Chapter 515: Quietly Entering the Village

During normal office hours, the door to Li Li Xuewu's office was always open.

Hearing the voice, Li Li Xuewu looked up and saw the female college student he had met twice before standing nervously at the door.

"Come in."

He greeted her, but Li Li Xuewu didn't look at her anymore.

Having spent time at the grassroots level, Li Li Xuewu knew that anyone would feel pressure when facing a leader's gaze.

Zhou Yao steadied her mind, walked to Li Li Xuewu's desk, and placed a document in front of him.

"Director Yu said this is a document transmitted by the factory office, and he needs you to take a look."

"Hmm."

Li Li Xuewu responded, but his eyes were still on the document in his hand; after all, he had already read half of it and wanted to finish it first.

After waiting for a few minutes, he felt something was wrong. When he looked up, he saw Zhou Yao still waiting in front of the desk.

"Does it need a signature?"

"Yes."

Zhou Yao saw Li Li Xuewu frowning slightly at her and nodded timidly.

Li Li Xuewu nodded, used his fountain pen to make instructions on the current document, put it aside, and picked up the document Zhou Yao handed over.

"Where is your home?"

Hearing Li Li Xuewu's question, Zhou Yao's eyes widened, and then she realized the leader was asking about her native place.

"Oh, it's in the capital."

Li Li Xuewu nodded, and while reading the document, he continued to ask: "What major did you study?"

"I studied steel rolling."

Zhou Yao also realized that the leader was just asking about her situation, so she answered directly.

Li Li Xuewu looked up at the girl, turned the page of the document, and finally wrote his opinion and signature on the side.

When he put the document in Zhou Yao's direction, Li Li Xuewu asked: "Am I very scary?"

"No... no, leader."

Zhou Yao was startled by Li Li Xuewu's sudden turn of the question, and she didn't even dare to take the document, explaining in a panic: "I really didn't know you were a leader that time, so I didn't dare to say hello, it's not you..."

"Hehe."

Li Li Xuewu smiled, took the document he hadn't read, and continued reading.

Zhou Yao didn't know what Li Li Xuewu meant. She hesitated for a moment, then carefully took the document from the desk.

Just when Zhou Yao was thinking whether it was better to leave first or say hello to the leader before leaving, the leader who was looking down at the document suddenly said: "If you study steel rolling, you can sit in the office if you don't have strength in your hands. If you sit in the office, it won't do if you don't have strength in speaking and doing things."

"Ah? Yes."

Zhou Yao understood the leader's words, whether it was instruction or exhortation. She pursed her lips a bit aggrievedly, said "Leader, you're busy," and went out.

After returning to the office and walking back to her desk, Huang Huang Shiwen, who came together, saw that she was not right and asked in a low voice while avoiding the "old comrades" in the office: "Yao Yao, what's wrong?"

The three female college students

In terms of looks, they could certainly hold their own in the Rolling Mill. When they first arrived, whether it was the concern from the factory leadership or the attention from those enthusiastic office heads, it all filled them with confidence for their future work.

From top to bottom, everyone in this unit seemed to be a good person. After being here for so many days, it seemed that only the supervisor of the unit they were assigned to—that is, Deputy Division Chief Li—did not give them a pleasant look.

After all, they were newcomers, and their sense of novelty was still there; they didn't feel there was any problem with this unit, other than the leadership being a bit strict.

But Zhou Yao, having hit a wall repeatedly, could already foresee that her future days would not be easy.

Because...

Their two desks were facing each other, and the other girl, Fu Linfang, was sitting side-by-side with Zhou Yao.

Fu Linfang had also heard their whispered conversation. At this moment, she exchanged a glance with Huang Huang Shiwen, who was sitting diagonally opposite, and then both looked at Zhou Yao, who had sat down with her mouth slightly pouting.

Zhou Yao didn't say anything; her eyes were just a bit red. She didn't know if it was because she had been scolded by Deputy Division Chief Li, or because Deputy Division Chief Li hadn't accepted her explanations from the previous two times. In any case, the girl felt quite aggrieved.

"Zhou Yao, did the leader approve the document?"

Yu Yu Decai had just come up from downstairs. He had gone to coordinate personnel for several other sections. Originally, this document was supposed to be handled by Sha Sha Qizhi.

But not finding Sha Sha Qizhi in the office, Yu Yu Decai thought this little matter would be a perfect opportunity to hand it over to the three newly arrived university students, giving them a chance to get to know the leadership.

