Chapter 433: The Return of the Prodigal

"Sorry, sorry."

Li Xuewu held the phone, smiled, glanced at his watch, and then said, "I forgot about the time difference. I'll call again in a little while."

"Forget it, Mom is already here."

Mu Hongyan held the phone and said to Li Xuewu, "Remember to bring me some local specialties from the frontier! They can't be worse than Xiao Ning's! Hahaha~"

"You child!"

Ding Fengxia took the phone, gave Mu Hongyan a light tap, and scolded, "Xuewu is busy with work~"

"You're always taking his side!"

Mu Hongyan acted coquettishly with her mother-in-law, then went to the dining room to tease Gu Ning.

Hearing that it was a call from Li Xuewu, Gu Ning hesitated for a moment about whether to go to the dining room.

But seeing the smiles on Mu Hongyan and Zhou Ya's faces, she lowered her head in embarrassment and continued eating.

Although Gu Ning was eating, her ears were constantly listening to the movements in the living room.

"I know, I already told you not to call. I reminded Xiao Ning on Saturday. This child..."

Ding Fengxia held the phone, smiled, glanced at the dining room, and then said, "Everything is fine. Your Uncle Gu even called today to ask about you. I told him you were away on business."

"Tell Uncle Gu to take care of his health; the weather in Yangcheng is even stranger."

"Yes, I know you're thinking of him."

Although Ding Fengxia was scolding Li Xuewu with her words, her face remained full of smiles.

"Xiao Ning and Ya are staying at the new house these few days. Your sister-in-law is going to join in the fun today too~"

Ding Fengxia really missed this son-in-law; once she started talking, she unconsciously began chatting about daily life.

"I heard the radio news. It's still cold over there, so make sure to keep warm."

Ding Fengxia gave Li Xuewu absolutely no chance to explain Zhou Ya's identity, holding the phone and repeatedly urging Li Xuewu to eat well and dress well, and not to worry about things at home.

Gu Ning was being pushed by her sister-in-law to go to the living room and was feeling too embarrassed to go, but over there, Ding Fengxia had already hung up the phone after saying a few words.

"Mom, Xiao Ning hasn't even spoken yet."

Mu Hongyan looked at Gu Ning's expression and smiled, reminding her mother-in-law.

Ding Fengxia waved her hand and said, "He's busy. Don't disturb him. We'll talk when he gets back."

"I've never seen anyone spoil a son-in-law like you~"

Mu Hongyan certainly couldn't let Gu Ning say anything, so she teased her mother-in-law first.

Actually, she was overthinking it; Gu Ning knew her mother's intentions and also knew that Li Xuewu would be back from this business trip soon, which was why she hadn't gone to the living room to answer the phone.

"My son-in-law is good even without being spoiled."

Ding Fengxia smiled and gave Mu Hongyan a light pinch, saying, "How can you be so shameless as to ask Xuewu for things~"

"I even helped him clean the house. Why shouldn't I be able to ask?"

Mu Hongyan was also deliberately trying to make her mother-in-law happy; she knew her mother-in-law had taken a liking to Li Xuewu, so she intentionally said the opposite to tease her.

"Xiao Ning."

Mu Hongyan hugged Gu Ning's arm and asked, "Do you think I should ask him for a gift?"

"How would I know~"

Gu Ning pushed her sister-in-law's arm in embarrassment and said, "Go ask him yourself~."

"Hahaha~"

Fu Zhidong watched the adults laughing, not knowing what had happened, and started laughing along while holding a chicken wing.

Zhou Ya took a tissue to wipe her son's little mouth and urged, "Eat over the bowl, don't get oil on your clothes."

"Okay~"

Fu Zhidong replied, and his two little hands gripped the chicken wing as he continued to gnaw on it.

Ding Fengxia looked at the virtuous Zhou Ya and also knew how excellent this woman was.

But no matter how excellent, she hadn't reached the point of threatening her own daughter.

Although Li Xuewu hadn't been willing to date Xiao Ning at first, hadn't he still ended up in her palm?

After confirming his relationship with Xiao Ning, he had been upright and serious, and he was attentive to Xiao Ning, to her, and to her family.

How could someone who took the initiative to call and ask Xiao Ning to host guests have that kind of relationship?

Anyway, Ding Fengxia didn't feel there was any problem.

"Eat slowly, Grandma Ding has more here."

Ding Fengxia picked out another chicken wing from the bowl and placed it on the small plate in front of Fu Zhidong.

"Auntie Ding, he's already eaten enough today."

