In 1992, a small village owner became the richest man in the village by owning a car.

Chapter 588 The Right Time to Talk

When the car was driven in, there was no one guarding the gate. Some of the grain in the granary was placed in the courtyard, surrounded by yellow fences. Some workers seemed to have just woken up and came out of the bungalows on the west side.

The grain depot in town didn't have two-story offices; it was all single-story buildings in a row. The leaders' offices were easy to find: the northernmost blue door, covered with a layer of plastic sheeting. Above it was a wooden sign that read "Grain Depot Office."

When Yu Dawei walked in, a few people in the room were preparing to go out and help with the work.

Besides the bureau chief, the various team leaders were also in the office. Basically, each team leader was assigned a table. Of course, the accountant and others who worked with pens were also there.

Yu Dawei even saw his brother-in-law. At this moment, his brother-in-law was different from the others. It seemed that he hadn't taken a nap at noon and was trying his best to show his value by organizing thick volumes of materials. He didn't notice Yu Dawei walking into the office at all.

"Who are you looking for?" A young man with a buzz cut in the office saw Yu Dawei and took the initiative to ask.

Yu Dawei is well-known in Luhe Town now, but few people have actually met him. Unlike the short video society of the future, where you can easily find videos of famous people, or even their daily lives, by simply browsing through certain fields.

"I'm looking for Director Yang."

As Yu Dawei spoke, he looked toward the innermost office, where Director Yang's seat was now empty.

"Old Yang isn't in his office. He's talking to someone next door. You'll have to wait a bit." After saying that, the young man ignored Yu Dawei and turned to leave the room.

However, the second brother-in-law, Han Guofeng, paused in his hand upon hearing Yu Dawei's voice, and subconsciously looked behind him.

When Yu Dawei saw his brother-in-law looking in his direction, he calmly nodded back.

Korean style nodded and continued to work.

Yu Dawei's gaze swept across the office again, finally locking onto a man wearing glasses. He then casually found a seat opposite the man and sat down: "Yang Guang?"

"Huh? Dawei!" The man was busy organizing the accounts and hadn't noticed Yu Dawei at all. It wasn't until Yu Dawei called him that he looked at Yu Dawei's face for a long time before he remembered the other person's name.

Yu Dawei is the owner of a repair shop next to his house. He has a good relationship with his father and occasionally buys a couple of sheep from his father.

His stingy father seemed to appreciate Yu Dawei quite a bit, as he never shortchanged him or took any dead or sick sheep, which was quite unbelievable to his eldest son.

This stingy old man, who's been frugal his whole life, rarely doesn't try to get something for nothing.

"Wait a minute, let me get you a glass of water." Yang Guang then realized that Director Yang was not there. Seeing that most of the people in the office had left, and since he knew Yu Dawei, he took the initiative to get up, find an enamel mug, and pour Yu Dawei a glass of water from the thermos.

"Thank you." Yu Dawei looked around the grain depot office with curiosity. "There's no stove in this room? It'll feel a bit cold inside when it gets warm."

Yang Guang's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but he composed himself and replied with a smile, "We can still hold on a bit. The leaders said that heating will be started a little later this year."

Yu Dawei guessed what was going on from the other person's expression, so he stopped the topic at the right time and started chatting with Yang Guang about everyday things.

I also learned from Yang Guang that this guy wasn't doing too well either. The grain depot hadn't been paying wages for months. Not counting Old Yang's side, there were five people in his family, including his wife and children.

Yang Guang has two sons and a daughter. During the one-child policy, he was fined twice, which almost emptied his family's savings.

Fortunately, Old Yang was a man with a sharp tongue but a soft heart. Even though it hurt him, he still took the initiative to help his eldest son bear part of the burden.

Now the old man lives with his second son's family, while he lives alone with his own family in the town.

"Have you ever thought about changing jobs?" Yu Dawei whispered to Yang Guang, leaning on the table.

There are few people in the room now, and these people know better than Yu Dawei what the grain depot looks like now.

Yu Dawei came over today for two reasons: first, to sound out Director Yang's opinion, and second, to find out Yang Guang's intentions.

As long as the other party has an interest, Yu Dawei will definitely find a way to poach them.

