Chapter 575: I

Li Xuewu waved his hand, signaling to Yu De.

Sha Qizhi organized the morning's documents and placed them by Li Xuewu's hand, then took the notebook out of Li Xuewu's briefcase and set it aside.

By now, Yu De had already gotten through on the phone and handed it to Li Xuewu.

"Hello, this is Li Xuewu."

"You just got back?"

Xu Si answered the phone, and upon hearing it was Li Xuewu, he hurriedly said, "There's a problem with the trade."

"Is there a mole?"

"What?"

Xu Si was just about to explain when he was suddenly stumped by Li Xuewu's question.

What mole?

Was he talking about Deputy Factory Director Jing?

How could Li Xuewu say something like that?

But if one were to really think about it carefully...

The mole Li Xuewu mentioned really seemed to be...

But then, thinking about it more closely—what the hell!

How can one overthink everything in this world!

It's terrifying when you think about it, don't you get it!

"What I'm saying is, the textile factory over there doesn't agree."

Xu Si's voice was very cautious, clearly guarding against anyone hearing his side of the conversation.

"They say they have to fulfill the cooperation plan signed by Deputy Factory Director Jing with them first..."

"What plan?"

Li Xuewu truly didn't know about this, so he asked with a slight frown, "What plan did she sign with the textile factory?"

"Sigh~"

Xu Si sighed, glanced outside the door, and said, "I'll come to your office to find you; let's discuss it in detail."

Discuss in detail?

Old Xu's words actually gave Li Xuewu a start.

If this were a young lady, it would be fine, but coming from a grown man, "discuss in detail" sounded wrong!

"Don't, don't come!"

Li Xuewu interrupted, "I'm busy here. If you dare to come, I'll leave. This matter ends here. I never called you, and you never told me anything about any trade, understand?"

"I..."

"Clang!"

Just as Xu Si wanted to say more, he heard the sound of the phone being hung up in his ear.

"Hello? Hello? Li Xuewu?"

After asking several times in a row, Xu Si looked blankly at the phone in his hand, still unable to believe Li Xuewu had hung up on him.

"Damn it, why am I always the one getting hurt?"

Xu Si put down the phone, glanced at the factory director's itinerary, and got up to head to the factory director's office.

After putting down the phone, Li Xuewu muttered to Yu De, who was still standing opposite him, "What the hell kind of integrity? One side demands an exorbitant price, and the other side haggles on the spot."

He took another sip of hot water and continued, "I knew this bunch couldn't be trusted. Even at a time like this, they're still thinking about... forget it."

Speaking of this, Li Xuewu was also deeply troubled; he couldn't be bothered to talk about the bad habits within enterprises at this time.

He waved his hand and instructed Yu De, "Forget about this matter, go back to your work."

"... Yes."

Yu De hesitated for a moment, then reminded him, "Those fruits... Li Kezhang Yu's side...?"

"Yesterday, I already handed Yu Daru's information to Xu Si; it has nothing to do with us."

Li Xuewu waved his hand and said, "Do your own job well. Even if it all rots, it has nothing to do with us; it's not ours."

"Understood."

Yu De nodded and walked out the door. His "understood" didn't just mean he understood Li Xuewu's meaning; he understood even better why Xu Si was so anxious.

After Li Xuewu left, Xu Si became the acting director of the Joint Enterprise Preparatory Office, and everything was dumped on him.

Xu Si didn't want to take this hot potato at all.

It wasn't that he was afraid Li Xuewu would hate him, but because this office was set up specifically to facilitate Li Xuewu's contact with several leaders and other enterprise heads to prepare for the joint enterprise.

Originally, Li Xuewu's rank wasn't high enough, but they couldn't afford not to use his abilities, so they created this office.

Now that Li Xuewu was gone, the most important part—contacting other enterprise heads—had been taken away by Li Xuewu, so what could this office do?

Be the scapegoat, of course!

What?

The cooperation plan signed by Deputy Factory Director Jing?

Wasn't that drafted by the preparatory office? Why wasn't it reviewed clearly? Why didn't they calculate that Li Xuewu would inexplicably bring in a truckload of fruit?

Xu Si also wanted to curse. Damn it, is this just about a truckload of fruit?

With Li Xuewu, if it wasn't a truckload of fruit, it could be a truckload of canned goods, a truckload of grain, or a truckload of some other ghostly thing.

