Wine table talk
Secretary Liu, who was very lucky, sat in the hotel lobby, staring at the passing tricycles through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
"Why haven't they come yet? Are they really not planning to come? That's impossible. They clearly seem to be very interested!" Secretary Liu thought to himself and took a sip of the tea that the waiter had just poured.
"Hiss..." The next second it was so hot that he almost dropped the cup.
Director Liu almost laughed, but said with a worried look on his face: "Are you okay? How about I pour you a cold drink?"
Secretary Liu waved his hand, looked at his watch, and continued to stare at the vehicles on the road.
I don’t know how long it took, but a blue tricycle slowly stopped.
Secretary Liu stood up suddenly, straightened his clothes, and walked out.
Director Liu saw this and hurried to follow.
"Two bosses, Lao Gou, you are here, please come in..."
Hu Yufeng and Qin Wenli greeted the two politely, and when they reached the door, they made way for each other before walking inside.
Director Liu booked a private room. After everyone sat down, the waiter came in and poured water, then closed the door.
Today, Secretary Liu had regained his cheerfulness as he had when they first met. He smiled and reminisced about the past with Lao Gou, while praising Qin's mother and son in various ways.
Qin Wenli and Hu Yufeng maintained polite smiles, but Secretary Gou took it as a compliment to himself and was so happy that he almost lost himself.
Seeing that the main person did not respond, Secretary Liu changed the subject and raised a glass of wine and said:
"Wenli, I made you go for nothing last time. Let me toast you!"
After clinking glasses with Qin Wenli and the others, he drank the whole drink in one gulp. Then he sat down with a look of grievance on his face.
"Alas, Murakami's matter is very difficult..."
Well, I'm starting to feel pitiful again. Qin Wenli thought to himself, but looked like he was listening attentively.
Speaking of the village's affairs, Secretary Gou also had deep experience with them. He would interrupt the conversation from time to time to say a few words, but as they talked, the atmosphere became wrong.
You are miserable, but I am more miserable than you!
Your villagers are troublemakers, they act as if I don't exist!
Your village has good conditions, and we have some outstanding people in our village too!
This damn man's desire to win!
For the first time, Secretary Liu doubted his decision. Was Secretary Gou really here to disrupt the situation?
Hu Yufeng was still able to maintain her smile, but Qin Wenli had already suppressed the corners of his mouth by drinking water several times.
Secretary Liu's face became increasingly stiff, and it was the waiter who brought the food that saved him.
Secretary Liu quickly picked up the chopsticks and said, "Come on, two bosses, try this ox hoof..."
By the way, I picked up a big one for Lao Gou next to him. I don’t believe that this can’t shut you up!
Qin Wenli and Hu Yufeng smiled, picked up the chopsticks, picked up the dishes in front of them and started to taste them.
"It's really good." Hu Yufeng praised.
…
As the hot and cold dishes were served one by one, the atmosphere at the table gradually became relaxed.
The reason why Chinese people are accustomed to discussing things over the wine table is because the pleasant atmosphere can make people let down their guard and quickly bring them closer to each other.
Secretary Liu is well aware of this. So after three rounds of wine and five kinds of food, he said in the most relaxed and natural tone:
"Sister Hu, to be honest, from the first time I saw you, I knew you were extraordinary. You're a heroine, that's it!" he said with a thumbs up.
"Wenli, it's the same. It's said that a tiger father will have a dog daughter. I think it should be changed to a tiger mother will have a dog son. I'm not surprised at all that you can expand your business. This is the family tradition!"
"To be honest, I invited you to dinner today mainly to express my apology. On the one hand, it's my own fault for not being able to educate the villagers properly and making a fool of myself. On the other hand, it was those villagers who begged me to convey their apology on their behalf."
As he spoke, he looked at Qin Wenli.
Qin Wenli smiled, raised his glass and clinked it with Secretary Liu's. "Uncle, what are you talking about? I was born in the countryside too, and I understand the villagers' thoughts. It's human nature to seek profit for oneself."
The last sentence is quite meaningful.
Secretary Liu glanced down, then smiled again and said, "Then I will thank you on behalf of the villagers."
"You're welcome, uncle. We're just doing business. Even if the deal doesn't work out, there's still friendship."
Director Liu had not spoken since entering the room, but now he smiled and said:
"Wenli, you shouldn't say that. From the first time I met you, I felt that you should be one of ours. To be honest, after you left, the secretary severely criticized those households. He wanted to say that he would not care about the matter anymore, since the money from the sale would not go into our pockets anyway. But as a village cadre, you have to do your job and think about them, don't you think?"
Qin Wenli was nodded as he took the wine, and then toasted Director Liu.
"I understand. I understand. It's not your place to meddle in other people's business. I understand what you two mean, but after what happened last time, my mother and I are afraid that if we buy it and guarantee that such things won't happen again, the damage to our factory will be small, but the impact on our relationship will be big!"
Director Liu looked at Qin Wenli's sincere eyes and fell silent.
He understood that the other party clearly wanted to drag their village committee into it. If they encountered such disputes again, they would have to hand them over to the village committee for handling. Precisely because he understood it, he did not dare to speak. He was just a small director, what decision could he make?
How could he not understand Secretary Liu?
Secretary Liu silently picked up the wine glass and walked away, then put it down and looked up again.
"Boss, now that we are here, I have a question for you."
Qin Wenli nodded: "Uncle, feel free to ask."
