Chapter 132: Li You Becomes an Official

Amidst the sound of firecrackers marking the New Year, Li Xian was jolted awake by the loud bangs of fireworks and firecrackers on the first day of the lunar new year.

Previously, when Li Qing was living here, there was one room. Later, three more rooms were added, making a total of four rooms.

Originally, the plan was for Li You and Zou Ni to share one room, Li Jie another, Li Daoyun another, and for him and Li Pi to share the last one. However, since Li Qing's family did not return after dinner the previous night, he and Li Pi, along with Wu Shengli, had to squeeze into Li Daoyun's room.

That night, Wu Shengli, who had been drinking, snored loudly enough to make the glass vibrate, Li Pi tossed and turned on the kang, and Li Daoyun even got up to smoke a cigarette. As a result, Li Xian barely slept.

Just as he was about to fall asleep, the noise of firecrackers from neighbors having breakfast started again.

Resignedly, Li Xian got out of bed. The weather was very cold, and the brick house, lacking insulation, was chilly despite the warmth from the kang and the stove. The water tank even had a thin layer of ice on top.

After washing his face with the icy water, Li Xian heard a commotion coming from the main room. However, the voices were filled with joy rather than any disputes.

When he went into the main room with a towel, he found that it was the old neighbors coming to pay their New Year's greetings. It was none other than Aunt Ma and her husband Xu Zhenye, along with their son, Xu Huzi, who always seemed displeased with him.

Seeing Li Xian, the couple greeted him with radiant smiles. After the New Year's greetings, they promptly gave their son a slap on the back of the head. "Look at your brother Xian, now so successful. He's made a fortune and even bought a car. You should be more motivated and study hard!"

Xu Huzi gritted his teeth, bowed to Li Xian with clenched fists, and said, "Happy New Year, Brother Xian. Wish you prosperity and great fortune…"

Li Xian, aware of what kind of person Xu Huzi was, couldn't help but smile at his displeased face.

Putting down his towel, he took out fifty yuan from his pocket and handed it to Xu Huzi. "How old are you this year?"

It was customary to give red envelopes to children during the New Year, but fifty yuan was usually the maximum. Seeing Li Xian's generosity, Aunt Ma's smile grew even wider. "He's fourteen now, already a young man. What more can you give him? Huzi, thank Brother Xian properly!"

Xu Huzi took the money, his displeasure disappearing immediately, and said, "Thank you, Brother Xian!"

Li Xian patted his head. "Oh, you've grown up so quickly. You're in middle school now, right?"

"Yes! I'm in the second year of middle school!"

"How's your studying going?"

"Uh, it's okay…"

"'Okay' isn't enough! The society is tough now; you have to study hard or you won't make it. When I was your age, I was always at the top of my class in exams. Whenever there was a break, my classmates would invite me out, but I stayed home to memorize English words and classical literature. I even used my pocket money to buy exercise books."

Li Xian gestured with his hand to indicate a thickness of about a foot. "During one winter and summer vacation, I did exercises until the stack of books was this thick!"

Aunt Ma and Xu Zhenye were stunned!

No wonder Li Xian had achieved so much!

This was clearly the result of hard work!

Looking at Li Xian, the couple was filled with admiration.

This was what a role model looked like!

After witnessing Li Xian's radiant example, the couple's gaze toward their son turned predatory.

Listening to Li Xian's endless recount of his "glorious history," such as "stuffing two stones in my mouth to practice English" and "checking the schedule before going out at night to urinate in the school dormitory," Xu Huzi, whose mouth was agape, held the money with trembling hands.

When Aunt Ma's family left, and seeing Xu Huzi's resentful glare, Li Xian chuckled to himself.

Trying to match me in annoyance?

Competing with me in stubbornness?

Can you outdo me?

According to the usual New Year's customs, visiting relatives and friends typically happened on the second day of the new year. However, this year, visitors began to flock in on the first day.

After Aunt Ma's family left, old neighbors, nearby acquaintances, and Li You's colleagues from the nursery came in waves, as if they had all agreed to visit at the same time.

These days, New Year's visits generally involved bringing a box of fruit. By the end of the morning, the main room was piled high with boxes of oranges and apples.

There was barely any space left for the visitors to sit.

Seeing this, Li Xian smiled.

It seems that after dealing with Accountant Liu, the reputation of the Li family at the forestry station has been established!

By noon, after the last round of New Year's visits, the door threshold, worn down from being stepped on, finally quieted down. The room was covered with a thick layer of melon seeds and peanut shells, resembling a garbage dump.

