Chapter 897: Li Xiangqian under pressure: He can do it, can you?

The last stop of Li Long's inspection was the company where Wang Mingjun and the others were.

The sixth day passed, and Li Long felt that the large brooms here should be enough to fill a truck. So when he drove the jeep over, he brought a large truck from the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, preparing to send the large brooms directly to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.

Although Li Long was still half-believing and half-doubting about the boast Wang Mingjun made, he held the attitude of trying it out; even if Wang Mingjun had only bound one thousand large brooms here, he would accept it, and one truck might not even finish loading them.

When the jeep and the truck drove into the company's courtyard, Li Long saw the large brooms piled up like a small hill, and almost dropped his jaw!

Was this speed too fast?

Based on his inspection in each village in these two days, this pile of large brooms, even if there weren't five thousand, there must be three thousand!

It really was like a small hill!

Wang Mingjun and Zheng Xiang Yang were both not at the company headquarters. The company clerk knew Li Long, and after greeting him, hurried to call people.

Before long, Wang Mingjun and Zheng Xiang Yang, who were inspecting the homes of the company's staff, hurried back.

Looking at Li Long's shocked expression, Wang Mingjun's vanity was greatly satisfied, and he said with a smile:

"Xiao Long, how is it? Is the quantity enough? This truck of yours can't load it all!"

"Definitely can't load it all, your speed is too fast! It really exceeded my expectations! How many are there?"

"Three thousand seven hundred!" Zheng Xiang Yang also said happily, "How is it, is it enough?"

It was really enough.

Li Long stepped forward and picked up a large broom to inspect it.

It had to be said that at this time, the organization and quality standards for production items of the Corps staff were higher than those of the local area.

The pole of this large broom was made of red willow wood, the outer bark was scraped clean, and the whole thing was like it had been turned by a machine, refined, and felt neither rough nor slippery in the hand.

Any place with a knot had been polished, very clean.

The handle was very straight. Li Long's hands were large, and this handle felt slightly loose in his hand, but it was just right for ordinary people, very comfortable.

Binding the large broom used thick iron wire, and the wire needed to be tightened at the end. That head was knocked into the broom head of the large broom, and the outside wasn't exposed, so it wouldn't hurt people.

The Jiji grass was bound with a circle of red willow branches on the outside, the thickness was about the same, and the length was also cut very neatly. Every two red willow branches and six strands of Jiji grass were wrapped twice with thin hemp rope, which was equivalent to reinforcement, so the Jiji grass wouldn't break because it was too brittle when sweeping the floor.

The Jiji tassels at the top were all chopped off, very neatly. On the Fourth Team side, they were basically burned off, and after burning, the tips of the Jiji grass would turn black, but this large broom didn't have that.

Li Long pulled hard on the Jiji grass bound in the middle, very sturdy, couldn't be pulled off.

He also took it to sweep the floor, feeling it was very good.

After putting this large broom down, Li Long randomly pulled out some more large brooms to inspect, and found that the quality was about the same.

Very good.

The overall standard was stronger than that of the Fourth Team and Qingshuihe side.

"Good, really good!" Li Long gave a thumbs up, "Company Commander, Instructor, the quality of this large broom is really good! If it's all like this, then I'm relieved. Your speed is also very fast, exceeding my expectations."

"I just said so," Wang Mingjun said proudly, "You can rest assured and hand it to us; there's no need to find other companies at all. Just those tasks of yours, we can complete them ourselves!"

That was how it was said, but actually, Li Long didn't know that in order to take on all this work, Wang Mingjun and Zheng Xiang Yang had strictly required the staff in these two days, even if they had to work overtime every day, they had to complete the tasks that should be completed.

Not only the quantity, but the quality requirements were also very high, and some of the company's staff already had complaints.

After all, they had just finished harvesting wheat, and hadn't rested for two days yet, so engaging in such high-intensity labor, who could stand it?

Fortunately, Wang Mingjun and Zheng Xiang Yang had already discussed it; after Li Long took the first batch of large brooms away, they would first distribute a sum of money to the staff to make them happy.

At this time, the staff of the Corps company could only distribute money once a year at the end of the year, which was somewhat similar to the production team before the household contract responsibility system. The means of production were uniformly allocated by the regiment farm, and they only needed to work. At the end of the year, the income of each household of staff was the total amount minus the previous investment of the regiment farm, and then distributed to the staff.

