Chapter 1528: Accepting gifts but not doing the work?

"Shh—don't wake them up."

Li Xuewu had intended to jump over the wall to open the main gate, but he hadn't expected the gate to open while Liu Bin and the driver were unloading those boxes.

Er Ya looked at him with eyes full of surprise, not expecting her second brother to rush back so late.

"Sister Xiao Ning probably hasn't rested yet. At dinner, she was still mentioning that you should be able to get home tonight."

As she was speaking, just as she turned her head, she saw the lights on the second floor turn on, and a figure appeared at the window.

Li Xuewu couldn't help but smile as he looked at the second-floor window, then turned back to explain to Li Huai De, who had opened the car window, "If I had known, I would have come back tomorrow."

"Don't let down love."

Li Huai De smiled, fearing he would be embarrassed, and closed the car window understandingly.

It was the winter month, and the weather was a bit cold. Their breath was white when they spoke. It wasn't the kind of warm winter of later generations; it was truly cold at this time.

The driver and secretary Liu Bin weren't dressed very thickly, so their movements were nimble, both thinking of finishing early and going back to the car.

According to Li Xuewu's intention, the luggage and such could be sent home tomorrow—that is, the things Old Li bought.

He himself only had one bag of clothes, which he carried as he got out of the car, but Old Li insisted on this favor, even sending him to the door without leaving, and also calling Liu Bin and the driver to help unload the car.

Regardless of what was in the boxes, just based on Old Li's status, and seeing them shipped from East Germany, the value of these things was not low.

They say a light gift carries heavy affection, sending a goose feather from a thousand miles away. This trip was more than a thousand miles, and it wasn't a light gift like a goose feather. What did he mean by this?

Furthermore, from the airport to home, with this kind of performance, Li Xuewu didn't need to think to know that his status had indeed risen after this trip to East Germany; even Old Li was being polite.

"Alright, the rest is for you guys."

Seeing them still moving things down, Li Xuewu hurriedly waved his hand and said, "It was all given by Director Li; everyone gets a share."

"Absolutely not, Secretary-General, we all have some!"

Liu Bin smiled, stopped him, and explained politely, "Director Li didn't leave us out. We might not necessarily use these things given to you."

He tapped the box that had just been moved down and explained, "I know this one; it's a whole set of toys I helped you buy for the children."

"Hehe—" Li Xuewu nodded with a light laugh. Seeing Er Ya come over to help move things into the courtyard, he walked to the opposite side, opened the car door, and said politely, "I'm sorry to trouble you for still thinking of the children. I'll thank you on behalf of the children."

"Let's not do this fake stuff between us."

Li Huai De smiled, pointed outside the car window, and said, "Go back; it's very late. We'll chat again at the group tomorrow."

Li Xuewu straightened up, looked over the roof of the car, and saw Gu Ning standing in the foyer wrapped in clothes, seemingly waiting anxiously.

At this moment, Liu Bin and the others had finished moving everything, so he bowed down again to be polite to Li Huai De, said goodbye, and closed the car door.

"Goodbye, Secretary-General—"

"Goodbye, thank you for your hard work."

Li Xuewu shook hands with Liu Bin and the driver, then watched them get in the car and leave.

Liu Bin had also witnessed the Secretary-General's explosive performance in East Germany with his own eyes. From some point on, his attitude when speaking to Li Xuewu had undergone a great change, seemingly carrying a certain kind of respect.

Of course, Li Xuewu's character was also well-known in the agency; very few people would speak ill of him behind his back.

You could say he acted according to principles and was strict with work requirements, but you couldn't say his character was bad or that he bullied comrades.

That's how it is in the agency. You see that the way many high-ranking leaders conduct themselves and do things often forms different styles.

The more this is the case, the more they can convince the masses, and the further they will go.

It's the same for work, for colleagues, and for family.

Er Ya had been in the house for more than a year; her body had grown, and she had strength. She moved a big box into the house as soon as she said she would.

"Second brother, you don't need to; it's really not heavy."

Seeing her second brother hand the bag in his hand to Sister Xiao Ning and then come to help, she hurriedly refused, "I'll finish moving them in a while by myself."

"Don't be polite; what time is it?"

Li Xuewu nodded to Gu Ning and said, "Open the door and wait for me inside. The sooner we finish moving, the sooner we can rest. If we dawdle any longer, it'll be dawn."

