Chapter 1005: Destined to be restless

"Good evening, dear listeners~"

"Good evening~"

"Today is January 24, 1967, Saturday, the fourteenth day of the twelfth lunar month. Welcome to the 'Red Star Evening News' program."

Following a short and resounding blast of a bugle call, the Red Star Steel Mill's news program began.

At the No. 1 Courtyard of Haiyuncang, Li Xuewu's family had also just finished dinner.

Gu Ning felt a bit fatigued today, so after dinner, she returned to the inner room early to rest.

Han Jiankun, following Qin Jingru's instructions, wore a floral apron and was cleaning the room with a feather duster and a rag.

He was also keeping an eye on Li Shu, who was sitting on the floor playing with her toys.

Qin Jingru herself brewed a cup of tea for Li Xuewu, who was sitting on the sofa reading, then turned on the large radio and habitually listened to the broadcast while tidying up the kitchen.

Perhaps it was because her husband worked at the steel mill, her sister worked at the steel mill, and the household she worked for also worked at the steel mill.

Therefore, ever since the Red Star broadcast started, she had gradually become accustomed to listening to this channel every day.

She listened while working, listened while at the office, and listened when she got home; it seemed as if this made her feel closer to the people around her who lived and worked in the city, and helped her understand them better.

Of course, it was precisely because the Red Star broadcast was done well that she liked listening to it.

The channel had many programs, divided by time slots and categories, providing the programs and information needed by all the factory staff, their families, and service recipients.

For example, "Daily Reading," which broadcast excellent books; "Today's News," which read aloud daily newspapers and periodicals; and "The Banner," which promoted ideological education.

She even listened to the "Safety Lecture Hall" program, which taught production safety, and the "Vanguard" program, which taught production techniques, treating them all as entertainment.

Actually, her favorite was the "Red Flag Flying" program, which broadcast literary songs every day from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM.

From 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM was the children's story program: "The Times Are Calling."

At this time, she would let Li Shu listen while she did housework, tidied the room, and prepared to cook.

Every night around 7:30 PM, the dinner table would tune in to the "Red Star Traffic" and "Red Star Evening News" programs.

The "Red Star Traffic" program was the only real-time broadcast category that occupied two time slots; besides the commute times, it was also on before work in the morning, during breakfast.

Generally speaking, Li Xuewu's family listened to the "Red Star Evening News" every day without fail.

It wasn't just that Qin Jingru wanted to know what was happening at her husband's workplace; even Gu Ning wanted to hear about Li Xuewu's work environment.

Since today was Saturday, after the "Evening News" ended, there was also a "Red Star Interview" program, which was the most popular program among all factory staff and their families.

The person interviewed might be a factory leader, a regular cadre, or more likely, an advanced worker or an ordinary worker.

The interview would focus on hot current events that had happened in the factory that week, interviewing the people involved, making it closer to the people and events around the factory staff.

Sometimes, when waking up in the morning, people would tease a colleague who lived in the same courtyard, saying that the other person's interview last night was done well.

This person would generally become the "protagonist" of everyone's jokes that week, and even more so, an object of envy and recognition.

The closer it was to life, the more it could resonate.

The "Red Star Evening News" program was the propaganda front between the Red Star Steel Mill and its cooperative units.

It might not have the face-to-face effect of the interview program, but the news it broadcast was a weather vane that all cadres and staff in the factory could not ignore, and even more so, needed to take seriously and study.

On the radio, a male and a female announcer were broadcasting with loud voices and clear articulation.

Male: "The main contents of today's program are:"

Female: "Comrade Jing Yunong, Deputy Director of the Factory Management Committee, met with the visiting delegation led by Bao Peigang, Director of the Dongcheng Rural Credit Cooperative, to conduct talks on economic work."

Male: "Comrade Li Xuewu, Deputy Director of the Office and Deputy Leader of the Security Group, attended the special office meeting of the Joint Transport Brigade, reaching further cooperation with multiple participating units."

Female: "Led by the Red Star Steel Mill, multiple parties jointly invested in the construction of the Steel City Container Manufacturing Plant; the agreement was signed today, and the project was officially approved."

Male: "Comrade Gu Weijie, Deputy Director of the Factory Management Committee, held a discussion at the Red Star International Hotel with visiting foreign business representatives from an international trade travel group."

