Chapter 1557: Can't Bring Myself to Do It

The Jicheng Branch of the Red Steel Group Sales Head Office and the Chinese Herbal Medicine Planting Base Management Office share an office address.

This is not out of the need to save costs, but because the two units belong to the same head office.

The Red Star Chinese Herbal Medicine Collection Branch was established after the Red Steel Group merged with the Baicaotang Pharmaceutical Company, integrated the group's pharmaceutical resources, and prepared to build Chinese herbal medicine planting bases in Miyun, Beijing, Jicheng, and the frontier.

And the Red Star Chinese Herbal Medicine Collection Branch belongs to the Supply Chain Collection Company under the Supply Chain Management Center. The Supply Chain Collection Company and other local branches belong to the third-level branch of the Red Steel Group Sales Head Office.

It's just that they belong to different departments, and local branches in various places belong to the United Trade Management Center.

At present, the asset management authority of the Red Steel Group has only been delegated to the second-level branch of the group, that is, the various departments of the organization and the total company-level units under it.

So there is no problem for the two units to share office assets. Li Xuewu came to Jicheng to understand and investigate the asset management situation.

Compared with the Red Star Factory period, the Red Steel Group's stall was laid too fast and too large, so it must be restrained.

In the process of rapid expansion, a large number of young cadres and cadres from other merged units were used.

Even if detailed investigations were carried out during the appointment and inspection period, it is inevitable that there will be fish that slip through the net and those who make up the numbers, or those who are arrogant before and humble after and willing to be hunted.

This was originally Jing Yunong's work. She went to Fengcheng as a stop, and next, she either went to Steel City first or came to Jicheng first. Since she came out, she had to look at everything.

As a result, she wrongly estimated the weather in Fengcheng, not only missing Li Xuewu but also missing a lot of work.

Li Xuewu was also going to Jicheng, so he helped her ask and look on the way.

"The Red Steel Group's cosmeceutical company is very special." At the evening reception banquet, a cadre from forestry asked tentatively: "It is said that it can do business with foreigners?"

"You should have some understanding of the Red Steel Group's business, otherwise you wouldn't ask like that."

After all, it's not his own home, so the scene talk still has to be polite. Li Xuewu gave them face, so naturally, he couldn't just lift the table.

How little business has the Red Steel Group done with foreigners? Why are you surprised!

However, tonight's reception was specially set up by the forestry leader to wash away the dust for him. He couldn't just lift the table.

He still had to live here tonight.

That's right, he and the research team lived in the forestry guesthouse tonight. This was invited by forestry.

Actually, he could also live in the Jicheng Guesthouse, but if he did that, forestry would really lose face, and they wouldn't be willing to cooperate anymore.

"Don't doubt the hospitality of the Northeasterners, especially this kind of scene that doesn't cost their own money. Li Huai De didn't use eating to make friends less in the past."

He first pointed out the other party, and then looked at the forestry leader and introduced: "The Red Steel Group's cars, electrical appliances, hardware, ships, and airplanes all have export orders."

"Even the combination furniture made of logs provided by your side in the tertiary industry, this kind of product is very popular in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia."

After introducing these, he turned to look at the cadre who had just asked the question and said: "I think the cosmeceutical company you mentioned should be the Yazhi Cosmeceutical Sales Branch under the Red Star Baicaotang Joint Pharmaceutical Sales Company."

"Our group only has this company involved in cosmeceutical business."

Li Xuewu saw that the other party's expression stiffened, smiled slightly, and continued to introduce: "Yazhi Cosmeceutical is indeed highly valued within the group. It not only established its own channel supply management center but also broke through regional barriers and established a cosmeceutical sales branch in Hong Kong."

"And there is the brand counter." He smiled and gestured to the forestry leaders present and said: "When you have the opportunity to go to Beijing, you can go to the Wangfujing Department Store to take a look. That is our first specialty exhibition counter."

"It seems that Director Hao has a deep memory of Manager Zhang of the cosmeceutical company." A forestry leader stood up to smooth things over, holding a wine glass, laughing and glaring at Director Hao, and then looked at Li Xuewu and joked: "We are all male comrades, so we won't go, hahaha!"