That was how the situation of Zhou Yao going to find Li Li Xuewu for a signature came about.

At this moment, Yu Yu Decai returned and didn't see the document on his own desk, so he came over to the main office to ask.

Only then did Zhou Yao remember that, in her daze, she had actually brought the document back.

"I'm sorry, Director, I forgot to give it to you."

Yu Yu Decai looked at Zhou Yao's expression, then looked at the way Huang Huang Shiwen and Fu Linfang were keeping their heads down.

He valued these three university students highly—not because the girls were good-looking, nor because of Xu Sinian's instructions, but because he truly needed educated talent here.

When he originally chose a secretary for Li Li Xuewu, it was a case of picking the tallest among the short, which was how Sha Sha Qizhi was chosen.

Sha Sha Qizhi's education was only that of a high school student; in Yu Yu Decai's eyes, a junior high school education was not very satisfactory.

This could be seen from Li Li Xuewu's later guidance, showing the weakness of Sha Sha Qizhi's on-the-job training as a secretary.

If there had been a university student here back then, Yu Yu Decai would never have recommended Sha Sha Qizhi, no matter what.

Now, he wasn't thinking about changing Li Li Xuewu's secretary, but rather preparing to cultivate some writers.

These students had plenty of stamina and progressive thinking; in the end, they were better to use than the old folks in the section with their reading glasses.

Although their writing skills were insufficient, which section's writers weren't cultivated that way?

Seeing Zhou Yao's grievance, she must have encountered some setback.

Without waiting for Zhou Yao to come over and hand over the document, Yu Yu Decai walked to the side of Zhou Yao's desk amidst the gazes of the old comrades in the section who were watching the show.

"Not going smoothly? The leader didn't sign?"

"No, Director, the leader signed it."

Zhou Yao handed the document to Yu Yu Decai and explained in her mouth.

Because of Yu Yu Decai's inquiry, Zhou Yao couldn't help but let her grievance out.

In the few days she had been here, she had developed a sense of responsibility and mission for the work in the Security Division office.

Although these students were naive and innocent, their enthusiasm for work was genuinely high.

She also felt that coming to the Security Division was a stroke of luck because of Yu Yu Decai's care over these past few days.

Even though the Security Division had a strict Division Chief.

Yu Yu Decai flipped through Li Li Xuewu's comments on the document and looked at the characters Li Li Xuewu had written, finding no problems.

This was his unique skill: being able to discover the leader's mood at the time from the leader's handwriting.

Looking at the handwriting, Li Li Xuewu's hand was as steady as ever; there was no possibility of him being angry. So what was wrong with little Zhou?

Seeing Director Yu looking at her, Zhou Yao pursed her lips and said with a hint of grievance: "Director, does the Division Chief, does the Division Chief dislike us female university students?"

This childish display actually made the old comrades working in the room chuckle.

Some had already slightly shaken their heads, muttering to themselves that they were students after all, and how could they accomplish anything.

Hearing Zhou Yao's words, Huang Huang Shiwen and Fu Linfang, who were sitting nearby, also looked over uncomfortably.

The two of them were looking at Zhou Yao, and also looking at Yu Yu Decai.

Looking at Zhou Yao was to blame her for why she dragged them both into it, as if this matter was something the two of them had instigated her to complain to the Director about.

Looking at Yu Yu Decai was to fear that Yu Yu Decai would misunderstand, wanting to use this expression to explain to Yu Yu Decai that Zhou Yao's problem had nothing to do with them.

Yu Yu Decai saw the expressions of everyone in the section; he knew Zhou Yao had encountered a problem.

Although this was a small matter, if not resolved well, it wouldn't just affect morale; he feared Zhou Yao would be isolated in the section.

"Hehe."

Yu Yu Decai first laughed along with everyone, then looked at Zhou Yao and said: "Not necessarily. The Division Chief doesn't dislike university students, and it's even more impossible for him to dislike female university students."

Under Zhou Yao's slightly aggrieved gaze, Yu Yu Decai continued jokingly: "He might just dislike you."

"Hahaha~"

Seeing Yu Yu Decai joking, these old comrades were used to laughing and joking, and for a moment, laughter spread through the office again.

This laughter was different from before; previously, it was all low chuckles with a strong sense of mockery.

Now, they were all laughing from the heart, and looking at Zhou Yao was no longer sarcastic, but had more teasing.

