Chapter 1466: No School Today

"I've finished cleaning up the courtyard."

On Monday morning, before Li Xuewu went to work, Zhou Ya Mei specifically instructed, "You have to buy vegetables to eat."

"Have you ever seen me go to the market?"

Li Xuewu let her help him put on his coat and said faintly, "Don't worry about me."

"I'm afraid you'll starve to death—"

Zhou Ya Mei looked at him amusedly, then turned to look at Wu Shuping, helping him tidy his clothes with her hands.

"Rest assured, I won't starve to death."

Li Xuewu raised his neck slightly, looked at Wu Shuping, and asked, "Do you need me to arrange for someone to send you off?"

"No need—" Wu Shuping smoothed the hair by her ear embarrassedly and said, "It's not like I've never traveled far."

"Besides, Jinmen isn't far."

"I'll send her to the pier first, then to the station." Zhou Ya Mei said, "There are plenty of trains to Fengcheng; it doesn't matter if it's early or late."

"Oh my, really no need—"

Wu Shuping listened to their concern, amused and warmed, "It's not like I can't find the pier."

"Actually, taking the train is more comfortable."

Zhou Ya Mei handed the briefcase to Li Xuewu and said to herself, "I'm just afraid of taking the boat."

"The Red Star commuter boat is fine."

Wu Shuping stood at the entrance of the porch, looked at their interaction, and said, "It's not seasick to ride."

"Anyway, I've never taken it once."

Zhou Ya Mei smiled, gently brushed the last bit of dust off Li Xuewu's clothes, and nodded with satisfaction.

"I'll have Yu Zhe come back to send you two off in a while."

Li Xuewu didn't say any more nonsense, glanced at the two of them, and went out.

Zhang Enyuan was waiting at the courtyard gate; seeing him come out, he hurriedly stepped forward to take his briefcase.

After a month's absence, Yu Zhe finally returned to the driver's position, looking much steadier.

"Send me to the unit first, then come back to send Sister Zhou and the others."

Li Xuewu said a word to Yu Zhe, who was standing by the car door, and got into the car.

Yu Zhe responded while closing the car door; when he turned around, he even stole a glance at the courtyard.

The gold-rimmed glasses that flashed by touched his heartstrings, but he tried hard to suppress a certain impulse.

He hadn't been idle during his month-long vacation; according to his father, he had almost looked at all the girls in the city—one would think he was choosing a concubine.

"Is it good news for Little Yu?"

The car started, and Zhang Enyuan rarely took the initiative to care about Yu Zhe's life situation.

Yu Zhe secretly glanced at the rearview mirror, his face stiffened, then nodded lightly without saying anything.

"It's good to settle down early; the organization is still very concerned about your emotional situation."

Zhang Enyuan said in a polite but not overly intimate tone, "Director Sun has already asked about you twice; if you hadn't come back, he would have gone out himself to introduce a girlfriend to you."

When he said this, he even turned his head to look at Li Xuewu, the implication self-evident.

Li Xuewu didn't speak, just looked at the street scene flashing by outside the window.

Steel City was still too small; it took less than half an hour to drive from Guanshan Road to the Red Star Industrial Park outside the city, and that was counting the time for traffic jams.

Don't laugh; there were traffic jams in this era too.

However, compared to later generations, what was jammed in this era wasn't cars, but bicycles.

Outside the car window was a crowded army of bicycles, with only a few monotonous colors in sight.

1969 was about to pass, and people's clothing was still just blue, green, and black.

If it were summer, bold and beauty-loving girls might add white and pink themes to the heat, but in early autumn, the cold had arrived, and beauty was freezing too.

He had been working in Steel City for almost ten months, but he didn't seem to have adapted to this city, nor did he seem like someone living in this city.

The air pollution unique to heavy industrial cities was called a symbol of industry, but in Li Xuewu's eyes, it was the dust and haze that couldn't be blocked in winter.

Living in such an environment, even if one got respiratory diseases, it would be a matter of pride and self-esteem.

"Which village is the girl from?"

The car was silent for a long time; Yu Zhe didn't want to talk, and Zhang Enyuan didn't dare to disturb him.

