Reborn during the early days of China’s reform and opening, the narrator finds himself in the 1980s countryside. In this setting, the past is still a cold reference, yet it is also a fresh start....
Wan Feng's mobile phone was in his hand. Wan Feng's pager was not yet connected to the national network, and the Haoli service desk could not provide service so far away.
It's just a decoration, it's useless.
Tan Sheng was anxious. Could it be that the boss was lost?
If he couldn't find Wan Feng, he wouldn't be able to sign the contract and had to wait.
While Tan Sheng was looking for Wan Feng everywhere, Wan Feng finally waited for Lu Jinshui's return.
Lu Jinshui and Wan Feng had met once before, and he was stunned when he saw Wan Feng.
Lu Jinshui has been in a very bad mood in the past two months.
Component Factory No. 5 was doing well under his leadership, and even if there was less profit last year, it couldn't be blamed on him.
What could a factory manager do in such a situation? He was already very lucky to be able to ensure that the company did not suffer losses.
But this year is different. After obtaining the chip processing business in the north, the profit of Component Factory No. 5 is heading towards one million.
If there are further processing tasks, the profit of the fifth factory is expected to reach 1.5 million this year.
It is quite difficult to achieve this step when Shanghai semiconductor companies are generally in a downturn and lack support from the government.
But at this moment, someone came out of nowhere to pick peaches.
He was transferred to a company that was suffering heavy losses.
In a fit of anger, Lu Jinshui was ready to resign and go into business.
But what would he do in the hutongs? Would he sell pancakes, soy milk, and fried dough twists?
Lu Jinshui fell into confusion. It seemed as if the front was shrouded in thick fog and he could not see far away.
It was at this low point that a friend advised him to go out and relax.
After listening to his friend, Lu Jinshui took his wife and children to Suzhou and Hangzhou.
Unexpectedly, this trip out to relax did not achieve the desired effect because of his lover's nagging.
It is said that Shanghai men are stingy. If Shanghai men are stingy, Shanghai women will not be generous at all.
It has to do with the environment.
The men in Northeast China are generous and the women in Northeast China are also very fierce. This is also the influence of the environment.
If a man wants to go into business, it is equivalent to throwing away his iron rice bowl and taking a clay rice bowl. It would be strange if Shanghai women who have no strategic vision did not complain.
Lu Jinshui went out for three days to relax, and his wife kept nagging him for three days. It would be strange if he was in a good mood.
Perhaps the only consolation was that a fortune teller told him by the West Lake that he had encountered some kind of disaster in the past three months. The sky was dark for several months and everything went wrong.
However, this month the bad star has disappeared and the lucky star has appeared, and the good luck has begun to turn around.
The fortune teller promised that good luck would come to him within three days after he returned home.
Lu Jinshui was skeptical about fortune-telling. If his wife hadn't stopped him, he would never have been willing to spend that dollar.
He was so concerned about the one dollar he lost that he didn't take the fortune-teller's words seriously at all.
After returning from a three-day trip, Lu Jinshui, who was in a depressed mood, saw an ordinary-looking young man before he even entered the house.
It looks a little familiar, as if I've seen it somewhere.
"Who are you?" Lu Jinshui asked doubtfully.
"Director Lu! We've met before. Cheng Gong took me to the Fifth Factory half a year ago. That's when we met."
After Wan Feng said this, Lu Jinshui remembered who the other person was.
"Which Wan...Mr. Wan are you?"
Wan Feng nodded.
"What brought you here?"
"Director Lu! It's almost noon now. You just came back and probably haven't eaten yet. Let's go have some food. I'll treat you! How about we talk while we eat?" Wan Feng pointed to a restaurant with an old sign not far away.
Lu Jinshui has a habit of never eating with strangers.
Even when I was the factory manager, if I didn't have any acquaintances to introduce me, I would still eat and drink with strangers.
Wan Feng is certainly not a stranger. Cheng Gong was a technical expert in the Fifth Factory back then. Wan Feng is his boss now, so he is certainly not a stranger.
He had indeed not eaten yet, and naturally he was hungry after arriving home so exhausted.
Not only did he not eat it, his family members didn't eat it either.
So, on the second floor of this restaurant called Nanyue Tower, the four people from Wan Feng's group plus his family of four, six adults and two children, could just sit at one table.
As a place with a long history, Shanghai naturally has many unique delicacies.
Boiled chicken, braised pork with rich red sauce, stir-fried shrimp, four-happiness roasted gluten, stir-fried fish, grass head rings, and eight-treasure chili sauce.
The last dish is naturally the hairy crab.
If you go to Shanghai and don’t eat hairy crabs, it basically means you haven’t tried all the delicious food in Shanghai.
Then six drawers of xiaolongbao were served as the main course.
Lu Jinshui was stunned. "Do you northerners always eat xiaolongbao by the tray?"
Wan Feng was puzzled: "How can we get on it if we don't put it on the drawer?"
“We usually buy them one by one.”
"Feed the cat, buy them one by one?"
Wan Feng's words caused a burst of laughter.
"There are so many dishes and six drawers of steamed buns. We can't finish them all."
"If you can't finish it, take it away. Come on, Uncle Lu! What do you want to drink, white wine or beer?"
"Half a glass of draft beer, please."
"Half a glass? What kind of wine are you drinking? Two glasses first, and more if it's not enough."
So, two large glasses of draft beer appeared in front of Lu Jinshui.
A glass of draft beer weighs one kilogram. Lu Jinshui saw stars in his eyes as he looked at the two glasses of draft beer.
"Aunt! You're welcome. Director Lu and I weren't very familiar with each other before, but we became familiar with each other later. You two little brothers and sisters, you don't have to be polite. Eat."
Then he picked up the wine glass and said, "Director Lu! Let's talk about it after this glass of wine. Let's go first."
Lu Jinshui seemed to be frightened to death, and he just came up and did something to him?
Why do these northerners drink like this?
"My alcohol tolerance is really limited. I'll probably pass out after this one glass. Besides, I'm not used to drinking on an empty stomach."
People in the south live their lives very carefully.
Few people in the north think about drinking on an empty stomach.
But there is truth to this.
Wan Feng put some vegetables into the bowls in front of Lu Jinshui's two children. The two little guys seemed to have never eaten with so many strangers before and were embarrassed to pick up their chopsticks.
"Uncle Lu! Wu Huade told me everything about you. I wonder what your plans are for the future?"
"I haven't decided yet. I plan to come down and do some small business."
"Cheng Gong said you've been working tirelessly at Factory Five over the years. Are you willing to leave the job you love?"
Cheng Gong was right. Even though he grew up in the Fifth Factory, his feelings for it were extremely deep.
His parents were both employees of Component Factory No. 5, and he also started working at Factory No. 5 when he grew up.
He started as an ordinary worker and took over as factory director at the age of 33. Now he is almost 40 years old.
He thought he would devote his whole life to Factory No. 5, but he didn't expect to be kicked out in the end.
Lu Jinshui sighed: "What else can I do if I don't leave?"
He has no control over his job transfer. He doesn't want to leave but what else can he do?