Seeing Zhou Yao taken aback by his joke, Yu Yu Decai also smiled and explained to Zhou Yao: "Let's answer step by step. First, let's talk about university students."

As the laughter of the crowd subsided, Yu Yu Decai smiled and said: "You know, the Division Chief is currently attending university. If he disliked university students, that would mean he dislikes himself."

Zhou Yao knew Li Li Xuewu was attending university and even said he was her classmate; this was something the Division Chief said himself.

She didn't deny this point, but still looked at Yu Yu Decai in confusion and asked: "Then is it that the Division Chief feels the Security Division needs masculine energy, and we female comrades are too weak?"

As she spoke, she said sadly: "Just now in the Division Chief's office, the Division Chief said that if the rolling mill doesn't have strength, one can sit in the office, but if one doesn't have strength in speaking and doing things, that won't do..."

"Hehe."

Yu Yu Decai chuckled: "The Division Chief walked step by step from a security officer to the position of Deputy Division Chief, having experienced being a Security Squad Leader and a Security Li Kezhang."

After explaining Li Li Xuewu's resume, Yu Yu Decai asked again: "Then do you know who currently holds these two positions?"

Only then did Zhou Yao remember that the Security Squad Leader and Security Li Kezhang of the Security Division seemed to be female comrades.

Seeing Zhou Yao understand, Yu Yu Decai's expression was no longer kind, but became serious and slightly stern.

"The leader said it to you because he is paying attention to you. This is a good thing. You must fully understand the meaning behind the leader's words and turn it into motivation for your own hard work."

Yu Yu Decai said this not only to Zhou Yao but also while looking at the other two newly arrived comrades.

"You have just stepped into society and just started working. There is a lot of knowledge that needs to be learned and understood. Those who speak nicely to you are not necessarily caring about you, and those who criticize you are not necessarily disliking you."

"Yes, Director."

Yu Yu Decai had made this very clear, which made Zhou Yao's face turn pale, and she earnestly responded to the Director's words.

After the Director left, Huang Huang Shiwen and Fu Linfang exchanged a glance, both seeing the caution in each other's eyes.

Compared to Zhou Yao's emotional nature, their families were relatively ordinary; they knew the difficulty of work and the complexity of government offices.

How one listens to the Director's words just now matters; it could be a hint, or it could be a warning.

Li Li Xuewu didn't pay attention to the bustle in the office but was attracted by the briefing issued by the factory.

In the span of a week, the publicity of the work progress of Deputy Factory Director Jing Jing Yunong and Deputy Factory Director Deng Deng Zhiwang occupied most of the space in the work briefing.

If it weren't for that private conversation with Gu Gu Weijie that night, Li Li Xuewu would have thought the Publicity Division had changed its tune.

Compared to Li Li Huai De's forbearance, this Gu Gu Weijie was a radical, having a ruthless streak in her work.

The writers in the Publicity Division were trying hard to praise these two projects. If Li Li Xuewu were Jing Jing Yunong or Deng Deng Zhiwang, he probably would have thrown the table and cursed by now.

But looking at the comments on the briefing now, Li Li Xuewu really raised his eyebrows with deep meaning.

Different from section-level briefings, division-level leadership briefings have comments from leaders, which can accurately—or rather, allow one to guess—the leader's actual intentions regarding this work.

When Li Li Xuewu was a section chief, he was doing practical basic work and couldn't come into contact with these materials.

Now, he could truly see the dynamics of the factory through this briefing.

Regardless of whether Li Li Huai De was suppressed or boycotted, from the briefing, Deputy Factory Director Li had already put away his weapons and was preparing to obey the leadership.

And looking at it now, it seemed only Gu Gu Weijie appeared difficult to get along with, indirectly digging pits for those two in the publicity sector.

In Li Li Xuewu's speculation, Factory Director Yang Yang Fengshan must be clear about Gu Gu Weijie's intentions, but it was difficult to handle.

The reason it was difficult to handle was the Secretary's attitude; the Secretary couldn't possibly not see this kind of work.

But now that the Secretary wasn't interfering, it was more likely that he was utilizing Gu Gu Weijie's supervision and urging of the Factory Office.

The Party's supervision is divided into many aspects, not just the Discipline Inspection Department; this publicity sector was also a real whip, and it hurt when it lashed down.

If the work was done well, then combined with the publicity sector, that would be a win-win for everyone.

If a mistake was truly made, then the praise in the publicity would all turn into sarcasm.