Female: "The railway commuter shuttle train connecting the four cities of Beijing, Tianjin, Steel City, and Yingcheng was officially approved for construction today."

Male: "The joint trade project reached a new high; after entering winter, the seventh batch of trade trains arrived at the factory's dispatch and loading workshop platform at 16:14 today."

Female: "The construction planning blueprints for the Food Industry Production Zone project department were officially finalized, with an estimated construction period of ten months."

Male: "News from the Steel City Steelmaking Plant: the sixteenth batch of special steel was successfully smelted; the three major categories of existing special steel have completed seven historical production breakthroughs."

……

Qin Jingru walked out of the dining room and glanced at Li Xuewu, who was sitting on the sofa drinking tea and reading.

She had just counted silently in her heart; news mentioning Li Xuewu's name accounted for four items; it seemed that he had a hand in all the work the steel mill was busy with.

This really wronged Li Xuewu; he didn't want to be this busy, but who told him Li Huai De thought the same way.

Li Huai De didn't want to be this busy, so he could only make Li Xuewu busy.

The two of them really couldn't do without each other, and neither of them should shortchange the other; neither of them wanted to have it easy.

As the Deputy Director of the Office, the monthly work plan Li Xuewu formulated for Li Huai De was enough to tire out a production team's donkey.

And Li Huai De?

When he saw the work plan approved by Ding Zigui, his head ached.

If he followed Li Xuewu's plan, he wouldn't have any leisure or entertainment; what would be the point of being the top leader then!

Therefore, he also picked and chose, distributing the work that didn't require his personal leadership to the deputy directors below and to Li Xuewu.

Of course, there weren't many people he could trust, so even if he distributed it to the deputy directors, he was still the one leading and presiding over it.

But it was different when he gave it to Li Xuewu; he only kept the title, while Li Xuewu did the work.

It was just like Li Xuewu forcefully putting food on his plate; he wouldn't eat it, and not only wouldn't he eat it, he would pass it back around.

You aren't letting me have any free time, right? Well, now that I'm busy, don't you think you can just watch the fun.

That's why Li Xuewu's name appeared frequently in the news, and some meetings and work were even presided over by Li Xuewu.

Meeting with the top leader of the Dongcheng Credit Cooperative was in response to the other party's proactive request; they wanted to sit down and talk.

Li Xuewu also learned of the other party's intention from Xiang Yunian, so he arranged this meeting.

Of course, based on the other party's status and rank background, Li Xuewu was not qualified to receive them.

Therefore, Jing Yunong, who was in charge of the steel mill's economic work, was pulled in by him to meet with the other party together.

Perhaps it was because of the foundation laid by Xiang Yunian, or perhaps it was the influence of the case, or perhaps it was the other party's subjective intention, and so on.

This meeting left a particularly deep impression on Jing Yunong from the very beginning.

After the pleasantries, Bao Peigang, Director of the Dongcheng Rural Credit Cooperative, took the initiative to propose a discussion on the advanced experience of the steel mill in foreign trade work, as well as the outlook on economic work.

Upon hearing the other party say this, Li Xuewu's eyes lit up.

Exchanging a glance with Jing Yunong, both of them saw the surprise of "the God of Wealth has arrived" in each other's eyes.

Afterwards, Jing Yunong, as the leader in charge of trade and economic work, shared with Bao Peigang the steel mill's successful trade experience at the Yangcheng Trade Fair, as well as the foreign trade activities the steel mill was currently carrying out.

Li Xuewu, as the person in charge of trade work coordination and project supervision, introduced the projects that the steel mill had already completed and put into production.

He also introduced the basic situation of projects that were under construction, had already been approved, and were seeking approval.

Especially the businesses related to foreign trade and the supporting three-production projects, all of which were industries where abundant benefits and high investment returns could be seen.

Bao Peigang was certainly no fool; he wouldn't believe whatever these two from the steel mill said.

Even though Li Xuewu had the Office staff bring relevant materials, he wasn't in a hurry to commit.

Both sides had a relatively in-depth communication and exchange regarding existing projects and development experience.

They launched a discussion on the capital and economic management construction issues that arose during the trade process.

