Chapter 431: Toads Can Sing

"So expensive?"

Before Li Li Xuewu could speak, Ji Wang Weidong spoke up, frowning as he squatted down to touch the carpet on the stall.

"It's not machine-woven."

Li Li Xuewu explained with a smile, "This is hand-woven."

Hearing Li Li Xuewu's words, the big-bearded man sitting inside gave Li Li Xuewu a thumbs up.

"That's still a bit expensive; isn't it just something to step on under your feet?"

Li Li Xuewu smiled, signaled the vendor, and took Ji Wang Weidong to the next stall.

This kid's thinking was typical of the era's utilitarian mindset; he basically didn't consider anything else.

If this carpet were in a later era, few people would really use it to cover the floor; more would hang it on the wall as a decoration.

The few of them strolled around, looking at exquisitely crafted copperware, cowhide products, sheepskin products, and especially high-quality lambskin products.

Ji Wang Weidong didn't mind the high price of the sheepskin coat anymore and took out money and coupons to buy one directly.

The two cadres who came along did the same.

Because it was really, really cold outside in Urumqi.

Li Li Xuewu was already wearing a fur coat, so he didn't look at the big items, but instead picked out leather gloves made of lambskin.

He didn't just pick one, but a whole stack—at least in Ji Wang Weidong's view, it was a stack.

Li Li Xuewu's brain was truly remarkable; he remembered the hand sizes of his family members, his good friends, and his good girlfriends.

So when choosing, he just had to compare them to his own hand size to know which one to pick for whom.

"These raisins are not bad."

Ji Wang Weidong popped one into his mouth, then looked at the big-bearded man glaring at him and said, "Give me ten yuan's worth."

Hearing this, the big-bearded man's hostility vanished instantly, and he smiled as he weighed them out.

There was no such thing as "try before you buy, if it's not good, don't pay" in this market.

So if it weren't for the fact that Li Li Xuewu and his group had many people, Ji Wang Weidong would have caused trouble again today.

That was just his temper; he wasn't targeting anyone, but everyone here was an ordinary person.

Li Li Xuewu knew the raisins here were good and had already bought quite a few at the Erkin Bazaar.

But that was only so much; in the upcoming transactions, the proportion of raisins wouldn't be low.

"We didn't come at the right time; the apples here are the delicious ones."

Li Li Xuewu said to Ji Wang Weidong, signaling him not to touch the apples on the stall.

Given this young master's temper, if the apples weren't delicious, he definitely wouldn't buy them.

Although this place wasn't as wealthy as the interior, its produce was truly abundant.

Dried fruits, jade carvings, silk, Chinese medicinal materials, etc. —if they could really reach a trade cooperation here, the Rolling Mill's volume might expand rapidly.

Of course, that would depend on this year's situation; if they could maintain this plan, development was inevitable.

Since it was called a Bazaar, there was livestock trading in the market.

Li Li Xuewu specifically looked around; the price of live livestock was already dirt cheap, but the meat sellers still had such rigid rules.

Ji Wang Weidong played with the Yingjisha knife he had just bought and asked Li Li Xuewu, who was appraising horses, with a laugh, "You have this skill too?"

Li Li Xuewu curled his lip and retorted, "You haven't forgotten that we have horses at home, have you?"

"Hey!"

Ji Wang Weidong slapped his forehead and said, "How could I have forgotten that."

As he spoke, he imitated Li Li Xuewu's appearance and looked at the tall horse tied to the pillar.

"How do you appraise this thing?"

"Look with your eyes."

Li Li Xuewu retorted casually and turned to look at the sheep's wool.

"You understand this too?"

Ji Wang Weidong looked at Li Li Xuewu and asked, "Do you have sheep at home too?"

"We don't have pigs at home either, but that doesn't stop me from eating pork."

Li Li Xuewu was really annoyed by this clingy guy; if it weren't for his status, he would've kicked him aside long ago.

Hearing Li Li Xuewu's words, Ji Wang Weidong wasn't annoyed; when going out together, whoever took it seriously first lost.

This rule was the same for men and women.

So the more Li Li Xuewu was annoyed by him, the more he wanted to follow behind Li Li Xuewu and tease him.

"What are you doing?"

Seeing Li Li Xuewu asking about everything but buying nothing, Ji Wang Weidong asked.