Anyway, he was determined to pull the rug out from under them; could he let you get away?

Forget it, now Li Xuewu was standing on the sidelines holding a stick, watching the show. Whoever dared to run would get hit. Everyone just stay huddled down there.

Xu Si couldn't stay huddled. He was too cunning; seeing that things were going badly, he hurriedly found the factory director.

Yang Fengshan now also had bitterness he couldn't voice. Li Xuewu's plan in the office had been laid out perfectly, just waiting to be executed.

He had thought this matter was in the bag, and since Li Xuewu had strongly declined, he had divided these tasks among the other leaders.

He had thought that during this turmoil, the leaders and comrades in the organs had all worked hard, so picking up a bargain would be a consolation.

Who would have thought there was a follow-up move?

The key was that this follow-up move didn't come from Li Xuewu, but from his own people.

Jing Yunong's move was too fast; the meeting was held one day, and the cooperation plan was signed the next.

He had never seen such efficiency before!

The fountain pen spun in his hand who knows how many times, and Yang Fengshan's frown deepened.

Now, he couldn't find Li Xuewu, even though this plan had been selflessly contributed by him.

And everyone had applauded it.

But now, the wool and leather issue hadn't been solved, and they had bought a truckload of tropical fruit from the Confidentiality Department.

The factory's finances, which weren't rich to begin with, were now in an even worse state.

"Leader, how about..."

Xu Si suggested hesitantly, "Let Li Xuewu enter..."

Before he could finish saying "enter," he saw Yang Fengshan's alert gaze fixed on him.

Enter what?

The Party Committee?

Who in the steel mill didn't know the relationship between Xu Si and Li Xuewu? The secretary had already blown wind here earlier; was Xu Si going to blow wind too?

Xu Si also felt wronged; he hadn't even finished speaking before he was rebuffed by the factory director, and he didn't dare say the rest of his words.

What did he want to say?

He didn't have the guts to bring up the Party Committee; he wanted to suggest Li Xuewu resume the position of director of the preparatory office.

Xu Si didn't want to be the scapegoat; he wanted to ride the coattails.

If Li Xuewu were the director, he would definitely be able to get the joint enterprise up and running, and his own credit wouldn't be low either.

Wasn't riding Li Xuewu's coattails better than being the scapegoat?

Furthermore, if Li Xuewu were the director, even if he developed his influence within the joint enterprise and gained capital for advancement, what the hell did that have to do with him?

It was the influence of the other leaders that would be lost; he hadn't thought about becoming a deputy factory director in one step anyway.

But now, he didn't dare bring it up. Whoever dared to bring up Li Xuewu in front of the leader now would be unlucky.

Just wait; when things are dragged out until they have to be solved, someone will get anxious.

People can afford to wait, but it depends on whether that truckload of fruit at the station can afford to wait.

If the fruit issue isn't solved, the wool and leather issues can't be solved, and the frontier office issue can't be solved.

If these can't be solved, then the joint enterprise issue can't be solved.

Even if they solve the wool problem according to Deputy Factory Director Jing's wishes, with Li Xuewu's plan as a precedent, is her plan still meaningful?

Most importantly, that previously emotional and helpless article had now become a slap in the face.

Not using a better plan and instead sacrificing the steel mill workers' employment benefits to gain cooperation—is that feasible?

The factory leaders naturally think it's feasible, but the workers don't. Just watch them make a scene.

As long as they make a scene, well, the trap Li Xuewu dug for Li Huai De will truly be laid out in front of everyone.

Don't jump, and the higher-ups won't agree, and the finance department won't agree.

Jump, and the workers won't agree, and the Party Committee won't agree.

Unsolvable!

Hiss~~~

Xu Si stood in the factory director's office, looking at the factory director's tightly furrowed brows, and thinking about every step Li Xuewu had taken in this game, he felt a chill rising from his heels to his head.

The most important thing wasn't this set of combination punches, but the layout.

Once this game was laid out, the entire factory had been placed on the chessboard by Li Xuewu, and even Li Huai De had gone from being a player to a chess piece.

Not to mention Yang Fengshan and Yang Yuansong.

A life-and-death game, a lethal game.

If the factory director made even a slight mistake in this game, it would be a total catastrophe, a game with no chance of survival.

It had to be the secretary who saw the long term; the game was set. Either hold on for dear life, or pull Li Xuewu into the game.

