Chapter 451: You

"This... Brother!"

Seeing Li Xuewu stride toward the exit, Ding Wanqiu was at his wit's end.

He had already blocked him twice; he couldn't possibly do it a third time, or he'd look like a shameless fool.

He chased after Li Xuewu to see him out, ignoring the group of people behind him, and spoke as they walked.

"Brother, please, help me out~"

"Alright, Brother Ding, take care of yourself."

Li Xuewu stepped out of the courtyard gate, turned back to look at the expectant Ding Wanqiu, and said, "We brothers see each other less and less these days. When you have time, let's sit down together."

"Right!"

Ding Wanqiu agreed, but he saw that Li Xuewu had already gotten into the car, started the engine, and left.

"Sigh!"

Ding Wanqiu sighed, shook his head at the departing jeep, and closed the courtyard gate before walking back.

If not for the news from the Southern Pear Garden, he would still be in the dark; who knows which day he might have been arrested, dying without even knowing how.

It was those from his family who had already left, causing a stir in Hong Kong—wasn't this just chasing him down to slap a death warrant on his back?

When he returned to the flower hall, those few were already waiting for him.

"This... that person just now, who was he?"

"Heh."

Ding Wanqiu gave a helpless, bitter laugh and sighed, "The only person I can beg for help."

As he spoke, he glanced at the people in the room and finally looked at Mr. Yu, who had asked the question, explaining, "The Deputy Chief of the Steel Mill's Security Division."

Hearing Ding Wanqiu's words, everyone's eyes widened.

It wasn't that a Deputy Chief was so terrifying, but that such a young Deputy Chief was.

Before Ding Wanqiu finished, he gave them a moment to react before continuing, "He is also the Deputy Chief of the Public Security Division of the Dongcheng Branch, currently in charge of public order in Dongcheng."

Once Ding Wanqiu finished speaking, these people finally understood why he was so obsequious toward this young man.

What kind of unit is the Public Security Division?

Let's put it this way: they handle everything except criminal cases.

Now, their surprised gazes shifted from Li Xuewu's age to his status.

"Then he is... unwilling?"

"Aye, most likely."

Ding Wanqiu sighed and said, "As soon as I mentioned the house, he knew the situation. How could he allow me to continue?"

"This person is truly slick."

Mr. Yu nodded and said, "It seems we have to think of another way. Since he knows, we must speed things up."

Almost fell into the Spider Cave!

Li Xuewu held the steering wheel and drove the car back along the alley toward Haiyuncang.

It was just past four o'clock; Gu Ning should be home by now, so it was the perfect time to pick her up and head to Han Laoshi's house.

When he drove the car to the entrance, he saw Zhou Wang Yamei opening the door to come out.

"Where are you going?"

"Buying some vegetables."

Zhou Wang Yamei tucked the hair behind her ear, carried her vegetable basket, and said a word to Li Xuewu before walking toward the road.

Li Xuewu looked at Zhou Wang Yamei's back and turned to enter the courtyard.

"Just got off work?"

Seeing Gu Ning come out of the washroom, Li Xuewu looked at her clothes and asked.

"Mm, just got home."

Gu Ning looked at Li Xuewu, said nothing, and went upstairs.

Li Xuewu raised an eyebrow. What's wrong with this Doctor Gu?

Seeing Gu Ning go upstairs, he didn't follow.

It wasn't that he strictly remembered his mother's teachings, but out of respect.

At this time, men and women dating were still very conservative. Gu Ning was able to move in here early only because she had personally tidied up the house.

Furthermore, it was because Zhou Wang Yamei and her son were here; otherwise, Gu Ning wouldn't have moved in.

But truth be told, living here was indeed convenient.

It only took five or six minutes to walk from the hospital, just across one road.

No wonder Mu Hongyan was so envious; riding a bike home now took over half an hour, sometimes an hour.

After a tiring day at work, pedaling a bike was annoying.

Even taking the bus didn't save much time, because the bus couldn't go directly from the hospital to the courtyard at home.

She wouldn't dare take her father-in-law's car; even her mother-in-law didn't take it. The car was just left idle after being issued, and it wasn't driven even when idle.

That's why she envied Gu Ning's house being so close. That day at work, the two of them walked and talked, saying they would come to stay more often in the future.

