Chapter 216: Preparing to Open a Factory

It was somewhat silent inside the truck; Li Xiangxiu looked into the distance and did not speak to He Yuzhu.

He Yuzhu glanced at her and made small talk, "How is your mother? I haven't seen her in a long time."

"She is helping Sister Jiazhi with some odd jobs now; her health is fine!"

"By the way, do you still want your father to come back? I might be able to help you."

Li Xiangxiu was silent for a moment, then shook her head: "We are living quite well now. If he were to return, I fear... it would only make things worse."

"That's fine too," He Yuzhu nodded in understanding, "then let's wait a few more years."

The car stopped at a parking lot near Qianmen.

Lao Zhou had long been waiting at the back door of the grocery store; seeing He Yuzhu arrive, he pulled him down a secret passage and into a basement.

A kerosene lamp was lit inside, and the two men's shadows were cast onto the wall.

He Yuzhu found a wooden chair and sat down, speaking bluntly: "Lao Zhou, to tell you the truth, I offended Jin Hai quite badly last time to save someone, and now I'm too embarrassed to even see him."

Lao Zhou handed him a cigarette, but He Yuzhu waved his hand to decline.

He lit one himself, took a deep drag, and said in a low voice amidst the swirling smoke: "We have a traitor within our ranks, and their rank is very high. If we don't eliminate this person, I fear more incidents will occur. I wanted you to find a way to visit the three transport agents this time precisely to obtain some information—who exactly betrayed them?"

"Hasn't Bureau Chief Xu of the Secret Service Bureau already been turned by you? Can't you get some news from them?"

Lao Zhou shook his head: "The secret agents in Beiping operate along several different lines; those people in the Secret Service Bureau are all considered to be on the surface."

He Yuzhu understood.

He pondered for a moment and said: "I can only try, but Jin Hai might not necessarily give me that much face."

Lao Zhou nodded silently.

"Lao Zhou, I think you should increase your manpower. Last time, in order to rescue our comrades, I had to run around for several days to find people. By the time they arrived, the opportunity had already passed!"

"I have also thought about placing more comrades, but there is nowhere to arrange them!"

"How about opening a rickshaw company?" He Yuzhu suggested, "The vehicles run all over the city, and it's convenient for gathering information."

"I thought of this idea long ago," Lao Zhou gave a bitter smile, "but opening a company requires a lot of money, and the approval process is complicated. The Police Bureau has to audit it, and you need a guarantor..."

"Let my cousin come forward, I'll manage it, and you arrange the people."

"That's great!" Lao Zhou's eyes lit up, but then he worried, "I'm afraid it won't make money, right?"

"My cousin has money anyway." He Yuzhu smiled.

"You go find Jin Hai and talk to him; we are even willing to spend some money." Lao Zhou still held onto a glimmer of hope.

"This isn't a matter of money." He Yuzhu stood up, "I will try my best; I'll let you know if there's any news."

After leaving the grocery store, He Yuzhu detoured to Jin Hai's house.

Seeing him arrive, Dayingzi greeted him happily, deftly poured hot tea, and set a plate of sugar-roasted chestnuts, peanuts, and red dates on the table.

He Yuzhu picked up a chestnut and joked: "Has your brother been scolding me lately?"

"My brother has never spoken ill of you," Dayingzi said earnestly.

He Yuzhu thought to himself that Jin Hai was actually not a bad person; at the very least, he kept public and private matters separate.

Before long, Jin Hai returned. Seeing He Yuzhu, a half-smile hung on his face: "You brat, you still dare to come to my house? Aren't you afraid I'll turn you in?"

"Master Jin, if it weren't for my family, I wouldn't be afraid of anyone."

By saying this, He Yuzhu was also telling him that he wouldn't cause him any trouble, so he could rest easy.

Jin Hai, however, understood in his heart that this brat was the type of person who could poke a hole in the sky; he shouldn't casually take his money or do favors for him in the future, as it would be very easy to get himself implicated.

"Tough. Let's go, let's go out and have a chat."

Dayingzi looked very unhappy, but as usual, Jin Hai did not take her with him.

The two sat down at the Pianyi Fang Roast Duck Restaurant, and the waiter served hot tea.

After ordering, Jin Hai got straight to the point: "Eating is fine, and doing business is fine. Don't set your sights on the prison again, or I'll die by your hands sooner or later."

As soon as He Yuzhu heard this, he knew his business was a bust, so he immediately changed his tune: "Listen to you, it's as if I never have anything good in mind when I come to see you."

"What exactly are you looking for me for?"

"There's a business I want to cooperate with you on." He Yuzhu poured him some wine, "A lot of relatives fleeing from disaster have come to my house recently, and I want to find them a livelihood. It's hard to beg others, so it's better to do some business ourselves. I think the honeycomb briquette business could make money."

