Chapter 675: Indispensable without me? Then what do you need me for?

The Spring Festival of '87 came a bit earlier than in previous years; New Year's Eve fell in late January.

Therefore, after the New Year's Day holiday, the festive atmosphere in the workplace began to thicken. Welfare benefits for the New Year were being distributed frequently, and various versions of the rumor that "there will be a year-end bonus this Spring Festival" kept circulating.

On Friday morning, Old Ding answered a phone call and said to Li Ye, "The logistics section notified us that frozen chickens are being distributed. You go make a run for it and pick up my share while you're at it."

Li Ye tossed aside the work at hand, stood up, and laughed, "You got it, Master. But don't blame me if you don't like what I bring back! I really can't compete with those people who are faking illness."

Old Ding laughed and scolded, "When have I ever blamed you? Just grab any two when you get there; as long as they don't have three legs, I won't complain."

"Got it. I've seen one-legged chickens, but three-legged ones are truly rare. If I happen to run into one, I'll definitely snatch it back for you."

"Hurry up and go! If you go too late, you won't even get a whole chicken butt. Haven't you noticed that Little Yue has already run off?"

Li Ye hurriedly turned his head and discovered that Yue Lingshan had already dashed out the door first, scurrying off for over ten meters.

【Damn, is she really that motivated to snatch a chicken butt? Why is she always so sluggish at work?】

However, when Li Ye thought about the mindset of the middle-aged women queuing up for eggs, he could understand Yue Lingshan's mood—"Going late doesn't necessarily mean only the rotten ones are left, but going early definitely guarantees you can pick the good ones."

Li Ye didn't care; he walked toward the logistics section at a leisurely pace. Wu Qingyi, who was in the same office, wasn't in a rush either; after all, he held the title of deputy section chief, so no matter what, he wouldn't be given a lame one.

But others were different. After receiving the notification, the colleagues in the office next door also ran out just like Yue Lingshan, *whoosh, whoosh, whoosh*.

It was just that once they left the office and saw Wu Qingyi and Li Ye walking slowly in front, they felt a bit embarrassed. They wanted to rush ahead, but they were afraid of leaving an impression of being "unsteady" in the minds of the two deputy section chiefs.

But fortunately, there was a "cripple" in their office who didn't care.

*Deng, deng, deng~*

Following a rhythmic sound of footsteps, Zheng Jiemin nimbly overtook Li Ye and Wu Qingyi, striding forward with his head held high and chest out. Even the stiff plaster on his foot couldn't hide his arrogant and defiant temperament.

Logically speaking, Zheng Jiemin had broken three toes and it would have been reasonable for him to recuperate at home for two months. But nobody knew whose loose lips it was that made the rumors of Zheng Jiemin "breaking his toes while practicing hard Qigong" spread more and more bizarrely, to the point where he finally came to work a few days ago with the excuse of "not leaving the front line for minor injuries."

Now, seeing him arrogantly overtake Li Ye, it was clear he intended to become Li Ye's sworn enemy. After all, after he returned, Li Ye didn't let him move back to his original office spot, only telling him to "rest and recuperate with peace of mind."

"Heh~"

Li Ye chuckled, took a turn to the side, and cleared the way for the colleagues behind him. Only after everyone had passed did he saunter toward the logistics section.

Not enough stature, yet you want to be my enemy? Are you even qualified?

From far away, Li Ye heard the "Big Loudspeaker" of the logistics section shouting loudly: "Hey, hey, hey, Old Jiu, stop picking! Even if you keep picking, a frozen chicken still only has two legs. They're all the same..."

"What do you mean they're all the same? Big Loudspeaker, I haven't even gone after you yet! The fatty pork I took home the day before yesterday was all leftovers. I rendered it in the pot for half a day and didn't even get half a bowl of oil."

"The illness on my body was earned from working too hard. You can't bully people like this. This time, you must make it up to me..."

"Right, right, right, you're sick from overwork. Didn't you tire yourself out by sneaking into video parlors every night?"

"Who's spreading rumors about me? If you've got the guts, come out and let me see you."

