Chapter 1264: You broke up?

In the era when the Red Star shines, what is the social life after work like?

Professional like Old Li, early in the small canteen, later in the reception house, now the International Hotel, closing the door, self-contained.

Hiring a master chef, eating from a small stove, drinking real fine wine.

A cup of tea after a meal, slow shaking two-part song, talking about current events, doing real things.

Of course, there are also people who only eat, drink, and dance without doing serious things, like Old Li.

Using wine banquets as a means, using dance and singing as accompaniment, raising glasses to feast, waving and pointing, seems to be the main theme from ancient times to the present.

The Red Star Factory is located in the capital, eating the geographical dividend. Old Li, as the facade of the Red Star Factory, naturally has a lot of socializing.

Eating two meals at home a year can be considered a lot. He doesn't see his wife before going to bed, and basically doesn't see her when he wakes up.

Don't ask; asking means working for the organization and contributing to the collective.

Compared to the Red Star Factory, how do enterprises or units from all over the country socialize and entertain when they are in Beijing for business or seeking cooperation?

Find a restaurant on the street?

Then the relationship is gone; the waiter's attitude can make you half-dead, and then make your guests half-dead; the two of you will be finished when you get together.

This is when you have to use the Beijing Office.

The history of the Beijing Office can be traced back to the fellow-townsman associations and guild halls of the feudal dynasties, such as the Huzhou Guild Hall, Ningzhou Guild Hall, etc.

Although the early guild halls were numerous, most were for maintaining, uniting, and harmonizing the relationships of fellow townsmen, clansmen, and industries, with geographical, blood, and industrial ties.

That is to say, the guild hall in this period was not yet a synonym for a brothel; don't misunderstand, it was quite decent inside.

Of course, it developed, and not all of it was good. Things blown in were also messy, and it seemed that there were no good words after so many years.

The rise of guild halls had certain objective reasons. Whether they were officials, people, gentlemen, or merchants, they could interact without any restraint in the guild hall.

So the guild hall gradually became an important place for political and social activities. Many major historical events and important historical figures in modern times were related to guild halls.

At that time, when you came out of the house and your wife asked you what you were doing, you said you were going to the guild hall to handle business, and your wife would definitely think you were looking for fellow-townsman relationships to get rich.

It didn't work in later generations. If you dared to say you were going to the guild hall to handle business, then you were finished.

At that time, the function of guild halls and fellow-townsman associations in the capital was mainly to communicate the connection between the hometown and the capital, receive local gentlemen on business in the capital, and hometown students who came to the capital for exams, and maintain the legitimate rights and interests of hometown people in the capital.

After liberation, there needed to be a close liaison mechanism between the above and various places to discuss construction projects and approve plans to allocate materials.

But at that time, transportation and communication were not developed, and local persons in charge couldn't wait in the capital every day.

So in order to maintain contact with the above at any time, a resident agency in the capital was needed to be responsible for document transmission and communication.

After 1949, the first Beijing Office—the Inner Mongolia Beijing Office—was established with this mission.

At the same time, when it was just liberated, various unstable factors still existed, and some guild halls with the nature of non-governmental organizations became places for special forces to lurk.

In the late 1950s, many guild halls were banned and replaced by Beijing offices of various localities and liaison offices at the county level.

Hu Ke talked about this history when entertaining Li Xuewu for tea after the meal, mentioning the year with the most, from 1958 to 1959, when 28 Beijing offices were established one after another, all at the provincial level.

Such units looked solemn and serious on the outside, but in fact, they were resident liaison units, mainly doing communication and service work.

Hu Ke told Li Xuewu that he used to do secretarial work and had also served as Secretary-General.

Now serving as Deputy Director of the Beijing Office, there was no difference compared to before.

If there was a difference, the difference was that the leaders served in Beijing were uncertain.

His position now was definitely not that of a waiter; he was a key figure who cooperated with the leadership to complete relatively important work.

For example, now, only four people were sitting in the lounge.

Hu Ke, Li Xuewu, Xu Sian, and Wang Ruiqing.

Li Xuewu was the Secretary-General of the Red Star Factory and also the main person in charge of economic and organizational work. His attitude represented Li Huai to a certain extent.