However, Zou Ni, who was cleaning, didn't mind the exhaustion; she was thrilled.

Such a thing was unheard of before!

In her mind, the more visitors, the more respected the family must be in the community.

Seeing her happy, Li Xian decided to maintain this success. During the conversations with the old friends and acquaintances, Li Xian had picked up on some information. These people saw the defeat of Accountant Liu as a significant victory and perceived Li Xian as a successful person who could be relied upon for future assistance.

It wasn't about power; in a secluded rural area, personal connections were everything.

"Just having money isn't enough; you need to have power."

Looking at the mess of melon seed shells and the towering fruit boxes, Li Xian pondered. While considering whether he should contact Wang Lin, Xu Chaoyang, or Zheng Weishi to find a position for Li You or Li Qing in the forestry station, Li Jie came to him.

She wanted to make a phone call at the forestry station.

Li Xian knew exactly what she was up to.

Seeing her troubled expression, he waved her off, "Go ahead, take Li Pi with you. Don't knock on their door. The sooner you sort things out, the better."

Seeing Li Jie looking down in silence, he reminded her, "And don't go empty-handed. Call Zhang Dagong when you're there and ask him to arrange a phone installation for our family at the telecom bureau down the mountain. Since we're not always home, Dad and Mom can't get in touch."

Li Jie nodded, called Li Pi, and went out.

About two hours later, the siblings returned. Li Jie was visibly upset, having sent Li Pi away. Li Xian learned from her about the conversation with Gao Ming.

According to Li Jie, Gao Ming still didn't want to break up. He had been persuading his family for a long time, but with the recent New Year's holiday, his family strongly opposed the relationship.

Li Xian coldly smiled, "San'er, I advise you to let go of this relationship."

Li Jie nodded, "Yes, Brother. I realize now that I was too naive before."

Seeing her tears start again, Li Xian sighed. It seemed like he had changed something.

...

The time spent with family always flies by quickly, and soon it was the thirteenth day of the lunar new year. By tradition, the New Year is considered over after the fifteenth.

Li Xian was already planning to tell his family that he would head down the mountain on the sixteenth. However, on this day, an unusual event occurred—a vehicle from the telecom bureau, which was usually very efficient, came to install a phone at their house.

This was unusual; to have them come out during the New Year was impressive. Old Zhang was really making things happen!

Once the phone was installed and the line connected the next day, Li Xian called Zhang Dagong. He learned that Zhang Dagong's brother-in-law was in charge of the telecom installation.

When asked about the progress of the Xinlang Paper Company's renovation, Zhang Dagong said that the pulping pool had been completed. They were just waiting for the transportation team to arrive after the fifteenth to move Xinlang's paper-making line and return the pulping equipment from Beilin Paper Mill.

Li Xian was pleased with the progress. It seemed Zhang Dagong had been organizing construction even during the New Year.

After offering some words of encouragement, Zhang Dagong raised a question: During the renovation of Xinlang, he and Xu Dequan had calculated the current equipment and personnel situation. With the current setup, it was doubtful they could meet the daily supply of twenty tons of paper pulp.

The main issue wasn't the equipment but the raw materials.

The forestry bureau's logging period was from mid-October to early March. During this time, sawdust was plentiful due to the processing tasks of various sawmills, but it still fell short of the daily requirement for twenty tons of paper pulp.

To meet this requirement, besides purchasing sawdust from outside, they needed to establish a dedicated wood chipping workshop or even a wood ch

ipping factory to produce wood flakes for the pulping pool.

While setting up the chipping equipment was straightforward, obtaining a site and factory building from the forestry bureau required Li Xian's intervention.

Li Xian thought for a moment and had a sudden realization.

This was simple to handle!

There was no need to go through the forestry bureau. The land there couldn't appreciate in value anyway. To address this minor issue without owing anyone a favor, it would be better to set up a factory in the 89th forestry station, where wood resources were abundant. They could process wood into flakes and then transport it to the forestry bureau.

And this was a perfect opportunity to find a position for Li You!

While arranging for Zhang Dagong to manage the equipment, Li Xian immediately called Li You and announced his decision to set up a wood chipping factory in the forestry station and make Li You the factory director.

Li You was stunned upon hearing this.

"I'm going to be a factory director?"

"Yep!"

This year, despite enduring his son's debt of 1.6 million yuan and receiving a car worth over 200,000 yuan from afar, he ultimately could not escape the impact of late-life officialdom.

On the thirteenth day of the lunar new year, Li You, feeling dizzy, happily succumbed to the news.