Siheyuan: Since 1962

Chapter 218 Gap
"Hey... Lao Lou, I really have no choice this time. You should have heard about the skills competition in the factory."

Yang Shibin smiled bitterly, poured wine for Lou Ruizhong, and then continued: "I just wanted to give the workers from the brother factories a chance to show their abilities, but I didn't consider the actual situation in the factory. When the list of people participating in the competition came out today, I found that there was not enough food in the factory. If we entertain the comrades who came to the competition, the comrades in our factory will not have food to eat."

Lou Ruizhong frowned upon hearing this, then smiled and said, "No one is perfect. There are always unexpected things in such a large-scale event. Besides, you discovered the problem in advance, so I am here to help you solve it, right?"

In fact, he said this with gritted teeth. Although he could contact people to mobilize a lot of supplies, the favors and costs he had to pay were not small.

Things are different now than before. Favors are used less and less each time. If it weren't for the fact that he didn't want to appear weak in front of Yang Shibin, he really didn't want to take on this task.

"That's right, Old Lou. I won't be polite with you anymore. The food shortage this time is huge. Minus the emergency reserve food in the factory, at least 600 people need enough food and vegetables for three meals. Tell me the truth, if it's hard to solve, I'll think of other ways."

Yang Shibin gritted his teeth and pointed out the shortage of supplies.

Although he knew that Lou Ruizhong had the ability to mobilize supplies, he was still a little unsure about such a huge quantity.

“There’s still such a big gap?”

Lou Ruizhong was also shocked. He didn't expect that the gap Yang Shibin mentioned would be so big.

He didn't dare to accept it directly this time. He hesitated and said, "Old Yang, to be honest, I don't know if I can get so many supplies. You know how much food is needed now. I will think of a way after I go back, and I will contact you as soon as I get the supplies."

"I don't need to thank you for your kindness. I toast to you with this cup."

Yang Shibin raised his glass and solemnly toasted Lou Ruizhong.

He knew that since Lou Ruizhong had promised him, he would definitely try his best to get the job done, but he couldn't make any promises to Lou Ruizhong.

The current wind direction is very unfriendly to the Lou family. What can he, a director of a small steel rolling mill, do?

At this time, he had no choice but to toast to get the message across, and then find a way to remind Lou Ruizhong to make plans early.

At night, Lou's house.

The car slowly stopped in the yard and Lou Ruizhong got out with a tired look on his face.

"I'm back. How did the discussion go?"

"It's a bit difficult, and requires a lot of favors."

Lou Ruizhong took off his coat and handed it to his wife, smiling bitterly and shaking his head.

Mrs. Lou said worriedly, "There's nothing we can do about it. Everyone's situation is not good right now. I'm afraid that Lao Zhang will have to go south soon. Ruizhong, do we really want to stay? In fact, it's quite good to go south."

The news I heard recently was not very good. Many old friends had accidents recently.

There were several cases where entire families were arrested, and I heard there was no news at all before they were arrested.

Their family was the most prominent among these old friends, and she was really worried that her family would be the first to be criticized.

"Everything we have is in the old city. If we go south, we'll have to start all over again. We're not young anymore, and we can't afford to work as hard as we did when we were young. It's better to spend some money to pack up and stay in the old city than to go south."

Lou Ruizhong's eyes flickered for a moment, but he soon became firm.

It’s not that he didn’t think about going south, but the risks were too great, no less than staying in the city.

Unless he had no other choice, he would never consider going south.

Their family was different from Lao Zhang's. They had sent a lot of supplies to the army at that time. Although they had pretended to be friendly with Lao Jiang's people, they had explained everything to the organization when the liberation took place. Now he had handed over all the factories in his hands. Even for the sake of the factories, the people above should not touch his family at this time.

As for what happens next, this storm will eventually pass, and as long as he is careful, nothing serious should happen.

Lou Ruizhong did not realize that there were always various flukes in his thoughts. Even the backup plan he left behind was out of the businessman's instinct of having three burrows.

"Hey... I made you some hangover soup, drink it and then get back to work."

Lou Ruizhong's wife sighed and changed the subject.

My husband is right. Hong Kong is not peaceful now, and it is not much better than here in Beijing.

All their family can do now is wait for this storm to pass, there is nothing else they can do.

"Has Xiao'e not come back recently?"

Lou Ruizhong leaned back on the sofa with his eyes closed and rested, and casually asked about his daughter's condition.

"They haven't come back yet, but I asked around. Xiao'e and Damao are doing fine after they came back this time. They don't bother the deaf old lady in their yard anymore."

"That's good. Damao is the one who will live with her in the future. If he can figure it out, their future life will be good."

……

A few days flew by.

The steel rolling mill appears to be busy on the surface, but undercurrents are surging underneath.

The news that Yang Shibin invited Lou Ruizhong to dinner reached the ears of many people the next day.

With the instigation of some people, many rumors spread at once.

Even though Yang Shibin was prepared for this, he was still very angry.

When the food arrived, several workers who gossiped were punished and criticized throughout the factory.

After his actions, no one in the factory talked about this matter anymore, but rumors became more and more frequent behind the scenes.

But this is none of Zhou Weimin’s business. He is dressed extra neatly today and the smile on his face is brighter than usual.

Today is the day to go to Duan Weihong's house. He has always remembered what Duan Weihong said to him last time.

However, before going to Duan Weihong's house, he had to decide on the dishes for the competition reception first, to ensure that everyone in the cafeteria had enough time to prepare to take on the reception duties for the skills competition.

Anyway, he had to take Nan Yi with him when he went to Duan Weihong's house, so Zhou Weimin went to the fourth canteen early after finishing the things at hand.

As soon as he entered the fourth canteen, Zhou Weimin smiled and said loudly: "Nan Yi, how are the preparations going? We must decide on the dishes today."

Unlike the noise I had imagined, the fourth cafeteria was exceptionally quiet at this moment. I looked closely and found that He Yuzhu was also in the cafeteria.

Nan Yi and He Yuzhu were busy at this moment. There were two plates of food clearly placed on the table used for preparing food.

Everyone in the fourth cafeteria watched the two people cooking with great interest, with excitement in their eyes.

(End of this chapter)