Courtyard House: Purchasing Agents' Comeback from the Great Famine

Wang Feng chatted with Li Huaide in the factory manager's office for more than an hour, until he finished half a pack of cigarettes, and then left the factory manager's office.

During this time, he told Li Huaide that Qin Jingru had given birth to his son. Li Huaide was prepared and knew that his son would be born either before or after the New Year. If it was before the New Year, he would be born in the Year of the Pig, and if it was after the New Year, he would be born in the Year of the Rat. He directly gave him a small golden pig that he had prepared in advance to take back to his son. It weighed about ten grams.

After leaving the steel rolling mill, Wang Feng returned to courtyard number 95.

The meat I had agreed to with Li Huaide will be delivered in a few days, and then we'll prepare for the New Year.

When Wang Feng returned to the house, Lu Banxia had already returned after taking leave.

"Brother Feng, I heard from Sister Jingru that you just went to the steel rolling mill?"

Wang Feng sat down, poured himself a cup of tea, and said, "The New Year is just around the corner. Li Huaide needed to see me, so I went over there."

"oh."

Lu Banxia didn't ask any further questions, and smiled as she asked, "Are we still killing the old hen for lunch?"

Wang Feng shook his head: "Let's make crucian carp soup for lunch. I heard it helps with lactation."

"OK."

......

Time flies, and it's already the 26th of the twelfth lunar month. This year, there's no Lunar New Year's Eve; the factory will be closed for the holiday on the 29th of the twelfth lunar month.

Wang Feng arrived at the factory early this morning, went directly to the transportation department, got a truck, and left the steel rolling mill.

He arranged with Li Huaide to deliver the meat to the factory on the 26th. The canteen was to process the meat a day in advance, since it was freezing cold and they weren't worried about the meat spoiling.

After driving around in his truck for over an hour, Wang Feng took out four large wild boars, more than two hundred wild rabbits, and more than two hundred fish from his spatial storage before returning to the steel mill.

As the car pulled into the cafeteria, Li Huaide and several other leaders, including Minister Ma, were already waiting for him. As soon as Wang Feng got out of the car, Li Huaide greeted him with a hearty laugh.

Seeing so much meat, Li Huaide finally felt relieved and laughed heartily:

"Haha, bro, you're really something! You've really helped me out this time."

Minister Ma also came over and said with a smile, "Section Chief Wang, you are really something. I, Old Ma, admire people like you who are capable of getting things done."

"Yes, Section Chief Wang, if it weren't for the fact that you got so much meat this time, our factory would definitely be in chaos this year," Director Zhu chimed in.

Wang Feng took out a Daqianmen cigarette, handed one to each of them, and waved with a smile:

"Of course, of course. I am the deputy head of the purchasing department, after all. I can't just take a salary and not do any work."

"Haha, Section Chief Wang, your awareness is truly remarkable!"

Minister Ma gave a thumbs up, genuinely liking subordinates like Wang Feng—he was easy to manage and highly capable.

Standing in the kitchen, He Daqing saw Wang Feng chatting and laughing with a group of factory directors and ministers, and his eyes were filled with undisguised envy.

When Ya Ya saw Wang Feng, she wanted to go up and greet him, but Aunt Wu forcefully suppressed her.

Liu Lan was even more envious of Qin Jingru for finding such a good man. Her man was not only a gambling addict, but he also beat her and her daughter every day. He even tried to sell her daughter. In the end, he died on the street. Compared to Wang Feng, her man was like a bug compared to a dragon. There was no comparison at all.

Fortunately, Qin Jingru was kind-hearted and lent her 100 yuan to pay off her husband's gambling debts. Otherwise, her daughter would have died before her husband died.

She had saved up 100 yuan for over a year before finally paying it back this month. She had Aunt Wu give the money to Qin Jingru.

After Wang Feng and Li Huaide finished their cigarettes, Li Huaide instructed Director Zhu:

"Director Zhu, please arrange for someone to weigh him quickly. My sister-in-law just gave birth to my brother's son, and he's eagerly waiting to go home and hold his baby."

Li Huaide openly addressed Wang Feng as a brother in front of a group of cadres, without any attempt to hide it. Now, all the cadres in the factory were his people, so he had nothing to worry about. Moreover, he hadn't given Wang Feng any special treatment, so even if someone reported him, he wasn't afraid, because Wang Feng was genuinely capable.

Minister Ma and others all knew that Wang Feng and Li Huaide had a very close relationship, so they paid even more attention to Wang Feng. Although Wang Feng was only a junior manager in the factory, they dared not underestimate him. After all, he was young and capable, and more importantly, he had the protection of the factory director, Li Huaide. His future prospects were limitless.

"Old He, Old He, come out and get on the scale."

He Daqing didn't dare to throw a tantrum. With a wave of his hand, several male kitchen helpers came out and started weighing the items.

After He Daqing and his team worked hard, the weights were tallied: four wild boars weighed 1290 jin, 212 wild rabbits weighed 892 jin, and 206 grass carp weighed 1066 jin. The total gross weight of all the meat was a full 3248 jin.

Wang Feng had calculated carefully that the factory was short 2,300 jin of meat. If he brought exactly 3,000 jin, he might not be able to slaughter 2,300 jin of meat, so he had to add another 200 jin.

That's just how people are. If everyone at the front gets a share, then when the people at the back don't get any, they're bound to cause trouble. There's nothing you can do about it.

Li Huaide generously wrote out the receipts for Wang Feng, offering the highest prices he could: 7.5 yuan for a live pig, 4.5 yuan for a wild rabbit, and 3.5 yuan for a fish.

It must be said that Li Huaide is a really good leader. If you do something for him, he will definitely try his best to get benefits for his subordinates.

Wang Feng put away the note, said goodbye to Li Huaide and the others, drove the car back to the transportation department, collected the money from the finance department, and then left the steel rolling mill.

Four wild boars weighed 1290 jin (645 catties), which is 9675 yuan at 7.5 yuan per jin; wild rabbits weighed 892 jin (446 catties), which is 4014 yuan at 4.5 yuan per jin; and fish weighed 1066 jin (538 kg), which is 3731 yuan at 3.5 yuan per jin. This time, I received a total of 17420 yuan, which would require a large bag to hold it all.

Wang Feng wasn't interested in this small amount of money anymore. If it weren't for the fact that Li Huaide was a decent person and had helped him a lot before, and that he would need Li Huaide's help in the future, he wouldn't care whether Li Huaide lived or died.

On his way back to Courtyard No. 95, seeing a group of disheveled and ragged refugees, and several children shivering from the cold, Wang Feng sighed helplessly. He couldn't help them, and he wouldn't help them.

Currently, over 90% of the population in the country is starving, which is beyond human capability to solve. He wouldn't be so reckless as to risk being discovered by delivering food to refugees.

Human nature is selfish. He can't care about other people's lives or deaths, nor does he want to. He just wants the people he cares about to live well.