In my best friend’s book, Luo Jinhao is Jiang Xingye’s right-hand man. After he built a business empire, Luo Jinhao beca the person he trusted the most. He entrusted all external matters to Luo Jinhao, who was also loyally devoted to him.
"That’s great, let him go," Xu Qinghuan agreed as well.
The two got off the car at the commune and saw Tang Quantong carrying a suitcase out of the commune office building. They were stunned for a mont and almost didn’t recognize him.
He was completely gray-haired.
Tang Jini chased after him and, upon seeing Jiang Xingye and Xu Qinghuan, rushed towards Xu Qinghuan angrily.
"You bitch, if it weren’t for you, my uncle would..."
Tang Quantong and Jiang Xingye both intervened, one pulling Xu Qinghuan into his embrace, the other grabbing his niece’s wrist.
Tang Quantong roared, "What are you doing?"
Tang Jini pointed at Xu Qinghuan and the others, "Uncle, if it weren’t for them, would you have been dismissed? Isn’t being a commune secretary much better than being a deputy director of a food factory?"
Tang Quantong was exasperated by his niece’s foolishness. "Do you need to ddle in my affairs? Get out of here and go to work!"
After speaking, he apologized to Xu Qinghuan and Jiang Xingye, "Sorry, poor family discipline, I’ve embarrassed you."
He then turned to Xu Qinghuan and said, "Doesn’t your food factory have a job vacancy? You haven’t arranged for anyone to fill it yet, are you planning to give it up?"
Xu Qinghuan laughed, "Now that you’re going to the food factory as a deputy director, is it a perfect opportunity for you to give a hard ti?"
Tang Quantong pointed to the state-run restaurant next door, "Do you have so ti? Let’s sit down for a bit?"
It was neither lunchti nor breakfast ti, so the place was quite empty.
When the three sat down, Jiang Xingye went to the nearby supply and marketing cooperative and brought back three bottles of soda, one for each.
"To be honest, I owe you both an apology," Tang Quantong said with deep emotion. "Sotis people lose their way as they go, and no matter how others try to pull them out, they’re stuck in a dead end."
And he, not only was not pulled out, but was also pushed deeper by the people around him.
"I’ve been a deputy director here for three years, and before, the organization talked to , asking to hang on for the rest of the year and think about my issues at the expanded eting at the end of the year."
Tang Quantong mocked himself with a laugh, "I’ve been a deputy for years, and to be honest, the experience hasn’t been great. I don’t want to have another boss above one day; I really wanted to seize this opportunity."
He spread his hands out, "See, the more you want to grab, the more it slips away."
This ti going to the food factory is still just a deputy position.
Xu Qinghuan didn’t know what to say, "Deputy Director Tang, this year our commune collected so much grain, won’t the higher-ups want it?"
Almost all the grain had sprouted. After it was collected, it was all dried out, but the grain station wouldn’t take it. It was stored in warehouses, and without word from above, no one dared to deal with it.
And nobody knows how to deal with this kind of grain, selling it is definitely not an option.
The people dare to eat it, though the taste isn’t great, but it didn’t bring any money; this year, apart from the Shangjiang Team, almost every family has faced significant losses.
Tang Quantong was extrely dejected. This was a heavy burden on his shoulders. If it couldn’t be resolved well, even if the higher-ups didn’t punish him, he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself.
"Deputy Director Tang, I do have a way to deal with it."
Tang Quantong’s eyes shone, "Xu Zhiqing, if you can help through this difficulty, I’ll owe you one."
Xu Qinghuan shook her head, "No need to ntion owing favors. Mainly, I don’t want all this grain to go to waste."
She casually wrote down two recipes for Tang Quantong. "Since you’ll be going to the food factory, I’ll provide two formulas. The germinated wheat and millet could be used to make cookies or the like. Admittedly, the variety of snacks on the current market is very limited, and the taste isn’t very good either.
But with these two formulas, you can have soone try them. If they don’t know how to make them, the master can co find ."
Tang Quantong’s hand trembled as he held the formulas. It wasn’t that they hadn’t thought of this thod, but the county food factory’s performance was already poor. The variety of products was limited, and they couldn’t compete with the taste or packaging of those old-brand food factories.
It’s already in a half-dead state. How could that kind of grain be monetized by the food factory?
"For convenience’s sake, I suggest that the food factory be set up in the commune. If you’re unwilling to work under soone else, you can run a branch factory here and be its director."
Tang Quantong was tempted, "This... will the county agree?"
"Whether they agree depends on how you present it. Half the county is affected by disasters now, with sprouted grain piling up. If I’m not mistaken, the county hasn’t thought of a good solution yet?"
That ans whoever can solve it holds the right to speak.
Even if Tang Quantong is currently a ’sinner.’
He understood the implication.
"If I co to the commune to open a food factory, I might co with empty hands and won’t get any resources," Tang Quantong wasn’t foolish. Once he made this request, the county food factory might split with him.
And if the food factory over here couldn’t operate, he would have no way out.
"I can’t guarantee that, but I think every endeavor involves so risk. If you go to the food factory, you could either be an idle deputy director waiting for a pension, or you could fight the current director for control, push him out, and take charge."
Xu Qinghuan laughed, "It depends on how you decide."
Tang Quantong still chose to trust Xu Qinghuan, "Alright, I’ll figure out a way to set up a food factory at the commune. However, I have one condition: for baking and other equipnt, your Shangjiang Team needs to figure it out for ."
Xu Qinghuan said, "No problem. We can get you any equipnt needed, but we have a condition too."
"What’s your condition?" Tang Quantong asked.
"Prioritize hiring mbers from the Shangjiang Team."
Tang Quantong pointed a finger at Xu Qinghuan in the air. He was visibly more relaxed as he left the state-run restaurant.
Jiang Xingye didn’t understand, "Why help him?"
Xu Qinghuan watched his departing figure, "At the end of the day, he’s a good official."
Perhaps because she saw too few such people serving the people in her past life.
"But not promoting the use of harvesters and threshers was his responsibility. If he had been more assertive in promoting it, the grain would have been harvested, and there wouldn’t have been such huge losses."
The loss of grain was heart-wrenching for everyone.
This was also the reason why, in just a short ti, Tang Quantong’s hair turned gray.
"Ah Ye, if you were in his position, you would understand that promoting harvesters and threshers was not as simple as it seed. Indeed, a lot of grain was wasted, and soone should bear that responsibility, but it shouldn’t be him alone."
Jiang Xingye still didn’t understand.
"Didn’t he do his job at that ti? He did, but apart from the Shangjiang Team, all the production teams opposed it, everyone opposed it. It’s precisely because Tang Quantong isn’t that kind of official, one blinded by office who disregards the people’s livelihoods, that he didn’t forcefully implent it."
Because, nobody knew the decision from above, even though Jiang Xingye ntioned that the price per work point could be increased, but that decision was not sothing Tang Quantong could implent alone.
Could he not have thought of it? Perhaps he did, but in the complex and murky world of bureaucracy, until the final decision landed, nobody knew which way it would fall.
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