Jiangcheng No. 1 Department Store was a well-known shopping store in Jiangcheng in the 1920s.
The boss is also a well-known capitalist in Jiangcheng.
However, a long time ago, that big capitalist and his whole family immigrated. They sold off some of their properties, and handed over the rest to a branch of the family to manage.
Jiangcheng Department Store is one of them.
The current general manager, Tian Zhigao, is a relative of that big capitalist, and he helped manage the department store business before liberation.
After liberation, with the implementation of the public-private partnership, Tian Zhigao actively responded to the policy and retained his position as general manager, and he continued to manage the department store's daily operations.
The change in the nature of Jiangcheng Department Store actually benefited Tian Zhigao.
Before liberation, he was just a manager working for capital.
Now, he is a legitimate state cadre.
In terms of level, it's not too high, but everyone knows how lucrative it is to work in a department store.
People lined up every day to beg Tian Zhigao.
However, people always strive for higher goals. Tian Zhigao had been stuck in his position at the department store for over a decade and wanted to move up a notch.
After hanging up the phone, Tian Zhigao hummed a little tune with a sense of smug satisfaction, then called Ye Zhongping over via internal line.
Ye Zhongping arrived quickly.
"Xiao Ye, put aside what you're doing for now. Go to the Municipal Bureau this afternoon and get that thing we discussed last time done."
Ye Zhongping obediently nodded, "Okay."
"By the way, among the people recruited in the second half of last year, wasn't there one who got in through Qi Ju's connections?"
Ye Zhongping frowned; he hadn't known about this.
Tian Zhigao wasn't angry. He said kindly, "It must be the branch secretary's side. It's normal that you don't know."
Ye Zhongping said, "I'll go down and inquire about it right away."
Tian Zhigao nodded.
Ye Zhongping was his confidant, and overall he was quite capable.
"This isn't a top priority; you handle it."
Tian Zhigao wanted to get closer to the Municipal Bureau. The fact that there was someone in the department store who was related to Director Qi was certainly an opportunity, but he didn't know what kind of relationship that person had with Director Qi, or whether he could get help from them.
He didn't have high hopes either.
Just as Ye Zhongping was about to leave, he seemed to remember something and turned back, saying:
"Mr. Tian, what about Sun Liang...?"
Tian Zhigao quickly stopped Ye Zhongping, got up and looked outside the door, making sure the door to the opposite office was closed before closing it himself. "Alright, go ahead and talk."
Ye Zhongping continued, "Sun Liang said that if you don't give him the money you promised, he will expose you."
Tian Zhigao scoffed, "He's in the same boat as us now. Expose him? Does he want to die?"
Ye Zhongping hesitated and said, "His wife is sick and he's looking for doctors everywhere. I think his mental state is different from before. Who knows, he might really do something rash when he's desperate."
Tian Zhigao waved his hand dismissively, "He can't jump over the wall, he has children to take care of."
Ye Zhongping didn't quite agree with this view, but he didn't say anything more.
Tian Zhigao asked, "Has that batch of peanut oil not been sold yet?"
Ye Zhongping replied, "That's about right. For safety reasons, I'm shipping them out in batches, and I'm using the black market route because the profits are higher."
Tian Zhigao smiled and said, "I trust you to handle things. Alright, you can go now."
Ye Zhongping then left.
Qin Hanshu waited several days before finally receiving this conversation.
Ye Zhongping's office was crowded, so it wasn't a place for shady dealings.
However, Tian Zhigao's office offers a high degree of privacy, and Ye Zhongping is Tian Zhigao's trusted confidant and favorite. If the two need to discuss something, Tian Zhigao's office is a better choice.
After realizing this, Qin Hanshu changed the target of the surveillance to Tian Zhigao's office.
After observing them for a few days, Qin Hanshu noticed that the two were only discussing work-related matters. Just as she was beginning to have the illusion that "these two might both be selfless and altruistic people," the above scenario unfolded.
Peanut oil? Sun Liang?
At the end of last year, the department store gave each employee an extra kilogram of peanut oil as a benefit. It is said that this was suggested by Ye Zhongping and decided by Tian Zhigao. It also solved the problem of a batch of peanuts that the company had been hoarding for a long time.
I'm extremely satisfied with it in every aspect.
When the peanuts are first brought back, they'll definitely sell well. These days, what kind of goods can't be sold? It's just that retail sales will be very slow.
But department stores have many partner companies. They can exchange goods with other companies, or they can just take the goods to an oil press to be processed into oil. Wouldn't that solve the problem?
It seems like we only remembered about this batch of peanuts at the end of the year.
Peanuts will stale after the New Year, so why not fry them into oil and distribute it as a treat?
It sounds perfectly logical.
But is that really the case?
Could that batch of peanuts have been deliberately forgotten?
A simple task becomes complicated when it becomes complicated, which creates opportunities for manipulation.
Half a train carload of peanuts—Qin Hanshu had heard Wu Yingxia mention the exact number; she said it was 15 tons, which is about jin (a unit of weight).
Even with a low oil yield of 30%, 1 jin of peanuts can produce at least 9,000 jin of oil.
The department store only has a total of more than 2,200 employees.
Of course, everyone can do the math, but at the time, they also gave an explanation: the peanuts had been stored for too long and many had spoiled.
—The weather in the south is humid, so it's normal for things to spoil if not stored properly.
After deducting the cost of the bad oil and the cost of pressing it, there's only enough left to give each person one pound.
No one doubts this claim, or perhaps some people do but haven't voiced their doubts.
After all, anything without evidence is just wild guessing.
Now, hearing the conversation between Tian Zhigao and Ye Zhongping, what was originally just a wild guess has become a fact.
And then there's Sun Liang.
Sun Liang is the deputy head of the finance department. He was the one who went with Ye Zhongping to collect the debt and got back a pound of peanuts.
Judging from Tian Zhigao's tone, he didn't want to give Sun Liang much of the benefit.
Qin Hanshu hadn't had much contact with Sun Liang, but she'd heard he was a pretty honest person.
Just as Qin Hanshu was about to ask around, Wu Yingxia took the initiative to start a conversation.
"Did you know? Section Chief Sun's wife is gone."
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