1994: Starting with unpaid leave

Chapter 157 Being Watched

By mid-March, Qiqihar was already beginning to feel like spring.

The roads thaw during the day and freeze again at night, making muddy roads a common occurrence.

There's no way around it; it's located in the far north, a bitterly cold place, and it used to snow in early March.

However, it's much better than the harsh winter.

As usual, Mr. Wang from Hongqi Farm drove to Dong Jianguo's Hezhiwei restaurant early in the morning to deliver goods.

"Springtime brings the fragrance of a hundred flowers, and the waves crash and sway—"

He hummed a song along with the radio in the car, clearly in a good mood.

Dong Jianguo bought two farms and had them supply Hezhiwei with eggs and chicken feet at cost price.

As a result, the profits of Crane Flavor's braised eggs with gravy and pickled chicken feet increased out of nowhere.

They thought the farm was destined to be exploited, but to their surprise, Dong Jianguo arranged for all the farm's employees to get a raise.

Not only that, Dong Jianguo also made a bold move, establishing a new brand at Hongqi Farm under the name of Xin'angxi Food Processing Plant, and began wholesaling cut-up chicken products to the North Three Districts.

Whole chicken, chicken breast, chicken heart, chicken gizzard, chicken wings, chicken legs —

Boxes of refrigerated and frozen goods were distributed to the old men who had previously rented tin shacks to help distribute eggs, and any surplus was stored in the cold storage that Dong Jianguo had rented before.

The ex-factory price of these cut-up chickens is much higher than the price at which they were previously wholesaled to Liu Degui.

But without the unscrupulous middlemen taking a cut, both the farms and the distributors can still make money from it.

After the process, both sides felt that Dong Jianguo's leadership was effective.

Although driver Wang no longer received the extra perk of delivering goods to Dong Jianguo, he was still quite satisfied with the increased salary.

Before this, the farm was going to be sold by its superiors, and all the farm's employees thought they were going to lose their jobs—he was no exception.

In comparison, although the income is less, it's still better than having no livelihood at all.

It's so hard to find a job these days. There are mass layoffs everywhere. You're lucky if you can find a stable job.

"Beep beep!"

Seeing that the Lada ahead was driving a bit slowly, Mr. Wang couldn't help but frown.

With hands this clumsy, how dare you hit the road?!

Maybe it's some silly kid who doesn't have a driver's license and is sneaking around on the road!

Seeing that the car was not cooperating and refused to accelerate, Mr. Wang turned the steering wheel, intending to take a detour to go around it.

But as soon as he turned, the Lada in front of him seemed to have eyes in the back of its tail, and moved to the left, barely blocking the truck.

"Oh ho, getting all excited, huh?!"

Mr. Wang was somewhat annoyed.

The truck wasn't just loaded with cut-up chicken; it also carried eggs.

If you suddenly stop and brake, you might break the eggs. Wouldn't that cause a lot of trouble?!

Boss Dong had treated him well, and Master Wang didn't want to cause him any trouble.

But what you fear most is what happens most often.

As the Lada was driving, it suddenly slammed on the foot brake with a screeching sound.

Fortunately, Mr. Wang was alert enough to stop the car, thus avoiding a rear-end collision.

But when the truck stopped, a rattling sound still came from the back of the truck bed.

It looks like some eggs really did get broken.

"Damn, can't you drive?! It would be better if you could just ride a bicycle; at least you'd have two fewer wheels and wouldn't be so confused!"

As soon as he finished cursing, Mr. Wang regretted it.

The Lada that had stopped opened all four doors at the same time, and six or seven young men got out.

They all had buzz cuts, wore jackets, and walked with their chests open, seemingly unafraid of getting sick from old age; they looked like tough guys.

Mr. Wang shrank back, preparing to reverse.

As soon as I shifted into reverse, a horn blared from behind the car.

When Mr. Wang looked in his rearview mirror, he realized that a truck was blocking his way back.

Ok? !

Something's not right!

He has been driving this route from On Sai to North District 3 for many years and has never encountered this situation before.

Judging by this, it looks like they've encountered a highway robbery!

Even robberies don't involve stealing trucks!

How much money could a truck driver like me possibly have?

If we're rushing to buy things—

Imagine a truck bed with half a chicken and half eggs —

That just means they were really hungry.

Master Wang locked the driver's side door with a click, but unexpectedly, a kid jumped onto the passenger side steps and yanked open the passenger side door.

"So you just said we can't drive, right?"

"Slap! Slap!"

That kid didn't hold back with Master Wang either, and immediately slapped him twice, once on the left and once on the right.

Just as Master Wang was about to retaliate, he suddenly noticed what appeared to be a knife tucked under the open jacket.