Even the morning briefing hadn't found an opportunity to speak, so Li Xuewu broke the silence.

Zhang Enyuan had a very cautious personality and wouldn't easily express too much in front of him.

Taking the initiative to care about Yu Zhe was also representing the office, emphasizing organizational discipline as a deputy director, even if Yu Zhe was his secretary.

Director Sun was Sun Jia, the director of the metallurgical plant office, and also the supervisor of Zhang Enyuan and Yu Zhe.

Although Zhang Enyuan served as deputy director of the Industrial Leading Group Office, his main job was still Li Xuewu's secretary.

Sun Jia had a more serious work style than Liao Jinhui, a training obtained from long-term silence.

Li Xuewu had never criticized his work, let alone corrected his work style.

Sun Jia was not close to him, although their first meeting could be traced back to when he was the head of the security section.

Not far, not near, upright and respectful—it could be said that following Li Xuewu, he had set an example for the loose-natured metallurgical plant organs.

No matter who approved Yu Zhe's vacation, or for what reason, Sun Jia standing out to emphasize and care was as it should be.

Zhang Enyuan just used a subtle tone and way to remind Yu Zhe: if you want to do the work, do it well; if you don't want to, get out early.

Even emotional life had reached the point of needing organizational concern—how pathetic must this person be.

Yu Zhe also knew good from bad words; he understood the meaning behind Zhang Enyuan's words.

Hearing Li Xuewu's concern, he answered frankly, "From our village."

"Suddenly looking back, that person is in the dim light?" Li Xuewu smiled shallowly, "Was it introduced by a matchmaker, or arranged by your father?"

"My sister arranged it; she's the younger sister of my sister's elementary school classmate." Yu Zhe explained and felt a bit embarrassed, adding, "I hadn't had contact with her before."

"How did she take a fancy to you?"

Li Xuewu asked amusedly, "Did your sister guarantee you, or did your father spend a lot of money?"

"Both, I guess; my father didn't give less in bride price."

Yu Zhe smiled and said, "My sister talked to her sister twice, and it was settled."

"That counts as fate, right?"

Zhang Enyuan also smiled and teased, "How good it is to be from the same village; it's convenient to go home to see parents and parents-in-law, no need to run back and forth."

"When are you getting married?"

Li Xuewu asked with concern, "Have your parents discussed where you two will live in the future?"

"If you don't want to live apart, I'll arrange for you to work in the group; don't affect your relationship."

"No, we haven't talked about that yet."

Yu Zhe hurriedly explained, "My sister told me that even if we get married, it will be next year."

"Mm, you're not young anymore; put your heart into your own affairs, don't be like before."

The car entered the factory area, and Li Xuewu didn't nag anymore, but talked to Zhang Enyuan about work.

Yu Zhe had his own plans; even if he got married, he wouldn't leave this job.

His sister told him clearly that driving for Li Xuewu was both a learning process and a process of accumulating connections.

If he wanted to continue to struggle and grow in the Red Star Steel Group in the future, this process was indispensable.

Less than a year of being a driver wasn't enough; one would think Li Xuewu was dissatisfied with him and let him go early.

At least three years would be good, counted as one term; even if there were other arrangements, it would be considered a successful completion of the task.

Marriage wasn't a life goal arranged by his sister, but one should do what one should do at what age, especially not being sloppy at work.

Sending Li Xuewu and Zhang Enyuan to the entrance of the building, no longer needing Zhang Enyuan's eye reminder, he had already taken the initiative to help Li Xuewu open the car door.

Actually, opening the car door should be done by the driver, because the leader was sitting behind him.

If the secretary did it, by the time the secretary ran from the passenger seat to the left rear, the leader would have already gotten out of the car.

"On the way, go to the department store and buy two portions of pastries to take back; one for Sister Zhou, one for Sister Wu."

Li Xuewu took out some money and tickets from his pocket after getting out of the car and handed them to Yu Zhe, instructing, "Small quantity and many varieties are best; ask them to eat on the road, that's all."

"Understood, leader."

Yu Zhe responded; he knew Sister Zhou, but who was Sister Wu?