Because they were staff, they could get a pension after reaching retirement age, so it was different from the production team.

So distributing a sum of money to the staff at this time would definitely make the staff very happy. After all, in previous years, they could only get cash at the end of the year. It was extremely difficult to want to use money at ordinary times. This was also why Han Da Chun and the others were willing to swallow their anger and wanted to take on that work at that time.

So although they were working overtime every day now, as long as a sum of money was distributed, the staff's complaints would definitely subside.

"Then load it." Li Long said with a smile, "I'll load a truck first and take it away, and then dispatch two more trucks today to load the rest away."

The company had a telephone, and Li Long directly dialed a phone call to Li Xiangqian at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, asking him to dispatch trucks over.

Li Xiangqian was naturally supportive—this major task was the biggest job in the Supply and Marketing Cooperative at present, and he was very happy that Li Long could get so many in such a fast time.

Handing the job of thirty thousand large brooms to Li Long, Li Xiangqian was also under great pressure.

In the past, five thousand or eight thousand large brooms were given just like that. Now it was thirty thousand; the Supply and Marketing Cooperative didn't just have one leader, Li Xiangqian, but also two deputy directors.

Usually, these deputy directors were also amiable to Li Long, but when it really came to conflicts of interest, it was hard to say.

One of the deputy directors was backed by a deputy county magistrate in the county. He was very angry that Li Xiangqian had handed the job of thirty thousand large brooms to Li Long without going through a meeting. Because he had originally promised a relative of his own to take on some work to do.

Li Xiangqian's own toughness came from the support of Director Qian, and the origin of this large broom work.

"If it weren't for Li Long always strictly controlling the quality of the large brooms, even the leaders of the Autonomous Region would know about it; how could we get this job now?" Li Xiangqian's words clearly favored Li Long, "Old Lv, I'm telling you, this job can only be done by Li Long."

"We have also done things handed to others. You have been in the Supply and Marketing Cooperative for a short time and don't know how we did these jobs before. Before Li Long did this job, the large brooms we handed to the prefecture, it wasn't that it didn't happen that the Jiji grass fell off after sweeping for a month!"

"He Li Long can produce high-quality large brooms, why can't others? You didn't hand the work to others, how do you know others can't do it?"

"If it were in previous years, trying it would be trying it. But this year, it won't do!" Li Xiangqian showed the toughness he had when he was the procurement section chief at this time, waved his hand and said, "This batch of large brooms is to be handed to the Autonomous Region side as a storefront to be sent to the mouth. If there is any problem with the quality here, it is the face of the Autonomous Region that is being slapped. Can you and I afford this consequence?"

Deputy Director Lv Dazhong didn't speak.

If his own relative took on this job, he really couldn't guarantee what it would look like.

Although he had only been here for a few months, he really had some understanding of Li Long. In these few years, Li Long had taken on quite a few tasks, and the money earned must be quite a bit, otherwise he wouldn't be able to open that acquisition station.

But the jobs Li Long took on were all done very well, and the quality was guaranteed.

Although there was no special commendation notice issued from above, it was mentioned in the year-end summary every year.

The reason why the Prefecture Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives had handed the bulk of the work to the Ma County side every year for the past two years was precisely because they had gained face here and grasped the quality well.

"But this time it's thirty thousand!" Lv Dazhong turned to another key point, his tone was a bit weaker, but he didn't give up, "Think about it, thirty thousand, can he control the quality of thirty thousand large brooms well? We share the tasks, and this is also sharing the risks. Comrade Li Long is very young, and this burden is too heavy. Aren't you afraid of crushing him?"

"I'm not afraid!" Li Xiangqian had great confidence in Li Long. When assigning tasks, Li Xiangqian had asked Li Long. Li Long was confident he could complete it, and he, Li Xiangqian, believed in this young man.

Lv Dazhong had nothing to say. He glared at Li Xiangqian, wanting to get angry but couldn't.

Lv Dazhong was older than Li Xiangqian, so at this time he could only throw down a sentence: "Then you're not afraid. I'll wait to see his joke!" Then he left.