Enter the Party Committee, and one must solve the game, otherwise, everyone perishes together.

But, would the factory director agree?

The fruit at the station could naturally hold on for a while longer; connecting the carriages to an external power source would always allow them to hold on for a period.

However, not only did Xu Si know, but the people with ulterior motives in the factory also knew that time was running out for Factory Director Yang.

"What?"

In the experimental workshop's first workshop, Design Office Director Zhou Dahai directly threw down the leather gloves in his hand.

The gloves were covered in machine oil, and they hit the machine cover with a "bang."

"On what grounds are they deducting our extra benefits? This isn't even given by the factory!"

"Okay, okay, okay, don't yell at me."

Production Li Kezhang Lv Peizhong waved his hand to beg for mercy, "Old Zhou, you can go ask Li Kezhang Xia; anyway, that's the news I heard."

As he spoke, he explained to the several designers from the design office who had gathered around, "We in production have already had it deducted; they say it's the factory's intention to tide over the difficulties together. I just came to let you know."

Zhou Dahai didn't think Lv Peizhong was being righteous at all; he was just inciting them to go find Li Kezhang Xia to react.

But there was no need to react; did Lv Peizhong have the guts to fake an imperial decree?

But they had to find him; the scrap vehicle modification project that the design office was collaborating with the security office on was the main source of benefits for these workshop technicians.

The project was a collaboration between two offices, operating independently, having nothing to do with the factory, so the profits were distributed as benefits to the participating workers.

For one vehicle, the security office could distribute 330 yuan. Counting the maintenance cycle and the money for purchasing raw materials directly from the factory, the highest-paid technicians this month had received over 30 yuan, and the lowest had received over 10 yuan.

They were all poor folks working to support their families; who would dare look down on these 30-plus yuan?

How much was their salary? 30 yuan could solve big problems.

Now that the factory said they would deduct it, they wouldn't stand for it.

If the benefits issued by the factory were all just so-so, with no one getting more or less, there would be nothing to say.

But this project subsidy wasn't like that; this was something they had created with their own hands during their spare time. Some technicians even worked overtime, working through the night—what was it for?

"Go find the section chief!"

"Right! Go find Old Xia!"

"Let's go!"

Xia Zhongquan was in his office, and both the director and deputy director of the production management office were there, as was the deputy director of the design office.

Kuang Yusheng had hidden here; he knew that some people in the production section would definitely be dissatisfied with the factory's decision.

But what could he do about this dissatisfaction? He didn't rely on those subsidies to live, and he had never taken that money.

But the workers under him were different. Although they didn't get as much as the technicians and designers in the design office,

getting an extra 50 cents a month could make them overjoyed. If they got an extra 5 yuan, just imagine what the effect would be.

"If you ask me, it's all Li Xuewu's fault. We shouldn't have started this car project."

Kuang Yusheng rubbed his furrowed brows and complained, "Look at what's happened now. How are we supposed to lead this team?"

"Hmm, hmm, are you blaming me?"

Xia Zhongquan was still his old self, lukewarm, and took a sip of tea, saying, "Who was it that said I was hogging the benefits? When I handed over the task of parts, why didn't you say that when you were happy?"

He was also harboring anger in his heart. Deputy Factory Director Nie had called the two of them over the afternoon before last for a small meeting.

There was nothing else, just diligence and thrift—the same old story.

But letting the two of them deduct the profits from the car maintenance project was like a club, directly stunning both of them.

Others might not know, but didn't the two of them know how much their subordinates had received in the last two months?

What is it they say? It's easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to go from luxury to frugality.

Blaming Li Xuewu is fine; this bastard didn't have good intentions from the start. Maybe he was laying an ambush right here.

But the money had already been taken, and now that the shit had hit the fan, talking about this was a bit meaningless.

They had been saying all along to guard against Li Xuewu and stay away from Li Xuewu. Hadn't he guarded against him? Hadn't he stayed away?

It was just that he hadn't guarded against him successfully!

Car maintenance, a project from the security office, with the design office and production management office doing the work.

They were paid for their work, hard-earned money—what kind of trap was that? It was obvious.

Xia Zhongquan had been guarding against Li Xuewu all along, guarding all along—it wasn't that he hadn't tried hard.