At the same time, Bao Peigang also spoke about the difficulties and challenges the credit cooperative was facing at the current stage; in the process of industry reform and progress, some work needed to be adjusted and learned from with an open mind.

Coming to the steel mill this time, he said, the credit cooperative needed to learn more from brother units, discuss more, and conduct economic issue research and exploration in a more practical and feasible way.

Li Xuewu saw that the other party was fishing, so he quietly made a gesture to Jing Yunong, and the two immediately switched from offense to defense, restraining their subjective consciousness in the conversation.

Jing Yunong knew what was going on as soon as she saw his small gesture; the working relationship between the two couldn't be called tacit understanding yet.

But this kind of communication tacit understanding was there; with just one look, her tone changed, and she started talking about the steel mill's financial difficulties.

She started from the expansion of personnel recruitment; the steel mill completed an expansion plan of recruiting 26,000 people last year and this year, and the financial budget immediately shrank.

And this year was the steel mill's year of construction and development, and the demand for the financial budget far exceeded the range that could actually be borne.

Facing the continuously pouring in foreign trade orders, seeing the old mechanical equipment, backward production technology, and the worker team in urgent need of renewal in the production units, she, as the leader in charge, was anxious in her heart and worried on her face.

Hey! You want to fish, right? Well, I'm throwing out a piece of bait now; how will you face it, Your Excellency?!

The bait Jing Yunong threw out under Li Xuewu's reminder was no ordinary one.

It was aimed directly at the other party's situation of having money but nowhere to spend it, telling the other party point-blank: we are worried now!

Looking at the production situation in the workshop, there were really only two things that didn't work:

This didn't work, and that didn't work.

But look, nothing we have works, yet these foreign trade orders are being shoved into our hands as if no one else can do them.

Jing Yunong almost asked the other party directly: What do you think we should do?

In Li Xuewu's spinning eyes, it was almost as if he was telling the other party: If it really doesn't work, we can only let it break; who told us we don't have the money to develop.

Good fellow, Bao Peigang looked at this male and female pair, one singing and one harmonizing, and thought he had arrived at an opera house.

He was the one who came to fish, but now he was being treated as the fish!

The world is truly treacherous, human hearts are hard to fathom, the night is dark and the road is slippery, and human hearts are complex.

Judging from the materials provided by the steel mill and the analysis of the situation learned from above, the foreign trade work here was indeed done well.

Furthermore, the trade network jointly formed by multiple Beijing and out-of-town enterprises with the steel mill as the core was also an economic achievement he valued relatively highly.

If the credit cooperative wanted to develop, it inevitably had to make investments; if money couldn't beget money, what was the point of having a bank.

The credit cooperative was also a type of bank category; although its business wasn't as broad as a bank's, basic capital and business activities could still exist.

Especially since their funds came from rural areas, and the authority management was more flexible and convenient.

If it were before, he absolutely wouldn't have come to the steel mill in person to discuss investment business; their unit didn't lack good projects.

However, starting from last year until now, investment projects had appeared one after another with losses or failures, especially in rural areas, where many projects could not recover costs.

Now the credit cooperative was eager to seek new, stable, and relatively high-return projects for re-entrepreneurship.

He favored the steel mill; the third reason was that it possessed tens of thousands of formal staff, as well as over a hundred thousand staff family members.

Investment was one aspect, but the savings capacity here was also particularly eye-catching; with the savings capacity of over a hundred thousand people activated, there was a cash flow of millions every month.

Of course, he could see these things, and the steel mill's cadres weren't stupid; they saw it even more clearly than he did.

See that? That Deputy Director Jing cast the hook, and that Deputy Director Li hung the bait, and even threw bait into the water; they really treated him as a starving fish.

Bao Peigang really could endure; that day was just a meeting, and he gained a certain understanding of these projects, but he didn't say a word about cooperation.

When sending them off, Li Xuewu and Jing Yunong made a bet that before the lunar new year, this fish would definitely take the bait.

Jing Yunong didn't believe it, saying his bait was spread too sweetly, the nest was cast too deep, and the fish wouldn't dare eat it, fearing it would run off the hook.

Li Xuewu curled his lip and told Jing Yunong that fishing wasn't about the depth of the nest, and even less about the amount of bait; it was all about technique.

Jing Yunong was so angry she almost hit him; what was that supposed to mean?

