Chapter 1090: Don't Provoke That Young Man

"Sigh, the fault is ours. We must admit it; there's nothing to argue about."

Deputy Director Cao nodded and said, "Loopholes appeared in our management work, and we should sincerely apologize to the Third Guard Regiment."

He looked at Li Xuewu, spread his hands, and smiled bitterly, "Killing someone doesn't mean you have to decapitate them; you have to give us a chance to apologize, right? Don't you think so?"

"If an apology could solve all problems, my wish would be world peace."

When Li Xuewu spoke pleasantries, he could praise someone to the skies, but if he wanted to say something cutting, he could stab someone right in the lungs with a single sentence.

At this moment, a single sentence left Deputy Director Cao almost biting his own tongue. He hadn't expected the cadres of the Red Star Factory to be so arrogant, not giving any face at all.

Of course, no matter how ugly his expression was, he wouldn't lose his temper here. After all, Gu Ning was sitting there without saying a word, and he was the one who had come begging.

His rank wasn't low either; otherwise, since they were all classmates, why would Gu Ning address him by his official title?

Saying their relationship was average might have been a factor, but the key was that she was giving Li Xuewu a reminder.

Deputy Director Cao wasn't without connections in the capital; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to make that call to the Garrison Command.

But he hadn't expected the call to the Garrison Command to sink like a stone in the ocean, and when he went to find other connections, they wouldn't even take his calls.

He knew he had kicked an iron plate, and it was because his own unit had acted too basely and too immorally.

Therefore, his attitude was very clear: apologize where an apology is due, make amends where amends are due. However, just as he said, killing someone doesn't mean you have to decapitate them; he had to take the people back. If he couldn't take them back, he needn't think about going back himself.

They were all in management at their units. Since he had come representing his unit, even if he had to beg everyone, he had to get the people out first.

What kind of place were they being held in? Staying an extra night was trouble, and they might even suffer greatly.

His connections hadn't been sought in vain; someone had pointed him toward a clear path: come to the Red Star Factory and find Li Xuewu, because this Li Xuewu was the Deputy Regiment Commander of the Third Guard Regiment, and also the First Deputy Political Commissar.

The other connections hadn't said much; pointing out a clear path was to solve the problem. To reveal everything would have been to plot against Li Xuewu, creating an enemy.

Deputy Director Cao called home overnight, asking his unit to investigate what exactly was going on with those two shipping containers. Even if he was going to pay a visit to a new boss, he had to have a solid foundation in his heart.

He didn't know until he checked, and once he checked, he was shocked.

This batch of goods had been declared at customs by Oriental Trading, and the delivery order was also under Oriental Trading's procedures.

Why was Oriental Trading shocked?

This trading company wasn't a local unit, but a branch of the Hong Kong Five Harvest Firm, and all their incoming and outgoing goods were related to the Five Harvest Firm.

The two shipping containers that had been dropped off separately didn't have a consignee listed, but the transfer procedures were completely normal—they were at the Beijing Railway Station Freight Yard.

The Tianjin Port side contacted the relevant personnel in a rush and, with great effort, received a piece of news: these two shipping containers were a special dispatch from Hong Kong.

The news said that this was a batch of chemical fertilizer specifically coordinated by the Red Star Factory for the Third Guard Regiment, intended for the agricultural reclamation area. They had given a reminder long ago, but no one had paid attention.

Now that the trouble had been stirred up, those cadres who had made mistakes had been detained by the other side. Where could they go to file a lawsuit and expect to win?

So, after putting their heads together, they decided they still had to come to the Red Star Factory to find this cadre named Li Xuewu.

Since they had found the key person, they had to figure out his background, so they used their connections in the capital to inquire about Li Xuewu's history.

Good heavens, one inquiry and they were shocked again.

Everyone said the capital was a gathering place for heroes and a land of spiritual brilliance; there were countless young people with great abilities.

The person they were looking for right now was a standout among young cadres, with an extremely rich resume and an extremely complex network of relationships. They didn't dare to easily apply pressure or force him.

He had returned with a chest full of military medals, made a name for himself in the public security unit, and subsequently received the Labor Model Medal and the Advanced Individual Medal in succession.

They couldn't play hardball with this one; the medals pinned to his chest were harder than anything else—they couldn't be pierced, they couldn't be suppressed.