Xu Sian was the main person in charge of Liaodong industrial investment and production construction of the Red Star Factory, and the head of Yingcheng Shipbuilding.

Wang Ruiqing, General Manager of the Steel City Coal Fourth Company.

The purpose of Hu Ke gathering these three together was self-evident from the moment Li Xuewu sat there.

Xu Sian was calm, his face was slightly red, holding a teacup and blowing air like a toad, as if he was still in a state of sobering up.

In fact, when he followed Li Xuewu to the office and saw these people at the wine table, he had already started calculating in his heart.

His primary purpose for coming to Beijing this time was to probe and urge the factory to contact Yingcheng as soon as possible and land the Yingcheng Port Wharf project.

For him, the Red Star Factory's approval of the construction of the Fengcheng-Steel City-Yingcheng industrial chain integration block submitted by the Liaodong Industrial Leadership Group was definitely a big opportunity.

As the person in charge of Yingcheng Shipbuilding, he was of course also in the leadership group and knew very well who was behind this project.

Leaving others aside, the focus of Xu Sian's attention on this project was reversed.

That is to say, he wanted to put Yingcheng first and build it as the starting point of this industrial chain.

Why think so?

Very simple: mastering the shipyard, and then mastering the shipping wharf at the exit, with the current rail transport situation and industrial production capacity in the Northeast, as well as resource allocation, he, Old Xu, only needed to guard Yingcheng Shipbuilding, and taking off on the spot was just around the corner.

Any industrial production and trade development cannot be separated from transportation. He finally realized the Northeast Asia economic circle that Li Xuewu intended to build after thinking about it again and again.

So, don't think about the inland wharf in Steel City; that's not a cake he can touch. Fengcheng is an industrial area that the factory just started to expand, but it is definitely not the last piece of the puzzle.

From Fengcheng along the railway line, Jicheng and Bingcheng will be connected sooner or later, and more and more industries and trade will blossom in the Northeast. Whether it is entering or exiting, the Yingcheng Port Wharf will be a key gateway.

Don't think about the inland wharf in Steel City; thousand-ton cargo ships or passenger ships might be able to enter, but the main transport force in the future will definitely be large ships of ten thousand tons or more.

It is not difficult to see this point from the production planning and development direction Li Xuewu set for Yingcheng Shipbuilding.

Small ship construction project, the main production direction is still yachts and fishing boats. Although medium-sized ships also have fishing boats, they are mainly bulk cargo ships. The future production focus is large ships of ten thousand tons or more. The shipyards currently under construction are all for large ships.

Even the production shipyards for small and medium-sized ships are trying to satisfy the foundation of large shipyard modification. One shipyard building six small ships or four larger ships at the same time is the standard situation at present.

Saying that simultaneous construction saves costs, the potential large ship productivity has already been paved.

Since the second half of last year, Yingcheng Shipbuilding has begun to receive construction data and design personnel for ten-thousand-ton cargo ships.

Talents directly dug by the Red Star Factory from the Jiangnan Shipyard and other shipyards with large ship construction experience.

The French Santa Ya Group output technology and equipment according to the cooperation agreement.

The first ten-thousand-ton bulk cargo ship currently being built by Yingcheng Shipbuilding is the compensation trade payment for the Santa Ya Group.

The first bulk cargo ship is under construction, and the second and third have also completed design and planning.

At the same time, Yingcheng Shipbuilding also received a shipbuilding entrustment application from Dongfeng Shipping. Different from the thousand-ton cargo ships before, this time Dongfeng Shipping ordered new container cargo ships.

The construction plan of the Yingcheng Port Wharf just matched the container cargo ship that was being designed and planned.

What he didn't know was that the Prince Port Wharf far away in the port city was also undergoing renovation construction.

The goal was to transform the existing six bulk cargo wharves into container cargo wharves, and even the land was approved.

By then, goods transported from Yingcheng Port Wharf and Tianjin Port Wharf will reach Prince Port Wharf in the port city directly.

With the Trade Management Center and the International Business Department as the core, with the United Savings Bank and the Oriental Times Bank as support, the super foreign trade joint body of port-to-port and trade-to-trade will be built and operated with the Red Star Factory as the main force.

