Chapter 44: Settled Down

When Xu Chaoyang received Li Xian's suggestion letter, he was in a meeting. The meeting was focused on preparing personnel for the latest central directives and closely related to the forestry bureau's fire prevention issues.

Seeing Wang Linhe's name on the letter, he immediately opened the envelope. After reading the new content, Xu Chaoyang stood up from his chair with a solemn expression.

He held up the manuscript pages in his hand and said to the audience below:

"Comrades, this is a suggestion letter just delivered to me by Old Director Wang. It reflects some issues, one of which is a fire hazard in our bureau.

Comrades, just a few days ago, we had a comprehensive inspection of forest area safety hazards and worked to eliminate all fire risks. Over the past few days, various forest farms and timber storage sites have submitted their reports. Some comrades even patted their chests and assured me that everything would be fine this time.

But look here, open your eyes and take a good look! The issue causing this fire, the wooden power poles, was actually pointed out by an old comrade who has retired and is now living in the rest center! As a younger generation... I'm embarrassed!"

Faced with Xu Chaoyang's emphatic table-thumping, the leaders below turned into quails...

...

After delivering the letter to the bureau, Li Xian rode his motorcycle directly to the cement factory.

Cai Wencheng had just finished a production meeting. Seeing Li Xian's arrival, he felt a bit awkward. Now, the factory director looked at Li Xian as if he were a creditor...

After exchanging pleasantries with Cai Wencheng, Li Xian explained that he had already submitted a report to the bureau reflecting the issue of wooden power poles. To avoid any delays, he suggested that Cai Wencheng should immediately report to the bureau about the factory's plan to produce reinforced concrete power poles.

Cai Wencheng pondered and felt that Li Xian had a point.

Whether the bureau would replace the power poles and if they would assign the task to the cement factory were crucial for the factory's ability to utilize over a hundred tons of cement in stock. Furthermore, if they indeed took on this task, the factory would likely have ample production tasks for the next year or two, benefiting the factory director.

However, just as Cai Wencheng was about to act on Li Xian's suggestion and head to the bureau, he received a call from the bureau.

On the phone, the Commercial Bureau Director ordered him to immediately attend a meeting at the bureau to discuss whether the current production capacity and equipment of the cement factory could meet the forestry bureau's demand for replacing power poles.

Upon hearing the topic of the power poles, Cai Wencheng's eyes widened. He stared at the seemingly indifferent Li Xian in astonishment, his mind racing.

Even after hanging up the phone, he remained unsettled.

"Li Xian…" Looking at Li Xian sipping tea from a large mug, Cai Wencheng's tone was much gentler than before. "Do you... have connections in the bureau?"

Cai Wencheng's first reaction was that Li Xian must be someone's child.

Otherwise, how could this young man, who was just trying to make money from power poles yesterday, have the bureau issue an order today? It didn't make sense!

Li Xian shook his head.

However, considering he now lived among a group of old cadres, it wasn't unreasonable to think there might be connections. So, he nodded slightly.

This made Cai Wencheng uncertain.

He had not had much direct contact with Li Xian, and he had only heard about Li Xian's deeds through Yang Hongshan. Despite his brother's high praise, he himself didn't believe in such claims.

In this era, can you really make money just by having brains and no connections?

Who would believe that?

Now, with Li Xian's mysteriousness and the bureau's reaction, Cai Wencheng felt his judgment was indeed correct. This kid must have known about the bureau's plan to replace the power poles and coincidentally learned about the factory's cement surplus, using it as an opportunity to make money.

Originally, Cai Wencheng had some reservations about Li Xian's twenty thousand reward. But after realizing this, he no longer dared to have such thoughts.

"Little Brother, I have to go to the bureau for a meeting right away. I'll arrange a meal for you at Linxing Restaurant at noon! Be sure to come, definitely come!"

Cai Wencheng instructed twice and then put on his coat and hurried out. On his way out of the factory's office area, he made a special detour to the accounting office.

...

At noon, when Li Xian arrived at Linxing Restaurant as promised, he was greeted by a beaming Cai Wencheng and Yang Hongshan waiting at the door.

Seeing him, Cai Wencheng warmly led him upstairs. As soon as they entered the private room, Cai Wencheng slammed a thick envelope onto the table.

"Thanks to you, Little Brother Li. Take this money!" Seeing the joy on Li Xian's face, Cai Wencheng whispered, "Don't mention this, it's a small account from the factory."

Li Xian understood.

However, he also understood that Cai Wencheng's mention of a "small account" in front of him was meant to establish goodwill.

With this beginning, everyone chatted more happily than last time. After more than two hours of toasting and conversation, the gathering ended on a high note.

During the conversation, Li Xian learned that Yang Hongshan had already retired from the Commercial Bureau, and the tile factory was currently undergoing asset evaluation. According to Yang, the factory's performance hadn't been good in recent years, and the bureau was happy to offload this burden.

The only issue now was with the placement of employees. The bureau wanted Yang Hongshan to take over all the factory's employees. However, Yang Hongshan had had enough and planned a major cleanup, keeping only some well-performing technicians.

In front of Li Xian, he was candid about his plans to first mortgage the factory and then use the loan to take over the factory from the Commercial Bureau.

This made Li Xian sigh deeply. Yang Hongshan effectively acquired the factory without spending a penny, while he himself had worked tirelessly to acquire that batch of aluminum ingots. It's no wonder the early movers in this era were these leaders—using state money to buy government enterprises and profit from them, making wealth seems easy!

Although envious, it was useless to dwell on it. No matter how much he talked, he didn't have those resources.

With a large sum of money in his pocket, Li Xian didn't dare to drink much. After the gathering, he went straight to the Rural Credit Cooperative.

Previously, he had saved over thirty thousand from the renovation, with three thousand reserved for paying workers at the end of the month, and the rest was profit.

Adding Yang Hongshan's ten thousand bonus and the twenty thousand now, plus the fifty-five thousand from the aluminum ingots, everything was complete!

Looking at the new numbers on the passbook, Li Xian clenched his fist, almost moved to tears.

In the afternoon, he went to the Multi-Management Bureau, found Zhao Liang, and paid the remaining balance in advance. He officially received the asset transfer slip.

Standing at the asset office door, Li Xian kissed the slip in his hand.

From this moment on, those aluminum ingots are officially under the Li name!