Reborn in 97, I solved a cold case at the Municipal Bureau

Chapter 280 Finding You

Zhou Jianguo's approach was truly like a novice beating a master.

As the saying goes, the soft fear the hard, the hard fear the ruthless, the ruthless fear the stubborn, and the stubborn fear the reckless.

The workers were laid off and had no way to make a living.

But the factory director wouldn't be like that. The factory director of a steel plant at the level of No. 2 Steel is not a professional manager hired by a private enterprise, but a state cadre.

If the matter of the Second Steel Plant is handled properly, Ding Zhengchang can still find another place to continue serving as a leader.

It might just mean a demotion or a nominal position, but at least you'll still have enough to eat and wear.

If it's not handled properly, the responsibility can be either big or small.

Therefore, Ding Zhengchang was most afraid of something going wrong, but he never expected that his own father would do this.

But as long as the outcome is good, at least this matter is temporarily resolved.

Zhou Jianguo said that after the factory manager made the promise, he went to Gate No. 3 to announce it to all the workers who came, and even took out the written agreement as proof, which made them believe him.

In fact, Zhou Yi had thought of this from the beginning: this matter would not have any real impact on the factory leaders.

The orders that my third uncle got were just a drop in the ocean, not even enough to cover the wages and resettlement fees for the first batch of laid-off workers, let alone change the fate of Ergang Steel.

So what he asked his father to do was a balancing act. By weighing reality against the consequences, the factory manager would ultimately know to choose the lesser of two evils.

Just be mindful of the factory manager's feelings and don't put him in an awkward position.

"Dad, I never realized you were so cunning before."

"I learned that from your mother."

"Come on, my mom isn't just cunning, she's just a big mouth and stingy."

Zhou Yi asked, "So, can we arrange for the steel coils to be shipped today? After all, it will take some time to deliver them, so we should try to speed things up as much as possible to avoid any unforeseen problems."

"We were able to ship the goods, but we encountered two problems..."

"what is the problem?"

Zhou Jianguo said, "First of all, the factory did not agree to give the other party a trial roll of steel. They were afraid that if the other party found a reason to say that it was not qualified, the factory would lose a roll of steel for nothing, and the accounts would not be balanced."

"So... is the factory asking us to pay for this steel coil in advance?" Zhou Yi had previously discussed with his third uncle that the cost of this steel coil would be paid later along with the first prepayment.

Zhou Jianguo nodded: "That's a lot of money... At the current market price, five tons of steel coils would cost eight or nine thousand yuan."

Zhou Yi wasn't clear on the market price of steel in 1997, but he trusted his father's and third uncle's judgment. "What's the other question?"

"There's also the transportation issue... The factory said they can lend us the vehicles, but we'll have to bear the cost ourselves."

"Doesn't the factory's delivery include transportation? I remember that Uncle San's quote to the other party already included transportation costs. Why do we still have to bear them ourselves?" Zhou Yi remembered very clearly that Uncle San had finished the calculations before telling him. Because Ergang's goods had never been delivered to such a far place before, he openly raised this additional price when he was negotiating with the other party, and the other party agreed.

"Yes, the factory will accept the normal deliveries, but they won't accept these trial-produced steel coils."

"Damn, the factory really isn't willing to take any risks at all. No wonder such a huge steel mill has become such a mess." Despite the complaints, the problem still needed to be solved. "Since the factory is willing to provide vehicles, the only costs are fuel and driver fees. By the way, is the factory even willing to provide drivers?"

Zhou Jianguo shook his head: "The factory manager said we have to figure out the drivers ourselves. I'm really worried about this. Those drivers in the transportation department are all seasoned veterans, they're not easy to deal with."

Zhou Yi thought for a moment and then asked, "Dad, let me ask you a question first."

"What's the problem?"

"Is the quality of the steel produced by your No. 2 Steel Plant up to standard?"

"Absolutely!" Zhou Jianguo immediately became proud when the Second Steel was mentioned. "Although the Second Steel is in decline now, it has never fallen behind in terms of production capacity and quality. You can rest assured that the quality is absolutely up to standard!"

Seeing his father's resolute tone, Zhou Yi said, "Alright, in that case, how about we advance the money for the first roll of steel and the transportation costs?"

Zhou Jianguo, who had been so confident, suddenly fell silent upon hearing this. "This... it must add up to almost ten thousand yuan, right?"

"What, are you feeling guilty?"

Zhou Jianguo, sticking his neck out, said, "Why would I be guilty? I just... our family doesn't have that much money."

“My mom has it. Grandpa’s savings book is with my mom.”

"But that was for your wedding, given to you by your grandfather."

“I’m not getting married right now, and besides, I’m only taking 10,000 yuan, not all of it. As long as the tractor factory passes the trial and there are no problems, they will pay the advance payment, and I can just get the money back then.”

Zhou Jianguo lowered his head in deep thought. Ten thousand yuan was no small sum.

"What if your mom doesn't agree...?"

Zhou Yi patted his father on the shoulder and said, "Dad, you can handle the factory manager, so why are you afraid you can't handle my mom?"

Zhou Jianguo clicked his tongue, thinking to himself, "Your mother is much harder to deal with than the factory director."

"Then... what about the driver?"

"Then don't ask me. With so many people supporting you, you can handle this yourself."

Just as Zhou Yi finished speaking, someone knocked on the door.

