My 1978 Hotel

"Hanjiaba has really solved a big problem."

Secretary Gao was in a great mood. He waved to Han Anjun early in the morning and asked him to have breakfast with him and Secretary Wu.

"Yes, I didn't expect that we would not only hire carpenters, but also build roads. This time we're hiring even more people."

Secretary Wu smiled and said, "An Jun, did Captain Han say how many people they're recruiting this time?"

"The specifics are still unclear."

Han Anjun quickly put down his chopsticks. "This road repair is a temporary plan, but from Hanjiaba to the commune, the workload is probably quite large, and the number of people hired will not be small."

"It would be better to hire more."

Gao Ming took a sip of porridge. "If we hire more people, the pressure on us will be less."

"Yes, Captain Han, this is a huge support for our commune's work."

Wu Feng echoed Secretary Gao, saying that this in-law had given him many surprises, and that the Hanjiaba Furniture Factory was probably even more extraordinary than he had imagined. "An Jun, you should take the lead in handling this matter and get Captain Han to finalize it as soon as possible."

"Yes."

Secretary Gao said, “We can’t just stand by and watch. An Jun, go back and ask Captain Han what he needs. As long as the commune has it and we can provide it, we will do our best to provide it. Even if we can’t provide it, we will try our best to give him some support.”

Gao Ming has made his stance clear: the production brigade is so supportive of your work, it would be unreasonable for you not to offer some support in return, otherwise who would want to work for you in the future?

"Secretary Gao, Secretary Wu, don't worry, I'll go back to Hanjiaba after get off work today."

Han Anjun quickly pledged, "I will definitely take back the instructions from Secretary Gao and Secretary Wu."

"How about this."

Wu Feng looked at Gao Ming. "Secretary Gao, let An Jun go back to Hanjiaba this afternoon, consider it a half-day off for him."

"This is work, but since Secretary Wu said we should go back this afternoon."

"Okay, I'll give you two days off the day after tomorrow."

Gao Ming laughed and said, "The young couple just got married, they can't always be so focused on work, otherwise I'm afraid Captain Han will complain to me, haha, I'll delay him from having a grandson."

"Hahaha."

"Secretary Wu, am I right?"

Gao Ming was in a very good mood. He had thought that this year's work would be difficult, but he did not expect that Hanjiaba would solve a lot of problems for them. The recruitment of carpenters alone solved part of the problem. Now, they also need to repair roads. If you calculate it this way, the grain problem of Maya Commune has been solved by at least one-third.

Now the work is much easier. It's also easier to ask the county for relief. The county knows the situation. If he asked for ten points, the county might have hesitated to give him seven or eight. But now that he's asking for nine, the county only needs to give him six or seven, which will be enough to solve Ma Ya's problem.

County leaders will think that cadres who are sensible, capable, and competent at this stage will be promoted quickly.

“Secretary Wu, An Jun’s work also needs to be reorganized, and the younger generation should be given more responsibilities.”

Gao Ming said with a smile, and Han Anjun's eyes lit up, but he still humbly said that he was still young and afraid of not doing a good job and letting down the leaders. "Young people are not afraid of making mistakes, they are only afraid of not doing their jobs. Besides, Secretary Wu and I are here to keep an eye on things."

"Good job."

Wu Feng patted his son-in-law on the shoulder. Although this kid's family is from the countryside, they have provided considerable support. This time, he will at least take a few years of detours. With Secretary Gao's words, things will be much easier. Wu Feng will definitely arrange everything properly.

"Why don't you go back with Xiaofeng this afternoon? You haven't been back for days, have you?"

"too busy."

“Take more care of your family. The Hanjiaba Furniture Factory is doing well, and it will be a great asset to you in the future. You and Li Feng have a good relationship, so get to know him better; he's a talented person,” Wu Feng said. “Putting everything else aside, his writing alone is remarkable. If he mentions you even briefly in his articles, the region, and even the province, will know about you. This will be a huge help to you in the future.”

"I know."

Han Anjun hesitated for a moment before saying, "Dad, I understand what you mean, but I don't want to make things too complicated. Li Feng isn't an outsider, and besides..."

“You’re right, I was a bit too eager for quick success. Just treat him the way you want.” Wu Feng understood Han Anjun’s thoughts immediately, and that was fine. “Visit his home later.”

I plan to have Han Anjun take some of the gifts and food I sent last time back with me.

At this moment, the furniture factory in Hanjiaba was bustling with activity. New tools were being used, and carpenters from more than a dozen brigades gathered around to listen to how Gao Jiu used the drilling machine. "This is great! It's much faster than drilling by ourselves."

"Yes, they can take on one by one. No wonder the furniture here is made so quickly."

