Chapter 149: An Ning, Sister-in-law Zhao, and Liu Yun

At Limin Restaurant, by the time Ning Weidong strolled over, An Ning had already been waiting there for half an hour.

Just a moment ago, she had heard from Ning Weidong over the phone and immediately rode her bicycle over; feeling anxious, she rode quite fast.

She arrived even earlier than Ning Weidong had anticipated.

By the time Ning Weidong arrived, she had actually been waiting for over half an hour.

However, upon seeing Ning Weidong, An Ning did not show any signs of dissatisfaction.

She knew very well that in front of Ning Weidong, she did not yet have the standing to put on a cold face.

Ning Weidong did not shy away either, saying with a chuckle, "Sorry to keep you waiting."

An Ning replied, "Not at all, I just arrived myself."

The two entered the restaurant; An Ning had already reserved a private room and asked, "It's almost noon, shall we eat and talk?"

Ning Weidong nodded and walked into the shop.

"Oh my, Section Chief Ning, so this lady comrade was waiting for you all this time~" A middle-aged man inside the restaurant saw Ning Weidong and immediately came out from behind the counter to greet him.

Ning Weidong said with a smile, "Old Wang, you're busy~ This is my classmate; she has a small matter to discuss with me."

He casually assigned An Ning the identity of a "classmate," as clarifying the relationship could reduce a lot of gossip, especially regarding relations between men and women.

They ordered four dishes and one soup, then went into the private room.

Ning Weidong said, "The chef here used to work at Taifeng Building; he has quite a knack for stir-frying."

At this moment, An Ning couldn't care less about Taifeng Building; her mind was filled with the grand vision Ning Weidong had painted for her.

However, An Ning was also someone who could keep her cool, and she stubbornly held back, not rushing to speak.

It wasn't until the four dishes and the soup were all served that she spoke in a measured tone.

Ning Weidong picked up his chopsticks, swallowed the braised pork intestines in his mouth, and replied with a question: "When you went back yesterday, what did your cousin say?"

An Ning knew she lacked the initiative in the conversation and could only follow Ning Weidong's lead.

"Of course he isn't willing to give up; he still wants to meet with you."

Ning Weidong gave a light scoff: "Short-sighted. He really thinks smuggling is some incredible path to success."

An Ning hesitated for a moment and asked, "Actually, I've always been a bit confused—why are you so against smuggling? According to him, it has always existed in the south, and it hasn't stopped since the Ming and Qing dynasties..."

Ning Weidong raised an eyebrow and said, "It's not that I'm against smuggling, but that I'm against such small-time operations. To put it bluntly, by cooperating with them, taking risks, and living in fear, how much money can you actually make? Furthermore, for me, or for the Zhao Family, how much significance do you think money has?"

An Ning didn't know how to respond for a moment.

Ning Weidong continued, "Do you know why I want you to set up a factory?"

An Ning subconsciously wanted to nod, but ultimately shook her head slowly.

She had originally thought she understood Ning Weidong's meaning, but his words just now made her uncertain again.

Ning Weidong answered his own question: "The focus of domestic development in the future will definitely be the economy. In the future appointment and removal of officials, economic indicators will inevitably be the top priority."

Hearing this, An Ning began to understand what Ning Weidong meant.

Sure enough, Ning Weidong continued: "What is smuggling? No matter how much you earn, it's money that can't be brought into the light. If you want to convert this kind of money into power, the efficiency is extremely low."

An Ning pursed her lips and remained silent.

Ning Weidong added, "If the Zhao Family had no ambition and didn't want to advance further, just wanting to cash out and play it safe, perhaps they would take an interest in such a business. But that is clearly not the case now. The Zhao Family has far-reaching plans, and my father-in-law is in his prime and wants to climb higher; why would he soil his reputation?"

An Ning had similar thoughts in her heart, just not as clear or thorough as Ning Weidong's.

Ning Weidong continued, "Therefore, we must make money within the scope allowed by the rules; otherwise, it's hard to last long. Do you understand?"

An Ning nodded; she had heard her father say something similar when she was a child.

Ning Weidong added, "You must have patience in doing things; don't always think about making quick money. If you pull a radish too fast, you won't wash off the mud, and if you eat it, you'll get a stomachache."

An Ning said "Mm": "I understand. Then, when I go back to An Zhiyuan's side?"

Ning Weidong smiled: "That's not necessary. Even if the cooperation doesn't work out, business aside, the friendship remains; making friends is never a bad thing."

An Ning was not surprised; she generally knew Ning Weidong's attitude toward An Zhiyuan.

With that settled, she turned to ask what she cared about most: exactly what kind of factory Ning Weidong wanted her to run.

In fact, An Ning had already decided to work with Ning Weidong, which was why she was so focused on this question.

Ning Weidong said, "I plan to start with clothing."

An Ning frowned: "Making clothes?"