By then, the economic strength of the Red Star Factory will go to a higher level, similar to switching from an inland highway to a German highway.

Li Xuewu told him in the office that he didn't understand the true purpose of throwing a brick to attract jade, but now he has some understanding.

Actually, the construction plan of the Yingcheng Port Wharf can be decided without talking in Yingcheng; it is more appropriate to talk in the capital.

The Red Star Factory doesn't necessarily have to talk directly to Yingcheng, and it doesn't even have to see people from Yingcheng to handle this matter.

Look at who Hu Ke brought?

Power, manufacturing, aviation, weaponry, coal, except for metallurgy and steel, as well as oil and heavy equipment, how many heavy industries that urgently need to supplement advanced technology and management capabilities came?

It's a blind date meeting; see which one you like. It's impossible for all the big girls to be married off at once, right.

The Fengcheng First Machinery Factory turned losses into profits and came back to life, so can't other industries and systems recharge?

"Did you really quit smoking?"

Hu Ke gestured to the cigarette in his hand, his eyes still hard to hide his surprise, and said, "I thought this thing couldn't be quit."

"I just can't quit eating."

Li Xuewu looked at him with a smile and picked up his teacup to make a joke.

"I'm also taking advantage of being young."

He could see that Hu Ke was a heavy smoker, raised his hand to signal, and said, "It's okay, you smoke yours."

"It's really not a good thing."

Hu Ke shook his head self-deprecatingly, talking while handing a cigarette to Xu Sian and Wang Ruiqing opposite, and Wang Ruiqing took the initiative to help him light it.

"Mm, okay," he waved his hand politely, signaled Wang Ruiqing and Xu Sian to do as they pleased, turned his head and said to Li Xuewu with a smile, "But when work is busy, I want to smoke a puff, saying it relieves fatigue, but I don't believe it myself."

"Sometimes listening to people say how hard it is to be a cadre, having to be the master for the people, and not being able to complain to the people," he smiled and said, "I say it's affectation; if you let him be the people, he will be full of complaints and hardships."

"Here, this used to be a villa of the Qing court."

Hu Ke pointed to the antique lounge. Although it was transformed into a modern style, the structure could still see the former magnificence.

"It is said that Qianlong lived here when he was young, but I don't know if it's true or false."

He took a puff of smoke and continued, "But after I came here to take office, I heard an interesting little story."

"It is said that when Qianlong went to the south of the Yangtze River, a turtle blocked the way."

"Qianlong asked: 'What do you Wang Ba (bastards/turtles) have to report?'"

"The turtle said: 'We have Wang Ba eggs to pay tribute, and we want a black hat (official hat).'"

"Hehehe—"

Xu Sian and Wang Ruiqing laughed when they heard him talking nonsense.

Li Xuewu was also holding the teacup and pecking slowly, the smile on his face didn't decrease, but he was determined in his heart that he would have to endure tonight.

Why?

Because he met someone who would talk nonsense.

Hu Ke didn't care about the laughter of the few, and continued, "Qianlong also found it funny when he encountered such a thing, so he fooled them: 'Okay, when the horse doesn't pull the cart, and the lamp head is facing down, I will let you all be officials.'"

"When the turtle Wang Bas kowtowed and left, Qianlong laughed loudly: 'These stupid Wang Bas, when can a horse not pull a cart, and when can the candle head face down?'"

"The ministers all called the emperor wise."

"In the blink of an eye, more than two hundred years have passed, cars have replaced carriages, and electric lights have replaced candles."

Hu Ke nodded slowly and said, "So, the emperor's words are not jokes, some turtle Wang Ba eggs have become officials, and they are all bastard officials, not doing serious things, just talking nonsense."

The others in the room couldn't laugh.

Li Xuewu glanced at Hu Ke; he didn't expect this brother to be so ruthless, even scolding himself.

"Who told me this story?"

Hu Ke scanned the three of them and said indifferently, "It was a? leader I once served. I won't say who it was specifically."

"But this story has always stayed in my mind, like a sharp sword hanging over my head."

He looked at the few and paused, then said, "I never brag about what I have done, but I always remember that I cannot let people poke my spine; that would make me a real turtle Wang Ba egg."

"I'm really hearing such a meaningful story for the first time."

