Chapter 832

Li Ye chatted with Lu Zhizhang all morning, and in the afternoon, Lai Jiayi arrived at his office with a smile.

“Deputy Factory Director Li, you’re back early? Oh my, your children are still so young—you’ve been on a business trip for so long, you should’ve stayed home a few more days.”

Seeing the file folder in her hand, Li Ye smiled and asked, “Sister Lai, you’ve come to see me about something?”

Lai Jiayi laughed and said, “Yesterday, Factory Director Lu told me to organize all the housing allocation materials and hand them to you for review once you returned—I’ve brought them right over!”

“Old Lu said to give them to me for review?”

Li Ye found this odd—he’d met with Lu Zhizhang that morning, and Lu hadn’t mentioned anything about this. Moreover, Lu was the top authority; the documents should’ve gone to him.

Besides, the word “review” was inappropriate when applied to Li Ye.

After all, Lai Jiayi’s actual rank was half a level higher than Li Ye’s, and she always maintained a superior posture around him—yet today she was asking him to review? That was deeply suspicious.

【Is she deliberately humiliating me? Or trying to pit two against one?】

In any organization, the distribution of power is strictly defined—if a deputy encroaches on the authority of the chief, it could spark a fierce power struggle.

At that point, the monkey sitting on the sidelines might just snatch the chestnuts from the fire.

Thus, Lai Jiayi’s behavior carried the suspicion of sowing discord between Li Ye and Lu Zhizhang.

But Li Ye still reached out and took the documents: “Then give them to me. I’ll talk to Old Lu, then call a meeting with worker representatives to discuss and post the results.”

Lai Jiayi’s eyes flickered, then she laughed dismissively: “Oh, the workers have already discussed this list countless times. Factory Director Lu said as long as you, Deputy Director Li, are satisfied, that’s enough.”

“How could I decide this alone? It must be decided by everyone.”

Li Ye opened the file folder, pulled out the documents, and frowned: “Sister Lai, are these all the housing applications submitted by staff? Why so few?”

“Many applicants who didn’t meet basic criteria were preliminarily filtered out by regulations. Over half our factory are young new employees—they don’t even have partners, so how could they qualify for housing? There’s not enough to go around; we can’t satisfy everyone.”

Lai Jiayi rattled off a long list of reasons, then noticed Li Ye’s cold gaze—uncomfortable to meet.

Li Ye and Lu Zhizhang had tasked Lai Jiayi with surveying the factory’s housing conditions, gathering complete data on every employee’s living situation, then deciding how to allocate the housing and to whom.

Now, of three hundred units, she handed in three hundred and seventy-odd applications—barely leaving Li Ye and Lu Zhizhang any real work to do!

【Why are you so eager? Why are you so capable?】

Li Ye and Lu Zhizhang had applied for land, allocated housing funds, hired construction teams—and now, with buildings nearly topped out, Lai Jiayi had already done most of the housing allocation work?

Is this branch factory your family’s business?

Seeing Li Ye’s icy gaze, Lai Jiayi smiled: “If Deputy Director Li isn’t satisfied with this list, I’ll have union staff go back out, gather more public opinions, and prepare a new one.”

“No need. The buildings are about to be sealed—workers are all waiting to move into their new homes for winter! I’ll discuss it with Old Lu and come up with a solution quickly.”

Li Ye flatly rejected Lai Jiayi—expecting someone full of scheming to genuinely care for the workers was like expecting a girl used to quick money to suddenly turn virtuous.

Lai Jiayi’s face darkened. Previously, though Li Ye hadn’t shown her the deference due her rank, he’d at least treated her as an equal.

But now, Li Ye clearly despised her—he didn’t even bother pretending.

This made Lai Jiayi furious. She, a deputy department-level cadre, had been sent to this branch factory as union head—it was already a humiliation.

Two months ago, when the main factory wanted to recall Li Ye, Lai Jiayi had already alerted her connections: as soon as Li Ye left, she’d take his position.

In her view, that position belonged to her, Lai Jiayi—Li Ye was merely the tree-planter; others should reap the shade.

But now, a boy of twenty-four or twenty-five dares to look down on her, a senior of over forty?