So if the other party ran off the hook, it meant her technique as the fisher was no good!

Hey! She was truly impressed by Li Xuewu; whatever words were turned around in his mouth, by the time they came out, he had no responsibility at all!

Li Xuewu really didn't look down on her; regarding fishing, although he wasn't good at catching real fish, but when it came to catching people... hehe.

The cooperation with the credit cooperative didn't happen overnight, but the cooperation with the train station and other joint units was further expanded and developed.

First, at the joint office meeting of the Transport Brigade, Li Xuewu coordinated with the Beijing Train Station to launch negotiations on third-production cooperation business, which was the expansion of operations related to transport.

After a morning of consultation and discussion, both sides unanimously agreed to launch further expansion work on the Transport Brigade starting next month.

The transport team cooperated by both sides would not only undertake the transport tasks of the train freight station and the transport tasks of joint trade, but also needed to exert subjective initiative.

They would negotiate and communicate with other business-related units regarding transport business, integrate the transport orders of cooperative enterprises, and manage and serve in an integrated and professional manner, easing the transport pressure of each unit.

To achieve this goal, it was inevitable to upgrade and transform the Transport Brigade's vehicles and loading/unloading equipment.

Both sides negotiated to jointly invest one million yuan in June this year for the procurement of light and heavy trucks and tractors.

The tractors mainly considered imported Kraz or domestic Hongyan, mainly serving container transport.

The light truck procurement order was proactively approached by the Beijing Second Auto Works, which moved upon hearing the news; this work still needed to be negotiated further.

Regarding the revolution of container transport, it was proposed by Li Xuewu at the Steel City inspection office meeting last year.

The Steel City Hardware Research Institute had already completed the design of the container and the manufacturing process design.

The project plan had already been obtained, and the revolution and opportunity to change the transport pattern of bulk commodities were right before his eyes.

Although foreign countries had also started container transport now, it was still rare domestically, and could only be seen when railways connected to foreign transport business.

Li Xuewu had his eyes set on this key point, wanting to start from the first professional container manufacturing enterprise in the interior, monopolizing and controlling the technological revolution of the transport industry.

In the situation where the railway network was not completely developed, and road transport and water transport were the main transport means today, the larger the bulk transport task, the more it tested the ability and strength of the transport team.

With the configuration of tractor semi-trailers plus containers, Li Xuewu didn't believe the Transport Brigade couldn't handle the transport tasks of these units.

If combined with the five-ton and one-and-a-half-ton bulk transport power, and the use of heavy-duty cargo tricycles in batches and teams next year to change the short-distance heavy-load transport pattern, he believed the transport trend in Beijing would have to follow suit.

The container manufacturing plant had too many restrictions, and also too many opportunities; the steel mill side couldn't grasp it, and couldn't control it.

Therefore, Li Xuewu fully exerted his economic theory talent of borrowing a chicken to lay eggs, pulling in investments from Beijing Train Station, Beijing Chemical, Tianjin Marine Products, and other units.

I provide the project, you provide the money, and we happily spend the New Year.

The largest investment for the steel mill before the New Year landed just like this, with an investment amount exceeding three million; the steel mill didn't spend a penny, just provided the land and construction power.

In other words, for the container manufacturing plant built in Steel City, with unified specifications, meeting the transport capacity of railways, automobiles, and ships, and having a significant impact on transport teams, shipyards, shipping companies, train transport, and trade companies, the steel mill only provided an idea.

If you have to be pedantic, Li Xuewu would have to say, we also provided the land and construction power; the factory area needed to be built, and needed to be managed.

From site selection to construction, from machinery to technology, the steel mill really had it in the palm of its hand, always occupying the initiative in negotiations.

Therefore, although this project didn't invest much money, the steel mill's shareholding was the largest, even if there were too many investing units and the shares were divided too thinly.

Actually, even if the steel mill didn't fight for it, other units had no interest in fighting for the management authority of this unit.

It was mainly because these units Li Xuewu found couldn't be linked to production much.

With his crafty mind, would he cooperate with a stingy person like the Beijing Machinery Second Plant?

Wouldn't that let the other party snatch the project away~

Beijing Train Station was indeed very fond of this project, and the investment was also the largest.