Li Li Xuewu touched the silk on the ground and said, "Checking the market, asking if they accept broken bits, and selling them for a good price for you."

Ji Wang Weidong said with a smile, "Looks like you're really going to do big business; you're doing market research here."

Li Li Xuewu also knew that as long as this kid was by his side, he couldn't hide it from him, so he didn't intend to hide it.

What should be known couldn't be avoided, and what shouldn't be known, he wouldn't understand anyway.

Tossing and turning, they strolled until noon; by now, there were fewer people in the market because it was lunchtime.

"Let's go eat too; I'm hungry from strolling."

Ji Wang Weidong rubbed his stomach, looked at his watch, and urged Li Li Xuewu to eat.

Li Li Xuewu glanced at the few Nasreddin Hodjas eating pilaf and knew Ji Wang Weidong must have seen how delicious it looked.

"You're just like someone who sees others poop and feels pain in their own rectum."

As he spoke, he led the group out; although the market was full of life, Li Li Xuewu still didn't like eating in this kind of environment.

Leaving the market, they were on a normal street; walking further into the Erdaoqiao Grand Bazaar, they saw a few restaurants with local characteristics.

"What to eat?"

Li Li Xuewu turned to Ji Wang Weidong and said, "You've worked hard today, I'll treat you to this meal."

"Do you even need to be polite?"

Ji Wang Weidong stared at the small blackboard outside the restaurant, muttering, "Coming out with you, if you don't treat, who will~"

As he spoke, he repeated the dishes on the blackboard: "Pilaf, roast meat, meatball soup, oil-splashed noodles, hand-grabbed meat, roast whole lamb, lamb chops, beef tendon, beef offal, naan-pit meat, cold noodles, lamb stewed with pancakes..."

Hearing this list of dishes made the people behind him drool, and made Li Li Xuewu curl his lip.

But since this kid had caught him, he might have to bleed a lot today.

"Hey!"

Ji Wang Weidong pointed at a restaurant and said, "Let's go eat big-plate chicken!"

Li Li Xuewu raised an eyebrow; he really wanted to tease him, but looking at the kid's innocent expression, he decided not to ruin it.

"Let's go! Let's eat this!"

Li Li Xuewu waved his hand and led the group into the restaurant.

The restaurants here also had their own characteristics, and the decorations inside were a bit flashier than in the interior.

However, the tables and chairs were still the same; after all, this was a public restaurant, and they were all basically the same.

Seeing that Li Li Xuewu and his group didn't look like locals and were such a large group, the service staff arranged them in a corner table.

It wasn't discrimination against Li Li Xuewu and his group, but at this time, the understanding and communication between ethnic groups weren't as transparent as in later eras.

Arranging them to the side made it easier for everyone to eat in peace.

Li Li Xuewu's group were all young men, so they didn't really care, letting Ji Wang Weidong order first.

Even though the kid was loud at the door, once inside, he only ordered one big-plate chicken and then just looked at the staples.

Li Li Xuewu asked the driver and the two cadres to order, but they were a bit embarrassed.

"We're out on a trip, we can't shortchange our mouths."

Li Li Xuewu said with a smile, "If no one has any dietary restrictions, then I'll order."

As he spoke, he glanced at the group, then asked the waiter for lamb chops, hand-grabbed meat, beef tendon, and meatball soup.

This could be considered a standard of four dishes and one soup.

Seeing Li Li Xuewu order such hearty dishes, the group couldn't help but laugh.

That wasn't all; Li Li Xuewu took a bottle of wine from his coat and said to the group, "Nothing to do today, just strolling around; let's finish this bottle to warm our bodies."

As soon as he took out the wine, the restaurant staff and surrounding guests glanced over.

Drinking and smoking weren't allowed in restaurants here.

But this custom was for those ethnic restaurants; Li Li Xuewu had checked this one before entering, and it was a mass-market restaurant that received guests from all sides.

The driver was a bit hesitant, but the two cadres from the Investigation Department were delighted.

Although they had been strolling all morning, their bodies were still cold.

It had nothing to do with exercise; it was just that the weather was cold.

The group laughed and took the wine bottle from Li Li Xuewu, scrambling to pour the wine, while Ji Wang Weidong, sitting to the side, refused to drink no matter what.