Waiting for Li Xuewu to take Zhang Enyuan up the steps, he closed the car door and left.

Steel City was small, but it had everything.

This was an important industrial city in Liaodong, and industrial prosperity meant a high proportion of workers in the population.

Workers were the main consumers of this era and the main force of economic activity.

Consumption power also represented the city's necessary services and supporting facilities.

To meet this demand, the department store had local goods from Liaodong and fashionable goods from inside the pass.

Even more unique were the imported goods.

Due to the influence of geopolitical politics in Northeast Asia, economic and trade exchanges were solidified and singular.

But this didn't affect people's pursuit and yearning for excellent goods; some imported goods would appear in the supply and marketing cooperatives from time to time.

The supply and marketing cooperative was the largest sales group in this era, and material procurement and sales were also a huge network system.

Without the assistance of computers and networks, every province and every city's supply and marketing system had a certain right to material procurement and sales.

For example, the agricultural materials part, grain crops that could be used for non-staple food processing and sales, and organisms that grew and multiplied naturally in the fields, could all be recycled and sold independently.

Imported goods were the same; sometimes it was unclear where these imported goods came from.

Perhaps they were discovered by the procurement manager in the fields; they grew naturally, right.

Yu Zhe dared to spend money; Li Xuewu gave him more money, meaning not to let him run for nothing, and he was willing to do things, spending all the money on two portions of pastries.

"What is this? Chocolate?"

Wu Shuping looked at the packaging box he handed over in surprise and asked, "Are there still people selling this in Steel City?"

"I hadn't discovered it before." Zhou Ya Mei also looked at the tender-faced Yu Zhe in surprise, nodded with a smile, and said, "Thank you."

"Don't be polite; it was arranged by the leader."

Yu Zhe opened the car door for the two, but still didn't dare to look at Sister Zhou's gold-rimmed glasses.

"I'm not deliberately poaching."

Ji Wang Weidong still came to find him; the first sentence after sitting down was this, "You know what kind of person I am."

"I thought I knew before, but now—" Li Xuewu glanced at him and continued to look at the documents in his hand, "I'm not sure."

"I've offended you."

Ji Wang Weidong sighed helplessly and said, "I didn't come to talk to you about this today; it's about At..."

"What do you want to say?" Li Xuewu didn't wait for him to finish and looked up to remind him, "Well water doesn't interfere with river water; do you want to cross the line?"

"If possible, I will never interfere with your work; I respect you very much!"

Ji Wang Weidong spread his hands forward and emphasized, "But this time I must remind you that At has come to the interior with a special mission."

"What special mission?"

Li Xuewu put down the pencil in his hand, hugged his arms, and looked at him leisurely, asking, "Saving the earth, or for world peace?"

"..." Ji Wang Weidong was stabbed in the lung by his words, almost choking to death.

This bastard's words were still so sharp, the kind that could kill someone with one sentence.

"Do you know who he is working for now?"

Ji Wang Weidong deliberately lowered his voice, leaned forward slightly, and looked at Li Xuewu, asking a question.

Li Xuewu also learned his appearance, leaned forward, stared into his eyes, and said softly, "Who cares—"

"I'm talking to you about serious business!"

Ji Wang Weidong rolled his eyes, held back his temper, and emphasized, "He came this time to purchase weapons and materials for Gaddafi; do you know Gaddafi?"

"I don't know Gaddafi, but I do know there is a Gaddafi in Libya."

Li Xuewu curled his lips, leaned back in his chair, and said faintly, "But even if he is working for Colonel Gaddafi, what does it have to do with me."

He raised his neck slightly and said, "Don't say it's Gaddafi; even if God came, he would have to do things according to the rules. What do you want to talk to me about?"

"Do you know what is happening in Libya now?" Ji Wang Weidong looked at him in surprise and asked, "Or did you know from At..."

"Do I need to know?" Li Xuewu narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "Even the International Business Department of Red Star Steel Group can't manage that far; we are just doing trade work."

"But your decision is affecting the evolution of the international situation; a little carelessness is a big deal!"

