Transmigration: Flirted with My Childhood Sweetheart
Chapter 438 - 437: The Right to Choose Work…

Chapter 438: Chapter 437: The Right to Choose Work...

"Boss, our new factory must be ready by March at the latest. With such a tight schedule, the construction is going to be really tough!"

"Boss, can you tell me how much it’s going to cost to build such a huge workshop? All I have right now is the deposit from Beijing and the provincial city. I have to cover materials and wages, and also purchase sewing machines... Sigh!"

"Boss, my dear boss..."

On the way back to town, Factory Director Ji, feeling as though he had unblocked his Ren and Du meridian channels, kept babbling, which gave Wong Xiao a buzzing headache.

He hadn’t responded the whole time, not because he didn’t know what Factory Director Ji was after, but he couldn’t figure out—

Was Old Ji previously playing dumb, or did he suddenly grasp some profound truth about life?

Wong Xiao looked at Factory Director Ji and simply couldn’t convince himself that this guy had always been this clever.

An old saying slowly crossed his mind—

It’s not easy to become virtuous, but to turn to vice is effortless.

"Did you hear what I said, boss? Ah, never mind, we’re all comrades here, so let me speak frankly!"

"I need a construction crew! I need to apply for a three-month tax extension! You also have to help me negotiate with the factories in Liao Province; they’re by the sea, so there should be pearls, and Xiuyan County produces jade!"

Wong Xiao looked at him coldly: "I think you want to reach for the sky."

Where did he learn this confident and bossy attitude?

So many demands, all these big problems—this really doesn’t treat the boss like a person!

Factory Director Ji: "..."

He realized he might have been indeed talking a bit too loudly.

Seeing that Factory Director Ji looked deflated, Wong Xiao suddenly perked up, lifted his chin, and harrumphed critically: "You don’t have Xiao Lin’s ability, yet you dare to nag me."

Factory Director Ji asked weakly, "So... do you think you could help out?"

Wong Xiao looked straight ahead, standing firm and upright: "I’m the boss; I have the right to choose my work!"

Factory Director Ji glanced at him: "So, what’s your choice?"

Wong Xiao replied loudly: "First, I’ll approve an application for you to delay your taxes, then I’ll assign a construction crew to you, and finally, I’ll go on a business trip to Liao Province!"

Factory Director Ji: "..."

If you’d made it clear it was the order of choices from the start; you scared the crap out of me—I thought the boss was going to throw in the towel.

Wong Xiao pedaled his bike vigorously. Seeing Factory Director Ji falling behind, he urged: "What are you dazing off for? Hurry up, finish up all your crap by the morning, and I’ll head out to Liao Province in the afternoon!"

Factory Director Ji: "Hey! I’m coming!"

Since he started not giving the boss any face, work became exceptionally efficient!

...

For the textile factory, Wong Xiao truly cared a lot. He specially approved an application to postpone tax payments for four months and not only allocated the commune’s construction crew to Factory Director Ji’s disposal, he also posted a notice on behalf of the commune to hire temporary construction workers—of course, the wages would come from the textile factory.

After handling all these tasks, he immediately hopped on a train, hurrying to find raw materials for the textile factory.

Lan County was undergoing a vigorous construction due to the textile factory.

This wasn’t just about the factory’s profits; the ordinary people also received tangible benefits.

Immediate benefits included wages: men without jobs joined the construction crew, earning fifteen yuan a month along with extra cloth tickets; women picked up needle and thread, working hard making Head Flowers, earning more than a yuan a day.

In the long run, the textile factory would surely hire a number of regular workers upon completion, meaning many could become factory workers—a secure job! Plus, with the factory paying more industrial and commercial taxes, Lan County would have the capital to develop and build, which was the most long-term and substantial benefit.

While the outside world was bustling, Lin Nianhe, on the other hand, enjoyed a few days of leisure.

A few days ago, she had received a parcel—not delivered by Zhou Xu but by an utterly average-looking man who’d disappear into a crowd.

Inside the parcel were books, some foreign literature provided by Minister Huang and foreign language textbooks and tapes from Mr. Lin.

Mr. Lin’s selection was quite comprehensive, covering English, Russian, and French. Judging by the amount of dust on them and the yellowed pages, they had been sealed and forgotten for many years.

Lin Nianhe knew all three languages, although her Russian was a bit lackluster. Nevertheless, she put those textbooks on her desk, creating the impression she would study them daily.

As for the novels, they were quickly divided and devoured by the Educated Youth Corps, who hadn’t seen such books in a long time and were reading them voraciously day and night. To save on candle expenses, they’d gather in one room at night.

Each midnight, a room at the Educated Youth Corps would flicker with shadows; from a distance, it looked haunted.

Two battalion female educated youths staying at a local’s house were frightened when they saw the "ghostly lights" of the Corps during a nighttime bathroom trip. They were too scared to go to the toilet and ran back instead.

They were scared all night until they realized something was amiss the next morning and informed Company Commander Zhu Weiqiang.

Zhu Weiqiang initially didn’t want to get involved, but considering it concerned the Educated Youth Corps and it wouldn’t be right to ignore it if something was amiss, he pondered over it for a day. He eventually went to find Li Dahe in the evening.

After hearing their description, Li Dahe felt a chill on his scalp.

He reached up and, as expected, a strand of hair had fallen out.

Without even thinking, he knew what those little bastards were up to—after all, he was the one who notified them about the man from Beijing bringing books to Lin Nianhe. Since that day, the Corps had been unusually quiet. He’d been there twice, day or night; the door was always securely locked.

They were as guilty as thieves!

Clearing his throat, Li Dahe put on his calm demeanor befitting a brigade commander and said breezily: "Company Commander Zhu, you’re new here and don’t understand them. Our brigade’s educated youths are unusually diligent in their studies and often study quotations together. Those two comrades must have stumbled upon a group study session."

Zhu Weiqiang frowned: "But they said it was in the middle of the night."

Li Dahe: "Ah? How come these little bastards only think about studying and neglect rest! Never mind, I’ll have a talk with them!"

He put on his fur cap and swiftly bounded out, fearing being interrogated by Zhu Weiqiang if he lingered.

Li Dahe jogged all the way to the Educated Youth Corps and, sure enough, the gates were tightly locked even though it wasn’t fully dark yet.

He banged on the door for quite a while until Sun Guanghui finally came out to open it.

"Brigade commander, what brings you here?" Sun Guanghui blocked the doorway without moving, clearly stalling for time for the others inside.

Annoyed, Li Dahe kicked him aside and forced his way in.

After securing the gate behind him, Li Dahe glared at Sun Guanghui and asked in a low voice, "Where is everything?"

Sun Guanghui scratched his head: "Where is what?"

"The books!" Li Dahe’s eyes widened in round fury.

Sun Guanghui forced a laugh: "Books? What books..."

Li Dahe was done with him and barged into the male youths’ room.

Several lads were curled up on the kang bed; none was playing with matchboxes or doing anything else.

Something was definitely off.

Li Dahe pointed at them: "Will you hand them over, or should I search for them?"

The seven Mu brothers and Zhou Chujiang looked at each other and unanimously pushed Sie Yufei forward.

Sie Yufei plastered a fawning smile on his face: "Uncle..."

"Get lost, you little bastard!"

"Right away."

Sie Yufei slinked off to the corner and dutifully faced the wall.