"Are you afraid I'll harm you?"

Li Li Xuewu raised an eyebrow and said, "Drinking a little wine on such a cold day warms the body and is good for your health."

Ji Wang Weidong curled his lip and said, "Not drinking your wine is what's good for my health!"

Li Li Xuewu naturally knew that Ji Wang Weidong was "once bitten, twice shy."

"Don't drink it then, I'm not eager to give it to you!"

Li Li Xuewu raised his glass to the others and said, "Come, let's have a drink, men; let the kid not drink if he doesn't want to."

After teasing Ji Wang Weidong, Li Li Xuewu and the others laughed and finished the wine, then started eating with the hand-grabbed meat that had been served.

Actually, it was just for the novelty; the processing of mutton and beef here wasn't as refined as in Beijing.

But even with this craftsmanship, the group ate until their bellies were round.

Meat was too hard to get at this time; since the year before last, meat coupons basically hadn't been issued.

They said it was reduced from three taels to two taels per month, but even if you had coupons, you had to be able to buy it.

Eggs and meat were basically prioritized for the young and sick; only pregnant women and sick people could buy them.

Every day at the supply and marketing cooperative was like a sports meet; whoever had the ability got to the front.

Li Li Xuewu only ate a few more bites of the big-plate chicken; the way it was made here was indeed delicious.

The chicken was tender and bursting with juice, the sauce was salty, fresh, and slightly spicy, paired with soaked pancakes—this mouthful was simply amazing.

While they were eating, people kept coming into the restaurant.

Some asked about the price and then left.

For no other reason than that the naan in this restaurant was one cent more expensive than in the market; who would be that sucker?

It was mostly clerks or cadres working in the market, or people on business trips who bought specialties here on the way.

There were few people like Li Li Xuewu's group who were idle and eating and drinking lavishly.

Sitting at the table next to Li Li Xuewu's were two men and a woman; listening to them, they were cadres from the department store across the street.

Li Li Xuewu hadn't paid attention to them at first, until they started talking about this snow disaster.

"Old Liu has been in Altay for a few days, hasn't he?"

"Isn't that so!"

Hearing the female colleague ask, the tall, thin man nodded and said, "He even said he'd bring back a batch of livestock; looking at the snow outside, who knows when that'll be."

Another short man shook his head and said, "His wife is over there; he's just using this as an excuse to go home and see her. He's probably happy about the heavy snow."

Hearing this person say that, the female colleague smiled, then said, "The inventory of meat can't be sold, and the higher-ups have pressed so many tasks on us, and now they want us to go pick up meat. How are we supposed to handle this~"

"Heh, how to handle it? There's no way to handle it."

The short man said, "The price isn't set by us; by the time they finish researching, summer will be over."

"Hey, millions of head of livestock; the gap is too big."

This short man was clearly a cadre; he had taken off his sheepskin coat to reveal a Zhongshan suit with pockets.

He sighed and said, "The higher-ups won't allow on-site processing, and off-site processing can't get out. How many people are there here anyway? How many can afford to eat meat?"

This was indeed the truth; there was only one naan and one bowl of lamb soup in front of each of them on their table.

The economic allocation at this time indeed had problems, because the supply and marketing cooperative was the department responsible for unified purchasing and marketing, so most of the pressure was added to them.

There was a large discrepancy between commodity pricing and actual market prices; sometimes the price of an item wouldn't change for seven or eight years.

Ji Wang Weidong spat out the bone in his mouth and raised his eyebrows at Li Li Xuewu, but Li Li Xuewu didn't nod.

Just then, a woman carrying a bag walked in through the door, leading a child.

Not to mention what the woman was wearing, the child's clothes could be said to be patches upon patches, with small patches patching large patches.

"Comrade, I want a naan, and a bowl of hot water will do."

As she spoke, as if afraid the waiter would despise her, she pulled the child's little hand and said, "It's too cold outside, the child can't take it."

The waiter didn't say anything; there was no such thing as refusing service for being poorly dressed at this time. He frowned and responded before issuing the ticket.

The woman also fumbled through her clothes to dig out a food coupon and money, handing them to the waiter with eager eyes.

The waiter, perhaps a bit impatient, snatched the money from the woman's hand and turned to go to the back.