But look, even with all this guarding, he still hadn't guarded against it. He had been hit from behind, directly in the carotid artery.

If you don't deduct this money, you offend Deputy Factory Director Nie by disobeying orders. If you do deduct this money, you lose the hearts of the people, and no one will listen to you anymore.

Kuang Yusheng was complaining here, and not daring to scold Li Xuewu to his face was for the same reason.

This wasn't a conspiracy; this was a blatant plot—a proper blatant plot, just too insidious to be seen.

Cutting off someone's wealth is like killing their parents; the hatred of killing a father is irreconcilable!

No need to ask, now there's no confidence.

The production management office manages several thousand people; how could they be of one mind? If they were truly of one mind, he would have been factory director long ago.

"What should we do? Say something!"

Kuang Yusheng looked at the two deputy section chiefs who were pretending to be silent, knowing they didn't want to get involved, and could only ask Xia Zhongquan.

Xia Zhongquan could scold him, and he would have to take it. As long as the problem could be solved, everything would be fine. If it couldn't be solved, who knows what would happen; there was no time to argue.

"Heh, if I knew what to do, would I need to call you over?"

Xia Zhongquan seemed to be in the right, snorting, "There's no way; we can only stop the project."

"Clang!"

Before Xia Zhongquan's voice had even faded, the office door was pushed open.

Zhou Dahai walked into the office with several old designers and over twenty technicians.

"What are you doing!"

"What are we doing?!"

Zhou Dahai glanced angrily at Deputy Li Kezhang Ji of the design office and said coldly, "Seeking justice."

Xia Zhongquan was truly afraid that Old Zhou would pull out a ghost-head sword from behind and tell him, "Give me your life." This was about to turn into "Water Margin."

"Speak properly; where do you think this is?"

At the critical moment, Xia Zhongquan still had some dignity. He tapped the table and said, "You are the director of the design office, an old-timer; don't you know the discipline?"

"We'll talk about discipline later; let's talk about benefits first."

Zhou Dahai ignored that. Seeing that the director and deputy director of the production management office were both there, he knew he had been used as a pawn by Lv Peizhong, but this question had to be asked clearly.

"Lv Peizhong from the production section came to the workshop and said that the factory wants to deduct the profits from the car maintenance project. Is this true?"

"Li Kezhang Xia, you need to explain clearly!"

With Zhou Dahai taking the lead, the people behind him weren't afraid anymore, all echoing, "Right, explain clearly!"

"Our blood and sweat cannot be wasted!"

"On what grounds!"

"You've all rebelled!"

Kuang Yusheng slapped the table and shouted loudly, "On what grounds? On the grounds that you are cadres of the steel mill, workers of the steel mill, eating from the steel mill, drinking from the steel mill!"

As he spoke, he pointed at Zhou Dahai and the others, scolding, "Look at you all, for the sake of a little petty profit, you dare to barge into the section chief's office. What are you doing! Rebelling!"

"Heh heh, petty profit?"

Zhou Dahai didn't care about him at all, sneering, "When your Li Kezhang Lv came to the design office to ask for work, he didn't look down on this petty profit."

After finishing, he pushed aside Kuang Yusheng's hand that was pointing at him and snorted, "Also, as for the design office's affairs, wait until you become a deputy factory director before you come to manage them."

"You!..."

Kuang Yusheng saw Zhou Dahai not giving him face in front of so many people, his face turning purple-red, and he reached out to grab Zhou Dahai's collar.

The two were about the same age, and their relationship was usually very good when they met, but now their eyes were red.

"Enough, this isn't a vegetable market!"

Xia Zhongquan slapped the table; an honest man's anger is the most fatal.

He had never been known to get angry like this before; he was a well-known pushover.

But with this slap on the table, Kuang Yusheng had to put down his hand and sit back in his seat.

Looking at the unconvinced Zhou Dahai and the technicians behind him, Xia Zhongquan knew that if this matter wasn't handled properly today, not only would the relationship between the design office and the production office be ruined, but the relationships within the design office itself would also fall apart.

At this moment, he truly admired the young Li Xuewu, who had courage and strategy to take down Fu Bin, and was ruthless enough to deal with him, Xia Zhongquan.

It was truly shameful; what kind of person was he, Xia Zhongquan, to be worth Li Xuewu burying such a deep nail?

Not only had Deputy Factory Director Nie's trust in them been greatly reduced, but even...

