The contracted machinery factory is different from a newly built factory; the equipment and personnel are already in place, and as soon as the raw materials arrive, it can be put into mass production immediately.

Dongqing then went into the finance department and found the eldest sister, who was the head of the finance department and in charge of finances.

Dongqing took out a passbook and handed it to his older sister, saying, "Sister, there's 500,000 yuan in this passbook. We can deposit it into the machinery factory's accounts now."

Dong Damei handed the passbook to the accountant so that the accountant could enter it into the books. Then the accountant handed the passbook to the cashier.

In those days, there were passbooks, not bank cards. The amount of money in the passbook was easy to see. The cashier would write down the amount in the passbook and then lock it in the safe.

Dongqing and his wife walked out of the finance department with his eldest sister. He said, "Elder sister, I'm entrusting the finances to you. Please make sure you keep a close eye on things for me."

Dong Damei said, "Don't worry, the finances are strictly controlled at every stage, there won't be any problems. Shall we go to the residential area to find a place to stay?"

Dong Qing said, "I need to talk to the factory manager first. I'm in charge of the production line, but he's responsible for the living quarters."

It's never wrong to be overly polite, and Dong Qing is still inseparable from Yi Minghui, so the proper etiquette must be observed.

They went to the factory manager's office, and Yi Minghui said, "The matter is settled, please have a seat."

They sat down on the sofa, and Dong Damei said, "My younger brother doesn't have a place to stay for the time being. Could the factory manager arrange a place for him in the staff living area?"

Yi Minghui pondered for a moment and said, "Living in the staff living area is too chaotic. How about this, Dong Qing is now considered a cadre in the factory. There are two vacant family houses in the machinery factory's family area. I'll approve one for you, and you can move there."

Dong Qing contracted the machinery factory, not bought it. Yi Minghui still had the final say on the living arrangements within the factory. He could decide who got the housing in the staff quarters. In other words, he was in charge of all aspects of life in the factory.

Dong Qing said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Just let me know if you have any difficulties. In a machine factory, I'm the one in charge."

Yi Minghui's words carried a double meaning; he was subtly reminding Dong Qing that she couldn't do without him, the factory director.

In addition, he also felt that he did not owe Dong Qing anything. Dong Qing gave him 10,000 yuan, and he waived another 10,000 yuan from the contract amount. He was just using Dong Qing to turn public money into his own. Otherwise, he would not have received that 10,000 yuan. Once the contract amount was deposited into the account, it belonged to the public and had nothing to do with him. He considered this as a way of paying off his debt.

Dong Qing knew exactly what he was thinking, but she didn't care about his logic. "As long as you don't interfere with my production, that's fine. I'm the boss in production. Everything else is up to you," she said. "Okay, I'll be troubling you a lot in the future."

Just then, Yi Minghui's wife, Yi Feifei, walked into the office and said, "You're all here. Is everything done?"

"Sister Yi is here. Everything's taken care of, you can talk now. I'm going back to work."

After Dong Damei finished speaking, she walked out of the office.

Dongqing said to his wife, "Yuzhu, I need to discuss something important with the factory manager and Sister Feifei. Go stand guard outside and cough if anyone comes near."

Li Yuzhu knew what her husband was going to say. There were many people passing by in the factory area, and some things really couldn't be heard by others. She nodded, opened the door, walked out of the office, and stood guard outside the door.

After his wife left, Dongqing said, "Now that there's no one else in the house, I'll be frank. I don't want the 10,000 yuan you two save for me every year; I'll return it to you at the end of each year. I hope you'll support my work in every way."

Dongqing's support meant that they shouldn't interfere with the machinery factory's production, but they could provide support and convenience in other areas.

Yi Feifei is such a smart woman. She spoke so clearly. If she still couldn't understand, she would have lived in vain. She smiled and said, "Don't worry, little brother. My Minghui will never interfere with any of your work. He will definitely not hold you back. If you need any help in the factory, just tell him. If the factory is not enough, he will apply to build one for you. If you have any problems outside that you can't handle, tell me and I will help you sort them out!"

Money makes the world go round, and 10,000 yuan a year is no small sum. The couple was overjoyed when they heard this. They were willing to do anything Dongqing asked them to do. He was practically their boss.

Dong Qing smiled and said, "Thank you, Sister Yi. I'll definitely need to trouble you in the future!"

Yi Minghui walked to his desk, picked up a pen, wrote out a housing permit for the family quarters, stamped it with the official seal, and handed it to Dong Qing, saying, "Take this to the housing manager in the family quarters to get the keys."

Dong Qing took the housing approval slip, glanced at it—it was for a three-bedroom, one-living-room apartment—thanked her, stood up, and walked out of the office. He said to his wife outside the door, "Let's go home."

After Dong Qing left, Yi Feifei opened the office door. She did this because she was afraid that someone would eavesdrop outside the office. It was always safer to talk with the door open.

She took out a thousand yuan from her bag and handed it to her husband, whispering, "Honey, let's return the gifts that the other people gave us at noon today. We don't do favors, so we won't accept gifts, and we don't want them to have any leverage against us later."

Yi Minghui said, "Okay, I'll return it to them at noon today!"

The gifts from those people totaled less than a thousand yuan, and Yi Feifei was unwilling to let her husband take the blame for accepting bribes without doing anything.

Dong Qing and his wife entered the factory's residential area and found the housing manager to get their apartment key.

This apartment is in the same building as my older sister Dong Damei's, but not in the same unit. My older sister lives in Unit 4, and my apartment is on the fourth floor of Unit 3.

Dongqing and his wife went up to the fourth floor, took out their keys and opened the door. The previous occupants had left the house empty; there was nothing inside except for garbage and dust.

This apartment is well-ventilated from north to south. The entrance leads to the living room, which has a balcony facing north on one side. The master bedroom also has a balcony facing south. The apartment is quite spacious, at least 140 square meters, which is enough for him and his third sister to live in.

Dongqing said, "Let's go. We'll bring our things over this afternoon, clean the house, and then we can move in."

They returned home just as Dong Sanmei came home from get off work.

Fang Lin went to school this morning. Li Yuzhu sent her son to her mother's house the day before yesterday, so now only the three siblings are at home. Dongqing said, "Third sister, the house here is going to be demolished on the 19th of the lunar calendar. We're moving this afternoon. Can you take half a day off?"

Dong Sanmei said, "That's no problem. I'll ask for leave from work after I finish eating. Where are we planning to move to?"

Dongqing said, "It's the factory's residential area. I live in the same building as my older sister; we live in unit three, on the fourth floor."

Dong Qing contracted the machinery factory, and Dong Sanmei wasn't surprised that her younger brother was able to get a house there. She said, "Really? We finally have a stable home."