What was important was that this Li Xuewu was considered a top-tier figure in the Red Star Factory, and he held a position in the Third Guard Regiment. The network of relationships woven behind him was massive.

When he heard that he had come to the capital, a whole group of friends called to invite him to dinner, but as soon as they heard he was asking about Li Xuewu, they all cautiously warned him not to provoke that young man—he wasn't easy to provoke, and people had already fallen because of him.

This was a warning from good friends. As for those he asked through others, as soon as they heard the name Li Xuewu, they turned and left, not daring to say even half a word more.

Chasing them to ask? They would just hold up a palm and tell you two numbers.

Two years, nearly five hundred.

Two years was easy to understand; it was roughly the time this young man had been working since returning. What did "nearly five hundred" mean?

They told him to go to the Western Suburbs Shooting Range and ask for himself how many people had been sent there to face a firing squad by that "Li Erbala" in the last two years.

Good heavens, Deputy Director Cao finally understood. The name that these people avoided and turned pale at the mention of was actually a god of slaughter.

When he heard this record, sweat appeared on his forehead. Don't tell me those people taken away by his unit had also been sent to the firing range?

It was precisely because they had heard of Li Xuewu's record that these people were extremely polite in their attitude and tone when they found Gu Ning.

They knew Gu Ning was a leader of the Red Star Factory, and a high-ranking one at that, so they thought they would subtly suppress Li Xuewu to make it easier to talk.

After all, his rank wasn't low either; he couldn't really beg Li Xuewu with his head bowed, could he?

But they never expected that when they found Gu Ning's office, they would be brought here by her.

Weren't they factory leaders? Couldn't they just make a phone call to summon a deputy division chief?

Now that Gu Ning had brought them to see Li Xuewu, who exactly was the leader here!

Actually, Gu Ning hadn't done anything wrong; she couldn't afford to offend Li Xuewu because of Deputy Director Cao.

When it came down to it, the mistake had been made by the Tianjin Port side, and they had provoked the Third Guard Regiment; it had nothing to do with the Red Star Factory. She couldn't use her position and rank to suppress Li Xuewu.

Acting as a bridge was fine, and even accompanying them out of classmate friendship was fine, but anything more was absolutely out of the question.

Just looking at Li Xuewu's attitude after they entered, one could tell he was representing the Third Guard Regiment.

Deputy Director Cao didn't dare not believe Li Xuewu when he said he would open fire on people. This god of slaughter's record wasn't something blown out of proportion; how many he had killed was something people already remembered.

This capital wasn't his territory, so bowing his head a little was nothing, and Li Xuewu scolding him a couple of times was nothing, as long as the matter could be resolved.

"What does Regiment Commander Qi Yaowu of the Third Guard Regiment mean? Anger is anger, but the matter still needs to be resolved."

Gu Ning knew she had to speak up at this moment; otherwise, wouldn't things just reach a stalemate?

She said in a gentle tone, "Since Deputy Director Cao has come, and you've seen his attitude, let's all sit down and talk properly about how to resolve this."

"Regiment Commander Qi has likely gone up the mountain at this hour; we can't talk. Just keep the people locked up."

Li Xuewu picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said, "News from above says that the Third Guard Regiment's reclamation area will be built as a demonstration zone this year, and the top leader is coming to inspect."

"He is most worried about missing the farming season and delaying the planting in the reclamation area. He does everything himself. Your people are truly bold and reckless; they dare to rob anyone's goods."

"Yes, yes, yes, we were wrong."

Deputy Director Cao nodded and said, "We accept the punishment. As long as the Third Guard Regiment says the word, we will certainly comply. We can handle it however you want, but the people..."

For example, cheap cars, cheap motorcycles, cheap electrical appliances, and hardware small commodities, etc.

"Everyone has a mission. Should our mission be sacrificed for the sake of yours?"

Li Xuewu frowned as he looked at him and said, "If you put it that way, then let's not talk about reason."

He put down the teacup in his hand and said, "If you've come looking for a fight, I'll give you a piece of advice: the people of the Third Guard Regiment aren't the type to be scared off."

"No, no, that's not what I meant!"

Deputy Director Cao hurriedly explained, "I mean, let's not let this matter ferment. Everyone is working for the organization; we should help each other."

Li Xuewu glanced at him, paused for a long while, and then said, "Since you've invited Deputy Director Gu here, I won't play games with you."