At that time, the other party wanted to find a place in Beijing to build the plant, but was persuaded by Li Xuewu.

The most direct reason was that the steel mill had a very deep manufacturing ability and foundation in Steel City.

Including special steel and hardware manufacturing ability, and the land and labor were cheap, and it was convenient to transport by ship and railway.

Beijing Train Station hung this investment on the third-production company business, enjoying the advantages and treatment of railway transport like the Transport Brigade, and could also be mastered by the station-level hands.

This was the same as the steel mill putting trade and industry in third-production business; it was the same goal achieved by different means.

They were all small-minded, afraid of being targeted by those above.

The steel mill was actually okay; the railway's third-production was the domineering one.

Some were called third-production, some were called multi-business, all meant the same thing.

The ones you couldn't see included construction, real estate, guesthouses, travel agencies, etc.

The ones you could see, once mentioned, you would know; there used to be, now there are fewer, they were the ones holding foam boxes on the platform selling ice cream.

Those people were from multi-business companies or third-production companies; they were all children of railway staff, had no jobs, and could only go do this.

There were also those pushing carts on the train, shouting: "Sunflower seeds, peanuts, ham sausages, cigarettes, beer, mineral water, make way~"; these people, although wearing railway staff uniforms, belonged to multi-business companies.

The steel mill couldn't reach this level at all; after all, it didn't have so many resources to utilize.

Just like commuter trains, railway staff only needed to hold their work IDs to ride the trains of the section where their unit was located.

Even if they brought family members, it was fine; the train conductor would turn a blind eye, as long as it wasn't excessive, they wouldn't care; after all, everyone had times like that.

But the steel mill didn't have this advantage; now Tianjin, Steel City, and Yingcheng all had branch factory areas or business areas, not counting the small offices.

The personnel commute and flow needed to be larger and larger, and the transport need needed to be stronger and stronger.

Tianjin was okay, at worst they could use cars to run on the road, but the transport capacity and comfort were limited.

What about the distant Steel City and Yingcheng? The commute for workers was truly difficult.

In the future, the steel mill would increase investment in resources in several places, including the adjustment of human resources in Beijing.

Beijing locals, as long as the whole family wasn't moving, would sooner or later have to go home to visit relatives.

If they really asked for reimbursement for train tickets, the steel mill couldn't afford it either.

Therefore, starting from last year, the steel mill had been coordinating and contacting the Beijing Railway, wanting to open commuter carriages.

Of course, it couldn't be a train; the steel mill didn't have such a large transport need, and it was even more impossible to spend such great effort to buy a whole train to run.

But buying and refitting some train carriages was still possible; commuting between Beijing, Tianjin, Steel City, and Yingcheng, and transporting letters and parcels could be considered a type of welfare treatment.

Originally, the travel expenses for workers visiting relatives and recuperating were to be reimbursed; now, getting a few carriages out and attaching them to the train lines going to the Northeast, adding one more wasn't very difficult.

The reason it hadn't been negotiated successfully was that Beijing Train Station hadn't yet obtained enough strength from the steel mill to convince itself to support this application.

Now the cooperation strength had increased, the foundation for interaction between the two sides had strengthened, and this work was naturally pushed forward.

And the staff commuting between the four places, upon hearing this news, were naturally inexplicably happy.

Because this meant that holding the tickets allocated by the factory dispatch, they could take the commuter carriages belonging exclusively to the steel mill on special train runs.

Even if such carriages couldn't be available every day, or even not necessarily every week, the free welfare directly benefited the staff.

When Li Xuewu did things, he would also praise himself, cleverly revealing the side of him that did things.

This wasn't a shortcoming; people who could do things could naturally be like this; it was just those who didn't do things but deliberately looked for things to reveal themselves that were to be feared.

"Today's program ends here, thank you everyone!"

Following a melodious musical rhythm, the "Red Star Evening News" program ended.

This era didn't have advertisements inserted in the program; basically, if there was a program, it was connected, and if there wasn't, it was cut off, particularly overbearing and blunt.

Anyway, I didn't earn your money!

The Red Star Radio Station was the steel mill's own unit; in the broadcast, it naturally had to do a good job of service and propaganda.

The program connection time was generally transitioned with soft or melodious music.

Qin Jingru tidied up the toys scattered on the floor and carried Li Shu, who was already tilting her head and about to fall asleep, into the room.