"Hey—male comrades should go!"

Li Xuewu also raised his wine glass, touched the forestry big leader sitting beside him, and gave him a knowing look.

"It seems that Secretary-General Li also understands life." The forestry big leader naturally understood, laughed and said: "But he learned our Northeast men's good style of respecting their lovers! Hahaha!"

Ha what! Afraid of his wife and still talking in a roundabout way. No wonder the only domestic family violence shelter for male comrades is in the Northeast.

"If you say so, we seem to have no reason to refuse Secretary-General Li's proposal."

Other leaders raised their glasses together and joked: "Cheers to Secretary-General Li's proposal!"

"That Old Hao in our unit doesn't have much ability, it's just lip service."

Not wanting his nephew to be annoyed by this matter, or even leave a knot in his heart, with the leader's authorization and his own meaning, Li Gan said one more sentence on the way back.

He came to Jicheng, and he finally had to go see his second uncle and second aunt.

He naturally saw his second uncle, and even ate and drank together at the wine table. However, his second uncle drank too much, and he was still sober.

If he came to Jicheng as a private person, it would be appropriate to see his second uncle and second aunt at any time, but this time it was public business. Even if he didn't leave tomorrow, he rushed to come tonight.

Tomorrow? Maybe someone else will come to visit him tomorrow. Research outside the region is definitely not just work during the day, and evening entertainment is also a kind of labor.

Sitting in the car, Li Gan was naturally full of emotion. Although he drank too much and was clumsy, his brain was sober. He held his nephew's hand in the back seat and said a lot.

The driver was under his management, so he could say whatever he wanted. However, it was all about family matters, sighing at his nephew's youth and promise, and it didn't involve anything else.

Li Xuewu sat in the back seat with his second uncle and listened to his nagging very patiently, nodding and agreeing from time to time. He knew that his second uncle had been particularly unhappy in the past two years.

Of course, it wasn't the workplace. With the relationship of the Red Steel Group, his second uncle was also quite valued in forestry, which could be said to have rejuvenated his second spring of career.

It's just that the workplace is proud, but the family is unhappy, and a pair of children made him worry a lot.

The car was dim, but when he leaned closer, he could still see white hair on his second uncle's head. How old is he? Even his father Li Shun hasn't grown white hair yet.

If it weren't for excessive worry, how could there be such old age.

"It's okay, don't affect the cooperation between the two sides." Li Xuewu smiled faintly and said: "Even if we don't cooperate, the feelings of brother units are also important."

"He doesn't dare, forestry is not his home."

His second uncle waved his hand, tilted his head and said: "If he dares to trip us up, I can clean him up without you opening your mouth."

Saying this, he leaned into Li Xuewu's ear and explained softly, reached out and patted his nephew's shoulder, everything was in silence.

Li Xuewu nodded knowingly and said very understandingly: "Very normal, there are such relationship households everywhere, as long as they don't come to us, it's all fine."

"As for Manager Zhang, I haven't heard any opinions. I guess he didn't pay attention to him, so let it pass."

"That would be the best—" His second uncle patted his hand and said: "When I came out, our leader also reminded me to explain this matter to you."

"Of course, our leader also said that he would never let him run wild. No one can hinder or interfere with the cooperation with the Red Steel Group."

"I believe this point." Li Xuewu looked at his second uncle and said: "Your forestry leadership team is still very visionary and capable."

"Hi, coming from a poor life, who doesn't want to live a good life?"

He turned his head to look at his nephew, raised his eyebrows and said: "This is human heart, right."

"Hehe—" Li Xuewu glanced out the car window, turned his head and said: "Cooperating for almost three years, forestry doesn't have the idea of engaging in tertiary industry?"

"Yes—why not." His second uncle laughed and said mockingly: "Tertiary industry projects have been engaged in no less than a dozen, but not one has succeeded."

He patted Li Xuewu's knee and said: "Looking at you engaging in furniture, we also picked up a few furniture factories and merged to establish an assembled furniture production line. What was the result?"

"Looking at you engaging in leather industry, we also engaged in it, and also introduced excellent leather raw materials from the north of Longjiang. The tertiary industry management office almost lost its pants."

