Chapter 234
Ever since Ye Manzhi could remember, her grandmother had always lived in the countryside and had never come to the city to visit her children and grandchildren.
In the past, I couldn’t let go of farm work, and later I got too old to do it.
When Ye Manzhi rushed back to her parents' home with her husband and children, the atmosphere in the old Ye family was comparable to Chinese New Year!
Not only were the second sister and fourth brother's families there, but the eldest sister and fifth brother were also called back by Chang Yue'e.
Neighbors who were on good terms with the old lady came to her house one after another to say hello.
Adults and children were making a lot of noise, and Ye Manzhi had to queue up to get into the house.
"Is Comrade Jin Tiantian here?" She shouted into the room, pinching her throat. "I'm looking for Comrade Jin Tiantian! Is she here?"
The room suddenly became quiet, and adults and children looked at each other in confusion. Who is Jin Tiantian?
Before the two Ye Shouxin brothers could react, the old lady sitting at the head of the kang agreed first.
"I'm Jin Tiantian. Who's looking for me?" the old lady said, turning to look at her youngest son. "San'er, can you bring your letter of introduction?"
It is very troublesome to get a letter of introduction from the countryside to the city to do business, so she usually doesn't bother to go to the city.
When her name was called, the old lady thought someone was there to check her letter of introduction.
The people standing in front turned their heads to look at the door, and then saw a family of three standing outside with smiles on their faces.
Ye Shouxin was the first to laugh and scold, "Come in if you're here. Why are you calling me Comrade Jin Tiantian? Your grandma thought you were here to check letters of introduction. Look how scared she is!"
"Hahaha."
Ye Manzhi greeted the neighbors and pulled Wu Zhengrong and her daughter into the house.
Seeing Wu Zhengrong being called away to the group of men and Youyan joining the group of children, she smiled and said, "My grandma is in town on business. The commune and production team will surely rush to help our comrade Jin Tiantian with a letter of introduction! My grandma definitely has one!"
Talking about this, the old lady perked up, and her back, which had been hunched for years, straightened a little.
"Laiya is right. I didn't want to bother going to the city. The county's district isn't built in Donghe Village, so it has nothing to do with our family. But the commune secretary and team leader kept coming to our house, insisting I help them put in some words. They even offered to write letters of introduction for me and your third uncle. Alas, I really couldn't save face, so I had no choice but to go to the city with my old bones."
Uncle Ye felt it was a bit rash to go into town to ask his niece for help this time, so he explained, "The secretary and the team leader have made this matter very serious. Tell your grandmother that this industrial park is extremely important to the county. For the sake of the 260,000 people in the county, you have to speak up for it."
The old lady, Jin Tiantian, seriously corrected him: "There are 280,000 people in the county, you underestimated 20,000."
"..." Uncle Ye had no choice but to say, "Well, the commune secretary said that Tonglan County ranks first in agriculture in the city, but ranks last in industry. If we can locate this community in Tonglan County, there will be many more job opportunities, and rural children will be able to eat commercial grain. For the sake of the 280,000 people in the county, we have to ask Yabang for help."
The old lady pulled her granddaughter aside and asked, "Laiya, can you help the county with this matter?"
Ye Manyu, the second sister, was worried that her younger sister would be stuck up there and couldn't get down, so she came to the rescue and said, "Grandma, Lai Ya just started a new unit, and there are city leaders above her. How can she make the decision on such a big matter alone?"
The old lady looked at her granddaughter nervously, "Can't you really help?"
"The project hasn't been approved yet. It all depends on the city leaders. Even though I'm the director, I don't have much say in the city."
There were many neighbors in the house. Ye Manzhi pinched the old lady's hand twice, meaning that they should talk about it in private.
After hearing her words, the neighbors exchanged glances with each other, and the subtle sourness in their hearts faded a little.
Although the daughter of the old Ye family became the director, she still had to listen to the city leaders on major matters and could not even handle the affairs of her own hometown.
The eldest sister noticed everyone's expressions and continued, "Grandma, Lai Ya's new job isn't easy. She's new and a female comrade, so everyone's watching her every move. I want her to help my Xiao Ting find a lighter job, but it's not going anywhere."
The Ye family had been poor farmers for eight generations, and only when smoke came out of their ancestral grave did a baby, Ye Lai Ya, appear. The whole family tacitly helped Ye Lai Ya to take care of his feathers.
Family members rarely ask Lai Ya to do things for them, so outsiders should forget about taking advantage of her family.