When she came out again, she inevitably had to complain about Han Jiankun a few times, saying he didn't have eyes, and couldn't see the child was about to fall asleep.

Han Jiankun was also aggrieved; didn't you just tell me to climb high to sweep the dust behind the curtains? How could I see the child when my face was facing outside?

Grow eyes on the back of my head?

Of course, he didn't dare say these words; whatever Qin Jingru wanted to nag about, it was whatever.

You talk?

Once you finish talking, you're happy, but when you get home, it's trouble; she could find eight hundred things for you to do.

So if taking a step back couldn't make the sea and sky vast, then take another step back.

If enduring for a moment couldn't make the wind calm and the waves still, then endure for another moment.

Qin Jingru was busy, speaking softly, and her ears still had to listen to the radio.

In the past, at this time, she would habitually turn off the knob, because the next program was "Vanguard," which was technical, and she would want to sleep listening to it.

But today was different; today was Saturday, and Vanguard would be one time slot later, giving way to "Red Star Interview."

But just as the familiar prelude music sounded on the radio, and the voice of the familiar broadcaster Yu Haitang came through, the telephone on the coffee table rang.

Hurriedly, Qin Jingru walked a few steps quickly to turn off the radio, very afraid of disturbing Li Xuewu, who was answering the phone.

He didn't care about the noise of the radio when he was reading, and even when she made collisions while cleaning the room, it was fine.

It was just answering the phone; Qin Jingru also knew she couldn't convey the impression of having no rules and a bad environment to the person on the other end of the phone.

"Good."

……

"Good."

……

"Yes, I understand."

……

"Good, I'll look into it and reply to you on Monday."

……

"Goodbye."

Li Huai De called personally; this was very rare; even if there was an important work notification, it was usually Li Haiyang or Office Director Ding Zigui who called.

The reason Li Huai De called personally was naturally because the news was particularly prominent and shocking.

But Li Xuewu didn't show any surprise or shock, as if it were all within his calculations.

But starting from daytime today, until the fermentation of this news, from the transmission above, to Li Huai De, and then to Li Xuewu's level, it was hard to say how many people wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.

The news wasn't from today; actually, it had already been written and issued yesterday, but the document was too important, so it wasn't transmitted down immediately.

Li Xuewu put down the phone and glanced at Qin Jingru, who was frozen there, and Han Jiankun, who was standing on the ladder looking over here.

He raised his eyebrows, then smiled slightly, and said: "That's about enough; if you have time, clean it up tomorrow; go home early and rest early."

"That..."

Qin Jingru blinked, wanting to say something, but seeing Li Xuewu look over, she held it back.

It wasn't that Li Xuewu's gaze was scary, but that she suddenly didn't know how to say it.

She also really didn't understand why the news just mentioned on the phone was the way it was, just feeling inexplicably panicked and terrified.

Li Xuewu nodded slowly and comforted her: "Don't let your imagination run wild; it has nothing to do with you; just do your work well."

"Alright."

He didn't continue this topic, but put down the book in his hand, stood up, waved at the two, and said: "Go home; you've both been tired for a day."

After sending off Han Jiankun and Qin Jingru, Li Xuewu went to take a bath, changed into pajamas, and only then entered the inner room.

The bedside lamp was on; the light wasn't very dazzling, but it wasn't suitable for reading.

Gu Ning was very clear about the importance of her body during pregnancy and didn't act willfully.

But she was awake when Li Xuewu entered the room.

"Why aren't you asleep yet?"

Li Xuewu looked at Li Shu in the small bed, covered her with a quilt, and only then touched the quilt and got into bed.

Gu Ning turned her head lazily, looked at Li Xuewu, and asked: "What's wrong?"

"You heard it?"

Li Xuewu laughed as he tidied the scattered hair on her face and said: "It's nothing, just work business."

Gu Ning didn't believe his words, pursed her lips, her gaze was a bit weak, but she still stubbornly looked at him.

Li Xuewu let out a long sigh, lay down, looked at the ceiling, and said: "The wind and clouds are changing, and the cold wind is even more biting."

Gu Ning turned her head and reached out to turn off the light, but turned back to face Li Xuewu; anyway, she wouldn't be able to sleep for a while, so she wanted to hear how this wind was cold.