The cadres and old comrades in the factory were all guessing what Deputy Secretary Gu wanted to do; whose evil influence had she believed to dare to do work like this?

Regardless of whose evil influence she believed, Jing Jing Yunong and Deng Deng Zhiwang were now in a situation where they were riding a tiger and couldn't get off; they could only run forward hard.

Li Li Xuewu raised his eyebrows and smiled, putting the briefing in his hand to one side; this had been sent yesterday, and he only saw it today.

"Division Chief, what's so happy?"

Just as Li Li Xuewu was laughing, Yu Yu Decai walked in, holding a thick document in his hand, his mouth quite good at making small talk.

"Hehe, nothing."

Li Li Xuewu pointed to the publicity about Deng Deng Zhiwang holding a project initiation meeting and declaring land for construction, explaining: "I was thinking, how much longer until I can live in a cadre building?"

Yu Yu Decai's eyes widened slightly, then he smiled and said: "You'll have to wait. I've truly inquired; the first ones to be built aren't cadre buildings, but worker buildings."

"Oh? Is that so?"

Li Li Xuewu waved his hand, signaling Yu Yu Decai to sit, while he himself leaned back in his chair, waiting for Yu Yu Decai to talk.

Yu Yu Decai sat down opposite Li Li Xuewu's desk and explained: "It's like this, a call came from home saying the eldest is about to take exams, asking if my work has transferred here, and if the household registration should follow. My wife wants the child to attend school in Beijing."

"A settlement problem, then."

Li Li Xuewu took a cigarette from the desk and tossed it to Yu Yu Decai. They each lit up, and then he continued: "You can't afford to just wait. Tell Xu Sinian to hurry up the transfer; you can rent a house in the city first."

"I was thinking the same."

This was Yu Yu Decai testing Li Li Xuewu's attitude toward him. It seemed this job could be done for a long time, and there was no possibility of returning to the Steel Mill anymore.

"I went to ask about the project situation because I was thinking if the cadre building was built first, I would rent a small, cheap one to make do. Otherwise, moving a whole family over would be quite a waste."

"Hehe, moving house is just like that; the losses are big."

Li Li Xuewu nodded in understanding, then looked at the document by Yu Yu Decai's hand and asked: "What's the matter?"

"It's a letter transferred from the factory."

Yu Yu Decai stuck the cigarette in his hand into the ashtray, opened the document, picked up a piece of paper on top, and handed it to Li Li Xuewu.

While Li Li Xuewu was smoking and squinting to read, he explained: "Perhaps because our factory has had results in responding to earthquakes in these two places, the Ministry of Steel issued a consultation letter, asking our factory to submit an earthquake response explanation and work summary, and at the same time, they also want our factory's emergency plan and emergency plan drill plan."

Seeing the plain words on the paper in his hand, Li Li Xuewu's squinting eyes couldn't help but blink.

Seeing Li Li Xuewu had finished reading and was examining and thinking, Yu Yu Decai waited a moment, then handed over another piece of paper.

Li Li Xuewu took it while glancing at Yu Yu Decai.

This time, Yu Yu Decai didn't wait for Li Li Xuewu to start reading before explaining: "These are the opinions of several leaders in the factory; they all expressed importance."

"Hmph~"

Li Li Xuewu didn't mean anything else; he just breathed out heavily through his nostrils.

He casually put the leaders' opinions to one side and picked up the consultation letter, looking at it with slightly furrowed brows.

With just those few lines of text, Li Li Xuewu looked at it as seriously as if it were a textbook.

Yu Yu Decai didn't disturb him either. The two sat opposite each other smoking until Yu Yu Decai was about to finish his cigarette, and only then did Li Li Xuewu speak.

"You take the lead on this matter."

Li Li Xuewu placed the consultation letter on top of the leaders' opinion paper and looked at Yu Yu Decai earnestly: "Select professional personnel from the several departments involved to re-examine the two plan documents."

"Furthermore, combine the summary of the last earthquake with this one to give a professional explanation and summary."

After saying this, Li Li Xuewu pointed at Yu Yu Decai with the hand holding the cigarette butt and instructed: "Remember, professionalism. Do not bring in subjective opinions or command-style language. Highlight emergency response, safety management, standardization, and fire safety construction. And!"

Li Li Xuewu lowered the hand pointing at Yu Yu Decai to point at the two stacked documents, raised his eyebrows, and said earnestly: "Enter the village quietly, don't fire a shot."