Li Li Xuewu was sitting diagonally across from them, so he saw this scene clearly.

He didn't pay attention to the woman's embarrassment, but to the child whose face was a bit red.

The child, perhaps seeing someone looking at him, shyly hid behind his mother's leg.

Li Li Xuewu smiled and waved at the child.

The child shyly turned his head away and looked up to eat the naan his mother gave him.

Ji Wang Weidong also noticed Li Li Xuewu's actions, looked at the mother and son, and then looked at Li Li Xuewu.

"Do you know them?"

"No."

Li Li Xuewu turned to the somewhat terrified woman and asked, "Where are you from, sister?"

The woman didn't expect Li Li Xuewu to ask her, especially given the gap in their attire.

Because he was on a mission, Li Li Xuewu was wearing a Zhongshan suit inside.

It was warm in the restaurant, and after taking off his outer fur coat, his status as a cadre was clearly visible.

"Ta... Tacheng."

The woman responded, then hugged her child, not knowing whether to look at Li Li Xuewu or not.

Li Li Xuewu smiled and said, "May I ask you something? Is the road from Tacheng to here easy to travel?"

Hearing Li Li Xuewu was asking for directions, the woman wasn't as afraid anymore.

She shook her head and said, "I was following my husband to see a doctor; the farm's car sent us a part of the way, and we walked the rest."

Speaking of this, the woman's voice choked up; she took a breath and continued, "The heavy snow blocked the road, and no cars could get through."

"Oh? Is that so!"

Li Li Xuewu frowned and asked, "So you are a worker at the ranch?"

"Yes, my husband and I are both workers at the Shuanghezi Ranch."

The woman touched the child's head and fed him a sip of hot water.

Li Li Xuewu patted Ji Wang Weidong's arm beside him, signaling him to make room.

Then he said to the woman, "Sister, if it's convenient, come sit at our table and eat; I happen to want to ask you about something."

"No, no."

The woman waved her hand and said, "Comrade, ask whatever you want, we... we..."

As she said this, the child in her arms looked at the food on Li Li Xuewu's table.

This restaurant had the best food at this table, with wine and meat.

Ji Wang Weidong stood up and moved to sit next to his colleague.

Li Li Xuewu smiled and said, "Come over, we're all from the interior, here on business; asking for directions helps avoid a lot of trouble."

The woman knew she had met a good person; looking down at her son by her leg, who was sucking his finger and looking over, she knew what the child was thinking.

"Tha... Thank you."

The woman wiped her son's mouth and looked at Li Li Xuewu embarrassedly, saying, "His dad passed away before we even got here, and we've been hungry for a day; thank you so much."

Li Li Xuewu waved his hand and said, "No need to thank me, I really have questions to ask you."

As he spoke, he dipped his finger in the wine in his glass and pointed at four locations on the table.

"Yili, Tacheng, Altay, and this is Urumqi."

Li Li Xuewu looked at the woman and asked, "Is there a railway from these three places to Urumqi?"

"No."

The woman shook her head and said, "Even the highways were built later, and they aren't easy to travel."

"Oh, oh."

Li Li Xuewu frowned and asked, "Is the loss at the ranch heavy from this snow disaster? How are the livestock being handled?"

Hearing Li Li Xuewu ask this, the three people eating at the side looked over.

The woman wiped away tears and said, "Heavy, how could it not be? They died in batches, buried in the snow, waiting for the higher-ups to handle it."

As she spoke, she composed her emotions and continued, "The living livestock are also barely getting by; there isn't enough fodder at the farm, so we can only prioritize the young and strong ones."

Li Li Xuewu nodded; this was natural selection, nothing could be done.

Only after arriving here did Li Li Xuewu know that the disaster in places like Hami wasn't the biggest; the places just mentioned were the biggest.

And those three places happened to be where the border ranches were most concentrated.

Li Li Huai De and he had both been too optimistic and hadn't considered the actual situation here.

"Let's go, let's go back."

Seeing that the mother and son had finished eating, Li Li Xuewu said to Ji Wang Weidong and the others, then stood up and walked out.

He now had to go back to find Li Li Huai De; he believed Li Li Huai De was looking for him too.

The three cadres sitting there watched Li Li Xuewu's group leave in a hurry, still discussing what these people were here for.