The other deputy director was transferred from the Prefecture Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives to retire here, basically not interfering with the specific affairs of the cooperative, acting as a nodding man, following the crowd, and wouldn't affect Li Xiangqian's decision.

Li Xiangqian was very tough in front of Lv Dazhong, but after Lv Dazhong left, Li Xiangqian was also a bit uncertain.

Could Li Long complete the task on time and according to the quality requirements?

Receiving Li Long's phone call, saying he wanted to dispatch two more trucks to take the large brooms, Li Xiangqian was extremely happy.

Three trucks, according to this quantity, in this way, the task could be completed.

He immediately let the transport section dispatch trucks to the north to find Li Long, while he himself pushed away some fragmented work, preparing to wait in the Supply and Marketing Cooperative to see the quality of the first batch of large brooms Li Long brought back.

When Li Long finished the phone call, he wasn't idle either. While Wang Mingjun was calling people to load the trucks, he was also constantly inspecting. These large brooms were definitely no problem on the surface, he mainly inspected the tightness of the Jiji grass binding. Fortunately, after one truck was inspected and loaded, Li Long waited here for half an hour, and the other two trucks also arrived.

Only a little over half of the large brooms on the second truck were loaded, and it was time for dinner.

The meal prepared by the company this time was La Tiaozhi, with a large quantity and full satisfaction. People working at noon were very satisfied eating this.

After eating, they continued to work. Li Long inspected very seriously, and Wang Mingjun and Zheng Xiang Yang had no objections.

After the three trucks were loaded, they went to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative first, and Li Long settled the accounts with Wang Mingjun and the others here.

"The five thousand deposit was paid before, let's put that aside and talk about it at the end; let's settle the money once at a time." Since the company side was doing well, Li Long naturally didn't mind appearing more generous, "Three thousand seven hundred and sixty-two qualified ones, a total of thirteen thousand one hundred and sixty-seven yuan. I brought the money, you open a ticket."

After this inspection, a total of thirty-something unqualified ones were found, mostly because the placement was not good, and the Jiji grass on the broom was broken.

Basically, it wasn't a binding problem, which made Li Long very relieved.

"Good, good, good." Wang Mingjun and Zheng Xiang Yang were also very moved by Li Long's generosity, "Xiao Long, I hope we will cooperate like this often in the future."

"Definitely, I hope so too." Li Long said with a smile, "As long as the qualification rate of your large brooms is always this high, then I will definitely choose you first for next year's work."

Wang Mingjun and Zheng Xiang Yang were really overjoyed. If there were such things every year in the future, then whether it was for the company or the staff, there would be an explanation.

When the three trucks of large brooms were pulled back to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, quite a few people came out to watch.

Many people in the cooperative knew about the quarrel between Li Xiangqian and Lv Dazhong. They also knew that the central issue of the quarrel was Li Long binding large brooms.

Among them, there were many watching the fun, but there were also those who were dissatisfied because Li Xiangqian "domineeringly" arranged all thirty thousand large brooms for Li Long.

So quite a few people wanted to see what the large brooms Li Long brought back looked like. Most of these people had worked in the acquisition station for many years, so they still had an eye for it.

Working might not necessarily be good, but picking faults was definitely no problem.

This was also normal; no unit could be without such people. They didn't put in effort when working, but pointed fingers there after others finished the work, acting like big shots.

These people couldn't openly question and oppose Li Xiangqian's decision like Lv Dazhong, but picking faults with the large brooms was no problem.

The three trucks entered the Supply and Marketing Cooperative in turn, followed by Li Long's jeep.

The trucks drove directly to the door of the warehouse in the back, Li Xiangqian followed, followed by those watching the fun.

After Li Long got off the car, he reported to Li Xiangqian:

"Director, these three trucks of large brooms, over three thousand seven hundred, I have all inspected them, the quality is qualified, please Director, take a look!"

"Still take a look, making it all literary, you haven't been to school for many days either." Li Xiangqian had a clue in his heart after a rough glance, and patted Li Long on the shoulder with a smile, "Not bad, in the first few days of scraping poles and harvesting Jiji grass, being able to have this quantity shows you have put your heart into it."

"Well, there are still two or three thousand that haven't been collected, I will send them over in these two days." Li Long said.