"It's not that exaggerated—"

Er Ya saw him helping, and these words were naturally heartwarming. She glanced at Sister Xiao Ning, and seeing she didn't say anything, she put in effort to move them.

The two of them tossed back and forth five or six times, moving more than a dozen boxes of all sizes. Those who didn't know would have thought Li Huai De had robbed a store.

"What is all this?" Gu Ning looked at the boxes stacked at the door and in the living room and asked blankly, "Didn't you go abroad on a business trip?"

"Hehe—" Li Xuewu smiled bitterly, touched his forehead, and explained, "I didn't buy them; they were sent by Director Li."

"I bought gifts for you guys; he probably didn't know and thought I was too busy with work to have time to visit the store."

"A bit exaggerated... right?"

Gu Ning raised her eyebrows, looked at the boxes of all sizes in the house, and asked, "Were these all bought in Germany?"

"They were shipped by Liu Bin and Sha Qizhi." Li Xuewu changed into slippers, handed his coat to Er Ya, took the warm water she handed him, and instructed, "Let's tidy up tomorrow; it's too late."

"Good, then second brother, you rest early too."

Although Er Ya hadn't experienced love, she had long understood those things between men and women. Gu Ning had mentioned it when she came home from work, and now she had chased her downstairs. How could she still be a lightbulb here?

Besides, the things were already moved into the house; it didn't matter when they were tidied up. Hearing her second brother's instruction, she hid back in her room.

"For you." It was only after Er Ya returned to her room that Li Xuewu took a box set from his bag and handed it to Gu Ning.

Gu Ning raised her eyebrows, glanced at him, and then took it. She opened it and saw it was a diamond necklace set.

"What? Don't like it?"

Li Xuewu couldn't see a look of surprise on his wife's face and asked amusedly, "Think it's tacky?"

"No, it's quite good."

Gu Ning held the jewelry box in one hand and tucked her long hair behind her ear with the other, not knowing how to handle this gift for a moment.

"Just don't know where to wear it."

"I knew you would ask that."

Li Xuewu laughed lightly, found the heaviest one from the pile of boxes, placed it on the coffee table, and signaled for Gu Ning to look.

Gu Ning didn't know what he was talking about, but when she saw the box he opened was full of foreign medical books, she widened her eyes in surprise, looking at him in disbelief and asking, "You bought so many?"

"Anything related to surgery that could be bought, I bought."

Li Xuewu shrugged his shoulders as if he had done a trivial thing, then casually opened another box, took out two sets of code boxes, and opened them to reveal a full set of surgical instruments.

"Gifts shouldn't be expensive; they should be right, right?"

He smiled, raised his eyebrows, opened his arms, and said, "Come, wife, boldly express your joy and gratitude to me."

Gu Ning pursed the corners of her mouth that were about to rise—she was about to be unable to suppress the joy in her heart—but she still slapped away his big hand, turned around, and walked toward the stairs, saying, "It's very late; rest early—"

"Ya—" Li Xuewu stiffened his face, scooped Gu Ning into his arms, and said fiercely, "Accepting gifts but not doing the work? I'll serve you a big punishment—"

Listening to the playfulness in the living room, Er Ya, who was hiding in her room, instantly blushed and muttered to herself, "The couple really knows how to play."

"One for little brother, one for me; one for little brother, one for me..."

It was very rare for Li Xuewu to sleep in since he started working in Liaodong a year ago. It was already 7:30 when he got up.

No need to think; Gu Ning wouldn't sleep in with him. Dr. Gu, who was currently in the rising period of her career, was very strict with herself.

No, you couldn't say strict; you should use "harsh" to describe Gu Ning's daily schedule. The 996 "oxen and horses" of later generations would have to tear up if they saw it.

Don't ask, and don't persuade. Even though Gu Ning's personality had changed quite a bit now, that tenacity of hers was still there, and even stronger.

Li Xuewu was afraid she was too tired. He couldn't persuade her himself, so he secretly called his mother-in-law.

The result?

The mother-in-law instead wanted to complain to him, saying that this daughter was raised in vain. If she didn't take the initiative to call Gu Ning, Gu Ning would never call her—not even a phone call, let alone writing a letter.

What did the mother-in-law say?