Zhou Ya looked at her son in embarrassment; he didn't eat this much when they were at home.

"Let him eat more; he's at the age where he's growing."

Ding Fengxia smiled and signaled to Fu Zhidong, who was staring at his mother, that he could eat it.

"Thank you, Grandma~"

"Hey, good, good, eat more, grow up tall."

Ding Fengxia liked the well-behaved child, especially one who was also clever with his words.

Seeing her mother-in-law staring at the child, Mu Hongyan felt a bit unnatural.

She had been married to Gu An for over three years, but perhaps because they were often apart, or perhaps because they always missed the opportunity, they hadn't been able to have a child.

Although her mother-in-law hadn't said anything, she still knew her mother-in-law's thoughts.

Gu Ning also saw her sister-in-law's mood, reached out to pull Mu Hongyan's hand, and said, "If you're free tomorrow, accompany me to visit someone."

"Go to Li Xuewu's house?"

Mu Hongyan looked at Gu Ning and said, "Did he tell you to go home and take a look?"

"No~"

Gu Ning avoided her sister-in-law's gaze, her face slightly red as she said, "He's not home, and... and I haven't been to see it for many days."

"Oh my~"

Mu Hongyan pressed the back of her hand against Gu Ning's face and teased, "Which mother-in-law wouldn't like such a well-behaved daughter-in-law!"

Ding Fengxia also heard her daughter's words and said, "Going to see is right. Has it been a week since Xuewu left? You're not far away, so you should go."

After finishing with Gu Ning, she turned to Mu Hongyan and said, "Xiao Ning is able to please her mother-in-law because she learned from a good sister-in-law like you. This is Xiao Ning's good fortune."

"Mom, it's not me."

Mu Hongyan let go of Gu Ning's hand, hugged her mother-in-law's arm again, and smiled, "It's all because you taught us well that we are good."

"Hahaha~"

Zhou Ya smiled as she watched the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law laughing and joking. She quite envied Gu Ning, and she also quite envied Li Xuewu.

If only back then...

"Section Chief, the special train has arrived."

"Understood."

Li Xuewu was woken up by He Yuan.

After being woken up, Li Xuewu didn't open his eyes immediately, but waited a while before sitting up.

He checked the time on his hand; it was 11:30, not late.

Just as he walked to the desk, before He Yuan had finished brewing the tea, Ji Wang Weidong pushed the door open and entered.

"The people are up."

"Hmm."

Li Xuewu nodded to indicate he understood.

Ji Wang Weidong didn't care about Li Xuewu's attitude, gave a wink to the two staff members at the door, and then went to the stairwell to greet those people.

These market merchants hadn't left after finishing their talks with Li Xuewu one by one; they were staying at the station guesthouse.

They also had their own channels; Li Xuewu knew the train had entered the station, but they might have known even earlier.

It's possible that someone was already watching when the train entered Wucheng.

What was loaded on the train could actually be found out through certain channels, as long as it wasn't a special vehicle.

At this moment, once the special train stopped at the freight station, it began unloading according to Li Xuewu's requirements.

Because Li Huade needed to use this train, the second train of meat was already waiting at the freight station.

Hearing that there were tens of thousands of tons of grain and medicine in Wucheng, every unit showed off its magical powers.

In three days, even if they had to carry it, they had carried those meat products over.

The second train of meat that Li Huade wanted to send out was quickly assembled.

Now, the third and fourth trains weren't a problem; as long as the Steel Mill kept wanting them, there would always be meat.

Why did Li Xuewu trade with these people at night? One reason was safety, and the second was that by tomorrow morning, these things would be snatched up by these units.

The grain and medicinal materials approved tonight were in Hami, and the goods approved tomorrow morning would be meat products, already in Jingcheng.

Li Xuewu could turn the meat products he exchanged into sales and money on the ledger at any time.

It could be said that the grain approved tomorrow morning was no longer his.

Whatever was exchanged in Hami tonight, the rest was meat.

Because the meat had already arrived in Jingcheng, by tomorrow morning it would appear on the trucks of various units, on Director Ma's ledger, and might even be in the workers' stomachs.

And the Scrap Recycling Station wouldn't take a single piece of meat from the Steel Mill.

Because by tomorrow morning, Li Xuewu would have already finished processing the meat belonging to the Scrap Recycling Station on the ledger.

He just wanted to ensure the Scrap Recycling Station didn't handle a single piece of meat, so as not to invite this trouble.