Li Xuewu nodded, put down the teacup, and said, "Alright, I've remembered it. I'll go tell our factory leaders when I get back."

"Hahaha—"

Hu Ke couldn't hold back first, and laughed loudly with Xu Sian and Wang Ruiqing, pointing at Li Xuewu helplessly.

The secretaries outside the door were confused, did the leaders talk about dirty jokes again?

"Actually, I can guess one or two about the purpose of inviting you here."

Hu Ke finished talking nonsense, extinguished the cigarette butt in his hand, looked at Li Xuewu seriously, and said, "The leadership is particularly satisfied with the transformation of the Fengcheng First Machinery Factory."

"So on one hand, I am entrusted to express gratitude to you who facilitated this matter," he said very politely, "On the other hand, there is a key task, and I want to ask you to help advise and give us your opinion."

"I don't dare to take that—"

Li Xuewu said seriously, "Not to mention my qualifications and experience, just the lack of local work experience, I don't dare to talk nonsense."

"Hey, what we want to ask for advice today is really not local work."

Hu Ke's expression became serious, and he explained, "I don't know if you have any understanding of the coal industry..."

Coal industry?

How to say it.

The key is that Li Xuewu doesn't know what kind of understanding he is asking about.

Does stealing coal count?

If he understands it like this, then he still has rich practical experience. He did this when he was thirteen or fourteen, an old coal miner.

Which coal station the coal truck entering the city from the East City belongs to, where it will drop coal, and who sells it at the highest price, he knows clearly.

"Actually, since the year before last, the above has issued relevant policies, requiring all provinces to actively complete the governance work of coal production."

Hu Ke pointed to Wang Ruiqing's direction, and the relevant situation was introduced by him.

"The main reason for the issuance of relevant policies is for resource integration, improving industrial concentration, and at the same time eradicating the safety hazards of small coal mines."

Wang Ruiqing took out a document from his bag and handed it to Li Xuewu. Seeing that he didn't open it immediately, he wasn't surprised and continued to speak.

"Since 1960, not only our Fourth Company, but the whole city, and even the entire coal industry, have faced a series of challenges and problems."

When talking about this, he glanced at Hu Ke, and then continued to introduce, "First of all, due to some policy planning and development of numerous small coal mines before 1960..."

He spoke relatively vaguely, and it could be seen that he was also a cautious person.

Even if Li Xuewu and Xu Sian were invited by Hu Ke, he still habitually maintained a sense of distance from people he met for the first time.

However, the four people were already sitting in the lounge, and the content that should be talked about still had to be talked about thoroughly.

Li Xuewu is not a small character, not someone Hu Ke can call over casually with a phone call.

He must cherish this opportunity. If he can't move Li Xuewu the first time, then the cooperation between him and the Red Star Factory will be slim.

Therefore, for Wang Ruiqing, mastering the rhythm and scale of the report was a relatively key requirement.

"... Due to the small scale, backward technology, and inadequate safety management of these small coal mines, there are a large number of safety hazards."

He sat up straight quietly and introduced in a reporting tone, "In addition, the scattered operation of these small coal mines has also led to low resource utilization efficiency and weak market competitiveness."

"We Fourth Company acquired some small coal mines of this kind according to the requirements of the Municipal Industrial System in the early stage, and encountered many similar problems."

"How big is the scale of the Steel City Coal Fourth Company?"

Li Xuewu listened carefully, and the question he asked didn't seem professional, but it was very key.

He didn't need to consider what difficulties the Fourth Company was facing now, because Hu Ke didn't invite him to solve difficulties or answer questions.

The goal is very simple: want the Red Star Factory's capital to intervene, introduce scientific management mechanisms, and impact the inherent and rigid production model.

Talk about cooperation, don't be fake polite.

The first thing Li Xuewu needs to determine is the scale of the target industry, whether it can be collected, and then consider the difficulty of whether it can be managed.

"I might not understand if I say the specific data."

He crossed his right leg, looked at the other party and asked, "Is the Fourth Company losing or making money now, what is the annual coal production ranking in the whole province, and what is the quality of the coal."

"This..." Wang Ruiqing hesitated for a moment, and after looking at Hu Ke, he said bluntly, "The Fourth Company was established in 1965..."