"I hold a position in the Third Guard Regiment, but I cannot eat inside and out, helping outsiders speak."

He tapped the sofa armrest lightly with his palm and said, "You can tell me whatever you have to say. If I find it feasible, I will certainly convey it to Regiment Commander Qi. You've come all this way; you can't just leave without saying anything."

"Uh..."

Deputy Director Cao looked at Li Xuewu, then at Gu Ning. How the hell was he supposed to respond to that?

He understood what Li Xuewu meant; it was nothing more than: tell me how much sincerity you have. If I think it's feasible, then I'll be the one to talk to Qi Yaowu about this matter.

It meant that Qi Yaowu was absolutely not to be seen, and Li Xuewu wasn't going to put himself in a difficult position to plead for them and get the people back from the Third Guard Regiment.

There was no affection or entanglement between the two sides, so there was no need for empty talk. Apologies weren't necessary; those who had done wrong were likely already carving "I'm sorry" into their hearts and mouths.

As long as they could still speak, the one thing they would say most was "I'm sorry."

Now they had entered the stage of talking about money without hurting feelings, because there were no feelings to talk about.

Li Xuewu, acting as the middleman, talking to him, actually gave both sides some room.

Of course, before the conversation, Li Xuewu had also made his stance clear: he was absolutely going to stand on the side of the Third Guard Regiment to talk to them; no empty talk.

Gu Ning had known what Li Xuewu was going to do the moment he mentioned her name twice.

Since this matter involved the interests of the Red Star Factory, her stance was naturally on Li Xuewu's side.

She coughed lightly and took the initiative to ask Deputy Director Cao, "I remember those two shipping containers were on the transport line between the Red Star Factory and Tianjin Aquatic Products. How did the issue of requisitioning arise?"

Damn! Another one!

When Deputy Director Cao heard her say this, his heart skipped a beat. The look he cast at Gu Ning gradually turned bitter. Did this count as walking right into a trap?

The Third Guard Regiment alone was troublesome enough, and now she had dragged the Red Star Factory's transport line into it. How much blood would he have to shed to resolve this?

However, Gu Ning's sentence didn't count as looting a burning house; it actually gave him a train of thought to resolve the matter, which was this line of the Red Star Factory.

May 1st, the whole factory was on holiday.

Of course, the "whole factory" here didn't include the special workshops and the duty personnel on standby.

However, the production workshops were stopped, and the boiler workshop just didn't extinguish the fires; it wasn't as hard as usual.

Moreover, there were performances at the factory's open-air stadium this afternoon, so in reality, there were even more people in the factory.

Taking advantage of the large crowd today, the Red Star Factory officially announced several pieces of news, all of which were closely related to the factory workers.

The first piece of news was the most shocking: the Red Star Factory had officially determined its group-based industrial goals and the composition of its organizational departments.

It roughly matched the rumors that had leaked out earlier: the factory group would have fifteen deputy-bureau-level direct departments, thirteen deputy-bureau-level or division-level secondary branches, and multiple tertiary branches.

The group's fifteen direct departments were: Comprehensive Management Department, Strategic Planning Department, Technology Development Department, Quality, Safety, and Environmental Protection Department, Engineering Management Department, Business Management Department, Personnel and Labor Department, Financial Control Department, Marketing Management Department, International Business Department, Production Management Department, Dispatch and Transport Department, Organization Department, Enterprise Publicity Department, and the Workers' Union organization.

Different from the existing grouping structure, because of work needs, the group headquarters once again implemented hierarchical and regional management, weakening the authority of deputy directors.

The thirteen secondary branches were divided into group direct units, professional factories, subsidiaries, and joint-stock companies.

The group's direct institutions were: Red Star Steel Group Construction Branch, Red Star Steel Group Medical Administration, Red Star Steel Group Literary Publishing House, Red Star Steel Group Labor Service Branch, and Red Star Steel Group Education Administration.

The professional factory institutions were: Steel City Steel Mill, Yingcheng Shipyard, Red Star Rolling Mill, and the Technology Research Institute.

The subsidiary institutions were: Red Star Automobile Manufacturing Plant, Tianjin Trade Management Center (International Business Department, International Automobile General Dealership).

The joint-stock company institutions were: Joint Tertiary Industry Branch, Joint Industry Branch.

