Chapter 28: Wasting Valuable Resources

Seeing Li You and the Wang brothers arrive, Li Xian was surprised. 

"Father, Brother Wang, why are you all here?"

Li You jumped down from the vehicle, smiling, "It's quite a coincidence. We were planning to go down the mountain to buy bricks today. Last night, when we were looking for a vehicle, we heard that Dumb Zhang was going down to deliver coffins, so we decided to come along with the empty truck on the way back."

Li Xian had already told Li You about selling a batch of coffins to the retirement home, so seeing his son wasn't unexpected. 

However, the Wang brothers were in awe, looking at the retirement home that housed high-ranking officials. Their gazes towards Li Xian were filled with even more respect.

"Wow, the people living here must all be directors, right?" Wang Laosan asked nervously with a dry laugh.

Li Xian grinned, not bothering to explain that to live here, one had to be at least a bureau-level cadre managing more than ten forestry stations.

Wang Qinghe was also nervous, "Shouldn't we carry a coffin inside for them?"

Li Xian nodded, "Yes, in a moment, we'll all lend a hand and be careful when placing the items in the backyard."

Hearing this, Wang Qinghe immediately warned his brothers, "Be steady in a moment; don't speak carelessly when we go inside!"

Even Li You, who was initially calm, became nervous, repeatedly saying he would stay outside to watch the vehicles and not go in.

At that moment, a group of old cadres, who had heard that the first batch of coffins had arrived, came out to meet them. Seeing the seven coffins, all made with the same exquisite craftsmanship as the sample Li Xian had brought earlier, they couldn't help but praise them.

Li You, a nursery technician from the Eight-Nine Forestry Farm, had attended conferences at the bureau before. Seeing Wang Linhe among the crowd, he was so nervous that he went numb, hurriedly stepping forward to greet him.

Wang Linhe looked at Li Xian with surprise, "And who might this be?"

Li Xian introduced, "This is my father."

"Oh," Wang Linhe nodded, shaking Li You's hand, "You've raised a fine son."

Li You was so excited that he kept laughing bashfully, repeating, "Not good enough, not good enough..."

Once the old cadres had finished examining the coffins and were satisfied with the quality, Li Xian directed the Wang brothers and Dumb Zhang's two brothers-in-law to use ropes and wooden poles to carry the coffins to the backyard.

It didn't take long before the seven coffins were neatly placed in the open space behind the retirement home.

The coffins weren't light, and after carrying them, the men were panting. Not wanting to disturb the front yard, the Wang brothers sat in the shade of the backyard, taking off their sweat-soaked vests to cool down while looking around curiously.

Just as Li Xian was considering treating everyone to a good meal at noon, Wang Laowu, who had taken off his shirt, suddenly exclaimed, "Oh my God! The officials really live differently; there are silver bars lying on the ground!"

His shout drew everyone's attention. The men quickly asked, "Where? Where?"

Wang Laowu pointed to a corner, "Look!"

Li Xian followed their gaze and indeed saw a pile of silver-colored rectangular metal bars in the corner of the courtyard.

Curious, he walked over, pushing aside the Wang brothers, who were biting and inspecting the ingots, and picked up a piece himself.

The item was bar-shaped, about thirty centimeters long, entirely silver, and shaped like an enlarged chocolate bar, with a heavy weight in hand.

It did resemble a silver ingot.

But when he noticed the "AI" marking on the bar, Li Xian laughed, "This isn't silver; imagine if such a large pile of silver ingots were just lying here! These are aluminum ingots for remelting."

Upon hearing that it wasn't silver but aluminum, the Wang brothers lost interest, but Li Xian's curiosity was piqued.

After arranging the coffins neatly, he led everyone out of the backyard.

As the Wang brothers were leaving, Li Xian pulled aside Zheng Weishi and asked, "Old Zheng, where did those aluminum ingots in our backyard come from?"

Zheng Weishi sighed, "Oh, you mean that aluminum? That belongs to the Multiple Operations Bureau. A few years ago, the bureau wanted to develop the forest land's mineral resources, so they started a forest mine company, mainly producing raw copper and aluminum. But the company went bankrupt two years ago. The forest mine company's large warehouse is just behind the retirement home, and those aluminum ingots were taken to press down the tarp on the leaky roof of the retirement home last year."

Hearing this, Li Xian's eyes lit up, "So there's more of that aluminum?"

"There's some, but not much." Zheng Weishi stroked his chin, "I'd estimate there's about twenty tons."

Twenty tons...and that's not much?

This trip wasn't in vain! Li Xian felt a surge of joy, but he kept his expression calm.

By late morning, Li Xian had already become well-acquainted with the old-timer group at the retirement home. With the first batch of coffins delivered, he discussed with Zheng Weishi and retrieved his ID card and student card.

Finally, he made a bold request, "Old Zheng, I've lost hope in my job and want to start a business with some money. Could you possibly settle the remaining payment for me?"

Zheng Weishi had a good impression of him.

The coffins had been delivered, and the quality seemed fine.

So after warning Li Xian that there would be consequences if the remaining coffins were subpar, he went back to his room, got a large envelope, and handed it over.

Leaving the retirement home, Li Xian first asked Li You to arrange for everyone to find a good restaurant and have a meal. Li You, of course, understood this without needing further explanation.

Li Xian, however, excused himself, saying he had some urgent business to attend to, and headed straight for the warehouse behind the retirement home, where the forest mine company's aluminum ingots were stored!

Are aluminum ingots rare?

Not really.

As a basic industrial material, they're available in almost any city. And at this stage, they aren't even expensive.

But what time is it now?

September.

September of 1992!

Li Xian knew that in a month, the 14th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party would convene. All the decisions that had been vaguely hinted at after Deng's Southern Tour, but not officially announced to society, would be clearly outlined at this 14th Congress.

This would include the concept of a "socialist market economy" and the goal of "building a socialist market economic system."

At the same time, during this conference, the term "Chinese-style socialism" would be officially introduced and would become a significant theory guiding China's development for decades to come.

History was about to turn a page in October.

Fifteen years earlier, in 1978, the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee had proposed "shifting the focus of the Party's work to socialist modernization," leading to an economic boom in China.

Fifteen years later, in 1992, after the 14th Congress, China's economy would enter another phase of rapid development.

Li Xian vaguely remembered a documentary he had watched.

Starting in October 1992, investment across the country would significantly increase, the gross national product would soar by 12%, and fixed-asset investment across society would rise by 36%.

As an old industrial base, the northeastern industry would grow by 20%.

Various production materials would become hot commodities overnight, even highly sought after.

Li Xian guessed that in the South, many people had already started hoarding production materials in anticipation. But in this isolated forestry bureau, there were still aluminum ingots lying abandoned in a warehouse.

This was nothing short of wasting valuable resources!