UGB Chapter 695 The Stubborn Factory Manager
Chapter 695 The Stubborn Factory Manager
Lu Yao said to Ding Dahu, "Dad, we can let them join our hunting team, but it's best if they don't stay together once they're in the mountains, otherwise they won't catch much game. And if it goes on for too long, conflicts will arise."
"Then what do you suggest we do?"
"Take them hunting in Wild Boar Forest to practice their skills, then head east to Eagle Ridge, but don't send them to Hot Spring Valley. Tell them I need to raise the antelopes there for a while, so they don't all die out."
"Okay then."
If Lu Yao is involved, Niu Baisui probably won't be able to ignore him.
After receiving the order, Ding Dahu left happily.
After Lu Yao and Ding Mei finished eating, Lu Yao went out to add water to the car.
Today I need to find Yuan Shumei at a small winery in Lincheng.
Yuan Shumei got up early to tidy up.
After washing up, I got dressed.
I looked in the mirror again and again.
Fan Suzhen felt that she was acting strangely:
"What are you doing, putting a hair clip on and taking it off so often?"
Yuan Shumei smiled but didn't say anything.
She was overjoyed because Lu Yao had agreed to go with her to the small winery in Lincheng.
She recalled the last time Lu Yao picked her up and brought her to Jiapigou, when the two of them looked at the mountains on the way.
Inside the car, they were making love...
Why not give it a try today?
Whether I try it or not, going out with Lu Yao just feels different.
The loudspeaker outside the gate blared; it was Lu Yao calling her.
Yuan Shumei quickly put on her woolen coat and ran outside.
Once outside, walk around the front of the car and open the passenger side door.
She exclaimed, "Ah!"
Ding Mei is sitting in the car:
"Shumei, you sit in the back. I'll go with you."
Yuan Shumei paused for a second, then quickly regained her composure:
"Oh, Xiao Meizi, you're going too? That's great, it'll be lively on the way."
Ding Mei smiled happily and said, "Yes, Lu Yao said I've been feeling cooped up at home these past few days, so he took me out to relax. But you two can handle the business matters; I'm just here to watch the fun."
Yuan Shumei went to the back, opened the car door, and got in to sit down.
Seeing Lu Yao looking at her through the overhead rearview mirror, she couldn't help but glare at him.
She smiled and said, "Okay, Little Mei, the scenery in Lincheng is quite nice. There's a maple forest there, and the mountains are covered in beautiful maple leaves in autumn. It's a pity that it's all bare now."
The car left Jiapigou and headed east.
The road was difficult to travel on; the gravel surface was frozen solid, and the wheels made a creaking sound when they rolled over it.
The snow on the ground has begun to melt.
On both sides were harvested fields, with corn stubble peeking out from under the snow, row upon row, like the teeth of a comb.
Occasionally, I would pass through a village with low mud-brick houses, smoke billowing from the chimneys, and the occasional bark of a local dog.
Ding Mei peered out the window, finding it all very novel.
She has never come to the east.
Looking at the mountains and trees outside right now, there's just too much to see.
"Hey kid, what mountain is that?"
She pointed to a dark shadow in the distance.
"That's the old bald guy." Lu Yao glanced at him. "Once you cross that ridge, you'll enter Lincheng County."
Ding Mei exclaimed happily, "We're almost in Lincheng! The car is so fast!"
Lu Yao couldn't help but smile.
The current vehicles are outdated and the road conditions are poor. In the future, it will only take 20 minutes to travel from here to the west of Lincheng, which is more than 10 kilometers away.
However, Lu Yao still prefers his current environment.
I remember a foreign journalist interviewing a little girl and asking her if she liked living in the future. The little girl's answer was very philosophical.
She said she doesn't like the future because people have produced so many things that speed up the pace of life, and she doesn't know why they're running so fast!
Life is moving at an increasingly fast pace, so fast that you don't even notice the scenery along the way, just rushing towards a single goal.
Many people spend their entire lives without achieving their goals, yet they overlook many of the beautiful things in life.
Now, driving slowly for almost an hour, chatting and enjoying the scenery, is far more meaningful than driving for twenty minutes on later closed roads.
Why the rush? Are you in such a hurry to get to the finish line?
These were merely the thoughts of Lu Yao, a man who had lived a full life; even if he said them aloud, Ding Mei and the others wouldn't understand.
Yuan Shumei sat in the back, leaning against the window, without saying a word.
She looked at the two people in front of her.
Ding Mei placed her hand on Lu Yao's hand as he shifted gears, touching and pinching it intermittently.
Lu Yao didn't dodge and let her have her way.
Yuan Shumei felt a sense of loneliness.
That hill looks close, but it always seems to be just ahead when you walk up it.
It took an hour to drive before we entered the territory of Lincheng.
This isn't a county, it's a suburban commune.