"Let me interrupt—"

Hu Ke saw Li Xuewu asking about the main artery, so he took the initiative to explain, "I listened to the cadres of Steel City industry and talked about it. The Fourth Company is an enterprise split and integrated from other companies, used to solve and integrate small coal resources."

"That is to say, there is no scale yet?" Li Xuewu asked pointedly, "Then what is the scale of the split, what is the total assets, what is the approximate coal resource reserves owned, can these be provided."

"Of course there is no problem," Wang Ruiqing gestured to the document bag in front of him and explained, "Relevant materials, according to Deputy Director Hu's requirements, I have prepared a copy for you, including the general situation and data of the coal industry in the whole province."

"Good, you continue—"

Li Xuewu picked up the document bag, pulled out the document while looking at it, and signaled that the other party could continue to introduce.

"I'm just introducing the current situation."

Wang Ruiqing explained first, and seeing Li Xuewu nod, he continued to speak, "The policy requirements given above have been studied and communicated by us. The core focus is to realize the optimal allocation of resources through the merger and acquisition of small coal mines by large coal groups, and improve the safety standards and production efficiency of the entire industry."

"This 'large mine merging small mine' model, in the interpretation of the policy, is to integrate small coal mines through powerful mining groups, thereby improving industrial concentration and solving the safety hazard problems existing in small coal mines."

"Still that set, right?"

Li Xuewu raised his eyes from the document, glanced at Hu Ke, and said, "What is the opinion of your province? It should be unwilling, right."

"It's mainly the city's opinion, we also received some feedback," Hu Ke nodded, his face showing helplessness, and explained, "From the situation of splitting and reorganizing the Fourth Company, you should be able to see that below, in order to ensure fiscal revenue, of course, they are unwilling to give up small coal mines, and are making relevant efforts."

"But the tide is hard to stop, right."

Li Xuewu looked at the document in his hand, his tone indifferent, "No matter how many difficulties there are below, this resource integration policy and project face what kind of heavy obstacles and obstruction."

He pulled out a document and placed it in front of everyone, saying, "Just looking at the annual output and the casualty report, you know that this direction is considered by the above to be a necessary step to improve coal mine safety and market competitiveness."

Wang Ruiqing didn't speak again this time, because he knew that the situation that should be introduced had been introduced, and he had no right to speak in front of Li Xuewu.

Xu Sian picked up the report and read it.

When he saw the output and the comparative casualty figures on it, he was very surprised and asked, "So high?"

"We in the shipbuilding industry don't dare to set such a high figure," he frowned and said to Li Xuewu, "It seems that the problem is not only in equipment and production technology, but also in safety production management."

"Mm, this point must be admitted."

Hu Ke was pointed out the key by Xu Sian and didn't deny it, explaining, "Everyone in the industrial system knows that this is the key period of the 'Three-Year National Economic Adjustment', and the pressure and requirements given above are also very strict."

"Since last year, some enterprises and industries in the province have already started actions, including shutting down a batch of small coal mines that did not meet the requirements," he nodded slowly and said, "This is also a way and management method to integrate the coal industry."

"But the province's opinion is that shutting down is not the goal; the goal is to optimize the structure of the coal industry through these measures, improve the overall safety standards and market competitiveness of the industry, so as to adapt to the needs of national economic development..."

"This hole is not small."

Li Xuewu pointed to the document on his leg, looked at Hu Ke, and said, "It's called resource integration, but it's actually paying back the debts of the Great Leap Forward period, right."

"Mm, the leader's intention is to wait and see," Hu Ke didn't answer his question directly, but explained, "If we can gather the capabilities of several large enterprises to re-operate these coal resources, there is hope."

"Of course—" he added with a smile, "The leader also said, we can cooperate to do it, or we can do it ourselves."

"As long as the rice is in the pot."

"Hehehe—"

Li Xuewu put down the document in his hand with a light laugh, picked up the teacup and took a sip, joking, "This pot of rice is not something ordinary people can eat."

"If the appetite is small, it won't work; if the appetite is big, they won't look at it."

He held the teacup and leaned on the sofa, narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "Your intention is to invite us to form a group in Liaodong?"

"The leader's idea is like this."