"Excuse me, is this Mr. Zhou Jianguo's house?"

The father and son looked at each other, and Zhou Yi said, "Why are you looking at me? I'm looking for you, Dad." Zhou Jianguo went to open the door, where a middle-aged man of about forty was standing.

“You are…” Zhou Jianguo realized he didn’t recognize the other person and had never seen him before.

"Are you Mr. Zhou, the forklift driver?" the man asked.

"Yes, you're also from our No. 2 Steel Plant?"

The man nodded and asked, "Do you have a son?"

Zhou Jianguo turned to Zhou Yi and said, "It's for you."

Zhou Yi found it strange; why would the people from the steel mill want to talk to him?
As soon as I walked over, the middle-aged man suddenly knelt down.

This caught the father and son off guard. The man knelt down and was about to kowtow when Zhou Yi stopped him.

Goodness, a stranger comes up to you without saying a word, kneels down and kowtows, anyone would be startled.

"Sir, please get up. I don't know you either. What's going on?" Zhou Yi asked as he and Zhou Jianguo helped the man up.

The middle-aged man said excitedly, "You saved my father's life. You are my great benefactor, Huang Xiaomao."

Zhou Yi suddenly realized that he was the son of the old man who had tried to commit suicide by jumping into the river that day.

……

Zhou Yi glanced at the clock on the wall and realized he was definitely skipping his shift this morning. He would go back and get a slip from Captain Wu, saying he was going on a field mission.

Zhou Jianguo brought Huang Xiaomao a stool and listened to him recount how the factory leaders had cheated and harmed him. Then Huang Xiaomao said that after he was released and went home, he heard about the incident from his father and quickly inquired about it before coming to express his gratitude.

"So you just got out of detention?" Zhou Yi asked.

Huang Xiaomao nodded: "As soon as I got home, my dad told me that I had met a really good person, otherwise he would have jumped down right then and there." Huang Xiaomao couldn't help but wipe away his tears.

"Master Huang, please don't act so impulsively in the future. No matter what, hitting someone is illegal."

"Sigh, I just couldn't resist..."

Zhou Jianguo immediately explained, "My son is a policeman."

Huang Xiaomao felt a renewed sense of awe, after all, he had just been released from the detention center.

"Master Zhou, Officer Zhou, the money you lent my father, I'll temporarily..."

Zhou Jianguo was confused, but Zhou Yi knew what he meant. He had given his father's name and said it was a loan so that the old man could take the money without feeling guilty.

“Master Huang, there’s no rush. We can talk about it later. I know your family is having some difficulties right now.”

Huang Xiaomao was moved to tears.

"Has the old man gone to the hospital for a check-up?"

“He refused to go, saying he would use the money to buy food first.”

Zhou Yi offered a few words of advice, but didn't insist too much. Everyone has their own choices, and he had already done his best.

Zhou Jianguo casually asked, "Master Huang, which workshop do you work in? I don't think I've seen you before."

"Oh, I drive a truck for the transportation department."

The term "driving a large truck" refers to driving a large truck that is responsible for transporting steel coils.

Zhou Jianguo was responsible for operating the forklift in the workshop. After the steel coils were produced, they would first be sent to the warehouse for registration, and then the transportation department would load, unload and ship them according to demand. So it was normal that he had never seen Huang Xiaomao.

Zhou Yi and Zhou Jianguo exchanged a glance, both surprised and delighted.

Zhou Yi hurriedly asked, "Master Huang, were you also on yesterday's layoff list?"

Huang Xiaomao sighed deeply: "When I got home, my wife told me all this. How am I going to live like this from now on?"

Zhou Yi quickly recounted what had happened the day before, leaving Huang Xiaomao utterly shocked. He only believed it when he saw the written agreement that Zhou Jianguo produced.

"Master Huang, we were just wondering who to ask for delivery, and we didn't expect you to come."

Before Zhou Yi could ask, Huang Xiaomao nodded repeatedly and said, "I can, I can deliver the goods."

Zhou Jianguo was overjoyed, and Zhou Yi asked, "Master Huang, will this be too much trouble for you?"

“They’ve already laid me off, so what’s the big deal? Since the factory is willing to provide a truck, there’s no problem. Five tons is considered a small steel coil, so I can handle it by myself. It’s just that it’s over a thousand kilometers to the south, right? I’ve never driven that far before.”

Zhou Yi urged him to drive safely, not to rush, and to make sure nothing went wrong. This roll of steel represented the hopes of more than 1,300 laid-off workers from the Second Steel Plant, and their hopes were all pinned on him.

Huang Xiaomao nodded repeatedly.

Zhou Yi told him that he could follow his father's arrangements, and Zhou Jianguo would give him the money for oil and food later.

Huang Xiaomao shook his head repeatedly, saying that he would just bring some boiled water and a bag of steamed buns.

Zhou Yi felt a pang of emotion; they were all quite simple and honest people, just a bit impulsive in their daily lives.

The matter with Ergang Steel has been temporarily resolved. As long as there are no problems after the first roll of steel is delivered, things will proceed normally. I'll call my third uncle later and ask him to keep an eye on the payment.

As for what happens next, Zhou Yi doesn't plan to think about it too much right now. After all, he wasn't a businessman in his previous life; he just knew about some trends of the times.

(End of this chapter)