Chapter 98: Distillery Merger Plan

Seeing Jian Qiu hung up the phone, grabbed Zhou Andong, and walked out: "The new liquor has been successfully developed."

Zhou Andong looked down at his hand being held by Seeing Jian Qiu and muttered: "Taking advantage of me again."

Down to the second floor, someone suddenly came from the opposite direction, and Seeing Jian Qiu let go of his hand without a trace.

"Hello, Director Jian!" The person coming from the opposite direction was a girl, who seemed to have been assigned here just after the new year.

Seeing Jian Qiu nodded slightly: "Hello!" The two sides passed each other.

The girl looked back, her face showing confusion. They seemed to be holding hands just now; could it be that my eyes were playing tricks on me?

The technical department was next to the distillation workshop, a bit far from the factory headquarters, in the northwest corner, right next to the distillery's grain warehouse, requiring a detour of more than half a circle. It was a two-story red brick building; the second floor was the office area, and the first floor was the laboratory, which had a back door that could directly enter the distillation workshop.

Zhou Andong and Seeing Jian Qiu entered the technical department laboratory. There were many people inside, each holding a small liquor cup, tasting the liquor.

"Director Jian and Zhou Andong are here." A technician looked up and saw the two people who had entered.

Gu Bing asked Zhou Andong: "Where did you go? I've been looking for you for a long time."

Zhou Andong said: "I went out to take care of some business."

Gu Bing pointed to the three cups of liquor on the table: "You taste them first to see which one tastes better."

Zhou Andong nodded, picked up the first cup, took a small sip; it was refreshing and light upon entering the mouth, then he swirled his tongue in his mouth and swallowed the liquor. The finish was sweet and crisp, but the aftertaste was short, lacking the lasting flavor of the big sorghum liquor.

"How is it?" Gu Bing asked Zhou Andong.

An old man with a full head of white hair next to him was also watching Zhou Andong, his expression looking somewhat nervous.

Zhou Andong didn't answer Gu Bing, but instead said: "Get me a glass of water."

As soon as his voice fell, a technician handed him a bottle of water, clearly well-prepared.

Zhou Andong took the water and rinsed his mouth, then picked up the second cup of liquor; it had a burning sensation upon entering the mouth, and the finish was hot and fierce, with a slight bitterness that wasn't prominent.

Then Zhou Andong rinsed his mouth again and picked up the third cup of liquor. The moment the liquor entered his mouth, his eyes lit up. This cup of liquor was smooth and sweet upon entering the mouth, without any strong irritation, and the finish was soft and mellow, with a pleasant and lasting aftertaste.

"Good!" Zhou Andong held the third cup of liquor: "This liquor is good to drink; it can be launched as our distillery's high-end brand, the Blue and White Porcelain series."

Then, Zhou Andong picked up the first cup of liquor again: "This taste is light and sweet, with a short aftertaste, suitable for young people to drink; it can be launched as the youth series in small bottles. As for this second cup of liquor, the liquor is too fierce, not suitable for nationwide promotion. However, it can be kept, waiting for the right time to launch it in our Northeast."

"Clap, clap, clap..."

The technical department erupted in warm applause. Zhou Andong looked at the old man with a full head of white hair and said: "Old Man, you've worked hard."

Man Hongshan was an old technician at the distillery, already over sixty. He had been an apprentice to an old liquor master at the distillery since he was twelve, back when it was before liberation.

Although his educational level wasn't high, he had his own set of theories on traditional brewing techniques and had summarized unique skills like "Big Clear Flower," "Small Clear Flower," and "Fish Eye Flower," which were both vivid and traditional, and he could use modern analytical methods to parse traditional brewing techniques.

This old man was a treasure of the distillery, but because his personality was too straight, he couldn't stand the shady dealings of the technical department head, Hou Guizhong, and went everywhere to report him, eventually being fired under a trumped-up charge.

This time, it was Zhou Andong who asked Gu Bing to come forward and invite Man Hongshan back. As for whether Hou Guizhong was happy or not, that was none of Zhou Andong's business; if he wasn't happy, he could go die.

It could be said that Zhou Andong wasn't satisfied with many of the distillery's leaders, from top to bottom. He went to such great lengths to do all this, actually, for Gu Bing. After using him, he couldn't just walk away, could he? He had to build a ladder for him to climb up.

Man Hongshan's eyes turned red. He gripped Zhou Andong's hand tightly, so excited he couldn't say a word. Having worked at the distillery his whole life, only to be fired in the end with no benefits, the past few years hadn't been easy. Fortunately, his children were filial; although life was difficult, they never lacked food or clothing for the old couple.

Zhou Andong said: "Old Man, you are a treasure of our distillery. From now on, just stay at the distillery with peace of mind. As long as Gu Shuji is here, no one can drive you away."

Then, Zhou Andong scanned the room: "Everyone has worked hard during this period. I'll make the decision for Gu Shuji: those who participated in the research and development of the new liquor will have their wages doubled and bonuses tripled this month."

"Clap, clap, clap..."

The applause erupted warmly once again, much warmer than before. Having been at the distillery for so many years, regardless of how much work they did, this was the first time they had enjoyed the treatment of doubled wages and tripled bonuses.

Gu Bing rolled his eyes at Zhou Andong; such a good way to win people's hearts, why did you have to make the decision for me?

Zhou Andong, Seeing Jian Qiu, and Gu Bing left the technical department and walked toward the factory headquarters.

"When will the new liquor be launched?" Gu Bing asked.

Zhou Andong said: "Our factory's production capacity is insufficient now. If you launch new liquor, are you afraid you aren't dying fast enough?"

Gu Bing blinked: "Isn't this what you said, that we should launch new liquor as soon as possible?"

Zhou Andong said: "It is what I said, but there is a prerequisite: we must first merge the Jinli County Distillery."

"What?" Gu Bing looked shocked: "You want to merge the Jinli County Distillery? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Didn't I just tell you?" Zhou Andong took a cigarette out of his pocket, threw one to Gu Bing, and lit one for himself. "The Jinli County Distillery has also been in a state of loss for the past few years. You go to the city tomorrow and propose the merger and reorganization of the Jinli County Distillery; the city will definitely agree."

Gu Bing nodded: "Okay, I'll go to the city tomorrow."

Zhou Andong pondered for a moment: "The annual production of the Jinli County Distillery is only 700 tons. Once the distillery enters the fast lane of development, production will definitely still not keep up. Our Jiangzhou has more than ten large and small distilleries in the subordinate counties and towns. Counting our distillery, the total annual production exceeds 60 million tons. You go to the city tomorrow and first sound out the leaders. Within two years, we will merge and reorganize all these distilleries so they have an idea."

"Okay!" Gu Bing agreed.

In the evening, Seeing Jian Qiu treated Zhou Andong and Gu Bing to hot pot. After the meal, Gu Bing left alone. Zhou Andong had to return to Tanghezi, so he happened to take a taxi to drop Seeing Jian Qiu home first.

Seeing Jian Qiu went upstairs, picked up a mop, and entered the kitchen. Then, without hesitation, she poked it at the light bulb. With a bang, the light bulb shattered. This woman looked at the shattered light bulb and smiled triumphantly.

An Jing suddenly came out of the room, looked at Seeing Jian Qiu who was still smiling, and asked somewhat confusedly: "Why did you smash the light bulb?"

Seeing Jian Qiu turned and left the kitchen, giving An Jing a roll of her eyes: "None of your business." ===== CHAPTER 99 =====