Ji Wang Weidong frowned and emphasized, "This time At's procurement intention basically represents the scope and direction of Libya's weapon use for a period of time in the future."

He said in a special tone, "You don't want domestic weapons to be labeled as shoddy by the other party, right?"

"I express regret for your words."

Li Xuewu said faintly, "Even if I, as a comrade, should maintain your right to speak, I cannot accept your prejudice."

"Who told you that the products of Red Star Steel Group are representatives of shoddy work?"

He frowned and said, "Is it you, Ji Wang Weidong, or the Investigation Department? Do you want to make it clear?"

"But what you gave him is definitely not regular weapons—" Ji Wang Weidong frowned and argued, "This will bring great uncertainty to this procurement!"

"Is it bringing great uncertainty to whom?" Li Xuewu asked back unceremoniously, "We didn't say we guarantee he can use it for ten thousand years, right?"

"I understand what you mean."

Before Ji Wang Weidong could speak again, Li Xuewu raised his hand to signal him not to speak first.

"Isn't it just questioning the quality of our weapons and subsequent production capacity, compared to the lack of actual combat verification experience and huge reserve inventory of regular weapons, right?"

He tilted his head and looked at Ji Wang Weidong, saying, "*** said, without investigation, there is no right to speak; have you detailedly understood our products?"

"So, have you used our products? Even a pistol."

Li Xuewu sneered and said, "Don't draw conclusions blindly; At still can't satisfy our appetite. Even if he wants to equip twenty divisions, we can supply them; we are just afraid they don't have ten divisions."

Ji Wang Weidong was speechless at this time; it wasn't that he didn't want to speak, but he knew that even if he did, Li Xuewu had a hundred sentences waiting for him.

As a member of the Overseas Work Department of the Investigation Department, the angle from which he looked at problems was naturally not the same dimension as the angle from which Li Xuewu looked at problems.

His extreme maintenance of international influence and the instinct of continuous expansion could not give him absolute confidence. He could believe Li Xuewu out of brotherly loyalty, but as an organizational staff member, he had no reason or qualification to do so.

"I will try my best to dissuade At."

He looked at Li Xuewu and insisted, "Helicopters can be purchased, but weapons must be regular models. If you can't provide them, change people."

"Success or failure is my business, but I must do this; I hope you can understand."

"You don't know yet, right?"

Li Xuewu looked at Ji Wang Weidong, who was full of seriousness and about to leave, pointed to the calendar pressed under the glass on the table, and said, "The news that will be published soon, domestic Chinese and Western medicines are about to usher in a substantial price reduction."

"What do you mean?" Ji Wang Weidong didn't understand this sentence, his footsteps stopped, and he turned to look at him.

Li Xuewu didn't rush to answer his question, but continued to introduce, "37% lower than the beginning of the year, 80% lower than 1950."

"And then?"

Ji Wang Weidong was surprised by Li Xuewu's source of information and shocked by the news of the drug price reduction, but what did it have to do with him.

"Let me tell you another piece of news."

Li Xuewu tilted his head and looked at him faintly, saying, "The higher-ups have decided to provide Annan with 556 million yuan of materials without compensation."

"This—" Ji Wang Weidong suddenly hesitated, frowned, looked at him, and asked, "Where did you get this news? Is it reliable?"

"Whether it's reliable or not, you can wait and see slowly." Li Xuewu tidied up the documents on the table and said, "What I want to tell you is that the international situation is changing, and the domestic situation is also changing."

"Do you know what drug price reduction means?" He raised his head and looked into Ji Wang Weidong's eyes, saying, "Focusing on people's livelihood, integrating medical resources, reducing people's medical burden, and then stimulating the economy."

"Think again, where did the nearly 600 million yuan of aid materials come from?"

Li Xuewu raised his eyelids and said, "If there is no strong economic development momentum, as well as active tertiary industry economy, would the higher-ups dare to do this?"

"You can go back and think slowly."

He didn't wait for Ji Wang Weidong to speak, waved his hand, and said, "I have things to do, goodbye."

"..." Ji Wang Weidong looked at him and took two breaths; he finally held back and didn't say anything more.

