Chapter 315: Getting What Each Needs

He Yuzhu had a gentle smile on his lips, "Not now, this matter will likely take another two years. When the time comes, the state will conduct an inventory and valuation of the factory's assets, and the state will repay the principal and interest over ten years. Once the term expires, the enterprise will officially belong to the state."

Liu Rusi lowered her eyes and remained silent. After a long while, she looked up, a hint of complexity in her eyes: "Zhuzi, I appreciate your intentions. If it weren't for you protecting me all these years, I'm afraid my life would have been gone long ago. I am already content to have such a stable life now. I don't want you to marry me just because you want to protect me; this sentiment is too heavy, and I cannot bear it. You should go back."

"Sister, you've misunderstood." He Yuzhu's gaze was sincere as he said cautiously, "I truly like you."

Liu Rusi waved her hand gently and turned her face away: "Let's talk about it later."

He Yuzhu nodded silently and turned to walk out of the Liu residence.

The cold winter wind brushed against his flushed cheeks, bringing a bit of clarity. Perhaps this matter was just his own wishful thinking.

He strolled to the edge of Shichahai and saw a group of young people around his age skating on the ice.

They wove through the crowd nimbly, their laughter and cheers scattered across the lake surface along with the marks left by their ice skates.

He Yuzhu stood still for a long time, suddenly realizing that he had been living too heavily and had long since lost this lightness that belonged to young people.

He took a deep breath of the biting air and secretly decided to live more brilliantly.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month.

Early in the morning, Wang Xia led the neighborhood committee staff into the Courtyard, beating gongs and drums.

Yan Bugui trotted up to meet them, his face full of smiles: "Director Wang, which family are you going to visit to offer your regards?"

"Which family in this courtyard is a military dependent?" Wang Xia asked with a smile.

"Understood, understood!" Yan Bugui trotted all the way toward the Zhongyuan, his voice arriving before he did: "He Yuzhu, the neighborhood committee is here to offer regards, hurry out to welcome them!"

He Yuzhu had just stuffed a whole egg into his mouth; hearing this, he hurriedly stretched his neck to swallow it and scrambled to slip on his shoes.

Shen Guizhi, who was in the living room, opened the door and said, "Director Wang, what is this for?"

"Supporting the military and giving preferential treatment to their families—who told your family to have two military personnel!" Wang Xia smiled as she placed a basket of New Year goods on the table in the living room, "Your family is the first one we came to."

He Yuzhu caught a glimpse of four jars of chili sauce, two bags of candy, and four pieces of soy-braised meat neatly arranged in the basket, and laughed: "A double portion? The neighborhood committee is generous enough this year; it seems the workshop's efficiency is quite good."

"You guessed right." Wang Xia straightened her back, "We didn't ask for a penny from above; we accomplished it all by ourselves. Other neighborhoods at most send a few catties of flour, but we can even send meat!"

"I also have some news to tell you: next year the workshop can try making braised goose and soy-sauce duck."

"Where will the ducks come from?" Wang Xia's eyes lit up.

"Chen Xueru plans to raise them on a large scale. She only wants the duck and goose feathers, and you need the meat; it's a perfect win-win cooperation. I've already scouted the breeding location; there is a large valley behind Qin Family Village that is particularly suitable. If the braised goose and soy-sauce duck are successful, perhaps it can solve more employment issues."

"That would be great!" Wang Xia was overjoyed, "I'll think about this properly during the New Year."

"It's lonely to spend the New Year alone; come to my house for a meal on the first day! There will be many guests that day, so it will be lively." He Yuzhu invited her warmly.

"Alright, I'll try to come." Wang Xia agreed with a smile.

After seeing Wang Xia off, He Yuzhu had just passed through the veranda when his path was blocked by Zhao Yingzi.

"Big Sister, this isn't the old forests of the Northeast, why are you still into highway robbery?"

"Don't be glib!" Zhao Yingzi frowned, "I have something to ask of you."

"Speak directly!"

"Jia Dongxu and I are holding our wedding on the third day of the New Year, but his mother only prepared ten catties of meat and some frozen tofu. My father thinks it's too shabby and insists on holding separate banquets..."

"If you're looking for me to be the head chef, I don't have time; I'm hosting relatives and friends that day." He Yuzhu refused flatly.

"How would I dare to trouble a great hero like you to cook!" Zhao Yingzi hurriedly handed over a list, "I just want to entrust you to help purchase some ingredients."

