Chapter 207: Contradictions

Ever since New Year's Day, the Rolling Mill had been slaughtering one pig every two days to provide the workers with some extra fat, based on their original procurement foundation; after all, everyone had been waiting for this bite for over half a year.

Although adding half a pig a day was still a drop in the bucket for a factory of ten thousand people, it was still better than nothing at all.

"So fragrant, it really is tastier eating the pigs raised at home."

Almost everyone had this thought in their minds, though they didn't know if what they were eating was procured or a pig slaughtered by the factory.

"Yeah, our factory's logistics are still quite capable."

"Right, especially the two departments outside the plan in the Procurement Section; if it weren't for them these past two years, we probably wouldn't see much meat all year round."

"That's right, at the end of last year, our Factory Director Li even managed to get a large batch of Wild Boar; the meat my family got was used to make dumplings, and you can't imagine how fragrant they were."

The group of leaders watched the satisfied expressions on the workers' faces and felt quite gratified, especially Li Huaide, since most of the effort came from logistics; it was just that Zhu Weiguo's expression didn't look good, and Yang Zhiguo's was about the same.

"Huaide, it seems the fellow workers are all mindful of the good work you all in logistics are doing."

"Hahaha, Factory Director, isn't our logistics department just here to serve the entire Rolling Mill? It's what we should do to ensure the fellow workers can eat and drink their fill."

"Mm~ let's go get our meal too."

Meanwhile, Zhang Ping'an had already arrived at Fang Family Village, with four lively crucian carp and four pig trotters in the bucket on his tricycle.

"Brother Fang?"

"Zhang Shu, my dad went to the riverside to fish."

"In the middle of winter like this, where can you still catch fish? Xiaojun, take these few crucian carp and the pig trotters back; I'll come by later."

"Okay, thank you, Zhang Shu."

"Hehe, go on."

The boy who used to be half-grown had now become a young man; in a few more years, he would probably be at the age to get married.

Zhang Ping'an's main reason for coming this time was to see Fang Dahu, who had only been going to the factory to turn in supplies once every week since New Year's.

Every time he was in a rush, which gave Zhu Jianhua a handle to hold against him; during the morning meetings, his words were full of accusations, not just targeting Fang Dahu, but everyone.

"What do you know about hunting? If I gave you a week, you probably wouldn't even see a hair. What? Seeing that the factory has a pig farm, you think we don't need procurement anymore? If you're capable, have your brother Zhu Jianshe or your father Zhu Weiguo also procure that many supplies independently, then come and compare."

"When Section Chief Zhang was here before, there weren't as many red-tape rules as you have, and everyone was actively procuring. Look at you—after you came and set those conditions, who still has the motivation to procure?"

Fang Dahu already had a violent temper, and with Wang Zhaodi having just given birth and lacking enough breast milk, he was busy every day trying to fish or buy pig trotters to stew soup; naturally, he wouldn't tolerate Zhu Jianhua's veiled criticisms, and the other hunters cheered him on.

"Hmph, you are simply unreasonable. Don't say those useless things; I am following the factory's regulations. If you can't finish or can't do the job, then transfer positions."

"Your mother's..."

"Alright, let's both take a step back. Brother Dahu, go get busy; Deputy Section Chief Zhu, go take a rest."

Xu Kun rubbed his temples with a headache; this wasn't the first time the two had been at each other's throats. Both sides had their own reasons, and he was stuck in the middle, becoming the one in a difficult spot.

Zhang Ping'an had learned about the situation from Jia Dongxu and went straight to the Third Section to find Fang Dahu, but he didn't see him; instead, he circled Xu Kun and said,

"You really are a blockhead."

"Eh, eh, eh, no, Brother Zhang, what do you mean?"

"Go ask your uncle-in-law."

"Knock, knock, knock."

"Come in."

"It's Xiaokun, why did you come over?"

"Cough, Uncle-in-law, it was Brother Zhang who told me to come find you."

"Hm? What's the matter? Why didn't he come over himself?"

"Uh... it's just some conflicts in our Procurement Section Three."

"Oh?"

"Tell me in detail."

