Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

Page 255

Manufacturing this mold should be easy; Liu Haizhong's skills are no worse than Yi Haizhong's.

Even if neither of the two people has the skill, the neighborhood can find other workers to help make the mold. It shouldn't be difficult to solve the problem of having a small mold for the entire production line.

After inspecting the glass bottle factory, the three returned to the street office.

He Yuzhu brewed tea again, and the three of them sat down to chat.

Director Li, eager to facilitate this matter, brought up the issue of cannery planning. Compared to producing glass bottles, canning is much simpler; both screening and cleaning only require a suitable site.

Any building with a few rooms and enough space can be converted into a cannery.

He Yuzhu then asked, "Does the street have the money to advance the funds?"

Although the process of producing canned fruit is simple, the investment is relatively large. It requires purchasing a large amount of fruit, buying white sugar or rock sugar, and paying workers' wages to keep the business running.

So initially, a sum of money needed to be invested, but He Yuzhu believed that the street had no money, which is why he wasn't in a hurry and only started talking about investing at this point.

Li Hongying, who had been so happy just moments before, suddenly lost her smile. Yes, no matter how wonderful her current plans were, they were useless without money.

In any business, you need to invest some capital upfront for production. But there's only one glass bottle factory on the street. Even if they produce canning jars for free, they don't have the money to buy fruit, sugar, or equipment.

Not a single penny could be given out on the streets.

Actually, there is another way out: to talk to the district government and ask them to provide this portion of the money.

But if we approach them, things will become complicated. They'll definitely have the means to turn the cannery into a collective enterprise within the district.

Wouldn't that be doing all the work for someone else's benefit?

The streets still don't get anything; at most, glass bottle factories produce canned goods and sell them, but the streets don't get a share of the profits from canned fruit.

He said with a hint of bitterness, "Zhu Zi, you know our neighborhood is a poor unit, we simply don't have the extra money to organize canned food production."

He Yuzhu nodded, knowing that the street office was a poor unit, which was why he sought cooperation with the street office; otherwise, he wouldn't have anything of his own.

"Sis, there's no one else here, so I have an idea. What do you think?"

"What method?" Li Hongying asked anxiously.

"I can find a few friends to pool their resources for this startup capital, but they will have to invest in the joint venture."

The current joint venture does not mean confiscating everything from the capitalists, but rather managing it by dividing the spoils among four parties.

All of the capital's means of production are converted into cash, and then they receive 5% interest annually.

The "Four Horses Dividing the Feast" is a capitalist method of distributing profits in industry and commerce, which divides profits into four parts: national income tax, enterprise reserve fund, workers' welfare expenses, and capitalist profits.

Li Hongying gave He Yuzhu a meaningful look and smiled, which made He Yuzhu feel quite embarrassed.

"Sister, it's really not just me who's funding this; there are other people involved, including Chen Xueru and Elena. They can help us contact train cars."

Ye Qingmo wasn't there this time, mainly because it was too far away, and the Ye family wasn't short of such a small amount.

Even if Li Hongying were to try to contact a train car, she would still have to wait in line, since she is just a street-level leader and doesn't have that much influence.

But Elena was different; because she was affiliated with the consulate, it was easier for her to get train cars.

Furthermore, it can solve the transportation problem of the thousands of kilometers from the customs port to Moscow.

He Yuzhu explained the importance of Elena. Li Hongying and Tian Zao only knew that He Yuzhu had done business in Russia once, but they didn't know who he had connections with. Now they knew.

No wonder they were able to get railcars and safely deliver the goods to Moscow.

“Okay, I agree. I’ll provide the land and the policies, and you provide the working capital, and we can buy the fruit.”

"sure no problem."

"What about the recipe for the canned food?" Tian Zao asked.

"That's easy, I can figure out the formula after a few experiments."

The recipe and production process for canned fruit are not complicated. When I bought the glass bottle production line, I also got a copy. However, once I got to Beijing, I still needed to modify it to suit local conditions.

After the three of them talked for a while and clarified the matter, the two of them went to find a venue.

He Yuzhu then rode his bicycle directly to the steel rolling mill.

This was He Yuzhu's first time at the factory, but he remembered coming here often as a child, so he knew the way well.

Just because of his face, he could have been let in by simply saying a word at the gate post.

Upon arriving outside the workshop, he stopped a worker who was trying to enter, offered him a cigarette, and said, "Master, could you please call Yi Zhonghai out for me?"

The worker didn't say much. Acquaintances often came to him for favors. He nodded, accepted the cigarette, refused the light He Yuzhu offered, and then went inside after saying "wait a moment."