The Recycling Station didn't produce meat, didn't sell meat; the Recycling Station was just a porter of meat.

"Comrade Lin, I heard your train has arrived."

Li Xuewu turned his head, and it was that bearded man who sold mutton whom he had met at the Erken market earlier.

"Of course, I am a person who values credibility the most, and I always keep my word."

Li Xuewu tilted his head slightly and said, "Please sit. The freight station is currently unloading. My people will report the specific data in a while."

"We can trade while we wait."

This bearded man said, "After all, that side also needs to be checked and weighed."

"Of course!"

Li Xuewu smiled and made an expression that said it was fine.

"As long as you are willing, there is certainly no problem on my side."

Actually, the weighing that everyone talked about wasn't as accurate as imagined.

At this time, metering pumps weren't widely used, and the measurement for large transactions was mostly spot checks.

Just like the transaction Li Xuewu was about to conduct with this meat merchant, the meat was packed in bags, and they had already been weighed when they were sent over.

If a particularly low difference appeared during the spot check, then fine, all the bags would be calculated based on this lowest value.

This was the credibility of this era.

Li Xuewu said "you all" because, while he was talking to this bearded meat merchant, another group of people had flooded into the room.

"Sit."

Li Xuewu waved his hand, signaling the people who had entered to sit wherever they wanted.

This really was sitting wherever; the room was considered a large room, but now it looked a bit crowded.

Those who arrived a minute early might have a place to sit, while those who arrived a minute late might have to stand.

Fortunately, these people's minds weren't on this; they were all looking at Li Xuewu, who was standing by the desk.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Ji Wang Weidong closed the door directly.

Two people from the Investigation Department were standing at the door; without his order, no one could enter.

"Since you were the first to arrive and the first to say you wanted to trade, please come over here."

Li Xuewu signaled to the bearded man, and then asked the circle of people looking over, "Are there any other meat merchants? Those who can deliver to the warehouse now, come forward."

Hey, there really were quite a few; as soon as Li Xuewu called out, four came forward.

In a year of disaster, the livestock business was the biggest, so the meat business was also big.

Don't ask where this meat came from; these people's subjective initiative was much higher than those in the Wucheng units.

Li Xuewu invited the five people to sit in front of the desk, then took out paper, a pen, and an official seal.

"The average price per ton of meat is 400, no limit on beef or mutton, but beef cannot be less than 40%."

Li Xuewu pushed the phone forward and continued, "Corn is given to you at the purchase price, 200 per ton."

"The variety of Western medicine is single, paracetamol raw material, given to you at a broken-bone price, 25kg standard barrel, original price 5,000, selling for 2,000."

"Chinese medicine is more mixed, but they are all medicines for clearing heat, detoxifying, and treating typhoid fever, still at parity, 1,200 per ton."

"This... ~"

Just as Li Xuewu finished speaking, the bearded man who entered first said, "We haven't sold meat at such a low price before. Can you raise it a bit?"

"Yes, you haven't sold it before."

Li Xuewu smiled and said, "But that doesn't mean others aren't selling it this way."

As he spoke, he gestured with his hand toward the direction of the freight station and said, "Go and ask about the price of the meat waiting to be loaded there; that is also mine."

"Another thing, I haven't sold this medicine and grain at this price before either."

"But..."

"No need for 'buts', I don't negotiate prices here."

Li Xuewu waved his hand to interrupt him and continued, "If you don't believe me, you can go and confirm it now. When you come back, you can just queue up again."

After finishing with him, Li Xuewu turned to the circle of people and said, "I'll remind everyone here: the reason I'm exchanging grain with you at parity and selling you medicine at a 40% discount is not for you to make a fortune."

"Those who exceed the price I give you by double, don't come looking for me next time. Those who have a relationship with him, don't come either."

The people around frowned when they heard Li Xuewu's words.

Weren't merchants running around just to seek wealth? Why were they restricting the sales price?

Li Xuewu didn't care about these people's reactions and looked at the five people in front of him, saying, "I have a conscience, and my friends should also have a conscience."

"Medicine is for saving lives, not for making a fortune. Having some profit is better than losing your conscience."

After emphasizing this point, Li Xuewu asked, "How much meat, what goods do you want, how much, you can say it now."

The bearded man frowned and looked at the few people beside him, not speaking first.

These five people all knew each other and wanted to talk to Li Xuewu, but Li Xuewu didn't give them any time at all.

"Not speaking? That's fine, let's talk about wool next."

Li Xuewu finished speaking and was about to call the wool merchants over.

