Back to 1978

Chapter 157: Return at Night

Zhang Cheng looked at Xie Hushan and several steel plant leaders who were sitting together with their arms around each other and toasting their glasses frequently. This guy is really good at talking. Not only did he stun several people, but he also made them nod their heads repeatedly.

It's a bit redundant for me, Lao Feng and Yang Liming to be here. I feel that Xie Hushan can take care of these guys by himself.

It seems like I have only taught him some military skills, but haven't taught him such social skills as being both hard and soft?
The apprentice learned it by himself?

"Shouldn't he be transporting cattle in a sealed boxcar? How did he get a luxury compartment on an express train? And it doesn't sound like he's exaggerating. He's on point. Someone has been there before and he can actually tell him that he went there." Zhang Cheng whispered to Feng Chunlai and Yang Limin:
"And, Secretary Xiao Yang, forgive me for being a rough man who has never tasted good wine. I would like to ask, how come the wine drunk by French President Charles de Gaulle tastes the same as the tea in our commune? I remember that this bottle of wine is placed in your office, right?"

"The wine has been poured out, so we've just filled it with tea. I gave him the idea to take the bottle back after dinner, fill it with wine, and then continue setting it up." Yang Liming whispered to Zhang Cheng.

Feng Chunlai burst out laughing:
"Then don't pour it back. It will go bad. How about tomorrow at noon in the commune cafeteria, the three of us drink the wine. You keep the bottle and continue to fill it with tea. It won't affect the display, right?"

"That's fine. If you fill this thing with tea and put the lid on, you can't tell whether it's real or fake." Yang Limin said with a smile:

"When we get back, let's also ask Charles de Gaulle what the wine tastes like."

After he followed Zhang Cheng to talk with the other party in the afternoon, he learned that the other party was going to sign a contract with Xie Hushan over the dinner table, and he knew that the other party was going to embarrass Xie Hushan.

After the conversation, when he went to the hospital to inform Xie Hushan, he shared his experience of accompanying the county party committee leaders in dealing with factory directors and cadres.

There weren't any serious factory leaders who were here to mess with Xie Hushan. They were all old-timers who were good at taking advantage of others. Maybe they had some connections with those guys who were dealt with. They just wanted to make trouble afterwards.

So he advised Xie Hushan that if he didn't want to turn hostile in the middle of the meal because of the other party's deliberate provocation, he should just pretend to be brave and take the initiative to attack them first, so that they would understand that whoever dares to breathe, you will turn hostile in public.

Make them consider that if they irritate you, they will lose the contract and they will lose it too.

Looking at it now, Xie Hushan's appearance was quite intimidating, and the subsequent effect was very good.

Taozi and a few women had gone to the small table for ten people to eat and chat. Xie Hushan was standing behind a few steel plant leaders, biting a cigar and holding a wine glass. He leaned forward slightly, patted their shoulders and boasted:

"Leaders, I don't think I'm suitable to be a factory manager. What do you think?"

"Are you not suitable as the factory manager, Xie? The factory got 55 tons of scrap steel right after it opened. You are born to work in a steel plant..." Old Wei, who had been full of disdain when Xie Hushan didn't come, now said to Xie Hushan with a red face, holding a wine glass. Smiling.

Xie Hushan shook his head, stood up and took two steps, stopping behind another leader who looked a little grim:

"Brother Wei, I don't think I'm suitable to be a factory manager. I think I'm best suited to go to the Eight Great Hutongs of Yanjing, Yaoshan Tuberose and other places to hang up signs and receive customers. I'm sure I can make a lot of money there."

Everyone was slightly stunned when they heard this, even the women at the table looked over. How could someone say such things to insult himself?
But that's normal. What he says before drinking sounds terrible, and it's even more impossible for him to say anything decent after drinking!
Xie Hushan drank the wine in his glass, put it down, put his hands on the shoulders of the leader with an ugly face, and laughed:

"Because I think with my personality, there must be countless people who are eager to take me down. Maybe some of you here want to help me open a business."

"What do you think, Brother Lin?"

"I heard that you are related to Director Huang who beat me so hard that my whole body was shattered? Can you mess with me? Brother Lin, can I put up a sign?"

"Director Xie, Director Xie, let's have a drink. You haven't left with me yet." Wu Jianzhong next to them reacted quickly. When he heard this, he thought that Xie Hushan was going to turn against them and make trouble. He hurriedly raised his glass of white wine and invited Xie Hushan to come over for a drink, and poured a glass of Maotai into Xie Hushan's glass.