Upon hearing this, two neighbors who wanted to ask Ye Manzhi to help find jobs for their children were too embarrassed to speak up.
After everyone left, the eldest and second sisters went to the kitchen to cook.
Once the door was closed, leaving only Ye Manzhi, the old lady, the old Ye couple, and Third Uncle, she shook Grandma's hand and said with a smile, "You've finally come to the city for business. Don't worry, I'll take care of it for you! I'll make sure you'll be proud when you return to the village!"
The old lady asked worriedly, "Can it really be done? Will it affect you? If I had known, I wouldn't have come!"
"The final decision does lie with the city leaders, but I can put in a good word for Tonglan County." Ye Manzhi looked at his third uncle and said, "Uncle, go back today and tell the county leaders to come to the Light Industry Bureau to find me. My grandma will stay in the city for a while and enjoy her peace and quiet."
The old lady waved her hand and said, "I won't stay in the city. This house is like a pigeon nest. There's no room for me to live in. I'll go back after dinner."
Chang Yue'e hurriedly tried to persuade her to stay, saying, "Mom, you should stay in the city. We have a place to live."
After she married Lao Ye, her mother-in-law never came to live with them.
Now that I have finally made it to the city, if I go back on the same day, I might be gossiped about by the villagers.
Anyway, she and Lao Ye are both retired and have time to accompany the old lady.
Moreover, the validity period of the production team's letter of introduction is at most one month, so she is willing to support Old Ye in fulfilling his filial piety.
So, Comrade Jin Tiantian settled down in the city temporarily.
*
Ye Manzhi spent a lively weekend at her mother's house with her husband and children.
When I go to work again in the new week, I have to receive leaders from companies and counties.
Among them are Qian Qingsong and Tian Chunshan from her hometown Tonglan County.
As soon as Qian Qingsong entered the office, he apologized, "Director Ye, I'm so sorry. I originally thought I could just ask the comrades from Donghe Village to help pass on a message, but I didn't expect them to send your old lady all the way to the city."
The old lady is over 90 years old. If something happens to her on the way, wouldn’t that make her an enemy?
When Qian Qingsong heard the news, he was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat and kept cursing those people for being unreliable.
"Haha, I haven't been to the city in decades. Now that I'm here, I'm taking the opportunity to look around." Ye Manzhi poured tea for the two of them and said with a smile, "However, the Municipal Revolutionary Committee hasn't approved the food industrial park project yet, so it's too early to talk about choosing a site!"
Tian Chunshan knew what she was concerned about and said, "Tonglan County can fund the construction of factory buildings and dormitories for Lihua Food Factory."
Exchanging a small factory with two or three hundred employees for a food industrial park, anyone with a little common sense can figure out the math.
Unexpectedly, Ye Manzhi shook his head and said, "Lihua Factory is no longer the main problem. Lihua Factory's employees are actually easy to find jobs. If the food factory can't accommodate them, they can go to the brewery or beverage factory. There are hundreds of light industrial enterprises in the city. They can always find jobs."
Qian Qingsong and Tian Chunshan: "::::::"
The situation is changing too fast!
Some time ago, people said that the problems at the Leverh factory could not be solved.
It's only been a few days since we last met, how come you can suddenly arrange it?
Ye Manzhi sighed and said, "The Light Industry Bureau submitted three applications to the city government, and each time they were rejected. I think you've heard about this, right?"
The two nodded.
But Tian Chunshan had worked with Ye Manzhi for nearly ten years and knew that she was not someone who gave up easily.
And she also has an old leader in the Provincial Industrial Bureau.
This food industrial park project has a high probability of being successfully implemented.
Ye Manzhi said with a frank attitude, "We're all family. I can be honest with you. The Municipal Revolutionary Committee actually wants to resolve the conflict between factories and clusters and relocate the food factories, which are facing developmental constraints, to the suburbs. But if we relocate four or five factories at once and build so many new buildings, how much will the city's treasury have to spend?"
Tian Chunshan was surprised and said, "For such a large project, the city won't want to spend a penny, right?"
"We can certainly provide some funds, but they are very limited. So if we can't find a solution to the funding problem, the city will not easily approve this project."
Having said that, Ye Manyi couldn't help but sigh.
Her working style is very different from that of the city leaders.
She has been working at the grassroots level for many years and encounters troubles of all sizes every day.
Therefore, her working principle has always been to get on the road first and make up for whatever is lacking along the way.