Seeing that Li Xuewu was serious, these five people couldn't hold on anymore.

"Mr. Lin, we can't exchange much with this price."

"Yes~"

"Then wait a while."

Li Xuewu nodded, looked at the few people, and said, "Let's talk again when I come this summer. By then, the meat price will definitely be more expensive than this."

Seeing that Li Xuewu was going to talk about wool, Ji Wang Weidong took the initiative to help greet the wool merchants to come forward.

"I want grain!"

As soon as Ji Wang Weidong made a sound, a meat merchant couldn't hold on anymore, looked at Li Xuewu, and made a decision: "20 tons of meat, half beef and half mutton, I want all grain."

"Good!"

Li Xuewu pushed the phone in front of him and said, "Call your people, you can deliver to the warehouse."

After finishing, he lowered his head and wrote 'meat' in his notebook, followed by a 'one', 20 exchanged for 40 grain.

He took out another cut slip and wrote 'meat one', 'corn 40 tons' on it.

This was a big customer who brought a truck.

Li Xuewu watched the person opposite finish the call, took it over, and said a word directly to Pazile, who was waiting over there.

These merchants' fleets were all waiting in the warehouse, and their persons in charge were all waiting for the call in the duty room.

Contact one, Pazile would confirm one with Li Xuewu over there, and Xilin would arrange unloading after checking the quality and quantity.

Diliya was responsible for the inside of the warehouse, and Zhao Yajun was responsible for the outside.

Although the four people were busy, they each performed their own duties and could handle it.

"Keep the slip well, come find me to stamp it when things are done over there."

He marked the written slip, handed it to the meat merchant who reported the quantity, and then looked at the others.

"I want 10 tons! I want Western medicine!"

"I want 15 tons! I want Western medicine!"

If there was a first, there was a second; after the second completed the transaction, the twentieth was anxious.

The first meat merchant directly asked for a train car of corn, which gave these people a fright.

There were only 40 carriages in total; how could they withstand such snatching?

The phone was never hung up; Pazile released one as soon as he received one.

The busiest was Xilin; if it weren't for Zhao Yajun and Pazile's help, she really couldn't have checked it all.

She was also truly ruthless, completely disregarding the feelings of these old acquaintances; if the quality and quantity were slightly off, she reported it back to Li Xuewu.

This made those unloading the cars exclaim that Xilin had changed her heart.

Until the last silk transaction negotiation ended, Li Xuewu had already stamped quite a few people one after another.

As long as Pazile replied that the relevant goods and codes had finished unloading, Li Xuewu would arrange for Ji Wang Weidong to stamp it for that person, and then let them go to the freight station to collect the goods.

There were also those who were worried about not being able to collect the goods, so they stood at the back and watched for a while.

But when their subordinates informed them that the grain over there had already been loaded, their number in the queue was already very far back.

40 train carriages, two loaded with Steel Mill tools and clothing, two with 90 tons of Chinese medicinal materials, one with 25 tons of Western medicine, and 35 with 1,575 tons of corn.

The Chinese medicinal materials belonged to Shopkeeper Zhang, 90 tons exactly.

He stated he wanted to exchange for four trains of meat, calculated at his purchase price, which meant Li Xuewu bought it at 800 per ton.

Now selling it at 1,200, he was just making some "hard-earned money."

And wasn't it just hard-earned money? Coming all the way from the Northeast, 90 tons of Chinese medicine being transferred and special-trained, "only" earned 36,000.

If you subtract the 10,000 deposit that Wen San'er pressed at the Steel Mill as shipping costs and couldn't get out, they really didn't earn anything.

No fewer than five people participated, working hard for five or six days, "only" earning 26,000; it was really shabby!

Of course, after calculating the shabby money, let's calculate the non-shabby money.

The grain and Western medicine "gratuitously sponsored" to Li Xuewu by Li Xuewu's good "friend," good "partner" in business, and good person of Steel City, Yu Min, earned a lot!

Grain was the most popular because it could save the lives of livestock.

Li Xuewu approved a total of 1,000 tons of grain, which was more than half of the tonnage of grain brought this time.

The trading volume of medicinal materials was large, but the price of medicinal materials was high, and Li Xuewu didn't have many goods.

50 tons of Chinese medicine were approved, and 15 tons of Western medicine were approved.

Among them, Western medicine was the most valuable; it only loaded 25 tons of Western medicine in a train car that could hold 40 tons, not because it was heavy, but because it was expensive.