Speaking of this, Li Gan felt embarrassed, covered his face and complained: "Isn't it heard that you can export even if you engage in cosmetics, so someone is thinking about it."

"You have wood, you have leather resources, and you didn't do these two projects well, and you want to follow the cosmetics industry with higher technical requirements?"

Li Xuewu really couldn't understand. Relying on the mountain to eat the mountain, you can't eat it well, and you want to eat the sea across the mountain?

"This is also human heart, right."

Li Gan was also helpless, sighed and said: "The leader is still very sober, insisting on cooperating with you, but it doesn't delay trying to walk a tertiary industry path of his own."

He said with a light smile: "If this money is not wasted, how can they be willing."

"Actually, the furniture industry is still very profitable." Li Xuewu also couldn't understand why this area in the east was never the main production and sales base for furniture.

Let's put it this way, even in later generations, this vast forest area cannot be counted as a major furniture province. On the contrary, regions like Hebei, Guangdong, and Shandong have become furniture distribution centers.

"White pull, local people don't recognize this thing."

Li Gan smiled bitterly: "Don't mention whether rural people can afford it. Even if they need furniture, they use carpenters to hit it themselves. Who comes to the city to buy it."

"City people can afford it, but who is willing to buy this kind of assembled furniture? They wish they could go to forestry to batch the best materials and find someone to hit it themselves."

Perhaps this is one of the reasons?

Li Xuewu couldn't understand, could only shake his head with a smile and said: "Sales told me that the Chadian Farm made a profit of more than 2.7 million yuan just by manufacturing furniture last year."

He looked at his second uncle and raised his eyebrows, emphasizing: "This does not include other projects."

"Can't compare, and can't envy."

Li Gan's head was quite sober, and he said frankly: "This area in the Northeast cannot escape the situation of resource output and excessive dependence on heavy industry in the future, and it is hard to say what will happen in the future."

After all, the rank is high, the thinking contacted is also high, and the vision looking at the future is also farther.

Li Xuewu naturally knew the future of the Northeast, but could only sigh silently in his heart.

"Your second uncle said you were coming to Jicheng, and I thought you would come directly home."

Second aunt opened the door. Seeing only the two of them, she greeted him with a smile.

"Don't be busy, we have already drunk tea at the guesthouse." Li Xuewu smiled and waved his hand, signaling second aunt not to be busy.

Following his second uncle's gesture, he sat on the sofa. His eyes swept over the furnishings in the house, which were no different from when he first came here after he transferred to civilian work a few years ago.

It's just that his second uncle is old, and his second aunt is also old.

"The old lady is quite good, right?"

Seeing him like this, second aunt brought the frozen autumn pears that had been prepared from the kitchen, big and sweet.

Li Xuewu understood second aunt's mood very well. Before being asked, he took one and gnawed it himself. The pear juice with ice slag poured into his mouth, which was quite refreshing.

"I received letters from your father and mother, saying that Yafang recovered quite well."

"Well, the old lady is happy to coax the great-grandson."

Li Xuewu smiled, looked at his second uncle and said: "When I went home for the New Year, there were children all over the kang, and the old lady couldn't take care of them."

"Hehehe—" Li Gan smiled and rubbed his head, saying: "Is your father still on the mountain?"

"He came down long ago, it's his own idea." Li Xuewu gnawed another bite of pear and said: "You also know my father's character, he doesn't want to fight or grab."

"Actually, it's quite good, peace is a blessing."

Second aunt sat on the sofa on the side, looking at the grandfather and grandson and said: "Big brother's character is like that. If he is allowed to mix in those things, it will be laborious and ungrateful."

Li Gan just nodded, and looked at Li Xuewu and asked: "Old San's work is also set, and the marriage is also set. Are you planning to have children?"

"They said they want them, and they don't have the plan to drag it back." Li Xuewu glanced at him and explained: "My mother and my father are not in a hurry anymore."

"Two granddaughters, two grandsons, not in a hurry." Second aunt smiled and said: "Wait for Old San to have two more, it will be lively at home."

"Li Xue hasn't found a partner yet?"

His second uncle was very concerned about the children in the family. Although they didn't grow up watching them, the feelings between the brothers were very good.