Upon seeing this thing, he instantly cowered.

Forbearance a moment, calm, take a step back, a brighter future.

These folk proverbs, which are rarely used and would never be spoken, suddenly appeared in his mind.

"Young man, I'm sorry, I just spoke a little too loudly—"

"Damn it, good thing you know! Why are you yelling like that? Don't you know I have a heart condition? Damn it, pay up!"

"Huh? I don't have any money either! Besides, even if I did, would I be working as a truck driver for someone else?"

Master Wang had a long face, and what he said almost made the kid laugh out loud.

"Fine, no money? No problem. If you don't have money, we'll settle the debt with the goods in your truck!"

As he spoke, the young man reached out and pulled out the truck keys, shouting to his accomplices still standing guard under the truck, "What are you all standing there for? The driver agreed, unload the cargo!"

The men on the ground agreed and scrambled onto the truck bed to begin unloading the cargo.

They didn't touch the fragile eggs; they picked out boxes and boxes of cut-up chickens.

Mr. Wang was stunned for a moment, and instantly realized that these people were not after him or the money; they were clearly after the goods in the truck.

"Young man, I'm delivering goods for someone. You can't do this. This isn't mine; it belongs to someone else. I'll be in trouble later."

"Damn it, if it's too difficult, then don't do it!"

As the boy on the clothes rack spoke, a gleaming dagger appeared in his hand with a flick of his wrist.

He sneered, "Don't worry, we won't take it for nothing. We'll trade with you!"

Seeing that the goods were almost unloaded, he patted the truck door again, and his accomplices understood and started throwing the goods off the truck following behind Mr. Wang.

"See that? We also sell cut-up chicken, and our quality is much better than what's in your truck. Since we've met, you don't need to thank me!"

As he spoke, he raised his hand and patted Master Wang's face as a farewell.

Afterwards, they got back into the car they had come in with their group and sped away.

Mr. Wang was stunned for a moment before he remembered to go to the back of the truck bed to check.

As the leader of the group said, the goods they swapped into the truck bed were also cut-up chickens.

The packaging bag for the cut chicken didn't even have a manufacturer's name or production date; it was just a simple transparent bag.

Most importantly, these cut-up chicken pieces, along with the broth, were already showing signs of thawing. This kind of thing would spoil and go bad in less than a day, and even if you gave it away for free, no one would want it!

Master Wang knew that things weren't that simple.

He dared not delay, returned to the driver's seat, slammed on the gas, and sped off towards Tsuru no Mi.

Dong Jianguo's business has been going very well lately.

With the start of the school season, Hezhiwei's sweet and spicy flavored spicy strips have quickly gained popularity in primary and secondary schools across Northeast China thanks to their unique taste.

If you pass by the school gate during dismissal time, you can see groups of children gathered in a circle, sharing a bag of spicy strips.

Amidst hissing and laughing sounds, the children's little faces were all red from the cold.

However, after eating spicy snacks, their lips often turn bright red.

Dong Jianguo's spicy strips are not expensive; when they reach the retail level, they cost only 5 cents a bag.

This stuff is made from soaked flour, so the production cost is extremely low!

After opening up sales channels, quantitative changes led to qualitative changes, and the resulting profits even exceeded those of the factory's previous flagship product, braised eggs in gravy.

After acquiring the farm, the cost of braised eggs and chicken feet also decreased significantly.

Overall, spicy strips can't compete with these two for now, but their future looks promising.

Outside the gatehouse, the bicycle bell rang, signaling the arrival of the old guys who used to haul eggs.

Dong Jianguo put on a cotton-padded coat and went out to greet them.

"Wow, Jianguo, a boss as big as you is still working as a doorman!"

"Exactly! Why not get a bigger office, like the one our old factory director Gao had!"

"If we put a guard at the entrance to stand watch for you, wouldn't that be so impressive!"

Dong Jianguo smiled and said, "That's right. I'll buy two more big wolfhounds and put up a wire fence around the yard. I guarantee not even a fly will be able to get in."

"Hahaha, you little rascal!"

Having a lot of money or a little money doesn't mean anything. Once you take off your clothes and soak in the pool at the public bathhouse, who isn't naked anyway?

So even though Dong Jianguo has made a lot of money, he still greets his old coworkers with the same warmth and familiarity as before.

After handing out a cigarette to everyone, Dong Jianguo's gaze fell directly on Wei Daguo at the back of the crowd.

"Big Brother, how was business yesterday?"

"It's alright, I guess."

At the class reunion, Wei Daguo agreed to work with Dong Jianguo.

However, he didn't have much money at the beginning and couldn't afford to rent a tin shed, so he simply rode a tricycle and worked with Dong Jianguo for more than half a month.