Hu Ke saw Li Xuewu break this point, so he said with a smile, "For the Red Star Factory's economic strength and management ability, the leadership is fully trusted, and also understands the Red Star Factory's development needs in Liaodong."

He was eloquent, leaned sideways, patted Li Xuewu's arm and said, "The Red Star Factory, whether it is metallurgical industry or steel rolling industry, or mechanical manufacturing, power generation, etc., all need coal as support."

"Then we can't need coal and just run a coal enterprise, right?"

Li Xuewu said with a smile, "We also need iron ore. Do we need to integrate the iron ore resources in Steel City?"

"That can all be discussed—"

Hu Ke also knew that today was just a taste, and it was impossible to finalize the cooperation on such an occasion, so he also said with a smile, "I'm just afraid that your Red Star Factory won't look at our Steel City's iron ore resources."

"Don't fool me—" Li Xuewu sat up straight, put down the teacup and said in a joking tone, "My appetite is big."

"Don't worry, I guarantee—"

Hu Ke patted his chest and said earnestly, "As long as you are willing to talk!"

He waved his hand, signaled Wang Ruiqing's direction, and said, "Look, friends like Manager Wang can all sit down and talk well."

"Then what if I want to take one step to the end?" Li Xuewu looked like a lion opening its mouth, pretended to be serious, placed the teacup at one end of the document, and said, "What the Red Star Factory can take out is not just resources and management ability."

"Look, the Secretary-General still doesn't believe my words."

Hu Ke also narrowed his eyes, smiled and teased, "You set a time, and I will invite someone who can take one step to the end to talk to you, how about that?"

"Then let's have a long time to come, hahahaha—"

Li Xuewu laughed loudly, picked up the teacup, signaled to Hu Ke and Wang Ruiqing, and the atmosphere in the room became cheerful again.

The secretaries outside the door were confused, did the leaders talk about dirty jokes again?

"It's eleven o'clock. After sending me off, are you still going back?"

"It's eleven o'clock. Are you still going back after dropping me off?"

Xu Sinian glanced at his watch by the faint light coming through the car window and asked Li Xuewu, who was beside him, "Why don't you just stay here?"

"Can we not ask questions like that?"

Li Xuewu glanced at him sideways; he didn't know if Old Xu had seen his look of disdain and strangeness.

"It's the middle of the night, and I always feel a bit uncomfortable and awkward hearing that."

"What the hell?"

Xu Sinian was also stunned for a moment. He carefully recalled and savored the words he had just spoken, then said with a look of disgust, "Your heart is truly filthy."

"Can it be filthier than yours?"

Li Xuewu pointed at the time on his wrist and said, "I'm not going home because I'm afraid of disturbing my family's rest. You've come such a long way, it wasn't easy to make this trip back—don't you want to go home and see them?"

The car was not driving in the direction of Xu Sinian's home, but straight to the International Hotel.

"Well, you're afraid of disturbing your family's rest, am I not?"

Xu Sinian had no reason but insisted on finding one; he glared at him and said, "Are my family members not family?"

"Don't ever say it like that," Li Xuewu waved his hand and said, "Who knows when family members might no longer be true family members."

"I've really learned a lot being with you!"

Xu Sinian nodded with emotion and said, "I hadn't learned to be bad all these years, but ever since I met you, it's really..."

"Have you run out of ways to act like a rogue?"

Li Xuewu glanced at him and asked directly, "What's the situation with that deputy office director? Old Cheng's cautionary tale is still there; don't you go down his old path."

"Don't worry, I can't walk his path!"

Xu Sinian felt even more disgusted and couldn't bear to look; he looked out the window and said, "It's just a normal working relationship. I will handle it properly."

"I'm not reassured when you say that."

Li Xuewu curled his lip and said, "I'll give you a piece of advice: I don't care how you handle it, but don't lose your conscience, and definitely don't let your wife come to the unit to find you."

He patted Xu Sinian's thigh and said, "We are all people building a career. It's not worth it to ruin your reputation over such a small matter, right?"

"Sigh, she is just too stubborn."

Thinking of his wife, Xu Sinian sighed and said, "I asked her to come to Yingcheng, but she wasn't willing, and she won't listen when I explain it to her."