She said raising this daughter wasn't as good as Li Shu. After Li Shu went to kindergarten, she could insist on sending letters mixed with pinyin and childish crayon drawings to her grandfather and grandmother far away in Jin Ling to ask about their health every month. What about her daughter?

What could Li Xuewu say? The words the little brother-in-law said to Er Ya when he came home for vacation were more than what he said to his sister.

Gu Ning's reason was very strong. First of all, the hospital's environment was relatively complex and special. Experienced old comrades were transferred away one after another, and there was an urgent need for the younger generation to step up. Their hospital also valued technology very much.

No need to say, the comprehensive level and medical skills of other hospitals in Beijing might have the phenomenon of being uneven in this era, such as boiler workers going to the obstetrics and gynecology department to deliver babies, etc.

But in Gu Ning's unit, no technology meant no technology. Those people above wouldn't dare to joke about their own health.

The hospital lacked doctors, lacked doctors with good technology, so it tilted medical and learning resources toward the younger generation of doctors. Whoever got them, got them.

Gu Ning's department was the most important surgical field in this era, especially thoracic and brain surgery, which lacked pillars even more.

If you put aside the general environment and only look at Gu Ning herself, she liked medicine very much, otherwise she wouldn't have chosen this profession.

It wasn't that Li Xuewu hadn't seen those big books of hers, but the result was just like Gu Ning couldn't understand or get into those big books of his; he also couldn't understand or get into Gu Ning's medical books.

Even their department director was saying, Gu Ning had both a son and a daughter, her family conditions were superior, and her personal learning ability and medical literacy were excellent. She didn't have to bear family responsibilities for life and the next generation. If she didn't step up, who would?

In the department, count one by one, how many don't have to wash clothes and cook for themselves when they get home, don't have to coax children to study and play, and don't have to deal with husband-wife feelings and relationships? You can't pick one out.

Gu Ning's "armor" was about to be full.

Especially the item that Li Xuewu worked out of town and wasn't at home gave the hospital a reason to arrange for Gu Ning to do more surgeries and work more overtime.

You didn't even need Gu Ning to react, and reacting was useless. The department director said, "Your lover isn't at home again; what are you going home for?"

Hmm, the word "do" was used quite exquisitely.

Being young meant a flexible mind, strong learning ability, and good physical quality. It was the right time to increase medical skills.

So when Li Xuewu tidied himself up and went downstairs, Gu Ning was already sitting in the dining room eating breakfast.

Li Shu and Li Ning, the sister and brother, were placing toys on the floor. The boxes in the living room were already gone; it seemed Er Ya had tidied them up early in the morning.

"Daddy—"

"Daddy—"

Seeing him come down, the sister and brother didn't even want the toys in their hands and ran toward him together, shouting.

Li Xuewu smiled and scooped the sister and brother into his arms, one on the left and one on the right, kissing this one and kissing that one, never able to get enough of them.

"Missed you all morning. If we hadn't stopped them, they would have gone to knock on your door long ago."

Er Ya came out of the dining room with a rag in her hand to wipe her hands, said this with a smile, and then invited him to eat breakfast.

"Missed Daddy?"

"Missed—" the sister and brother shouted in unison.

Li Xuewu didn't mind the ear-shattering volume and continued to ask with a smile, "Where did you miss me?"

This time, the answers given by the sister and brother were a bit different. Li Shu covered the position of her heart, and Li Ning covered the position of his stomach.

It wasn't wrong. Li Shu was older and knew to miss Daddy in her heart and think of him; Li Ning was still young and only knew that longing was the delicious food Daddy brought back.

Seeing that his sister's "thought" was different from his own, Li Ning hesitated about whether to change his "thought," but he had already been placed on the dining chair by Daddy.

"So early? Is there work?" Li Xuewu sat next to his daughter, looked at Gu Ning, and asked, "Every day like this?"

"There's a surgery at 8:30."

Gu Ning raised her wrist to look at her watch, put down her chopsticks, and said, "In a hurry, I'm leaving first. You take Li Shu to kindergarten."

Li Xuewu spread his hands helplessly, watching Gu Ning leave in a rush, his face full of astonishment.

"Sister Xiao Ning has been like this recently."

Er Ya walked in and explained, "Sometimes when I go to deliver lunch, she's in surgery. The food she brings back is also cold; she doesn't have time to eat."