Li Xuewu actually didn't want to say it; saying it was meaningless, especially since he had also borrowed this east wind.

Li Huai De just called him, his tone carrying panic and urgency, as if he were scared to death.

Could he not be afraid? He himself was grasping the initiative of the steel mill by following the university study activity.

At that time, the wind inside the steel mill blew so hard, so many problems appeared, and so many people were affected because of this.

Now another wave had come, and it was even more powerful; he could imagine whether Li Huai De thought of the trouble and pressure the work group brought him when he heard this news.

On the phone, Li Huai De emphasized repeatedly, requiring Li Xuewu to strictly grasp and manage the stability and safety inside the steel mill, absolutely not giving others the opportunity and excuse to intervene.

He even told Li Xuewu that he could use thunderous means if necessary.

Li Xuewu naturally wouldn't listen to him; Old Li was terrified, treating every bush and tree as an enemy.

At this time, stability was necessary; being loose on the outside but tight on the inside was the normal state of safety and security.

If he really wanted to conduct supervision, the stability in the factory now would inevitably collapse rapidly.

Even if Li Huai De stuffed the supervision department and power into his hands, he wouldn't use them easily.

Since ancient times, people who used these dirty means never had a good end.

Since the founding of the Jinyiwei, only one commander had a good end; the reason naturally didn't need to be said.

The urinal theory had been explained clearly enough; Li Xuewu never thought about narrowing his path.

Now you see Old Li is very panicked; if Li Xuewu really followed his words, this period of time would eventually pass, and by then, Li Xuewu, who held safety and supervision capabilities, would become a thorn in his heart.

So, solve problems when they need to be solved; being dizzy couldn't prevent death, and it couldn't delay sleep either.

As for Li Huai De's worries, they were all within Li Xuewu's calculations and predictions.

Not just now, and not just Li Huai De; there were plenty of people who should be worried and should be in this category.

The matter of Old Li using him as a gun barrel didn't hold up; him using Old Li as a urinal was more like it.

On Sunday morning, Qin Jingru had time to tidy up the room upstairs, saying that Sister Zhou had also cleaned the room when she left.

Li Xuewu listened to her and thought of Zhou Wang Yamei, who had brought her child to Beijing for official business last week.

He was a bit busy with work, and the other party was also busy with recruitment, so they could only see each other in the morning and evening, and couldn't say many words.

Zhou Wang Yamei didn't deliberately avoid him, and even less did she have the intention of showing off in front of Gu Ning; her words and actions could also be seen as sincere.

Li Xuewu arrived home on Sunday night and had a relatively deep conversation with her, mainly about work.

Regarding the use of Zhou Changli, he also gave his own opinions and suggestions.

Zhou Wang Yamei didn't care about Zhou Changli's initiative and activity; she was in psychology, so handling such a young man really wasn't a problem.

Zhou Changli actually didn't need his advice, and even less did he need Zhou Wang Yamei to set rules for him; it was just that this time he came back, he was given many lessons, truly having the meaning of being remade in a furnace.

During this week in Beijing, Zhou Changli actively cooperated with Zhou Wang Yamei's work, proactively introducing and recruiting many good seedlings.

During this week, Yu Li also fully supported their work, especially the gathering that night, which she helped Zhou Changli reimburse in the name of the club.

It seemed that for a young man like him, even if he could earn more money outside, how much could he save.

I'm afraid this time he came back, Zhou Changli's pockets would be emptied cleaner than his face.

Li Xuewu told Yu Li that day that he couldn't be given a hard time, and even less could he be allowed to suffer a loss.

Doing work for the unit, even if it was for his face, he couldn't be allowed to pay out of his own pocket.

By then, would he be recruiting people, or would the unit be recruiting people?

Zhou Changli also understood a lot after the fight at the door, and his actions were restrained.

What taught him an even greater lesson was that after coming back this time, by taking the opportunity to wash his hands of the past, he saw clearly the chaos in the Beijing underworld.

He jumped from inside the circle to outside the circle, and knew more clearly that the "Wanzhu" (tough guys) were actually committing mistakes; if truly investigated, none of it was a small matter.

These people had no future; let alone that they weren't willing to follow him, even if they were willing, he didn't want to take these people with him.