"Come, come, come, I'll let you see me. Let me see what you, a piece of trash faking illness, can do to me?"

"..."

There really weren't many people at the scene, but it was noisy and chaotic, almost turning into a complete mess.

Just in these past few days, Li Ye suddenly discovered that there were some new people in the unit.

Li Ye had never seen these people before, but they didn't miss out on a single thing when it came to collecting welfare or bonuses, and yet each one of them acted like they were the king of the world.

When distributing hairtail fish, they wanted the widest ones; when distributing frozen meat, they wanted the fattest ones; even when distributing frozen chickens, they had to reach out and poke around to see which one had thicker thighs and the plumpest breast.

Whenever someone couldn't stand it, it would turn into a nonsensical argument. The various bizarre ideologies made Li Ye, a transmigrator, broaden his horizons.

Interesting, truly interesting.

After a full ten minutes, Old Jiu finally shouted down the few employees who couldn't stand him, and triumphantly picked the two most suitable frozen chickens and left.

After he left, everyone started queuing up again, and in a while, the welfare benefits were almost all distributed.

When it was Li Ye's turn, "Big Loudspeaker" smiled and handed Li Ye four frozen chickens. Whether looking at their size or appearance, they were among the best of the lot.

Li Ye said thank you to him and was about to turn and leave, but Zheng Jiemin's face drooped, and he wasn't happy.

"Big Loudspeaker, look at these two of mine, and then look at these four of Li Ye's. Is this logistics section run by your family?"

"..."

Big Loudspeaker almost spat out his saliva. This had been the rule for so many years; are you going to argue with me here? Is this your first day in the unit? Do you really think everyone is equal?

However, before Big Loudspeaker could speak, Li Ye reached out and shoved the two frozen chickens right in front of Zheng Jiemin.

"Want to swap? Let's swap. I like eating the lean ones."

"..."

Zheng Jiemin stared at Li Ye for over ten seconds, feeling increasingly uncomfortable.

He really wanted to slap the frozen chickens out of Li Ye's hands onto the ground and lecture this "rule-breaking" bastard on the principles of "fairness and justice."

But that kick Li Ye had used to peel the bark off the tree right in front of Zheng Jiemin had shattered 99% of his courage. Now, no matter how angry he was inside or how fierce his gaze was, he couldn't bring himself to raise his hand.

Just as Zheng Jiemin was in a dilemma, Little Zhu from the technical section ran over from afar: "Li Ye, so you're here? Quick, quick, quick, Guan Liang is notifying us to have a meeting!"

"A meeting? What kind of meeting?"

Li Ye handed his four chickens to Pan Dachuan and prepared to follow Little Zhu.

"He said it's urgent. He's summoning all the college and technical school graduates in the factory for a meeting. I went to your supply section and couldn't find you. Also, Yue Lingshan... and Zheng Jiemin need to attend the meeting too."

Little Zhu saw the ill-intentioned Zheng Jiemin and hurriedly included him as well. He really couldn't afford to provoke a ruthless person who had broken three of his own toes.

The group arrived at the small conference room together, and most of the others had basically already arrived.

Li Ye saw the big factory director's secretary, Guan Liang, and a deputy director from the factory office sitting in the seats of honor. It was clear that the level of this meeting wasn't very high; if it were, at least Director Lu would have come to preside over it.

"Everyone is here, right? Then I'll keep it short. A few days ago, the Hong Kong side once again brought up the ISO standard issue. The big factory director attaches great importance to it and has arranged for me to summon all the intellectuals in the factory to understand and evaluate the specific effects of that ISO standard in detail..."

Guan Liang spoke eloquently without yielding, emphasizing that he was acting under the orders of the top leader to temporarily "requisition" all the college and technical school graduates present.

Li Ye was quite happy after hearing this. He thought this meant the three major shareholders had finally reached a consensus to use these college and technical school graduates, who were most receptive to new things, as the backbone to start management reform.

However, what Guan Liang said next made Li Ye feel a bit puzzled.