Factory buildings began to appear on both sides of the road, mostly with gray brick walls, which looked somewhat lifeless.
There are more bicycles on the streets now, and people wearing blue-black cotton-padded jackets are riding them with their necks hunched over – this is almost the uniform clothing across the country.
"We're almost there," Yuan Shumei said. "Turn left and take that side road."
The fork in the road was narrower, with poplar trees on both sides, their bare branches stretching out.
At the end of the road, there was a courtyard with a wooden sign hanging at the entrance, white background with black lettering:
Lincheng County Dongfanghong Commune Winery.
The sign is old, and the lettering has faded.
As the car drove in, there were some empty wine jars and several piles of coal in the yard.
The factory consisted of two rows of single-story buildings, with firewood piled against the walls and frost forming on the windowpanes.
A strong smell of fermented grains wafted over.
The three people got off the bus.
Yuan Shumei walked ahead to the door of a bungalow.
Push open a door and call out:
"Lan Ying! Li Lan Ying!"
Someone inside responded.
A woman in her early twenties, thin, came out of the inner room, wearing a faded blue work uniform and a white hat.
Upon seeing Yuan Shumei, a smile appeared on her face:
"Shumei! What brings you here?"
"I've come to see you." Yuan Shumei took her hand and introduced her, "This is Lu Yao, from Jiapigou, my friend. This is Xiao Meizi, his wife."
Li Lanying led them into the office.
The office was small, with a three-drawer table and a few wooden chairs.
A production schedule and a portrait of Chairman Mao were posted on the wall.
The stove was burning brightly, and the room was warm and cozy.
"Sit down, sit down."
Li Lanying asked them to sit down and then went to pour them water:
"You've come at the right time; a few days later, this factory would be gone."
Yuan Shumei asked, "You mentioned last time you went to Jiangzhou that the factory was going to close down, but I didn't ask you for details. It just so happens that Lu Yao needs some equipment for his winery, so I brought him along."
Li Lanying handed them the enamel mug and sighed:
"The business isn't doing well, so it's going to be merged and incorporated into the county winery. We don't even know what to do with the rest of us. If you're asking for equipment, my opinion as an accountant isn't enough..."
Just then, the door opened and a man came in. He was about fifty years old, with a dark red face, and wearing an old cotton-padded jacket.
He was holding a notebook in his hand, and when he saw someone in the room, he paused for a moment.
Li Lanying quickly stood up:
"Director Lu, this is my classmate Yuan Shumei, who used to work at the Jiangzhou County Winery. These are her friends."
Lu Weiqiang nodded, glanced at Lu Yao and the others, said nothing, and sat down behind the table to flip through his notebook.
Li Lanying said to Yuan Shumei, "You should talk to the factory director."
Yuan Shumei spoke up: "Director Lu, I heard that your factory is going to merge, and some equipment will no longer be needed?"
Lu Weiqiang looked up at her:
What do you mean?
Yuan Shumei said with a smile, "My friend runs a small winery and wants to get a bottling machine. If you don't need it, could you share it with him? The price is negotiable."
Lu Weiqiang slammed the notebook shut, his face darkening.
"Public property can't be taken away arbitrarily. There needs to be approval from above, documents, and procedures. It's not something anyone can just take away with a word."
Yuan Shumei's smile froze.
Lu Yao chimed in, "Director Lu, we're not asking for nothing. We'll pay what's due and go through all the proper procedures. We just want to know if this is even possible."
Lu Weiqiang glanced at him and snorted:
"Maybe? What's possible? Which organization are you from? Do you have a letter of introduction? Do you have any approvals? You have nothing, yet you come here asking for equipment. Do you think this is a free market?"
He stood up and walked out, but turned back at the door.
"Technician Li, please report last month's production figures to me in a bit."
The door closed.
The room was quiet for a few seconds.
Li Lanying's face turned red, and she lowered her head, not daring to look at anyone.
Yuan Shumei bit her lip, wanting to say something, but swallowed it back.
Ding Mei asked Lu Yao in a low voice:
"Why is this person like this?"
Lu Yao didn't say anything, but patted Yuan Shumei on the shoulder.
Li Lanying raised her head, her face full of guilt:
"Shumei, I'm sorry, but that's just how Factory Director Lu is. I really can't help with this."
Yuan Shumei shook her head: "It's not your fault."
Before the words were finished, the door was suddenly pushed open, and an old woman rushed in, panting heavily.
"Director Lu! Is Director Lu here?"
Li Lanying knew Lu Weiqiang as his neighbor.
Stand up quickly:
"Aunt Li, what's wrong?"
The old lady stamped her foot in frustration:
"Xiulian is having another episode! She's smashing things around the house, and her eldest daughter is trying to run outside naked again. Her mother can't hold her down. Quickly, call Factory Director Lu back to check on her!"