The more important tertiary branches included: Red Star Steel Group Security Corps, Red Star Steel Group Fire Corps, Red Star Steel Group Beijing Hospital, Red Star Steel Group Art Troupe, etc.

The determination of the group structure officially represented that the Red Star Factory's three-year plan and five-year plan had been put on the agenda, clarifying the overall strategic development goals.

The factory cadres and workers all clarified the direction they would strive for and develop in the future, and even more determined the goals they would work hard and advance toward.

Everyone had a clear idea of where they would go to work in the future and what position they should advance to.

The announcement of this document completely stabilized the hearts of all the factory cadres and workers; everyone finally didn't have to worry about where they would go in the future.

The only thing to worry about now was how to get there. Only by working hard and performing actively in the next three years could they win the position they had in mind.

Especially for cadres, if they wanted to stay in the capital, they would inevitably have to enter the group, or go to the tertiary industry, otherwise, all heavy industrial production would move to Steel City, so where would they find work?

However, everyone was calculating for themselves, and also calculating the leaders above.

Fifteen departments, excluding the Workers' Union which was listed and managed separately, the other fourteen would have at most one group deputy leader managing two, so there were still two leaders missing.

Especially when the group goals were realized, there would definitely be group deputy leaders transferred, and at that time, at least three new deputy positions would be created.

Furthermore, there were deputy-bureau-level units within the secondary branches, and it was very likely that the persons in charge would hold group deputy positions. At that time, the number of factory leadership team members would definitely increase.

Just from the group goal document announced by the factory, everyone could guess what would happen in three years.

Actually, it wasn't difficult, but the mid-level management cadres were panicked, not knowing how to place their bets.

This thing relied entirely on gambling; who knew which leader would be transferred and which leader would stay?

What they knew now was that Dong Wenxue wouldn't leave, because although he was a deputy director, his path in the Red Star Factory hadn't been finished yet.

Another one was that Li Huai De wouldn't leave, because the cake was made; how could he be willing to leave without eating his fill? Wouldn't that be making wedding clothes for someone else?

The last one was that the factory Workers' Union Chairman Xiong Bencheng wouldn't leave, because he was about to retire; how could he leave? Who would receive such a sick old man?

Except for these three, all other factory leaders could potentially be transferred. Who would you bet on?

This was Old Li's strategy to win people's hearts, a calculated move that hit all the factory leaders in the waist.

Dong Wenxue was far away in Steel City, Xiong Bencheng was on his deathbed. Who would the factory cadres bet on?

This move of his was called "subduing the enemy without fighting." It was truly both tricky and fierce, disrupting all the layouts in other factories; it belonged to the type that flips the table.

The influence of the second piece of news was no less than the first. The factory announced the construction plan for the Liangma River Ecological Industrial Zone, including the layout of the Workers' New Village.

All those factory workers who were looking forward to getting housing had finally received reliable news this time.

How many buildings the factory would build, how many square meters, how many units and houses, were all in the document.

And the departments and facilities serving the Workers' New Village, tertiary industry, and division-level research institutes were also determined, including schools, shopping malls, savings offices, etc.

What worried the factory workers the most was that the announced plan included content about merging surrounding factories, including those factories' equipment, land, and workers.

They were going to integrate the resources of these factories to form a supplement to the tertiary industry, and the workers of these factories would also be merged into the factory in the form of secondment.

The direction of resettlement was also announced. Service personnel would be placed in service positions after passing exams, production personnel would be diverted to the rolling mill to implement a three-shift + one-shift production mode, and other production personnel would be deployed to the tertiary industry.

Cadres would be placed in various deputy positions in the rolling mill after passing exams to receive training and learning, or placed in Steel City and the newly built tertiary industry.

Here, one had to mention the back door Li Xuewu left, which was that several factories in Steel City were going to be built one after another. They had workers, but they were still lacking management cadres.

How did they talk to Liu Xiangqian at the beginning?

The cadres' relationships were in the city, right?

That was fine, but these cadres' people weren't in the city. If they were placed in the capital, they would definitely be snatched away by the city.

The move Li Xuewu was making now was to appoint outstanding cadres to Steel City, filling in the

newly built factories and the existing cadre teams.

The transfer of cadres for newly built factories and departments to the factory was already being done, including cadres within the headquarters who were gradually being sent down to each new factory.

