Chapter 119: Achieving Cooperation

It turns out that the community‑run enterprise in Ding Weimin's village, although it produces a variety of goods, is merely a small‑scale operation and has no competitiveness against those state‑owned factories.

The big team leader in charge of the community enterprise is Li Minghao's older brother, pleading to grandfather and grandmother, yet the goods just won't sell.

But the community enterprise has already been opened; the area is already mountainous with little arable land and insufficient food, so all the members, in order to find a way out, pooled money to set up this small processing plant.

If we quit halfway, not only would the money be wasted, but we would still have no means to get food later.

In the absence of alternatives, Li Minghao decided to take a risk, mobilizing several members to take trains and travel across the country to resell the goods.

He has been caught many times, each time the cargo was seized; Li Minghao's older brother wanted to give up, but Li Minghao has a tenacity that refuses to quit.

In order to have something to eat, they even, out of necessity, thought of pulling a Train Police officer into the scheme.

After hearing Ding Weimin's explanation, Lu Cheng's mind once again conjured up the image of Li Minghao.

"Then, since that's the case, the approval document should be fine, right?"

Ding Weimin slapped his thigh again: "It's absolutely no problem; we are already legitimate, and you are just helping us find a sales channel."

Lu Cheng told him not to get so worked up: "I already told you, it's just a small tea stall, even if you want it, it's not much."

Ding Weimin immediately waved his hand: "No worries, it doesn't matter at all; even a fly's leg is meat. At least our village's goods can be sold to the Capital City, which is like gaining a good reputation, and that's crucial for our newly started community enterprise."

Ding Weimin couldn't contain his excitement; even though his lower body was fully immersed in water, he didn't mind the heat.

"Comrade Lu, thank you so much; you are a huge help. We've been worried about how to sell our goods, and if other units were willing to buy, we wouldn't want to engage in such speculative profiteering…"

Lu Cheng stood up from the pool: "Alright, you don't need to thank me. Your partnership with the tea stall is legitimate, but there's one rule you must remember: the quality must be guaranteed."

As Lu Cheng walked toward the back‑scrubbing bed, Ding Weimin and the other person followed from the pool.

"Rest assured, if you're worried about quality, we can hold the stock in the early stage; if it doesn't sell or is hard to sell, you have that friend return it to us, and I guarantee we won't take a single cent, not a single 'no'."

"Are you that confident about your goods?" Lu Cheng leaned onto the small bed, his gaze signaling the other two scrub masters.

"Absolutely confident… hey hey, why are you pushing me?" Ding Yuanmin was saying when a scrub master forced him onto the small bed.

"Scrub! Lie down properly."

"Oh… " Both of them mimicked Lu Cheng, obediently lying on the bed.

Ding Yuanmin tilted his head: "Comrade Lu, we do have this confidence, we will definitely guarantee quality… ah, it hurts, master, be gentle!"

The master, holding a scrub towel and with a cigarette in his mouth, glared: "What do you mean gentle? If I'm not vigorous, I won't even get any ash. Look at you, how many years since you last bathed? One rub and you turn into a mud stick."

Ding Yuanmin, seeing that, replied: "I wash every day, it really hurts, feels like my skin is rotting, be gentle, master."

"Got it, relax, I guarantee you'll walk out today feeling light and easy."

Though the scrub master said that, the force in his hands wasn't light at all; the scrubbing made Ding Yuanmin gasp cold air.

After scrubbing for a while, on another bed, the scrub master scooped a basin of water and splashed it, then patted Ding Shitou's butt.

Seeing that Ding Shitou lay there for a long time without reacting, the scrub master readied his towel and gave two more pats.

Ding Shitou finally couldn't hold back and complained: "Master, why do you keep slapping my butt? Only my dad and mom can slap my butt."

The scrub master glared: "Who slapped you? Turn over!"

"Oh."

Having stayed in the bathhouse this long, Ding Shitou had gotten used to it; no one really paid attention to him, everyone was chatting separately.

But with the scrub master's next move, he instantly couldn't help shouting again.

"Hey hey master, don't lift that part up, there's no need to scrub there… hiss, ow ow! It's numb, numb!"

After finishing the scrub and leaving the bathhouse, the two Ding Yuanmins felt completely relaxed, extremely relaxed.

They decided that a week later they'd bring the goods back, and then go for another soak.

……

Lu Cheng returned to Da Za Yuan; it was already dark, and as he was about to tell his sister the good news, he nearly ran into Wu Guiwen.

"Teacher Wu, please watch out! What happened to make you so happy?"

"It's Lu San'er who came back!"

Wu Guiwen held up the TV Ticket, excitedly saying: "TV Ticket, I've got it. I heard a batch of televisions will arrive at the department store tomorrow; tomorrow night, come to my house to watch TV."

Needn't say, it must be that Chen Xianglan agreed to sell.

"Mom, you sold the TV Ticket," Lu Cheng shouted as he entered the house.

Chen Xianglan brought over a bowl and chopsticks: "Ah, sold it, so you two grandparents won't keep worrying about it. If you want to watch, Teacher Wu has already promised me, just go straight to his house to watch."

Lu Cheng grabbed a mantou and took a bite: "Then how much did you sell it for?"

Chen Xianglan sat down, very happy, and said: "At first I deliberately asked him for a bit more, knowing he'd try to haggle down. I lowered a bit, he raised a bit, lowered a bit, raised a bit…"

"…We went back and forth for over ten rounds, and finally settled at thirty‑five yuan, plus two cans of preserved food, and the right to watch TV at his house for life."

One TV Ticket exchanged for a month's salary; it's clear Chen Xianglan was very satisfied.

Lu Cheng gave his mother a thumbs‑up: "I said my second sister Er Jie has a business mind, and it seems she inherited it from you."

Chen Xianglan proudly lifted her chin: "We can't take a loss; this TV Ticket was already precious, and I still felt it was a loss! By the way, San'er, how did I hear Qing Yan say she's going abroad?"

Lu Cheng, while picking up vegetables, said: "Ah, it's something work‑related; I need to ask her for a favor."

"Oh my heavens, a favor that far away!" Chen Xianglan pulled money from her pocket: "Then give Qing Yan some money so she can be comfortable on the road."

"No need, Mom. This is an official mission; our department will fully cover her food, clothing, housing, and travel. She even has to fly there. Have you ever taken a plane in your life?"

Chen Xianglan shook her head: "I wouldn't dare to board that thing. The higher it goes, even Mom gets scared, let alone the plane. Flying that high is terrifying; if it fell… phew phew, look at my foul mouth, wishing safety, safety, a safe journey…"

Lu Cheng laughed out loud; under the light, he ate his mother's cooking while chatting with her about neighborhood trivialities, the years passing peacefully.

The next day, Wu Guiwen got up early, preparing to line up at the department store to buy a television.

"Teacher Wu, may you achieve success swiftly; we're still waiting to watch your TV tonight."

Lu Cheng pushed out his bicycle, preparing to take Lin Qingyan to the Train Police Unit.

Wu Guiwen replied: "Sure it'll succeed; today I'll snatch a unit and bring it back."

Lu Cheng ignored him; Lei Zhan Ge was still waiting to set off, and before departure he recalled all the team members on leave, then arranged the work.

When they arrived at the Traffic Police Unit, the Sixth Group members had already gathered, Niu Da Kui sniffed: "Master's Wife, Master's Wife is beautiful."

Including members of other groups, they also all swish— turned their gazes onto Lin Qingyan.