"This isn't risking her life—"

Li Xuewu sighed and said, "Next time you go to deliver, watch her finish eating before coming back. Put some pressure on her."

"I can wait, but Li Ning can't."

Er Ya explained with a bitter smile, "I'm the only one at home; I can only take Li Ning with me to deliver food, and he still needs to nap."

"Thank you for your hard work; understand her more."

What else could Li Xuewu say? He comforted Er Ya first, then took care of Li Shu and Li Ning eating. He couldn't come back for ten days or half a month, so he cherished the time with his children, even if it was just eating breakfast together.

"Daddy, I also want to go to kindergarten."

Li Ning could eat by himself, but he couldn't master it well, and rice grains fell everywhere. His speech was quite clear, though.

He had also heard his second aunt mention his name, so he said that.

Li Xuewu touched his head amusedly and asked, "So young and you want to study? Li Ning is really good."

"I'm not having fun at home—"

There was a Northeasterner in the house, and the whole family was Northeasterners. Li Xuewu's accent was a bit biased, and after Er Ya came, it was completely biased.

It wasn't just Li Xuewu; the children spent more time with her, and their speech all had a Northeastern accent.

Li Ning had a bit of a lisp and chattered, "I want to go to kindergarten to play with sister."

"Sister going to kindergarten isn't for playing!"

Li Shu said to her brother proudly, "I'm very busy; I don't have time to play with you."

"Then..." Seeing his sister say that, Li Ning turned to look at Daddy and asked, "Then can you not let sister go to school?"

"Front-page headline, Secretary-General."

Sun Jian, director of the General Manager's Office, walked into the office, handed over a newspaper from this morning, and signaled for him to look.

Li Xuewu glanced at it. It was a photo of him waving to greet them when he got off the plane last night. It was very clear, and you could see his smile.

"Is it in the paper so soon?" He smiled, put the newspaper aside, and said, "I thought I'd have to wait a few days."

"This edition was left out long ago, just waiting for you guys to come back." Sun Jian folded the newspaper with a smile and said, "Worried that you wouldn't be able to come so early, Director Li also exhorted us to prepare the materials in advance."

"Nothing much, slept on the plane." Li Xuewu sized him up and asked, "How has the group been these past few days?"

"Generally nothing much. I also kept an eye on Liaodong for you. Important work reports have already been placed here for you."

Sun Jian pointed to a corner of the big desk. The documents there were separated from other documents and looked very neat.

This was what Wang Lu and the others had tidied up before Li Xuewu went on a business trip. Sure enough, female comrades were more careful, and the office was tidied up very cleanly.

"Shenfei submitted a negotiation invitation through the office to discuss the Tadong Airport matter. The time is set by us."

Sun Jian accurately found a document from the pile of documents on the desk and placed it in front of Li Xuewu, explaining, "I asked Director Li for instructions, and he asked you to arrange the time."

"No specific time mentioned? Then drag it out for a while." Li Xuewu opened the document in his hand and said, "You find a reason."

Sun Jian raised an eyebrow and asked softly, "How long should I drag it out?"

"How long can you drag it out?" Li Xuewu raised his head and glanced at him, saying, "Just find any reason. They are more anxious."

As he spoke, he closed the document in his hand and said indifferently, "They won't be able to wait for many days before they come to the door. We'll talk then."

"Understood, waiting for the rabbit."

Sun Jian smiled and said, "I looked at the technical introduction results of this visiting delegation. Our group ranks among the best."

"Once the publicity effect passes, no one will pay attention."

Li Xuewu said meaningfully, "Strike while the iron is hot; the highest bidder gets it. I don't believe they aren't anxious. It's a jet engine, after all."

"Hehe—that's true—" Sun Jian nodded with a light laugh and said, "Even if East Germany's technology is average, it's still a complete set of technology. Not to mention their foundation is thick."

"It also means this year's scientific research budget is going to explode."

Li Xuewu pursed his lips helplessly and found the new year's group financial budget from the documents; it was an opinion draft given by the Finance Department.

No need to think; this opinion draft would be scrapped for the most part because of this trip to East Germany. Many projects had to make way for scientific research investment.

If you don't want to affect the overall planning and construction progress, and don't want to cut expenses, you can only increase revenue. It's time to think of ways to make money again.