Li Xuewu didn't object to guests, but now it felt a bit like a cuckoo in the nest.

As long as they weren't married, he couldn't stay here for long periods.

While waiting for Gu Ning, Li Xuewu walked around the downstairs rooms, calculating what to buy.

There were two bedrooms upstairs and two downstairs.

One was opposite the washroom, and one was next to the entrance.

Li Xuewu thought it was always bad to leave them empty, so he'd go to the West Courtyard later to pick out two beds and set them up; if someone came, they could stay.

Just as he was deciding, Gu Ning came down, having changed her clothes.

"Let's go."

"Is the child home alone?"

Li Xuewu had seen Zhou Wang Yamei leave, so he looked at Gu Ning and asked.

Gu Ning went to the entrance to change her shoes, not caring at all.

"Sister Zhou said that when they were at home before, the child was often home alone."

"Oh."

Li Xuewu looked upstairs and said, "I took them to see Fu Bin today."

Hearing Li Xuewu's words, Gu Ning paused while changing her shoes, then continued.

"It should be the end of this month."

Li Xuewu walked to the door first, looked outside, and said, "She cried her eyes out. I took them to eat noodles, then went to the Great Square and the Forbidden City."

"Sister Zhou told me."

Gu Ning walked out, not looking at Li Xuewu, and said as she walked, "You don't need to tell me."

"Heh."

Li Xuewu gave a bitter laugh. He really couldn't understand what was wrong with this girl now. If it wasn't Zhou Wang Yamei's reason, then whose was it?

Could it be his own?

Impossible!

Absolutely impossible!

Watching Gu Ning get into the car, he closed the courtyard gate, glanced upstairs, got in, started the engine, and drove forward.

Gu Ning sat in the car looking to the side the whole time, not speaking to Li Xuewu.

Li Xuewu only felt the atmosphere was strange, not knowing where the problem lay, but he probed twice and it wasn't that, so he could only remain silent.

He had thought of every possibility, except that the gift he gave had caused a problem.

"Han Laoshi, a gift for you."

Arriving at the Dong family home, Li Xuewu saw Han Laoshi welcoming them out, so he smiled and moved the box from the back of the car.

Han Shu was already used to it; Li Xuewu always came with big bags and small boxes.

Seeing there was meat this time, he smiled and said, "Bringing your own food to dinner?"

"You bet!"

Li Xuewu looked into the room, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "This isn't a Hongmen Banquet, is it?"

"Heh, you know that and you still come?"

"The teacher has commanded, how dare I disobey."

Li Xuewu joked, carrying the box into the house a step ahead of Gu Ning and Han Laoshi.

"Yo, Deputy Secretary Gu, you're here!"

"Good afternoon, Deputy Chief Li!"

Gu Weijie looked at Li Xuewu's feigned surprised expression and put down the teacup in her hand.

"Good afternoon, good afternoon."

Li Xuewu replied, his footsteps not stopping, and carried the box into the kitchen.

Dong Mengyuan, who was sitting on the sofa, followed him in.

"Senior Brother! Something tasty!"

"Are you going to eat your Senior Brother!"

Li Xuewu placed the box on the kitchen counter, picked up some chocolate, and pressed it onto the little junior brother's head.

"Hee hee!"

Dong Mengyuan caught the chocolate box on his head with both hands and smiled, "Thank you, Senior Brother!"

Li Xuewu smiled, squatted down, picked up the little junior brother, and walked into the room.

"Oh my, you've gotten fat again!"

"Hee hee~ Chocolate!"

By now, Dong Mengyuan saw what was in his hand.

A child who could recognize chocolate certainly wasn't from an ordinary family.

Although Li Xuewu didn't know the background of Han Laoshi's family, given Dong Wenxue's conditions, it wouldn't be enough to make his wife and children live so prosperously.

"Being naughty again, aren't you!"

Han Shu smiled and glared at his son, signaling him to get down quickly.

Then he said to Li Xuewu, "Don't hold him, he's heavy."

"Heh."

Li Xuewu put the little junior brother on the ground, watched him run back to his room, and smiled at the teacher's wife, "Just gave him a box of chocolate, don't let him eat too much."

"You know that and you still give it."