"She has her own ideas." Li Xuewu ate a few bites of pear, got up to wash his hands and mouth in the kitchen, and then came back and said: "I didn't manage her emotional affairs, let her make her own decisions."

On this topic, Li Gan and Han Xiumei had no right to speak, and there was nothing worth sharing.

Li Juan was the eldest girl in the family, who grew up pampered. Her character was good, and her character was also good. It was no problem to find a big family child.

Li Gan was still conservative, and Han Xiumei was also influenced by the times, preferring to find an honest and honest worker to live a more stable life.

With Li Juan's character, she naturally tended to believe in her parents in emotional choices, so she found this character Shen Jianbing, which could be considered falling into a pit.

Perhaps it was because of Li Xuewu's attitude toward Li Xue's personal feelings that they associated it with their own daughter, and both were a little silent.

Li Xuewu naturally felt the change in the atmosphere in the living room, but took the initiative to ask: "How is my eldest sister now?"

They were all family, and it was obviously distant to avoid these things.

Li Xuewu was such a person, there was nothing that couldn't be said, and nothing that couldn't be talked about. Being straightforward made it look magnanimous.

His second uncle didn't want to say it, but second aunt sighed and introduced: "The child is born, what else can happen."

"Did my eldest brother-in-law return to the original unit?"

Li Xuewu still called eldest sister and eldest brother-in-law, to comfort his second uncle and second aunt, and also to give them face. After all, the relationship between the two families was quite good.

At the beginning, his second uncle took care of their family. Now he couldn't recognize the previous feelings because of his eldest sister's affairs.

Another thing, eldest sister is eldest sister, second uncle is second uncle, can't sweep everything down with one pole.

"No, went to forestry with your second uncle."

Second aunt raised her hand to gesture to his second uncle's direction and introduced: "Your eldest sister returned to the original unit. If she goes to work, she will send the child to me, or send her to her mother-in-law's house."

"How is her mother-in-law's attitude?"

Li Xuewu didn't chat in a vain way, asked what should be asked, and still cared about his eldest sister's attitude.

Han Xiumei could naturally feel his concern and sincerity. Li Xuewu didn't need to come to the house from thousands of miles away to belittle them.

Last year, eldest brother and eldest sister-in-law came to Jicheng in person to comfort them and resolve this embarrassment.

Now the couple can still face Li Xuewu calmly, and also know that Li Xuewu came here this time to comfort them.

"We all recognized it by pinching our noses, what else can their family do." Second aunt sighed again and said: "None of them let us worry, we owe them."

"It's okay, I see my eldest sister still wants to live a good life."

Li Xuewu nodded and said: "My eldest brother-in-law can be considered to have a care in front of second uncle, and you are all relieved."

"If it were my meaning, either separate, or roll away together." His second uncle didn't hide his anger and said: "I get angry when I see his bear appearance."

"Oh, forget it—" Han Xiumei glanced at him and said: "What are you saying these words for when it's already like this? Xuewu didn't come to the house to listen to you say this."

"My eldest sister's character is too simple."

Li Xuewu looked at second aunt and said: "Still have to teach her, communicate more with family members if there is anything in the future, there is nothing that cannot be solved."

"Okay, don't mind her."

Second aunt shed tears while talking, sobbing and saying: "It's second uncle and second aunt who are sorry for you..."

"Hey, second aunt, what are you saying this for."

Li Xuewu sat forward, took second aunt's hand and said: "She is my eldest sister, how can I mind her? When are we not a family."

Han Xiumei nodded, but the tears couldn't stop. There had been too much bitterness and helplessness in these two years.

Today, in front of Li Xuewu, who was also the person involved in that matter, hearing and seeing Li Xuewu's attitude, she vented it out.

Li Xuewu came for this purpose, not wanting his second uncle and second aunt to keep this matter in their hearts forever and separate the two families.

"Your second uncle is so face-conscious, he felt embarrassed to see you again because of this matter." Han Xiumei cried and complained: "I scolded and scolded, hit and hit, but she is that kind of character, especially that child."