"Let's take a count now. Who among you has classmates or friends overseas? Old Master Lin, do you have any classmates or friends overseas?"

"I do have some, but there's been no news for over a decade. We've long since lost contact."

Old Master Lin was the oldest college graduate at the scene, with an age and experience similar to Teacher Ke's. Li Ye had only heard that he had been demoted to a marginal section, and this was the first time he had seen him in person.

"What about the others? Zheng Jiemin, do you have any? Zhu Changmin... Yue Lingshan..."

Guan Liang held a small notebook and asked the colleagues at the scene one by one. But the vast majority of them either had no contact, or were technical school graduates like Yue Lingshan and Zheng Jiemin—where would they have classmates who were overseas students?

In the end, Guan Liang asked Li Ye: "Deputy Wu Kezhang Li, all our hopes are on you now. Your Peking University has many study-abroad quotas every year. You must have classmates studying overseas, right?"

Li Ye nodded: "I do indeed, but what does that have to do with our unit?"

"Of course it has to do with it," Guan Liang laughed: "The big factory director said we can't always listen to the one-sided words of the Hong Kong side. Therefore, we must use every method and means to obtain first-hand information from overseas."

"Li Ye, you contact your overseas classmates and have her purchase materials related to the ISO standard for us. Our country wants to take off, and it needs everyone to work together..."

"."

Li Ye looked expressionlessly at the spittle-flying Guan Liang. He waited patiently for him to finish speaking before asking: "There must be many versions of materials related to the ISO standard. Which one do you want to buy? Also, what is your budget?"

Guan Liang waved his hand, looking very much like a leader.

"Of course, the more the better. We should buy every kind. As for the budget, that's no problem. Everything is negotiable, negotiable."

Li Ye didn't believe such empty talk! He continued to ask: "What do you mean 'no problem'? How much money did the finance section approve for you?"

"..."

Guan Liang froze for a moment, then laughed: "Li Ye, we are a large state-owned unit. How can we approve funds without seeing the goods? Once your classmate mails the materials back, I'll go to the finance section..."

"Don't tell me this," Li Ye interrupted directly: "I'll give you my classmate's contact information, and you contact her directly. Public is public, private is private. It's not appropriate for me to be stuck in the middle."

"Why is it not appropriate?" Guan Liang said relentlessly: "This is a task assigned by our factory director. Everyone should contribute their strength. I don't know your classmate, so I'll have to trouble you, Li Ye, for the sake of the unit's interests..."

"For the sake of the unit's interests, you want to make a poor overseas student buy things for you?"

Li Ye said coldly: "Do you know how expensive overseas books and materials are? They don't have money to buy them. Are you going to make her rob someone?"

"They don't have money... don't you have money?"

Guan Liang laughed and said: "Li Ye, don't misunderstand. Every cent you spend will be reimbursed in the end. If you don't believe me, ask the others in our unit. Advancing funds for reimbursement is the normal procedure..."

"I don't have money," Li Ye interrupted Guan Liang for the third time: "I even borrowed thirty thousand yuan from relatives and friends to buy that Santana! And if you want to buy books and materials from overseas, RMB won't work. You need foreign exchange."

Li Ye, who had lived two lifetimes, knew how a rich person should refuse someone "mooching for benefits"—that is, to indicate that one has "external debts." Don't borrow money from me; I still need to borrow money from you!

However, Guan Liang was well-prepared today and laughed: "Li Ye, you're being modest. I have a friend at Peking University who told me that you joined the Wangxiang Wangxiang Gujun Literary Society in your sophomore year and earn foreign exchange every month! So, this task assigned by our factory director is indispensable without you!"

"..."

【You piece of trash, you actually investigated me? Then did you find out that I'm one of your bosses?】

Guan Liang had clearly put effort into Li Ye. After all, in this day and age without the internet, obtaining any bit of information required a massive amount of manpower and social capital.

He asked people at Peking University and found out that Li Ye had joined the Wangxiang Wangxiang Gujun Literary Society, but he couldn't find out about his relationship with Pei Wencong in Hong Kong, nor could he find out about Pei Wencong's specific relationship with the Hong Kong Ceres Company. Otherwise, he wouldn't have asked Li Ye to purchase all the materials related to ISO.

