Beautiful beauties in the 80s courtyard

Chapter 512 Tracking Suspicious Persons
The food factory now has ten large trucks.

Today's food factory is no longer the simple little factory it once was, but a fairly mature state-owned enterprise.

The only drawback is that it has only been established for a short time. The handicrafts collected need to be handled by the neighborhood committee, so Shao Le is mainly in charge this time.

Lu Qiaoge and Shao Le inspected the items on the spot. The prices had been agreed upon in advance. There were some new styles, and Lu Qiaoge, Director Zhu, and the commune cadres sat down to discuss and agree on a suitable price.

In one afternoon, all the handicrafts in the warehouse, including more than 3,000 straw hats, were carefully loaded into the truck bed.

Lu Qiaoge brought money with her, specifically a lot of small bills, including one or two mao and a few fen, which she put in a canvas bag and counted out according to the total amount.

After paying, there was still some money left in the bag.

President Zhu's eyes lit up when he saw the huge pile of money. Then he noticed the remaining money in the bag and thought to himself: If we collected more, Director Lu's bag would probably be empty.

On the way back, Xiao Cangcang reported to Lu Qiaoge: "[Little Master, I found a suspicious person. He's been loitering around Luo Aijun's house a lot these past few days. Just now, he glanced into our compound from the main gate and then left.]"

Lu Qiaoge was stunned for a moment.

If Zhen Meili had sent someone to harm her, it wouldn't have happened so quickly.

Unlike in later generations when we have cell phones to communicate, the only ways to contact each other now are by writing letters or making phone calls. But these calls are not approved by the relevant authorities, so they can't be made, and no one will transfer them.

Then came sending telegrams, but this took even longer, and going through international routes was no longer an option.

Besides that, there are basically no other ways.

That's why Lu Qiaoge felt that the other party wouldn't dig out the nails here so quickly.

Lu Qiaoge asked Xiao Cangcang, "Where did this person go now?"

He walked towards Luo Aijun's school.

Tao Tao described it in detail: "He's about fifty years old, of medium height, walks quite fast, seems to be nearsighted, and always squints when looking at people. We'll keep following him."

Lu Qiaoge praised Tao Tao and Xiao Cangcang. Tao Tao, happy to be on such a mission for the first time, followed Xiao Cangcang to track down the man who had appeared out of nowhere.

Shao Le drove these items directly to the street office.

Lu Qiaoge had already reported this to Director Hu beforehand.

There's no need to sell them to outsiders for now; these handicrafts can be sold in the military factory's department store.

Director Hu looked at the handicrafts in the truck and, to his surprise, they were all exquisite. He said some of them could even be exported.

The person who answered the phone was the manager of the department store. Knowing that the handicrafts that Lu Qiaoge had acquired had already been brought back, he immediately told Director Hu, "Bring them to the department store now. I happen to be in the office right now. I'll go and talk to Director Tao."

Director Tao is in charge of procurement.

Shao Le drove Lu Qiaoge to the department store. The handover went very smoothly. Director Tao and a dozen workers carried all the handicrafts down and placed them directly in a special counter on the first floor.

Lu Qiaoge followed her inside. The counter had three sections connected together, with three shelves for displaying samples of these handicrafts. The space behind it was also quite spacious, where baskets, winnowing trays, and other items could be placed.

These are all everyday necessities.

There was a banner on the wall with the slogan "Workers and peasants are one family".

Manager Gong smiled and said to Lu Qiaoge, "This time we've also consulted with our superiors, so we don't need ration coupons; we can just buy them directly with money." Lu Qiaoge smiled back, "Manager Gong is so efficient. I'll continue to purchase handicrafts from the members of Manshan Commune. They're really into side businesses right now. I heard from Chairman Zhu that they've also started raising livestock. We can even hold a market sometime, where we can trade goods instead of money."

Manager Gong: "Factory Director Lu, just tell President Zhu to let them buy it. I can't say how much we can buy and how much we can sell, but we can definitely sell it in the early stages."

The workers at the 516 military factory still have considerable purchasing power.

Lu Qiaoge didn't initially plan to sell these handicrafts; she would consider it once the market was saturated.
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Director Lü quickly called Lu Qiaoge.

The higher authorities expressed their basic agreement with Luo Ziwen's wishes, but the specifics would need to be discussed in person, with the meeting to be held in Nancheng.

She even specifically asked Lu Qiaoge to tell Luo Ziwen to come without hesitation and not to feel guilty.

Director Lü wouldn't say anything more, but Luo Ziwen should know the answer himself.

As for purchasing equipment, we'll discuss that later. However, as mentioned above, Lu Qiaoge can do business with Luo Ziwen if feasible.

Director Lü thought for a moment, then stopped hesitating and said directly to Lu Qiaoge, "Isn't Luo Ziwen in the electronics business? He also has several electronics factories. You can exchange handicrafts with him for electronic products, such as radios and televisions."

Lu Qiaoge knew that Luo Ziwen had a black and white television production line, but she heard that it would soon be converted to a color television production line.

Lu Qiaoge had no concerns.

Nothing she did was for her own personal gain, and from any perspective, no one could find fault with her.

If I had to nitpick, it would be that she is a lesbian and not very old.

But now, nobody dares to bring up the fact that she's a lesbian.

Lu Qiaoge said decisively, "Then let's exchange the handicrafts for the radios first. Our Xiangyang Handicraft Factory's newly developed Linglong brand handbags are very popular in the port city, but our current sales trend is limited edition. We currently have more than two hundred pieces in stock. However, we make high-quality products, and the price is also high, but the sales are very good. There is no need to even put them on the counter. Zhen Xi has set up a pre-sale, and it is said that more than three thousand orders have been received... We can give Luo Ziwen some handbags, and the rest depends on his wishes."

Director Lü naturally knew about the new products that Xiangyang Arts and Crafts Factory had developed.

To be honest, he had only heard the description and hadn't seen the actual product yet.

But the price is really high.

The price of a woman's handbag is equivalent to that of a bicycle.

But actually, radios aren't cheap these days because the cost is too high.

Director Lü said gently, "Qiao Ge, I've always trusted you to get things done. Just do it your way."

“Then I will exchange some of my handbags, along with other handicrafts, for Luo Ziwen’s radio.”

After a pause, Lu Qiaoge asked Director Lü, "What should we do with this radio after it's brought back?"

This is different from the foreign exchange received. In foreign exchange, the funds are simply retained and then allocated to these companies according to regulations.

State-owned enterprises are basically supported by the state. Regardless of whether they make money or not, the government will allocate funds to pay workers' wages.

This is the benefit of a planned economy.

(End of this chapter)