Chapter 219: The Vegetables in Shangshui Village Can Be Harvested

Seeing that the old Party Secretary had properly arranged the chick hatchery and there was nothing else that needed his attention, Zhou Yimin returned home and made a big meal for his grandparents.

The next day, since he wasn’t quite confident about the newly hired workers, he headed back into the city. Once he got back to the courtyard house, he thought to himself that he hadn’t been to the steel factory in quite a few days, so he slowly made his way there.

At the steel factory, most people knew Zhou Yimin, so there wasn’t much need for checks or questioning—basically a smooth ride all the way through.

Besides, he was hauling a full load of goods!

“Team Leader Zhou, what kind of things did you buy this time?”

In the back seat of the vehicle was a huge procurement basket, carefully covered with a cloth so that no one could see what was inside.

Even the security guard knew—anything Zhou Yimin brought back was guaranteed quality. Ordinary goods wouldn’t even make it past him.

Zhou Yimin smiled and said, “You’ve got sharp eyes, kid. I nearly wore my legs out over the past few days trying to procure this pork from those fat pigs, plus a bit of beef.”

As he spoke, he lifted the cloth from the rattan basket, revealing a huge chunk of fatty pork—almost no lean meat in sight—and a small piece of beef.

The security guard’s mouth nearly watered on the spot.

He hadn’t seen fat pork like that in ages. It was nearly ten centimeters thick! Usually, when others brought meat back, it was all lean, barely any fat, no oiliness at all. This was the first time he’d seen something this rich since Zhou Yimin had started procurement.

Zhou Yimin covered the basket again and said with a grin, “I’ve got to take this over to the warehouse first.”

The security guard quickly said, “Go on ahead, Team Leader Zhou!”

If it was delayed and didn’t make it into storage in time, they might not be able to eat any dishes made with fatty pork today—that would be unacceptable.

In truth, with just a hundred or two hundred jin of pork in a factory of over ten thousand people, no one was going to get more than a taste.

Still, even the scent of meat was something.

Zhou Yimin pedaled his bike to the canteen’s warehouse. Before long, he arrived.

When the warehouse manager saw Zhou Yimin, especially the procurement basket on his bike, he hurried over excitedly, more thrilled than seeing his own father. “Team Leader Zhou, you’re here!”

There wasn’t much meat left in the warehouse. Recently, other procurement staff hadn’t been doing too well—only Zhou Dazhong had been performing decently, bringing in supplies from time to time. If Zhou Yimin hadn’t come, they might’ve run out completely.

And right now, Zhou Yimin didn’t even have any procurement targets to meet.

First, because he was now a team leader and no longer a rank-and-file buyer, there were no hard requirements. Second, Zhou Yimin wasn’t just a procurement agent at the factory anymore—he was also part of the R&D team.

So if he didn’t feel like going out to procure, no one could force him.

In fact, the factory leadership preferred that he stay in the R&D lab rather than run around.

As Workshop Director Liao once said, “Procurement? That’s just a job for someone with hands and feet—no brains required.”

And Zhou Yimin’s most valuable asset was precisely his brain.

“Meat’s hard to come by these days,” Zhou Yimin said, putting on a troubled expression.

The warehouse manager knew meat supplies were indeed tight right now, so he didn’t press him—he simply helped register the pork and beef Zhou Yimin brought in.

He said, “Pork, 100 jin. Beef, 50 jin. Pork’s 1 yuan per jin, beef is 1.8 yuan per jin. That totals 190 yuan.”

Meat prices had gone up again.

He quickly filled out the receipt, stamped it, and handed it over to Zhou Yimin.

Zhou Yimin took the receipt, chatted a bit more, then left—he still had to go to the finance department to get the money.

After that, he went to check in on Zhou Xiaoying and the others to see how they were doing at the factory. Since they had just started, they were still in the learning phase with senior workers, so things were relatively easy.

“Uncle Sixteen, don’t worry! Everyone at the factory is treating us really well.”

And they really were.

After all, Zhou Yimin had personally recommended them. Out of respect for him, no one dared give them a hard time. They were even assigned patient, experienced mentors to guide them.

Not to mention, even if Zhou Yimin wasn’t around at the instant noodle factory, they still had Zhao Zhenguo looking out for them!

It wouldn’t be long before Zhao Zhenguo was promoted to deputy factory director, and given his relationship with Director Yang, that added even more protection.