He was also worried. The group's size had grown, and the funds needed were getting more and more. It wasn't like before when you wanted to do something and could raise funds with a ghost idea. Now a project costs millions at every turn. What ghost idea is worth so much money?

If ghost ideas were so valuable, if you put three men together, wouldn't they be able to get rich?

"Deputy Director Jing has argued twice." Sun Jian reported softly, "Argued with Deputy Director Su once, and argued with Deputy Director Zhang once. Now he is talking in Director Li's office."

"Hmm, unavoidable. Which year isn't like this?"

Li Xuewu shook his head, glanced at him, and said, "If I were in that position, I would be like this too."

"That's what I said. Whoever's work it is, they pay the bill." Sun Jian smiled and said, "Can't just talk cool words."

"Hmm, you are the director of the General Manager's Office. You still have to grasp this general direction."

Li Xuewu heard that there were words in his words, nodded, and agreed with his idea, "There must be some new changes in the new year, right?"

"Yes, you are right."

Sun Jian was overjoyed, nodded in agreement, and said, "Deputy Secretary-General Chen also just proposed at the team meeting to organize a disciplinary rectification action in the agency in January."

"Hmm, I heard about this."

Li Xuewu looked at the budget document in his hand with lowered eyes and said, "Does the office have any difficulties? You can tell me."

"No difficulties, actively cooperate, resolutely execute." Sun Jian's slogan was very loud, and his attitude was very clear, but his mind was a bit too much.

He was the director of the General Manager's Office. Li Huai De dared to use him, but he didn't know how he considered it. Anyway, Li Xuewu didn't quite understand Old Li's brain circuit.

Sun Jian was the secretary of the original factory director Yang Fengshan, later served as the director of the Security Office, but now he had entered Li Huai De's eyes.

There was no problem with the General Manager's Office director serving the Secretary-General. Even if someone said something, they had to consider the relationship between the two before.

But the problem was exactly here.

To put it bluntly, Sun Jian's position was to serve Li Huai De, to supervise and coordinate other departments to resolutely execute various work issued by the General Manager.

It sounded like the factory office director before, but in reality, it was a weakened version of the factory office director. The position was very important.

Li Xuewu also didn't want him to do the wrong thing, so he reminded him. Reporting work in his office was no problem, but he couldn't cross the line in specific work.

"Last year, the job changes in the Comprehensive Management Department and the Secretariat were very frequent. This year there will definitely be a rectification period. See for yourself."

He put down the document in his hand, raised his head, and looked at Sun Jian, saying, "Director Li intends to add another Deputy Secretary-General quota to strengthen the group's overall work coordination and comprehensive management of the agency."

"Then the Comprehensive Management Department..."

Sun Jian had long heard this wind, but had never received accurate news, so he came here to probe.

Li Xuewu didn't hide it from him, nodded, and said, "I won't be able to pull myself out of Liaodong for a while. Comrade Shouzhi will be responsible for the agency's routine work, and Deputy Secretary-General Ji and another comrade will each take charge of a direction."

This sentence had already been explained very clearly. The Management Committee's authority would further increase, fully covering the group's business and management work.

That is to say, even the work of the labor union would gradually be included in the scope of the agency's daily management. Two Deputy Secretaries-General would each take charge of a direction, coordinating and managing.

It wasn't dividing the cake, but that there was too much work to handle.

What was the significance of Li Xuewu saying this to Sun Jian? You could tell from the expression on Sun Jian's face. The Comprehensive Management Department had three offices in total. In addition to the General Manager's Office, there were the Comprehensive Office and the Party Committee Office.

Since Deputy Secretary-General Bu Qingfang was transferred away, the position of Comprehensive Management Department Manager had been concurrently held by Executive Deputy Secretary-General Chen Shouzhi, and Deputy Secretary-General Ji Jiuzheng was responsible for coordination work.

And the original deputy managers of the Comprehensive Management Department, Liang Zuodong, accepted disciplinary review, and the original deputy manager Bai Changshan was transferred back to the New Beijing No. 1 Factory according to the agreement between the group and Beijing Industry. Now the Comprehensive Management Department had multiple vacancies. Sun Jian and the others' eyes were almost straightened by the fishing, the kind that looked forward to it.

And Li Huai De delayed announcing the new personnel appointment. He didn't mention it, and the Organization Department didn't rush to get scolded, so it was left hanging.

