Chapter 458: Resolving the Welfare Issue

Listening to the accountant's nonsensical words, Chief Li wiped his face.

"What am I recalling? I remember having a meal with Sergeant Lu and the others, then… did I get drunk? Ah, this baijiu really packs a punch…"

Damn, that's a blackout from drinking!

The accountant couldn't help but slap his thigh: "I told you, this kid's got a stomach full of bad ideas."

Chief Li narrowed his eyes: "Hey, how can you speak like that about your Revolutionary Comrade? That's rude!"

The accountant was extremely helpless; even now he's still defending that kid, which is like being sold and still counting the money for someone else.

"Oh my, Chief Li, that kid's being a devil. If I hadn't stopped him today, you would have sold the forest farm."

Chief Li showed a bewildered expression: "What are you joking about? Why would I sell the forest farm? If the farm's gone, where would we work?"

The accountant sighed and recounted in detail how Chief Li had agreed to provide the funds at the drinking table.

Upon hearing that, Chief Li instantly rose from the bed.

"What the heck, I promised him the money? Why didn't you stop me!"

The accountant looked aggrieved: "How could I not stop you? Yet you brought up your great‑uncle, grand‑uncle, younger brother, and cousin‑in‑law, then said you'd strip me of my post, and if the supply transport was delayed, you'd make me responsible!"

"I'm just an accountant; how could I bear that responsibility…"

Chief Li thumped his head: "Drinking leads to mistakes, drinking leads to mistakes… If we put out this sum, how much money is left in the account?"

The accountant, of course, knew the account details.

"It's almost year‑end; workers' wages are fine, but after cutting wages, if we allocate this sum, the account would have less than a single yuan left, meaning we wouldn't have money for year‑end benefits."

At least the wages can be paid; as for year‑end benefits? Chief Li inhaled, saying a slightly resentful line.

"It's fine; I'm the chief, I'll make sure our farm's benefits are issued, otherwise how could I live up to the workers?"

The accountant sprang up from his chair: "So you mean… we're not putting out this sum?"

Chief Li shook his head, saying resolutely: "We won't. They use the Iron Rail; why should we pay? Yes, we'll need it later, but we can make do."

Even so, the accountant was still uneasy: "But you already promised; once it's said out, can we take it back?"

Chief Li waved his hand: "He shamelessly got me drunk on purpose, so I'll return the shamelessness."

The accountant, helpless, tentatively asked: "And that… great‑uncle, grand‑uncle, younger brother, cousin‑in‑law of yours?"

"What nonsense, I know exactly who he is!"

Chief Li, while dressing, said: "Come on, let's go to the dormitory and find him now."

When Chief Li headed to the dormitory, Lu Cheng was about to rest. The forest farm was surrounded by mountains and woods, very quiet, with little entertainment, so he went to bed early, needing to rush back early tomorrow morning.

"No kidding, coming straight from the Capital City to sleep here feels really unfamiliar."

Lu Cheng took off his pants and muttered to the others: this dormitory is wooden, fairly large, housing six people.

Security guard Liu Baoquan took over: "I don't really feel anything; I'm always by the Boiler, so I'm used to high temperatures. But coming here in summer would be unbearable; there'll be tons of insects and ants…"

The few were chatting idly when the wooden door was suddenly knocked.

Ma Dagang, who was near the bed by the door, opened it; seeing Chief Li and the forest farm accountant, his heart skipped a beat.

Coming over at this moment, he thought, it can't be about the funding—maybe they're backing out.

The key point had already been agreed; there's no reason to renege, unless the old boss doesn't want it.

Seeing Chief Li enter with a somewhat serious expression, Ma Dagang hurriedly signaled to Lu Cheng on the bed.

Lu Cheng also sensed something amiss, quickly got out of bed, shook hands and greeted.

"Chief Li, you're sober now; I'm also unable to sleep at the moment, so let's just chat some more."

Chief Li, frightened, waved his hand quickly, thinking if they kept drinking, Lu Cheng could swindle the whole forest farm.

"No more drinking, no more; I'm here because…"

"I know." Lu Cheng cut him off before he could finish.

"You must be here about the Iron Rail repair. Speaking of that, I'm truly grateful; I speak on behalf of all staff at Beijing Station, on behalf of our Railway Bureau, on behalf of hundreds of millions of citizens, and also on behalf of the Frontline soldiers…"

Lu Cheng gripped Chief Li's hand tightly: "Thank you for your contribution, Chief Li! Thank you, truly thank you!"

Chief Li's already tense face became even tighter at that moment.

Good fellow, he didn't say a single word, yet he was directly hauled into this.

It seemed that if he again raised the issue of not providing repair funds, it would be as if he were betraying hundreds of millions of citizens and the Frontline soldiers…

He's actually sober now, yet in front of this young Comrade he remains so passive.

No, we must seize the initiative.

"Sergeant Lu, listen to me first; our forest farm, it…"

"I understand, your forest farm still has work to do. No problem; as long as you purchase the Iron Rail repair parts tomorrow, we'll send people here to do the repairs."

Lu Cheng said, pointing at Ma Dagang: "These are the Railway Troops, all professionals, guaranteeing a flawless repair; even if it takes ten years there's no problem, your money will definitely not be wasted…"

"Sergeant Lu, that's not what I'm talking about…"

"The forest farm has difficulties?"

Chief Li hesitated briefly, unable to keep up with the youngster's rapid speech.

Drinking leads to mistakes, drinking leads to mistakes! It must be because he drank too much at noon, his reactions are sluggish.

"Yes, there are some difficulties, our forest farm…"

Lu Cheng patted Chief Li's shoulder: "If you have difficulties, just say so. Your forest farm's difficulties are our Railway Bureau's difficulties. Whatever the problem, tell us, and we'll solve it together."

Seeing Lu Cheng's enthusiasm, Chief Li hesitated, at a loss for how to bring it up.

Having no choice, he could only first mention the lack of funds for benefits, hoping the other side would understand their forest farm.

It turned out they simply had no money for benefits, which isn't really the other party's fault for not wanting to spend it.

"Chief Li, what exactly am I dealing with? This is easy to solve—what kind of benefits do you usually give?"

Chief Li glanced at the accountant, thinking that without bringing up the repair funds, how could he ask what benefits they issue?

The accountant could only say from the side, "There's not much, mainly just household oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and the like, so this funding…".

Lu Cheng nodded and said, "Alright, the money for repairing the Iron Rail you should still provide as usual; as for the workers' welfare, I'll take care of it."

Foreman Li was stunned and said, "On you? If you spend money to buy welfare items, why use our money again? There's no difference then."

Of course there's a difference; if the forest farm provides the funds, repairs on the Iron Rail can start tomorrow and won't delay the next use.

If the Railway Bureau provides the funds, we have to return to Capital City, submit the paperwork again, and who knows when the money will actually arrive.

Transporting military supplies is also an urgent mission; we can't afford any delay.

As for promising to get supplies for the forest farm, we could just postpone it and not spend any money.

The Beijing Station warehouse already has confiscated goods from cracking down on illegal buying and selling, which can be given to the workers as welfare.