Li Xuewu's money really wasn't that easy to take. Why else would he say that Li Xuewu gave them the lion's share of the car maintenance profits? It turned out he was waiting here.

"Li Kezhang Xia."

Zhou Dahai took off his sleeve protectors, and said expressionlessly, "I, Old Zhou, am quite old, but I don't covet those few dozen yuan. You know me; the money was all distributed to comrades in the workshop with family difficulties."

This was indeed the truth; Xia Zhongquan had always known that Zhou Dahai had prestige in the design room and was influential in the experimental workshop—it wasn't just a simple matter.

"I came to find you today because this project was accepted by us, and it was made by the comrades under me day and night."

Zhou Dahai's eyes were slightly red, his voice choked, "You can use the factory's decision to persuade us, but I have no way to use this reason to chill the hearts of the comrades."

After finishing, he looked at the troubled Xia Zhongquan, the silent deputy section chiefs, and the dejected Kuang Yusheng.

"Fine, if you can't explain it clearly, it doesn't matter; I'll pay this money!"

Zhou Dahai threw off his sleeve protectors and raised his eyebrows, "You can deduct whatever you want; whatever money is deducted, I, Zhou Dahai, will make up for it."

Ignoring the pulling of the workers behind him, Zhou Dahai pointed his trembling finger at the four people in the room, his voice trembling as he said, "But remember, if there's any more of this bullshit in the future, you handle it yourselves."

After finishing, he turned around and shouted to the technicians beside him, "Let's go!"

"Old Zhou!"

"Old Zhou!"

"Stop right there!"

Xia Zhongquan was flushed red from Zhou Dahai's scolding. Intellectuals have thin skin; Zhou Dahai was like this, and he, Xia Zhongquan, was the same.

Seeing that Zhou Dahai was really about to leave, Xia Zhongquan took a few quick steps and grabbed Zhou Dahai's clothes.

"Let me say a word, can you!"

As he spoke, he pulled Zhou Dahai to turn back. This old fellow had worked in the factory for a lifetime, and his professional skills were top-notch; who would dare to mess with him?

If he really paid this money, let alone the factory director.

"Listen to me, can you!"

Holding down the red-eyed Zhou Dahai, Xia Zhongquan said earnestly, "We are still researching countermeasures; when did I ever say I wanted to deduct that money?"

"But Li Kezhang Lv said so!"

Without needing Zhou Dahai to speak, the other technicians in the office spoke up; they were all there when Lv Peizhong came over to say it.

"That bastard!"

Kuang Yusheng also felt ashamed now, slapped the table, and lowered his head in shame.

"He, Lv Peizhong, is not the section chief of the design office; the design office is still managed by me!"

Xia Zhongquan also swallowed his broken teeth into his stomach. With things developing to this point, this money absolutely could not be touched.

"Go back and work with peace of mind; if the sky falls, I, Xia Zhongquan, will hold it up."

After finishing, he gently patted Zhou Dahai's chest and said, "The design office hasn't reached the point where you, Zhou Dahai, have to be the one in charge. If there really comes a day where money needs to be paid, I, Xia Zhongquan, will be the one to pay it!"

"Old Xia~..."

Zhou Dahai looked at Xia Zhongquan with a face full of guilt, wanting to say sorry, but unable to get the words out.

"Enough, go back, go to work."

Xia Zhongquan waved his hand and shooed the people who had barged in out.

Kuang Yusheng watched everything that had happened, and only after Xia Zhongquan closed the door again did he ask, "Are you..."

"Sigh~~~"

Xia Zhongquan walked back to his desk and sighed helplessly, "Deputy Factory Director Nie gave a death order; how could I have the ability to resist?"

"Then..."

Kuang Yusheng didn't know what Xia Zhongquan was going to do; this...

"Didn't Deputy Factory Director Nie make it very clear?"

Xia Zhongquan said with a bitter face, "Starting today, don't do the car maintenance project anymore; stop it."

"That's not what I'm asking."

Kuang Yusheng tapped the table and said, "What about the money already in hand?"

"What about it?"

Xia Zhongquan drank the remaining tea in his cup, then heavily slammed the cup down on the table and said, "The truth is out; you and I should go offer our pledge of allegiance, otherwise are we just waiting to die!"

"Pledge... pledge of allegiance?"

"Oh my, Li Kezhang Xia, Li Kezhang Kuang."