Ning Weidong glanced at her: "What, do you look down on making clothes?"

An Ning was silent; although she didn't say anything, she didn't hide her disappointment.

She had originally thought that with the Wang Family and the Zhao Family as his backing, any factory Ning Weidong wanted to set up would be something high-end.

She hadn't expected it to be a clothing factory.

Ning Weidong said, "Food, clothing, housing, and transportation—clothing ranks first. It is the purest rigid demand. If you can capture a certain share of this market, surely that should satisfy your appetite, Miss An?"

An Ning was choked for words.

Ning Weidong said, "In essence, there is no difference between any industry. Since you've made contact with Hong Kong, you should have some understanding of the situation outside. All kinds of concepts, all kinds of technologies—it's dazzling and seems quite eye-catching. But I tell you, the essence of those things is actually that they can't get an admission ticket to rigid industries like food, clothing, housing, and transportation, so they have to hype up various concepts, use marketing tactics, and create new demands. If you gave them the chance to enter a rigid industry, you'd see if they'd be willing."

Ning Weidong used his chopsticks to pick up a half-charred scallion and tossed it into his mouth: "And don't look down on the clothing industry; there are quite a few tricks to it."

Hearing this, An Ning became interested and immediately perked up.

Ning Weidong said, "For clothing, the most basic need is warmth, and then it's about creating differentiation through styles and fabrics. Over the past decade or so, forced by external pressure, we had to prepare for battle. To strengthen cohesion and centripetal force, we desperately tried to eliminate these differences, making people conform to one another and highlighting our commonalities so we could better resist our common enemy. But in the future..."

Ning Weidong took a deep breath: "With the changes in the external environment and our own foundation becoming increasingly stable, the threat from this enemy is decreasing. We no longer need to sacrifice everything for survival, nor do we need to deliberately suppress human differences. Clothing is just the first step. You can see it now; on Sundays, you can already see clothes of various colors and styles on the streets of Beijing."

Ning Weidong leaned back and pulled a cigarette from his pocket: "Once this trend appears, there is no going back; this is just the beginning. We don't even need to design them ourselves; we can just send people to Hong Kong and Japan to photograph their current seasonal clothing styles, come back, and copy them. As for the raw materials..."

Because the "Dacron" production lines from Europe were introduced a few years ago, cloth has not been as scarce in the last two years as it was before.

But it is not freely supplied either; Cloth Coupons are still required.

If it were truly an ordinary small collective factory, it would be almost impossible to obtain a large amount of cloth.

And this is the value of Ning Weidong's existence.

Ning Weidong said: "I will find a way to handle the raw materials; you just need to be responsible for setting up the factory for me, then continuously expand the scale and absorb personnel for employment. The larger the scale, the better!"

An Ning blinked her eyes. Before coming, she also had many ideas, but she hadn't expected this approach from Ning Weidong. Moreover, what Ning Weidong said at the end made her heart tremble even more.

She suddenly realized that Ning Weidong had an ulterior motive here—the larger the scale, the better, and the more people employed, the better. What was he trying to do? However, this thought only flashed through An Ning's mind, and she did not say it out loud.

It was too early to talk about those things now; the urgent priority was to get the factory set up first.

As she thought about it, she felt even more overwhelmed by the myriad of tasks, not knowing where to start.

Ning Weidong, however, had already thought it through and continued: "After I pass my diploma exam next month, I will establish a Labor Protection Factory under the Security Division. Nominally, it will produce work uniforms, but in reality, it will be a clothing factory. When the time comes, you can go directly there."

An Ning nodded, thinking to herself that it was indeed easier to get things done when you have connections.

If it weren't for Ning Weidong, she didn't know how many setbacks she would have encountered if she wanted to start a collective-nature factory...

The two of them ate this meal until past twelve o'clock.

Only then did An Ning suppress her excited mood and leave.

She knew that her opportunity had truly arrived this time. If she had still had doubts about Ning Weidong before, then after this deep conversation, she was completely certain that she wanted to work with Ning Weidong.

Ning Weidong, on the other hand, was full and satisfied, walking toward the Manager at a leisurely pace.

Just as he was about to enter the Factory Office Building, he was called from behind by Zhao Ruyi: "Where did you go just now? I couldn't find you anywhere."

Ning Weidong turned his head and saw Zhao Ruyi coming from the direction of the canteen with a colleague of similar age; the two of them had probably just finished lunch.

Ning Weidong stopped his steps and said with a smile: "I went out for a bit of business just now." After finishing, he greeted the female colleague walking with her: "Hello, Sister Wang~"

Sister Wang smiled and said: "Since you two are talking, I won't be a lightbulb." After saying that, she slipped away.

Having confirmed their relationship with Ning Weidong, Zhao Ruyi was not shy or timid, and asked: "Have you eaten?"