Whether the situation was really as Li Xuewu said, he only needed to make a phone call to know.

Then, what did Li Xuewu mean by active tertiary industry economy?

"Mm, I am Li Xuewu."

The phone hadn't stopped all morning, and people coming to ask for instructions and report hadn't stopped either.

Even the fountain pen in his hand hadn't stopped for long; he was either signing opinions or signing his name.

"A bit unexpected; I thought you really intended to enjoy family happiness and didn't want to exert your remaining heat."

The call was from Zheng Fuhua, who frankly inquired about the re-employment mechanism for retired personnel like him in the security department of Red Star Steel Group.

"I've already greeted the security department; you can go directly to Zhou Yao."

Li Xuewu joked on the phone, "As long as you don't mind her becoming your leader."

Zheng Fuhua also responded with a smile on the phone, obviously having agreed to come to the group to work.

The position Li Xuewu arranged for him initially was instructor, a training position of a consultant nature.

He could serve as an instructor in the security section, or as a lecturer in the training department.

It was a re-employment of a senior criminal investigation cadre; no matter how it was used, it wouldn't cause a reaction from the group.

Zheng Fuhua had already retired, didn't occupy the group's staff quota, and wouldn't compete with young people for positions.

Just as Li Xuewu said, he was coming to Red Star Steel Group to exert his remaining heat; he was going to pass on his years of experience to the police officers in the security section.

Zhou Yao was very happy when Li Xuewu told her a while ago.

However, Zhou Yao also understood his state of mind after retirement and didn't hold much hope.

It was Li Xuewu who knew Zheng Fuhua wouldn't be able to stay idle; having retired completely at such a young age, habits formed over a lifetime weren't easy to change.

He definitely wouldn't be able to adapt to a life of complete idleness; actually, slowly adapting in the group's security department was good—no hard work, no work pressure, and he could consume his exuberant energy and time.

"If you want to come to Steel City, that would be best; no need to think, I know they welcome you."

Li Xuewu said with a smile, "It's still up to you; work wherever you want."

He just said it; Zheng Fuhua's family could support him in resuming his old profession, but they would definitely not support him in traveling thousands of miles to Steel City to work.

Retirement is retirement; you can't think of yourself as a young man anymore, and his wife meant the same.

So Zheng Fuhua covered it up with two jokes on the phone and decided to stay in the capital.

Facing Zhou Yao, he had no pressure; there was no pursuit for an external re-employed person that could be held hostage by a leader, and he thought Zhou Yao wouldn't make things difficult for him.

But it was different when he reached Li Xuewu; although Li Xuewu was his former subordinate, times had changed, and the two couldn't be compared to their past situations.

Especially Li Xuewu's achievements in criminal investigation and administrative management made him, an old leader, feel pressure even after retirement.

Coming to work at Red Star Steel Group was originally to slowly enjoy retirement life; there was no need to make it look like re-employment at Li Xuewu's place.

"Okay, I'll say the same thing."

Li Xuewu said with a smile, "You exert your remaining heat and find happiness in your old age; even if we take advantage of you."

After joking for two more sentences, seeing secretary Zhang Enyuan bring Bu Qingfang in, he ended the call.

"Sit wherever; I'll make a call first."

Li Xuewu waved his hand, signaling Bu Qingfang not to be polite, and called the special line to the capital again.

The influence of Red Star Steel Group was increasing day by day, and the speed of connecting calls was much faster.

It didn't take two minutes; in the time Li Xuewu exchanged pleasantries with Bu Qingfang, the voice of Zhou Yao came from the other side.

"Secretary-General, I am Zhou Yao."

"Comrade Zhou Yao, I have good news for you." Li Xuewu said with a smile, "Comrade Zheng Fuhua has decided to serve as an instructor in your department."

"Who? Director Zheng?" Zhou Yao was surprised and delighted, confirming, "When is he coming?"

"Hehe, I just received his call."

Li Xuewu said lightly, "Now you can rest assured; the rest is up to you to express."

"Don't worry, I will definitely do a good job in organization and service, and let Director Zheng exert his remaining heat."