"Talk it over properly. I see your wife as a reasonable person."

Seeing the car turn into the courtyard of the International Hotel, Li Xuewu said to Xu Sinian, "Deputy Director Gu talked to your wife; you should show some effort later too."

"I know," Xu Sinian said with a face full of melancholy and helplessness, "If it weren't for you, who knows how much trouble I would have stirred up."

"Forget it, do you think I can help you for a lifetime?"

The car came to a stop. Li Xuewu pushed open the car door and got out. He said to Han Jiankun, "If you want to go home, go home; if you don't, stay here with me for the night."

"I'll come to pick you up tomorrow morning," Han Jiankun got out of the car, glanced at Xu Sinian who had also gotten out, and explained, "We have to go back to the factory first to change cars."

"You make the arrangements—"

Li Xuewu ignored Xu Sinian's remark that it didn't matter if the car was used for one more night; he patted Han Jiankun's arm and walked up the steps carrying his bag.

His command car was still parked at the entrance, and Peng Xiaoli and Xu Sinian's secretary were still in it. What Han Jiankun meant was taking them back to the factory to switch to this car.

Li Xuewu was staying here, and since the driver and secretary had a convenient car and lived close to home, they were of course going home to sleep.

Zhang Songying had been waiting here for a while and came out to greet them when she saw the two enter the courtyard.

"Is Director Xu drunk?"

She looked at Xu Sinian, who was walking with a slight sway, and asked Li Xuewu, who had come up behind him.

Li Xuewu waved his hand and said, "Arrange a room for him and send him over to rest. He didn't drink much; he just caught the wind."

"It's fine, my mind is still clear."

Xu Sinian smiled politely at Zhang Songying and turned back to give Li Xuewu a meaningful look.

Li Xuewu ignored him and walked straight toward the lobby.

Old Xu played too far out of bounds, and his wife had come to the factory, causing quite a stir.

Li Xuewu didn't care much about such things; the main point was that Xu Sinian had a bottom line.

Although the bottom line wasn't very high, he knew what could be done and what couldn't.

The deputy office director Li Xuewu mentioned wasn't married yet. Seeing Zhang Songying now, he actually started making fun of himself.

What was there to laugh about? With a noisy red flag at home and colorful flags fluttering outside, he still had the leisure to laugh.

Unlike him, who was so principled.

He absolutely never touched dry rations that already had an owner.

He only had one principle: it's not that the goddesses are too expensive to pursue, but that a "7" has a better cost-performance ratio.

If you pursue those little fairies waiting to be married, she will compare you to hundreds of male immortals; but if you pursue a "7," she will only compare you to her husband. Doesn't the difficulty drop by several hundred times instantly?

"Which room is Ms. Maggie Roman in?"

Li Xuewu walked to the front desk and asked. The receptionist looked at him in surprise, then looked at Zhang Songying behind him.

Zhang Songying walked over and reminded him, "Room 607 on the sixth floor. It's so late..."

"Do you still have an appointment?" Xu Sinian heard this and looked at him in surprise.

Li Xuewu turned around and explained casually, "I thought the evening would end quickly, so I made an appointment with the other party to ask about the industrial zone cultural cooperation project."

He checked the time on his wrist and said to Zhang Songying, "Alright, I'll go up and say hello. Please arrange a room for me as well."

"Very well, Leader—"

Seeing Deputy General Manager Zhang nod, the receptionist quickly processed his check-in, but when she looked up again, the leader had already gone toward the stairs.

"Give them to me, I'll send the leader up."

Zhang Songying took the two keys and followed toward the stairs. She took a moment to check; the rooms were all on the third floor.

"I thought you had gone to rest."

Li Xuewu knocked only a few times before the door was opened from the inside.

"What happened to learning Chinese?"

Maggie Roman stood at the door in pink pajamas, hugging her arms and saying resentfully, "Going to night school is a bit bad for one's health."

"I was delayed by work," Li Xuewu smiled and explained, "I was afraid you'd wait too long, so I came up to tell you. Let's meet for breakfast tomorrow."

"Since you're already here, have a midnight snack."

Maggie stepped aside and gestured toward the desk in the room, where there was indeed food that hadn't been touched.