Hearing the end, Yu Yu Decai couldn't help but grin and laugh knowingly.

This wasn't a chuckle, nor was it a loud laugh; it was just the right corner of his mouth raised, his eyebrows lowered, and his eyes squinted, meaning he understood the leader's description very well.

Of course, he understood that the leader wasn't pointing at the consultation letter above; what was there to be wary of in a consultation letter?

After extinguishing his cigarette butt in the leader's unique pure steel ashtray and taking the document the leader handed over, Yu Yu Decai smiled and said: "I'm thinking of selecting those three new university students to do the basic writing work. You don't have any objections, right?"

Li Li Xuewu raised his eyebrows, not knowing what Yu Yu Decai meant by asking this.

What did he mean by having objections? Was there something involved in this?

Yu Yu Decai didn't make Li Li Xuewu guess, but smiled and said: "Little Zhou said you dislike her."

"Hehe, hahaha!"

Li Li Xuewu first widened his eyes and chuckled twice, then burst into loud laughter.

Yu Yu Decai also laughed along, stood up, waved the document in his hand, and went out the door.

Li Li Xuewu touched the side of his nose, shook his head helplessly, and pressed the cigarette butt in his hand into the ashtray.

Not to mention Yu Yu Decai being envious, Li Li Xuewu was also very satisfied with his large ashtray.

It could be used as a weapon when advancing, and as an ashtray when retreating; it had both deterrent power and practicality—perfect.

Good things come one after another, and annoying things just have to be endured.

The good news Li Li Xuewu was waiting for was brought back by Sha Sha Qizhi. Besides confirming the preface, sales price, and sales channels, the publishing house didn't have any other problems.

The news Sha Sha Qizhi brought back was that the book had been submitted to the higher-ups for review, and if there were no accidents, it should be released in April.

This was indeed good news. A book being published so quickly was a rare expression of the simplicity and speed of the review work in this era.

Of course, this also had to do with the professionalism and practicality of Li Li Xuewu's book.

"Criminal Psychology" didn't contain any political factors and didn't question any current aspects; it only wrote about the interrogation and investigation of criminals, which was rare for the publishing house to find fault with.

Li Li Xuewu's book wasn't simply proofread and reviewed by the publishing house; they also invited psychology professionals and public security professionals to conduct a review.

The experts' review opinions unanimously believed that the book had guiding significance for current frontline workers and interrogation and research personnel.

Although some experts also pointed out the limitations of this type of book, the flaws didn't obscure the virtues; this book filled the academic gap in current criminal psychology research and also provided a learning direction for personnel in powerful departments like public security.

Li Li Xuewu looked at the review opinions in his hand and couldn't help but laugh.

There were a bit too many happy events today; this kind of opinion was already the best of the best.

It wasn't in vain that he and Zhou Wang Yamei had revised it back and forth so many times.

Li Li Xuewu's compilation opinions were about to drive Zhou Wang Yamei crazy. Psychology itself is a niche subject and a highly subjective one, yet Li Li Xuewu had insisted on setting rules and regulations for it.

No political factors, no historical factors, no academic ideologies, no case opinions...

Li Li Xuewu had no choice; if all those were included, the book wouldn't exist.

"Division Chief."

Seeing Li Li Xuewu in a good mood, Sha Sha Qizhi smiled and said: "The publishing house has tentatively set the sales price for the hardcover edition at one yuan and eighty cents."

"So expensive?"

Li Li Xuewu frowned slightly. He remembered that the hardcover copy of "Lenin on Youth" he bought was also one yuan and eighty cents. Could he be mentioned in the same breath as Lenin?

"The publishing house said your book doesn't have a large initial print run, and they are afraid the audience is small, so the price is set a bit higher."

Sha Sha Qizhi looked at Li Li Xuewu's expression and continued to explain: "The paperback edition is priced at thirty-two cents. I've asked, and professional books are basically at this price."

"Hehe."

This time it was Li Li Xuewu's turn to feel it was cheap. What the hell was with this jumping from heaven to earth?

However, thirty-two cents wasn't expensive; anyone who wanted to read it could afford it.

After all, the concept of paying for knowledge still existed at this time, and pirated books only pirated historical books; he hadn't heard of pirating professional books yet.

Even if it didn't sell well, there would still be some income.

Li Li Xuewu put the opinion paper into his notebook and instructed Sha Sha Qizhi: "Remember to remind me. After publication, donate the royalties directly to the Steel Institute library for book protection and new book purchases."