As for the mother and son, they were in tears, asking the waiter for oil paper to wrap up the naan and meat that Li Li Xuewu's group had intentionally left for them.

The waiter also understood Li Li Xuewu's intention; he had seen it from the beginning when he invited the mother and son to eat together.

He helped wrap the meat and refilled the woman's water bottle with hot water.

Li Li Xuewu never actively changed the trajectory of someone else's life; he acted according to his heart.

Whether it's good or bad, it's in the cause, not the effect; doing small good deeds is cultivating the heart.

As for doing great good deeds, seeing the poor and suffering—that's what Bodhisattvas do; even Bodhisattvas can't do it all, so who was he, Li Li Xuewu, to think he could?

He had heard two pieces of news, and combined with what he heard at the market, he knew Li Li Huai De was going to jump.

Sure enough, just as he entered the guesthouse, Jin Jin Yaohui greeted him from the lobby and walked quickly to Li Li Xuewu and the others.

"The leader is looking for you, it's very urgent."

"I know."

Li Li Xuewu waved his hand at Jin Jin Yaohui to reassure him, then led the group upstairs.

He knocked on the door, and without waiting for Li Li Huai De to speak, he pushed the door open and walked in.

Ji Wang Weidong and the others returned to their rooms; they couldn't get involved in this kind of occasion.

"Leader."

"Where have you been?"

Li Li Huai De frowned at Li Li Xuewu, then beckoned him to sit down.

Li Li Xuewu also frowned as he walked over and said, "I went to check the market; the situation is a bit severe."

"Oh?"

Li Li Huai De was stunned and asked, "What's wrong with the market?"

"It's a bit chaotic."

Li Li Xuewu explained to Li Li Huai De, "The market prices haven't changed, and people in the city are buying as usual, but the market's inventory is both high and low."

"What do you mean by both high and low?"

Li Li Huai De was confused; inventory is either high or low, how could it be both?

Hearing Li Li Xuewu talk about the market, he didn't even have a chance to say what he wanted to say.

"The plan is high, but the reality is low."

Li Li Xuewu said concisely, "The plan injected into the market by the higher-ups is increasing significantly, but the actual livestock that can be allocated is far below the planned quantity."

"And the livestock in the plan are live, but the ones actually on the books might already be dead."

Li Li Huai De's brow remained furrowed as he looked at Li Li Xuewu and said, "The problem I wanted to discuss with you is the same; the ranches and units I contacted last night and this morning all said they had to wait; at least they couldn't load the cars today."

Li Li Huai De appreciated Li Li Xuewu more and more and valued him more and more.

Clearly, he was the one who went to talk to the relevant units, but as long as Li Li Xuewu went out for a stroll, he understood more than he did after talking.

The key was that Li Li Xuewu could accurately capture the crux of the problem.

Li Li Xuewu nodded and said, "They can wait, but we can't; it's March, the interior is about to thaw."

"Yes."

Li Li Huai De was so anxious he didn't even smoke, looking at Li Li Xuewu and asking, "Tell me, what should we do?"

Li Li Xuewu rubbed his face, lowered his head, thought for a moment, and said, "Have you contacted the surrounding ranches?"

"I have, there are some, but not many."

Li Li Huai De sat back on the sofa and looked at Li Li Xuewu, saying, "The losses here are also significant, but according to the plan from above, the allocation to the supply and marketing system is completely sufficient."

"The room for negotiation on price is also small; we want a lot, and their meaning is also to do their best."

"What does 'do their best' mean?"

Li Li Xuewu frowned and asked, "Are we still waiting for them to 'do their best'?"

Jin Jin Yaohui stood to the side and said, "It's mainly because they aren't very interested in us buying directly with money or exchanging with tools."

"The local meat processing units want to wait for the livestock from the disaster areas to arrive and exchange them with us using that plan."

"There are no fools anywhere."

Li Li Xuewu nodded and said, "It seems it's still a problem of subjective willingness."

As he spoke, he turned to look at Li Li Huai De and said, "If you can't solve the problem, then solve the people handling the problem; start by improving their subjective initiative."

Li Li Huai De frowned at Li Li Xuewu; he didn't understand the specific business.

No wonder Li Li Xuewu often said leaders were useless; you couldn't talk to them about specific business because they wouldn't understand.