Yu Min only had 25 tons; this was the most expensive cargo on this train, worth 2 million.

But by the end of the transaction, there wasn't much left, and this was still Li Xuewu selling conservatively.

A horse doesn't get fat without night grass, and a person doesn't get rich without windfall wealth.

The approved amount for grain was 200,000, Chinese medicinal materials 60,000, and Western medicine 1.2 million!

The Hami warehouse income was mainly cattle, horses, and sheep, supplemented by hundreds of tons of livestock meat products such as donkeys, camels, mules, yaks, and beef jerky.

More than 100 tons of precious Chinese medicinal materials such as snow lotus, velvet antler, deer penis, deer tendon, ganoderma, cordyceps, and safflower.

Hundreds of tons of livestock skins such as cattle, horses, sheep, donkeys, camels, mules, and yaks.

Dozens of tons of cotton, wool, cotton cloth, Atlas silk, and hand-woven carpets.

Dozens of tons of produce such as raisins, chili peppers, dates, and dried fruits.

Thanks to the top donor Yu Min for the windfall, and thanks to the two "crouching tiger, hidden dragon" figures, Wen San'er and Sister Lou, for their great help.

At the beginning, he indeed had a gambling component, but Li Xuewu also never expected to earn so much tonight.

Although the transaction price was high, ridiculously high, he also had a lot of goods in the Hami warehouse, and directly exchanging them for money depended on the remaining things.

Western medicine was truly valuable, and it was still so profitable to exchange at Li Xuewu's price.

In order to prevent these guys from selling medicine at high prices, Li Xuewu exchanged at a 40% discount, just to suppress the market price.

Another reason was that the meat price was suppressed hard, so the medicine price had to be suppressed too.

These people weren't fools either; the shortage of medicine was only temporary, and if the price was too high, it would be stuck in their hands.

Western medicine was valuable, and Chinese medicine was also valuable.

Especially the Chinese herbal medicine here in the frontier, with a trading volume of over 100 tons, it almost emptied the value of Western medicine, and this was still under the current situation where Chinese herbal medicine wasn't valuable.

Another valuable thing was textiles such as silk and cotton cloth; they were really expensive.

After stamping the last seal, Li Xuewu hugged Kuozibayi; this was his big customer for Western and Chinese medicine exchange.

"I will come again if I have the opportunity this summer."

Li Xuewu patted the bearded man's shoulder and said, "I heard that the melons, fruits, and peaches in the frontier are delicious, and the vegetables are also delicious. I really want it to be summer now!"

"Hahaha, welcome, welcome!"

Kuozibayi also patted Li Xuewu's arm and said, "The Chinese medicinal materials in winter are good, and the Chinese medicinal materials in summer are also good. I'll wait for you in the frontier~."

"Hahaha."

Li Xuewu earned a lot, so of course he laughed heartily, supporting Kuozibayi's arm as they walked out.

"Winter is too boring. I want to come and see the frontier beauties dance in the summer, hahaha!"

Ji Wang Weidong looked at Li Xuewu standing in the corridor, curled his lips, and muttered, "Wine gives a coward courage, wealth comforts the dusty world, you lecher! Bah!"

After seeing Kuozibayi off, Li Xuewu turned back into the room and checked his watch; it was already past 5:00 AM.

"In this way, I'll give you a glorious and arduous task."

To accommodate these people's customs, Li Xuewu had endured for most of the day; at this moment, he lit a cigarette and took a puff.

"I'll give you the official seal, and you will distribute the remaining grain and medicinal materials to the units that come to collect goods today."

"What the hell!"

Ji Wang Weidong stared at Li Xuewu and asked, "Is this task glorious? It's just arduous, right!"

"This is power!"

Li Xuewu shook the official seal in his hand and said, "Didn't you see how cool and awesome the scene just now was!"

"That was just now!"

Ji Wang Weidong wasn't stupid; who was Li Xuewu doing business with just now? They were begging Li Xuewu to trade.

What about after work today? Those were units that had already handed over meat and were waiting for grain and medicine; those were creditors!

Originally, there wasn't much grain and medicine on this train, and Li Xuewu had already gotten rid of so much; what would he face tomorrow!

"I'm not doing it! Whoever wants to do it, go ahead! Anyway, I'm not doing it!"

Ji Wang Weidong flipped out; he wasn't going to be played like this.

"Oh, if you're not willing, then forget it. I'll find He Yuan."

Li Xuewu nodded and said, "I understand you; this kind of thing is very difficult for people."

"Exactly!"