Han Shu smiled and waved for Li Xuewu and Gu Ning to sit.

"This is Li Xuewu, I won't introduce him to you."

Han Shu looked at Gu Weijie, smiled, pointed at Gu Ning, and introduced her, "This is Li Xuewu's partner, Gu Ning, the child of Uncle Wenxue's family."

Hearing this, Gu Weijie's gaze turned to Gu Ning, who was standing there gracefully.

She knew Han Shu, she knew Dong Wenxue, and she had heard of Dong Wenxue's family history.

To be able to call him Uncle, and surnamed Gu...

She had been wondering why Li Xuewu was so tough, daring to stand up to her.

She had thought it was Dong Wenxue's connection, but she hadn't expected it to be a connection one, two, three levels higher.

"Hello, I am Deputy Chief Li's colleague."

Gu Weijie took the initiative to greet Gu Ning.

Gu Ning nodded and replied, "Hello."

And that was it.

Seeing Gu Weijie's surprised expression, knowing she was thinking about Gu Ning's arrogance, Han Shu smiled and said, "This is the Deputy Secretary of the Steel Mill, Gu Weijie, also my former colleague."

Gu Ning only nodded at Gu Weijie upon hearing this supplementary explanation and said nothing.

"Xuewu, make some tea yourself."

After the introduction, Han Shu greeted Li Xuewu and then went to his son's room.

Li Xuewu picked up teacups from the tea cabinet, made flower tea for Gu Ning, white tea for himself, and carried them back to the sofa.

"I knew you transferred from the Iron and Steel University, but I didn't expect you to know Han Laoshi."

"I've always known her."

Gu Weijie glanced at Gu Ning, then said to Li Xuewu, who had sat down, "I've seen you before."

"Oh?!"

This surprised Li Xuewu, who sat on the sofa and looked at Gu Weijie.

"It was last year's final exam."

Gu Weijie looked at Li Xuewu and said, "A student who didn't look like a student came out of the exam hall early and left in a jeep."

"Heh, I remember now."

Li Xuewu smiled and said, "That was a year ago, I was handling the Steel City case."

"I didn't expect to see you in the steel mill either."

Gu Weijie shook her head and said, "Especially in the first row of the meeting hall."

"Han Laoshi has strict requirements for me."

As he spoke, Li Xuewu explained, "Originally, someone like me wouldn't have had the chance to go to school again; it's all thanks to Han Laoshi's care."

"But you didn't think to go to school to report."

Han Shu walked out of the room, holding the chocolate box, and placed it on the cabinet.

"School has been open for so long, did you give up on your own?"

"How could I!"

Li Xuewu smiled and said, "I've been reading books, just haven't had the time to go."

As he spoke, he glanced at Gu Weijie and said, "If you don't believe me, ask Deputy Secretary Gu."

Gu Weijie wasn't about to testify for him; she lowered her head and picked up her teacup to drink.

"You must cherish this hard-won opportunity to study."

Han Shu looked at Li Xuewu, giving him a signal.

"Understood, Teacher."

Li Xuewu blinked, indicating he had received it.

Han Shu looked at the time on the wall; it was only four-thirty, too early to cook.

But if they didn't cook, sitting here dryly wouldn't be good for conversation.

"Xuewu, do you know how to play cards?"

"Ah?"

"Ah what ah!"

Han Shu pointed to the kitchen and said to Li Xuewu, "Move that Eight Immortals table out, let's play cards for a while."

Li Xuewu looked at Han Shu blankly, then looked at Gu Weijie in disbelief.

Gu Weijie didn't object while holding her teacup.

The key was that Gu Ning didn't say she couldn't either.

This...

I'm not going to marry a wife who loves playing mahjong, am I~

Soon, after Li Xuewu moved the Eight Immortals table out, Han Shu wiped it with a rag and took the mahjong tiles out of the cabinet.

Li Xuewu had thought of many possibilities for coming to the teacher's house, but playing mahjong wasn't one of them.

By the time he reacted, the three women were already sitting at the card table.

"You know how to play too?"

Li Xuewu looked at Gu Ning and asked in disbelief.

Gu Ning blushed a little; she was also a bit embarrassed by Li Xuewu's question.

"Yes."

"Heh, I taught her."

