: "Go ahead."

Section Chief Li picked up his cup, poured a glass of water, then returned to his seat: "Here's the thing. The Technical Section and the Sales Section are going to the three northeastern provinces. Because we also have business dealings with several provinces over there, the Finance Office needs to send someone.

You also know our Section One's responsibilities, so this task falls on our Section One. I've gone through everyone in our section. Hong Big Sister is older, and on top of that her mother-in-law hurt her leg and can't do without her.

Zheng Jiangtao's wife is heavy with child, and I wouldn't dare let him go on a business trip. If something happened, none of us could bear the responsibility. Cui Haiqing could go, but this morning when I came through the factory gate with him, it happened that his half-sister's daughter is getting married, and they want him, the uncle, to escort the bride. The matter's already been settled — if he now says he can't go, the family relations would only get harder to handle. So his side won't work either.

As for Wan Xiaohui and Wang Minmin, the two of them can't shoulder this responsibility, and I wouldn't dare let them go along. If they botched the job, we'd be embarrassed all the way to the Northeast, and our entire Section One would lose face.

In the end, that leaves only you and Gao Jiangang. But his wedding date is set — next weekend, right in the middle. If he went on the business trip, he wouldn't make it back by the weekend. So after much consideration, I think it's more appropriate for you to go along."