"Well...hehe, Dawei was talking about something else, wasn't he?" Yang Guang looked embarrassed, but managed a forced smile for Yu Dawei. Some things couldn't be said too explicitly; there were more than just the two of them in this room.

Yu Dawei took in the other party's subtle expressions and roughly understood what he meant. He would just have to go through the trouble of making another trip to negotiate the price with the other party after he got home.

Next, we'll see what Director Yang plans to do and when he's ready to release the people.

Just as the atmosphere was getting a bit somber, a man walked in. He was wearing a black leather jacket and walked with his toes pointed outwards. He looked quite dashing, but most people who worked at the grain depot were all bark and no bite.

"Dawei? When did you get here? You didn't even tell your brother-in-law you were coming." The man in the leather jacket's eyes lit up when he saw Yu Dawei, and he quickly moved closer to Yu Dawei to greet him warmly.

"Just arrived." Yu Dawei turned to look at Liu Liguo: "Why aren't you out working?"

Liu Liguo was the captain of a team at the grain depot. Although it was unclear whether he was responsible for receiving grain or weighing it, he certainly didn't work in an office.

"Oh dear, how could a captain like me do that kind of work? That's all done by those little karami guys." Liu Liguo tilted his head back, acting like a big shot. "By the way, Old Yang still has some good tea. I'll get you some."

As he spoke, he walked toward Director Yang's office, and soon pulled out a green box of tea from the other man's drawer.

His series of actions seemed to demonstrate how well he was doing at the grain depot.

But this old man seems to have forgotten that he had previously asked Yu Dawei to introduce him to a flour mill.

"No need, no need, I'm already leaving." Yu Dawei wasn't sure what the other party's strange move was, but he still declined.

Since Director Yang had something to do today, Yu Dawei didn't plan to wait any longer. He decided to go back to Laotun and drive over again tomorrow when he had time.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Liu Liguo watched as Yu Dawei walked out the door, quickly put the green box of tea back into Director Yang's drawer, and then hurried after him, walking out of the room.

"Is there anything else?" Yu Dawei turned to look at Liu Liguo, who had a fawning smile on his face.

"Brother-in-law, could you put in a good word for me about that flour mill thing? It's not like we can't do anything. I have all my men under my command, and they're all obedient and well-behaved." Liu Liguo pointed to a few people collecting grain in the distance.

It was too far away to see clearly, but Yu Dawei had no interest in his men whatsoever.

Just as Yu Dawei was about to refuse, Liu Liguo said, "Brother-in-law, I haven't asked you for anything in all these years. This time, could you help me talk to the flour mill owner? Once I'm in there, the flour mill will be no different from our own. If you want to do me a favor, it'll be just a matter of a word from me." Yu Dawei stood there, staring at Liu Liguo, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper. In both his lives, this was the first time Yu Dawei had felt that his brother-in-law was so brainless.

Not only are they brainless, but they also have the audacity to spread it around.

I can get you a job at the flour mill, why would I need you to do me a favor at the flour mill? That's just plain stupid.

"Alright, brother-in-law. For the sake of family, let me make this clear: arranging for you to be a manager or something at the flour mill is simply impossible." Yu Dawei was displeased when he saw Liu Liguo giving him a resentful look. "Don't look at me like that either. The flour mill is privately owned now."

"Do you even understand what an individual means? Your existence must create value for the flour mill, or rather, for Boss Duan. Someone like you who cheats and shirks his responsibilities is definitely not acceptable."

Seeing the other party's resentful expression, Yu Dawei didn't want to waste any more words and turned to leave.

How could Yu Dawei, who had known Liu Liguo his whole life, not know what kind of person Liu Liguo was?
He's useless at everything, and he eats everything without leaving a trace. His only bit of cleverness is used on his wife.

After the grain depot went bankrupt, my eldest sister made a living by doing odd jobs at a restaurant every month. Later, she partnered with someone to do fertilizer business, but lost everything.

In the end, he still survived on the retirement pension provided by the grain depot.

Speaking of Director Yang, he is quite capable. He secured early retirement qualifications for all team leaders and above at the grain depot, and they can receive a small pension every month, though it is very little.

Just as Yu Dawei was about to leave, several people came out of the next room, one of whom was Director Yang.