She raised her head, looked at Li Xuewu crying and said: "At that time, I didn't have the same opinion as your second uncle, saying that Xiao Juan couldn't live with him no matter what."

"But Xiao Juan's belly was big, and she wanted to die and live to have this child. What can we do, we can only bear it."

"The two of them haven't experienced things yet."

Li Xuewu nodded, taking the initiative to excuse his eldest sister and eldest brother-in-law. It wasn't that his temper was good and he could forgive anyone, but family affairs were like this.

Knowing that the eldest sister and eldest brother-in-law were unreliable, then don't do things in the future. Can't you fight when you meet, and scold each other when you don't meet?

His tolerance was not for his eldest sister, mainly for his second uncle and second aunt. If his second uncle hadn't helped at the beginning, how could his father get medicinal materials to make money by practicing medicine himself.

Everyone says that second uncle and father Li Shun are brothers, but if second aunt didn't nod, how could second uncle support his father so much.

So you have to remember people's goodness more. Getting along with relatives requires a degree. Some things can be dead and not come and go, but some things should pass when they pass.

Because of Li Xuewu's attitude, he could clearly feel that his second uncle and second aunt's mentality was significantly relaxed after venting.

He took the initiative to talk about the juniors in the family. Second aunt also cared about Li Shu. Hearing him talk about school, her face was full of relief and envy.

After chatting for more than an hour, Li Xuewu saw that it was getting late and got up to say goodbye. Second aunt wanted to keep him at home.

"Your eldest sister went out for a car, and Xueli hasn't returned from the mountain. You should stay at home."

"No, second aunt, there is work discipline."

Li Xuewu waved his hand and explained to second aunt: "Our group has clear regulations on official business travel, and it is not allowed to leave the team at night."

"They have this rule, not to mention he is the leader of the team." His second uncle explained: "Anyway, it's not far, just in our guesthouse."

"Then you come home for dinner at noon tomorrow?"

Second aunt still said enthusiastically: "I'll make dumplings for you. I don't know if Xueli can rush back. I can't contact him for a while."

"Don't be polite, second aunt." Li Xuewu walked out the door, held her hand and said: "If I weren't worried about you, I wouldn't necessarily have time to come over this time. Wait for next time."

He shook second aunt's hand and said: "Things have passed, don't take it to heart. You and second uncle should also take care of your health and come home to see often."

"Good, let's take care." Second aunt smiled, but her eyes turned red again while talking. This time, she looked at him with relief and pride.

The children in the family have finally grown up, and there is always a man who stands up to the sky.

His second uncle sent him downstairs. Before getting in the car, Li Xuewu talked to his second uncle again, still about the old lady's physical condition, hoping that he would spend more time going home to see.

Although the old lady is only in her early sixties, she is already considered a long life in this era. The average life expectancy in 1949 was 35 years old, 57 years old in 1957, and it was only raised to 68 years old until 1981.

The old lady suffered much hardship and endured many trials in her youth; raising several children was no easy task. It was not without the intention of reducing the family's expenses that the second and third uncles left home one after another.

As long as there was a bite to eat, who would be willing to leave their home behind?

Li Xuewu told the second uncle that a family should not harbor resentment; given the old lady's age, every year back is a year gained, and every look is a look cherished—don't let there be regrets in your heart when the time comes.

It doesn't matter if you truly live close by; if something happens, you can be home in a flash. But at this distance, no matter how you put it, if something really happens, can you just hop on a plane to rush back?

This was to persuade the second uncle to let go of the knot in his heart, and also to urge him to go back and see the old lady more often.

He had traveled for a day by train to reach Jicheng, busied himself all day without a moment's rest, and came to the house specifically that evening just to make this stance clear.

As for what the second uncle and second aunt were thinking, that was entirely up to them.

He was the younger generation; what he ought to do, he would do.

That night, he stayed at the Forestry Guest House. The conditions were, of course, beyond reproach; forestry had always been a pillar industry in Jicheng, so how could the forestry department's own guest house be anything less than excellent?

Furthermore, this time Li Xuewu was leading a delegation for research, so the forestry department would naturally make proper arrangements; the food and lodging were absolutely of a high standard, befitting his status.