Zhou Yao responded with a smile, "I thought he didn't want to come."

"Call him Comrade Zheng Fuhua from now on; he'll feel more comfortable hearing that."

Li Xuewu joked, "Or call him Instructor Zheng."

Zhou Yao responded with a smile and hung up the phone, preparing to take the initiative to visit Zheng Fuhua.

Li Xuewu had already taught her; she knew how to express it.

Zheng Fuhua coming to work in the security department could be said to be voluntary, but it was also in response to Li Xuewu's invitation.

Since the security department gained benefits, she, as the person in charge, had to have an attitude and expression; she couldn't just wait for people to take the initiative to come to the door to find work.

A thousand troops are easy to get, but one general is hard to find.

Having an old comrade like Zheng Fuhua sitting in the security section would make her, the person in charge, much more relaxed.

An old person in the family is like a treasure; just relying on his rich experience in public security and management was enough for the young people in the department to learn for a while.

She hoped that more and more retired old comrades with mature experience would come to the department to serve as instructors, even if they just sat there watching the young people work.

She didn't know how Li Xuewu and Zheng Fuhua talked; there was no mature system for re-employment in the group, nor were there any reference opinions.

Zhou Yao decided to talk face-to-face; even if Director Zheng was willing to come to guide the work, she couldn't let him work for nothing; at least the minimum welfare benefits must be there.

The security department at this time wasn't short of money; the family foundation left by Li Xuewu was rich, and every year the work results were excellent, and the allocations and rewards given by the group were sufficient.

It was still the group's good development that had the financial strength to support security work; this was complementary.

"You're busy enough—"

In a well-fitting and capable women's administrative suit, Bu Qingfang looked even more like a strong woman.

She sat opposite Li Xuewu and said with a smile, "Are you concerned about the old leader at the branch?"

"Director Zheng, Zheng Fuhua, you should know him." Li Xuewu explained, then said, "I saw him once last time; it's really a pity, after all, he's very young and has plenty of experience."

"It's good to come to the group to work."

Bu Qingfang nodded in agreement, "This way, the relationship between the security department and the branch will be more harmonious."

"Hehe, I didn't think that much."

Li Xuewu glanced at her lightly and asked, "Has Director Li talked to you?"

"Mm, Deputy Director Gu also talked to me; she also supports me coming down to train."

Bu Qingfang nodded, "It's just that my pressure has increased."

"The leader cares about you, a good thing."

Li Xuewu smiled lightly and said, "Some people are afraid that the leader won't see them or care about them; you are calling it 'being in bliss but not knowing bliss'."

"Has Ji Jiuzheng received less attention?"

Bu Qingfang looked at him and said, "I am now like cooking oil on a fire; I explode when I touch water,

"I'm just afraid there are more complex situations involved here."

Li Huai De said cautiously: "You saw the leaders from the Third Ministry of Machine Building last time, you said..."

On September 28, Li Huai De delivered the report on the Red Star Steel Group's second "Three-Year Plan" on the second day of the General Assembly of Cadres and Employee Representatives.

In his speech, he pointed out that in the second "Three-Year Plan" of 1969, the Red Star Steel Group should enter an adjustment period of "readjustment, consolidation, filling out, and raising standards," gradually increase the compression of shares in various industrial enterprises, adjust the layout of the organizational structure, continue to deepen the reform of the organizational and personnel system, and persistently promote the downsizing of enterprise employees, with a target of downsizing 40,000 people...

(There are currently 98,000, and by 1972, the total number of employees in the Group should be controlled at around 58,000.)

On September 29, Bu Qingfang, accompanied by Group Deputy Director Gu Weijie and Secretary-General Li Xuewu, took office at the United Energy Corporation.

The business of the United Energy Corporation is basically all in Liaodong, but the headquarters address is in Beijing.

Why were Gu Weijie and Li Xuewu accompanying her?

One is a former leader, and the other is a current leader. Originally, Zhang Jinsong should have come, but after the meeting ended yesterday, Zhang Jinsong took a plane to the Jin Ling branch to conduct research.