Xie Hushan walked to Wu Jianzhong and stood beside him, pointing at the man surnamed Lin, with a fierce look in his eyes and a cold tone:
"Brother Lin, whenever you want to fuck me, please let me know. I'll put up a sign and wait for you."

Everyone was silent again, but Xie Hushan immediately laughed and raised his glass, started drinking with the others, and said with a smile:

"Let my wife be the sisters-in-law later...Are they sisters-in-law or not? Why don't you introduce them to me? Forget it, fuck them, right? Anyway, they do the same thing, just do what you want! I'll be the sister-in-law~"

"Let my wife give some worthless foreign goods to my sisters-in-law. They are all for women, not for you. This way, I won't have anyone say that I'm using you as collusion to get in through the back door."

"From now on, every festival will be the same. My wife will only send gifts to my sisters-in-law and resolutely resist using connections to get things done through the back door."

Several people burst into laughter immediately. Taozi at the table also followed Xie Hushan's instructions and started chatting about her clothes with several women who were jealous of her outfit.

Although she was the youngest woman at the table, she was very generous in her actions and words. Seeing the woman next to her staring at her watch, she picked a peach and handed it to her:
"Sister-in-law likes it?"

"It's obviously imported. It must be expensive, right?" The woman took it and looked at the ladies' watch, then asked Taozi with a smile.

Taozi smiled gently and said:

"My boyfriend bought them in Hong Kong Island. They're a pair. Actually, he said you can buy them in Friendship Stores in big cities in China. The men's version is more expensive, 918 yuan, while the women's version is cheaper, only 798 yuan. If you like them, wear them. He bought me three."

The woman quickly held the watch in both hands and returned it to Taozi. The watch cost eight hundred dollars to buy from an import store, so she didn't dare to play with it any longer, in case it broke if touched.

Not to mention that her monthly salary is only more than 30 yuan, which would take her two years of not eating or drinking to be able to afford. The main thing is that this girl seems to have a good temper, but her man doesn't seem to be a good person.

He clearly didn't get hit at all, but he told the steel plant that he had broken bones all over his body and demanded 55 tons of scrap steel from him. If he had broken his wife's watch, wouldn't he have to extort half of the steel plant from him?

"If you think it's expensive, sisters-in-law, tell me an address. I have some electronic watches from Hong Kong Island for you to wear for fun." Taozi said to the women, noticing that some people were looking at the stockings on her legs:

"If you like these socks, just like the digital watch, I'll give them to you."

The women hurriedly declined. Taozi looked at Xie Hushan who was still bragging to a few people from the steel factory, and smiled at the women awkwardly:
"Sisters-in-law, please don't be polite. I need your help."

"Our head of the family is not good at talking and has a bad temper. Sisters-in-law, please go home and say a lot of good things about him to big brother because I sent you a little gift. Tell him not to take his words seriously."...

Yang Liming looked at Xie Hushan and Taozi. The couple occupied a table each and created a great atmosphere. Every table had people talking and laughing, except for the three of them, who were like deaf ears.

After looking for a while, he asked Zhang Cheng and Feng Chunlai:
"Tell me, is it possible that I didn't teach Xie Hushan to act this way tonight, but that he is just a person who doesn't want to be beaten?"

"No, I watched Hu San grow up. He's honest and kind. He became like this after you came. I dare not mention it. After all, you came from the county...hahahaha." Zhang Cheng couldn't continue speaking halfway through. He raised his glass and clinked it with Yang Limin:
"You still need to think about this. Are you sure he is like this? He has been playing war games with other children since he was a child, and he has to act like a bandit leader. Could it be that you taught him that?"

After a hearty meal of drinks, Old Wei from the factory's supply and marketing department put his arm around Xie Hushan's shoulders, who was almost unable to stand, and waved to the waiter:
"Get my brother a room upstairs to stay for tonight."

"Brother Wei, we hit it off right away. Let's have a little more..." Xie Hushan said to Old Wei while drunk.

"No, no, you should take a rest first, and we'll get together another day. Sister-in-law, please take good care of my brother." Lao Wei handed Xie Hushan to the waiter and Taozi and waved his hand.

After Xie Hushan was carried to the bed by two waiters and left, Xie Hushan sat up and went to the bathroom to vomit out the wine. He looked at Taozi, who had poured him a glass of water and was waiting beside him with a worried look on her face.

"It's okay. I was just teasing these guys. Lao Yang was cooperating with me, so they didn't drink too much. Whenever I coughed, Lao Yang started talking to attract their attention, so they only drank half of their amount."