"Our associated unit, the Beijing Scrap Company, got a trainload of grain and medicine."

"Really!"

Li Li Huai De widened his eyes and asked Li Li Xuewu, "Is it the support train that came this time?"

"Yes."

Li Li Xuewu nodded and said, "Two trains of Chinese herbal medicine, one train of Western medicine, and the rest is corn."

"Oh my!"

Li Li Huai De stood up directly, walked a few steps toward the desk, turned back, and asked Li Li Xuewu, "Can we acquire it?"

"Hehe, leader, that's not very likely."

Li Li Xuewu smiled and said, "It's too detrimental to unity; after all, they've already kowtowed, and it's just short of begging."

"Yes."

Li Li Huai De was the one who followed the rules of the game most; don't look at him playing politics, he also followed political rules.

When communicating with Li Li Xuewu, he also asked Li Li Xuewu to consider the big picture and politics.

"Tell me your idea."

"My idea is to borrow a chicken to lay an egg."

Li Li Xuewu knew he had to explain clearly to Li Li Huai De about the specific business, to avoid buck-passing later.

"The medicine and grain are on our train after all, right?"

"When you contact them, just say it's our goods, say there are five special trains of grain and medicine being allocated, and they will arrive one after another following this train."

"Oh?!"

Li Li Huai De had never played like this before, looking at Li Li Xuewu and signaling him to continue.

"Grain and medicine are supplied according to market demand, but we acquire mutton at 20% of the market price."

Li Li Xuewu lit a cigarette for himself, took a puff, and said, "We only trade with the units that deliver meat the fastest."

"That's not enough."

Li Li Huai De looked at Li Li Xuewu and said, "This isn't our chicken; if the egg that comes down is a rotten egg, it'll be trouble. After all, this isn't on our home turf."

"It won't be rotten."

Li Li Xuewu smiled and said, "The scrap company is also here to collect meat; if we don't say anything, who knows if it's us doing it."

"Send the meat away first; when the time comes, just say there's a railway dispatch problem, it's blocked along the way, etc. —find an excuse."

Li Li Huai De looked at Li Li Xuewu and asked, "Are you saying let the scrap company collect first, and we collect the rest?"

Li Li Xuewu nodded and said, "The ones collected first are the minority, but the ones following are the majority."

"I'll discuss it with the scrap company; the ones collected first will also count as ours."

Li Li Xuewu looked difficult but responsible and said, "After all, I'm the one doing the coordination work."

"The meat is sent away, and how the train arriving on the 3rd is handled is all in our hands; who knows when the next four trains will arrive? Those who are anxious can take the money first."

"We don't have to go to the three regions of Tacheng to collect these cattle and sheep; it's not realistic. The meat of those livestock hasn't been processed yet, and we can't slaughter them ourselves, can we?"

"Hahaha."

Hearing Li Li Xuewu's words, Li Li Huai De laughed out loud.

"I really haven't done the job of slaughtering livestock! Hahaha~"

Seeing Li Li Huai De smile, Li Li Xuewu knew he had agreed to this plan.

"There are two other objective factors: transportation and cooperative relationships. Instead of putting in all this effort, why not let others do the work for us?"

As he spoke, Li Li Xuewu told Li Li Huai De about the road conditions from the three regions to here, and also about the specific situation of the market inventory.

If they talked directly to the ranches, transportation and loading/unloading would all be problems.

Since Li Li Huai De wanted to do something big, he shouldn't be afraid to use the siphon effect to gather the surrounding meat products in Urumqi.

At worst, they would just buy them with money; anyway, they hadn't lied, it was indeed first-come, first-served. The four special trains couldn't arrive due to the railway, so if you came late, we could buy the cattle and sheep in your hands with money, which was already very benevolent.

After listening to Li Li Xuewu, Li Li Huai De felt enlightened; he stood up, walked to the desk, picked up the phone, and started "spreading rumors."

Li Li Xuewu sat on the sofa with a smile, smoking a cigarette and watching Li Li Huai De do his work for him.

The volume of that trainload of grain and medicine wasn't something a group of black-market merchants could eat up.

Li Li Xuewu had originally thought about selling the grain directly to several joint units in exchange for meat products.

But now, with this setup, Li Li Xuewu didn't have to worry about contacting local units to dock business at all.