The management center established by the Group's Sales Corporation in Jin Ling has completed the construction of its organizational structure, and Zhang Jinsong is in charge of the Business Management Department, which is also within his jurisdiction.

The largest item is procurement and supply, a task that Li Huai De is also quite concerned about.

The Group's reach mainly has several directions: one is expanding toward the Northeast with industrial manufacturing as the main body.

One is expanding toward the frontier and resource-rich regions with raw material procurement as the main body.

One is expanding toward the South with sales and procurement as the main body.

The last one belongs to leapfrog operations, developing toward the Hong Kong direction with export trade as the main body.

This time, since Zhang Jinsong is not going, Gao Yaqin, the Chief Economist in charge of sales, must go.

Li Xuewu was temporarily drafted by Gu Weijie, and Bu Qingfang also hoped he could help her get started and see her off for a leg of the journey.

With this friendship, he still agreed.

The attendees of the inauguration meeting were mainly cadres from the United Energy Corporation and the general managers of the branches.

Li Xuewu's speech was very brief, emphasizing the implementation plan of the Group's second "Three-Year Plan" and also putting forward several hopes for the United Energy Corporation.

On the way back, Gu Weijie invited Li Xuewu to ride in the same car; this was a rare gathering for the two since they parted ways at the pier last time.

"Cutting 40,000 people in three years."

She sighed softly and said with some emotion: "The Beijing industrial side has already raised objections and is preparing to talk to Director Li."

"Let them talk then," Li Xuewu said bluntly. "Is it to save the rice bowls of 40,000 people, or to smash the rice bowls of 58,000 people? This is a multiple-choice question."

"If only it were really that simple—"

Gu Weijie shook her head and smiled bitterly: "These 40,000 people are not being cut in batches over three years; 25,000 must be cut this year alone."

"Didn't the New Beijing No. 1 Factory decide to accept them?"

Li Xuewu turned his head to look at her and asked: "Has this issue encountered setbacks?"

"No, but there has to be a process."

Gu Weijie is the supervisor in charge of the Group's organizational and personnel reform, and her opinion is still very pertinent.

"We cannot be in a hurry to push these employees to other enterprises, or even into society; this will cause dissatisfaction and resistance among some employees."

She emphasized: "A large number of employees entering society will also cause social contradictions and problems."

"Since it is an enterprise, it must have responsibility and commitment; acting recklessly is not advisable."

"I heard that the Beijing Yanshan Oil Refinery has been fully completed and is about to go into production?"

Li Xuewu looked at her and asked: "Have you asked Beijing Industry to coordinate and see if they need workers?"

"What do you think?" Gu Weijie looked at him, shook her head helplessly, and said: "How many young people are waiting for news of returning to the city to enter the factory? Can they still accept workers?"

"Then you must consider this matter thoroughly."

Li Xuewu said seriously: "The Steel City Industrial Zone is built according to modern industrial standards."

"I can't say all job positions are fixed, but the surplus left over is for those graduates who will enter the Group next year."

He emphasized firmly: "Since it has reached this point, you should not think about stuffing them into Liaodong anymore, unless they transfer to become miners."

"If Bu Qingfang does a good job, perhaps United Energy will be short of miners next year."

"Can I wait until next year?"

Gu Weijie glanced at him; the words she wanted to say were blocked by him, and she was truly dissatisfied.

"Can't the Steel City Rolling Mill implement three shifts? What about Steel Flight and Steel Auto? And the electronics industry."

She was also grasping at straws, pointing at the list randomly and saying: "Cooperating with Shenyang Aircraft this year, didn't you think about expanding production capacity for parts production?"

"These are all planned; it cannot be solved by just stacking human resources."

Li Xuewu could hear the pressure in her words, but he still explained patiently: "Reasonable allocation of human resources is a necessary means to solve obstacles in enterprise development."

"I am not blindly advising you to cut these employees; any method I can think of, I will definitely not keep to myself."

"I don't care, you have to do me this favor."

Gu Weijie said in a shameless tone: "In three years, while ensuring that vocational and technical college graduates enter the job every year, I have to cut another 15,000 spots; I am at my wit's end."

"I've even thought about logistics and property management; how to settle these people has become a major headache."