These carpenters were seeing this kind of gadget for the first time, and they were all amazed. However, they were a bit slow to learn. Fortunately, they were all experienced carpenters, so although they were slow, their accuracy was quite high.

"How about it?"

"Not bad, but it's inevitable to be a little rusty the first time you're using it."

Gao smiled and said, "I guarantee that these master chefs will be able to get the hang of it in a week at most."

"A week is not bad. It's about time to go back. I can bring some equipment back with me when I come back."

Li Feng sounded worried again. "I'm afraid we'll need to get more diesel fuel, otherwise the generator might not last long."

"Didn't the commune say they would offer any support?"

"I already said so, but this will require several more trips. We should try to get as much as possible," Li Feng said with a smile. "Ideally, we could have the generator running 24/7."

"Hahaha, boss, you're going too far. How can you expect us to work 24/7?" Gao thought to himself, "Boss, you should change your surname to Zhou now. Only a skinflint like Zhou would do this."

"I'm thinking of making more furniture."

"To earn more money."

Li Feng was a little worried. "I'm afraid the county furniture factory might come knocking on our door one day. We can't afford to do this without some savings."

"You mean the county furniture factory? I really don't know anything about it. Why is there no news about it?"

"I've also inquired. I'll ask Anjun when he gets back." Li Feng found it quite strange. He wouldn't know if they hadn't sent anything to the power plant before, but the power plant had sent several furniture carts and oxcarts. It would be hard for him not to notice.

"The county furniture factory isn't reacting much, that's strange."

Li Feng muttered to himself, "Could it be that we haven't placed enough orders? That shouldn't be the case, we've closed quite a few deals lately, haven't we?"

"We have quite a lot of pre-orders."

Gao said, “There are more than a dozen pre-orders in the county, including some from county officials. If word has spread throughout the county, the county furniture factory couldn’t possibly be unaware of it.”

"It's a little strange."

Li Feng didn't understand. "I'll find out what's going on after I ask around."

"You go ahead with your work, I'm heading back now."

Li Feng didn't miss his teaching duties. He had originally planned to visit Liu Wei and the others today, but he was blocked at home by Wang Dapao and his gang early in the morning, leaving Li Feng a little dazed. What was he doing so early in the morning?

Who knew that this guy would come to ask about the road repairs, completely ignoring what I said earlier. I finally managed to get rid of him, but it's almost noon now. Going to see Liu Wei and the others is out of the question; there's not enough time to go back and forth.

"Thinking about it, it's alright. I told Anmin to let me know immediately if anything happened, and the fact that he hasn't let me know means it's not a big problem." After a day or two, it seems like nothing serious has happened.

Back home, Li Feng glanced at the chickens; there were still quite a few. He cut one up to stew. Yesterday's pheasant hadn't yielded any meat, so the chickens he brought over had some. As for whether they laid eggs or not, Li Feng didn't care. He didn't have enough food to feed them, and besides, he'd definitely be bringing some equipment back this time, probably another dozen or twenty hens. "Er Ya, call your sister back to boil water."

As soon as Da Ya came back, she went to the furniture factory to polish furniture to earn money. Talking to her was useless. Li Feng looked at her homework; it was well-written and neat. "There's too little homework at school these days." Li Feng planned to bring some test papers later, so Da Ya wouldn't have time to go out and work anymore.

"Er Ya, boil water."

Er Ya smacked her lips. The little girl loved meat, but when the chicken was being killed just now, she had stopped them, saying she wanted to keep it for eggs and that she didn't like eating it. Now she'd exposed herself. "Alright then, tell your sister later not to go to the furniture factory all the time. Your dad has money."

"Oh."

"Fine, these two little girls," Li Feng sighed helplessly. "Let's cook first." He stewed mushrooms, chicken, and potatoes, along with some dried green beans—a big pot of stew—and made some cornbread.

"smell good."

"You're back. Hurry up and wash your hands and eat."

Li Feng wiped his hands and took off his apron. "So, did you get any gifts?"

"No, not even a bird."

Tian Hao muttered to himself, "I thought I could catch some pheasants and rabbits."

"It's quite desolate in the mountains."

"There's nothing we can do. The weather's been too dry this year, and a lot of plants in the mountains have died." Li Feng brought out the cornbread. "Eat it while it's hot."

"Are we having braised chicken in a clay pot today?"

"almost."

Li Feng took the stir-fried anchovies with chili peppers that Er Ya brought over. The last batch of chili peppers was extremely spicy, and stir-fried with anchovies, it was a perfect match. This stuff is the best accompaniment to rice. There was also a pickled bamboo shoot, two side dishes, and a stew of chicken with mushrooms, dried potatoes, and green beans.

