Sha Zhu's Rebirth in the Courtyard: Starting with Hitting Someone in the Head

Chapter 91 Subduing Li Huaide

In April, at the Quanjude Elegant Room.

Li Huaide arrived early. Six dishes were already laid out on the table: crystal duck tongue, mustard duck feet, salted duck liver, roasted duck heart, and stir-fried duck intestines with scallions, along with a freshly roasted duck.

Thin pancakes, sweet bean sauce, shredded scallions, and cucumber strips are laid out, and a chef is waiting to slice the roast duck.

He Yuzhu pushed open the door, glanced at the table, and took off his coat, draping it over the back of his chair. "Brother Li, has Quanjude shrunk down now? All they offer are these few dishes?"

Li Huaide stood up, pressed him into a chair, picked up a bottle of Moutai, and poured him a full glass: "Brother, do you think this is New Year's? These days, I have to pull strings to get six dishes on a table at Quanjude. The quantity is limited every day."

The two of them had a couple of drinks, the roast duck slices were ready, and then the chef closed the door and left.

Li Huaide got down to business, poured more wine, and said, "Brother He, today's meal is firstly to thank you for reminding me to stockpile grain, and secondly to thank you for providing me with plenty of meat during my promotion."

He put down the bottle, a smug look on his face. "The appointment has come through. I'm the deputy factory director, in charge of the factory's logistics and publicity."

He Yuzhu raised his glass and clinked it with his: "Congratulations, Brother Li. What was Yang Honglin's reaction?"

"Him? The workers all praise my logistics department, saying it's far superior to other factories. He wanted to target logistics, but he couldn't find a way to do it."

Li Huaide picked up a piece of duck heart and chewed it. "When he first took over as factory director, he targeted me and tried to suppress my reputation. Now that I'm the deputy factory director, as long as I can ensure that the workers don't go hungry, I'll turn the tables and suppress him."

"I've finally released most of the pent-up frustration I've been holding in for the past few months." Li Huaide put down his chopsticks and moved closer to He Yuzhu. "Brother, it feels good, but there's still a headache to come. To be honest, what worries me most right now is food."

Even after the factory downsizing, there are still over 8,000 people. The grain I stockpiled outside the factory isn't enough to feed so many people every day. The rations have been reduced, but more and more people are experiencing edema. If this continues, something terrible will happen sooner or later. That's why I'm asking you again—do you have any good solutions?

He Yuzhu finished chewing the roast duck in his mouth, took out a Zhonghua cigarette and lit it. He leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes and sorted out his thoughts. In his previous life, Li Huaide relied on his father-in-law's connections to get through various units by begging and pleading.

With him by my side, this life is different. Piecing together the memories of both lives and combining them with the knowledge in his mind, He Yuzhu opened his eyes: "Brother Li, three paths. First, the factory saves itself. That spare land behind your factory has been abandoned for so many years, open it up and plant whatever you can. Cabbage, radishes, potatoes, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, whatever is hardy and high-yielding, plant it."

Each workshop is assigned a vegetable patch, and workers take turns tending it after get off work. Production is factored into the workshop's performance evaluation, and the output goes to the canteen. Don't throw away the canteen's rotten vegetable leaves; each workshop is responsible for raising chickens and rabbits. They can be raised simply by putting them in cages. The eggs and meat are specially supplied to the workers suffering from edema; no one else can complain even if they're envious.

Li Huaide pulled a small notebook from his pocket, opened it to a blank page, and began scribbling notes with his pen, nodding as he wrote: "That's easy. Tomorrow I'll have the engineering department check the land and fence off fifty acres first. Chickens and rabbits are also easy to handle; I have connections at the suburban farms and can get them chicks and rabbits."

"Secondly, plead poverty to higher authorities. Submit a formal report stating that the steel rolling mill is operating under high temperatures and heavy physical labor, causing a surge in worker edema rates, and desperately apply for special grain and health-promoting grain supplies. Contact the Ministry of Industry, the city government, the grain bureau, and everyone else you can."

Li Huaide chuckled: "I know this trick well. My father-in-law taught me a long time ago. It works! I gave it to Section Chief Zhao at the Grain Bureau before the New Year..."

"The third point is the most crucial." He Yuzhu stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray. "What does your steel rolling mill do? It can roll wire rods, right? That's the blank for iron wire. That old coiler in the factory has been sitting there for years. You should have someone repair it, weld two makeshift wire drawing machines, and use a mold to pull it, turning the wire rod directly into iron wire."

Inner Mongolian herders are severely lacking in wire, which they use to fence sheep, pens cattle, and build yurts. If you bring a truckload of wire, they'll chase after your truck to trade with you. It's not just wire; steel wire, nails, small farm tools, and homemade tools from metalworking workshops are all things they desperately need. Half a ton of wire can be exchanged for thirty or forty sheep. You're just sitting on a secure job without knowing how to use it. Then you can make the meat into jerky and salted meat, and trade it for grain all over the country.”