Red Star United Logistics Development Corporation and Red Star Property Management Corporation are both newly established units.

New units need people, but after these two new units were formed, Gu Weijie didn't approve a single new quota. Cadres were selected from the existing organizational structure, and if there were no suitable ones, college students were selected to be trained.

Workers could only be selected from the existing optimization targets, or wait for next year's graduates.

But no matter how they were optimized and allocated, they couldn't escape the standard of controlling the total number of employees in the entire Group at 58,000.

Arranging one person here meant eliminating one person there; when the organizational and personnel reform plan was formulated, Li Xuewu and Li Huai De had both thought about this.

They couldn't give the subordinates an attitude of letting things slide; they had to emphasize the mindset of tightening their belts to get by.

Especially in the use of personnel; many college students have come to the factory in the past two years, and some units have become picky, asking for college students at every turn.

They don't train their own employees and just wait for ready-made ones; how could the Group have so many college students available for allocation?

It is almost certain that there will be no new college graduates coming to the factory this year, and there will basically be no new college students in the next few years.

Except for their own vocational and technical colleges, who else can these units use?

Even if they have to pick the best from the worst, logistics and property management must select from the existing optimized employees; they must do this selection, while vocational and technical college graduates enter the workshops to continue eliminating non-compliant technical workers.

They must form a virtuous cycle and complete the cleaning and renewal of technical workers in the workshops within ten years.

Of course, it's not that they aren't leaving a way out for old employees; regular training and night schools are necessary recharging means for them to compete with new employees.

On September 30, the radio broadcasted yesterday's "news," and there was also news in this morning's newspaper.

"Our country's first 125,000-kilowatt dual-water internal-cooling steam turbine generator set has been completed, marking that our country's foundation manufacturing industry has entered a new stage!"

The announcers of this era all had one tone, positive and upward, and the tail of their sentences always hoped to go up.

Li Xuewu just listened to the broadcast with his ears while reading this morning's "United Industry News" in his hands.

The headline of the newspaper was still the spirit of the meeting from the past few days, while the sub-page was the news of the Red Star Steel Group and Shenyang Aircraft establishing a parts supply cooperation office in Fengcheng.

Li Xuewu knew about this office; it was promoted by him. In the early stage, it was mainly members of the expert group; in the later stage of cooperation, it was mainly management personnel, and it would only be dissolved after the cooperation was completed.

"Daddy—Daddy—"

Li Ning has reached the age of being clingy; from the day he returned, whether he could see him or not, he wouldn't stop calling "Daddy."

Sometimes Li Xuewu even suspected that his ears were having auditory hallucinations; he could hear him calling "Daddy" even in his sleep.

"Waking up so early—"

Li Xuewu put down the newspaper in his hand, got up from the chair, squatted on the ground, and opened his arms to catch Li Ning, who was trotting over.

Li Ning is growing even faster than his sister; Li Xuewu felt he was much heavier when he held him.

There is a constant supply of milk at home, but compared to his sister Li Shu, he doesn't really like drinking milk.

"That—" Li Ning pointed his little finger out the window and said babblingly: "Go out to play."

"Haha, you're not afraid of the cold."

Li Xuewu patted the little butt of his son, who was only wearing split-crotch pants, and said: "Go call Mommy to get up; put on your clothes and Daddy will take you out to play."

"Okay—" Li Ning didn't care what Daddy said; he just habitually nodded and said "Okay."

It was just that when Daddy signaled him to go to the bedroom to knock on the door, he hesitated.

"Mommy—Mommy—"

He didn't dare to shout loudly; he just muttered in his mouth, a small voice.

This "Mommy" didn't call Gu Ning out, but it called his sister Li Shu out instead.

"Daddy, I haven't slept enough yet."

Li Shu complained with dissatisfaction, and at the same time glared at her younger brother; it's him every morning.

"If you haven't slept enough, then go to bed early tonight."

Li Xuewu reminded his daughter: "You played too late, that's why you can't get up in the morning."

"Then I'd rather get up later."

Li Shu lay on his thigh, dozing off, and said: "Daddy, I don't want to go to school today."