The Wanzhu were playing now, but later it would be their lives.

Zhao Lao Si heard he went to the Beihai ice rink and thought he was nostalgic for Beijing, wanting to comfort him that a great man's ambitions were in the four directions.

Actually, Zhou Changli wasn't nostalgic for the time here at all; his underworld was no longer here.

If you want to talk about glory, that was also in the past, it was empty, unrealistic, and had no future.

He was also a young man of seventeen or eighteen, and now he had to live like a man.

Yu Li reimbursed him for the banquet expenses; he didn't say anything and accepted it, just as he had made clear at the door, who he was working for and whose rice he was eating.

Is it aggrieved?

Maybe!

However, when he handed the three hundred yuan to his father, the old father's surprised and panicked gaze deeply stung his heart.

"Take it, my salary."

Just that one sentence, Zhou Changli said it with justification, with unprecedented confidence and pride.

His father was afraid the money came from an improper source, but he was even more afraid his father wouldn't believe he had turned over a new leaf.

Therefore, whatever grievances and self-esteem, when facing family, were worth it at this moment.

Zhou Wang Yamei knew his family situation and had originally decided to take the child back to Steel City first, letting Zhou Changli rest for a few more days.

After all, the New Year was coming, and she wanted to pick up her parents to spend the New Year at home, but Zhou Changli was leaving his hometown to work.

Zhou Changli refused her kindness and insisted on going with her, heading north back to the unit.

He knew very well that Beijing was a vortex; there was no place for him here, and even less was there his life.

If he stayed any longer, he would inevitably be dragged in, and by then, there would be no survival.

Zhao Lao Si, who was such a mixed-up person, was now living with his younger brother in the gatehouse of a large mansion; do you think he was greedy for vanity?

No one knew that Zhao Lao Si actually had the most sensitive sense of smell for these things.

According to him, starting this year, which was from the beginning of this month, swarms of "yellow clothes" gathered in the large square every day.

They were like a headless mob, venting anger, spreading news, from dawn to dusk, never dispersing throughout the day.

Don't look at Zhao Lao Si closing his door to read the "Analects," but his ears weren't deaf, and he knew everything about the underworld.

Among those yellow clothes, Zhao Wang Weidong and his kind were examples, eager to borrow the wind to rise, but had their ladders pulled away.

Think about it, that fight at the club door last week, was it simply because of a girl?

Of course not; it was the Wanzhu recuperating and starting to recover.

Ever since the four underworld rules were set, the Wanzhu basically saw clearly the path they would take in the future, and also knew the current situation.

These people basically took the region as the boundary, with famous Wanzhu as the core, spontaneously forming one "pier" after another later on, and started conflicts and annexations among each other.

Looking from another direction, those elite children who were most active in May last year, what kind of situation had they fallen into now?

Being fooled, being suppressed, and even being scattered and handled; think about what Lai Yide did, and what he wanted to do.

Now do you all understand?

He wanted revenge, revenge on those who deceived and used their youth and ignorance.

How crazy and sought-after they were at the beginning, how excited and thrilled they were, that's how disappointed and regretful they were now.

Lai Yide naturally went to the extreme, but he also represented the things this type of person wanted to do but wasn't prepared for how to do.

Zhao Wang Weidong and Seeing Wei Guo and their kind of old soldiers were actually all this type of person; they were all played, and now they were all busy with their own futures, having no time to bother with the Wanzhu.

The underworld had two factions; one faction didn't play anymore, had problems itself, and had no mind to fight for these empty and drifting things.

Then would the remaining faction be more united?

Of course not; these Wanzhu had dense piers in the North City area with Deshengmen as the center, and coupled with historical grievances, the contradictions were particularly intense.

In this narrow area, there were several big Wanzhu in De-nei, De-wai, Houhai, and Shichahai.

If you added the surrounding Xinjiekou, Xizhimen, Taipinghu, Waiguan, and Di'anmen, it could be said that chaos was everywhere, and groups of "bears" stood together.

It was just that the prestige of the little cubs beating the hooligans last August still remained, and the Wanzhu had not yet grown their wings, and the group of dragons had no leader.

Now it looked like both sides were basically at peace, each playing their own game.

However, this year was destined to be restless. ===== CHAPTER 1006 =====