Chapter 35: Out of Control

The scene that happened at Aimin Store was being staged in various places throughout the province. Whether it was individual store owners or sales clerks in state-run stores, everyone was dumbfounded. What kind of liquor was Jiangzhou Jiangzhou Yugong? How come so many people were asking to buy it, yet they had never heard of it before?

Individual store owners called their superior wholesalers to inquire, while sales clerks in state-run stores felt that something was unusual and didn't dare to hide it, immediately reporting it to their leaders.

As for those individual store owners who were lucky enough to be favored, looking at the only bottle of Jiangzhou Jiangzhou Yugong, their inner unwillingness made them pick up the phone. Those with connections and people contacted Jiangzhou Winery one after another, while those without connections directly boarded buses and trains to Jiangzhou.

And in Jiangzhou, with the delivery of several thousand calendars, Jiangzhou Jiangzhou Yugong Liquor officially entered people's line of sight.

In the winery's Supply and Marketing Section, around three o'clock in the afternoon on the 7th, the sales phone, which had been silent for more than two years, suddenly rang, and it didn't stop until they got off work.

Yan Guohai, the Section Chief of the Supply and Marketing Section, put on his coat, ran to the third floor, and arrived in front of Zhang Deyou's office door. Just as he raised his hand to knock, he heard Zhang Deyou's voice coming from inside.

"Director Qian, why would I lie to you about this kind of thing? It really is just big sorghum liquor, they just put on some nice packaging. It's something Gu Bing created through fraud to achieve ulterior motives. His behavior of damaging the winery's reputation for personal gain, disregarding the interests of all factory employees, and deceiving consumers is very shameful."

"Because he is the Party Committee Secretary, Factory Director Gao and I strongly opposed it but couldn't stop him. If he continues to act arbitrarily and engage in fraud, problems will arise sooner or later. If you insist on this so-called tribute liquor, it doesn't matter, I can give it to you at the price of big sorghum liquor, but if problems arise, you can't blame me."

"Oh my, what's our relationship? How could I let you jump into a pit? Besides, I couldn't stop him, but I absolutely cannot let a single bottle of this liquor be sold through my hands, otherwise, my conscience wouldn't allow it."

"Alright, alright, alright. When I have time, I'll treat you to a drink, and we'll drink big sorghum liquor."

Yan Guohai heard the phone hang up inside. This time he raised his hand to knock, and immediately heard Zhang Deyou shout from inside: "Come in!"

Yan Guohai pushed the door open and saw Zhang Deyou's face was gloomy and very ugly. He immediately lightened his footsteps. Zhang Deyou didn't have a good temper, so it was better to be careful at this time, otherwise, it would be too unjust to get a scolding.

"Factory Director, starting from after three o'clock, there have been constant calls to the Supply and Marketing Section, all inquiring about and preparing to purchase Jiangzhou Yugong Liquor."

Zhang Deyou's fingers kept tapping on the desktop. It was a long while before he asked: "What did you say?"

Yan Guohai said cautiously: "People are many and mouths are messy, so I just let the people below reply that they weren't clear and didn't know."

This guy wasn't stupid either. Although his prestige in the Supply and Marketing Section was quite high, the Supply and Marketing Section didn't have special treatment, and wages were only half paid.

Moreover, people's hearts were unpredictable. If he were to sabotage like Zhang Deyou and it was spread by someone with ulterior motives, he would definitely be torn to shreds by all the factory employees. The ones who were leaders were eating meat and drinking soup with their whole families, while they were still starving and freezing at home.

Before, when the liquor couldn't be sold, they didn't say anything. Now that people were coming to their door asking for liquor, and they were still sabotaging and not selling it, what did they want? Believe it or not, they would take their whole families to eat at their homes?

*Ring, ring... *

The phone on the desk rang again. Zhang Deyou waved his hand: "You go back first. If customers call tomorrow, just answer like that."

"Alright!" Yan Guohai turned and left.

Zhang Deyou looked at the phone, took a deep breath, and reached out to pick it up.