But the city leaders want to make a perfect plan before they are willing to embark on the project.
Ye Manzhi had just arrived in the city and was not used to the slow pace, but she had to admit that it was safer this way.
No matter who is replaced in this position, the subsequent work can be completed according to the original plan.
Ye Manzhi admitted that he had been inconsiderate in some aspects and was recently adapting to the city's working methods.
Qian Qingsong asked, "So, does that mean the food industrial park should be built wherever the funding problem can be solved?"
"About the same," Ye Manzhi smiled. "If the conditions in each county are similar, then the one with a higher investment ratio will definitely have an advantage."
After walking out of the office, the two looked at each other in silence for a long time.
Qian Qingsong whispered, "We have to provide both money and land, so the investment is too much."
The key point is that Ye Manzhi is still unwilling to give a definite answer as to how much investment will be made.
It is obvious that they want the counties to compete and then wait for the price to be set.
Tian Chunshan had already understood his situation and simply said, "Developing the food industry is very suitable for Tonglan County, and it is a rare large-scale project."
Both of them have been in office for less than half a year, and the "Food Industrial Park" is the big project that Qian Qingsong has been thinking about.
We would rather cause famine than not fight for it.
Qian Qingsong really stopped complaining and said with gritted teeth, "Let's go back and discuss it and see how much money we can come up with."
…
After seeing off the comrades from Tonglan County, Ye Manzhi received leaders from seven other counties.
The words spoken are exactly the same.
The city won't approve the project because it hasn't been approved. If the city wants to approve it, the county has to pay for it.
At this point, the problems at the Leverh factory are no longer important.
These eight counties can all invest in building a factory for Lihua, it just depends on which one invests more.
At lunch time, Song Hongjun sat with her with his lunch box.
"Director Ye, how are things going over there? Is there any county willing to contribute?"
"We have to wait a little longer. The county government is not stupid. They have to consider the situation based on their own strength. Let's go back and hold a meeting to discuss it."
After communicating with the leaders of the eight counties separately, the four counties that were not doing well in the industrial rankings clearly showed signs of retreating.
The counties with the most positive attitudes now are Dongyang County and Anyang County, which rank first and second, and Xinyi County and Tonglan County, which rank last.
What the final outcome will be depends on the determination of others to take over the "Food Industrial Park".
While Ye Manzhi was anxiously waiting, Old Ye and Chang Yue'e took the old lady on a tour of the Binjiang city.
Ye Shouxin borrowed a tricycle, laid a mattress on it, and took his mother and wife for a ride.
Once, he rode his bike to the Light Industry Bureau and watched Ye Lai Ya's working environment from outside.
Wu Yuzhuo and Qi Qiu would occasionally go out with a few elderly people.
When Wu Yuzhuo came back from outside that day, her face was flushed with heat.
Ye Manzhi asked, "Where have you been? Why is it so hot?"
"My great-grandmother had never been on a train, so I took her on a train."
"You guys are really good." Ye Manzhi asked curiously, "Where did you take the train?"
There was a train stop in the village near Binjiang, and she thought that they should take a short train just like taking a bus to see the novelty.
Wu Yuzhuo said proudly, "My brother Qiu and I took them to the Children's Park to ride the train from Binjiang Station to Beijing Station. We even took a photo of them at Beijing Station. My great-grandmother drank half a bottle of soda. She was so happy!"
“…”
Ye Manzhi glared at Dr. Wu who was staying out of the matter.
"..." Wu Zhengrong said innocently, "This matter has nothing to do with me, why are you glaring at me?"
"This is what they call a crooked top beam and crooked bottom beams!" Ye Manzhi said angrily, "When she was little, you fooled her, and when she grew up, you started fooling her great-grandmother and her great-grandfather!"
Wu Zhengrong defended his daughter and himself, "All three elderly people know it's a train in the park. How can this be considered a scam? Just forget about the child and keep dancing!"
"Why are you dancing?" Ye Manzhi threw the red silk cloth at him, "I'm not dancing today!"
The Light Industry Bureau organized a dance troupe and Ye Manzhi signed up.
She wanted to exercise and also wanted to take the lead.
When she first started working at the Industrial Department, she joined the dance team, which helped her quickly familiarize herself with the environment of the new unit.
Now that the Light Industry Bureau has just been established, she needs to understand the situation of each department and hopes that her colleagues in the new unit can quickly integrate into the collective, so she took the lead in signing up for the dance team.
Ye Manzhi always attends dance rehearsals on time every Tuesday and Saturday.