Han Shu smiled and stacked the mahjong tiles, explaining to Li Xuewu, "It was when she was in college, I taught her during the New Year."

Li Xuewu touched the mahjong tiles and skillfully stacked them.

Beijing mahjong is relatively simple, "push down to win."

Once one side wins, it's over; it's not like Sichuan mahjong, where you fight to the end.

Li Xuewu had already started drawing tiles, but he still looked at Gu Ning sitting opposite him in disbelief.

Han Shu tapped the table on Li Xuewu's side with the mahjong tile in her hand and said, "Focus, the card table is like a battlefield; there's no such thing as a partner here."

"Heh."

Li Xuewu looked at Gu Ning's red face, turned to Han Laoshi, and said, "You just told me to study hard, and now you're taking me to play mahjong. You really are a good teacher!"

"Of course."

Han Shu said nonchalantly, "This is called combining work and rest."

"You really are cultured."

Li Xuewu touched a two-dot tile and discarded it.

"Won~"

Before anything else happened, Gu Weijie, sitting on Li Xuewu's left, revealed her tiles.

It really was, damn!

Li Xuewu scratched his face in frustration and glanced at Gu Ning opposite him.

Gu Ning avoided Li Xuewu's gaze and started washing and stacking the tiles.

"It's really hard to get a game together."

As the host, Han Shu started the conversation, "When Wenxue was home before, we could play a few rounds."

"It's been almost two months, right?"

Gu Weijie drew a tile, looked at Han Shu, and said, "I only saw him once when I came."

"Mm, indeed."

Han Shu said while organizing her tiles, "It was still cold when he left, and now it's almost time for the season to change."

As she spoke, she looked toward Li Xuewu and asked, "Xuewu, are there any cars going to Steel City recently?"

"Why? Teacher's wife, are you going to visit the teacher?"

Li Xuewu ate a tile from Gu Weijie and discarded a one-bamboo.

"Pong!"

Gu Ning avoided Li Xuewu's gaze, took the tile from in front of Li Xuewu, and discarded a six-bamboo.

"Pong!"

Seeing Gu Ning discard the six-bamboo, Li Xuewu discarded a one-ten thousand first, then went to pick up that six-bamboo.

His hands were busy, and his mouth wasn't idle either.

"The factory has commuter cars every week; even if there's no cargo, there's passenger space."

"I don't have the time."

Li Xuewu and the others didn't let them draw tiles; Han Shu looked at Li Xuewu and smiled, "I was thinking of sending some clothes to your teacher."

"That's no problem, leave it to me."

Li Xuewu nodded and said, "I'll put them in the office, tell the dispatcher, and whenever there's a car, they can help me bring them."

"That would be great."

Han Shu wasn't thinking of sending clothes to Dong Wenxue right now; she was just making conversation.

Having finished talking about Li Xuewu, she turned to Gu Weijie opposite and asked, "Does your husband also need to think about changing clothes for the season?"

"Mm."

Gu Weijie's expression paused slightly, and she nodded, "He has clothes for all four seasons there."

When she said this, her eyes stayed on the tiles in her hand, and it took a while before she discarded a four-dot.

"Won."

Gu Ning said softly and spread out the tiles in her hand.

"See, she knows how to play!"

Han Shu smiled and said a word to Li Xuewu, then smiled at Gu Ning.

"I really didn't expect it."

Li Xuewu touched his chin, handed over a chip from the corner of the table, and repeated the process of washing and stacking tiles.

The mahjong tiles on the table clattered, and time slipped away in the sound of the tiles.

At the card table, Han Shu didn't bring up any special topics; she just talked about past work, hooking Gu Weijie into saying a few things.

On Li Xuewu's side, they talked about his experiences and learning situation regarding school.

They were all adults; sometimes playing mahjong isn't just playing mahjong.

Things at the mahjong table can be big or small; they could be trivial matters, or they could be as big as a soccer ball.

"Won!"

"Oh my, finally won a round!"

Han Shu smiled and said, "I've been letting little Ning win all day, it's finally my turn."

Gu Ning secretly glanced at Li Xuewu opposite her, then lowered her head in embarrassment to continue stacking tiles.

"Mom, I'm hungry~"

Dong Mengyuan ran out from the room and said aggrievedly to his mother.