Ji Wang Weidong lay on the sofa indignantly and said, "Tomorrow, when they see there aren't that many things in the warehouse, and then see me holding the official seal, they'll eat me alive! I'm not doing it!"

"Yes, yes, yes, I understand."

Li Xuewu smiled and said, "Do not do unto others what you do not want done to yourself. I'll tell He Yuan. He has to work here for a period of time, and I believe he'll be interested in the task of earning 1,000 yuan."

"Toot~~~ Wait!"

Ji Wang Weidong suddenly opened his eyes wide, looked at Li Xuewu, and asked, "What's this task about?"

"1,000 yuan~"

Li Xuewu didn't care at all and picked up the phone, ready to call He Yuan at the freight workshop.

"Put it down!"

Ji Wang Weidong stood up directly on the spot, pointed at the phone in Li Xuewu's hand, and said, "Who asked you about money? It's not about money!"

"This is my job. How can you hand it over to him without asking for my opinion!"

As he spoke, he walked over, snatched the receiver from Li Xuewu's hand, and hung it on the phone.

"Can someone like him withstand the people from those units? It has to be me!"

"Oh?"

Li Xuewu looked at Ji Wang Weidong with a smile and asked, "Didn't you say you weren't willing to do it?"

"Of course!"

Ji Wang Weidong looked at Li Xuewu and said, "I'm not willing to do it, but I can't watch He Yuan take the blame!"

"After all, we've known each other for a while on this journey. Forget it, I'll take the blame."

"Oh my! Won't you be very troubled?"

Li Xuewu asked reluctantly, "Or should I ask for his opinion?"

"No need, no need~ It's not troublesome!"

Ji Wang Weidong waved his hand and said, "I've never wanted to leave my name when doing good deeds. You must not tell him I took the blame for him!"

Li Xuewu gave a thumbs up and said, "You really are chivalrous and hot-blooded!"

"You bet!"

Ji Wang Weidong snatched the official seal from Li Xuewu's hand, raised his head, and then stretched out his hand toward Li Xuewu.

"What are you doing?"

Li Xuewu asked, pretending not to know, "Didn't I give you the official seal?"

"Are you pretending with me, aren't you!"

Ji Wang Weidong stared at Li Xuewu and rubbed his three fingers, signaling Li Xuewu to give him money.

"Hahaha!"

Li Xuewu patted Ji Wang Weidong's shoulder and said, "It won't be less! We'll calculate it together when we go back!"

"I'll believe you once for the sake of our friendship!"

Ji Wang Weidong looked at Li Xuewu and said, "You have to give it to me when we get home!"

"No problem!"

Li Xuewu smiled, packed his luggage, picked up his bag, and walked out.

As he walked, he urged Ji Wang Weidong, "The meat has already started to be loaded. I believe it will be dispatched by noon."

"Pay attention to those three carriages of live animals."

When he reached the door, he looked at Li Huade's room and whispered, "One carriage of cattle and one carriage of sheep are for the Red Star Training Ground, and one carriage of horses is for the Steel Mill. Especially the horses; they are our leader's favorite."

After finishing, he patted Ji Wang Weidong's shoulder and said, "I'll go to Hami first and wait for you there."

"Hey, Xuewu!"

Ji Wang Weidong held Li Xuewu back and asked seriously, "How are you going to get so many things back?"

"I have my own clever plan."

Li Xuewu smiled, then turned around, picked up his luggage, and went downstairs.

Ji Wang Weidong looked at Li Xuewu's back, narrowed his eyes, and shook his head.

Li Xuewu had discussed the live animals with Li Huade. The Red Star Training Ground was Li Xuewu's resource, and it was also Li Huade's resource.

If the cattle and sheep could be bred, this associated organization would be more united and close.

The Steel Mill would no longer rely on wild boars and other wild beasts as a resource for improving their meals; weren't livestock cattle and sheep better to eat?

As for that carriage of horses, it was Li Xuewu who had enticed Li Huade to get them.

The image, right? Security guards riding tall horses patrolling the factory area was always better than walking or riding bicycles.

Especially after Li Xuewu drew the SL cavalry uniform for Li Huade, Li Huade was even more interested.

Look at every autumn, when schools have military training, those inspecting principals, they also have a dream of being a division commander~

Li Xuewu promised him that they could set up a horse farm at the guesthouse and provide horse riding services!

By then, wouldn't it be my grassland and my horse, and I can play however I want?

This time the Steel Mill earned a lot, and several units also earned a lot; Li Huade could now be said to be wealthy and imposing.