Li Xuewu was processing documents in his office when he suddenly received a reminder from Sha Qizhi that Xia Zhongquan and Kuang Yusheng had arrived.

When the two walked into the room, he smiled, stood up, and walked out from behind his desk to welcome them.

"What brings you two to my security office today?"

Li Xuewu said with a smile, inviting them to sit on the sofa while signaling Sha Qizhi to make tea.

"These two are distinguished guests who are hard to invite; make good tea, the very best kind!"

"Yes."

Sha Qizhi couldn't help but twitch his mouth upon hearing the section chief's instructions. As he walked toward the tea cabinet, he pondered: these two couldn't have offended the section chief.

If it were about offending, Li Kezhang Kuang Yusheng went without saying, but Li Kezhang Xia had also offended him quite a bit.

There was the time they changed the fire equipment, and later when the section chief went to find them to discuss a project and was rejected.

Heh heh, drinking this "very best" tea really wasn't a grievance.

This tea was naturally the very best; after Director Xu had drunk it once, he had a lasting memory of it.

Whenever he came to the section chief's place, he brought his own tea and didn't dare drink the "very best" tea here.

"No need for such extravagance; we are here to trouble Li Chu today."

Xia Zhongquan had the self-awareness of someone asking for help, waving his hand at Sha Qizhi to say there was no need for good tea.

Li Xuewu looked at the two section chiefs who had come empty-handed; this attitude of asking for help was very...

"Hmm, hmm, how could that be?"

Li Xuewu was also wicked to the core, signaling to Sha Qizhi and saying to Xia Zhongquan and the other, "It's not easy for you two to come here; since you're at my place, you have to give me a chance to host you."

Kuang Yusheng was sitting next to Xia Zhongquan, and seeing Old Xia still wanting to be polite, he nudged him.

Damn it, at a time like this, why worry about the quality of the tea? Hurry up and talk about the project!

Besides, although they were here to surrender—no, negotiate—with Li Xuewu today, he still wasn't convinced in his heart.

He wasn't unconvinced of Li Xuewu's ability; this young man had completely defeated them, so he had to be convinced even if he wasn't.

He was unconvinced that Li Xuewu had fooled them.

Don't look at how the security office said they gave them the lion's share of the car project profits; he knew Li Xuewu's personality. He would believe Li Xuewu ate shit, but he would die before believing Li Xuewu made a loss-making deal.

That car was bought for a little over a hundred; counting their technical production costs of over three hundred, he didn't believe the security office sold it for over six hundred!

Even adding wireless equipment and various other procurement costs, he had to have at least doubled it!

Indeed, Li Xuewu couldn't have sold it for over three hundred; doubling it wouldn't have been worth his trouble...

The purchase price of 3,998 for other factories and the security brigade was both comfortable and reassuring.

Li Xuewu expressed that the security office was very happy because they were about to make a killing!

Li Xuewu had taken all the benefits, so they had to drink a few cups of good tea to vent the anger in their hearts!

Xia Zhongquan had a bitter face, laughed dryly, looked at Li Xuewu, and said, "Li Chu, don't be polite; Old Brother is truly in a difficult spot."

By now, Sha Qizhi had also brought the brewed tea and placed it in front of Xia Zhongquan and Kuang Yusheng respectively.

For Li Xuewu, he just took Li Xuewu's teacup from the desk and refilled it with some hot water.

"Drink tea."

Li Xuewu waved his hand, signaling them to taste his good tea.

Since they were in a difficult spot, shouldn't he help them out—Li Kezhang Xia is an old friend, shouldn't he help?

Kuang Yusheng let Xia Zhongquan speak, picked up the teacup, and put it to his mouth. The fragrance of the tea immediately rushed into his nostrils.

Hmm!

Good tea!

Don't look at how this kid Li Xuewu speaks human words but doesn't do human deeds, but this tea was indeed not bad.

It was said that Dong Wenxue loved tea, and when he left, he gave all his good tea to Li Xuewu.

Seeing it like this, it was really the case.

But a twenty-year-old young man, what good could he taste? It still had to be him.

Hmm!

Just smelling it had the fragrance of tea leaves!

Authentic!

He slightly lifted the lid of the teacup, sipped slowly with his mouth against the rim, and his eyes couldn't help but look into the teacup.

Hmm?