After finishing with Sha Sha Qizhi, Li Li Xuewu continued to look at the documents in his hand.

Sha Sha Qizhi, however, stared blankly at Li Li Xuewu, not quite understanding what the leader meant.

Although he said the publishing house estimated sales wouldn't be high, the initial print run was still ten thousand copies, which calculated to several thousand yuan.

Publishing a book at this time wasn't a simple matter; it was truly "one book is everything."

A few words of gossip here: writers' royalties were not low in the 1950s.

The royalty standard at the time was: 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, or 15 yuan per thousand words for original works. 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, or 10 yuan per thousand words for translations.

Cultural figures like Lao She, Zhang Henshui, Ai Qing, and Wu Zuguang all used their royalties in the early 1950s to buy their own courtyards in Beijing, with prices of about ten thousand yuan each.

Starting in July 1958, the Ministry of Culture formulated new royalty regulations, adopting the principle of basic royalties plus print-run royalties.

Of course, the basic royalties remained the same, and the print-run royalties were implemented according to a method of cumulative reduction based on the number of copies printed.

The specific calculation method won't be mentioned, but according to Li Li Xuewu's initial print run of ten thousand copies, the basic royalties plus print-run royalties amounted to over two thousand three hundred and seventy-six yuan.

The price Sha Sha Qizhi reported to Li Li Xuewu actually had nothing to do with Li Li Xuewu, as it was just to see how much his "market value" was worth.

Because even if this book sold for one hundred yuan, Li Li Xuewu's royalties would be the same, calculated based on the word count.

Li Li Xuewu only got the price of six yuan per thousand words because of the strong professionalism, the shocking nature of the cases solved, and the bonus of his institute identity.

Otherwise, for an unknown author, four yuan per thousand words would have been a certainty.

What surprised Sha Sha Qizhi was that Li Li Xuewu was handling the royalties this way—that was over two thousand yuan! Who had that much money at this time?

If Li Li Xuewu used it himself, it would be "getting rich overnight."

Li Li Xuewu didn't hear Sha Sha Qizhi's reply, looked up, and saw Sha Sha Qizhi staring at him with wide eyes, so he couldn't help but smile.

"What's wrong?"

"Division Chief..."

Sha Sha Qizhi hesitated, but still asked: "Why? This money was earned by your own ability; why donate it?"

"Hehe, just for this?"

Li Li Xuewu chuckled, then pointed to the seat opposite, signaling Sha Sha Qizhi to sit.

Although he was Li Li Xuewu's secretary, there were few opportunities for Sha Sha Qizhi to be invited to sit in Li Li Xuewu's office.

Usually, it was when Li Li Xuewu wanted to talk to him seriously about work. Today, he was going to talk to him about how to conduct himself in the world.

"Do you know how much the royalties are?"

"I know."

Sha Sha Qizhi had already checked with the editor at the publishing house. He had been surprised and happy for Li Li Xuewu at the time, not expecting to be doused with a bucket of cold water by Li Li Xuewu upon returning.

"Hehe, those royalties are virtual."

Li Li Xuewu said indifferently: "The Ministry of Culture issued a notice long ago that current royalties are paid at half the rate."

"That's still..."

Sha Sha Qizhi frowned slightly, emphasizing: "That's still over a thousand."

Li Li Xuewu waved his hand, signaling Sha Sha Qizhi to listen to him. Seeing Sha Sha Qizhi listening earnestly, he explained: "If it's paid to me, it's over a thousand. If I propose to donate it to the Steel Institute library, the institute will definitely issue a check for the actual amount paid."

Sha Sha Qizhi didn't understand what Li Li Xuewu meant and looked at Li Li Xuewu suspiciously, waiting for further explanation.

Li Li Xuewu smiled lightly and said: "A thousand more isn't much, a thousand less isn't little. Donating it all makes it easier for me."

"You mean...?"

Sha Sha Qizhi looked at Li Li Xuewu, not understanding where the Division Chief's persecution complex—that there were always treacherous people wanting to harm him—came from.

Li Li Xuewu shook his head helplessly and said: "You'll understand when the time comes. Sometimes, if you want fame, you can't have profit; if you want profit, you can't have fame. Otherwise, you lose both."

After explaining, he sighed: "This world isn't all about you doing whatever you want. There are many potential dangers waiting for you."

