Chapter 94: It

Old Hu had been drinking water, but after hearing this, he almost sprayed a mouthful of tea.

He looked at Lu Lu Qiaoge in disbelief. What the heck? Establishing a food factory? With just your one shortbread, you're dreaming of establishing a food factory?

That's truly too daring to think.

He had also been thinking recently about whether to do something in the name of the neighborhood, but after thinking about it, he didn't have any good ideas.

"Lu Qiaoge, this is a bit whimsical. Do you know how many procedures are needed to establish a food factory? Not to mention anything else, just the health department alone is hard to pass."

Then he said: "Not to mention the capital, equipment, and all sorts of messy things. It's two different things from establishing a voluntary service station."

Lu Lu Qiaoge wasn't shaken at all: "There are always more solutions than problems. Whatever other food factories need, we will prepare. As for capital, once it's running, it will make money."

"How can it be as simple as you say?"

In Lu Lu Qiaoge's view, it really wasn't that complicated.

Huang Juan saw something and lowered her voice: "Old Hu, I actually think we can try it. If it doesn't succeed, it doesn't succeed; we won't lose anything. If it really succeeds, there's no one else in this office—can't your Hu Ze and Lu Qiaoling return in a justified way?"

Old Hu's expression changed, and Huang Juan waved her hand: "No need for polite words. Our children can't stay in the countryside forever. Try to run it; no matter what, it was the department store that took the initiative to find us, not us running around looking for doors. This is a rare opportunity. Try it and see if it works."

Old Hu put down his big tea mug and thought about it seriously, then asked Lu Lu Qiaoge: "Have you thought about where to set up the factory?"

Lu Lu Qiaoge took out the prepared proposal and handed it to Old Hu.

Another proposal. This girl never just talks; she always has a plan.

Old Hu and Old Huang exchanged glances. Don't forget the matter they discussed with her just now.

Old Huang nodded secretly. The matter of introducing a partner definitely couldn't be forgotten; she would talk to Lu Qiaoge privately in a moment.

Old Hu looked at the proposal seriously. It wasn't long, only two pages.

Although it was a food factory, it was the smallest type, similar to a workshop.

The address was chosen at the neighborhood office's former pickle factory. This had been dissolved a few years ago, but the factory was still there, just a bit dilapidated.

Lu Lu Qiaoge was least afraid of dilapidation. Those voluntary members were all capable people; this bit of work was nothing to them. 【9

Setting up a factory in the neighborhood is actually quite simple.

Self-financing, collective ownership—to put it bluntly, if you aren't on the official payroll, you're a temporary worker.

Especially since there are still many factories run by neighborhood offices.

Unsurprisingly, Old Hu was very satisfied with Lu Lu Qiaoge's proposal.

She didn't start with something huge and impractical; this was similar to a workshop team. She even selected a room in the pickle factory for a manual labor group, with Su Hui as the lead technician, and in addition to her, there was Zhou Li's husband, Chang An.

Old Hu realized that Lu Lu Qiaoge was indirectly solving the household registration problems for these people.

There were fourteen people in total; besides the five whose registrations were transferred back by themselves, nine others still had rural registrations, including his son, Bai Xiaoze.

Old Hu suddenly asked, "Little Lu, if I don't agree, what do you plan to do?"

Lu Lu Qiaoge blinked her eyes and said straightforwardly, "Director Hu, your reason for disagreeing is nothing more than the fact that your son is here, and you're worried about being accused of favoritism. But this matter must be viewed as a whole. When 516 needs workers, besides our own factory dependents, they are from the military. Why not recruit locally? Isn't it because we prioritize our own people first?"

Old Hu and Huang Juan looked at each other, and both of them laughed.

Old Hu pointed at Lu Lu Qiaoge: "Then tell me, how much stock can the department store take in a day?"

With tens of thousands of people to feed, especially in the military dependent compound where incomes are quite good, the purchasing power is terrifying. It's just that grain is still in short supply; buying pastries requires cake coupons, and buying white sugar requires sugar coupons. According to her understanding, rice can only be widely promoted next year, so there's no need to worry about food not selling or expiring; the worry is whether raw materials can be supplied.

Lu Lu Qiaoge: "As much as we can supply, they will take."

Old Hu:...

That was just a load of nonsense.

Everyone knows that buying grain now requires an approval slip. They would like to make more, but the flour has to be available.

Lu Lu Qiaoge: "Director Hu, if you agree, please hurry and get the approval. As long as the factory is established, I can guarantee that not only will the workers' monthly wages be unaffected, but by the end of the year, we can also hand over a considerable profit to the neighborhood office."

Factories run by neighborhood offices do not receive financial appropriations.

As long as the higher-ups don't provide money, and as long as it's normal operation, approval is very simple.

As long as Old Hu makes the final decision, there's basically no problem.

Lu Lu Qiaoge still had to continue her own work; besides mediation, she also had to help others with odd jobs.

Everyone liked having Lu Lu Qiaoge help with things.

Especially Sister Hua, who loved Lu Lu Qiaoge's fountain pen calligraphy the most.

She called out to Lu Lu Qiaoge: "Lu Qiaoge, come help me re-register the personnel who got married and divorced in the first half of this year."

Sister Lu Qiao over there picked up the notebook and said: "First, Lu Qiaoge has to go to a few residents' committees with me. It's almost the end of the month, and we need to accept and settle the money for the paper boxes."

The paper boxes include not only matchboxes but also pastry gift boxes.

Sister Hua naturally couldn't compete with Sister Lu Qiao for a person, so Lu Lu Qiaoge smiled and said: "Sister Hua, I'll help you with it when I get back this afternoon."

Sister Hua also smiled and agreed.

Just as Sister Lu Qiao was about to head out with Lu Lu Qiaoge, they ran into the gloomy-faced Wei family.

Old Man Wei, Mother Liu, and Wei Qiang.

This time, Old Man Wei's eldest son, Wei Rui, was also there.

Wei Qiang walked in front, with Old Man Wei's family of three following behind.

Although Sister Lu Qiao really wanted to see what they were there for, she had official business to attend to. Unexpectedly, when Mother Liu saw Lu Lu Qiaoge, she glared at her viciously and said: "It's all your fault for having a loose tongue; otherwise, could my family have ended up like this?"

Before Lu Lu Qiaoge could speak, Sister Lu Qiao became displeased: "Comrade Old Liu, you still haven't realized where you went wrong. If you had the heart of a kind mother and treated Wei Qiang well, treating him like your own son—even better than your own—even if Wei Qiang knew his background, he would still recognize you as his real mother. How can you have the nerve to blame others? Your ideology definitely has a big problem. I suggest holding a large meeting so the comrades can properly educate you!"

Mother Liu: "..."

I only said one sentence, and you said so much. Just because you're a cadre, you bully people like this.

But she didn't dare to retort; she knew she was in the wrong, but she just couldn't stand the sight of Lu Lu Qiaoge and wanted to vent her anger.

Lu Lu Qiaoge squeezed Sister Lu Qiao's hand, expressing her gratitude for her protection.

To tell the truth, she had been here for less than a month, and while she was quite capable of standing out, most of the cadres were very protective and helpful toward her.

There were those who couldn't stand the sight of her, too—she wasn't money, so it was impossible for everyone to like her. For example, the cashier and bookkeeper in the finance office were lukewarm toward her.

But they could still maintain appearances.

Lu Lu Qiaoge didn't care about these things, but facing Sister Lu Qiao's protection, she still felt warm inside.

Not to mention that Sister Lu Qiao lowered her voice at this moment: "Let's not go to the residents' committee first; let's stay and watch the show."