Chapter 36: Remote Command

The situations across several forestry farms were quite similar: once the first household completed their renovation, subsequent orders quickly followed. After sharing his pager number, Li Xian's BP pager kept buzzing non-stop, all from people inquiring about prices and scheduling renovation times.

Faced with over thirty incoming orders, Li Xian realized he couldn't stay at the forestry farm anymore and that he needed an assistant!

On one hand, he needed to create design drafts for these orders. Although people were drawn to this new trend of tiling walls, young couples had their own preferences for wall designs. Li Xian thought it would be better not to stick to a single design style; he planned to design multiple options for the couples to choose from. However, to do this, he needed to visit the forestry bureau to check what kinds of tiles were still in stock.

Additionally, the tile situation was another big issue. With the increasing number of orders, he had managed to solve the manpower issue, but delivering the tiles was still a major problem.

Yang Hongshan had been busy trying to take over the tile factory, and every time Li Xian called the factory, it was a woman who answered, and she was very rude. Relying on someone like her to manage the quantity and color of the tiles didn't sit well with Li Xian.

After all, if the tiles were insufficient or the wrong ones were delivered, it would take a whole day to send a truck to the forestry bureau to pick up more. This would not only increase the cost of transportation but, more importantly, waste time.

The recent orders had all paid a 50% deposit, with the balance to be settled upon completion. Li Xian didn't want inefficiency to drag things out for too long.

After thinking it over, he decided to return to the forestry bureau to manage things and direct operations remotely.

After instructing Wang Qinghe to go to Li Jie's place every evening at six o'clock to wait for his call, Li Xian rode his motorcycle to the forestry bureau.

…

Yang Hongshan was indeed busy with the process of taking over the factory. The tile factory's ownership was with the multi-operation bureau, but it was also under the jurisdiction of the commercial bureau, making the paperwork quite complicated.

Li Xian waited at the factory for a long time before finally seeing Yang Hongshan return.

After discussing the issues with delivery delays, Yang Hongshan could only express helplessness. The factory workers were not cooperative, and unless he gave up on the factory, any instructions he gave were as good as useless.

Seeing this, Li Xian bought two packs of Jiqing cigarettes and found the warehouse manager. Sure enough, the two packs of cigarettes worked better than anything Yang Hongshan could have done.

Considering the inconvenience of taking a tractor into town and the frequent fines from traffic police, Li Xian also made arrangements with the factory's transportation team. He had them deliver his future orders directly to a spot near the retired cadre's residential compound at the eastern end of the forestry bureau.

After dealing with the tile factory, he immediately headed to the residential compound.

The compound had apartments available for rent to outsiders, and he rented one near the mailroom. He planned to use it as his office, as it would be convenient for managing tile transportation and making phone calls to better direct operations on Wang Qinghe's side.

After a day of running around, it was already late afternoon.

The old men at the residential compound, seeing that Li Xian now had a motorcycle and a BP pager, were quite surprised. They thought he must have made a fortune from his coffin business.

When they learned that Li Xian had now taken up renovations and selling tiles, Wang Linhe and Zheng Weishi were full of admiration. Wang Linhe, in particular, gained a new level of respect for Li Xian's capabilities.

The next day.

Li Xian started early in the morning, selecting tiles at the factory and then arranging for them to be shipped out. By the time he finished, it was already past two in the afternoon. He hadn't eaten anything since morning, and even a strong man would struggle to hold out.

Dragging his tired body, he went to the canteen at the residential compound. It was past meal time, but there were still some cold buns and leftover soup.

His stomach was growling, and he didn't care about the quality of the food. Holding a big bowl, Li Xian wolfed down the food.

As he chewed on the dry bun, Li Xian felt that his current lifestyle was completely out of sync with how a time traveler should live.

He should be someone who earns money while lying down!

So how had he ended up working himself to the bone?

Hmm, something must have gone wrong somewhere.

After thinking it over, he decided he needed an assistant. As he was pondering this, the image of the boy who had cried on the dormitory roof at school popped into his mind.

Li Xian slapped his thigh; of course, Qi Cun was still idling at home!

Just as he was secretly planning to call Qi Cun later and ask him to help out, a light cough interrupted his thoughts.

When he turned around, he saw that it was the wealthy girl who had bought his walnut shells.

Seeing her didn't surprise Li Xian. It was the weekend, so she was probably here to visit her grandfather.

"Oh, what a coincidence, beauty. We must have some fate." Looking at Wang Zhiye, who was dressed in a white dress with her hair loose over her shoulders, Li Xian extended his greasy, dirty hand. "Let's formally introduce ourselves. My name is Li Xian."

The rich girl looked at him disdainfully, "Who's fated with you? I'm Wang Zhiye."

Li Xian wasn't embarrassed. He withdrew his hand and wiped it haphazardly on his clothes, shamelessly saying, "Buddha said that it takes a thousand glances in a previous life to exchange for a single meeting in this one. Given that we've met three times, it seems we must have exchanged enough glances to break our necks in the past life! If this isn't love, what else is there to hope for?"

Wang Zhiye had been captivated by the novel "glance theory," but upon hearing the last part, her fair face immediately showed anger.

"You're such a pervert!"

Her statement was firm.

"You knew I was a pervert, yet you still came over to chat with me," Li Xian retorted, slurping another spoonful of soup.

Wang Zhiye was furious, feeling that this guy was both interesting and exuded a certain inexplicable wickedness.

She sighed, deciding not to argue with him, and placed the wicker thermos she was holding beside her, then sat down across from Li Xian.

Watching Li Xian devour his meal like a piglet, she asked curiously, "I'm just really curious; how do you seem to be everywhere? And how come your business ventures are so diverse? First, you were selling walnut shells, then coffins, and now you're into renovations. By the way, I saw you at the multi-operation bureau the other day too. The head of the asset department told me you even ordered a batch of aluminum ingots from him. How do you manage to do so much?"

Li Xian was surprised, thinking the world was too small for her to even know about his aluminum ingot deal.

Zhao Liang's mouth was too loose, he thought, but then he figured there was no confidentiality agreement between them anyway.

Wang Zhiye's curiosity felt pointless to Li Xian, and he mentally labeled her as a kid.

Being curious about strangers or asking irrelevant questions was something typical of someone with the mindset of a seventeen or eighteen-year-old.

A mature and steady person like Li Xian wouldn't be curious about others or ask pointless questions.

He swallowed the bun in his mouth, looked into Wang Zhiye's eyes, and said slowly, "It's all about making money, of course! Making enough to marry a beautiful girl like you. By the way, Miss Zhiye, do you have a boyfriend? Hey, don't leave! If you don't have one, why not consider me?"