Chapter 503 Test
Three balls led the way, and it was still the living room on the second floor, except that Huang Yongyu's painting had been replaced. I guess I said his was a high-quality imitation.
This time, the painting was a few sparrows flying across a lake. The inscription beside it read: "A thousand waves pass beneath my wings."
Xiang Sanqiu saw me standing in front of the painting, looking at it with great interest, and asked, "Is this painting valuable?"
I said, "Boss Xiang, you're an engineer, but you're quite passionate about calligraphy and painting. Your painter's line drawing skills are quite good."
Xiang Sanqiu said to us: "Sit, sit, sit."
At this time, his wife came in with a happy face and said, "Two distinguished guests are here again." Then she made tea.
Xiang Sanqiu corrected him, "Teacher Wan has come here many times, but this is Mr. Xiao's first time. According to village custom, a gift is required for the first visit. Wait, let's see what good gift you can give Mr. Xiao."
His wife smiled and said, "Choose the best gift." The woman made tea, served some fruit, and went downstairs to cook.
I said, "Boss Xiang, I won't drink today."
He tilted his head: "How can that be possible?"
"One of us has to drive, right? Mr. Xiao drives, and he watches us drink? I drive, and I watch you two drink?"
"Send someone to drive you."
"No. Drinking isn't the topic today."
Xiang Sanqiu saw that I was speaking with a stern face and nodded. "Okay. Follow Teacher Wan's instructions. But we need something to drink. Oh, I'll make some red date juice."
The couple prepared food downstairs while Lao Xiao and I chatted. About half an hour later, the dishes began to arrive: boiled fish, stir-fried chicken with black fungus, pork intestines with garlic sprouts, stir-fried black goat, scallion and egg soup, and a bowl of spinach.
His wife then poured everyone a cup of steaming red date juice.
He said to Sanqiu, "This is just plain food, not a sign of respect."
I said, "I've been dreaming about this wonderful life every day. My sister-in-law's cooking skills are amazing."
He said, "I used to be a handsome young man, but now I'm fat and bloated, it's all because of her cooking skills."
Even the reserved Lao Xiao couldn't help laughing. Sanqiu's wife was good-tempered and never argued back, always enthusiastically recommending dishes.
I said, "Sister-in-law, I didn't mean to hurt you. It's mainly because you are as delicious as Marshal Tianpeng."
"That's quite true. I don't care about the three highs. If a person can't even eat to his heart's content, what's the point of coming into this world?"
Like Chen Ting, because he has diabetes, he is often scolded by his wife, why should he eat so much? This makes Chen Ting often in a semi-starved state, what a sin.
I laughed and said, "That kind of life is not easy either. Having a wife who is a doctor is both good and bad. The good thing is that it's convenient for you to go to the hospital for treatment, but the bad thing is that she has to control everything you do."
We ate and talked, without drinking, and finished in about half an hour. Sanqiu's wife quickly cleared the dishes, wiped the table, brewed a new round of tea, closed the door, and went downstairs.
Sanqiu fired a round of cigarettes and then lit a fire for us.
The three of us smoked and chatted casually. Lao Xiao and I followed our plan and didn't mention the Nanli project. It seemed like we had come here just for a good meal.
After chatting for a while, Xiang Sanqiu asked tentatively, "Mr. Xiao, has your project in Nanli been launched?"
Lao Xiao nodded.
He said to Sanqiu, "Can I take care of my brother and work for you for a while?"
Lao Xiao didn't comment and just smiled.
I said, "What kind of work do you do? I've been working on municipal projects, mainly planting trees and flowers."
He said, "I can provide sand and pebbles."
Lao Xiao said: "Talking about this matter is a headache. Before the work started, Qiao Bin came to me to provide sand and gravel. When I asked around, it seemed that this person was just introducing others to do business and taking a commission behind the scenes.
The company's suggestions are, first, to conduct a tender, and second, to find a supplier that they trust."
Xiang Sanqiu quickly shook his head: "Boss Xiao, Boss Wan, if you want to cooperate with Black Tooth Dog, there will be endless trouble. That man is a villain."
I asked, “How evil is it?”
Xiang Sanqiu said, "First, he'll agree to all your conditions. Then he'll delay and raise the price. Even if you sign the contract, it's useless. He'll have so many excuses. He'll force you to stop working."
I nodded. "I see. I've heard a bit about that. I heard he's quite a jerk in the local area. Even if we outsource it to a trustworthy client, he'll still find trouble."
Xiang Sanqiu patted his chest and said, "Boss, leave it to me. If you leave it to me, I'm not afraid of him."
I challenged Sanqiu: "Why aren't you afraid of him?"
Xiang Sanqiu said, "If he wants to obstruct the work, I will use force. I have many brothers and can drag him away and drive him away. At the same time, I won't delay the supply. I don't have a job. I'm a member of society. Why should I be afraid of him?"
I smiled.
Lao Xiao said: "I agree to anyone's contract. The key is two things: one is to ensure quality, and the other is not to delay."
He said to Sanqiu, "Boss Xiao, I want to remind you that if you let Black Tooth Dog take over the project, the quality cannot be guaranteed, the supply will not be timely, and the work will definitely be suspended. He will drag it out until you call him grandpa.
Even calling him grandpa won't work; the price must go up. That's why Nanli hasn't developed, and that's because of this cancer."
I pretended to be dumb: "The town government and the town police station can't do anything about him?"
"He just likes to find fault with others. Others are afraid of him."
"How do you get hold of someone else's handle?"
"He usually carries a camera and deliberately says he's looking for someone to do something for. When he can't find anyone, he says he's asking around. Some people might not be paying attention, so he secretly takes pictures of them while they're having a drink or a meal in the village.
He has many ways to do things. Whenever there is a meeting, he will order others to go outside the venue to protest their injustice. In fact, many people hate him to death.
I said, "Boss Xiang, since this is the situation, let's think it over carefully. You didn't give us a detailed explanation that day at Rising Sun Villa, so Boss Xiao and I came here today to understand the truth. We won't be sitting here for long. Let's report the relevant situation to Boss Chen first."
He said to Sanqiu, "Please, take care of me. If I didn't focus on quality and credibility, I wouldn't be able to do this kind of work in Upstate for so many years."
Lao Xiao still smiled.
We got up and left. Sanqiu, a sensible man, said, "You guys are busy too. I won't stay long."
We went downstairs together. Sanqiu's wife had already prepared a gift and was carrying it towards the car. Lao Xiao stopped her and said, "No gift."
He said to Sanqiu: "Two packs of cigarettes and two bottles of wine, just smoke and drink them at the dinner table."
I said, "I don't even want a bottle of water. Once we really cooperate, we can pump it out and drink it."
Sanqiu, after all, had been through a lot, so he said to his wife, "Next time I'll take them to the hotel to drink with the two CEOs."
We got in the car, and the couple stood on the ground and watched us go down the slope.
As the car left the village, Lao Xiao asked, "What do you think we should do?"
I said, "Old Xiang is still more reliable. You can discuss this with Mr. Chen tomorrow and finalize the bidding. Mr. Chen will definitely agree. Then you can tell the mayor and Black Tooth Dog that the company's opinion is to follow the procedures and conduct an open bidding."
"What if Black Fang Dog finds someone to bid for it?"
"Set up the conditions well, so they're favorable to Lao Xiang. Besides, Lao Xiang will come to me, and I'll guide him."
The two of them discussed all the way to Rising Sun.
Lao Xiao said, "I'll get off the car, and you drive back."
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