After these hundreds of cadres were screened and examined, they would just happen to fill this hole.

Considering it from the Red Star Factory's perspective, this was a good thing, because the management hidden dangers brought by the rapid expansion of production scale were eliminated all at once.

But considering it from the perspective of the factory cadres, this wasn't very good. Although the incoming cadres were considered to be holding positions, they occupied a position after all, snatching their goals for advancement.

Furthermore, the document wrote that a large portion of these people would stay, and after three years, they would enter the Red Star Factory's cadre sequence.

So the current competition also represented future competition. From the moment the document was issued, the competition had already begun.

Factory cadres had competitive pressure, but didn't factory workers?

How could that be? A worker team of nearly 60,000 people would be merged in within a year. How much welfare and development opportunity would that take away?

Furthermore, a portion of these workers would also enter the rolling mill's management sequence after three years, becoming formal workers of the Red Star Factory.

And because two new rolling mills were going to be built, they had to face a choice.

That was whether to follow the rolling mill to Steel City, or stay in the capital and be transferred to the city's rolling mill.

The two choices each had advantages and disadvantages. They were both rolling mills, both old trades. One had good welfare but required leaving home; one had unknown welfare but could stay in the capital.

The factory implemented a three-shift + one-shift production strategy because they saw that there were many workers now, fully capable of supporting 24-hour uninterrupted production operations.

At the same time, it could guarantee the existence of a mobile shift, completing the training and education of new workers, and continuously eliminating those whose skills and attitudes were unqualified.

After the personnel changes, the pressure on them became greater and greater. It had nothing to do with production; it came entirely from the involution of production technology.

In the past, comrades in one shift competed; later, the whole factory had a grand competition, competing together; now, workers merged in from outside also participated.

Wouldn't this have to roll into a pot of porridge!

The third piece of news: the Red Star Factory was going to build a park center plaza opposite the factory gate, which was the location scheduled for the Liangma River Ecological Industrial Zone, and start building a huge portrait statue of the top leader and a stone tablet of the poem "Qin Yuan Chun · Changsha" written by the top leader in 1925.

The fourth piece of news: the Trade Management Center officially determined the office specifications and management departments.

Among them, personnel specifications included: division-level manager, deputy-division-level deputy manager, section-level finance section chief, business section chief, logistics section chief, etc.

Management departments included: Dispatch Class, Telecommunications Class, Maintenance Class, Sales Office, Procurement Office, Information Office, Finance Office, etc.

And the several sales outlets located in the capital were the first to start changes and reforms, forming relatively professional direct offices.

The document announced by the Trade Management Center pointed out that within the next year, they were going to build a professional automobile sales store in the East City and West City respectively.

That was the "Four Sons Store" planned by Li Xuewu, but the service was more comprehensive than a Four Sons Store.

These two professional automobile sales stores would serve as templates for automobile business operations in offices across the country, and also templates for expanding business to other cities with offices as the core.

Offices would only be established in core cities; secondary cities would not have office institutions, but sales outlets would be established to form tertiary branch management institutions.

The business scope, in addition to the sales of Red Star Antelope and motorcycles, also included special vehicles, commissioned sales of vehicles, training courses, driving courses, etc.

Just from the fact that the offices were equipped with ultra-long-distance radio stations, one could see the Red Star Factory's grand scale; they were bound to form a national trade connection network.

They could concentrate excellent products from all over the country onto a platform, place them in various supply chains, and even sell their own and brother units' products.

Several important measures and policies were officially announced on May 1st, highlighting the Red Star Factory's ambitious, lofty aspirations, swearing to open up the world and do great things.

"You're not watching the show?"

Jing Yunong came out of the building and greeted Li Xuewu when she saw him going downstairs to get into the car.

She brought Li Xue over and said, "Today's program has been rehearsed by the Art Troupe for a long time. You're not interested?"

"Look at what you're saying, I have things to be busy with," Li Xuewu said with a smile, explaining when he saw the other party judging him like Chen Shimei, "Besides, it's not that I'm not watching; I was thinking of going for a turn before leaving."

"Driving over? Keep dreaming!"

Jing Yunong grabbed his arm and pointed to the small path leading to the stadium, saying, "The factory road is full of people. How are you going to get over? Walk."

