Golden Color Xiangjiang: A Young Man's Dream in a Siheyuan

The sunlight shone through the window onto the bed, waking up Zhou Jin from his deep sleep.

He stretched, feeling the energy in his body and the rejuvenation in his spirit. Yesterday's rest allowed him to recover to his best condition today.

He got up quickly, signed in, washed up, and had a hearty breakfast as per the usual practice.

Then he rode his bike to the steel mill in the morning breeze.

When Zhou Jin arrived at the factory, members of Purchasing Group 3 had already gathered together early, waiting for the allocation of purchasing tasks for this week.

Seeing that everyone was present, Zhou Jin signaled Zhang Li to distribute the task list that had been prepared long ago.

Then, he thanked everyone and encouraged them to continue working hard.

After receiving the task list, everyone got on their bicycles and set off with confidence to start the new week's procurement tasks.

After everyone left, Zhou Jin asked Zhang Li to carefully record the relevant information, and then he went straight to the Finance Department office.

As soon as he entered the section chief's office, he immediately started communicating with him.

"Brother Xu, I have prepared everything you want. Do you have time now? I'll take you to get it."

When Xu Yunlong heard that Zhou Jin was ready, he thought to himself that he had indeed chosen the right person. Those who could take over the third purchasing group at this time and still complete the tasks every month were indeed capable people. It seemed that he had to do his best to make friends with them in the future.

"Xiao Zhou, thank you so much this time. I'm not afraid of you laughing. I couldn't sleep well until your supplies arrived. I have time now."

"While we're still talking about this, the things are already prepared. So, I'm going to go out of the factory to get the things. You wait for me at the breakfast shop to the right of the factory main gate."

"Okay, you go first, I'll be there soon."

Zhou Jin left the office building and rode his bike out of the steel mill. Everyone in the security department knew that this was the deputy chief of the purchasing department, so they didn't bother and just let him go.

When Xu Yunlong arrived at the agreed place, Zhou Jin was already waiting there with three bags beside him.

He walked up to Zhou Jin and said with a smile, "Xiao Zhou, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for so long."

Zhou Jin quickly waved his hand and said, "Xu, you're too polite. I just got here a while ago."

As he spoke, he handed three bags to Xu Yunlong, "Brother Xu, take a look, these are the things you need. This bag contains pork, this bag contains vegetables, and this bag contains fruit. Take a look." Zhou Jin pointed to the three bags next to him and introduced them to Xu Yunlong.

Xu Yunlong opened the three bags one by one and took a look. Everything looked very new, so he quickly prepared to take money and tickets out of his pocket.

Zhou Jin hurriedly stopped Xu Yunlong.

"Brother Xu, these things haven't been weighed yet. You can't weigh them here. Take them home first. After you weigh them, I'll come to get you the money on Thursday."

Xu Yunlong quickly waved his hands.

"Xiao Zhou, you are really being polite when you say this. I still don't believe you."

Zhou Jin still firmly held Xu Yunlong's hand as he was about to take out money.

"Brother Xu, even brothers have to settle accounts clearly. Moreover, this is our first cooperation. Trust is trust, but this is the rule."

After hearing this, Xu Yunlong did not insist any further.

"Okay, I'll listen to you. Come to the Finance Department on Thursday to get the money from me. I'll take the things home first. We can have dinner together when we have time."

"Okay, Brother Xu, take your stuff home quickly to avoid getting in trouble if someone sees you. I also need to go to the countryside to do some shopping."

"Okay, then I'll leave first."

Xu Yunlong tied the three bags to his bicycle and rode home.

Zhou Jin looked at Xu Yunlong's departing back and felt relieved. He then got on his bike and headed towards the countryside.

Although he was fully capable of completing the purchasing task relying on the materials in the space, in order to make things look more natural and reasonable, he chose to go to the countryside to purchase in person.

Doing so not only allows you to find a suitable source for the supplies you provide, but also avoids possible troubles.

In addition, his arrival was also an opportunity for rural people who wanted to exchange supplies for money and notes.

Therefore, Zhou Jin would go to the countryside three to four days a week to ensure that every village received his patronage, maintaining a frequency of at least once a week.

Carrying the heavy load, Xu Yunlong quickly returned to his father-in-law's home.

This is a small courtyard with one entrance. As they are about to celebrate their father-in-law's 60th birthday, the couple has been living here recently.

At this moment, his wife Liu Wenli was busy cleaning the room. Suddenly, she saw her husband, who was supposed to be at work, came back with three bulging bags hanging on the back seat of his bicycle.

She couldn't help but stop what she was doing and asked curiously, "Huh? Yunlong, why did you come back at this time?" At the same time, her eyes fell on the big bags, with a puzzled look on her face.

"Old Xu, isn't it your working hours now? Why are you going home? What are in these three bags?"

Xu Yunlong saw that it was his wife who was asking him.

"Honey, these are the meat, vegetables and fruits I asked Deputy Section Chief Zhou from our factory's purchasing department to get for me. Take a look."

Liu Wenli took a bag from Xu Yunlong and opened it. Wow, there was so much meat, probably about 50 or 60 kilograms.

"Honey, please weigh all these things first. I have to give the money and tickets to them on Thursday."

"Okay, I'll go weigh it now. Do you still want to go back to the factory?"

"Well, I just brought these things back first. I'm afraid it will cause trouble if someone sees them. I have to go back to the factory now."

"Okay, I'll sort these things out and deal with them. The day after tomorrow is our father's birthday. Fortunately, you brought these things in time, otherwise I really don't know what to do."

"Okay, take your time, I'll leave first."

After saying that, Xu Yunlong rode his bike back to the factory.

