Chapter 38: The Elderly Group Making Their Contribution  

Returning from school, it was already evening.

After drinking some alcohol with Liang Yonghe, Li Xian felt parched and a bit dizzy. He tossed his motorcycle into the courtyard and headed straight for the activity room.

This group of old men gathered daily to play cards and chess, with a continuous supply of tea. It had become a habit for Li Xian to drop by for some tea every night.

Seeing Li Xian approach with a flushed face and smelling of alcohol, Zheng Weishi set down his chess piece and teased, "Well, well, if it isn't Boss Li! What's the occasion today?"

Li Xian chuckled, "That's right. My business now covers the entire Forestry Bureau, so I'm quite busy."

Seeing Wu Shengli hesitating over a move with his advancing pawn, Li Xian grabbed an untouched elephant piece and placed it on Zheng Weishi's horse.

With just this move, he disrupted the long-planned strategy of Zheng Weishi's horses, leaving the old man fuming.

"You rascal, why are you always causing trouble?" The old man threw the piece he was toying with onto the board, "I'm done, not playing anymore. This rascal always stirs up trouble!"

The surrounding elders chuckled. Ever since Li Xian joined, Wu Shengli's win rate had skyrocketed, which made old Zheng quite unhappy.

Seeing Zheng Weishi's exasperated expression, Li Xian laughed heartily, "Come on, what's the fun in winning every game against Wu? Losing a few games now and then isn't a big deal."

Wu Shengli clapped his hands and chimed in, "Exactly! What's wrong with losing a few games to me?"

Zheng Weishi shrugged, "If I don't win, what's the point of playing chess? And if I don't play chess, what else would I do?"

Huh? 

Hearing the old man say that, an idea flashed through Li Xian's mind.

He was running around exhausted while this group of old men was bored all day—why not put them to work?

His eyes lit up as he scooted his small stool closer to Zheng Weishi, "Old Zheng, why don't you help me with my business?"

Afraid that old Zheng would refuse, he tempted him, "I'll pay you a salary!"

"Huh?" Zheng Weishi leaned forward, intrigued, but quickly reined himself in. He lifted his chin and said proudly, "What nonsense. I'm a former director of the Forestry Bureau's Forestry Administration Office, and you want me to work for you?"

Seeing old Zheng's "I'm never working" attitude, Li Xian clicked his tongue, "Come on, don't say it like that. 'Work' sounds too harsh; I'm hiring you as my general manager."

Old Zheng's defenses crumbled completely, and he stood up with a flourish, "Deal!"

…

In Li Xian's guest room, old Zheng realized he had been tricked.

This was just a shell company, and as the general manager, he was just a figurehead, doing nothing but answering calls and handling business inquiries.

But as he flipped through Li Xian's daily ledger, his interest in the business grew.

"Kid, you've made quite a bit these days."

In just a few days, Li Xian had secured thirty-one jobs. The deposit alone amounted to twelve thousand, with another fifteen thousand in receivables. After paying the construction team's wages, the cost of tiles, and shipping expenses, the total outlay was less than eight thousand.

In other words, even if there were no new jobs in the coming month, just completing the current projects would net Li Xian more than ten thousand!

Li Xian grinned, "Of course. Like I said, my business now covers the entire Forestry Bureau. And this is just the beginning. Old Zheng, keep up the good work; there's a bright future in this job!"

In reality, Li Xian didn't expect Zheng Weishi to do anything too difficult. Mainly, he wanted him to help explain prices to customers who called or visited, and confirm orders. This way, he could free himself up to manage the delivery of cement and tiles from the factories during the day.

If any special circumstances arose, he'd also have time to visit the forest sites.

To Zheng Weishi, this seemed ridiculously easy.

After spending over an hour explaining the different types of exterior tiles, indoor floor tiles, detailed prices, quotes, and the current distribution of workers, Li Xian left it to old Zheng.

As for the bookkeeping, there was no need for Li Xian to worry. While he was explaining the business, old Zheng had already reorganized the somewhat messy ledger.

When it came time to discuss pay, the old man kicked him playfully.

In old Zheng's words, "I'm a former director of the Forestry Administration Office; do you think I care about your little salary? I'm just doing this for fun, not for the money!"

Since there was no need to pay a salary, Li Xian was more than happy. He immediately strapped his pager to Zheng Weishi's waist, "Alright then! From today on, you're my special assistant!"

"What about general manager?"

Old Zheng was not pleased with Li Xian's private demotion. It seemed he did care about the title of "general manager" after all.

…

With Zheng Weishi in charge, Li Xian felt much more at ease.

The next day, after sending off the tiles and cement, he followed the truck to Hongqi Forest. This area was the central hub of the entire forest region; nearly all the forest buses passed through here. He believed that if he did a good job here, he could attract a lot of new orders.

Especially if he could build a couple of houses along the roadside and put up an advertisement on the wall, the effect would be…

Absolutely fantastic! 

For the next few days, Li Xian shuttled between the Forestry Bureau and Hongqi Forest.

Meanwhile, significant changes were taking place at the retirement home.

Zheng Weishi was in his element.

He proudly wore his pager on his belt, walked briskly, and stood tall. He no longer played chess or mahjong, spending his days monopolizing the phone in the mailroom, busy as could be.

As Wu Shengli put it, "He's never been this busy, not even when he was at the Forestry Administration Office."

But his words carried a tinge of envy.

Sure enough, two days later, old Wu couldn't hold back anymore. He sought out the "general manager of the forestry district renovation company," Comrade Zheng Weishi, requesting a position in the "company."

That very day, Comrade Wu Shengli, the former deputy head of the Forest Protection Division, secured a position in the company as an honored assistant manager, thanks to a carton of Ashima cigarettes.

Two days later, the staff size of the "company's Forestry Bureau branch" had swelled to a formidable twelve people, with an average age of 65.

Tasks like picking up tiles and cement from the factories and arranging tractor transportation were all handled by the elderly group, despite their oversized numbers.

Although Zheng Weishi jokingly appointed two deputy managers—one to make him tea and the other to clean—the truth was that the elderly group's involvement had completely freed Li Xian.

As the person most familiar with the renovation plans, Li Xian personally took his designs and hit the ground running, resulting in a surge of new orders. In just three days, he secured over twenty more contracts.

If not for the shortage of workers on the construction team, and the fact that some customers balked at having to pay deposits and wait in line for renovations, this number would have been at least 30% higher.

He was quite satisfied with the current results.

But just as things were going well, trouble came knocking.

On the fifth day of Li Xian's trip to the forest, Zheng Weishi received a mysterious phone call. The caller insisted on discussing business in person and asked for the exact location of the so-called "Forestry District Renovation Company."

Without thinking much of it, and assuming it was an order from within the Forestry Bureau, Zheng Weishi gave the person the address.

About an hour later, two sidecars rolled into the retirement home.

Several men dressed in the white uniforms of the Industrial and Commercial Bureau marched in and kicked open the door to Li Xian's rented room, number 102.

"Who's in charge of the forestry district renovation team? Come with us!"

Inside the room, 

startled, Zheng Weishi, Wu Shengli, Wang Linhe, and a few other old men all raised their heads in unison.