Actually, normally speaking, the supervisor of the Comprehensive Management Department was Li Xuewu. He had the right and obligation to propose new cadre personnel candidates.

But the departments of the Comprehensive Management Department were relatively complex. He, this Secretary-General, was completely used as a deputy director and had hardly stayed in Beijing at all last year.

So he understood Li Huai De's meaning and didn't pretend to understand and go make trouble. You can't have both fish and bear's paw, right?

But this didn't prevent him from reminding Sun Jian. This position of General Manager's Office director was not easy to do, because the deputy director was the big secretary Liu Bin.

Some work Li Huai De would directly hand over to Liu Bin to do. Sun Jian was a bit awkward in the middle.

You say he is Liu Bin's superior, but the two have work overlap. Who can lead whom?

Liu Bin didn't intentionally have conflicts with Sun Jian, but sometimes work is like this. No one can guarantee to do it perfectly.

Now there was such an opportunity. If Sun Jian could go a step further, serve as the deputy manager of the Comprehensive Management Department, and concurrently serve as the director of the General Manager's Office, it would be easy to handle this layer of relationship.

The director doesn't count as a superior, but the deputy manager always does.

Furthermore, there were many concurrent positions in the Comprehensive Management Department. According to Li Xuewu and Li Huai De's meaning, the two deputy managers of the Comprehensive Management Department each concurrently held a department, which both compressed cadre usage costs and shortened work processes.

The General Manager's Office and the Comprehensive Office were both very important. The Party Committee Office could be handed over to the Comprehensive Management Department manager to be responsible for overall, which was a clean, noble, and tempering position, and also Li Huai De's focus.

Zhang Li was the director of the Party Committee Office. Like Sun Jian, she was from the Security Office, which showed the influence of the security system cadres at the group level.

"Director Li said that this year's work situation is relatively complex and asked our office to make a judgment. You see this..."

Sun Jian read the meaning in his words and asked for instructions, "Which direction should we start from?"

"What does the group value most now?"

Li Xuewu tapped the document in his hand and said, "One is industrial development, one is economic development, and we must also take into account theoretical construction."

"The focus of your office's work is theoretical construction. If you can't come up with guiding documents, then how will this year's work be done?"

His finger pointed at Sun Jian and emphasized, "Communicate more with other leaders of the group and listen to their requirements and suggestions."

"This year's group work is the hardest to do. If you persist, you will have a bumper harvest; if you can't persist, you will have nothing."

Hearing him say this, sweat beads came down on Sun Jian's forehead. I don't know if it was too hot in the room or too hot in his heart.

Others wouldn't believe it if they said such things, but Li Xuewu said it. Who dared not believe it? This Secretary-General could be called the group's prophet.

"Understood, I'll go prepare."

Sun Jian nodded solemnly and asked for instructions before leaving, "The office is short of people. Can we transfer people from other units?"

"Who do you want to transfer?" Li Xuewu raised an eyebrow, seeing through Sun Jian's little thoughts at a glance, "Have you asked Director Li for instructions?"

"Not yet. It's Comrade Zhou Miaomiao from the Sales General Company." Sun Jian hesitated for a moment and explained, "I want to arrange for her to be responsible for the compliance operation section."

"Hmm, okay, you submit an application."

Li Xuewu looked at him deeply and said indifferently, "I'll sign it for you while I'm here. If I'm not here, you find Comrade Shouzhi to sign it."

"Don't forget to seek Comrade Zhou Miaomiao's personal opinion." Just before Sun Jian nodded and agreed, Li Xuewu reminded him of this.

Sun Jian was stunned for a moment, nodded, and went out.

Li Xuewu glanced at the door, then his eyelids drooped, too lazy to think about Sun Jian's little broken things.

It was just to add a few more layers of insurance. In his opinion, it was completely superfluous and would even be counterproductive.

Some people are just like this. They don't listen to what they should listen to, and they always have their own little calculations in their hearts. Only when disaster is imminent do they regret it.

Otherwise, why is there always the saying that good words are hard to persuade a ghost that should die?

"There are three matters, we're short on time, so speak quickly," Li Huai De said at the temporarily convened work meeting of the Management Committee leadership team. "The first is this year's political theory study; the higher-ups have already issued the document, and everyone present should form a report after returning and submit it."