The other party was standing at the door, watching the group of men from Northeast China leave, his expression quite unpleasant.

At the same time, he also saw Yu Dawei, and their eyes met.

"Director Yang." Yu Dawei walked over with a stiff upper lip. He had no choice; the other party had already seen him, and it would be inappropriate not to go over and say hello.

Logically speaking, it wouldn't be good to come looking for someone when they're in a bad mood, and you might even accidentally take it out on yourself. But Yu Dawei came here specifically to see the other person.

Leaving without a word will only make things more difficult later.

"Um, is something the matter?"

Yes, a little.

"Speak plainly." Director Yang looked up and stared at Yu Dawei's square face.

"Um... let's go inside and talk?" Yu Dawei pointed to the room next door.

Director Yang remained silent, staring at Yu Dawei for a long time before finally turning around and walking into the room behind him without a word.

He had guessed Yu Dawei's purpose in coming. The town leaders had already spoken with him and said that everything was up to him.

But the thought of how those two scoundrels, Yu Dawei and Duan Dahai, had tricked him filled him with immense resentment.

It was one thing to poach Director Yu before, since he's doing quite well now.

But his flour mill made a huge mistake by betraying him at a crucial moment, causing his supply chain to be completely cut off and making him a target for rectification!
"Speak up, hurry up, I don't have time to listen to your nonsense." Yang Jianjun's tone was very unpleasant.

Yu Dawei was also helpless. It was inevitable that the old man was angry. He took out a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes from his pocket, pulled one out, and handed it to the other party.

After seeing the other party accept it, Yu Dawei then spoke up to persuade him: "Director Yang, you are like Director Yu, you have a certain judgment on the general situation. Now China is in dire need of reconstruction, and many old dogmas cannot keep up with the times. If I am not mistaken, those people who just left should be small private grain buyers, right?"

Yang Jianjun's face was very pale, and he didn't say anything. However, after a long silence, he finally nodded like a defeated hunting dog, overcome with his inner sorrow.

Yu Dawei guessed who those people were when he saw them earlier; he had seen them a few times before in Lao Duan's office at the flour mill.

These men used to be middlemen in various villages. Now that grain prices are gradually rising, they saw this and turned around, probably wanting a piece of the pie. In just a few years, they've built up their business.

I guess they came to see Director Yang this time because they've heard some rumors.

"I can't judge who's right and who's wrong regarding Director Yang's matter with Lao Duan, but I hope you can only consider things from his perspective. He's just an ordinary small business owner with a couple hundred people below him who are starving for him. He can't afford to make a mistake; a mistake would mean utter ruin." Seeing that Yang Jianjun was still silent and just puffing on his cigarette, Yu Dawei simply placed the cigarette in his hand on the other man's table.

He knew that Director Yang had taken his words to heart.

If you listen to what I say, everything will be easier to discuss.

On the other side, Liu Liguo stood outside for a long time, his face contorted with hatred.

Yu Dawei's success always seems to be like a slap in the face, a resounding blow to his own reputation.

Thinking back to how I used to be as powerful as Yu Dawei, I've ended up like this, even on the verge of unemployment.

What's most hateful is that the person I looked down on the most back then actually got the chance to shit on my neck one day!

He couldn't swallow this breath.

"Since you won't let me have an easy time, then Yu Dawei, don't expect me to let you have an easy time either!" Liu Liguo clenched his fist, turned around, and went into the office.

He needed to find out Yu Dawei's purpose in coming to the grain depot. In short, he would sabotage anything Yu Dawei wanted!

Nobody's going to have it easy!
In the next conference room, Yu Dawei managed to intimidate Director Yang with his silver tongue.

At this point, Yu Dawei finally revealed the signal from his superiors. Director Yang also didn't hide anything, admitting that he had received the signal from his superiors as well, but he still wanted to try and salvage the situation a little longer.

"Director Yang, I know you've dedicated most of your life to the grain depot, just like Director Yu of the flour mill. But everything has an beginning and an end; nothing is immutable."

Yu Dawei felt that it was about time, so he stood up and continued, "Just wait for my news. I'll go back and find Lao Duan and have him apologize to you in person. After that, I'll properly transition the work of the brothers at the grain depot."

(End of this chapter)