Ning Weidong said: "I finished eating outside. Someone asked me to handle some business; could they really let me go hungry?"

Zhao Ruyi thought that made sense, then turned to ask: "By the way, how is your preparation for that Correspondence Education exam? What date is the exam in June?"

Ning Weidong said confidently: "Don't worry, it's just a secondary specialized school level. Next year I still have to take the college exam~"

Zhao Ruyi curled her lips: "Look at how capable you are. By the way, my sister-in-law is coming back from abroad in a couple of days, and my brother said we should all get together."

"That's great~ We've known each other for so long, and I still haven't met your sister-in-law~" Ning Weidong replied happily. He had learned about this wife of Zhao Lichun's ever since he first met Zhao Ruyi.

Zhao Lichun and Tan Limin were considered a standard political marriage.

Tan Limin was from a family of foreign affairs experts, and her father and brother were very influential.

Counting it up, Zhao Lichun was actually punching above his weight here.

However, Zhao's father had greater potential, which was also the main reason the Tan Family took a fancy to Zhao Lichun.

Ning Weidong said: "You have your brother arrange the time; I'll be there whenever called."

Zhao Ruyi let out an "um," looking very pleased.

Regarding this sister-in-law of hers, Zhao Ruyi had never said anything out loud, but she felt somewhat inferior in her heart.

The Foreign Affairs Department was different from other departments; it possessed a very high technical threshold, and even now, it had family inheritances. The Tan Family was just such a family.

As early as before the liberation, their family held positions in the Foreign Affairs Department.

After the liberation, they still stood firm.

Because of this background, Tan Limin naturally carried an air of scholarly refinement, and every smile and frown was a template of a lady from a prominent family.

Although Zhao Ruyi was carefree and never said anything about it, she was also a little girl at heart, longing to become a princess.

And Tan Limin was exactly the image of what she longed for projected into reality.

Therefore, from the first time she saw Tan Limin, Zhao Ruyi had very complex feelings about this sister-in-law.

When work started in the afternoon, Zhao Ruyi left Ning Weidong's Office.

The two of them had been lovey-dovey all noon, but unfortunately, although the Office was exciting, Zhao Ruyi dared not go too far.

Ning Weidong was feeling great; he brewed a cup of tea and perked himself up, preparing to study.

Yet at this moment, another phone call came.

Ning Weidong frowned, suddenly feeling a bit annoyed. Was this not letting a person study? Helplessly, the phone rang "ding-a-ling," and he could only pick it up and say "Hello."

There was some static on the other end of the phone, and a woman's voice came through: "Hello, excuse me, is this Section Chief Ning Weidong of the Red Star Factory?"

Ning Weidong recalled that this voice sounded a bit familiar, but he couldn't remember who it was, so he said in a deep voice: "I am. May I ask who you are?"

The person on the other end of the phone laughed with a "pfft": "Ning Weidong, you really have become an official; you can't even recognize an old classmate's voice! It's me~ Liu Yun."

Ning Weidong suddenly remembered. Last time he and Zhao Ruyi went to Kaorouji, they happened to run into Liu Yun and her husband.

Liu Yun was a classmate of the original owner, and they had recognized each other at the time and exchanged a few words.

Ning Weidong hadn't taken it to heart, and he hadn't even remembered what Liu Yun's husband was called, only vaguely remembering that he worked at the Housing Management Office.

He didn't expect Liu Yun to have called him here today.

Ning Weidong laughed: "Hey~ look at these ears of mine! Liu Yun~ I was wondering why it sounded familiar~ so it was you all along. But you can't blame me for this; the voice on the phone is too different from your real voice."

After some pleasantries, the two got to the point. Liu Yun said: "By the way, Ning Weidong, when are you free? My husband Yang and I would like to invite you to a meal."

Ning Weidong had guessed early on that she must have had a reason for making this call.

However, it wasn't easy to refuse; otherwise, if Liu Yun went back and spread it in the classmate circle that Ning Weidong didn't recognize old classmates after becoming a Section Chief, it wouldn't sound good regardless.

He said with a smile: "That's great~ We classmates haven't seen each other for many years; we should invite a few more."

The couple Liu Yun had something to do, so they certainly hoped to talk to Ning Weidong alone.

But Ning Weidong hadn't figured out the situation, so he certainly couldn't agree easily. What if it was a trap~ Liu Yun was silent for a few seconds on the other end of the phone and said: "That, there will always be opportunities for a classmate gathering; let's skip it this time. I have something to do and would like to ask for your help."

Ning Weidong laughed: "Hey~ we're all old classmates; if you have something, just say it. With that temper of yours, like a little chili pepper, if I don't help, wouldn't you block our front door?"

The implication, however, was to talk on the phone first to see what the matter was.

If it could be discussed, then they could talk.

If it couldn't be done, then there was no need to meet.

(End of chapter)