"Uncle Lou, I've come here today to apologize. I made a mistake in handling this matter," Li Chu said after thinking for a moment.

? ? ?

Upon hearing Li Chu's words, the entire Lou family was stunned.

"Xiao Chu, what do you mean by that?"

"Now, whether you succeed or not in running the cafeteria, this business of contracting out the cafeteria will create a lot of enemies for you."

"Why do you say that?" Lou's father felt like his head was about to explode. He could understand each word Li Chu said, but when put together, he couldn't quite understand it.

What does it mean to make enemies even when you succeed?

The other people in the room looked at each other, even more confused, but they could tell that this was not a good thing.

Xu Damao pulled his stool closer to Li Chu, as he still planned to work with his father-in-law.

"That's right, Uncle Lou. It was decided at last year's meeting to open it up, wasn't it?"

“That’s right!” Lou’s father nodded.

"But why hasn't anything happened after a year?"

"Uh..." Lou's father didn't know how to answer this question.

Li Chu didn't intend to let him answer, but said directly: "That's because there are those who support opening up and those who are conservative. At present, the conservatives have a slight advantage. So, although the tone of opening up was set last year, there has been no movement."

Another key point is that it's not just leaders who exhibit both openness and conservatism; the same applies to the vast majority of grassroots cadres. Moreover, even those who support openness often lack the knowledge to implement it effectively. They tend to be hesitant and timid in their actions, afraid of making mistakes.

Li Chu paused here, saying that Lou's father needed to think about it carefully.

The three women who were sitting on one side had completely given up and simply moved their stools to sit by the door.

For a moment, only Li Chu, Xu Damao, and Lou's father remained in the house. As for the other two children, they had run out to play after finishing their meal.

After a while, Lou's father looked up at Li Chu and said, "Xiao Chu, I understand what you mean. You mean that by taking over this canteen, I'm essentially creating an experimental field. If it succeeds, those who support opening it up will try to expand my approach and strive for more successes."

If it fails, it means that this kind of reform is not feasible, and regardless of whether I succeed or fail, I will ultimately offend another group of people.

"Hmm," Li Chu nodded, putting down the teacup he was holding. "That's about the gist of it."

"In the end, Uncle Lou, you can only succeed in this matter; you cannot fail."

"Why is that, Brother Chu?"

"Because of... support, it must succeed, it can only succeed. As for any other reasons, you'll have to figure them out yourself. Uncle Lou, you've been in business for half your life, you should know that economics and politics are inseparable, right?"

As Li Chu said this, he gestured to them. Xu Damao seemed to understand, but Lou's father clearly understood and stopped his son-in-law, who wanted to ask more, signaling him not to.

Lou's father nodded and let out a long sigh of relief: "I understand, Xiao Chu. I will take this cafeteria contract seriously."

“Uncle Lou, you can do this too. Usually, the canteen buys supplies from the market and meat from the meat processing plant. After you take over, you can go to the rural areas outside Beijing and buy directly from the farmers. It will definitely be cheaper than the market. Da Mao often goes to the countryside, he should know this.”

After listening to Li Chu's words, Xu Damao nodded repeatedly: "Dad, Brother Chu is right about this. It is indeed cheaper to buy directly from the countryside. You don't even have to go there. Just contact the brigade and they will collect it for you and deliver it to us. After all, we will need a large quantity in the future."

Lou's father's eyes gleamed brightly; he really hadn't expected his son-in-law to know so much about this.

"Also, Uncle Lou, when you sign the contract with the factory, you must make sure it states that the factory cannot interfere with the normal management of the canteen, and the contract period must be long enough, so that someone else doesn't take the credit as soon as you get started."

Upon hearing what Li Chu said, Lou's father hurriedly stood up to get his grandson's pen and notebook, and wrote down everything that had just been said.

Next, Li Chu gave Lou's father some more instructions on things to pay attention to. He was really worried sick. There was nothing he could do, since he was the one who came up with the bad idea, and he couldn't just watch someone jump into a pit.

The more Li Chu talked, the more impressed Lou's father became. Every business is different, and his old ways wouldn't work in the current ideological climate. In fact, he might even get taken down by someone else.

Looking at his watch, it was already past nine o'clock. The children who had gone out to play had all returned. Li Chu then stood up and said, "Uncle Lou, that's all. If I think of anything else in the future, I will let you know in time. This matter was my mistake, which has put you in a dilemma. If you have any financial difficulties later, you can come to me anytime, and I can lend you some money first."

"Xiao Chu, don't say things like that. What do you mean by 'mistake'? In business, there's no such thing as making money without losing money. You only gave me an idea back then, but I made the final decision myself. I haven't even thanked you for helping me yet."

As he spoke, Lou's father waved the notebook in his hand; he had taken quite a few notes earlier.

"Alright, we're leaving now. Damao, come over to Xiao'e's house to play whenever you're free. My kids have all gone to school, so it's just the two of us."

"No problem, Brother Chu. I'll help my dad handle this matter, and then I'll visit you often."

After saying goodbye to the Lou family, Li Chu and Ding Qiunan embarked on their journey home.

"You guys are really good at talking, you can't finish in half a day," Ding Qiunan said with some dissatisfaction.

"Sigh, there's nothing I can do, I was the one who gave the idea."

Seeing that there were fewer people on the street, Ding Qiunan boldly took her husband's arm. She would never have done this during the day.

Feeling his arm being softly wrapped, Li Chu turned his head to look.

They've been married for a long time, but this was the first time Ding Qiunan had done this in public. She was a little shy, her eyes darting around, but she wouldn't look at him.

The two houses were quite close, and although both of them deliberately slowed down, they still arrived at their doorsteps after about ten minutes.

I took out my keys and opened the door. As soon as I entered, I could faintly hear what sounded like the phone in the living room ringing.

Li Chu hurriedly ran to the Intermediate People's Court.

"Honey, lock the door, I'm going to answer the phone."

Once inside the Intermediate People's Court, I could hear it clearly; it was indeed the phone ringing. I hurriedly ran into the living room to answer it.

"Xiao Chu, where did you go? Why is no one answering the phone?"

Li Chu breathed a sigh of relief when the call came from Uncle Wang. He had been afraid it would be the health care team dispatcher calling.