With Li Li Huai De coming forward to take the blame, Li Li Xuewu just had to hold the official seal of the recycling station and stamp it.

How much grain and medicine remained could be decided by him.

In this level of unit-level trade, the transaction with Hami was covered up within it.

If Li Li Xuewu wasn't afraid of supervision, he could do it horizontally; at this time, what was most lacking here was exactly what was on his special train.

Ji Wang Weidong also said he could help Li Li Xuewu handle some things.

But Li Li Xuewu thought that Ji Wang Weidong and the Investigation Department weren't people you could just summon for free; using them to handle things would surely lead to them blackmailing him.

Now that he had Li Li Huai De, who didn't want money and even thanked him, doing his work, why beg others?

Human power is infinite; as long as there is a determination to overcome nature, difficulties are just verbal excuses.

Li Li Huai De hadn't finished his call when a waiter came up from downstairs saying someone's phone here was busy, and they were anxious to contact this side, so they had already called the service desk downstairs.

Li Li Huai De was now laughing out loud with the phone in his hand, his depression from last night and this morning swept away.

He was also anxious; he had bragged in front of his subordinates that he would contact the local ranches and units.

This was to hold onto the source relationship, so that when establishing a cooperative relationship in the future, there wouldn't be people like Li Li Xuewu holding him back.

Of course, he wasn't guarding against Li Li Xuewu; he was guarding against everyone.

During the Red Star Training Ground incident, Li Li Huai De knew that the establishment of relationships had to be in his own hands.

There were so many associated units at the Red Star Training Ground, and the direct contact person for the Rolling Mill was Li Li Xuewu.

Now it could be said that without Li Li Xuewu, would the Red Star Training Ground still exist?

It would, but without the intermediate communication and buffer zone, each unit would be like gears without lubricant, and it wouldn't last long.

This was also why Li Li Huai De showed such great interest when Li Li Xuewu proposed forming a joint enterprise.

And he had never said he would let Li Li Xuewu take the lead or be the intermediary.

He wanted to personally establish an organizational structure that belonged to his own control in the border region; only with this foundation could he return to Beijing to negotiate with those units and stand tall before the factory leaders.

Otherwise, what was there to talk about? He didn't have Li Li Xuewu's ability to dare to cheat money with just a blueprint.

Hearing that five special trains loaded with grain and medicine were about to arrive at the Rolling Mill, the tone of the people in charge of the ranches and relevant units changed instantly.

Nearly 10,000 tons of grain and medicine—how much livestock and products could that be exchanged for?

They could load the cars tonight, definitely!

Even if they had to use the inventory meat at the marked price, they had to get those five trains of supplies.

Grain could save livestock, and medicine could save workers.

No leader would joke with property and human lives.

The inventory meat was loaded onto the cars, and the meat planned to arrive later could be supplemented; it was just an account in the accountant's book.

So before Li Li Xuewu finished his cigarette, Li Li Huai De had already promised away more than half of the grain and medicine for him.

"Old Jin, go to the station and keep an eye on it."

Li Li Huai De said to his secretary Jin Jin Yaohui, "Make sure to get the cars out before work ends tonight; whoever's meat comes first gets loaded first, don't worry about my phone calls or personal favors."

He had also learned to be a rascal from Li Li Xuewu now.

Load the meat first, then discuss with the scrap company to balance out the grain and medicine; everyone gets benefits, and no one is offended.

The remaining gap will be filled with money; by then, the meat will be in Beijing, and who will argue with him?

Li Li Xuewu added for Jin Jin Yaohui, "Secretary Jin, when loading, make sure to add ice in the middle, and it must be ice with 15% salt content."

"Understood, I'll go let the freight side prepare."

Jin Jin Yaohui knew Li Li Xuewu wouldn't talk nonsense about professional transportation knowledge, and there were people who understood this at the freight station.

His brain was full of admiration for Li Li Xuewu now.

A deputy section chief who could communicate and exchange ideas with a deputy factory director as an equal, and solve the deputy factory director's problems in the midst of conversation—this wasn't something an ordinary person could do.

As for the salt Li Li Xuewu mentioned, Jin Jin Yaohui didn't pay much attention; this was the border region.