Han Shu looked at the time on the wall and said, "It's this late already? Alright, it's mealtime, no more playing."

As she spoke, she stood up, turned on the kitchen light, and smiled at the group, "Xuewu brought beef and mutton; let's eat something good today, and let you all taste my cooking."

"I'll help you."

Gu Ning stood up, straightened her clothes, and went to help.

Li Xuewu smiled, raised the cigarette in his hand to Gu Weijie, and said, "You sit, the teacher's wife is afraid of smoke, I'm going out to satisfy my craving."

"Together."

Just as Li Xuewu stood up to walk out, Gu Weijie also stood up.

In Li Xuewu's surprised gaze, she walked out a step ahead of him.

Li Xuewu held his cigarette, tilted his head, exchanged a look with Gu Ning standing in the kitchen, then glanced at Gu Weijie's back and followed her out.

Seeing Li Xuewu look over, Gu Ning turned back. This bad guy.

"I didn't expect you to smoke too."

Li Xuewu handed her a cigarette, lit it for Gu Weijie, and asked, looking at her not-so-skilled movements.

"I don't smoke much."

Li Xuewu raised an eyebrow and flicked a cigarette into his mouth.

Just as Li Xuewu was about to light his cigarette with a lighter, Gu Weijie supported her right elbow with her left hand, held the cigarette in her mouth with her right hand, squinted, and looked at Li Xuewu, saying, "You chose a good partner."

"Oh!"

Li Xuewu's movement of lighting the cigarette slowed down, he raised his eyes, said nothing, and continued his action.

After taking a puff, he said, "It's not good for ladies to smoke; it causes premature aging. You should quit."

Gu Weijie looked at Li Xuewu, thinking: Is he concerned for me? He wouldn't be pointing at me, would he!

"It's not easy to quit."

Gu Weijie looked at the cigarette in her hand and said, "I'm addicted."

"Is your self-control that poor?"

Li Xuewu turned around, looked at Gu Weijie, who was wearing a tight-fitting high-neck sweater, lowered his eyelids, and said, "How can smoking be addictive? I smoke every day and I'm not addicted."

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Gu Weijie held the cigarette, unable to exhale a puff of smoke, all of it stuck in her throat.

After coughing for a while, she stood up, looked at Li Xuewu with resentment, and asked, "Is that girlfriend of yours tricked by this mouth of yours?"

"Tricked by feeding tiles in mahjong, heh~"

Li Xuewu looked at Gu Weijie and smiled, using what just happened to retort.

Gu Weijie rolled her eyes; how could she not see that Li Xuewu had intentionally fed tiles to Gu Ning at the card table.

Just seeing him and his partner "exchanging glances" was enough to know this kid wasn't a good thing.

Of course, Li Xuewu, who had lost everything like Confucius moving house, didn't favor one over the other and occasionally gave the other two ladies a win too.

If you want to play well together, you have to know how to feed tiles and how to let others win.

"That's not it, sigh~"

Li Xuewu shook his head, sighed helplessly, and said, "The only case in my life that wasn't my initiative, and it's stuck in my hands."

"Heh~"

Gu Weijie took a puff of her cigarette and turned her head away in disdain.

"Still young after all."

Since she turned away, Li Xuewu turned back.

Truth be told, this thin sweater was really tight-fitting, especially now that the sun had set and the temperature outside had dropped. Gu Weijie was hugging her own arms, and it was really tight!

"What are you looking at!"

Gu Weijie was also puzzled; why had no one responded for so long?

Turning around like this, well, he really is young.

"Heh, you really should quit smoking."

Li Xuewu smiled and said, "Look how thin you are, be careful about health problems."

Gu Weijie raised her eyebrows, looked at Li Xuewu, and asked, "Is it polite to talk to a leader like this?"

"What's wrong?"

Li Xuewu shrugged his shoulders, his eyes not losing out at all, and said, "I'm concerned about you. We aren't at work now, we're all comrades."

As he spoke, he turned his head, looked at the red of the setting sun, and said softly, "Another day has passed. The sunset is infinitely beautiful, but it's near dusk."

Gu Weijie looked at Li Xuewu, whose face was reddened by the sunset. This little brat is really not a thing; every sentence is aimed at her lungs.