After Kuang Yusheng's squinting eyes saw what was in the teacup, they widened directly, and his gaze went blank in disbelief.

"Pfft!!!"

Xia Zhongquan was just talking to Li Xuewu about the difficulties encountered by the design office and the production management office when Kuang Yusheng directly spat it out.

"Cough cough!"

Kuang Yusheng coughed hard twice, put down the teacup in his hand, wiped his mouth with a handkerchief, and pointed at the teacup at the same time.

As he coughed, Xia Zhongquan was startled.

Just now, he had heard that Li Xuewu's words didn't sound right; what was this about "very best" tea?

Don't tell me he was poisoning the two of them!

Because he was talking, Li Xuewu had offered him some, but he hadn't dared to drink it, guarding against Li Xuewu doing something like this.

Who would have thought Kuang Yusheng would still fall for it!

As he lowered his head to look into Kuang Yusheng's teacup.

"Whoa! ~~~"

"This is truly tea 'leaves'!"

It was no joke; the tea leaves in Kuang Yusheng's teacup were not much smaller than tree leaves.

How big could a teacup be? These tea leaves were almost covering the teacup.

Green turning blue, blue turning black, like kelp.

Once soaked in hot water, it floated in the teacup, looking terrifying.

No wonder Li Xuewu said it was the very best tea; these tea "leaves" were truly the very best.

It's just that the size was a bit big; he was afraid a few tea-roasters had been exhausted to death.

Kuang Yusheng coughed a few times, glared at Li Xuewu, and was about to start scolding.

But thinking that they were here to negotiate terms, here to humble themselves, he swallowed the words that had reached his mouth.

But he was over forty years old, about the same age as Li Xuewu's father; coming here to beg for help was already humiliating enough, and he hadn't even taken that money; it was all for the workers.

Even if the workers didn't understand, being treated like this by Li Xuewu made Kuang Yusheng's old tears almost fall.

He had worked a lifetime and had never suffered such grievances before.

Li Xuewu also felt a bit embarrassed; he was used to teasing Xu Si and hadn't expected intellectuals to have such thin skin.

But he could also lower his face; admitting a mistake was impossible—he would never admit a mistake in this lifetime.

You don't have to admit your mistake, but don't scold your secretary!

"Qizhi, what did I tell you!"

Li Xuewu slapped the sofa armrest and scolded painfully, "I said Li Kezhang Xia and Li Kezhang Kuang are my good friends, distinguished guests who are hard to invite; I said good tea, look at what you've served!"

Sha Qizhi looked at the section chief who was playing around and didn't dare to say anything. Do you think I don't know what I served? You're still asking me?

I told you long ago not to play like this, not to play like this; sooner or later you'll ruin a few people.

Look at this, if you really made Li Kezhang Kuang cry today, our security office would become famous.

Li Xuewu looked at the bitter-faced Xia Zhongquan and the furious Kuang Yusheng, and continued to scold, "That good tea doesn't necessarily have to be drunk by me, right? Why can't you understand what I said?"

After he finished scolding Sha Qizhi, he turned to explain to Xia Zhongquan and the other, "Don't take offense; it's just that the security office's foundation is thin, we have no prospects, and the factory is calling for diligence and thrift. I... sigh~"

As he spoke, he sighed and said shamefully, "You both know that I am someone who doesn't care about material enjoyment, and I hope to use the office's money where it's needed most. This tea is actually prepared for myself. Look, it was Qizhi who misunderstood, thinking that the good tea I drink myself..."

Kuang Yusheng listened to Li Xuewu's explanation and couldn't say anything; he was biting his back teeth until they almost shattered.

Looking at Li Xuewu's attire, he almost asked directly if Li Xuewu's nickname was "Blade."

Xia Zhongquan also had a bitter face and no way out, watching Li Xuewu wave his hand to call the secretary to change the tea.

"No need for trouble; I can drink this too. Who hasn't come through diligence and thrift? I'll drink it."

Seeing Xia Zhongquan say this, Li Xuewu nodded and said, "If you like it, I'll have Qizhi pack some for you when you leave."

"..."

Like it?

Pack some?

Can't drink it here, and have to take it with him?

This wicked kid is truly wicked to the core!

Sigh! It's killing me!

If it weren't for the people under him, Xia Zhongquan wouldn't take this abuse from Li Xuewu.