On one hand, he didn't trust the major shareholder in Hong Kong, and then he asked the boss of the major shareholder to verify the true intentions of the Hong Kong capital. Isn't this just nonsense?

"Stop wasting your breath."

Li Ye glanced at Guan Liang sarcastically and said faintly: "Secretary Guan, we are such a large unit, yet you're not willing to approve funds first. Why do you think you can make money appear just by flapping your lips?"

"..."

Guan Liang's expression finally changed. He had been smiling at Li Ye all day, but now it instantly turned as deep as water.

"Since everyone is powerless, we can only settle for the next best thing."

Guan Liang took out a stack of English materials and began distributing them one by one.

"This is the raw material we requested from the Hong Kong side. Everyone here has studied English. Divide it up among yourselves. After translating it, compare it with the Chinese version they provided..."

Yue Lingshan, Zheng Jiemin, and a group of others who had studied English immediately looked distressed.

You expect someone who never studied English from elementary to junior high, or only knows "mute English," and only read basic English books in technical school, to be able to translate complex and obscure original English materials?

However, they soon discovered that they weren't the most "miserable" ones yet.

Because Guan Liang assigned more than half of the English materials to Li Ye.

"Li Ye, you have the highest education in our factory. More work, more gain. You should take on more. This task arranged by the factory director is very urgent. You hand it to me next week..."

"I don't have time."

Li Ye didn't accept it at all and pushed the materials back: "My main job in the supply section is very heavy. I don't have time to do this kind of translation work."

"..."

Guan Liang's chest heaved violently. It was clear he was annoyed by Li Ye's repeated interruptions.

"Li Ye, it doesn't matter if you don't have time. You can have your partner help you! Isn't your partner from the English department at Peking University? Translating this bit of material is a piece of cake for her, right? A matter of minutes?"

Li Ye slowly raised his head, stared at Guan Liang's face, and lightly spat out a mouthful of saliva.

"Why is your face so thick? You even arranged for my wife? Who do you think you are?"

"..."

Guan Liang looked at Li Ye in shock, even forgetting to wipe the saliva off his face.

After several seconds, he said indignantly: "Li Ye, what kind of attitude is this? I'm doing this for the unit. Since the factory director arranged for me to handle this matter, I have the right to arrange for you."

Li Ye immediately retorted: "The factory director arranged for you, but he didn't arrange for me directly. If I do all the work, then what do I need you for?"

"..."

Guan Liang was dumbfounded.

The people around were also dumbfounded.

Because what Li Ye said seemed to make a lot of sense.

The big factory director asked you to be responsible for solving this matter, and you pushed all the work to Li Ye, and even said this work was indispensable without Li Ye. Then, damn it, what are you presiding over the work for?

What's the matter? Li Ye does the work, and the credit is all yours, right? Are you the only one who has watched *County Committee Courtyard*?

Guan Liang holding the big factory director's feather as an arrow indeed had some power.

If it were any other situation, Li Ye might not have openly clashed with him, but Guan Liang actually even arranged for Wen Leyu. Damn it, who do you think you are?

In his previous life, Li Ye had enough of this "the ox does the work, the fox takes the credit" nonsense. In this life, with his wealth, partner, methods, and status all maxed out, why should he listen to you nagging here?

Aren't you arranged by the big factory director? Fine, you'd better have the big factory director talk to me directly. I'll immediately volunteer to take on all the work, and then, starting from the unit's interests, I will promote the implementation of the new management standards without any favoritism.

Li Ye wouldn't seize power and plunder state property for the sake of Hong Kong capital. Anyway, it's not like it's not making money. What's wrong with giving the lion's share to the state? I'm satisfied with earning thirty percent.

But you, a secretary, want to act like the boss in front of me? Which part of you is bigger than me?

I don't want to steal your limelight, but you insist on provoking me. Do you know what "people die when compared to people, goods are thrown away when compared to goods" means?

When you get thrown away by others, don't blame me.