"Do you feel like meeting me is a waste of time?"

Gu Weijie stood level with Li Xuewu, clearly a head shorter than him, but she was more prominent.

"Do you think that finding Han Shu means you've won?"

"Quite the opposite."

Li Xuewu imitated Gu Weijie's movements, supporting his elbow and smoking.

"I was reminded of something from my childhood."

As he spoke, without waiting for Gu Weijie to ask, he began to tell: "When I was a kid, I loved to fight. If you fight alone, you always suffer, so you find people to fight together."

Gu Weijie didn't know why Li Xuewu was talking about fighting. She frowned, watching the sunlight disappear bit by bit, losing patience with this little hooligan.

"I know how to find people, and the other side knows how to find people too. We find people, they find people, and in the end, well, we all found the same person."

Li Xuewu looked at the courtyard in front and smiled, "In the end, the fight didn't happen, but we ended up paying for a meal, heh!"

"Heh~"

Li Xuewu's laugh was a light laugh; Gu Weijie's laugh was a cold laugh.

What, do you think politics is the same as fighting when you were a kid?

"Do you feel like it's a bit similar?"

Gu Weijie didn't submit to anything, and Li Xuewu insisted on asking.

Turning his head to look at Gu Weijie, he said, "My attitude toward work relationships is just like this: if I can win, I fight; if I can't, I find people to fight together."

Gu Weijie also turned her head, squinting at this man with extreme aggression. Besides ferocity and cunning, there was a trace of worldliness in his eyes.

"Like you said, what if you get to know each other in the end?"

"That depends on the situation."

Li Xuewu curled his lips, turned around, and flicked the cigarette butt away.

Watching the sparks of the cigarette butt fall in an arc in the night sky, he smiled and said, "If we can talk, then we'll fight others together in the future."

"And if we can't talk?"

Gu Weijie asked the man who had turned to go back into the house.

Li Xuewu walked to the door, put his hand on the handle, and said with an evil smile, "I'll find her opponent to fight her first. People who can't unite are hated by others too!"

Gu Weijie looked at Li Xuewu's dangerous expression and even forgot to smoke the cigarette in her hand.

"Hiss~"

Burned by the cigarette butt, Gu Weijie hurriedly threw it away, then glanced at Li Xuewu unnaturally.

Li Xuewu opened the door, stood to one side, and gestured with his left hand and a mocking, evil smile.

"It's cold, let's go in."

Seeing Li Xuewu return to his gentle and elegant appearance, Gu Weijie knew this was a wolf in sheep's clothing.

"Thank you~"

Saying thank you, Gu Weijie hugged her arms and rubbed them, glanced at Li Xuewu, and went inside.

Li Xuewu curled his lips, watching the Deputy Secretary Gu who was still unconvinced, knowing that the hard approach was over, and it was time for the soft one.

Since Li Huai De intended to ease the relationship with Gu Weijie, she must have had the intention as well.

Both sides should have reached a consensus on the tacit understanding, and now it depended on the specific business.

Gu Weijie was a newcomer and certainly couldn't compete with Li Huai De, so she appeared a bit fierce but weak inside.

Li Xuewu understood all this. If you want more benefits, you naturally ask for a high price and negotiate. It's the same for everyone.

It's just that she can go wherever she wants; he's not giving anything here.

Entering the house, the mahjong tiles on the Eight Immortals table in the living room had been cleared away, and bowls and chopsticks were set.

Li Xuewu met Gu Ning after entering, but Gu Ning didn't look at him.

Damn! This partner is no good!

Just now when feeding tiles, she was eating and ponging, smiling so beautifully, and now she's denying it!

He took the thermos, refilled the tea for Gu Weijie sitting on the sofa, and then poured a cup for himself.

"The Party Committee suddenly established an Inspection Division, which caught me off guard."

Li Xuewu put down the thermos and sat on the sofa.

"Wasn't it requested by the Factory Director?"

Gu Weijie didn't fall for Li Xuewu's trick and naturally blocked it back.

Li Xuewu smiled shamelessly, "Then I must have remembered wrong, heh."

As he spoke, ignoring Gu Weijie's disdainful gaze, he continued, "Look, the Security Division is already stretched thin. Where do you expect me to find this person in charge?"

