Chapter 159: Why Don’t You Go In and Take a Look Before You Speak?

“No problem at all!”

Director Huang agreed on the spot.

It was just a job opening for a purchaser. Paying an extra thirty to fifty yuan a month in wages—nothing the research institute couldn’t afford. What mattered more were the provisions like food.

As long as there was grain, meat, and such, everything was negotiable.

That reminded Zhou Yimin of a TV show he’d seen—some guy named Cui Da got promoted to factory leadership just because he managed to get the factory some meat. Just goes to show how scarce meat was in this era. In comparison, a regular position like this was nothing.

Director Huang wasn’t a fool either. Zhang Jianshe had already mentioned that their village had started raising chickens and such in large numbers. In the future, they could buy directly from the village—how convenient would that be?

“In that case, many thanks, Director Huang.”

Zhou Yimin understood Uncle Zhang’s intentions and agreed without hesitation.

Letting these researchers eat a little better was an honor for him too. Of course, he still intended to make money—business was business. No need to pretend he was some selfless saint.

With that, he had found yet another outlet to distribute goods.

They brought the wild boars to the cafeteria. The cafeteria chefs weighed them on the spot, pricing them at 0.7 yuan per jin. That was for gross weight, with the innards still intact—not a bad price at all.

If they were priced by net weight, Director Huang even said he could offer 1 yuan per jin.

Once the accounting was done, Director Huang pulled out the cash and counted it out to Zhou Yimin.

Zhou Yimin made a show of counting it, then nodded to confirm it was correct. He then politely took his leave—no need to linger.

“Comrade Yimin, don’t forget to have someone report in early!” Director Huang reminded him.

“Will do. Thank you, Director Huang.”

After stepping out, Zhou Yimin met up with the two villagers and Zhang Lu, then escorted Zhang Lu back to her courtyard residence.

Meanwhile, the Steel Factory’s procurement office had exploded with chatter.

My god! Five wild boars, the biggest over two hundred jin. What, did you guys raid the wild boars’ entire nest? Looks like their whole extended family ended up here!

“Dazhong, nicely done!” Team Lead Wang gave Zhou Dazhong a hearty slap on the shoulder.

Zhou Dazhong spoke up, “Team Lead, my Sixteenth Uncle sent me with these.”

“Got it. He deserves credit, but your contribution isn’t small either,” Team Lead Wang said.

At this point, Zhou Yimin didn’t even need any credit anymore. Whether or not he completed procurement assignments didn’t matter—the factory leadership would much rather he focused on inventing new products.

But for Zhou Dazhong, this contribution practically guaranteed his formal employment.

“You’ll go permanent next month—mark my words,” Team Lead Wang told him.

In a few days, Wang would be promoted to Section Chief. By then, pushing Zhou Dazhong through the formalization process would be easy. He really did have the authority, so this was his way of giving Zhou Dazhong a solid promise.

Zhou Dazhong’s eyes lit up. “Thank you, Team Lead!”

“No need to thank me. You earned it.”

And besides, with Zhou Yimin looking out for him, it was only a matter of time before he was formalized.

…

Lu Guofu returned from screening a film, utterly stunned.

The factory was planning to manufacture electric rice cookers—and they had even sent him home with prizes for his two sons. The prizes included two sets of study materials, two notebooks, two fountain pens, several coupons, and two jin of meat.

“Guofu! Your two boys are really something—bold ideas! Factory Director Hu said he hopes they study hard. The doors of our steel factory will be open for them.”

Once they graduate, the steel factory would recruit them directly.

Even Lu Guofu’s own superiors were a bit envious.

Those boys were smart and motivated. Meanwhile, his own kid was still out fighting and always looking to play around.

“Thank you, thank you…”

Lu Guofu was a bit overwhelmed—it’d be a lie to say he wasn’t moved.

Sure, the rewards were generous, but that wasn’t what really got to him. As a projectionist, his standard of living was already decent.

But these rewards were for his sons. And with Director Hu personally stating that the factory would directly recruit them after graduation, he didn’t need to worry anymore about pulling strings or calling in favors.

And favors, once used, were a finite resource—best saved for critical moments.

He put down his film equipment, took the rewards from the factory, and hurried home.

Just as he stepped into the courtyard, he saw his two sons being punished by their mother—standing against the wall.

The house was a total mess thanks to those two little devils. Their mom was livid. What kind of invention were they trying to make? They nearly burned down the kitchen!

“What’s going on?” Lu Guofu asked, confused.

He added, “Kids working on inventions—breaking a few things is understandable.”

He could guess they’d caused some kind of chaos at home. Most likely, the house had been turned upside down. But after seeing the rewards from the factory, he was feeling more generous about it.

Lu Xuezheng and Lu Xueyi sneaked a glance at their father, too afraid to speak.

Their mother was still fuming. “Why don’t you go into the kitchen and take a look before you talk?”

“How bad could it be?” Lu Guofu thought.

He walked into the kitchen, took one look, and came back out with a darkened expression.

“Beat them!”

Absolutely outrageous. He’d taken a quick glance and almost didn’t recognize the place. Were they trying to demolish and remodel it or what? For god’s sake, part of the stove had collapsed!

Soon, the whip came down on the brothers—good old-fashioned double-team discipline.

Neighbors came over to intervene, especially the old man from the courtyard. “Old Lu! That’s not how you educate kids…”

“Second Uncle, why don’t you go inside and take a look before you say that?” Lu Guofu couldn’t even be bothered to explain.

Second Uncle walked into the kitchen, took two glances, then walked right back out, silently shooting the Lu brothers a look of sympathy—“You’re on your own.”

A perfectly fine kitchen turned into that? If it were his own brat, he’d already be bedridden.

“Second Uncle, save us!” Lu Xueyi called out.

Second Uncle picked up his pace, even shooed away the gawkers to give Old Lu space to properly discipline his kids.

“Alright, get up. Next time you do something like this, I’ll beat you half to death.” He was measured with his blows—painful, yes, but not enough to injure them.

The Lu brothers looked at each other, both seeing the same question in the other’s eyes.

That’s it?

They’d expected their father’s wrath to last a lot longer.

Maybe they’d misjudged him. Turns out their dad really did love them.

Even Lu Guofu’s wife was caught off guard, a little surprised.

Actually, the earlier punishment and even the beating had been more for show—for her husband’s benefit. She loved the kids more than he did, and normally couldn’t bear to hit them. But this time, the mess they made was just too much. She had to at least act tough.

“Aren’t you coming in? Want me to invite you in personally?” Lu Guofu called after his sons.

Still full of doubt, Lu Xuezheng and Lu Xueyi followed him inside.

Lu Guofu pulled out the rewards from the factory and laid them out on the table.

“Dear, why’d you buy fountain pens for Xuezheng and the others? Those aren’t cheap, are they?”

The Lu brothers were initially thrilled to see the fountain pens, but once they saw the study materials, their moods instantly soured. They’d rather take another beating than deal with this.

(End of Chapter)