"When your factory recruits workers, can you give priority to our village?"
"Of course..." Hu Yufeng affirmed. Where else can we recruit workers if not nearby? It is not convenient to travel to other villages.
“But they must undergo screening.” Giving priority does not mean lowering employment standards. The purpose of building a factory is to regulate, and employment regulations are the focus.
"That's for sure." Secretary Liu expressed his understanding.
"In addition to recruiting workers, our factory can also give priority to purchasing raw materials from our village. Of course, they must be strictly screened!" Hu Yufeng continued.
After these words were spoken, Secretary Liu did nothing, but Secretary Gou became anxious first.
"What about our village?"
"Don't worry, uncle. Our village's original promise remains unchanged." Qin Wenli patted Secretary Gou, who then glared at Secretary Liu angrily.
Secretary Liu: Look at this unexpected disaster, but I feel happy when I see Lao Gou looking so angry!
"Then, as long as you settle down in our village, I promise to restrain the villagers in the future. Anyone looking for trouble will have to step over me first!" Secretary Liu said solemnly.
"Not really, but with your words, we can continue our discussion!"
…
An hour later, the five people walked out of the hotel.
"Then Secretary Liu, Director Liu, take care."
"Okay, okay, see you tomorrow then."
After seeing off the two Uncle Lius, Qin Wenli turned around and saw that Secretary Gou's face, which was already a little flushed, became even redder after being blown by the hot wind!
"Uncle Gou, would you like to go to my shop to drink some water?" He turned around and held Secretary Gou's arm, fearing that he might stumble and fall into the sewer beside him.
Secretary Gou is a really good man. Not only did he not help Lao Liu to persuade him, he even sabotaged his plan.
For this reason, he will definitely send the old man back safely today.
"No, I'm fine. I have something to do in the village. Call me when you come back." The old man didn't appreciate it. He broke free from Qin Wenli's restraint and turned to walk towards the government. Qin Wenli was relieved when he saw that he was not staggering.
"How is it?" Yang Xiu couldn't wait to ask as soon as he entered the door.
Qin Wenli grinned at her, and Hu Yufeng also nodded with a smile on her face.
That means it's done. Yang Xiu was delighted and asked again, "How much?"
Qin Wenli made an "8" gesture, and Yang Xiu understood. 4,800 was 700 less than the original asking price.
One acre costs 700 yuan, and 6 acres costs 4200 yuan. That's great. If I add a little more, I can get another acre of land.
This is really good news. Good news is worth celebrating. Yang Xiu rubbed his hands and said, "Mom, can I make dumplings for us? Mix some stuffing and bring it back home. Let my sister-in-law make a meal for my dad and his family tomorrow."
That's certainly good. Hu Yufeng stopped Yang Xiu who was going out to buy meat. She went because she was in a good mood and had too much food to digest.
…
The Qin family happily made dumplings to celebrate, and Manlin and Manqing from Shangliu Village were also looking forward to the return of Secretary Liu.
He had just arrived home and hadn't even had a sip of tea when the two men surrounded him, their eyes full of anticipation:
"Uncle San, Brother Qi, what's going on?"
Secretary Liu was busy drinking water and pointed at Director Liu to ask him to speak.
The two men immediately looked at Director Liu anxiously.
Director Liu thought that he also wanted to moisten his throat, but he was of lower generation and position than the other person.
He cleared his throat and said:
"Ah, about this matter, we went to the place and they were very difficult to talk to. They refused to come even when we asked them to have dinner. Later... Anyway, they finally agreed to buy it. I'm telling you, you have to remember the kindness of Third Uncle. If it weren't for Third Uncle..."
Manlin listened to his long chatter and became impatient in his heart, but he still had to listen respectfully.
He hadn't heard the key words until Director Liu finished speaking, so he suppressed his impatience and said in a gentle voice, "Seventh Brother, you haven't said the final price yet?"
"Oh, the price was 4,500 at first, and my uncle and I kept asking him to pay us a price, and he almost knelt down and called us his ancestors... In the end, he raised the price by 300 to 4,800 per mu for our sake."
"What? Didn't you say 5,500?"
"Didn't you ruin the 5,500? Didn't you want to compete with Sheng Ning next door? This is 300 more than the next door." Director Liu said unhappily.
Secretary Liu also recovered from his shock, holding a palm-leaf fan and fanning himself: "What? Do you think it's too little? This is the best we two can do. If you think it's too little, go ahead and see if they will see you!"
The two brothers looked at each other, and Manlin said:
"No, Third Uncle, 4800 is 4800. I really want to thank you for today. The watermelons at my house have come down. I'll bring two over for you tonight!"
After coming out of Secretary Liu’s house, Manlin said “Pah”.
“They have the final say on the money, so who knows how much was actually given!”
The Manchus were alert. Last time I made trouble with him, my wife and son complained. 4800 is better than 4500. He can still get some money left after paying the gift money, so he is content.
"Who cares? I'll take the price."
Manlin was helpless and unable to persuade him: What can I do if he doesn't admit it?
He originally had some ulterior motives and wanted to make some money by doing something illegal when he saw that others were rich. As a result, he went to the town to inquire and found out that the old woman in that family was very vicious. She chopped people in the street and the police were protecting her. It was said that the town secretary was a frequent visitor of this family, and he couldn't afford to offend her.
Behind them, Secretary Liu, who had seen the two off, directed his wife to close the door.
"Eat his watermelon? I'm afraid I'll have diarrhea!"
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