Li Huaide seemed to have been paused, his mouth agape. It took him a long time to put down his chopsticks, muttering to himself, "Wire for meat... wire for meat... meat for grain."

After repeating it twice, he suddenly looked up, grabbed a bottle of Moutai, poured He Yuzhu a full glass, and then lit a Zhonghua cigarette for him: "Brother, you're practically a living Zhuge Liang! You're being wasted as a deputy section chief at the supply and marketing cooperative." He slammed the bottle on the table. "Why don't you come work at the steel mill? Start as the logistics director, then get promoted from section chief to department head. I'll take care of it for you, how about it?"

He Yuzhu leaned back in his chair and exhaled a puff of smoke. "Go to hell! Why would I give up my peaceful life to be bossed around by you? You wish!"

"Hahaha. That's right, brother. If you want to climb the ladder, with Vice Minister Bi around, I don't need to worry about you." Li Huaide fawned, getting up to massage He Yuzhu's shoulders. "Tell me more about how this 'barbed wire swap' works, how the convoy will run. It's got potential, it's got potential!"

"Alright, alright. I can't accept a massage from a high-ranking official like you. Brother Li, let me finish." He Yuzhu got up and pressed Li Huaide into a chair, and the two sat down.

"I want 10% of the meat and grain that are brought back. I won't take it for free; it'll be the supply and marketing cooperative's allocation price. It's a business transaction, so nobody can say anything about it."

"Fine!" Li Huaide slammed his hand on the table, causing his wine glass to bounce. "Don't even mention 10%, 20% is fine!"

"Just one-tenth. Any more and it'll be too hot to handle." He Yuzhu flicked his cigarette ash. "The convoy can't go by rail. All the supplies on the rail are registered now, and you can't keep the meat you bring back. We need to assemble a large convoy, trucks and trailers, covered tightly with tarpaulins. Head north to Inner Mongolia to exchange for meat, and head south to Jiangxi to exchange for rice. The people of Jiangxi have plenty of rice, and the disaster has had a smaller impact there."

Heading east to the Shandong Peninsula, you'll find plenty of dried melon, peanuts, corn, and salted fish. Closer still, in Hebei's Bashang region, potatoes are sold by the sack. And in Guangxi, there's cassava; mixed with cornmeal, it's filling and tastes pretty good.

Li Huaide's pen flew across the paper, filling one page after another, his eyes shining brightly: "Brother! How did you figure out these lines so clearly!"

"Do you think I've been working on procurement for nothing all these years? There's a lot more to it than that." He Yuzhu flicked his cigarette ash. "Just the price difference from these few lines is enough to make you a fortune. Enough to support two steel rolling mills."

Li Huaide slammed his pen on the table, picked up his wine glass, and said in a trembling voice, "Brother, how about this? You can be my unofficial consultant, consider it your technical investment. You don't need to come, just offer suggestions and set directions every month."

He Yuzhu raised his glass and clinked it against his: "Stop with the 'consulting' nonsense. It's a special supply of cigarettes and alcohol, delivered monthly. I don't take it for free; I'll trade it for meat."

"Nonsense! I used your methods to get the meat back, and you're going to trade it for my cigarettes and alcohol?" Li Huaide pointed at him with his finger. "You've got abacus beads flying right in my face. Consulting fees are consulting fees, and meat is meat. Let's keep the accounts separate. The consulting fee is two packs of Zhonghua cigarettes and two bottles of Moutai every month, and the meat is paid exactly what it should be. It's all business, and nobody can say anything about it."

He Yuzhu laughed: "Okay, Brother Li has the final say."

"Consultant He, for the first month, please give me a list of what to exchange for what would be the most cost-effective, and the route along the way. The more detailed the better, I'll have the purchasing department compile it."

"Okay. I'll get it to you within three days."

Li Huaide tilted his head back and downed the wine in his glass. When he put the glass down, his eyes were a little red. He reached out and grabbed He Yuzhu's hand, shaking it vigorously twice. If it weren't for the table separating them, he really wanted to go up and hug him.

After leaving Quanjude, the night breeze had sobered him up considerably. He tucked his small notebook into the back seat of the jeep and, under the streetlights, flipped through the notes in the notebook from beginning to end. His fingers traced the line repeatedly: "Wire for sheep - Salted meat for grain - Out-of-province route," becoming more and more excited with each stroke.

The next morning, Li Huaide had his driver take him directly to his father-in-law's house.

Li Huaide's father-in-law had just finished breakfast and was reading the newspaper while holding an enamel mug. Li Huaide spread his notebook on the table and recounted the whole story: the workshop was divided into vegetable fields, chickens and rabbits were kept in cages, wire rod was used to trade for sheep, salted meat was used to trade for grain, and routes to other provinces were covered.

His father-in-law finished reading the contents of the notebook, took off his reading glasses, and uttered two words: "Great talent!"