Chapter 609: Getting Meat

He Yuzhu walked toward the blast furnace under the scorching sun; the concrete ground was radiating heat, and stepping on it could burn one's feet.

The workers were working shirtless, beads of sweat streaming down their spines and splashing onto the ground, where they left small damp spots that evaporated in the blink of an eye.

Yet, everyone was working very hard, and no one was slacking off.

Lao Qiao trotted over and shouted from a distance: "Factory Director He, you're a real man! Three meals of meat a day—you actually pulled it off!"

He Yuzhu patted his shoulder and said: "Lao Qiao, safety first. Three-shift rotation is one thing, but don't let the workers get exhausted."

"Don't worry, each shift only works six hours now. It's just too hot, but logistics is doing a great job; there are plenty of popsicles and mung bean soup, so the workers have no complaints!"

He Yuzhu nodded, turned around, and walked toward the logistics courtyard.

Just as he entered the gate, he heard a pig squealing heart-rendingly inside.

A large, two-to-three-hundred-pound fat pig was darting around the courtyard as if it had gone mad.

Li Huaide was leading a few people to catch it, but they simply couldn't grab it.

He Yuzhu lunged forward, grabbed the pig by the neck, and pressed his body down.

The pig kicked its legs twice, let out two grunts, rolled its eyes, and actually fainted on the spot.

Li Huaide looked impressed and said: "Zhuzi, you're really something! I chased it for twenty minutes and couldn't do a thing about this beast!"

He Yuzhu clapped his hands and stood up: "Where did this pig come from?"

He Daqing leaned in and said proudly: "I was truly at my wit's end, so I went to find Erkui. He had seven hundred pigs on his side and gave them all to me, but it still wasn't enough. He then said Wang Xia's Street Office was raising six hundred there, so I pleaded and pleaded until Wang Xia finally relented and sold us five hundred at a markup."

He Yuzhu thought to himself that the old man must have used his name, and Wang Xia would surely come knocking for favors in a couple of days.

"Dad, how are these pigs being transported back?"

"I have an old comrade-in-arms on the railway; I sold him fifty pigs, and that's how I managed to get a special train car for live pigs."

He Yuzhu did a quick mental calculation and shook his head: "These pigs are only enough to feed the whole factory's staff for three months; we still need to think of other ways."

The smile on He Daqing's face collapsed, and he sighed: "Zhuzi, I won't hide it from you. I've exhausted every connection I have; the pigs in the surrounding suburban counties have all been scraped clean by me. Trying to get more meat now is truly harder than ascending to heaven."

He Yuzhu nodded: "Don't worry about the rest; I'll think of a way."

"Even if you wanted me to worry, I couldn't do anything anymore," He Daqing said.

Just as He Yuzhu was about to turn and leave, He Daqing grabbed his arm.

"Come home tonight," He Daqing said in an extremely low voice. "Your uncle has been sidelined; he was sent to Beidaihe a few days ago for 'training'."

He Yuzhu was stunned. Hearing this phrasing, his heart skipped a beat—it was likely that he had said the wrong thing. He felt a bit of regret; he should have warned his uncle earlier, but he had been too preoccupied with factory matters and had forgotten about this.

In the evening, He Yuzhu returned to Nanluoguxiang No. 95 Courtyard.

As soon as he entered the house, he saw his mother, Shen Guizhi, sitting by the bed wiping away tears, with a little boy about the same age as He Yulu sitting next to her.

He Yulu was staying quietly to the side, occasionally reaching out her little hand to help her mother wipe her tears.

Seeing her son return, Shen Guizhi grabbed his hand, her voice trembling: "Zhuzi, can you go and beg someone? Get your uncle back..."

He Yuzhu sighed, sat down next to his mother, and lowered his voice: "Mom, it's not just my uncle who was sidelined this time; it's a whole group of people. Even if I went to find Secretary Liu, this matter would be extremely difficult to handle."

"Even Secretary Liu can't handle it?" The last glimmer of light in Shen Guizhi's eyes dimmed.

"Mom, you don't understand. If I begged Secretary Liu, he would definitely help me, but it would cause big trouble for himself. My uncle won't stay there long; he'll be back in a year or two. In a while, I'll go to Beidaihe to see him and bring him some food and supplies."

Hearing this, Shen Guizhi felt much better.

He Yulu tilted her little face and complained in a milky voice: "Brother, Mom has been crying all evening."

"I know, Brother will think of a way!"

Only then did Shen Guizhi remember to introduce the child beside her: "Your aunt is working alone now and can't take care of the child, so she sent him here. You haven't met him yet, right? His name is Shen Wei."

The little boy wasn't shy at all and said generously: "Hello, cousin."

He Yuzhu smiled, took a few candies out of his pocket, and handed them over.

