Back to 1978

Chapter 166: Good things come

It was already past dinner time, and Li Xingyuan didn't seem to have much of an appetite, so Xie Hushan didn't call on the aunt to help him cook. Instead, he asked Cao Ma to open a few cans of food and put them on plates to go with the wine.

Li Xingyuan took a sip of white wine with a gloomy face, picked up the wine glass, picked up a piece of canned fish and put it into his mouth to eat without any taste. After swallowing it, he continued to say to Xie Hushan:

"Brother Hushan, we have been dealing with each other for a while. You know me, right? I have a temper that makes me say that there is no one in Bingyang County who is easier to talk to than me. Unless I am bullied to the point of having nowhere else to go, I will never curse in public."

Xie Hushan nodded in agreement. He had to admit that Li Xingyuan was indeed very patient and had a good temper when it came to doing business. As long as he could make money, no matter how embarrassing the matter was, it didn't matter.

Last time, he was pointed at and humiliated by Zhang Ming, the person in charge of the railway freight yard, but he was able to swallow his anger and continue to smile. This shows his endurance.

In Xie Hushan's opinion, Li Xingyuan is a bit like Xie Ruolin in the TV series "The Disguiser". As long as you can't kill me, we can still do business and negotiate business.

This person is very complicated, a bit like a corrupt official in a pipe factory and a capable official.

He has made an indispensable contribution to the development and growth of Bingyang County Steel Pipe Factory. Over the past decade, he has been working in the north and northeast, and in the south and in Luzhou. It can be said that the Steel Pipe Factory relies on such a man to survive. Otherwise, why would the county and the factory give him the position of factory director to reward him for his contribution?

It can be said that all the orders from other provinces for the steel pipe factory were negotiated by him. At the beginning, he took a letter of introduction and carried steel pipe samples to knock on the doors of various bicycle factories all over the world, but was kicked out like a dog. No one took him, a salesman from a county factory, seriously at all.

He was not angry. He started his campaign by looking for the old man in the bicycle shed at the factory. He helped him sweep the floor, bought wine and vegetables, and ate supper with the old man while he was on night shift. He worked in a factory for three months. People in Luzhou love to drink, and he drank bowl of wine with the other party's cadres, both big and small. He was sent to the hospital to sober up countless times. Finally, he impressed the bicycle factory. They took his samples for testing, and after they passed the test, they ordered ten tons of goods. This helped the Bingyang County Steel Pipe Factory get its first order from another province.

Even now, all the cadres, big and small, from the bicycle factories in Luzhou Province treat him like one of their own family members. They think he is a good drinker and efficient in doing things. They only recognize him when discussing business. It is not possible for the salesperson to go over to settle the bill, so he has to go over. After a drink, the money is transferred immediately.

The steel pipe factory had overproduction and had a backlog problem. He sent a telegram and the Luzhou Bicycle Factory, even though they were not short of stock, gave him face and asked him to send a batch of steel pipes to help him clear the inventory.

You can say he is corrupt, of course he is corrupt, both the county and the factory know he is corrupt, but he can really solve the problem.

Previously, he asked Li Xingyuan to help him get rid of a batch of scrap steel. The kickback was delivered at noon, and in the evening he notified Xie Hushan to go to his factory to pick up the goods.

No matter whether he almost killed the son of his workshop director before, as long as there is money, we can talk business.

Xie Hushan found it very strange that such a money-oriented person could become so popular.

"I'm now the director of a wire drawing factory, but I didn't treat the old people from the pipe factory badly. Anyone who asked me to arrange for a relative or friend to work in my factory did it. Even though the state pays them, they still need the approval of me as the director. I don't ask for gifts from everyone, but they should at least remember my favor, right?" Li Xingyuan looked at Xie Hushan with a face full of resentment:
"But what did these bastards do to me? They left me alone, and I left them alone. Fuck them!"

Xie Hushan understood it as soon as he sat down to drink with him. Li Xingyuan became the new director of the wire drawing factory. The product business changed from supplying pipes to the previous bicycle factory and lighting factory to mainly supplying cold drawn wire for construction projects.

This business requires the development of new customers. Although there are many reconstruction projects in Yaoshan, the supply contracts have already been divided up by other wire rod factories and coil factories. The few supply contracts he obtained locally by using personal connections can only ensure that the workers have work to do and do not have to close the workshop.