"Hehe, I really didn't think of that. Thank you, leader—"

Li Xuewu thanked her with a light laugh, while glancing at Li Xue behind her. Don't let the sister misunderstand the pulling just now.

Don't worry, she won't misunderstand; you two definitely have something going on!

Li Xue saw her second brother's gaze drift over and rolled her eyes, really not wanting to look at him.

You just said you had cleared things up with those few in the courtyard, and then you came to the factory to do this.

Especially since the other party was a leader, and her own leader at that. How embarrassing.

Of course, she was guessing, but the more she thought about it, the more she felt it was the case. But without evidence, she couldn't say anything and could only sulk.

Jing Yunong didn't pay attention to her attitude but asked about the Tianjin Port matter.

"I heard from Deputy Director Gu that the matter was handled very satisfactorily and even helped our factory gain real benefits?"

"It was originally Regiment Commander Qi's arrangement from the Third Guard Regiment. He isn't some heinous person. What can he do by catching those people? Isn't it just extorting a sum?"

Li Xuewu explained, "He himself knew there was no need to clash head-on with the other side. The other side is a leader coming to pick up people. What if no one came to pick them up?"

He looked at the street ahead. Sure enough, there were many people, all moving toward the stadium.

"If no one came to pick them up, those people would just be stuck in the hands of the Third Guard Regiment," Jing Yunong nodded and said, "Handling it this way is correct; each side takes a step back."

"Isn't it just that they couldn't swallow this breath!"

Li Xuewu shook his head slightly and said, "Now the Third Guard Regiment has real benefits, and our factory's Tianjin office has opened up the situation at the port. It's a good thing for both sides."

"I actually think it's very rare, after all, these relationships are mixed in."

Jing Yunong looked at Li Xuewu and said, "You are truly slick and have quite a few methods!"

"Is this praising me or scolding me?"

Li Xuewu said with a smile, "If I really had a slick heart, I wouldn't have let the other side get away unscathed. I would have had to peel a layer of skin off them."

"Still need to pay attention to unity, after all, we have to cooperate in the future. It's not good to make it a one-off deal," Jing Yunong shook her head and said, "I think this is quite good. From now on, we have a firm foothold at the port, which makes it convenient for the handling of some business."

"But it owes the Third Guard Regiment a favor."

Li Xuewu reminded her at the right time, "It's not convenient for me to bring this up actively. You factory leaders should think about it and when to pay it back."

"With you here, what's inconvenient?" Jing Yunong gave him an amused look and didn't continue the topic, which counted as tacit agreement.

They walked to the stadium. There were security group cadres maintaining order at the scene, fire brigade members preparing at the scene, and even an ambulance from the factory hospital at the entrance.

For large-scale performances, especially with an audience of over 10,000, under Li Xuewu's strict safety requirements, the factory's organization department attached great importance to it.

Everything that could be prepared had been done to the best of their ability under existing conditions. However, the factory workers of today were much more obedient than those of later generations.

They were told not to crowd and must queue, so there were really very few who cut in line, and even fewer who crowded inward.

The crowding situation that happened in the main canteen last time was strictly handled by Li Xuewu, who was the Security Li Kezhang at the time, and the factory workers all remembered it.

Jing Yunong intentionally stood at the entrance to watch the workers entering and leaving, and Li Xuewu wasn't in a hurry to go in.

He said he would go for a turn and then leave because he was thinking of going to the club side early.

May 1st Labor Day, all factories in the city were on holiday, and all had program performances.

Even for small factories that didn't have them, workers all found connections to come to big factories to watch the programs.

Entertainment in this era was extremely scarce; even with a radio, it couldn't satisfy the audiovisual experience.

Such a large-scale program performance was truly rare, so workers brought their families and all came, and even those who could take advantage of relatives' connections came to watch.

The Red Star Factory's stadium was open-air and especially large. When it was built, it was also rugged and simple, just a tiered layout, with a high stage built in the middle, and people all around could see it.

"Leader, why not go in?"

Zhou Yao was organizing safety work. When she saw Li Xuewu standing at the entrance, she trotted over to greet him.

Li Xuewu nodded and signaled to her, "Go about your business; the leader and I are just checking the situation."

"Okay, call me if you have anything."

Zhou Yao saluted the two and ran off to get busy. There were many people today, and the security group's manpower had all been drawn over to be on duty, but it still wasn't enough.