Anyway, she dances very enthusiastically and sometimes even reviews it when she gets home.
The audience were Wu Zhengrong and Wu Yuzhuo.
However, they can rehearse a dance for a long time.
Wu Yuzhuo was quite interested in it at first, but recently he is no longer willing to be a spectator.
Therefore, Wu Zhengrong is the only audience of dancer Ye Manzhi.
Seeing the dancer pick up the red scarf again under the encouragement of her father, Wu Yuzhuo sighed and went to the next door to find Yi Yi with his schoolbag on his back.
Before leaving, she looked back and saw that the dancer had already started the performance. The only audience member was sitting in the back with a smile in his eyes.
Wu Yuzhuo lifted the curtain and walked out, muttering to himself, I've seen it so many times, I don't know what's there to see.
*
Ye Manzhi was rehearsing the dance while waiting for news from several counties.
When the first dance was about to be completed, someone finally took the initiative to give a response.
Dong Shaolin from Anyang County personally came to the Light Industry Bureau and said that he could be responsible for the reconstruction of the Lihua Factory, solve the housing problems of employees of several factories, and invest another 350,000 yuan to support the construction of other old factories.
Ye Manzhi smiled and wrote down their conditions, then personally escorted them out the door.
There are still some vacant rooms in the Shuguang Factory staff housing compound, and Anyang County has great advantages in terms of housing.
But the construction cost of 350,000 is too little, not even enough to build a new food factory.
Tonglan County was the second to come.
Ye Manzhi wanted to hear how much money they could come up with, but Qian Qingsong said, "We in Tonglan County can build a new factory for Lihua, but we won't be responsible for the other expenses."
“…”
He smiled and said, "The situation of those food factories is different from that of the Lihua factory. After the Lihua factory burned down, only a piece of land remained at the original site. But the other factories still have factory buildings on their land. These are considered fixed assets and can be exchanged with other units when necessary."
Ye Manzhi also thought about the factory, but he never found a suitable replacement.
She asked with great interest, "Director Qian, have you found a replacement unit?"
"Well, sort of. A few years ago, Tractor Factory No. 3 merged with Tractor Factory No. 4, and the vacant factory building became the home for the Political Night School. But Tractor Factory No. 4 is on Gexin Street, the southernmost part of Zhengyang District. That location is close to the suburbs, making it inconvenient for students to get to class. So they've been wanting to move the school to the city center."
Ye Manzhi nodded and waited for his next words.
Since the political night school is in Zhengyang District, the solution he thought of was definitely not to exchange the food factory and the night school.
Qian Qingsong said: "The Fourth Tractor Factory's factory building is located in the suburbs. Although it is a bit old, it is still usable. Therefore, the city has never been willing to tear down the factory building and rebuild it. For many years, the Political Night School has been occupying the site."
"The tractor factory should be quite large, right? Haven't other companies made plans?"
"Haha, how could we not have fought?! The Municipal Second Construction Engineering Company originally wanted to take over the Fourth Tractor Factory. Not only would they have offices there, but they could also use it as a warehouse for construction materials," Qian Qingsong muttered. "But the principal of the Political Night School is Director Li of the Municipal Revolutionary Committee. They've already taken over the space, so who would dare to take it?"
Unless there is a better place, who would dare to move the political night school?
That is where cadres conduct ideological and political studies.
"I think the food factories in the city are all well-located, right in the heart of the city. We can then transfer one of their factories to the Political Night School. With a little cleaning and some tables and chairs, we can start classes. Then, the City's Second Construction Engineering Company will take over the office building and factory buildings of the Fourth Tractor Factory."
Ye Manzhi said nothing, waiting to hear what the construction company could offer in exchange.
"In exchange, the Second Construction Company can provide free construction materials for the new food factory."
Ye Manzhi raised an eyebrow and asked, "The main expense of building a new factory is the construction materials, which is not a small amount. With this money, they can build a new office building and warehouse themselves, right?"
Qian Qingsong smiled and said, "The city doesn't allow new factories anymore. If the Second Construction Company wants to process building materials in the city, they'll have to take over someone else's old factory. Of course, they can also choose a site in the suburbs, but, haha, I've talked to Director Zhao of the Second Construction Company, and when the time comes, all construction projects for the 'Food Industrial Park' can be handed over to the Second Construction Company's construction team."
The head of the Second Construction Company is his wife's cousin, and can be considered his brother-in-law.