Especially since Li Xingyuan is only in his forties and still has some aspirations in his heart. He wants to work hard to reach the next level, so he wants his former old customers from other provinces to help introduce him to see if there are any customers who want cold drawn wire.

As it turned out, there were two bicycle factory directors in Luzhou who were loyal enough to help him find out that a comrade of the deputy director of the Luzhou Iron and Steel Plant was working in a large local state-owned enterprise and was in charge of the construction project of the new factory area, which had a long construction period, so he could sign a long-term supply contract for cold drawn wire for at least three years.

He hurried to Luzhou and found that he was not bragging and could really negotiate the deal. However, the deputy director of the steel bar factory also stated that since it was a public matter, he could not help for free. What he meant was that if he introduced the cold drawn wire order to Li Xingyuan, then Li Xingyuan would have to consider giving the pipe manufacturing orders of the two bicycle factories to him. It was equivalent to everyone exchanging contracts and making money together.

Li Xingyuan felt that this was no problem, because the Bingyang Pipe Factory did not only have orders from the two bicycle factories in Luzhou, but also had contracts with several factories in Yuzhou Province and the Northeast. The benefits were relatively small, and losing two customers would not have much impact.

Although he was no longer the deputy director of the steel pipe factory, he could still make the final decision on this matter. He told the other party at the time that there was no problem. In addition, the directors of the two bicycle factories patted their chests to vouch for Li Xingyuan, so the other party really believed it. After a lot of hard work, they finally let Li Xingyuan return to Bingyang with the order contract.

The reason why Li Xingyuan dared to make the final decision was that even if the steel pipe factory was dissatisfied, as long as his wire drawing factory stabilized, he could help the pipe factory find two orders to make up for the losses during this period.

I have been a key business member and deputy director of the steel pipe factory for many years. How could my former company not even give me this little face?
It was supposed to be a happy occasion for everyone, but when Li Xingyuan came back and mentioned the matter to the steel pipe factory, the new deputy director who took over from him in charge of the steel pipe factory's business got furious and refused to agree to anything.

He thought that Li Xingyuan was deliberately making trouble for him. He had just arrived at the steel pipe factory as the deputy director in charge of business and he had already lost two customers. How would all the workers and superiors in the factory view his work ability in the future?

Moreover, Li Xingyuan said it lightly, saying that he would make up for it later. The order contract is not a meal, can he make up for it just like that? If he cannot make up for it, can you, Li Xingyuan, compensate the loss of the pipe factory?
The other party refused to budge, and Li Xingyuan had no choice but to bypass him and go find the head of the pipe factory. After the deputy director found out, he reported Li Xingyuan directly to his superiors, saying that he no longer had any connections with the pipe factory, but he was still interfering in the factory's business.

He also told the county that he, Li Xingyuan, was likely to violate the contract between the steel pipe factory and two customers from other provinces. If those customers stopped purchasing the steel pipe factory's products in the near future, he hoped that the county would investigate whether Li Xingyuan was behind it.

This was equivalent to someone exposing the matter, which made Li Xingyuan very uncomfortable. He did not dare to make up his mind and ask the two bicycle factories to cancel the contracts, for fear of leaving a bad impression in the county and losing his chance of advancement in the future.

He felt very upset. It was originally a matter of mutual help, but now he was damaging the interests of the pipe factory. The higher-ups even had a talk with him, asking him to mind his manners and not make a fool of himself.

The deputy factory director was a young cadre transferred from the county. He was just in his early thirties, and the man behind him had just been reinstated. In addition, he had just arrived at the steel pipe factory and had not been there for long, so Li Xingyuan was unable to gather any evidence against him.

The customers in Luzhou Province all gave him face, but when he returned home, he was tricked by his former company. Li Xingyuan felt very aggrieved. He felt aggrieved because he was not criticized when he was greedy for benefits and did not work, but now when he was sincerely running around for the development of the wire drawing factory, he was criticized instead.

"Director Li, just tell me what you mean." Xie Hushan said to Li Xingyuan with a smile: "Brother, I will help you if I can."

Li Xingyuan took out a Zhonghua cigarette and gave it to Xie Hushan, then lit one for himself:
"Brother Hushan, I'm in Bingyang County, and I have connections everywhere. But now this matter, I've thought about it for a long time, and no one else can help me except you."

"Well, you go ahead." Xie Hushan lit a cigarette and nodded.