At the entrance, seeing Zhou Yao salute Li Xuewu, many factory workers finally noticed the leaders standing in the corner.

The reason they were "leaders" was that they had already habitually regarded Li Xuewu as a factory leader.

Several times when Li Huai De should have gone down for inspection, Li Xuewu had substituted for him. The aura of dignity he carried also left a very deep impression on the frontline workers.

Especially the several times he handled sudden accidents in the factory, it made the workers fear him in their hearts, but also respect him.

Familiar workers even boldly greeted him, and could receive his smile and nod in response.

"Hey! Xuewu!"

Li Xuewu was asking Li Xue if the family was coming when he heard someone call his name.

In the factory, there really weren't many who dared to call him by his name directly. Even factory leaders would add the word "comrade" after his name.

Actually, he didn't need to look back; except for Seeing Sha Zhu, basically no one dared to shout like that.

And he shouted like that to set off that he possessed this qualification. Li Xuewu had become the most awesome sworn brother in his mouth.

"Whoa! You really have ability—!"

Li Xuewu saw Seeing Sha Zhu holding the child in the crowd and walked over with a smile to greet him.

Diliya was carefully nursing him by his side, very afraid that the reckless Seeing Sha Zhu would drop the child.

"Let me hold him—"

Li Xuewu teased the sturdy-looking little child with a smile. What was Seeing Sha Zhu's son called?

Called He Zhuang, but he was really sturdy.

This kid completely followed his father's build, and it was also because Diliya's breast milk was good that he was eaten chubby.

Li Xuewu reached out to hold him, and he really stretched out his little hands to let him hold him, not recognizing strangers at all.

A four-month-old child actually already recognized people; he could remember both mom and dad.

Li Xuewu looked scary, but the little child wasn't afraid of him and was even willing to be close to him.

He Zhuang was wearing a small padded jacket, diapered, and his big eyes were curiously looking at the people around him.

Some who knew Seeing Sha Zhu greeted him with a smile, teasing him that he finally had a son and had come to show off.

"Hey! I just have a son!"

Seeing Sha Zhu shouted with a smile, "So what if I show off? I'm willing!"

Li Xuewu bounced the chubby little boy. It was also his first time seeing him, so he took five yuan out of his pocket, folded it with one hand, and stuffed it into the child's clothes pocket.

Diliya saw this and hurriedly said politely that she couldn't take it, but Seeing Sha Zhu laughed and stopped her.

"This money must be taken. This is the 'waist-pressing money' given by a real uncle; it must be taken. Come, Dad will keep it for you."

"Go, you have no seriousness!"

Diliya saw that he was making a scene without limits, patted him, took the child from Li Xuewu's arms, and thanked him very seriously.

Li Xuewu nodded with a smile. He treated Pazile as a brother, so naturally, he treated Diliya as a sister.

It was just that the impression of him when she first saw him was still engraved in her mind and wasn't very good. She had been in the capital for a year and still looked at him with fearful eyes.

"Division Chief Li, we meet again."

The one greeting him was Yushui's partner, whom he had met in the courtyard a few days ago. Li Xuewu still remembered his name was Dai Xiang Yang.

They were walking behind, and when they caught up, they took the initiative to greet Li Xuewu. Yushui, however, still pretended not to see him; he didn't know why her temper was so big.

Li Xuewu's impression of Dai Xiang Yang was quite good, especially the point that the other party took the initiative to greet him.

Many young people didn't have parents with them and would pretend not to see neighbors when they saw them, and wouldn't speak either.

Li Xuewu had the same idea as the older generation about such children: they wouldn't amount to much.

This Dai Xiang Yang worked in the Technology Section but didn't have the pedantry and introversion of technical personnel; he was someone who could speak and do things.

Li Xuewu shook hands with him with a smile and asked, "Didn't your factory organize a program?"

"Organized it. Isn't this it? Wanting to borrow my big brother's light to come and see some different characteristics."

Dai Xiang Yang was truly good at speaking; he didn't borrow Yushui to speak, but instead talked about Seeing Sha Zhu, putting his brother-in-law in front of his eyes, decent and flexible.

Seeing Sha Zhu was happy, introduced the situation here to him with a smile, and also talked about the programs to be performed today.

They were also queuing. If it hadn't been for seeing Seeing Sha Zhu holding the child, he wouldn't have come over.