Yi Zhonghai walked out completely bewildered. He was quite surprised to see He Yuzhu. No matter how hard he tried, he never expected that it would be He Yuzhu looking for him outside.

No wonder my coworkers said the newcomer was a bit ugly and looked older.

"What brings you here? Is there something you need?"

He Yuzhu knew things were going to go wrong as soon as he saw Yi Zhonghai's attitude; the obvious unfamiliarity in his words was obvious even to a fool.

"We'd like to have a mold made for you, it's for..."

"This is not my responsibility. I'm just an ordinary worker in the workshop. If you want to order something, you can go to the sales department. They will take the order and then assign it to the workshop. That way, the workshop director will arrange the right person to do it. Understand?"

Yi Zhonghai's most hated person changed from He Daqing to He Yuzhu, because he had been tricked by him many times and had been ripped off for several thousand yuan.

He Yuzhu approached him directly, which could only be a private matter. The two not only had no relationship, but were also enemies, wishing they could drink He Yuzhu's blood and eat his flesh.

If I could help He Yuzhu make something, that would be like the sun rising in the west.

"Old Yi, let me finish."

He Yuzhu came over to ask if making molds was difficult, but he didn't expect this attitude.

Yi Zhonghai was already impatient, and said with a frown:

"There's nothing to say. I've already said I'm just an ordinary worker. I don't have the authority to take orders. If you have any problems, go to the sales department."

After saying that, he didn't even look at He Yuzhu, and turned to walk into the workshop.

He Yuzhu was at a loss; Yi Zhonghai was someone who responded to force but not persuasion.

Did she really think she came to him for help? She just thought his skills were slightly better than Liu Haizhong's.

Previously, things were peaceful, at least that's what He Yuzhu thought. Every time, it was Yi Zhonghai who caused trouble and tried to frame him, forcing him to fight back.

There is no logic in allowing only oppression and not allowing resistance!

Since Lao Yi doesn't care about such things, then don't blame me for trying to control him.

There was one thing He Yuzhu had always known but never mentioned: Jia Dongxu's background.

When Er Lengzi, a novice at the auto repair shop, told him that Jia Dongxu wasn't Lao Jia's son, he started to have an idea, always feeling that Jia Dongxu and Yi Zhonghai looked somewhat alike.

Both of them had square faces. Although they didn't look alike in other ways, He Yuzhu still suspected that Jia Dongxu was Yi Zhonghai's son.

However, whether or not this matter can be discussed is still uncertain, mainly because He Yuzhu hasn't decided yet.

Yi Zhonghai had no male heirs, but he had two sons outside the courtyard house. However, they did not live in the courtyard house; people only talked about it as a topic of conversation.

But today's matter is minor; it seems a bit unwise to bring out this big bomb.

He Yuzhu walked and thought, and soon arrived at the cafeteria. He walked around and came in through the back door.

It was almost time to leave work when He Daqing was sitting in a chair drinking tea. He was surprised to see He Yuzhu come in, and then, assuming something was wrong, he quickly asked.

He Yuzhu said with a wry smile, "It's nothing. I asked Yi Zhonghai to make something, but he ignored me."

"It would be strange if he even paid attention to you, considering how badly you've bullied him," He Daqing laughed.

"That's true, I was too naive."

At first, He Yuzhu thought that if he approached Yi Zhonghai calmly, Yi Zhonghai would help him.

But little did anyone know that Yi Zhonghai thought he was asking for a favor and refused outright.

The two talked for a while and were just about to pack up and head back when Director Fan from the canteen came in anxiously and said, "Old He, some leaders from the factory have come to inspect our work. You need to quickly prepare a table for them."

After speaking, he noticed He Yuzhu standing next to him and asked, "Who is this?"

He Daqing introduced, "This is He Yuzhu from my family."

"Ah, so you're Zhu Zi, the one who passed the Level 1 Cook exam? Your dad always praises you in the kitchen."

As he spoke, he extended his hand and said, "Hello, Master He, I didn't expect to see you here."

He Yuzhu already knew this Director Fan. He shook the hand that Director Fan extended and said, "Hello, Director Fan. I just happened to be here today."

"Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help."

You're too kind.

The two shook hands warmly, exchanged a few polite words, and then Director Fan turned and left.

He Daqing was somewhat surprised: "Why didn't you explain what dishes you were going to make before leaving?"

Director Fan returned quickly, followed by Factory Director Yang.

He Daqing was surprised; he hadn't expected his son's arrival to attract the attention of the factory director.

Director Fan reintroduced He Yuzhu, and Factory Director Yang warmly shook hands with him:

"Comrade Xiao He, please just say what you need. As long as it's within the capabilities of our steel rolling mill, it's just a matter of saying a word."

"I do have a few small things to trouble you with."