Chapter 86: Winter Has Arrived

After sending off Li You and the others, Li Xian returned to the factory.

The conversation he had with Xu Chaoyang reassured him. Unlike other places, where the entire country had already embraced market-oriented reforms, the Forestry Bureau was still part of the planned economy sector within the forestry industry. The potential for unexpected factors was far greater here compared to other regions.

Now that the factory matters were completely settled, he felt at ease.

Perhaps the positive momentum of Xingna Paper also motivated Xu Chaoyang, as at noon the bureau's secretary came to Xingna Paper. In addition to informing Li Xian about the timber use notification for the factory at the Eight-Nine Forest Farm, he brought with him a certificate— emblazoned with bright red characters that read "Poverty Alleviation and Disability Assistance Unit."

Seeing the certificate, Li Xian could only force a wry smile and shake his head.

He didn't care much for honors and wasn't interested in these things.

Noticing his lack of enthusiasm, Secretary Bai Wei asked, "Director Li, why aren't you happy?"

Li Xian chuckled awkwardly, "Happy, of course! How could I not be happy with such a great honor from the bureau!"

Seeing his forced smile, Bai Wei was momentarily stunned before shaking his head, "Alright then, I'll head back. You should go to the Commerce Bureau later to handle the tax exemption procedures."

"Ah?"

Hearing this, Li Xian's eyes widened, "What procedures?"

"Tax exemption procedures!" Bai Wei looked at Li Xian, who seemed puzzled, and explained, "Director Li, enterprises that employ more than five percent disabled individuals are eligible for tax exemption. You didn't know this?"

Heaven knows, Li Xian had no idea about this!

Seeing that Li Xian genuinely didn't understand, Bai Wei laughed, "If you didn't know, it's really kind of you to employ so many disabled people. Director Li, don't just stand there. Quickly hang up the certificate and go to the Commerce Bureau to file the application."

"Okay!" Li Xian snapped back to his senses and nodded vigorously.

This time, he truly smiled, and it was a heartfelt smile.

According to the current tax law, even with a daily revenue of five thousand yuan, the factory would need to pay nearly 150,000 yuan in taxes annually.

He didn't expect that his reluctant decision to engage with the disabled association would bring such a benefit!

In this light, it seemed he was not just creating benefits for those disabled individuals but was rather benefiting from their presence himself.

...

Back at the factory, Li Xian took a tour of the workshop, specifically checking the workstations of the disabled employees. Although Zhang Dagong was somewhat blunt, he had the advantage of experience.

Given the conditions of the disabled workers, the workstations were arranged quite reasonably.

For example, the pulping station, which was noisy, had most of the employees with hearing impairments assigned there. The paper rolling machine station, which required workers to squat and adjust paperboards constantly, had two employees with lower limb paralysis assigned.

The female employees in the warehouse who were chatty had two mute workers placed with them to handle their tasks. This clever arrangement greatly improved the efficiency of these three workstations.

To Li Xian, these arrangements were a stroke of genius. Utilizing people's strengths to perfection!

After chatting with the new employees, encouraging them to work hard, and saying the usual platitudes about reporting any difficulties to the factory, Li Xian handed over the tasks of managing Xu Bing and Zhou Yong to the office.

The situation with these three was special. Although they had expressed sincere feelings to Li Xian before, their criminal records made Li Xian cautious. He asked Zhang Dagong to pay special attention to them.

When Xu Bing and Zhou Yong came to seek employment, Xu Bing had mentioned that if not for being pushed to the edge, he would have preferred to work diligently and live a steady life.

Initially, Li Xian didn't believe it, but through recent observations, he learned that their crimes were minor, mostly petty theft. According to Zhang Dagong, they were quite diligent at the factory.

Thus, Li Xian decided to give them a chance.

"I've recently obtained some timber permits from the Eight-Nine Forest Farm. However, I'm tied up at the factory right now."

Hearing this in the office, Xu Bing and Zhou Yong were both stunned.

"Big Brother, are you saying… you want us to go?!" Xu Bing was excited.

In these times, obtaining timber permits from the Forestry Bureau was not a small feat. The young man in front of him, casually mentioning he had secured permits, made Xu Bing reassess Li Xian's background.

This further strengthened his determination to hold on tightly to Li Xian.

Li Xian nodded, "That's right."

"Big Brother, that's easy!" Zhou Yong immediately said, "You have the permits, we'll arrange transportation for you. You know the area well, so it'll be fine!"

Li Xian smiled faintly, knowing that things were not so simple. The winter forest farm was a place full of hidden dangers and complex interests. Although obtaining timber might seem straightforward with the Forestry Bureau's approval, the execution at the forest farm involved many intricate steps.

These included loading, measuring, auditing, checkpoint inspections, and transportation logistics.

An old saying goes: the most morally bankrupt people in any trade are often the drivers, dockworkers, and those involved in transportation.

Timber trade involved interactions with nearly all these morally questionable roles. Li Xian was aware that the first batch of people to become wealthy and later extremely wealthy in the northeast usually accumulated their initial capital from timber business.

And inevitably, regardless of whether they later transitioned to real estate or other industries, they were always referred to as "Big Brother" in their circles.

In the northeast, this title wasn't a flattering one.

Those who maintained this title for fifteen to twenty years were naturally not easy to deal with.

Although Li Xian currently held Xu Chaoyang's power and the Eight-Nine Forest Farm was his old home, he couldn't guarantee there would be no complications.

Having Xu Bing and his companions handle the permits was actually a last resort. He initially planned to have Wang Qinghe, who was currently available, organize the task. But after reconsideration, he realized Wang Qinghe, who was rigid and inexperienced with the forest farm, was not the right choice.

Specialized skills matter, and someone like Xu Bing was better suited for navigating such a complex environment.

After explaining the timber permit situation, Li Xian took out two thousand yuan and placed it on the table.

"You should set out tomorrow. After handling the permits, find transportation directly. I'll contact Wang Qinghe to assist you with the forest farm."

After giving the instructions, Li Xian pushed the money over.

Two thousand yuan was not a small amount, and seeing Li Xian's trust, Xu Bing's nose grew sore.

"Big Brother, we'll definitely get this done for you. Just wait and see!"

Feeling that there was nothing more to say, Li Xian waved his hand, signaling them to prepare.

Watching them leave excitedly, Li Xian smiled.

At the factory, Zhou Jun was still with the transport team. For the forest farm, he had already instructed Wang Qinghe to keep an eye on things. For transportation, he planned to include Old Zhou in the transport team.

He wasn't worried about these two causing any trouble.

Looking out the window at the light snowfall as if in response to the calendar's "Light Snow" indication, Li Xian sighed deeply.

"Winter has finally arrived."