If the construction project of the food industrial park is directly handed over to the Second Construction Company, even though it is a public-to-public matter, it is inevitable that there will be suspicion of favoritism.
However, there is also a more complicated factory replacement process, so it would be much more reasonable to hand over the project to the Second Construction Company.
Ye Manzhi silently pondered the feasibility of this method.
She didn't ask who would pay for the construction team's work.
The city helped the food factory relocate in order to allow the company to expand its production scale and increase its production capacity.
The food factory can’t afford to spend nothing and rely entirely on funding from the city, right?
Construction materials are the biggest expense, but the construction team’s wages don’t cost much and can be fully borne by the food factory.
The proposals put forward by Anyang County and Tonglan County each have their own advantages.
Anyang County invests less money and can solve the housing problem for employees.
Tonglan County does not provide investment, but it can solve the problem of a factory's factory building through resource exchange.
From Ye Manzhi's heart, she still prefers Tonglan County's approach, which benefits three units at a time and reduces waste of resources.
The sign of the food industrial park can be put up first, and the Lihua factory and another food factory can be moved in. With the examples of these two factories, the relocation of other food factories can be carried out gradually.
She asked the comrades in Tonglan County to go back and wait for news, while organizing people to write the fifth application and waiting for plans from other counties.
However, before anyone else could come, Yu Gongpu from Lihua Food Factory came first.
"Director Ye!" Yu Gongpu said with a sad face, "I listened to you and went back to wait for news, but you should give me a deadline! It's been over a month. How long do we have to wait for the end? The workers are still waiting for food!"
Ye Manzhi asked, "Since the workers are waiting to eat, why don't you borrow some idle equipment and space from other food factories so that the workers can start production first? Lihua Factory started out as a small workshop!"
Yu Gongpu: “…”
Aren’t they still waiting for the city to help them build a factory?
If they use the space to resume production and the city feels they can survive, will they still care about the reconstruction of the Lever Factory?
Ye Manzhi could more or less guess what she was up to. Seeing that she had stopped complaining with a bitter face, she changed the subject and said, "The Light Industry Bureau submitted four proposals to the city government. They were all for building new 'food industrial parks' in the suburbs, including one for your Lihua factory. But they were all rejected."
Yu Gongpu had heard of the food industrial park a long time ago. When he saw that she only said that the city did not agree and had no other explanation, he couldn't help but feel a little puzzled.
Why don't you say more? Why are you just staring at me?
Director Yu felt uneasy when being stared at by the young female director, and his eyes were a little evasive.
After a long while, she finally said "Oh" as if she had suddenly realized something.
He greeted Ye Manzhi politely and trotted away.
Ye Manzhi didn't know what she meant by "oh", but the next morning, not long after she sat down in the office, she received a call from the Municipal Revolutionary Committee.
The workers of Lihua Food Factory went to the gate of the Municipal Revolutionary Committee and hung banners again!
This time it’s bigger than any other time before!
The secretary of Director Li of the Municipal Revolutionary Committee and the secretary of Peng Jingyun called her one after another.
The problems at the Lihua Factory have been handed over to the Light Industry Bureau. Why hasn't it been properly resolved for so long, causing the workers to go to the Municipal Revolutionary Committee to cause trouble again?
The Light Industry Bureau should send someone over immediately!
Ye Manzhi nodded in agreement on the phone and promised to solve the problem immediately.
As a result, she dawdled around the office and took half an hour just to borrow a bicycle.
By the time she arrived at the Municipal Revolutionary Committee on her bicycle, it was more than an hour later.
The workers were barely appeased, and the workers' representatives were invited to the meeting room again.
The bicycle was borrowed, so Ye Manzhi had to ensure its safety. He spent another quarter of an hour looking for a place to park it in the yard.
As she trotted and panted into the office building, she heard the familiar crying voice of Yu Gongpu again.
Ye Manzhi grimaced in toothache, thinking that Director Yu's ability to cry, make a fuss, and even threaten to commit suicide was something that most people couldn't stand.
She touched the goose bumps on her arms and pushed the door open to walk into the meeting room.
This time, Director Li handled the issue personally, and Peng Jingyun was just listening.
Director Li's face had turned ashen from Yu Gongpu's crying.
The door of the conference room opened, and after seeing who was coming, the crying in the room paused for a moment.
So, Ye Manzhi took advantage of this opportunity to briefly understand the situation, and then handed over the fifth report on applying for the establishment of a "Food Industrial Park" to the leader.
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