At this time, Gao Qingkui was also answering the phone, his expression very helpless: "Old Wu, if you want to drink, I'll have someone send you two cases tomorrow, but I have to tell you, that really is big sorghum liquor, not some... Yes, yes, young people, if they have ideas, we should support them, but engaging in fraud like this makes me very heartbroken. But things have reached this point, I can only do my best to prevent this liquor from entering the market. Even if all our factory employees starve to death, we cannot deceive the common people."

*Clap! * Gao Qingkui hung up the phone, then picked up his enamel teacup and stood up. Facing the window, looking at the scenery covered by white snow, he slowly took a sip of tea, and a solemn expression appeared on his face.

He had never believed that the so-called tribute liquor created by Gu Bing and Zhou Andong through fraud could be sold, so he hadn't paid special attention to it. He only knew they were printing calendars to advertise, but didn't know the detailed marketing plan.

In the past hour or so, he had received seven or eight calls. Besides wholesalers, there were also two leaders from the city, all asking about Jiangzhou Jiangzhou Yugong Liquor, which suddenly made him realize that things had slipped out of his control.

"What exactly happened? What did they do? How did this liquor suddenly become known to everyone?"

*Tap, tap, tap! * The office door was knocked. Before Gao Qingkui could speak, the door was pushed open, and Zhang Deyou walked in quickly.

"Old Factory Director!" Zhang Deyou said in a hurried tone: "You must have received quite a few calls too."

Gao Qingkui turned back: "Have you paid attention to their actions these past few days?"

Zhang Deyou shook his head: "No, I suspect it's the calendar advertisement they made that's working. Otherwise, how could there be a large number of customers going to buy Jiangzhou Jiangzhou Yugong Liquor?"

"Impossible!" Gao Qingkui said these three words decisively. "Even if it has an effect, the influence couldn't be this big, big enough that Old Gu from the Provincial Supply and Marketing Cooperative even called me."

Zhang Deyou's head was buzzing. How did things become like this overnight? It made him unable to understand and unable to figure it out.

Gao Qingkui said in a deep voice: "You have people ask the employees, you should be able to ask something. We must know what they have done, otherwise, it's too passive. I really don't like this feeling."

Zhang Deyou nodded: "I'll go right now!"

At this time, Zhou Andong, Jiang Yuyue, Gu Bing, Yao Jun, and Wu Xianping were drinking, and didn't disperse until after seven o'clock.

"Do you need me to take you?" Gu Bing opened the door of his 212.

Zhou Andong lowered his head to light a cigarette, shook his head, and said: "No need, your broken car is a pain in the ass to sit in."

Gu Bing got in the car: "Then bye-bye."

Yao Jun said: "It's really strange. The cars assigned to Zhang Deyou and Gao Qingkui are both Santanas. Why does Secretary Gu drive this 212?"

Zhou Andong said: "For him, driving a 212 is more suitable."

Yao Jun didn't understand why it was suitable for Gu Bing to drive a 212, but he didn't ask.

"I'm off too!" Jiang Yuyue rubbed her hands, then looked up at the sky. Snowflakes were still drifting. Although not big, it had been drifting for a day, and the snow on the ground was already a thick layer.

Zhou Andong looked at Jiang Yuyue's flushed pretty face: "I'll take you back."

"Don't!" Jiang Yuyue said: "If you take me, and Mom sees it, she'll definitely take a knife and slice you into pieces."

Zhou Andong rubbed his nose. That day when he ran into Zhao Jianlong, he knew it would bring trouble to Jiang Yuyue, but he believed Jiang Yuyue could solve it, so he didn't ask.

"Then take a taxi." Zhou Andong hailed a yellow minibus.

Jiang Yuyue got in the car: "You drank so much, you should go home early too."

Zhou Andong waved his hand: "Got it."

Watching the yellow minibus leave, Yao Jun chuckled: "Brother Dong, I feel like Yuyue has feelings for you..."

*Clap! * Zhou Andong slapped Yao Jun on the head. "Don't talk nonsense, damn it."

"Brother Zhou!" Wu Xianping took out a stack of money from his pocket. "This is yours. I hope we have opportunities to cooperate in the future."

Zhou Andong didn't stand on ceremony, took the money, and shook hands with Wu Xianping again: "There will definitely be opportunities to cooperate." ===== CHAPTER 36 =====