Li Weidong stood at the door, wrapped in a gray cotton overcoat. Heavy snow was falling, making the sky appear gray and overcast. Upon seeing Wang Qiang, Li Weidong happily saluted him.
Wang Qiang pushed his bicycle, leaving a tire track on the thick snow, until he reached Li Weidong.
"Nonsense, is this something you can just salute whenever you want?"
Li Weidong's nose was red from the cold, and he smiled sheepishly.
"Why are you standing guard here? It's freezing cold."
"Section Chief Qin said that I am a newcomer and should start from the grassroots level."
Upon hearing this, Wang Qiang knew that Qin Shouren had done it on purpose. He assumed it was something about instructing Li Weidong to cultivate good relationships with the people in the department. Then he hurriedly went to his office.
With the year-end approaching, the factory has a lot of things to purchase, so we should give everyone some holiday benefits.
As a capable assistant in the procurement department, Wang Qiang was naturally assigned tasks.
Just as Wang Qiang entered the office and was about to make himself a cup of tea, he was stopped by Cao Wangcai, the deputy section chief.
"Wang Qiang, with the year-end approaching, the factory is planning to give everyone some benefits, half a pound of pork per person. The department has decided to assign this task to you."
Upon hearing this news, Wang Qiang put down the thermos he had already picked up.
"Section Chief Cao, isn't this making things difficult for us? Look at the factory now, where's the pork? We have over 20,000 people, and if each person gets half a jin (250g) of pork, how many pigs would that be?"
Cao Wangcai glanced at Wang Qiang, secretly laughing to himself, "Hmph, you made quite a splash the other day by bringing in a batch of sheep, and you must have gotten a lot of benefits too."
"Comrade Wang Qiang, what are you saying? Do you think we'll be scared by difficulties? You're the best purchasing agent in our department. If you fail to complete this task, all 20,000 people here will be pointing their fingers at our department and cursing us."
Wang Qiang sneered. "Since this is a task assigned to Ke Li, let's all work together to figure it out."
Cao Wangcai pointed at Wang Qiang's nose: "Wang Qiang, don't be ungrateful. What time is it now? The whole factory is working overtime to produce. What's wrong with us giving everyone some benefits?"
Wang Qiang spread his hands: "This is indeed impossible. As a deputy section chief, you must know the current situation. Pork is sold out instantly whenever it appears on the market."
"Moreover, the supplies are all allocated in a unified manner. There are regulations on how many meat coupons each person should receive each month. You, as a section chief, wouldn't be thinking of disrupting the allocation plan, would you?"
Cao Wangcai hadn't expected Wang Qiang to be so tough. He used to think Wang Qiang's backer was Director Yang, but after Li Huaide came up, he saw that Wang Qiang and Li Huaide were getting closer.
Li Huaide is now insane and stays at home.
I was thinking of taking this opportunity to teach him a lesson and make him never respect me, the deputy section chief.
But I didn't expect to run into a tough opponent as soon as I arrived.
“Deputy Section Chief Cao, this is typical parochialism. You’re trying to take more than your share. I suggest we have a democratic meeting this afternoon, a round of criticism and self-criticism. What do you think?”
"snort!"
Cao Wangcai ignored Wang Qiang and turned to leave.
"Wang Qiang, aren't you afraid of his retaliation?"
After watching Cao Wangcai leave, Yu Xiaobao, a colleague in the office, asked in a low voice.
"What's there to be afraid of? He's just a deputy section chief. Besides, everyone knows how he got that position!"
After Wang Qiang finished speaking, everyone smiled knowingly. Rumor had it that Cao Wangcai's wife had an affair with a certain leader, and that he got his deputy section chief position by sleeping with his wife.
He used to be just an ordinary factory worker who hadn't even finished elementary school and knew no more than 300 characters. One day, he was suddenly promoted to deputy head of the purchasing department.
"But you should still be careful. As the saying goes, a local official is more powerful than a distant one. Be careful he doesn't make things difficult for you."
Wang Qiang nodded. "When we do our work, we should act with our conscience. What do you all think? Is his request reasonable?"
Everyone, including Yu Xiaobao, shook their heads. Cao Wangcai's request was unacceptable, not even from a purchasing agent in the city, let alone a factory. Over 10,000 jin of pork? Was he kidding?
Nowadays, it's considered good if everyone has two ounces of meat coupons per month. Even if you have meat coupons, you can't necessarily buy meat, as it's simply not available on the market.
Wang Qiang made himself a cup of tea. There were six people in the department, including Wang Qiang, Yu Xiaobao, Guo Jinshui, Sun Weiren, Shi Dakuai, and Tang Bure.
Only Wang Qiang, Yu Xiaobao, and Guo Jinshui are here now. The other three, Sun Weiren, have asked for leave, while Shi Dakuai and Tang Bure have gone out on business.
After listening to their conversation, Guo Jinshui took a sip of tea and said, "That's right, what's so great about a deputy section chief? When I was in this section, he was still swinging a sledgehammer in the workshop."
Indeed, Guo Jinshui is in his forties, with a round head, thinning hair, and slightly overweight. He is one of the senior members of the department and should have been qualified for promotion long ago.
Who would have thought that after sitting on the sidelines for many years, the former deputy section chief retired due to illness two years ago, and Guo Jinshui thought he was safe. But when the department announced it, Cao Wangcai was promoted directly from the workshop.
Guo Jinshui was so angry that he was hospitalized for three days.
From then on, he basically just coasted along at the department, putting off work whenever possible, since he had no hope of promotion and might as well live a more comfortable life.
Over time, the section chief had no choice but to give up, and Lao Guo was happy to live a carefree life.
When the three of them were having a lively conversation.
The door opened, revealing Secretary Xia, the factory director's secretary.
Secretary Xia is in his early twenties and is a very energetic young man.
Is Comrade Wang Qiang here?
The first thing to do upon entering is to ask a question.
"Oh, Secretary Xia, what brings you here?"
Wang Qiang raised his head.
As soon as Secretary Xia saw Wang Qiang there, he quickly said, "Brother Wang Qiang, Cao Wangcai went to Director Fan and complained about you."
"Director Fan wants me to call you over now."
Wang Qiang nodded. This Cao Wangcai is like a primary school student, always tattling.
He stood up and said to Xiaobao and Guo Jinshui, "That's all he's capable of. I don't think he can cause any trouble."
Yu Xiaobao and Guo Jinshui exchanged a smile. No one in the department respected Cao Wangcai; he couldn't do anything and yet gave orders haphazardly.
"Alright, I'll go take a look. You two enjoy your tea!"
Wang Qiang followed Secretary Xia to Fan Debiao's office.
"Secretary Xia, you may go out now."
Fan Debiao dismissed Secretary Xia. Wang Qiang noticed that Cao Wangcai was not there, so Fan Debiao probably wanted to speak with him alone.
"Section Chief Cao suggested a welfare program for the factory: half a pound of pork for each person."
"I heard you don't quite agree?"
Wang Qiang: "Director Fan, I agree to give everyone benefits. Since it was Deputy Section Chief Cao who suggested it, I think he must have connections."
"I think you should entrust this matter to him."
Fan Debiao laughed: "Don't try to beat around the bush with me. I know the situation with pork all the time."
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