When Xilin came to visit him early the next morning, she also remarked that after being in Jicheng for so many years, this was her first time coming to the forestry guest house.

"You haven't had breakfast yet, have you?" Li Xuewu glanced out the window and asked, "Getting up so early, aren't you cold?"

"Cold? Not at all, I've long since adapted."

It was evident that Xilin had indeed adapted to life in Jicheng; even her accent had changed, full of the local flavor.

She glanced at the furnishings in the room and clicked her tongue in wonder, saying, "I didn't expect Jicheng to have such a lavish place."

"You haven't gained any perspective at all," Li Xuewu teased her with a smile. "What's so lavish about this? Wait until you go to Jinmen; there are even more lavish things waiting for you to see."

"That would be great. I never thought I'd be able to return to work inside the pass," Xilin looked at him and said with a smile. "I thought you'd have to send me off to Bingshan."

"What's wrong? Do you have an opinion on Zhou Ziqiang's work?" Li Xuewu smiled, walked to the door, and called his secretary Zhang Enyuan to help him order two breakfasts to be delivered to the room.

Xilin had been brought in by Zhang Enyuan. Zhang Enyuan was such a clever person; he had made reports when passing by the front desk and the floor duty station.

Once inside the leader's room, the door had never been closed.

Zhang Enyuan's room was right across the hall, so keeping the door open was no issue; no one dared to eavesdrop on the leader.

"I don't have any opinion, I was just letting my imagination run wild." Xilin sat on the sofa, bounced a little to test its softness, and said playfully, "Were you alone last night?"

"Once we get to Jinmen, there will be a chance to return to the capital."

Li Xuewu ignored her teasing and changed his outer clothes in front of her; it wasn't like he was naked, so there was nothing to feel awkward about.

"Mm, I really want to go back and take a look."

Hearing him say this, Xilin said with deep emotion, "Since returning to the capital for the New Year the year before last, I haven't been back in two years. I want to see Diliya and her child."

"He Zhuang? He's doing great, a big chubby boy." Li Xuewu finished changing his shirt and said with a smile, "It's no wonder his dad is a cook; among the children in the neighborhood, he's the fattest."

"Hahaha, is that so—"

Xilin said with a smile, "Last time I saw him, he was still crawling on the kang; he must be able to walk by now."

"That was ages ago. Their He Zhuang is even a few months older than our Li Ning." Li Xuewu walked over and sat down opposite her, saying, "He's been able to run and jump for a long time."

"That's wonderful—" Xilin said enviously, "She must be very happy."

"Aren't you happy?"

Li Xuewu looked at her suspiciously and asked, "Are you missing Ge Lin? He'll be back soon too; it'll be just right to meet in Jinmen."

"Do you really not know, or are you pretending not to?" Xilin gave him a sharp look before turning her head away and saying, "We haven't done that yet."

"What do I know?" Li Xuewu looked at her with a strange expression and said, "You've already registered your marriage; what's the meaning of this? Are you just hanging out as buddies?"

"Get lost—" Xilin turned back to glare at him, lowered her head, and said, "Let's wait another two years for him. Even though we're married, I still can't bring myself to do it; I feel guilty."

"It has to be you guys," Li Xuewu said with amusement. "Even after getting married, you can still come up with such antics."

"Do you think I'm like you—" Xilin curled her lip and looked at him playfully, saying, "Those two beauties living in Dongsi are even younger than me."

"Trying to mock me early in the morning, are you?"

Li Xuewu didn't mind her teasing. Seeing Zhang Enyuan enter with the food boxes, he stood up to help, gesturing, "Join me for breakfast; this is the only time I have to chat with you."

"Then do I have to say something useful?" Xilin teased with a smile and stood up to help arrange the breakfast boxes.

Actually, there were only a few items for breakfast: large steamed buns, small pickles, a bowl of rice porridge, and an egg. In this era, that was already a high standard; there was even an extra stir-fried dish in his breakfast.

"It really is true that you cadres have good living conditions." Xilin looked at the food boxes on the table and remarked with emotion, "Just looking at it makes me envious."

"You're jealous of my breakfast when you earn seventy or eighty yuan a month?" Li Xuewu pointed to the sofa with a smile, gesturing for her to sit down so they could eat and talk.