"Then shall we have a midnight snack?"

Li Xuewu thought for a moment and asked with a smile, "Won't I be disturbing you?"

"You are too polite—"

Maggie rolled her eyes and twisted her body as she entered the room.

Li Xuewu shrugged his shoulders and followed her inside.

A beauty's invitation is hard to refuse.

But everyone can rest assured, he is a man of principle!

Just eating a midnight snack and learning a foreign language.

During the study session, Maggie talked about her hometown thousands of miles away. Being a stranger in a strange land, she felt homesick during every festival and was filled with emotion.

Thinking of the little time she spent with her lover back home and the inconvenience of communication, as a foreign affairs officer, she always had such troubles and sorrows.

Li Xuewu taught her a few lines of poetry that fit the mood and scene, such as Cao Gong's "White bones exposed in the wild, not a rooster crows for a thousand miles."

Or Du Gong's "The country is broken, but the mountains and rivers remain; the city is in spring, and the grass and trees are deep. Feeling the times, flowers splash tears; hating the parting, birds startle the heart."

It started to drizzle outside the window. She lit a 555 cigarette, and Li Xuewu fiddled with the record player, teaching her to sing "Jasmine Flower" from the phonograph.

"What a beautiful jasmine flower~"

The lyrics were moving, and the words and melody were beautiful.

Her brown eyes glowed with softness, and she said "thank you" in Chinese.

She extinguished the cigarette butt and invited Li Xuewu to go on an adventure together.

Li Xuewu refused at first because he didn't know if the adventure had any risks, but Maggie said this was the reward for learning a foreign language.

Once these words were out, Li Xuewu couldn't refuse.

Because he never did business at a loss in his life; he couldn't not collect the tuition, right?

The adventure began with mountain climbing. The peaks stood tall, and Li Xuewu taught her a line of poetry: "Viewed horizontally, it's a ridge; viewed vertically, it's a peak; from far, near, high, and low, it looks different!"

Well, the foreign scenery was not bad.

Maggie said she exercised often, and her "ab lines" were indeed obvious, so climbing the mountain was not tiring at all, but very comfortable.

After staying on the mountain for a while, they went down.

At the foot of the mountain was a canyon overgrown with weeds; one could tell this must be a rugged mountain path rarely traveled.

The canyon was deep but narrow, and the two slopes on either side were small but symmetrical.

As the saying goes, the "line of sky" is too high to ascend; there is a ladder to climb deep in the canyon!

The water in the canyon was rushing and clear to the bottom. Although he didn't scoop it with his hands, he could somewhat smell a foreign scent.

Maggie found a poncho and very considerately took the initiative to help Li Xuewu put it on.

But Li Xuewu felt the poncho was a bit small and asked with a smile, "Who was this prepared for?"

Maggie said in surprise, "I didn't expect you to be so big!"

It didn't matter if the poncho was a bit small, as long as he didn't get rainwater on his body.

The path inside the canyon was very narrow. Li Xuewu hadn't expected the mountain stream path to be so narrow—narrower than any other foreign canyon he had ever explored.

High mountains and deep gorges, a spectacular sight in the human world!

The canyon was dark and the mountain stream was difficult to traverse. They walked slowly for a long time and were almost tired to the point of vomiting. Maggie was the first to be unable to bear it.

After trying several times, she also put in effort, but in the end, she had to admit defeat and performed a saxophone piece for him.

One could tell she was indeed very talented; her breath was strong, and it was very pleasant to hear!

"So, you broke up?"

"What else?"

Maggie sat by the window, looking at the night view outside, and said, "You have someone in your heart who is hard to even meet, yet you still think about having a future with them?"

"What about you? You must have had many girlfriends in the past, right?"

"You guessed wrong. I was very humble in the past."

Li Xuewu put on his clothes and explained, "Because I was poor in the past, I couldn't find a girlfriend, so I could only sponge off others."

Maggie: "Uh..."

Is this what you call humble?

You are despicable, damn it!

"Can't be helped," Li Xuewu said to Maggie before going out, "Who told me to meet 85 women I wanted to protect at the most helpless age of my life."

PS: Sigh, I'm really not good at writing this "learning a foreign language" part; I have absolutely no talent for it.

(End of chapter)