Shen Wei subconsciously looked at Shen Guizhi, and after seeing his aunt nod, he took them and whispered, "Thank you, cousin."

He Yulu immediately leaned in eagerly: "Brother, I want a popsicle!"

He Yuzhu looked at his mother and picked up both children, one in each arm: "Let's go, let's go buy popsicles."

Shen Guizhi urged from behind: "Don't let them eat too many!"

Just as he was carrying the children to the courtyard gate, he ran into Yan Jiecheng.

As soon as Yan Jiecheng saw He Yuzhu, a smile immediately spread across his face, and he leaned in: "Zhuzi, I heard you became the Rolling Mill Factory Director? Congratulations!"

He Yuzhu smiled: "That's not such a great job; haven't you seen how I'm running around in circles now? Are you back for good this time?"

Yan Jiecheng nodded and lowered his voice: "Actually, I quite liked staying at the Farm. My dad insisted I come back, saying I'm getting old and must get married. In reality, he just wants me to support the whole family."

He Yuzhu smiled and didn't chat deeply with him—he didn't want to get involved in the Yan family's messy affairs: "It's good to be back. Go report to the Rolling Mill later; I'll arrange something for you."

Yan Jiecheng's eyes lit up, and he nodded repeatedly.

He Yuzhu took He Yulu and Shen Wei out of the courtyard and found a popsicle stand on the street.

"Brother, I want a cream popsicle." He Yulu stood on tiptoe, her little hands gripping the popsicle box as she peered inside.

He Yuzhu looked at Shen Wei: "What do you want?"

Shen Wei thought for a moment: "I'll have the red bean one."

Shen Wei waved his hand and didn't want any more after eating one. He Yulu was different; she wanted more after finishing two.

He Yuzhu wouldn't give her any, so the little girl hugged his leg tightly.

He Yuzhu was truly at his wit's end and let her have one more, but this time he was determined not to give in again—this little girl really had no restraint when it came to food; she could stuff whatever she was given into her stomach.

He Yulu tilted her little face and begged eagerly: "Brother, Dad lets me eat seven, can you let me eat six?"

"No." He Yuzhu kept a straight face, squatted down, and held his sister's shoulders: "Yulu, let's make a deal, okay? During these summer months, as long as I come home, I'll take you to eat popsicles. But you can't have more than three each time, deal?"

He Yulu pouted, thought about it with a wronged expression, and finally nodded.

He Yuzhu brought her back, and when Shen Guizhi heard that she had only eaten three today, a look of relief appeared on her face.

For the next period, He Yuzhu spent almost all his time at the Tractor Factory, tinkering with modifying trucks all day—he wanted to install refrigeration equipment in the cargo beds.

Raising pigs is too slow; it takes several months to raise one, and with so many people in the factory waiting for meat, they can't afford to wait. If they want to avoid going hungry, they have no choice but to reach out to the sea.

He turned his inventory in the space upside down and unexpectedly discovered two good things—both collected from an M Country air force warehouse several years ago: a refrigerated truck and over five hundred bottles of thirty-pound Freon.

With these two items, the dream of building refrigerated trucks moved a step forward.

He dismantled that refrigerated truck, studied the compressor thoroughly, and subsequently replicated several units based on the design.

In less than half a month, he produced four refrigerated trucks.

Now that he had the trucks, the next step was to go fishing.

He arranged all the affairs at the Rolling Mill and the Tractor Factory, took Ershuan and a few trusted brothers, and drove the four large refrigerated trucks straight to Qinhuangdao.

He went to see his uncle, Shen Wenqing, first.

His uncle was at a Farm in Changli; when He Yuzhu saw him, he found that his condition was quite good—every day he went to work in the fields with the workers, returned to participate in study and reform, and lived a simple and regular life.

He Yuzhu went to the Farm to find the Factory Director, wanting to say hello.

Upon meeting, both of them were stunned—this face was too familiar.

He Yuzhu had a better memory than the other party and spoke directly: "You are Artillery Battalion Commander Yang Hu, and I am He Yuzhu, the person who gave you a few walkie-talkies; do you still remember?"

Yang Hu was stunned for a moment, then suddenly remembered, and hugged He Yuzhu: "If it hadn't been for those few walkie-talkies of yours back then, most of our battalion would have died!"

He Yuzhu was stunned: "That thing only had a communication range of two kilometers; how could it have saved you?"

Yang Hu said: "A group of M Country devils snuck up on our Artillery Battalion position and were discovered by my sentry, who used this walkie-talkie to report it to me. Don't you think this walkie-talkie saved us!"

He Yuzhu smiled: "I suppose you could say that. I'm asking you for a favor today; my uncle is here, please look after him a bit."

Upon hearing this, Yang Hu patted his chest and guaranteed: "Your uncle is my uncle; I will definitely treat him like my own uncle!"