"Xu Damao, Xu Damao, where did you run off to? Come out here!"
In the transportation department, Xu Damao was discussing with Huang Shu how to further expand their car assembly business when they were interrupted by a commotion outside. Before Xu Damao even needed to get up, the person had already entered the office.
"Hey, Xu Damao, you've really got some nerve now, sitting in your office all day acting all high and mighty, you really do look like one."
The person who came was Sha Zhu; his loud and boisterous manner was just too annoying to handle.
"Shazhu, what's up? Why aren't you cooking in the cafeteria? What are you doing here? Are you going to cook for me?" Xu Damao said.
"You wish! Special treatment? Sister-in-law Huai Ru seems to be feeling a bit off today. She might be about to give birth, or at the latest within the next day or two. I'm here to let you know that we need to get a small vehicle from the transportation department. We don't need the sedan, just that sidecar will do."
"We'll put it outside our courtyard this afternoon. Whenever Huai Ru is about to give birth, we'll just have her take a car to the hospital; that way it'll be faster." Sha Zhu finished speaking in one breath, as if he had accomplished something big.
Hearing Sha Zhu's words, Xu Damao's mind went blank. What did Qin Huairu's decision to give birth have to do with Sha Zhu, with Xu Damao, with the steel mill, and why would she need a sidecar to provide for her?
"Shazhu, can you drive? Or is there anyone in the compound who can drive?" Xu Damao asked.
"I don't know how, and it seems like nobody in the compound knows how either," Sha Zhu replied.
"Should we send another driver over to be on standby the whole time, so that Qin Huairu can be taken to the hospital immediately if she goes into labor?" Xu Damao said.
"You finally said something sensible. Yes, that's how it should be. I was only thinking about the car and didn't think about the driver. Then you should call a driver over." Sha Zhu rarely praised Xu Damao.
"Driver? Sha Zhu, what's wrong with your brain? Is Qin Huairu some kind of leader or some important mission that the steel mill has to provide vehicles and personnel to ensure she can give birth?"
"No, Sha Zhu, she's about to have her third child, why are you still hung up on him? Why don't you hurry up and find a girl to marry? You can't handle Qin Huairu."
Xu Damao advised.
"What are you talking about? Do you think I'm that kind of person? We're all neighbors, shouldn't we help each other out? Besides, Xu Damao, you have the ability now, it's only right that you help your neighbor." Sha Zhu's logic was strange, and most people couldn't argue with him.
"Forget about the steel mill's trucks. Here's an idea that might help Qin Huairu," Xu Damao said.
"Just tell me, anything that can help is fine."
“Chang San’er’s family in the next yard has a manure cart. Just put Qin Huairu in it and pull it away. Hurry up and borrow it, or you won’t be able to,” Xu Damao said.
"Xu Damao, have I not hit you for a few days? Are you getting all high and mighty now? You won't even help with something this small?" Sha Zhu pressed.
"Shazhu, let me tell you this: if you really have something going on at the cafeteria, I'll let you cut in line and put you in a car, since we're neighbors in this compound. But Qin Huairu giving birth is a completely private matter, and I can't approve that."
So, go find a leader to sign off on it. As long as any leader is willing to approve a slip for you, I'll be at ease. You always say you're on good terms with this leader and familiar with that leader, right? Go find a leader now; that's when I'll see if you're just bragging.
Xu Damao planned to send Sha Zhu to the leadership.
"Xu Damao, you said that as long as the leader signs it, it'll be fine, right? Then you wait." Seeing that he couldn't get things done with Xu Damao, Sha Zhu decided to try his luck with the leader.
He often cooked special meals for the leaders, who praised his culinary skills highly. After the meal, some leaders would pat him on the shoulder affectionately and say, "Silly Zhu is good. Come to me if you need anything in the future."
When it was time to leave work in the afternoon, Sha Zhu finally arrived at the transportation department.
"Xu Damao, take a look. This is the leader's approval slip. You'd better send a car quickly." Sha Zhu quickly waved a slip of paper in front of Xu Damao.
When Xu Damao saw Sha Zhu come in, he had a bad feeling. Could it be that some idiot had actually given Sha Zhu a ticket? If these two idiots got together, Xu Damao wouldn't be able to do anything about it.
"You just glanced at it, who knows what it said? Give it to me quickly, we need to keep a copy." After Xu Damao finished speaking, Sha Zhu reluctantly handed the note to Xu Damao.
The note contained Sha Zhu's application, written in crooked, scraggly handwriting, somewhat like a primary school student's. Below it was Tong Yi's signature, followed by the three characters "Yang Zhenhua".
"Wow, you actually got Secretary Yang to sign it for you?" Xu Damao asked with a smile.
"That's right, given my relationship with Secretary Yang, he agreed immediately after I mentioned it. At first, he even insisted on letting me use his own car, and I had to plead with him to refuse." Sha Zhu grinned foolishly.
“Since the top leader has already signed it, I’ll give it to the dispatch office later, and they’ll have someone drive the car over after get off work tonight. You can go now,” Xu Damao said.
When Sha Zhu went outside and saw that no one was around, he cursed, "Idiot!" Xu Damao, inside the house, also cursed, "Idiot!" when Sha Zhu went out. Both thought the other was an idiot, so they couldn't tell who was truly stupid and who was pretending.
Xu Damao knew something was wrong as soon as he saw the note. The handwriting was indeed Sha Zhu's, but the "agreement" and the part before "Yang Zhenhua" were not written by Yang Shuji. It must have been forged by Sha Zhu, but the handwriting was still quite similar.
Sha Zhu hadn't seen Yang Zhenhua's approvals before, so he wasn't familiar with the latter's style. Leaders' signatures and instructions were generally not written in such a formal way; they were usually abbreviated. For example, Yang Zhenhua's approval would involve drawing a circle above the document, followed by a straight line, and finally the character "Yang," without writing his full name.
The signature that Sha Zhu imitated, which he must have seen on some inscription, still has a bit of the spirit of it.
Xu Damao guessed correctly; it was indeed Sha Zhu who hired someone to imitate him, and the person imitating him was none other than the local MCA.
After leaving Xu Damao's side, Sha Zhu, thinking he had a good relationship with the leader, went directly to Yang Shuji. However, Yang Shuji usually only knew him for his cooking skills and never imagined that someone would use a company vehicle for personal purposes, let alone for someone else. Needless to say, he was refused outright.
Sha Zhu was undeterred. Remembering the confident promises made by other leaders during their hospitality, he went to each of them, only to receive the same result. These leaders were speechless at Sha Zhu's bizarre request and refused with various excuses.
Among them, Qiao Erbao genuinely wanted to sign the agreement. It wasn't that he had a good relationship with Sha Zhu, but rather that he wanted to annoy Xu Damao and his group. Recently, after the transportation department repaired the car, it was immediately turned into a mobile support vehicle, forcing him to walk home every day, which made him thoroughly hate the logistics department and the transportation department.
However, Comrade Qiao knew that if he actually signed the document, he would still be embarrassed by the other party, so he gave up on the idea.
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