The amount of edible salt refined in this place might not be the most impressive, but when it came to crude salt or salt in its original state,

hehe, there were salt lakes here.

Not only were there salt lakes, but there were also mountains of salt; wasn't that impressive!

In the trade plan Li Li Huai De had mapped out, salt was also a preparatory commodity.

In the big game Li Li Xuewu had sketched for him, with the steel mill as the fulcrum, as long as it was done well, it could completely pry open the commercial trade of the entire Northeast.

After giving instructions to Jin Jin Yaohui, Li Li Xuewu started discussing the business to be carried out here with Li Li Huai De.

A ten-thousand-foot building rises from the ground; every brick and tile is a foundation.

Li Li Huai De was determined to open an office here, and Li Li Xuewu supported this idea.

So offering advice and suggestions here was also for the future of the Rolling Mill, and for Li Li Huai De to do some practical work.

Of course, Li Li Xuewu was also doing it for himself, to seek more benefits in the upcoming joint enterprise.

Everyone has selfish motives; Li Li Huai De had them, and Li Li Xuewu had them too.

Even if he didn't have many needs, the people who supported him did.

The border region was frozen for ten thousand miles, while Beijing was already in the third month of spring.

Today was March 1st; when Seeing Sha Zhu came to work in the morning, he saw the ice in the river had melted, with only a piece of ice floating in the middle—the last stubbornness of winter.

Why say time flies? It felt like the New Year had just passed, and before you knew it, the Awakening of Insects was almost here.

Once the Awakening of Insects arrived, the people in the village would start preparing to farm; in a few days, Arbor Day would be here too.

It was all right before your eyes; people on the street rarely wore cotton clothes anymore, mostly a thin sweater inside with a coat outside.

Days passed in a muddle.

After finishing the work in the canteen, Seeing Sha Zhu picked up his lunch box and walked out.

He was used to a life of arriving late and leaving early; if he didn't leave a little early, he couldn't reflect his status and position as the canteen squad leader.

But just as he stepped over the threshold, his apprentice Ma Hua's voice came from behind.

"Master, phone!"

Seeing Sha Zhu was still puzzled; how could there be a phone call for him?

It turned out the factory director had a task, a special task.

Damn, leaving early today was ruined.

He went to the gate with his short hair and gauze-wrapped head, looking like a hooligan, swaying as he waited.

The factory director's call was nothing else; he wanted to take him to a leader's house to cook a meal.

He had done this kind of errand before, but not for leaders; he did it for himself.

Whenever someone had a wedding or something, they would find him through acquaintances, and he would cook for them.

Actually, the small canteen at the guesthouse had chefs with better skills, but Yang Yang Fengshan just didn't use them.

One reason was that Li Li Xuewu's influence in the guesthouse was relatively large now, and indirectly, he didn't want Li Li Huai De to know about his affairs.

Another reason was that the leader he was meeting today liked Sichuan cuisine, so he brought He He Yuzhu, the Sichuan cuisine master, along.

Today, there was a gathering at the leader's house, and Yang Yang Fengshan also wanted to take this opportunity to report the recent work of the Rolling Mill to the leader.

And also to ask for advice on the support for the border region and the joint enterprise they had been doing these past few days.

The policies now were really hard to grasp; even though he was a factory director, he couldn't grasp them.

It was spring, and there were many winds; he didn't know which way the wind was blowing.

When it was time to get off work, Yang Yang Fengshan finished his work, saw that most of the people in the office had left, and then went downstairs.

The GAZ jeep picked up He He Yuzhu, who had been waiting for a long time, at the gate, and drove south.

Yang Yang Fengshan had seen He He Yuzhu's appearance from far away at the gate; after getting in the car, he asked about his injury.

Seeing Sha Zhu didn't dare to brag here and told the truth directly.

The factory director showed concern, then urged Seeing Sha Zhu to be polite, saying this image was a bit of an eyesore and not to cause trouble.

Seeing Sha Zhu naturally agreed, smiled, and patted his pocket, saying he had brought his chef's hat.

At this time, the chef's hat was very similar to the doctor's hat and nurse's hat in hospitals, and the service staff in the grocery stores also wore them.

He also knew what was appropriate; he wouldn't be blatantly unsightly when going out with a leader.

Especially seeing the vehicle enter the courtyard guarded by security, he understood this principle even more.