The dish had a slightly Northeastern flavor, Li Feng thought to himself, but whatever, as long as it tasted good.

"It's delicious."

"Cousin, your cooking skills are getting better and better."

"It's okay."

Li Feng thought to himself, "It's hard for this guy not to cook well for you guys every day. But these cornbreads are really fragrant and have a strong grain flavor. I'll take some back with me and make some pancakes for Zhaoxia, Li Yi, and Li Ran to try."

My parents sent some too, and I'll also bring some to my father-in-law. This corn tastes really good.

While they were eating, there was a knock on the door. Li Feng got up to open it.

"An Jun, Comrade Xiao Feng, you're back! Come in and sit down, it's time to eat, let's have something to eat together?"

Li Feng invited the two into the house.

"have eaten."

"But this smells so good!" Wu Xiaofeng thought to herself. "What delicious food is this? It smells amazing!"

"This is what you are doing?"

"Nothing much, just two bottles of wine."

Han Anjun brought several bottles of wine, as well as snacks, fruit, and other gifts, as a way of thanking Li Feng for his help. "You're too kind."

"Sit down and have something to eat."

"No, no, we've already eaten. We need to go home. You guys eat." After saying that, the two got up to leave, and Li Feng saw them off out of the courtyard.

The two left the courtyard and pushed their bicycles home.

"I didn't expect Comrade Li Feng's family to have such good food."

Wu Xiaofeng exclaimed that even though her family were commune cadres, they didn't usually eat so extravagantly. Such a big pot of chicken, along with stir-fried dried fish and stewed eggs—this guy, usually only leaders in the capital get such good food.

"It might be because we had guests at home."

Han Anmin thought to himself, "He's a big writer. His royalties and subsidies are higher than the combined salaries of the two of us. It's normal for him to eat better. Besides, the furniture factory also has consulting fees and marketing expenses."

Han Anjun didn't mention the extra money to Wu Xiaofeng, since it was a matter for the furniture factory and it wasn't appropriate to tell others, as it wouldn't look good if word got out.

"Oh, right, every time I come here I see that Comrade Li Feng's family has guests."

Wu Xiaofeng said with a smile, "I really didn't expect Comrade Li Feng to have so many relatives."

"Fortunately, the readers don't know that Comrade Li Feng lives here, otherwise it would definitely be even more lively."

The two chatted and laughed as they returned home. Li Feng went inside and ate a cornbread. "Oh dear, I forgot to ask Anjun about the furniture factory in Anjun County. Oh well, I'll go find Anjun later." Han Anjun had just arrived home, and Li Feng didn't want to go over right now.

The couple came back together; it's the new bride's first time home, so they'll probably be busy for a while. In the afternoon, Li Feng went to the furniture factory, intending to go find An Jun later, but unexpectedly, Han Fuguo sent someone to call him first.

"Uncle Fu Guo, what's the matter?"

"Sit down and talk."

Han Fuguo seemed to be in a good mood. Li Feng sat down and took the cigarette An Jun offered him. "I'll do it myself," An Jun said, lighting the cigarette. Li Feng could only take a puff.

"I called you all here today because there are some things I need to discuss with you."

Han Fuguo said, “An Jun just came back and told me that when Secretary Gao and Secretary Wu heard about the road construction, they attached great importance to it and sent An Jun over to ask when we would start construction and how exactly we would do it.”

“Fengzi, you brought this up. What are your thoughts on this?”

Han Fuguo looked at Li Feng. "Your Uncle Futian and I just discussed it and decided to start the preparatory work first."

"Right now, the river and streams are dry, and there are plenty of pebbles and rocks in them. How about we dig them out and transport them to the crossroads?" Han Fuguo asked Li Feng. "Fengzi, what do you think?"

"Okay, we should start preparing."

Li Feng said, “Uncle Fuguo, I think your and Uncle Futian’s suggestion is quite good. That way, we can start making moves in Wangjiazhuang and Lijiazhai first.”

“We’ll collect these pebbles and stones for now. We won’t talk about how much we’ll get paid per day; we’ll charge by the truckload.”

Li Feng said with a smile, "This way it'll be easier to settle the accounts."

"In the early stages, we were short-handed, and most of the workers were women, children, and the elderly. They weren't good at heavy physical labor, but they could do tasks like digging stones."

"So it's settled then?"

Let's make a decision.

“Okay, then, I’ll have An Jun ride his bike over there later and call Wang Dapao and the others from Wangjiazhuang and Lijiazhai over to discuss it,” Han Fuguo said. “Let’s finalize the stone-digging arrangements beforehand.”

"Then I'll be there in a bit."

Han Anjun nodded; a round trip by bicycle would take just over an hour to visit both households. (End of Chapter)