"One hundred catties of pork, two hundred catties of rice, thirty chickens, thirty fish, thirty ducks..." He Yuzhu widened his eyes, "Do you really think my house is a supermarket?"

"What's a supermarket!" Zhao Yingzi looked blank.

"You wouldn't understand even if I told you." He Yuzhu waved his hand, "Can't do it!"

"No way!" Zhao Yingzi spread her arms to block his path, "My father invited many friends; you can't let me lose face like this!"

He Yuzhu stepped aside to avoid her: "Big Sister, I really can't get that much."

"I know a family that uses a piece of ancient jade to weigh down a pickle jar; they say it's a good item. I can help you get it."

"That is negotiable." He Yuzhu raised an eyebrow, "When will you take me to see the goods?"

"After the New Year."

"You haven't been in Si Jiu Cheng for long, why do you need to invite so many guests?"

"I took Hu Yunbin as my godfather, and most of these are his friends and clients."

He Yuzhu was thoughtful: "Go ask your father if he knows someone named Li Hua, who used to follow Xiao Erduo. If you can help me find this person, not only will I cook personally, but I'll also cover all the ingredients."

"I'll go ask right now!" Zhao Yingzi turned and ran toward the Houyuan happily.

Before long, she ran back, panting: "My father knows him. This person sells opium now, and my godfather likes that stuff, so he often has my father go to him to pick up goods. But my father also said it won't be easy to see him."

"If your father can invite him over, I'll add another five million in gift money."

"This... my father can't do something like betraying a friend. Besides, time is too tight, and we might not be able to find him." Zhao Yingzi bit her lip.

"If you won't even help with this little favor, then forget it." He Yuzhu's face darkened, "Don't come looking for me in the future."

"How can you be like this!" Zhao Yingzi stamped her feet in anxiety.

"What's the use of just knowing what he does? I need to find the person."

"I'll have my father go invite him, but he might not be willing to come."

"Doesn't he sell opium? Have your father tell him he's introducing a big client; he's sure to come!" He Yuzhu was confident.

"I'll try, but you have to put your heart into the banquet!"

"Deal!" He Yuzhu agreed readily, "A standard of 150,000 per table, that's generous enough, right?"

"Thank you, He Yuzhu."

"No need to thank me, we are just getting what we each need."

Zhao Yingzi added: "The banquet will be held in your East Cross Courtyard; please set up the tent."

"Hold the banquet at my place? If Jia Dongxu finds out, he'll definitely be jealous!"

"I don't care about him!"

In the afternoon, He Yuzhu found Ershuan and Wang Zhifu to help set up a shed.

Since he had to host guests for his own family on the first day of the Lunar New Year anyway, it was the perfect time to prepare everything at once.

In the evening, He Daqing returned from the Ministry and, seeing the shed erected in the East Cross Courtyard, frowned and asked, "Zhuzi, are you going to be the cook for the Jia Family?"

"It's to help the Zhao family," He Yuzhu corrected him.

"Bullshit! Isn't that the same thing?" He Daqing cursed.

He Yuzhu changed the subject: "Your half-brother is coming over tomorrow."

"Cai Quanwu is coming?"

"Yes."

He Daqing scratched his head, lit a cigarette, and took a few deep puffs: "All these years... he hasn't had an easy life, has he?"

"He worked several jobs, pulling a rickshaw during the day and doing odd jobs at night; he lived like a beast of burden!"

"It is I who am not worthy of being his big brother!" He Daqing exhaled a smoke ring. "He came to find me once when he was little, saying his mother was dying and asking me for money for her treatment. But back then, I was dirt poor myself..." The smoke blurred his expression of guilt.

"Dad, don't bring up those old matters. Just meet him, have a drink, and any knot in your heart will be untied," He Yuzhu comforted him softly.

In the dead of night, He Yuzhu drove to the Municipal Bureau and found Tian Dan.

"Sister, I've found out about the hoodlum who betrayed me to the Bald Party. He might come to our courtyard for the wedding on the third day of the Lunar New Year. Can you send a few people to attend the banquet? If that person really shows up, arrest him directly. I don't think he's clean!"

"Selling opium? Even if he isn't colluding with the Bald Party, that's a capital offense. Can you talk to your neighbor and have him lead the way so we can act now? I'm afraid of complications arising from delay..." Tian Dan said.

"His daughter says this Li Hua is hard to run into, and besides, his daughter is getting married, so this is difficult to handle."

"Understood," Tian Dan acknowledged.