Zhou Jin originally thought that Xu Yunlong's father-in-law should be a high-ranking official, but this was not the case.

Although he had experienced war, his rank was not high. He was only a deputy director in a ministry, and his department had no real power.

In addition, he was honest and incorruptible and not good at interpersonal communication, which was one of the reasons why he could not get those urgently needed materials. Otherwise, as a deputy director, even if he had no power in his position, it would be easy for him to get some meat, vegetables and fruits.

As for Xu Yunlong's ability to serve as the head of the Finance Department, it was mainly due to luck.

He is a retired military officer, and according to common sense, his rank should be the same as Zhou Jin.

However, it was a period of public-private partnership, and the various forces failed to coordinate properly. In addition, his father-in-law asked his old leader for help, so the position finally fell into the hands of Xu Yunlong.

However, Zhou Jin didn't know these things. Even if he knew, he would definitely lend a helping hand.

After all, in this era, making one more friend means one more way out. Maybe it is not useful now, but who can say what will happen in the future?

Zhou Jin came to Zhaojiagou today and saw the militiamen standing guard at the entrance of the village. Because he had been here many times, they all knew each other. After they greeted each other, Zhou Jin went to the village chief's house.

"Village Chief Zhao, I'm here again." Zhou Jin shouted at the door of the village chief's house.

"Oh, it's Chief Zhou. Please come in. It's warm inside." When Village Chief Zhao saw that it was Zhou Jin, he hurriedly and happily invited Zhou Jin into the house.

Before this, because Zhaojiagou was far away from the city and transportation was inconvenient, the buyers felt it was not worth the trip. So no matter which factory the buyers were from, they would basically only come here to collect things every six months.

The most direct consequence of this is that the villagers have no idea when they can sell the mountain products and game they have stockpiled, and they themselves are reluctant to eat them, so over time, those things go bad.

But Zhou Jin is different. He visits every village under his jurisdiction basically every week, and at most once every half a month. With such a high frequency, he can ensure that the prey and mountain products caught by the villagers can be sold at any time.

The reason why Zhou Jin can guarantee such a high frequency is, to put it bluntly, that he does not have many villages in his hands. After all, the nearby villages have already been divided up by other buyers and other factories.

As a deputy section chief, Zhou Jin was embarrassed to compete with his purchasing staff for space. Besides, Zhou Jin had his own planting space, so there was no need to do so.

Moreover, they are all villages in the same area. Although they are far away, fortunately they are in the same direction. It is convenient for Zhou Jin to not be in the south of the city today and in the north of the city tomorrow.

At the same time, the purchase price Zhou Jin gave to the villagers was much higher than that of previous buyers, so even if Zhou Jin had not been here for a while, they would leave all the good things to Zhou Jin.

Zhou Jin still remembers the scene when he first came to this village. This village is far away from Hongqi Commune. If he walked, it would probably take at least ten hours.

Moreover, this village is right at the foot of the mountain, with a small river beside it. It can be said to be a truly good place surrounded by mountains and rivers. It’s a pity that it is too far away from the old city, and most people in the village do not live a good life.

However, the villagers here are very united. Later, when Zhou Jin asked around, he found out that the villagers here basically have the same surname and are all related to each other.

In fact, this is not only the case here, but also in most villages nearby.

Later, as Zhou Jin came more often, everyone became familiar with each other, and Zhou Jin also felt that the villagers here were trustworthy.

So Zhou Jin suggested to Village Chief Zhao that they should fence off the depression at the foot of the mountain to raise chickens.

The place was low-lying, close to a small river, overgrown with weeds, and with mountains behind it. All we needed to do was seal the openings on both sides and then enclose a part of the woods.

The grass and insects in the depression and the woods behind it are enough to feed two or three hundred chickens. You just need to feed them some food yourself.

If you want to increase the number later, you just need to expand the woods behind.

Zhou Jin also explained to Village Chief Zhao: "Chickens raised in this way have delicious meat and high nutritional value. They can be sold at a good price in the city. In the early stage, they can be sold as eggs, and later they can also be sold as hens.

Moreover, this breeding method has low cost and high returns, which can help villagers increase their income.”

Of course, for his own safety, Zhou Jin repeatedly reminded the village chief not to expose himself.

He told Village Chief Zhao that if anyone asked about the origin of the chickens, he should say that the villagers came up with it themselves and must not mention his name.

Although Village Chief Zhao was a little confused, he still agreed.

In this way, only a few village cadres knew that this was Zhou Jin's idea.

From then on, Village Chief Zhao was very enthusiastic towards Zhou Jin.

Every time Zhou Jin came to the village, Village Chief Zhao would receive him personally and prepare some local specialties and delicacies for him.

Zhou Jin would take the opportunity to ask about the situation of the chicken farm and give some advice and guidance.

As time went by, the chicken farm grew larger and larger. Now there are almost 500 chickens, which can provide Zhou Jin with 3,000 eggs and dozens of live chickens every month. The villagers' income has also gradually increased.

Zhou Jin's procurement channels have also become more stable and reliable.

At the same time, his relationship with Village Chief Zhao became better and better, and they became good friends.

"Chief Zhou, please sit down and drink a cup of hot water to ward off the cold." Village Chief Zhao handed a cup of hot water to Zhou Jin.

"Zhao Laosi, go and inform the villagers who want to sell things to come to the village office immediately."

Zhao Laosi hurried to the broadcasting room and used a loudspeaker to inform the villagers.

Zhou Jin then started to get busy, but because it was already winter, he didn't receive much, only two hundred eggs, more than ten pounds of wild boar meat, and some dried mushrooms.