"Brother Yang and the others are with the Red Soldiers. Daxi and the others won't really have left, right?" Taozi handed the water to Xie Hushan and looked around the guest room.

This was the first time I slept with my third brother, how could I live outside...

Xie Hushan rinsed his mouth and spit out the water:

"Wait for me. This place is not a place for us peasant comrades to live. Wash your face and take a breath. When those state-funded idiots leave, we will go back too. How can I sleep outside for the first time with my wife, right?"

Taozi nodded seriously: "Yeah."

Xie Hushan looked at Taozi's outfit tonight and said, "This is pretty nice, isn't it? I see those old ladies are looking at you with a bit of a straight look in their eyes. You should wear it like this in the future. Why keep it if you don't wear it?"

"I originally wanted to keep it for my wedding." Taozi looked down at her outfit. She looked very generous when there were outsiders around, but she was actually heartbroken. When others looked at her watch, she thought that if anyone dared to break the watch given to her by her third brother, she would beat him up first, regardless of whether she compensated for it or not.

Xie Hushan said to Taozi:

"Buy it for the wedding. Besides, you have to wear red at a wedding. How can you wear something so plain?"

After resting in the guest room for a few minutes, the two men walked out of the Friendship Restaurant. The people from the steel plant had already left, and the street was empty. Only Yang Liming, Han Hongbing and others were left riding on a dozen bicycles, waiting for them.

"Old Zhang will stay at Old Feng's house tonight. The two of them have left." Yang Liming said to Xie Hushan.

"Nephew, you still love me~" Xie Hushan sat on the front beam of Yang Limin with his body bent, and asked with a smile:
"Lao Yang, don't you think that if there are three people in this car, one person would be a little redundant? Who do you think is redundant, you or Taozi?"

Yang Liming understood and got out of the car, and sat on the back seat of Han Hongbing's car. Taozi put her hands together and bowed to Yang Liming apologetically to apologize on behalf of Xie Hushan, then she hugged Xie Hushan and sat sideways on the back seat.

Yang Limin said indignantly to Xie Hushan, who was carrying the peaches:

"I'm confused. When you came out, your buddy got a bicycle, and the factory got a batch of raw materials. Everyone was happy, but why am I the one who lost money?"

"If I were a cadre in your brigade, why would I always enjoy the treatment of a landlord?"

"Fifty-five tons! Fifty-five tons!" Xie Hushan ignored Yang Limin's complaints and laughed out loud: "Damn it, rough processing of steel is too profitable, otherwise these bastards can eat fish and meat every day at the Friendship Restaurant, a ton of scrap steel costs five hundred, and cold-rolled strip steel costs one ton..."

Yang Limin reminded him, "One ton costs seven hundred, and the commune still has two..."

"Being a cadre is to serve the people. Why are you from Zhongping Commune still thinking about earning kickbacks from the people? Are you trying to take revenge on the people?" Xie Hushan turned his head to look at Yang Limin and asked with a righteous face:

"Besides, I'm just the director of public security, and the second-to-last officer in the brigade. It's not my turn to make the decision on such matters."

"Don't tell me. If you have the guts, go ask Secretary Han for kickbacks. If he asks me to give it, I'll give it to him."

Yang Limin was amused by Xie Hushan's behavior:
"You'd better be so stubborn when your master comes to you. During the meal, Lao Zhang has already decided what kind of car he wants the commune to buy."

"I've already thought about it. At the end of the year, I'll consider buying a second-hand backpack for Lao Zhang and Lao Feng, or for both of them." Xie Hushan said:

"By the way, did Lao Feng have something to say to me at the dinner table? I think maybe because I was drunk or he was embarrassed, he didn't mention it in the end?"

"Did you notice all this?" Yang Limin nodded: "Yes, there is something."

Xie Hushan asked while riding his bicycle:
"His wife and he live apart. Can he let his wife come to work at the steel mill and leave the child to the elderly to take care of, so that the couple can sometimes see each other less than twice a month, right?"

"Old Feng has been cleaning up my mess. Don't let him have any say about this. I will go to the commune tomorrow and ask him to help the factory because the factory is short of workers."

Yang Limin smiled and said:

"Sometimes you are like a bandit, ruthless and heartless, but sometimes you are very humane. You are a creature that proves the complexity of human beings."

"I'll be rich when I get back!" Xie Hushan pretended not to hear what Yang Limin said and shouted:
“The good days are finally here!”

(End of this chapter)