What’s this? You’re dropping the act? You’re ready to lay your cards on the table?

I’ve eaten more salt in my life than you’ve eaten rice—how dare you give me the cold shoulder?

So Lai Jiayi, with honeyed venom, said to Li Ye: “Oh dear, it seems Deputy Director Li is dissatisfied with my work!”

“But you and Old Lu were both away on inspection in Japan—I had no one to consult. Next time you go on such trips, could you leave one person behind?”

【Leave Old Lu behind so you can tag along?】

Li Ye glanced at Lai Jiayi and said coolly: “When neither Old Lu nor I was here, it was the perfect test of our branch factory’s emergency management—take Finance Section’s Zhang Zui, for example—he performed excellently.”

Did Li Ye not know the principle of leaving someone behind? But this time, he went to Japan with Lu Zhizhang anyway.

When an organization grows rapidly, hidden problems inevitably arise—just like in a high school class, there are always a few troublemakers.

Li Ye wanted to see which monkey would leap out to play king when the tigers were gone, and eliminate the threat before it could grow.

Hearing Li Ye’s words, Lai Jiayi was stunned.

【So you two were testing me?】

Then she explained: “You mean that incident? Oh, I was just about to bring it up with you and Factory Director Lu! That day, Old Wan from the main factory came and said he needed to borrow funds urgently—”

“Our factory’s profits are stable, so we can offset it in the next few months—but Zhang Zui said neither you nor Old Lu were here, so no one could authorize any transfers.”

“Old Wan even suggested Zhang Zui make a long-distance call directly to Japan to report to you and Old Lu.”

“But Zhang Zui was stubborn—he refused to call, insisting on waiting for you both to return. Isn’t that causing delays?”

“Old Wan came to me again. I told him I didn’t handle finances, but Zhang Zui couldn’t act on his own either—I managed to talk him out of firing Zhang Zui on the spot.”

【Well, I’ll be damned—so you’re the hero here?】

Why didn’t Zhang Zui make the long-distance call? Did he care about the phone bill?

Of course not—he refused the call because he could reject the main factory’s unreasonable demand himself.

After all, the branch factory had financial regulations: no large fund transfers without the factory director’s signature and seal. If they had the guts, let them break into the safe.

So Zhang Zui could handle it alone—why burden Li Ye and Lu Zhizhang with it?

It was precisely this sense of responsibility, this absolute loyalty to the branch factory, that made Li Ye say he performed excellently.

In contrast, Lai Jiayi’s performance was abysmal.

A fence-sitter, swaying with the wind—end up disliked by everyone.

“Sister Lai, go back for now. We’ll discuss housing allocation in a few days.”

“Alright then. I’ll be off.”

As Lai Jiayi left Li Ye’s office, her face immediately fell.

After thinking it over, she didn’t return to her office—she turned toward the production area and found several people.

“Old Zhang, today I discussed housing allocation with Deputy Director Li—your apartment might not be guaranteed anymore.”

“Why not? I’ve earned it by seniority and position—I deserve a two-bedroom, one-living-room unit!”

“Oh, I’d love to give it to you, but Deputy Director Li wants to reconvene the meeting—we’ll talk again then.”

“Even if they reconvene, it should still go to me—third floor or second floor, no fourth floor!”

“Hey, Old Qi, sorry to tell you—but the apartment we agreed on? It’s no longer certain.”

“What does that mean? Who’s got it out for me?”

“Oh, it’s Deputy Director Li’s idea—but don’t worry, we’ll discuss it at the next meeting.”

Lai Jiayi, as a union cadre, knew well how to handle the masses—she quickly rallied a group of “allies.”

She’d spent decades in the workplace—she knew full well that housing allocation was too big a matter for a union staff member to decide alone.

But she’d already promised apartments to a group of people.

Once Li Ye, following regulations, revoked all those promises, wouldn’t that create conflicts and disputes over distribution?

Once there were conflicts and disputes, wouldn’t factions and rival cliques emerge?

Since arriving at the branch factory, Lai Jiayi had struggled to gain traction—this housing allocation was a rare opportunity!

【Hmph, I’ve eaten salt for forty years—am I really outmatched by a green kid? You’re still too young!】