Having fought for a lifetime, couldn't he enjoy himself?

Li Xuewu couldn't enjoy Li Huade's happiness yet, so he boarded the train to Hami from the passenger station.

This had been planned long ago, and the tickets had all been bought.

Li Xuewu's precise calculation made Ji Wang Weidong admire him endlessly.

Following Li Xuewu shamelessly, willing to take the blame and work hard, wasn't just for profit, but also to learn Li Xuewu's way of doing things.

A bumper harvest in both work and personal career, reaching this point at a young age, was very eye-catching.

At least Ji Wang Weidong envied him endlessly.

When Li Huade got up, he had already heard the news that Li Xuewu had set off for Hami.

What Li Xuewu reported to Li Huade was that he was going to help his comrade and his comrade's sister handle their relationship and was preparing to take them to Jingcheng.

Who didn't have some human relationships? Li Huade naturally understood.

These past few days, Li Xuewu had been running around busy with work, giving him advice, and also finding him many good horses so he could have a hobby.

Such a good subordinate should be understood, including the fact that he had some personal matters.

Didn't Li Huade know about last night?

He knew!

But he didn't know much.

He just thought Li Xuewu was messing around with scraps and that it wasn't a big deal.

In fact, it was indeed the case; by the time he arrived at the freight station to board the train, the matter here had already been handled.

Why else would they say leaders are useless? He wasn't there when they were arguing just now, and by the time he came, everything had been handled.

Ji Wang Weidong looked at the smiling Li Huade and curled his lips, thinking that a leader with this kind of character would sooner or later be played to death by Li Xuewu.

He could see Li Xuewu's intention; it was just finding a big tree to enjoy the shade.

Whether this big tree grew straight or crooked was all within Li Xuewu's "advice."

As for whether he himself "wiping Li Xuewu's butt" counted as being used?

It counted, why wouldn't it?

Ji Wang Weidong also couldn't figure it out; why, even though he clearly knew Li Xuewu had earned a lot, was he still willing to do things for him because of such a little "petty profit"?

Including Jin Yaohui, who was already exercising his duties; he was present just now when the material distribution was being handled.

He watched with his own eyes as the things in the warehouse were taken away bit by bit by people holding slips, but he had no way to stop it.

Because the one guarding the warehouse was Li Xuewu's guard team.

By this morning, when those units that had sold meat happily came to collect the goods, they were told they were late, and that some units had collected the goods in advance.

When they asked which family had collected them, they wouldn't say, only saying that there was only so much left in the warehouse, and who wanted it.

Wasn't this just adding fuel to the fire? Some unit leaders wanted to make a scene, but people's hearts weren't united.

There were only so many things in the warehouse; whoever collected them first got them, and everyone was snatching to exchange tickets for goods.

Jin Yaohui couldn't withstand these troublemaking leaders, and he didn't dare call Li Huade, so he could only be arranged by Ji Wang Weidong to approve the goods.

And Ji Wang Weidong came forward to settle those leaders.

Don't ask where the goods went; if you ask, it's a secret.

Of course, the goods couldn't all be given to one family; Ji Wang Weidong also made a rough estimate.

Each family took some grain, some medicine, some tools, and some money.

Looking at it this way, it actually wasn't a loss.

There was grain for the live animals, medicine and medicinal materials for the living people, and even snow removal tools and cotton clothing and bedding; it was quite complete.

The remaining 575 tons of grain, 40 tons of Chinese medicine, and 10 tons of Western medicine were exchanged for a total of 2,407 tons of meat.

The biggest contributor here was still Western medicine, sold by the kilogram.

Of course, this meat didn't count as belonging to Li Xuewu's family alone.

The four trains of 180 tons for Shopkeeper Zhang in Jicheng had to be delivered.

180 tons for the Investigation Department, 500 tons for the branch bureau, the Huaqing School's...

After calculating such a big circle, only money was left for the Recycling Station.

200,000 each from the branch bureau and Huaqing went directly to the Recycling Station's account; the Investigation Department counted as Li Xuewu giving away a train of 45 tons of meat for free, and the rest also went to the account.

The remaining 1,000-plus tons were directly transferred to Director Ma of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative; this purchase price was high, and the profit was high.

Bought at an average price of 400, it tripled for the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, sold at 1,200.

A net profit of 800 per ton, 1,000-plus tons meant more than 830,000.

After this ended, there would be more than 1.2 million in the Recycling Station's account.