Li Xiangqian originally thought that because they had to prepare raw materials in the first few days, the quantity would be a bit less, and the quantity would increase later, but he didn't expect Li Long to say there were still thousands that hadn't been collected.

Then according to this, thirty thousand in a month was definitely no problem.

The pressure on his shoulders suddenly felt much lighter.

"Come, take it down and see." Li Xiangqian looked at so many people surrounding, naturally knowing their thoughts, while loudly instructing Li Long, while whispering:

"Is the quality no problem?"

"Director, rest assured, these three trucks, the quality is definitely higher than last year!"

"Hey!" Li Long said this, and Li Xiangqian had a clue in his heart.

The rope was untied, and the mountain-like large brooms were slowly unloaded—this Jiji grass large broom didn't dare to be dumped down violently like other things; if the Jiji grass was dismantled, this large broom would be useless.

Others surrounded to help, and at the same time looked at these large brooms with questioning eyes.

"Hey, this handle is scraped really smooth, just like one turned by a machine."

"That's right, look at this Jiji grass, it's fresh, but dried very thoroughly, showing there was no rush to finish the work."

"I counted, every strand of hemp rope has two red willows and six strands of Jiji grass, this thing, it's a bit exquisite?"

"Look, look, I took a glance, the pole is scraped really damn straight, is this a bit excessive..."

"The Jiji grass inside, I can't pull it off even with force, it's bound really tightly, enough heart!"

Originally wanting to pick faults, but as a result, looking at these large brooms, one by one they actually couldn't put them down.

Who hadn't used such large brooms at home? What this thing usually looked like, what was sold in the market, everyone was clear.

The bark on the pole wasn't scraped clean, the knots weren't handled well and pricked the hands, the tassels of the Jiji grass weren't burned clean, looking black and ugly, and the hemp rope wasn't bound well, and the Jiji grass broke after sweeping a few times.

These were easy to say, just tidy it up yourself and it would be fine. The most annoying thing was that the Jiji grass fell off after sweeping for two days; that thing couldn't be handled without planting piles, and even with planting piles, the pole had to be poured out, which was extremely troublesome.

So now seeing these large brooms like handicrafts, these people praised them one by one.

"Director, leave a few dozen brooms for our Supply and Marketing Cooperative to sweep the floor, it's a pity to hand them out! The large brooms we use every year aren't this good!"

Someone immediately opened their mouth, and others also echoed one after another:

"That's right, that's right, it's best if every staff member can be distributed two or three, put this at home to sweep the courtyard, how great!"

To work, one must have good tools. These people saw good things, and one by one they were happy to see them. To say they didn't want to get one for themselves, it was definitely fake.

"This is a red willow handle, this thing is much better than a poplar handle. Even if the broom Jiji grass is swept away, this handle is definitely very good..." Someone knew the goods and exclaimed.

"Hey!" These people held the large brooms and wouldn't let go one by one.

Poplar trees could grow to the thickness of a wrist in two years, but red willow needed at least ten years to grow this thick!

Could they compare? And it was so straight!

The staff could see it, could Li Xiangqian not see it?

He was also surprised that Li Long could get such good large brooms; this was really much better than last year, and better than imagined!

He was calculating in his mind, now everyone was opening their mouths, and the few dozen brooms just unloaded looked like they were about to be divided up immediately. The staff held them in their hands and really didn't intend to let go.

People of later generations might not be able to understand the preference for good tools in this era. In this era, everything had to be done by oneself, sweeping fallen leaves in summer, sweeping snow in winter. Students had hygiene areas in school, adults had to sweep the streets in front of the courtyard, and units had to have hygiene areas for units.

So having a good tool was really very important. Just like the red willow handle some people mentioned, it could be changed to other tools after the large broom was used up, such as iron shovels or snow pushers.

Li Xiangqian looked, and made a decision in his mind instantly:

"Unload two hundred large brooms first, leave the rest on the truck, I'll take the truck to the Prefecture Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives now!"

Li Long looked at Li Xiangqian, and quickly understood his meaning.

This was going to report good news.

"Xiao Long, you did well! I'll take these three trucks over, and Director Qian there can also be much more relaxed!"

Li Long suddenly realized, so Director Qian was also under pressure! (End of chapter)