Neighbors were like this; as long as they held a child and went to your house to visit, you had to give some "waist-pressing money" the first time.

No matter how much, one yuan, two yuan, three mao, five mao, it was up to your heart, counting as a blessing for the child.

Li Xuewu's relationship with Seeing Sha Zhu naturally didn't need to be said, mainly looking at Diliya's face.

After all, she followed him from the frontier to the capital from thousands of miles away, and the brother and sister both trusted him.

Diliya worked at the recycling station herself and also took Seeing Sha Zhu to help there.

Pazile was devoted to the Third Guard Regiment and wanted to make a name for himself in this capital.

So, even if he didn't hold the child and go to his house, when he saw him, he had to give some "waist-pressing money."

He couldn't pretend not to see, or give too little. Seeing Sha Zhu and the others wouldn't care, but Li Xuewu always acted openly and honorably, valuing feelings and righteousness.

When Diliya thanked Li Xuewu and collected the money for the child, someone saw it. Knowing it was "waist-pressing money," they couldn't help but be surprised that it was too much.

Especially Seeing Sha Zhu's shout to Li Xuewu, everyone here was thinking that Seeing Sha Zhu had silly luck to have obtained such a big backer as Li Xuewu.

Not to mention that he worked in the factory canteen himself and didn't have times when he had to beg people, but now with Li Xuewu covering him, who would dare to make things difficult for him?

Look at his wife. Although she wasn't pretty, her build was honest, looking like she would have many children and many blessings, and she had an even better personality.

How did this Seeing Sha Zhu have such good fortune!

Watching Li Xuewu go to Jing Deputy Director's side after greeting, and gathering with other leaders who had just come over to talk and laugh.

Dai Xiang Yang said to Seeing Sha Zhu with a smile, "This Division Chief Li is truly powerful; his status in the factory is evident."

"He has great ability. His words and deeds are the top of the hat among the people I've seen."

Seeing Sha Zhu introduced to Dai Xiang Yang, "You see him speaking harmoniously, but actually his temper is the worst. His face used to be very sour, and I didn't dare to provoke him."

"Don't talk nonsense—!"

Diliya glanced around and glared at Seeing Sha Zhu, reminding him not to talk nonsense and let others hear it.

Seeing Sha Zhu didn't care. His relationship with Li Xuewu was good; what could be wrong with saying this?

Besides, he didn't say anything bad about Li Xuewu, just about their relationship.

The two were talking here, but Yushui reminded Dai Xiang Yang unpleasantly, "Don't bother with him, don't go up and push!"

Her tone was a bit awkward, and she didn't know where the temper came from: "Did he bother with you? Why are you sticking your hot face to someone else's cold butt?"

"How are you talking!"

Seeing Sha Zhu glared at her. This sister wasn't like this before. Although she fought with Li Xuewu, she had never abandoned him.

Furthermore, Yushui's personality was the most open-minded; there were very few situations where she would haggle or quarrel with others.

She had been getting along very well with Dai Xiang Yang for a period of time recently, and the progress of their relationship was stable.

It was just that whenever she saw Li Xuewu, Yushui's emotions would fluctuate, and she would even speak ill of him.

Dai Xiang Yang also understood Yushui's personality; she was very normal to him on weekdays.

He asked hesitantly, "Didn't he just greet us? Do you have any conflict with him?"

"Do you know if he had a cold face?" Yushui curled her lips and said, "You can't feel it when he's cold. Who can see through his mind?"

Dai Xiang Yang was a bit surprised by what she said, but under the big brother-in-law's eye signal, he didn't continue the topic.

He also knew Yushui was angry and didn't want to anger her; he just felt she was a bit paranoid.

Although the picking and making things difficult just now made him feel a bit ugly, liking Yushui was sincere.

Seeing that Li Xuewu accompanied a group of leaders along the stadium's internal passage, he was also drumming in his heart.

If you talk about status, that one is a leader, and Yushui is just a grassroots cadre.

If you talk about relationship, that one is already married and doesn't live in the courtyard, and Yushui has no dealings with him.

If you talk about the situation, since Yushui is having a blind date with him, the matchmaker's words were clear: she is just a widow waiting at the door and doesn't have a partner.

Then what exactly is going on between her and Li Xuewu? ===== CHAPTER 1091 =====