"It's Deputy Section Chief Zhu Jianhua and..." Xu Kun explained the matter roughly, and then Li Huaide looked at him as if he were an idiot.

"That, Uncle-in-law, don't look at me like that, it's weird."

"Didn't I hear your father say you had a brain? What? Did you leave it at home when you went to work?"

"..."

"That Zhu Jianhua is stirring up conflict so obviously, isn't it just to make you people in the Third Section work passively and eventually fail to complete your tasks?"

"When the procurement task isn't completed, who is the first to take the hit? It's you, my silly nephew."

"Procurement is so difficult now. I said back then that we could relax the time limits as much as possible. Wasn't it fine when Ping'an was here? Even if you don't understand, can't you just copy what he did?"

"I was wondering why the supplies procured by your Third Section have been getting fewer and fewer this second half of the year. I thought everyone was having a hard time, which led to the decline in procurement. So the root of it is here."

"You, don't care so much about your so-called face. If there's anything you don't understand, just ask. In the Rolling Mill, the Zhu family can't turn the world upside down."

"Go back. Restore the time to what it was before. Tell the people in the Third Section to procure with peace of mind. If that Zhu Jianhua has any objections, tell him to come find me."

"Oh, oh, okay."

After being analyzed by Li Huaide, Xu Kun came to his senses. He hadn't expected Zhu Jianhua's intentions to be so sinister, using all his dirty tricks on him.

Back to Zhang Ping'an's side, coming to Fang Family Village, he also happened to plan on taking Erhu into his space.

Don't look at how his old home and Li Family Village were doing well; it was actually because Zhang Ping'an had left the Space Water for his second and third uncles to keep in the village. This year, they had caught quite a few Wild Boar to trade with Zhang Ping'an for sweet potatoes and cornmeal.

Li Family Village knew about the Black Market, and even so, every household's money was mostly spent, but fortunately, there were no cases of people starving to death.

As for Fang Family Village, at a glance, it was much more dilapidated than before, and he didn't see many people in the village; he figured they were all too hungry and weak at home to come out.

"Roar."

"Come back with me. The space is big enough for you three brothers to romp around in now. I'll let you return to your old home in Tianshan next year."

Erhu understood Zhang Ping'an's words, took one last reluctant look at the depths of the mountains, and rubbed against Zhang Ping'an.

"Alright, alright, alright," Zhang Ping'an looked at Erhu helplessly. What could he do? It was a beast he raised himself, so he had to spoil it.

Zhang Ping'an had no choice but to carve out a stone trough and leave behind a large amount of Space Water; since Erhu's scent was here, no animals would dare to approach for a short time, and with a wave of his hand, he released several dozen litters of rabbits nearby.

"Is that good?"

"Roar."

Zhang Ping'an waved his hand to take Erhu into the space, placing him on the main peak nearly two thousand meters high, and on the way down the mountain, he released another hundred or so rabbits, thinking these should be enough for Erhu's cubs to eat.

Returning to Fang Family Village, Fang Dahu had already returned and was waiting for him at the intersection.

"Ping'an, thanks."

"Why be so polite? I know about the Third Section's business; that kid Xu Kun just loves face and can't let go of that so-called 'courtyard kid' pride. Once you go back, it'll be fine; you should just go hunting as you always do."

"Alright, Ping'an, it was still more comfortable when you were in the Third Section. That guy surnamed Zhu, I feel like he's intentionally not wanting us to procure or hunt."

"Is that so? Xu Kun is still young after all and can't see through these things. You take these two cans of Milk Powder as well."

"This... alright, I'll give you the money." Fang Dahu truly couldn't refuse.

He and Wang Zhaodi hadn't originally planned to have any more children, but who knew that one slip-up would lead to a pregnancy; by the time they knew, she was already nearly three months along, and in the end, they decided to have the baby.

As it turned out, the child was a boy, but Wang Zhaodi was getting on in age and didn't have enough breast milk, which forced Fang Dahu to spend time every day catching crucian carp to help her produce milk.

Whether it was the crucian carp, pig trotters, or the Milk Powder Zhang Ping'an brought now, they were all things he desperately needed.

"Alright, two cans at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative cost ten yuan, plus the coupons, so give me fifteen."