After finishing, he looked at Sha Sha Qizhi, who was already thinking, and instructed: "You must be cautious in your words and actions at all times. If you get one part from society, you must give back one part. Only then can you keep what you currently have."

Sha Sha Qizhi nodded, half-understanding. He was now a bit suspicious of whether the Division Chief believed in Buddhism or had studied philosophy in university.

Li Li Xuewu hadn't studied philosophy; he had studied management properly.

He had thought carefully about the donation. He had asked Han Laoshi for help when submitting the manuscript. Although it wasn't cheating, it was using a favor.

Donating this money to anyone was the same, so since he was going to study at the school and asked the school to publish it, he inevitably had to give this money back to the school.

One reason was to let Han Laoshi recoup the favor, and the other was to have a favor in front of the school.

It was all the same system; this kind of favor would definitely help him at some point.

There weren't many cases of donating to schools in this era; one could say very few, and schools didn't have the channels or experience to accept donations.

After all, not many people had money at this time, and even fewer thought about donating to universities.

Li Li Xuewu intended to be the first to eat the crab and also replace his cultural label with a label of sincerity.

At this time, he could have any label on his head, but he couldn't have the label of a cultural person.

Of course, he could be recognized as an industry expert; there was no attacking experts in the next few years.

Attacking medical experts meant no one to see a doctor; attacking engineering experts meant no foundation; attacking safety experts meant it wouldn't be safe.

Li Li Xuewu explained it very mysteriously to Sha Sha Qizhi; he would understand naturally when the day came.

Seeing that Li Li Xuewu was almost done with his work, Sha Sha Qizhi, with the leader's words in his mind, stood up to pack things.

In a while, the two of them would have to go to the Security Brigade to sit on duty and handle matters there.

Li Li Xuewu took advantage of this moment to write down the donation matter on the draft paper, to prevent not having time to handle it later.

"To the Steel Institute Publishing House and Steel Institute Library: Thank you for the institute's cultivation and support. I write this letter to express that my royalties are automatically donated to the institute library. I hope you will receive it. I state this in the hope that you will understand my meaning and handle it accordingly."

After writing, he signed his name at the bottom, tore it off, and clipped it to the opinion paper, so that if he didn't have time later, he could have Sha Sha Qizhi take it directly to handle.

After packing up, he handed the notebook to Sha Sha Qizhi to put in the bag, while he went to the inner room to wash his face and get dressed.

With April approaching, Li Li Xuewu was also worried about his wedding.

He had thought about making a plan early on to find people to help; he couldn't just be a hands-off manager and let his family handle it.

If it were his eldest brother Li Xuewen's wedding, it would be fine—it was "marrying a wife from a lower status"—but he had a sense of a "phoenix man" climbing high.

Although he was strong his whole life and didn't rely on his father-in-law.

But he had never believed other people's words, and he wouldn't believe his own words either.

The only connection between his parents and the Gu family was him. Both families kept their own opinions to show respect for each other.

And the result now was that Li Li Xuewu and Gu Ning might have to make their own decisions about their wedding.

This, of course, wasn't because both families were sitting by and watching, but because they were waiting for Li Li Xuewu to make up his mind before helping.

With these things on his mind, he took a car to the Security Brigade, held a summary meeting and work meeting with the squad leaders, and busied himself with paperwork for a while.

He greeted Wang Wang Xiaoqin, who was on duty, and left work half an hour early.

Because it wasn't far from home, it wasn't yet time to get off work when he entered the alley, so the alley was still quiet.

After Li Li Xuewu got out of the car and waved to Sha Sha Qizhi and the others, he entered the courtyard.

"Yo, Li Xuewu, off work?"

"Hey."

Today was Auntie Xu's turn on duty, who lived next door to Lao Qi. Seeing Li Li Xuewu, she took the initiative to greet him.

Li Li Xuewu also smiled and nodded to the old ladies in the gatehouse before entering the main gate.

Actually, it was convenient to enter and exit from the storefront side, but Li Li Xuewu rarely walked that way.

Except for the initial worry, Li Li Xuewu had gone that way a few times, but then he never touched it again.

He had to leave an impression on the neighbors that the storefront was the storefront, and Li Li Xuewu was Li Li Xuewu; the two had no relationship.

Even though everyone in the courtyard knew the relationship between Li Li Xuewu and Lao Lao Biaozi and the others, what should be done still had to be done.

When he turned into the outer courtyard, he happened to see Yu Li and the others standing at the door chatting.

"Why are you back so early?"