Within the recycling station system, those like Xilin who independently managed a region all had high salaries; Li Xuewu was not stingy in this regard.

However, the salaries of branch managers were not fixed; some were high and some were low. Xilin had followed him in starting the business from the very beginning, and she had founded the Jicheng recycling station, so her salary was on the higher side.

Ding Wanqiu, who had rushed back from the frontier to take over her position, had some subsidies on his previous salary, which was also not low. Only the newly appointed managers had relatively lower salaries.

For example, Zhou Ziqiang and Zhou Changli; they were still young and had to earn salary increases with their strength and achievements.

"Why did you think of letting Old Ding take over my position?" Xilin ate her breakfast and shifted the topic to serious business.

Li Xuewu looked at her and asked back, "Is it not okay?"

"I didn't say it wasn't okay, it's just..."

Xilin hesitated for a moment but still spoke out: "He has worked in Jicheng before and has some understanding of the work here, but his methods are too ruthless."

"I admit that thanks to his ruthlessness back then, we have the peace we have today, but with him coming to Jicheng, I'm afraid some people won't be able to handle the fear."

"I originally intended to let Yu Li take over for you." Li Xuewu ate a piece of pickle and explained, "But I thought it wouldn't be appropriate to keep arranging female generals to go there, so I changed it."

"Was it not because Yu Li didn't want to?"

Xilin smiled knowingly, shook her head slightly, and said, "You must understand management better than I do. I'm not against Old Ding coming to Jicheng, it's just a little worry of mine."

"He will go to Steel City before coming to Jicheng." Li Xuewu nodded and said, "I will talk to him first."

"That would be best." Xilin agreed, "He is older than all of us and has had too many experiences; there are some things he does without any scruples, and some..."

"I know, I will talk to him."

Li Xuewu put down his chopsticks, took a sip of rice porridge, and said, "You don't have to wait here for him to take over; once you've handled things, you can go directly to Jinmen."

"This... that wouldn't be very good." Xilin hesitated and said, "I was planning to wait for him to arrive and introduce the relationships and work here to him before leaving."

"Consider it a test for him."

Li Xuewu smiled and said, "If he can't change his methods, then I can only send him to Hong Kong; he's still thinking about getting revenge."

"I've heard about that too." Xilin curled her lip and said, "It seems those opera singers really did him a great injustice; to think he could hold a grudge for so long."

"He told me it was a blood feud."

Li Xuewu shook his head slightly and said, "It's all up to him; I promised him I would give him a chance for revenge."

Xilin shrugged, not wanting to comment on such behavior; she had never experienced such hatred in her life, even when her parents sold her.

On Sunday, February 16th, Li Xuewu set off to return to Steel City, again choosing to travel by train, and arrived in Steel City on the morning of the 17th (Monday).

In this day and age, if you hadn't flown, you would never complain about the train's speed, because crossing from one province to another in just one day was simply too fast!

Li Xuewu never complained about this, nor did he mobilize a plane to pick him up just to save time for work; he still felt that slower was better.

With the development of technology and the progress of society, from wired to wireless phones, and from wireless to smart ones, people's lives have indeed become more convenient, but it seems they are more tired, and time passes faster.

The trains of this era were very slow, but he had time to write an article, read a book, and enjoy the romance of the journey, and there were no WeChat groups constantly pinging and needing a "received" reply.

When he arrived at the Steel City train station, Yu Zhe had already driven the car onto the platform; this could be considered a kind of welfare benefit for the Red Steel Group locally.

It wasn't just the Red Steel Group; the heads of large industrial enterprises all enjoyed this kind of invisible benefit. Who told the enterprises of this era to be more powerful?

"The latest newspaper."

Upon picking up Li Xuewu, Zhang Enyuan took the newspaper from the station and handed it to him, also pointing to the headline.

Li Xuewu had already seen it. Starting from the 15th, the National Planning Work Conference was being held, expected to conclude on the 21st. During this time, the outline of the Fourth Five-Year Plan would be discussed, and this year's national economic plan would be drafted.

As a manager of a heavy industrial enterprise, he was naturally concerned about the content of this work conference; even Old Li would attend the meeting, after all, the Red Steel Group was representative.