“That’s good,” Zhou Yimin nodded.

Just by looking at their expressions, he could tell they were doing well.

Zhou Xiaoying and the others genuinely liked the job. There was no sun or rain to endure, it wasn’t that physically demanding, and the pay was much better than farming in the village. It was easily several times better.

They cherished the opportunity and worked hard.

Their mentors could see their effort and even praised them.

Most of the senior workers were old hands—some had already started slacking off.

Of course, those who wanted to rise in rank were still working hard.

“Oh, and remember this! Don’t take anything from the factory. Got it?” Zhou Yimin reminded them.

They couldn’t be like that idiot in some TV drama who kept sneaking things from his station. If caught, that would count as theft of public property—no small matter.

“Uncle Sixteen, we definitely wouldn’t do something like that, don’t worry.”

You could give them a winter melon to use as courage, and they still wouldn’t dare!

They wouldn’t cause trouble for Uncle Sixteen. Not to mention, their own families wouldn’t let them off the hook either. How would they ever return to the village after that?

“Yeah! We wouldn’t dare steal from the factory.”

Of course… if Uncle Sixteen asked, they might consider sneaking something. After all, it was thanks to him they got into the instant noodle factory. Doing a little something for him—even if illegal—felt justified.

“Good. As long as you understand. If you need something, just tell me. No need to sneak things from the factory,” Zhou Yimin told them.

The instant noodle factory can only produce instant noodles—nothing more, nothing less.

To outsiders, the fact that instant noodles could generate foreign exchange made them seem precious. But to Zhou Yimin, they were practically worthless. In later times, only the most desperate would eat that stuff.

If someone had to rely on instant noodles to get by, it meant they were down and out.

The next two days passed uneventfully, as there was nothing else to deal with.

Zhou Yimin didn’t keep running around outside. He’d already finished this month’s tasks early, so now he was just coasting. He spent most of his time lounging around the courtyard.

Only the procurement department enjoyed this kind of privilege—once the job was done, no one cared if you showed up for the rest of the month.

That day, he was sitting in the office sipping tea when someone knocked on the door.

Zhou Yimin found it odd. This time of day, there usually wasn’t anyone looking for him. Still, he said, “Come in.”

Zhao Dezhi walked in and said, “Team Lead Zhou, there’s someone at the gate asking for you. Says he was sent by Village Chief Wang.”

Village Chief Wang sending someone? Zhou Yimin wondered if there was a problem with the vegetables. He said, “Alright, I got it.”

Then he pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, tossed it over, and said, “Brother Zhao, thanks for running the message.”

“Team Lead Zhou, that’s too generous. I can’t accept this,” Zhao Dezhi said quickly, waving his hands.

If it were just a single cigarette, he might have taken it. But this was a whole pack of Da Qianmen—it had to cost at least two yuan.

He actually liked dealing with Zhou Yimin.

Even though the man was a team lead, he always addressed him respectfully as “Brother Zhao.”

Strictly speaking, all the gatekeepers liked working with Zhou Yimin. Partly because he was generous—he’d hand out cigarettes or even candy from time to time—and partly because he was courteous and well-mannered.

Zhou Yimin said, “I’ll be relying on you more in the future, Brother Zhao. Just take it without worry.”

Having a good relationship with the security office was always useful. If nothing else, it made getting in and out easier.

Since Zhou Yimin had put it that way, Zhao Dezhi accepted the cigarettes. If he refused now, it would just be rude.

The two of them soon arrived at the factory gate.

When Wang Jianguo saw Zhou Yimin, he quickly greeted him, “Hello, Team Lead Zhou! Can we talk in private?”

Before coming, Village Chief Wang had told him that the vegetables in their village were ready to be harvested, but it had to be kept quiet. He was to inform Zhou Yimin secretly and let him make arrangements.

Zhou Yimin nodded, realizing it was something that needed to be kept discreet, and said, “Come with me.”

He led Wang Jianguo into the steel factory. For Wang Jianguo, it felt like Grandma Liu entering the Grand View Garden—his eyes couldn’t stop darting around, taking everything in.

He couldn’t help but feel envious. Working at a place like this must be amazing.

But he also knew that getting a job here cost at least six or seven hundred yuan—and that was assuming you could even find a slot to buy.

Even if such a chance existed, his family couldn’t afford it. He could only admire from afar.