"Deputy Chief Li, speak plainly."

Gu Weijie smiled, put down the teacup, and looked at Li Xuewu, "How do you want to arrange the Inspection Division?"

"That depends on the Party Committee."

Li Xuewu looked at Gu Weijie's expression, which looked like she wanted to scold him, and smiled again, "Of course, if the Party Committee is willing to listen to our division's opinion, I still suggest transferring the Inspection Division to the Organization Department."

"So you can't tolerate the Party Committee's people in your place, is that it?"

Gu Weijie heard Li Xuewu kick the people from the Armed Forces Department back under her feet and squinted at Li Xuewu.

"Heh, listen to my thoughts."

Li Xuewu took a slow sip of tea and said, "The Security Division's duty is to manage personnel and property safety. If we manage production safety too, isn't that overstepping?"

As he spoke, he explained the relationship between safety production and the work the Inspection Division was currently doing on safety production standardization.

"Based on the Security Division's current functions, I'm almost like a Deputy Factory Director."

"Heh."

Gu Weijie smiled lightly, "This is the first time I've seen someone complain about having too much power."

"Aye~~~ You've seen it today!"

Li Xuewu said with a righteous face, "I know how much I weigh. If I take everything into my own hands, wouldn't I be a fool?"

Gu Weijie had just praised Li Xuewu, and he retorted. This is a person who doesn't suffer a loss at all.

"Is it because you're afraid of having too many functions that you want to transfer the department?"

"That's part of the reason."

Li Xuewu moved his butt forward and said, "Another reason is that the Inspection Division has too much responsibility, and I'm afraid I can't do it well."

Under Gu Weijie's gaze, Li Xuewu said earnestly, "Inspection work should be the power exercised by the Party Committee. Now that it has emergency management responsibilities, I still feel that it has more authority and representation if the Party Committee comes forward."

Gu Weijie looked at Li Xuewu and said nothing, her mind turning constantly.

Li Xuewu's move of cutting off his own arm was indeed something she hadn't expected. She had always been using departmental interests to chase Li Xuewu, and now, this person was pulling the ladder.

However, handing over a department with complete functions and a perfect organizational structure also showed this person's courage.

If Gu Weijie had this Inspection Division under her, she could intervene in the work of many departments, not just the Security Division.

Of course, this might be the "talk" Li Xuewu mentioned outside. If she didn't accept this condition, the next step might be him turning around to "fight" her.

"I'll communicate with the Secretary tomorrow."

While Li Xuewu was drinking tea with his head down, Gu Weijie gave an ambiguous reply.

Li Xuewu nodded indifferently; whether to talk or fight, it was up to her.

If talking, that's all he could do.

If fighting, Li Xuewu would have to make his move. Handing over the hilt of the sword now was for the love of peace.

If not talking, then the hilt of the sword of the Inspection Division was in his hand, and he could cut whoever he wanted.

"What scale do you intend to develop the training ground into?"

Gu Weijie stopped talking about the Inspection Division and instead talked about the training ground.

"Take it one step at a time."

Li Xuewu smiled and said, "My ability is limited, my level is average, and I'm just crossing the river by feeling the stones."

Gu Weijie lowered her head and said nothing. She understood Li Xuewu's words; it meant the training ground was under his control.

He was a Deputy Chief, so this training ground was at the section level.

Even if there were several section-level units, there couldn't be a division-level one.

But when he becomes a full division chief one day, the training ground might be hung with a deputy division level.

If one day he becomes a deputy factory level, the training ground will also rise with the tide.

This person, he's grown up, and his belly is full of bad water, and his abacus is loud.

"I heard the Factory Director has new moves."

Li Xuewu looked at Gu Weijie's teacup, which was empty, and refilled it with the thermos.

"Mm, the meeting was held yesterday."

Gu Weijie looked at Li Xuewu and said, "You'll see the notice on Monday."

As she spoke, without needing Li Xuewu to probe, she told the story of the disaster relief site that day.

Then she talked about the emergency meeting held by the leaders after returning to the factory that day.

The leaders at the scene were naturally shocked and regretful, and those in the city also felt deeply.

The direction of the meeting was very consistent: to solve the housing problem of the factory workers as soon as possible.