Jin Yaohui didn't know how much Li Xuewu had earned, nor did he know that Li Xuewu was upstairs, and he didn't receive the money, so he didn't know how the grain and medicine had disappeared.

He didn't dare to think, nor did he dare to know.

Because Li Huade was backing this matter, and Ji Wang Weidong was protecting him, he didn't dare to say or ask.

Even when he saw Li Huade coming, he smiled and sent Li Huade to the car, only saying he guaranteed he wouldn't say anything else.

Jin Yaohui was going to stay in the frontier to prepare for the office, and his personal safety was under the protection of Li Xuewu's subordinates.

Who knew if Li Huade and Li Xuewu were in the same gang?

Seeing Ji Wang Weidong working so hard, he knew Ji Wang Weidong was definitely in the same gang as Li Xuewu.

"Take care!"

"Thank you, leader, have a safe journey!"

Accompanied by Jin Yaohui and He Yuan with five guard team members, Li Huade and Ji Wang Weidong took their respective people onto the passenger carriage.

The vehicle then started, heading toward Jingcheng.

Li Xuewu had set off half a day early and arrived in Hami at past 2:00 PM.

Pazile was already waiting for him at the exit.

"Squad Leader, hello."

"Hello."

Li Xuewu patted Pazile's shoulder and took him out, asking as they walked, "No problem, right?"

"Everything is going smoothly..."

Pazile answered Li Xuewu's question, but hesitated halfway through.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"No, no."

Seeing Li Xuewu frown, Pazile waved his hand and said, "Nothing happened. It's... I want to ask..."

"About your arrangements, right?"

Li Xuewu smiled, stood on the station steps, and asked Pazile, "Do you want to go back to Jingcheng with me?"

"Jingcheng!"

Hearing that Li Xuewu really intended to take him back to Jingcheng, Pazile couldn't help but open his eyes wide.

"Hehe, are you unwilling or what?"

Li Xuewu knew Pazile's thoughts and was just teasing him.

"Willing, willing!"

Pazile nodded and said, "Who wouldn't want to go to the great center? I'm willing to go."

Seeing Li Xuewu say this, Pazile said, "I wanted to ask about this matter; Xilin also wanted to ask."

"Didn't I promise her?"

Li Xuewu smiled helplessly and said, "Am I really that untrustworthy?"

"No."

Pazile smiled in embarrassment and asked, "Are you going back to the guesthouse with us now? Xilin and my sister are there, and Zhao Yajun is at the warehouse."

Seeing Pazile's expression, it seemed like something was up.

But seeing that he didn't look like he wanted to say it now, Li Xuewu nodded and pretended not to know.

"Go to the warehouse first."

"Okay."

Pazile looked at Li Xuewu, then led Li Xuewu toward the freight station.

Like Wucheng, the passenger station and freight station weren't far apart.

By the time Li Xuewu arrived, he saw Zhao Yajun standing on the roof of the duty room on guard.

"What are you doing standing up there?"

Li Xuewu shouted, both amused and pained, "Come down quickly, aren't you cold?"

"Second Brother!"

Seeing Li Xuewu arrive, Zhao Yajun jumped off the roof with a smile.

"Standing up there gives a full view, and you can see far. I saw you when you were coming over."

"Hehe."

Li Xuewu patted Zhao Yajun's shoulder and laughed, "Alright, hurry inside to warm up."

Pazile followed Li Xuewu into the room, pointed toward the warehouse and the courtyard, and said, "Things are all in the warehouse, and what doesn't fit is in the courtyard. You need to handle it as soon as possible."

"I know."

Li Xuewu nodded; the bags in the courtyard should be wool and cotton cloth.

"In this way."

Li Xuewu said to the two, "You go back to the guesthouse and wait for me first. I'll call someone to handle this side and then go find you. The train is tonight, and we'll go home together."

"Second Brother, do you want me to stay and help you?"

Zhao Yajun was carrying a gun, and seeing Li Xuewu wanted to stay alone, he wanted to stay to protect Li Xuewu's safety.

"No need, I have my stuff with me."

Li Xuewu smiled and revealed the thing in his right bosom.

Zhao Yajun smiled when he saw the thing, looked at Pazile, and turned to leave.

Pazile knew these things had to be handled secretly, told Li Xuewu the warehouse would expire tonight, and told him the room number of the guesthouse before chasing after Zhao Yajun.

Don't know when it started, but the sky in Hami had also turned gloomy, as if it was going to snow again.

Don't know if there's anyone fussing about prices, hehe~