Era: A college student came to the courtyard house

Faced with Fang Yuan's unconventional approach.

Huang Xiang hurriedly offered cigarettes to the group, and now he could only passively explain, "It's such a small matter, let's not bother the leaders in the personnel department for now."

After a moment's thought, he slammed his hand on the table and said with an air of righteous indignation, "Xiao Fang, how about this? Since you've come in person, and our fellow reporters are here too, let's all be witnesses together."

"I promise I will try to get two spots."

Fang Yuan didn't speak, but simply raised his forehead at Jiang Quan again.

"Alright, alright, Xiao Jiang, don't get up either. Three, three spots, is that alright?"

Fang Yuan tapped the document with his finger, feigning doubt, and asked, "Old Luo, if my eyes aren't deceiving me, there were five signed here originally, right?"

Without a second thought, Luo Qingfeng replied, "Section Chief, it's five, the five in 12345."

"Little Luo, stop causing trouble here."

Fang Yuan didn't give Huang Xiang a chance to continue, straightened up, and said with a serious face, "Director Huang, these quotas have been approved and stamped. Why have all the other branch factories done it, but our steel rolling mill hasn't implemented it yet?"

"I wonder if this matter isn't handled well, won't the higher-ups start to wonder if there's a problem with the steel rolling mill's management?"

Fang Yuan then resorted to the old-fashioned, overly serious tactics of the older generation.

Upon hearing this, Huang Xiang was immediately displeased. This was the first time anyone had spoken to him like this in the steel rolling mill. He immediately puffed out his beard and glared at her, saying, "Hey, Section Chief Fang, don't try to act tough with me. I won't fall for that."

"Don't try to pressure me with the leadership. The quota is so tight. If I really give in, I won't be able to explain it to the steel mill workers. Look at the current situation at the factory. Their families and relatives can't get jobs. If they cause trouble, no one can handle it."

After Huang Xiang finished venting his frustrations, his tone softened slightly as he said, "Everyone has difficulties, let's try to overcome them."

"Overcome it? Those words sound easy, and they're simple to say, but Director Huang, do you know? Those people from Qin Family Village were all desperate, and they only came to us for help time and time again because they trusted us completely. You want an explanation, and they want an explanation too."

"In essence, this matter, on a small scale, concerns whether we will have enough to eat in the future; but on a larger scale, it concerns our promise to the agricultural workers."

"They raised their demands time and time again, and we kept finding excuses to delay."

"The result is that as the number of times we overcome these challenges increases, people's morale begins to decline."

Shi Qiaohong snapped another photo at just the right moment.

The reporter looked at Fang Yuan, who was even younger than her, and wondered how she dared to confront Huang Xiang, a veteran branch factory manager, with a bang on the table. She couldn't help but feel a strong sense of curiosity.

"Hey hey hey."

Faced with Shi Qiaohong's sudden, photo-taking attack, Huang Xiang immediately clutched his chest, acting silly, and kept saying, "My chest feels tight!!!"

Zhang Tianming cooperatively took out a bottle of medicine from the drawer: "Fang Yuan, don't say anything yet. Our factory director has been feeling unwell lately."

Fang Yuan couldn't help but step forward, grab the medicine bottle, examine it carefully for a moment, and said, "Tianming, did you grab the wrong medicine? This is for nourishing the body, isn't it?"

"Oh dear, I really did take the wrong one." Zhang Tianming couldn't protect the medicine bottle and could only explain with a red face.

Shi Qiaohong cooperated and walked over, snapping another photo of the medicine.

Huang Xiang picked up his teacup, took a sip of water, and without explaining, said, "I'm feeling better. I have to say, Xiao Fang, Section Chief Fang, I'm impressed."

"Let's get back to the point. We're not here to argue, but to resolve the issue," Fang Yuan said, having finished playing the bad cop. He then switched to playing the good cop: "Director Huang, believe it or not, I'm here today to help our steel rolling mill."

"I don't believe it." Huang Xiang shook his head.

Fang Yuan gave Luo Qingfeng and the others a wink, and Luo Qingfeng then led everyone out.

Fang Yuan and Huang Xiang were left alone in the room in an instant.

Fang Yuan offered Huang Xiang a cigarette, and after they lit them, he said, "Director Huang, if this matter is successfully resolved, what do you think the higher-ups will think when the Daily News reporter reports on it?"

"I've looked into it, and none of our Hongxing's branch plants, like the coking plant and the steelmaking plant, have the opportunity to report."

For a moment, only the sound of the two men smoking remained in the room.

Fang Yuan knew that Huang Xiang was considering whether the deal was worthwhile, so he waited quietly without any urgency.

Huang Xiang kept smoking, one cigarette after another. When Fang Yuan brought the Daily News reporter to his door, he felt that this matter would be difficult to handle.

Unexpectedly, Fang Yuan's ultimate goal was to help him report it.

It must be said that this offer is indeed very tempting.

If it were just a report from Red Star's internal propaganda department, Huang Xiang would definitely not even consider it. But as the Capital Daily, he naturally understood what it meant to have his face featured in it.

The time it takes to smoke a cigarette is over.

Huang Xiang happily led Fang Yuan out of the office.

Seeing this, Luo Qingfeng and his companions knew that the two had reached an agreement.

"Let's go, let's go to the guesthouse for dinner."

Huang Xiang greeted everyone warmly.

Seeing Fang Yuan nod at her, Shi Qiaohong immediately said she wanted to report back to the society first.

After seeing Shi Qiaohong off, the group turned around and, led by Huang Xiang, went to the guesthouse.

The matter was successfully resolved.

But Fang Yuan knew that the most important thing was not these little tricks he used. Whether it was Shi Qiaohong or Jiang Quan, they were ultimately just trying to find out Huang Xiang's true strength.

The most crucial reason was Huang Xiang's words: Lin Xianghua told him to properly express his gratitude to Fang Yuan.

He still felt indebted to Lin Xianghua for not pursuing the matter of him assaulting a newspaper reporter at the steel mill.

Even an old factory director like Huang Xiang, despite his seemingly rough and carefree exterior, might have many hidden agendas. In Fang Yuan's view, the reason he cooperated in this charade was probably to shut up certain people.

It wasn't that Huang Xiang wasn't capable; it was that he simply couldn't hold on.

We arrived at the guesthouse.

To Fang Yuan's surprise, Huang Xiang actually had quite a bit of influence, enough to have Director Han Ming waiting for him at the door.

As a subordinate hospitality unit of Hongxing Steel Plant,

Initially, the guesthouse was just a small place with only seven or eight people. However, after hosting important foreign leaders in 60, the team expanded rapidly and has now grown into a unit with 22 people, including one director and two deputy directors.

Don't underestimate this section chief; he receives quite a few people coming and going throughout the year.

As the director, Han Ming took advantage of this and built his own network of relationships.

However, Fang Yuan couldn't see any resemblance between Han Ming, who had shifty eyes and a thin build, and the person in front of him.

He seems more like a businessman.

At Han Ming's invitation, the group entered a small private room.

A short while later, Song Qinkuai, the head of the security department of the steel rolling mill, also entered the room.

This immediately changed Luo Qingfeng's expression.

Everyone in the steel rolling mill knows that Luo Qingfeng and Song Qinkuai are not on the same page. Huang Xiang actually called him over now. What is he planning to do?

After Huang Xiang's introduction, Fang Yuan suddenly realized that tonight's meal might not be so delicious.