"The county is afraid that I will do something bad on purpose and cause our county's enterprises to lose two customers from other provinces. I've thought about it and decided not to lose them, but they can always ask the customers to switch factories to supply goods, right?" Li Xingyuan held a cigarette between his legs.
"I told the deputy factory director in Luzhou who helped me sign the cold-drawn wire contract that I couldn't give him the out-of-province contract in Bingyang County, but I could give it to him privately."

Xie Hushan nodded suddenly: "Otherwise, why did Director Li say that when we just met? Is he planning to build a bridge for me in Zhongping?"

Li Xingyuan looked at Xie Hushan with sparkling eyes:
"As long as you open a pipe-making factory, we will win over the old customers of the county pipe-making factory bit by bit. The new ones don't give me face, so I won't give them face either. If they have the ability, they can go to the customers and get the contracts by themselves. I earned it with my life, so I will take it away myself."

"You pay for the land and labor expenses, and don't worry about the equipment, I'll help you with it. Don't worry about the business, I'll find it for you. Just divide the net profit. If the orders from the two Luzhou bicycle factories go to your pipe factory, my wire drawing factory will get 30% of the profits, your pipe factory will keep 30%, and the big brother in Luzhou who signed the contract for my wire drawing factory will get 40%. As for the other contracts I pried, we will split them 50-50."

"The contract was given to you and it's still with the county. It won't affect county tax revenue."

Xie Hushan was very excited when he heard this: "This is a good thing, I will definitely agree to it!"

"Then I'll take it as your agreement?" Li Xingyuan smiled when he heard Xie Hushan's agreement.

Xie Hushan laughed for a few seconds, then suddenly sighed:

"Director Li, I have the brigade behind me. I am just a front for running errands. The brigade has the final say on everything. Our Secretary Han is not an ordinary person. Just like you all listen to the county leaders, I, the director of a brigade-run enterprise, also have to listen to the brigade's arrangements. So although I agree to this matter, I still have to ask the brigade for instructions."

"..." Li Xingyuan looked at Xie Hushan, opened his mouth, wanted to say something, but swallowed it back.

There is something wrong with what Xie Hushan said. Factories in the county have to listen to the county leaders, but enterprises run by the team do not have to listen to the instructions of the brigade.

It was just that he had stayed in the factory in the county for a long time, and the county leaders rarely interfered in the specific affairs of the factory, so he did not realize for a while that Xie Hushan's factory was just a team-run enterprise.

Rural brigades are all poor units. If there is finally a team that runs an enterprise and makes some money, they will be kept a close eye on it.

Xie Hushan said to Li Xingyuan in a sincere tone:

"However, Director Li has been helping me all this time. I am a loyal person. To be honest, all the money earned by the factory has been taken away by the team recently. The team is quite strict. I don't have much extra money except for purchasing raw materials."

"If I go to the brigade to apply for a large sum of money, saying that I am going to build a new factory and add equipment, the brigade will definitely not agree. I tell you, once the money is in the hands of our Secretary Han, it will be like a tick in the dog's stomach. There is no way they will give up even if they die."

Li Xingyuan nodded slowly and sighed irritably.

Regardless of whether what Xie Hushan said was true or not, at least on the surface there was nothing wrong with it. It was impossible for the team not to send someone to keep an eye on a 19-year-old factory director. Any money had to be kept, for fear that the other party would spend it carelessly.

"But there is a solution to this problem," Xie Hushan continued.

"What do you mean?" Li Xingyuan raised his head and looked at Xie Hushan.

Xie Hushan seemed to have an idea:

"You can get a loan. What's there to worry about if the brigade doesn't give you money? You can just get a loan. But now that we don't have the brigade and the commune to support us, it may not be easy for our factory to get a loan. If Director Li uses the county wire drawing factory as a guarantee to help Zhongping Brigade get a loan, then this pipe factory will definitely be able to open, and the profits will be up to you."

Even Cao Ma, who was in charge of serving the guests, understood it all.

Well, two thieves meet each other.

This man named Li felt humiliated and wanted to take revenge. He used the contract as bait and wanted the third brother to open another factory to help him get revenge. The enemy would definitely look for the third brother first when they wanted to cause trouble.

The third brother is even more fucked up. He keeps talking about loyalty and wanting to help the eldest brother vent his anger, but then he changes the subject and asks the guy named Li to help Zhongping Brigade get a loan?

The money is about to be in the hands of the people in Zhongping. Let’s not talk about whether to help Mr. Li or not. How can we expect him to pay the money back?

(End of this chapter)