Upon hearing that there was still a possibility of doing business, Xu Damao was already quite impatient.

"The only way, and the safest way, is to join forces with the state."

A big question mark popped up above Xu Damao's head.

He could understand each word of the sentence individually, but he couldn't understand them when they were put together.

Seeing Xu Damao standing there dumbfounded, Li Chu smiled but didn't say anything, and picked up the teacup to take a sip of water.

"Brother Chu, can you explain this to me? I don't quite understand."

"What's the point of explaining this to you? Have you ever run a business or something?"

Xu Damao understood what this meant; it meant that the other person was willing to tell him.

He wasn't annoyed, after all, what the other person said was the truth. Even if they were to do business, it would be his father-in-law who would do it. He thought, "You wouldn't understand what I'm saying anyway, so what's the point of talking?"

Xu Damao also took a sip of water and said, "Brother Chu, that's it. Wait a moment, I'll go and call my father-in-law over. You can talk to him, the old man is really bored at home and is very anxious."

"Okay, go ahead, I don't have anything else to do anyway."

"Okay, I'll go now."

After saying that, Xu Damao stood up and walked towards the front yard.

"Brother Chu, please tell Xiao'e."

"knew."

The furry ball that had been lying at Li Chu's feet saw Xu Damao leave, then looked at its male owner. Seeing that the male owner hadn't moved, it trotted over to the front yard to bolt the door.

After Maoqiu returned from the front yard, Li Chu stood up and walked towards the back garden.

It was getting dark, and the backyard lights were turned on.

Ding Qiunan and Lou Xiao'e sat in the pavilion, eating peanuts and melon seeds and drinking tea, while their child sat on a mat on the ground playing with toys.

Seeing that only her man had come to the back, Ding Qiunan asked curiously, "Where's Xu Damao? Why are you all alone?"

Li Chu walked into the pavilion with a smile and plopped down next to his wife: "Let's go back."

Even Lou Xiao'e was stunned. Could this guy be so unreliable as to abandon her and her daughter here and run away?

Ding Qiunan could tell from her man's expression that he was joking, so she raised her hand and patted his arm: "Speak properly."

"He went back to pick up his father-in-law; he'll be here in a bit."

"Did they go to pick up my dad?"

"Yes, Uncle Lou is getting restless and wants to start a business. But your son Da Mao can't understand what I'm saying, so he has to go back and bring his father-in-law over."

Lou Xiao'e couldn't help but chuckle. She could imagine the frustrated look on her husband's face, which he couldn't understand.

Xu Damao was quick; he arrived with his father-in-law in just over twenty minutes.

Li Chu led the two of them directly to the backyard.

There are trees and water in the back, which is much cooler than the middle courtyard. Moreover, there are mosquito repellent medicines made by Li Chu everywhere, but there are almost none of those things in the back. It is very comfortable to sit in the back.

Every time Lou's father visits Li Chu's home, he sighs with admiration.

His family was classified as capitalists, but why did he feel that Li Chu was more like a capitalist than him?

"Xiao Chu, Da Mao didn't explain it clearly to me just now. He only mentioned something about a joint venture. Tell me in detail what it's all about."

Before he could even sit down, Lou's father asked anxiously.

Li Chu smiled and poured a glass of water for Lou's father, then refilled the water in his and Xu Damao's cups before calmly saying, "Uncle Lou, if you want to start your own business, I advise you not to for the time being. But if you're just bored and want to get moving, you can find a joint venture with the government."

"A joint venture?" Lou's father muttered under his breath.

Seeing that Lou's father was deep in thought with his head down, Li Chu didn't say anything more. He also looked down at Xu Damao's youngest daughter, who was sitting on the mat trying to catch the dog.

This needs to be carefully considered. His dogs are good-natured; if the family hurts them, they'll just lick it off. But that doesn't mean they'll treat others the same way. What if the child scratches the dog and it bites her? That would be troublesome.

Seeing that the little black child lying next to him was getting a little impatient, Li Chu quickly gestured to Ding Qiunan to pick up the child.

The child became unhappy and kicked her legs, trying to get down. Lou Xiao'e knew why she had picked the child up, so she quickly took her daughter from her.

The little black cat, whose nose had been wrinkling a bit, raised its head to look at its owner, then rubbed its head against Li Chu's leg before lying down close to him again.

"Xiao Chu, is the joint venture you mentioned similar to the public-private partnership of 1955?"

Lou's father finally figured it out.

"Pretty much, Uncle Lou, but there are differences. Back then, the government approached you, and the management rights were in the government's hands. You only had the right to share profits. Now, the difference is that you take the initiative to approach the government, and you must keep the management rights in your own hands."

Is this how it's done? Even Lou's father was a bit confused.

Seeing the bewildered look on Lou's father's face, Li Chu knew he was also a little confused, so he explained it to him in detail.

"Let's take an example, like the canteen at the steel mill. Uncle Lou, do you think that canteen is losing money or making money now?"

"That would definitely result in a loss."

"That's right, that canteen is definitely losing money. For example, it loses a thousand yuan every month. If we take over that canteen now, I won't need your factory to give me a thousand yuan every month. Instead, I'll pay the factory money every month. Uncle Lou, do you think the steel mill leaders will be tempted?"

Li Chu's words made Lou's father's eyes brighter and brighter.

Being a businessman, he understood everything Li Chu meant.

But the other three people sitting next to me were all completely lost.

"Brother Chu, the factory loses money every month. If we take it over, we can make money? You don't mean to raise prices, do you? I guess the workers might not be willing to do that." Xu Damao seemed a little hesitant.

Li Chu didn't even need to explain. Lou's father said directly, "There's no need to raise prices. If we can contract out the cafeteria, the price will remain the same."

"Dad, how do we make money?"

"Cost control!"

? ? ?

Apart from Li Chu, the other three business novices still didn't understand.

“Oh dear, the cafeteria must be wasting a lot of food right now. If we take over, as long as we control the waste and do the purchasing ourselves, the costs will drop immediately.”

After Lou's father explained it this way, they understood.

However, Lou's father still had some concerns: "Xiao Chu, can we take over the cafeteria?"

"Uncle Lou, whether we can get the contract depends on you. Also, it's you who's contracting it, not us."

"Xiao Chu, you're not going to do it?"

"Uncle Lou, what are you talking about? How could I do that?"

“Uh…” Lou’s father was stunned for a moment. Well, he had misunderstood. He was so focused on getting Li Chu onto his shabby ship that he forgot about Li Chu’s identity.