Jin Hai immediately perked up: "Is the investment large?"

"You just need to provide a few storefronts or courtyards; I'll handle the rest."

This matter was something He Yuzhu had come up with on the spur of the moment; since the main business couldn't be discussed, he had to find something to resolve the awkwardness.

The two discussed the details, and in the end, Jin Hai decided to contribute two courtyards as his stake.

He Yuzhu truly wanted to find a livelihood for the Li Family and Ding Li and her daughter; it was better than them staying in the courtyard all day and inviting suspicion.

After finishing the meal, He Yuzhu told Lao Zhou that Jin Hai had refused the prison visit.

Lao Zhou was full of gloom, but there was nothing he could do.

"Whether you are planning to break into the prison or intercept the prison transport, you can come to me." He Yuzhu lowered his voice, "It's just that getting into the prison through legitimate means is basically impossible now."

Lao Zhou nodded: "I will discuss it with the comrades and notify you once we have a plan."

Bidding farewell to Lao Zhou, He Yuzhu went to Liu Rusi's residence.

Pingping led him upstairs and whispered: "Please persuade the young lady; she is a bit unhappy."

He Yuzhu nodded. He walked into the study and saw her drinking alone, with more than half a bottle of whiskey already gone.

"Why are you drinking alone?" He Yuzhu took a glass and poured himself a drink.

Liu Rusi raised her eyes, her gaze filled with drunkenness: "Today is the anniversary of my mother's death... I suddenly remembered it, and I feel a bit sad."

"I think you just have nothing to do lately and are bored to the point of distress." He Yuzhu sat down opposite her and took a sip of wine.

"You brat, you even dare to lecture me? Get lost," Liu Rusi scolded.

"Sister, I came to see you today to do business."

"Haven't we always been doing business?" Liu Rusi chuckled.

"This time, it's for a legitimate business," He Yuzhu said solemnly. "A lot of refugee relatives have come to my home, and it's no solution to keep them idle. I want to open a rickshaw company, a honeycomb briquette factory, and a factory that produces bicycles."

"Are you crazy? Where would you get the energy?" Liu Rusi raised an eyebrow.

"Only the Bicycle Factory will take some effort; the others are simple. I just need to find people to manage them."

"Then what do you want from me?"

"With your status and connections, getting the permits for these factories shouldn't be difficult, right? Just help me get these factories established. I'll handle the rest."

"You can produce bicycles?" Liu Rusi asked with interest.

"Sister, you don't know this. Actually, what I'm best at isn't Kung Fu, but the design of industrial products."

Liu Rusi glanced at him: "Stop bragging, kid. I know you can speak a few words of English, but as for designing bicycles, I really don't believe it."

He Yuzhu immediately became interested. He took paper and a pen from the desk, found a ruler, and under the lamplight, began to sketch fluently. In less than an hour, design drawings for three or four novel and unique bicycles had leapt onto the paper.

Liu Rusi looked at the drawings, her eyes growing brighter. She had received a modern education, so she could naturally tell that these designs could not be drawn without profound skill.

"Where did you learn these things?"

He Yuzhu smiled mysteriously: "Sister, there are some people in this world who are born with knowledge. I suppose I am that kind of person."

Liu Rusi tapped him lightly on the forehead: "Always bragging." Yet her tone carried an unconcealable appreciation.

"There's more," He Yuzhu spread out another sheet of paper. "The current stoves all burn coal balls, which is too wasteful. This honeycomb briquette stove I designed can save more than a third of the coal."

His pen did not stop, and he quickly drew the design for a honeycomb briquette stove with a chimney and clever air ducts.

The more Liu Rusi looked, the more surprised she became.

The stove body design on the drawing was not only light and aesthetically pleasing, but the structure had also been improved, far superior to the stoves on the market.

Her previously dejected mood was swept away. "Zhuzi, leave the matter of opening the companies to me. I have dozens of people under me who are worried about having nothing to do, and I'm paying out three thousand Big Ocean every month for nothing."

The two hit it off immediately.

He Yuzhu immediately detailed his preliminary ideas for the three companies.

Liu Rusi took up a pen and noted them down one by one under the lamp. Finally, she closed the notebook and said, "Tomorrow morning, I will set to work on it."

By the time He Yuzhu returned to the Siheyuan, the night was already deep.

Just as he stepped into the courtyard gate, he saw He Yushui leading three little girls standing in the middle of the yard, each with tear tracks on their faces, shivering in the cold wind.

"What happened?" He Yuzhu stepped forward quickly.

He Yushui sobbed as she rushed over and hugged his arm: "Brother! My Xiao Hei is gone!"