It wasn't until the day before yesterday that I used the money I earned to rent a tin shack, finally having a permanent stall.

Yesterday he only sold eggs, but today he wants to come to Dong Jianguo's place to get some more cut-up chicken to try.

I'd heard from these other people who sell goods that cut-up chickens are more profitable than eggs!

Cut chicken is mainly frozen. It can be sold on the truck when the weather is cool, but it won't work when the weather warms up.

At least some foam boxes need to be placed outside, and then covered with cotton blankets, so that it will melt more slowly.

Previously, it was difficult to handle these things with a tricycle, but with a stall, the storage conditions are much easier to solve.

Dong Jianguo reached out and lit a cigarette for Wei Daguo, then patted him on the shoulder: "Everything is difficult at the beginning. Even if the business doesn't take off yet, don't worry. I've seen the location of your iron shed. There are several residential areas nearby, so the business will definitely be good in the future."

Dong Jianguo has never neglected the business of helping people select sales points, after all, it also involves the plan for selling small quantities of goods.

In fact, he had planned to do just that today: "Everyone, stay a little longer and come to our warehouse. Each of you take a box of braised eggs, two boxes of pickled chicken feet, and three boxes of spicy strips."

"What's wrong, Jianguo? Are you giving us some perks?"

"Stop kidding, you guys make plenty of money all the time, do you expect me to give you benefits?!"

"I just want to ask everyone for a favor! You all have your own stalls, so please take our factory's snacks and help sell them. You can pay me back once they're sold out. But let's be clear from the start, if you want to buy from me in the future, you'll have to pay first, then you can buy."

Hearing him say that, the honest men all nodded: "Sure, no problem!"

"You tell me how to sell it, and I'll do it exactly that way for you! I'll make sure everything is clear!"

"My kid's been asking for spicy snacks every day lately. I thought I'd check out what these are!"

"Beep beep!"

Everyone turned their heads and immediately recognized that it was the truck that was delivering eggs to Dong Jianguo.

Tian Lina came out of the finance office with a notebook in her hand and said, "Get all the money ready. We'll be collecting the money by weight later."

Wholesale eggs require weighing first, then cash on delivery.

It was this model that allowed Dong Jianguo to quickly recover funds, preventing him from being in dire financial straits in the early stages of factory construction.

The truck parked in the yard, and Mr. Zhao, the truck driver from Keshan County, jumped out of the truck and helped unload the cargo.

Now that there's a supply of cheap eggs, Dong Jianguo simply started wholesaling eggs from Keshan County to his old friends.

The food factory uses raw materials supplied exclusively from Hongqi Farm.

In fact, Dong Jianguo also intended to separate the wholesale and factory businesses, otherwise it would be inconvenient to do accounting and tax filing in the future.

The courtyard was bustling with activity, but Dong Jianguo was slacking off. He stood outside the factory gate, a cigarette dangling from his lips, staring blankly at the azure sky.

I'll be going to Beijing in two weeks.

With the money I have, after buying two farms, I'll still have enough left to buy a courtyard house.

He hadn't decided whether to use the money to open more branch factories or to prepare a house for his daughter near the capital.

Buying a house is a sure thing, and expanding production is also a sure thing.

How should I choose?

It's so annoying!

Just as I was thinking of driving to the end, a truck sped in.

Dong Jianguo took one look and recognized it as the truck from Hongqi Farm.

crunch————

The truck was parked outside the gate, its tires screeching against the ground, making Dong Jianguo feel like his teeth were about to ache from the sourness.

Seeing Master Wang jump off the car in a panic, Jianguo frowned slightly.

"Director Dong, something terrible has happened! Our factory has offended someone and is being targeted!"

When Master Wang got closer, Dong Jianguo saw that both sides of his cheeks were swollen to the thickness of half a finger.

Looks like he's been beaten up!

"Master Wang, don't rush, tell me slowly, what happened?"

"Someone flagged down our truck halfway and switched our goods!"

Ignoring the pain in his cheek, Master Wang told Dong Jianguo everything that had happened on the road.

Stopping vehicles, blocking roads, assaulting people, and exchanging goods.

As he listened to his vivid description, Dong Jianguo couldn't help but frown.

Mr. Wang's deduction was correct; it seems he was indeed being watched.

Could it be Liu Degui?

But does this person really have the guts to do such a thing?

The more Dong Jianguo thought about it, the more impossible it seemed.

But who else but him would resort to such despicable means to disgust themselves?!

Just then, several workers from the textile factory came out of the courtyard: "Jianguo, we've almost finished moving all the eggs in the yard. When are you going to pack up the cut-up chickens for us?"

Dong Jianguo gave a wry smile and shrugged: "Sorry guys, we're out of chickens today—"

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