"Hmm, nothing much."

Li Li Xuewu responded, and seeing Yu Li there, he asked: "No braised food made today?"

"No, there's some left from the past few days; it won't sell."

Standing beside Yu Li were Xilin and Diliya, and unexpectedly, He Yushui was also there.

"Oh, He Yushui, not at work?"

Li Li Xuewu asked casually while walking toward the hanging flower gate, not meaning anything by it.

He Yushui looked at Li Li Xuewu somewhat strangely, but still explained: "Our factory organized a movie to learn from the advanced deeds of female textile workers in Shanghai. After I finished my work, I came back first."

"Just in time to learn how to cook."

Li Li Xuewu smiled and pointed in Diliya's direction, joking with He Yushui.

After speaking, he had already stepped into the hanging flower gate and went to the backyard.

He Yushui curled her lips and looked at her future sister-in-law, saying: "Don't listen to his nonsense. From now on, our family's meals will all be cooked by my brother."

Seeing He Yushui deliberately misinterpreting Li Li Xuewu's meaning, Yu Li also smiled and said: "Brother Zhuzi is as lazy as can be; can he still cook?"

"Hehehe, who are you talking about!"

Speak of the devil! Li Li Xuewu was lazy about getting off work, and Sha Zhu was habitually lazy about getting off work.

Today, this time was already considered overtime; he usually ran back at four in the afternoon because there was no car, and he called this "the early bird catches the worm."

"Hahaha."

Xilin pointed at Diliya and said to Sha Zhu: "Just now, Division Chief Li said to let Diliya learn how to cook from He Yushui."

Yu Li looked at Xilin, thinking: *Great, here's another one doing it on purpose. *

Sha Zhu smiled and said: "Impossible, Li Xuewu knows He Yushui can't cook."

"Brother!"

He Yushui wasn't happy and pouted: "I'll cook today; you help me!"

"Aiyo, good sister, did those in the inverted room offend you?"

Seeing his sister with her partner and the others, Sha Zhu started joking, and Li Li Xuewu could hear the bustle from behind when he reached the third gate.

After putting his bag away in the backyard, he took out a pen and paper and began to list the procedures and necessary conditions for getting married.

This was his first time getting married in this life. Most of the weddings he had seen in this era couldn't be copied and could only be referenced.

The first item should be determining the wedding process. Should he visit the matchmaker's house?

Li Li Xuewu was thinking about it; he had set the witness as Minister Yu and the matchmaker as Auntie Zhang, the wife of Director Li.

If he asked them temporarily, it would seem a bit rushed. Plus, utilizing the free time on Sunday, this work really had to be handled quickly.

After thinking of one item, he noted down the precautions and requirements behind it.

By the time Li Li Xuewu listed the bridal chamber, he had already written five full pages of paper.

This was still a simplified version he wrote, just a first draft to discuss with his family. After making it detailed, he would have to discuss and modify it with Gu Ning and the Gu family.

He still missed his previous life, where getting married only required being a puppet, and everything was handled by his parents.

Now, he really had a hope of a "photo wedding."

A photo wedding was when there were no conditions at this time; spending a few cents at a photo studio, the two of them taking a photo with red flowers would count as a married couple.

Neither Li Li Xuewu nor Gu Ning liked bustle, but if it were up to Gu Ning, they wouldn't be able to explain it to both families, let alone friends and relatives.

When he went out with those papers, the courtyard was already bustling, and every family was preparing dinner.

Those with elderly people in the family, or children who were a bit older, had already set the table and started eating at this time.

Li Li Xuewu greeted a few neighbors, passed the moon gate, and greeted Auntie Yi when he saw her walking over.

"Yo, Li Xuewu, off work?"

"Hey."

Auntie Yi smiled and said to Li Li Xuewu: "I haven't seen you since you got back. How is Uncle?"

"Hey, he's recovering, much better."

Auntie Yi smiled and said to Li Li Xuewu: "I just went to your house, but I couldn't find you. I said I'd give you a pack of cigarettes, but I couldn't catch a shadow of you, so I sent them to your mother's house."

"Hey, what are you doing that for?"

Li Li Xuewu wasn't in a hurry to go home either. Seeing Auntie Yi, he turned into Uncle Yi's house and said a few words with a smile to Uncle Yi, who was lying on the bed in the inner room.

Yi Yi Zhonghai wasn't surprised by Li Li Xuewu's arrival; he had already heard the talking outside the window while lying on the bed.