But this problem had been a difficulty since the factory was built, not to mention the current situation of being poor and blank.

And the bigger goal proposed at the meeting was to build a residential area for workers along the Liangma River.

This was even more of a big problem. It required supporting facilities, just like the current residential quarters, everything had to be equipped.

In 1956, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs built its own residential area in the South City. It was very beautiful, very modern, and the most fashionable residential building area at that time.

"How to build it?"

Li Xuewu asked with a light laugh, "Do you know the housing data of residents outside the city? Are we not living our lives?"

"Where there's a will, there's a way."

Gu Weijie squinted and said, "Preliminary investigation shows that the steel mill currently has over 3,000 households urgently needing to solve housing problems, and the number needing improvement is about the same."

"If they could improve, everyone would want to improve."

Li Xuewu said nonchalantly, "I also want to improve my housing. Who wouldn't want to live in a building if they could?"

"Forget about you."

Gu Weijie looked at Li Xuewu and said, "Secretary Xue even praised your house for being tidy, not like a place a grown man lives in."

"Used to it from being a soldier."

Li Xuewu shamelessly stuck a piece of gold on his own face.

"Calculated at 30 square meters per household, 6,000 households, our factory has to solve 180,000 square meters of housing area."

As he spoke, he counted on his fingers for Gu Weijie.

"Even at 40 yuan per square meter of construction cost, that's 7.2 million yuan in expenses. Are we not living our lives?"

"It's not as much as you calculated."

Gu Weijie felt uncomfortable listening to Li Xuewu's calculation, and her mind wanted to reach for the cigarette Li Xuewu put on the table.

But thinking this was Han Shu's house, she crossed her right leg over her left, supported her face with her hand, and held back.

"The meeting discussed trying to see if we can take the path of a joint enterprise."

Gu Weijie explained to Li Xuewu, "For example, the steel mill provides steel, finds cement factories, and finds enterprises that also need housing to build together."

"That's a big project."

Li Xuewu squinted and calculated in his heart, "Location selection, housing design, construction design, material selection, construction workers, a city-building project for over 200,000 people, heh."

Gu Weijie understood the disdain in Li Xuewu's mouth, but she didn't refute it. This was the truth.

Building a city with one's own strength, or the strength of a few, is not a simple matter. This is much harder than a joint enterprise.

"If you ask me, don't let a small horse pull a big cart."

Li Xuewu took a sip of tea and said under Gu Weijie's gaze, "Don't think about becoming fat in one breath. The cheapness of the border isn't there every year. Don't let people say that you don't even know your own surname when you have two stinky coins in your pocket."

"Tell me your thoughts."

Gu Weijie didn't care about Li Xuewu's sarcasm. She wanted to do something for the workers in the factory, and she also knew Li Xuewu was capable and had a flexible mind.

"I don't know who proposed this idea."

Li Xuewu looked at Gu Weijie and said, "But I know it definitely wasn't Deputy Factory Director Li. After all, he knows how difficult that trip to the border was."

Gu Weijie looked at Li Xuewu and said nothing. At the meeting, Li Huai De naturally wouldn't express opposition seeing the excited expressions of the crowd.

Under those circumstances, splashing cold water was thankless.

It just so happened he was going to support the disaster area, so he simply handed this matter over to those "with ulterior motives" in the factory to do.

The "meat" has been brought back, how can it not be wasted? Today we don't talk about this residential area, tomorrow we don't know what other things will be said.

Li Xuewu pointed at the tea water on the coffee table to draw the general orientation of the factory area and marked the Liangma River.

"If you want to do it, do something practical. The dormitory buildings all the way to the Liangma River are our factory's land. The place is small, not enough to build other things, isn't it perfect to build housing?"

"Build it yourself?"

"It saves money."

Li Xuewu drew with his hand and calculated, "Cement is a special material, it can only be purchased. If you want to do this residential area project, you have to pay."

"How to pay?"

"Take out the benefits obtained from the joint enterprise."

Li Xuewu looked at Gu Weijie and said, "Accelerate the formation of the joint enterprise, accelerate the circulation of materials in the border, Beijing, Steel City, and other places, accelerate production speed, and achieve profitability as soon as possible."

"But..."

"But this condition is in Deputy Factory Director Li's hands, right?"

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