This is Yan Fugui's house.

"Old Yan, do you think this will work out? I have a feeling that Xu Damao is a bit unreliable," the third aunt asked.

"Hehe, you guys are all so short-sighted. I misjudged Xu Damao before, thinking he was just like his old man, a little clever, but now I see he's a real talent. At least, among the young people in our compound, no one can compare," Yan Fugui replied.

“Dad, what’s wrong with your son? He has a proper job, and it was passed down to him by his father.” Yan Jiecheng retorted.

"You're far from it. Take tonight, for example. Why did Xu Damao talk to me about his promotion alone? He was fishing, trying to get me hooked. I knew it was a hook, but I still had to walk on it, waiting for him to fleece me."

Regarding this position, I suspect someone asked Xu Damao to inquire about buyers; he should be able to make the decisions.

Yan Fugui didn't think much of it at first, but when Xu Damao went home to park his car, he realized that things were not so simple.

"Can we negotiate the price down a bit?" the third auntie asked.

"Then forget about it. Like Xu Damao said, if this position were put on the black market, there would be plenty of people vying for it, and the highest bidder would win. Right now, they've quoted 1,000, and I reckon it's pretty much true."

"Since Xu Damao said so, as long as we can afford the 1,000, our jobs should be secure." Yan Fugui took a sip of water to moisten his throat.

"Dad, you have to help me this time." Yan Jiecheng didn't care about anything else; since this position was right in front of him, he had to seize it.

“Don’t worry about the rest, I’ll go find Xu Damao. But one thing, don’t say a word about what happened today. Otherwise, trouble might arise again.” Yan Fugui had a deep understanding of what was going on in this hospital.

That night, Yan Jiecheng dreamed that he had become a permanent employee, and a matchmaker immediately found him a wife, and then... well, you know. Just at the crucial moment, his wife suddenly heard someone say that he wasn't a permanent employee, and she immediately got dressed and left. Then, Yan Jiecheng woke up.

That night, Yan Fugui took out his secret stash of money, which he had buried in the wall bricks, and counted it. If he lost 1,000 yuan, half of his savings from all these years would be gone. The thought of it made his heart ache.

No, this money comes from the people anyway, so we need to be even more frugal in the future, and Yan Jiecheng's share of his salary should be increased. Thinking this way made me feel a little better.

Then, he shook the three women awake, and after the bed shook for a while, he finally fell into a deep sleep. As he reached middle age, Yan Fugui was always feeling a bit weak.

When Xu Damao went to work early the next morning, Yan Fugui, who was in charge of hairdressing, was already watering the flowers at the door.

"Da Mao, pay more attention to what happened yesterday. Your third uncle will remember your kindness," Yan Fugui whispered when no one was around.

"Don't worry, Uncle, I'll find out for you while I'm at work. You just need to prepare that." Xu Damao said, making a gesture as he spoke, not caring whether Yan Fugui understood or not.

"That's all for now, Uncle San. Hey, Uncle San, why are you always rubbing your lower back? You're not young anymore, you need to take it easy."

Without waiting for Yan Fugui's reply, Xu Damao got on his bike and rode off. Xu Damao was increasingly discovering the benefits of getting up early and returning to work late. Not only was it less hot, but it also reduced his opportunities to interact with people like Yi Zhonghai in the compound, thus avoiding a lot of unnecessary trouble.

Now that the projection team has an extra person, Xu Damao can't just wander around aimlessly like before. In the morning, he went to the office to explain the projector-related matters to Chen Changqing.

In the afternoon, the factory arranged entertainment for an inspection team from another city, and Xu Damao was notified that a movie would be shown. In those days, few movies were made, but those in the capital had the advantage of being close to the source and could always see new films first. And since there weren't many other entertainment programs for the inspection team from out of town, showing movies became an essential activity.

Fortunately, Xu Damao operated the projector while Chen Changqing carefully observed and recorded, giving Chen Changqing a practical opportunity. If Chen wanted to operate it on his own, he would have to watch several films first, as the projector was a very expensive device.

That evening, Xu Damao naturally enjoyed a small treat. Besides the special nature of Xu Damao's job, his skill in drinking and warming up the atmosphere was also valued by his superiors.

Previously, Xu Damao would always drink with one adult and three children, or two to five, until he blacked out, but at least the boss was happy. Of course, now Xu Damao certainly won't have a problem drinking; with the "space bug," he can drink as much as he wants without any problem.

Now, the drinking continues, but the words can't be spoken carelessly. The leader asked him to warm up the atmosphere, but he couldn't use any crude jokes from later generations; he could only tell some interesting stories he'd heard or seen while showing movies in the countryside.

People these days have all come from chaotic times and have a special affection for the countryside, so they were all very interested in what Xu Damao was saying.

After a round of drinks, Sha Zhu brought in the last dish, only to find Xu Damao fraternizing with the members of the inspection team.

"Xu Damao, what are you doing here?" Sha Zhu asked subconsciously. In fact, Xu Damao had eaten with the leaders a few times before, but he and his three children would fall ill after just one round, so Sha Zhu didn't pay much attention to it.

"Shazhu, you know Team Leader Xu? He's here to show a movie for the inspection team and have a casual meal with them." The answer came from Li Xuewu, the director of the logistics department.

后勤处管着食堂，李学武对傻柱那是又爱又恨。这家伙做饭的手艺在轧钢厂没人能比，但那傻劲也是别人比不了的。他之所以先回答，就是担心傻柱这人不顾及场合，把许大茂给揍了。

He knew that Xu Damao had gotten Sha Zhu out of his position as group leader a few days ago. If this had happened with comrades in other cities, it would have been a disgrace to the logistics department, so the township quickly got rid of Sha Zhu.

When Li Xuewu spoke, Xu Damao ignored Shazhu, just smiled, and continued drinking and eating. Although Xu Damao had been quite good to him these past few days, he was alone in this era, and no matter how good he was, it couldn't compare to later generations. This only whetted Xu Damao's appetite. Tonight would be a treat.

Sha Zhu didn't really care too much about his position as team leader, otherwise he would have already confronted Xu Damao. Seeing that Li Xuewu was looking at him and the others were ignoring him, he wisely left.

"Liu Lan, do you know what kind of team leader Xu Damao is now?" Sha Zhu asked Liu Lan when he returned to the kitchen.

At this time, Liu Lan was young and beautiful. Although she had no connection with Li Xuewu, she was good-looking, so the canteen director assigned her to serve food to the leaders. Moreover, she was outgoing and liked to gossip, so she knew a thing or two about everything that happened in the steel rolling mill.