"The second is to research and study the industrial and economic construction documents issued this year."

He flipped through the documents in front of him and said, "Everyone should be clear about the meaning from above; the focus remains on the construction of the strategic rear."

The strategic rear mentioned here is actually a general summary of the three-defense construction and the Third Front construction; in reality, it is exactly what is currently being done.

Li Xuewu carefully read the economic construction document issued this year, which mentioned local "five small" industries, namely small steel, small machinery, small chemical fertilizers, small coal mines, and small cement.

This involves this year's economic indicators as well as the main indicators of the "Third Five-Year" Plan, which is a policy the Red Star Steel Group cannot bypass.

The five small industries were not issued solely to local areas but also included large-scale factories and mines; otherwise, why would Li Xuewu say the situation this year is particularly complex?

Taking small coal mines alone, the documents issued by the Ministry of Coal Industry in the last two years had already clearly instructed local areas to quickly sort out small coal mines that did not meet mining regulations and safety indicators, and to integrate coal resources to build modern large-scale coal mining enterprises.

And the result?

Policies change every year. The Red Star Steel Group invested in and built more than a dozen large-scale coal mining areas in Liaodong and even integrated resources to establish the Energy Development General Corporation for this purpose.

With this document from this year, it is unclear if the Liaodong side will change its tune, and the Energy General Corporation's coal mine acquisition and mining plans may be affected.

After returning to Liaodong, he must first handle and coordinate work in this area to ensure that the Group's overall work in Liaodong will not be affected, and to ensure that the Energy Development Company's mining operations in Liaodong start smoothly.

Red Steel is not afraid of steel and machinery development; what it fears is local areas requisitioning resources and failing to control steel production quality, which would instead waste resources.

Small chemical fertilizers only involve Red Steel's tertiary industries, but small cement is currently one of the key construction projects for the Steel City's underground engineering; without a cement plant, what would be used to build the three-defense projects?

Li Xuewu had approved the acquisition of local cement plants two months ago to ensure the construction needs of the Steel City industrial zone.

Here in Beijing, the Liangma River Industrial Zone has its own procurement channels for building materials, and construction over these years has been fully guaranteed; the foundation is still decent.

While Li Xuewu was reading the document, Li Huai De continued to announce the third key task: according to the requirements of the higher-ups, the Red Star Steel Group will organize and convene a congress of activists in the living study and application of *** thought, four-good units, and five-good fighter representatives, and has designated Management Committee Secretary-General Li Xuewu to be responsible for presiding over this matter.

Li Huai De had mentioned to him long ago that he hoped he would stabilize the work in Liaodong as soon as possible and shift his work focus back to the Group to share the pressure on his operational work.

Li Xuewu was also doing his utmost, but things were going against his wishes; as one problem was solved, another arose. The Group's industrial and economic layout in Liaodong was becoming increasingly heavy, and if he couldn't keep an eye on it, years of effort could be destroyed in an instant, so he could not pull himself away for the time being.

However, he was already prepared to gradually shift his work focus to the Group this year to cope with the upcoming formalization and phased development work of the Group.

Just when everyone thought Li Huai De had finished arranging the three tasks and everyone was preparing to end the meeting and stand up, Old Li stirred up trouble again.

"Time is tight; let's first arrange the key work accumulated during this period. The start of the year is not easy, and the opening is even more difficult."

Li Huai De crossed his hands on the table in front of him, looked at everyone, and said, "Everyone has a pile of work to be busy with; I think we should hand over the work of docking with the various projects in East Germany to Comrade Dong Wenxue."

Su Weide pricked up his ears and eyebrows like a guard dog hearing a thief enter the house, staring at Li Huai De with a hostile look.

Can your greedy, self-serving look get any uglier?

"After all, Comrade Dong Wenxue was responsible for this project previously, and the fact that the Secretary-General and I were able to make gains in this inspection and exchange activity is also thanks to Comrade Dong Wenxue's hard work."

He really knows how to stir things up; in order to back Dong Wenxue, he even dragged Li Xuewu in.

Look, the project was negotiated by me and Li Xuewu, and the project's preliminary preparations were also done by Dong Wenxue; you shouldn't have any objections to me handing over the entire project's later stages to Dong Wenxue, right?

You have objections?

Li Xuewu has no objections, so what right do you have to have objections!

