Chapter 329: The Year-End Task of the Procurement Division

When the Captain caught a whiff of the wine, he couldn’t help but exclaim, “This wine smells amazing!”

Everyone at the table, except for Zhou Yimin, eagerly took a sip.

As the saying goes, “Wine is the essence of grain.”

This highlights how wine is refined from grains and emphasizes the meticulous process and quality of its ingredients.

It’s well known that wine is made from grains such as sorghum, corn, wheat, rice, and glutinous rice. These are ground, fermented, and distilled to produce alcohol—the core component of wine. Due to the careful selection and processing of grains, wine is seen as a refined product.

After taking a sip, Xu Xiangbei gave a thumbs-up. “No wonder this is Dong Jiu. It has a full body, a soft and sweet mouthfeel, rich yet not cloying. As soon as you drink it, the fragrance fills your mouth and lingers.”

“In the midst of its richness, Dong Jiu carries a refined and elegant aroma, like a blend of floral and fruity notes—it gives you an extremely pleasant experience.”

The old Party Secretary and the Captain also gave their thumbs-up. They wanted to praise it too but lacked the words. All they could say was “good wine,” and hearing Xu Xiangbei come up with such an apt description made them think—he really is an educated man.

Zhou Yimin had never tried this wine before either. After a sip, he added his own review: “Brother Xu nailed it. But besides being rich and smooth, Dong Jiu also has a hint of strength. The mellow and gentle aroma gradually grows in intensity with time, eventually bringing out the pure essence of the wine without losing its freshness.”

“The taste of Dong Jiu isn’t fleeting—it lingers even after drinking. Its fragrance remains in the mouth, slowly fading, but it lasts longer and is more memorable.” Xu Xiangbei added another insight.

The Captain and the old Party Secretary looked at Zhou Yimin and Xu Xiangbei—what was meant to be a celebration dinner was starting to feel like a wine tasting session.

“Yimin, how long can this electric light last?” the Captain asked at that point.

After all, light bulbs were quite precious in rural areas. Everyone tried to make them last as long as possible.

Zhou Yimin responded right away, “An electric bulb lasts about a thousand hours. Just don’t keep turning it on and off when it’s not necessary—frequent switching shortens the filament’s lifespan.”

The Captain felt a bit embarrassed. He had been playing with the light switch earlier out of curiosity, but there was no way he was going to admit that now.

The meal turned out to be a very joyful one, and the bottle of Dong Jiu Zhou Yimin brought was finished.

Seeing it was getting late, Xu Xiangbei got ready to leave. “Old Secretary, I’ll head back now.”

The old Party Secretary, knowing it wouldn’t be safe to be out too late, didn’t try to keep him and reminded him to be careful on the road.

Zhou Yimin quickly found a quiet spot, pulled out some things he’d prepared in advance, and stuffed in extra cotton and fabric.

He caught up with Xu Xiangbei, who hadn’t gone far, and called out, “Brother Xu, wait up!”

Seeing Zhou Yimin carrying large bundles, Xu Xiangbei stopped his bike and waited for him.

“Brother Xu, this is for you—please don’t mind.” Zhou Yimin said, then promptly loaded the bags onto the bike and left without giving Xu Xiangbei a chance to decline.

Xu Xiangbei didn’t refuse. He tied the items down with a rope and hurried home.

After more than an hour’s ride, Xu Xiangbei finally reached home.

Old Lady Xu saw the big bundle on the back of the bicycle and asked curiously, “Xiangbei, what’s all that?”

“I’m not really sure. Let me open it up and take a look,” Xu Xiangbei answered honestly.

It was heavy, and he was genuinely curious to see what was inside. After all, Zhou Yimin’s gifts were bound to be good.

When he opened the package and took out the contents one by one, each item was more surprising than the last. Altogether, even if Xu Xiangbei wanted to buy them, he probably couldn’t.

First, there were over thirty jin of cotton, more than ten meters of cloth, ten jin of pork, a bottle of Dong Jiu, and a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes.

Old Lady Xu looked at everything and started to suspect that Xu Xiangbei had raided some high-ranking official’s year-end stash—how else could there be so many fine things?

She nervously asked, “Xiangbei, you didn’t do anything against the country, did you?”

“Mom, do I look like that kind of person? Even if you gave me a vat of courage, I wouldn’t dare do anything unpatriotic!” Xu Xiangbei quickly denied.

He added, “These were all gifts from Zhou Yimin. I didn’t expect them to be this valuable—I thought it’d just be some meat and grain like usual.”

Hearing it was from Zhou Yimin, Old Lady Xu was relieved. Though she hadn’t met him, she’d heard from her son that Zhou Yimin had invented many things beneficial to the country and the people.

If she knew that Zhou Yimin had helped the country earn foreign exchange, she’d be even more delighted. That’s the spirit of the older generation—their sacrifices laid the foundation for today’s peace.

“If Zhou Yimin ever asks for your help, you mustn’t refuse! We owe him big this time!” she warned.

Xu Xiangbei’s wife was thrilled to see so much cotton. With that and the fabric, she could make new winter clothes.

Since they had a sewing machine at home, they wouldn’t need to ask anyone else for help—fewer people would know about it, too.

Zhou Yimin had been staying in the village for quite a while. It was time for him to return to the steel factory. Next time he came back, he could bring a TV set for the old folks to enjoy.

After breakfast, he left Zhoujiazhuang and set off for the steel factory.

An hour’s ride later, he arrived, greeting people as he walked in.

By the time he reached his office, his face was almost sore from smiling.

Before long, Wang Weimin heard that Zhou Yimin had returned and quickly came to find him.

Their department had received a task from higher up. With the New Year approaching, the factory was struggling to decide what to give its employees. With over ten thousand people to consider, procuring that many gifts was no small feat.

Eventually, they decided on one jin of pork and some peanuts and sunflower seeds per employee. The peanuts and seeds were already fully stocked.

But sourcing over ten thousand jin of pork was a major headache. Although the factory leaders had requested extra meat from the higher-ups, they only secured 8,000 jin.

That still left a shortfall of 2,000 jin, and the task was pushed down to the Procurement Division.

There were four procurement teams, and Director Zheng assigned each one to source 500 jin of pork. If they failed, they were to expect no mercy.

Wang Weimin was instantly stressed out—it would mean finding at least two pigs weighing over 200 jin each, and that was no easy task.

(End of Chapter)