Kuang Yusheng had spat it out, and making a fool of himself was one thing, but this kid was using words to mock him again. Not drinking it meant not being diligent and thrifty, and being a snob.

How could he stand this!

But this anger had to be endured; he couldn't go and lift Li Xuewu's teacup to see if what he was soaking was kelp.

He picked up the teacup and took a sip.

Hmm!?

Why was the tip of his tongue a bit numb?

Don't tell me it wasn't tea, but something else?

To talk about being bad, what bad thing couldn't this wicked kid Li Xuewu do?

Xia Zhongquan felt very sad; this sip of tea was neither drinkable nor undrinkable, and could only be swished around in his mouth—it was hard to swallow.

He, Old Xia, had been upright all his life, never had the heart to harm others, and had never been harmed by others; today he had truly stumbled.

Whether it was tea, Sha Qizhi knew best. What kind of tea? It was stolen from the section chief's home.

He had seen it; the medicine jar was labeled "Senna Leaf."

What is Senna Leaf?

At the time he didn't know, but later, after asking someone who understood, he knew the section chief was wicked to the core.

【Senna Leaf】

Target audience: Constipation patients.

Precautions: Do not take too much, easy to cause diarrhea...

Seeing the two old comrades in a difficult spot, Li Xuewu truly couldn't bear it and took the thermos from the table to refill it with hot water.

"Li Chu, thank you so much."

Xia Zhongquan swallowed the water—not knowing what it was soaked with—with difficulty, held down Li Xuewu's hand that was about to add more water, and said, "You know the situation; we are all in the same boat, you can't just stand by!"

"As for that..."

Li Xuewu put down the thermos in his hand, rubbed his hands in a difficult manner, and said, "I understand your problems, but I don't have any preparation for the moment, and even less time to consider it."

"It's okay, take your time considering."

Kuang Yusheng also gave up, not daring to touch the teacup on the tea table again, leaned back on the sofa, and waved his hand, "We have time, we can afford to wait. Anyway, going back now is useless, and we'll just get scolded by the workers."

"That shouldn't be the case."

Li Xuewu smiled and complimented, "Li Kezhang Kuang is the head of the largest section in our factory; how could he be stumped by this little thing?"

"I naturally don't fear public affairs, because I stand straight and don't fear a crooked shadow."

Kuang Yusheng looked at Li Xuewu and said, "But now it involves the private interests of the workers. I won't be afraid if you laugh at me, but I'm truly afraid. If I can't handle it, I wouldn't have come to you to seek advice."

Hiss~~

Seek what?

Li Xuewu heard Kuang Yusheng's vague words and was almost startled.

Xia Zhongquan also spoke up, "This time we are begging you; there's nothing else to say. You speak up, as long as you can..."

"Wait."

Li Xuewu waved his hand, smiled bitterly, and said, "I'm getting married tomorrow; you two should have received the invitation. I... I don't have the time or energy to consider this."

"How about this?"

Looking at the two, Li Xuewu asked with a smile, "Wait until I come back from my wedding, think it over carefully, and then we'll decide?"

"Heh heh."

Xia Zhongquan understood; Li Xuewu was already demanding an exorbitant price.

Waiting until after the wedding was truly a good excuse.

Li Xuewu could afford to wait, but they couldn't. Today was the end of the month; if they didn't solve the problem today, the money in the account would be transferred away.

Originally, to avoid taking responsibility, this money had been hung in their section's account.

Now it was fine; the factory wanted to transfer it away, and they couldn't stop it.

By the time Li Xuewu came back, it would be May 2nd, the accounts would all be done, and it would be useless to deal with it!

"Li Chu, give us a straight answer."

Xia Zhongquan spread his hands and said, "We've both laid it out here; whatever you want, just say it openly."

"That would be too embarrassing, heh heh."

Since both had surrendered, he could start swinging the knife.

Xia Zhongquan and Kuang Yusheng didn't see the slightest bit of embarrassment on Li Xuewu's face; instead, there was a sense of smugness.

"Just say it; today, even if you say you want us two to scrub your back, we'll agree."

"Then that would count as retaliation."

Li Xuewu joked, then looked at Xia Zhongquan and asked, "Do you still remember the project I mentioned to you that will definitely make money in the future?"

"Engine?"

Good brothers, please give me monthly tickets~ ===== CHAPTER 576 =====