At this moment, Su Weide wanted to jump up and curse; so while you were in East Germany, we were all just sitting at home doing nothing, right?

The cake is the collective's achievement, but now it's being stuffed directly into Dong Wenxue's hands by Li Huai De's words; is this reasonable?

On the surface, Old Li is selfless and is helping Dong Wenxue make a comeback, but in reality? Isn't he just scraping the last bit of credit into his own pocket?

What can Li Xuewu say about giving it to Dong Wenxue?

Giving it to Dong Wenxue is the same as giving it to himself; Dong Wenxue's work in the Group is actively leaning towards him—who doesn't know this?

Now it's great; you eat the meat, and you don't even intend to share the soup with everyone.

Originally, when this meeting was called, everyone thought Old Li was going to divide the cake and distribute this project among everyone.

Even if he didn't distribute it all, even if he didn't distribute it completely, he should at least put on a show.

Now he's not even pretending; he's eating it all alone!

"Can Comrade Dong Wenxue handle it?"

As soon as Li Huai De's voice fell, Su Weide gave Dong Wenxue a sarcastic look and sneered, "Don't overwork yourself during the New Year."

"Thank you for your concern, Deputy Director Su." Dong Wenxue gave a faint smile, looked at him, and replied, "I am still young, and my health is quite good."

If Su Weide had adopted a proper attitude and raised objections, Dong Wenxue would not have retorted no matter how harsh the words were; he hated the other party's tone and manner.

Raising objections is fine, but personal attacks are not.

At this time, it was not appropriate for Li Xuewu to speak, because Li Huai De had put him on the spot; to intervene would be equivalent to a falling out.

"Before the New Year, the Jin Ling Block Company still needs someone to go over and coordinate relationships; I wanted to propose that Comrade Dong Wenxue go." Gu Weijie looked at Li Huai De and said, "Is the timing too tight?"

At this moment, Gao Yaqin glanced at her without speaking, but instead fixed her gaze on Li Xuewu.

Her meaning was, "Is it starting already?"

Li Xuewu was organizing the documents at hand, looking very busy, unable to respond to her inquiring gaze, because he also didn't know what madness Old Li was suffering from, and why it had started.

"For the Block Company side, let's ask Comrade Gao Yaqin to go; after all, she is more familiar with the situation there." Li Huai De deflected the question, ignoring Gu Weijie's point, and assigned this work to Gao Yaqin, the supervisor in charge who already belonged to the Marketing Management Department.

Gao Yaqin is the Group's Chief Economist and still has the status to handle relevant work.

Gu Weijie frowned slightly, glanced at Gao Yaqin, and emphasized again, "But Comrade Gao Yaqin is also responsible for the cross-docking work of the Tianjin Trade Management Center."

She reminded Li Huai De, "If the relevant projects in East Germany are to be implemented in the first half of this year, then the focus of the work should be in Tianjin."

Gao Yaqin, who was looking at Li Xuewu, narrowed her eyes slightly, holding back from turning her head, but she met the gaze of Li Xuewu, who had finally looked up.

Li Xuewu: When did you start this?

Gao Yaqin: How the hell would I know!

"Then let's ask Comrade Dong Wenxue to go to Tianjin."

Li Huai De seemed determined to support Dong Wenxue; after the arrangement, he looked at Gao Yaqin and said, "Comrade Gao Yaqin, please cooperate with Comrade Dong Wenxue to handle this matter, alright?"

"I have no problem here; it depends on Deputy Director Dong." Gao Yaqin had always had little say in the leadership team, and at this moment, she would certainly not jump out to express her stance.

As for the springboard Deputy Director Gu gave her, she didn't quite trust it; it was obvious that even Li Xuewu was very surprised, so could this springboard be sturdy?

Furthermore, listening to Li Huai De's tone, this sentence was very vague; exactly which matter was she supposed to cooperate with Dong Wenxue to handle?

Was it the Jin Ling Block Company or the implementation work of the Tianjin Trade Management Center docking with the East German introduction projects?

Although the soup from the East German project docking wasn't much, it could be considered a share; what else did she have to say? Wouldn't saying too much just make her a pawn for others?

When Li Xuewu walked out of the conference room, he was still rubbing his forehead; he hadn't expected that the complex situation Li Huai De spoke of would start so suddenly.