However, he had no expectations for this meeting; this was content he had already learned in textbooks. Although he couldn't remember it clearly, he still had an impression.

This meeting would put forward the slogan "Firmly Grasp War Preparedness," but the slogan also included long sentences like "Promote a New Leap in the National Economy," which to some extent explained some issues.

If there were no surprises, this meeting would still decide to "Concentrate Forces to Build the Great Third-Line Strategic Rear," and would draft goals with an adventurous tone, such as a 17% increase in total industrial output value and a 46% increase in basic construction investment compared to last year.

Setting aside the heaven-defying decision of a 46% increase in basic construction investment, let's talk about what a 17% increase in total industrial output value meant.

Li Xuewu remembered that last year's total industrial and agricultural output value was 261.3 billion yuan, an increase of 23.8% over 1968. Among them, the total industrial output value was 166.5 billion yuan, an increase of 34.3% over 1968; the total agricultural output value was 94.8 billion yuan, an increase of 1.1% over the previous year.

And in industry, light industry grew by 25.2%, and heavy industry grew by 43.9%.

In other words, based on the existing growth of total output value, the gap in growth percentage between heavy industry was not very large; did light industry have to bear at least more than half of the growth pressure?

Some people say heavy industry is hard to develop and light industry is easy; that's pure nonsense. Both light and heavy industries are hard to develop, and the difficulty cannot be simply measured by data.

From 166.5 billion suddenly growing to 194.8 billion, where would this 28.3 billion come from?

Furthermore, Li Xuewu was very uncertain whether the industrial total output value growth data from last year was accurate, just like later generations didn't quite believe the GDP data; they said it was 5%, but life was still hard.

Let's talk about the 46% increase in basic construction investment; last year's national basic construction investment completion data was 20.083 billion yuan, which was already a high figure, an increase of 77.6% over the year before last.

And last year, new fixed assets were 10.6 billion yuan, with a fixed asset delivery and use rate of only 52.7%, making it one of the years with the worst investment results.

Last year's fiscal revenue was 52.68 billion yuan, an increase of 16.55 billion yuan; fiscal expenditure was 52.59 billion yuan, an increase of 16.61 billion yuan. Balancing revenue and expenditure, revenue exceeded expenditure by 90 million yuan.

In other words, counting the growth rate of this year's revenue, looking at last year's revenue and expenditure situation, to complete such a large basic construction investment, the fiscal budget was very likely to show a deficit.

Of course, the increase in basic construction investment was mainly reflected in the ordnance and ordnance supporting projects; Li Xuewu didn't quite agree with this either, as it greatly affected economic development and construction.

However, by comparison, the industrial indicators were not too prominent. This meeting would set heavy pressure targets for 1975, such as grain production of 600 billion to 650 billion jin; steel of 35 million to 40 million tons; coal of 400 million to 430 million tons, and so on.

Li Xuewu naturally hoped that the country would be richer and stronger, but there had to be a process; taking too big a step would easily lead to trouble.

However, another piece of news in the newspaper made him chuckle.

"... In response to the plan of large automotive industrial enterprises such as Jingqi and Factory 17 to jointly establish an automotive parts supply chain, the Red Star Steel Group Sales Corporation announced that it would strengthen supply chain cooperation and technology sharing, proposing an industrial co-construction plan..."

"... In the plan, the Red Steel Group proposed that in the future, it would select sites in Fengcheng, Modu, Jingcheng, Jin Ling, and Jincheng to build automotive parts supply chain warehouses and form five major storage areas..."

"... Automotive industrial enterprises that have already responded to this plan include Beijing No. 2 Automobile Manufacturing Plant, Modu No. 1 Automobile Manufacturing Plant, Sichuan Automobile Manufacturing Plant, Beijing Bus Manufacturing Plant, Beijing Motorcycle Manufacturing Plant, Modu Bus Manufacturing Plant..."

"Is this work done by the Group's Propaganda Department?"

Li Xuewu put down the newspaper, looked at Zhang Enyuan, and asked, "Inquire about it, ask about the Northern Industry Daily's report on this matter; I want to know their attitude."