If not for Zhou Yimin escorting him, he wouldn’t have made it through the gates at all.

Before long, the two arrived at the office.

“Village Chief Wang asked you to come see me? What’s going on?” Zhou Yimin asked.

He already had a good guess—just going through the motions.

Wang Jianguo replied, “The village’s vegetables are ready to harvest. Just wondering when you’d be able to come collect them?”

Just as expected. Zhou Yimin said, “So it’s about that. Tomorrow—tomorrow I’ll head over. Go back and tell the chief. You guys can start picking early in the morning, aim for about eight thousand jin.”

Honestly, there was no need to sneak into the office for this. They could’ve just spoken at the gate.

It was already getting late—nearly time to clock out.

If he went around pulling people from Transport right now, they’d definitely grumble. No need to make enemies over something so trivial. Besides, vegetables weren’t going anywhere overnight.

“Thank you, Team Lead Zhou. I’ll go back and tell the village chief now,” Wang Jianguo said.

The sooner he delivered the message, the more time the village would have to prepare—no need to scramble last minute.

You had to stay ahead of things. If the factory got a bad impression, and stopped sourcing from their village, that would be a real headache.

Zhou Yimin understood and asked, “It’s getting late. Do you know how to ride a bike?”

If he did, Zhou Yimin could let him ride back. That way he wouldn’t have to walk, and Zhou Yimin could just ride it back himself the next day instead of returning with the transport crew.

Wang Jianguo hadn’t expected Zhou Yimin to be so generous—actually offering him a bike to ride.

Their village only had one battered old Phoenix brand bike. The chief treated it like a treasure. He normally couldn’t even touch it.

“I can ride—just not very well,” he said immediately.

“As long as you can ride. In a bit, you can ride mine back. Tomorrow after I’m done collecting the vegetables, I’ll ride it back to Zhoujiazhuang,” Zhou Yimin said casually.

He still needed to get a note from the department head so the Transport Division would send a vehicle with him tomorrow to Shangshui Village.

Zhou Yimin led Wang Jianguo to the bike shed, took out his keys, unlocked the bike, then handed over the keys. “Be careful on the road.”

Wang Jianguo stared at the bike, overwhelmed. He could hardly describe how thrilled he felt.

This bike was way newer than the one in the village—by a long shot.

He mounted the bike gingerly and rode back toward Shangshui Village.

Zhou Yimin headed to Wang Weimin’s office and knocked.

“Come in,” came Wang’s voice from inside.

Once given permission, Zhou Yimin pushed the door open.

When Wang Weimin saw him, he joked, “Well, well, the busy man himself. How do you even have time to stop by?”

He knew full well that Zhou Yimin had hardly been around this month—he was mostly out and about.

Others might not know whether Zhou was out sourcing or just slacking off, but Wang Weimin had no doubt about the man’s competence. If he weren’t capable, he wouldn’t have gotten promoted.

As his former supervisor, Wang Weimin knew Zhou had mostly been working in the village.

“Chief, I’m not living it up like you! I’ve been out sourcing supplies nonstop!” Zhou Yimin replied smoothly.

Wang Weimin rolled his eyes. “Yimin, you never show up without a reason. Out with it—what do you need?”

“I was hoping you could write a note so Transport will send a truck with me to the village tomorrow to collect some vegetables,” Zhou Yimin said.

Even though he was a team lead, the Transport guys wouldn’t take orders from him.

Wang Weimin hadn’t expected that. So Zhou really had been out sourcing. He asked, “Yimin, how much are we talking? How many trucks do you need?”

He figured it must be a big load. If one truck were enough, Zhou would probably just borrow one and drive himself, like he did before when picking up baby bok choy from Zhoujiazhuang.

Zhou Yimin replied, “One truck should be enough. I can’t make it back to the factory tomorrow. There’s something going on in the village.”

“Alright, I’ll write the note now,” Wang Weimin said.

With Zhou Yimin around, his department’s performance would never tank. His position was secure—after all, he had a whole village backing him.

Word was that Zhoujiazhuang had started raising chickens. If they could get those before the New Year, their purchasing numbers would crush the others.

Zhou Yimin said, “Thanks for the trouble, Chief.”

“Since you’re actually in the factory for once, why not come to my place for dinner tonight? Your sister-in-law says she hasn’t seen you in ages,” Wang Weimin offered.

(End of chapter)