Chapter 133: The Three Major Events on the Sixteenth Day of the Lunar New Year

The Li family's New Year was bustling.

From the 27th of the twelfth lunar month to the 13th day of the lunar New Year, they had been occupying the top spot in the gossip column of the forestry station. However, it wasn't until the 16th day of the lunar New Year that the entire forestry station truly came alive with excitement.

Just after the 15th day of the lunar New Year, a recruitment notice was posted outside the Li family's newly repaired, but still visible with axe marks, door.

"Recruitment Notice: In order to meet the business development needs of Xinlang Paper Industry and New North Paper Industry Co., Ltd., the company has decided to establish a wood chipping factory at the 89th Forestry Station. We are now officially recruiting workers. Requirements: Age 18-45 years, no gender restriction, salary negotiable based on job type. Interested parties please contact Li You, Factory Director of Xinlang Wood Chipping Factory, at Longjiang Forest Industry Group Headquarters. Phone 0455…"

Looking at the neatly written calligraphy in bold black characters on the bright red paper, Li Xian could barely lift his head.

Ah,

This showy display was really too clumsy.

It needs improvement!

Even if the title of "Factory Director" taking up a third of the notice is understandable, isn't it better if someone really interested just walks in to discuss the job? Why leave a phone number?

The advantage of setting up the factory at the 89th Forestry Station is that it is directly linked to the raw material source of wood chips. This way, processing and transporting can save a lot of trouble.

After all, transporting logs and broken wood to the forestry bureau incurs transportation costs, and transporting wood chips to the bureau also incurs costs. But the essence of these materials is different, just like the difference between rocks and sand. While both incur transportation costs, wood chips save more on overall costs.

Therefore, there was no disagreement about setting up the factory at the 89th Forestry Station. However, according to the plan, they intended to first resolve the site and factory building issues before recruiting staff. Moreover, recruitment couldn't be indiscriminate; a factory full of locals would be difficult to manage, and some outsiders were needed for coordination.

Originally, the idea was to transfer two people from the Xinlang Paper Factory to manage the factory, with Li You as an honorary non-operational figurehead.

But Li Xian clearly underestimated his father's ambition. According to Li You, it was "a factory without any popularity, what kind of factory is that?"

So, disregarding Li Xian's objections, Li You passionately wrote the recruitment notice with utmost enthusiasm.

"Second son, how do you like this writing?"

Li You spent the entire morning writing this notice, using several pieces of red paper. Although the overall black characters looked a bit crooked, each stroke was neatly done and even.

What could Li Xian say?

"Good!"

He muttered a reluctant compliment.

Hearing his son's praise, Li You straightened his back and adjusted his cotton coat draped over his shoulders.

"If you call me, who wouldn't want to come? Who doesn't want to come? The walls of your house are high, and the little dog is fierce. I've called ten times, and nine times I got no response! Ugh~~~"

Humphing a disjointed tune, looking quite satisfied, he strode into the house.

Watching Li You's departing figure, Li Xian's mood was mixed.

It seemed… the wood chipping factory needed two reliable people to manage it.

...

By noon, once the recruitment notice was posted, the news spread quickly throughout the 89th Forestry Station that the Li family was setting up a wood chipping factory and was recruiting workers.

In winter, the forestry station relied on logging segments for income, and during the farming season, the activity was hectic. But fieldwork was just as it was, with the real busy period lasting only about three months of the year. During the rest of the time, labor was usually idle.

Everyone wanted to stay home and work on their own land, unwilling to go elsewhere. Now that a side job opportunity had unexpectedly appeared at their doorstep, it attracted a significant number of people in the station.

By the afternoon, Li You's house was filled with people inquiring about the jobs. What amused Li Xian was that a considerable portion of them came bearing gifts.

A few bottles of canned food or a pack of cigarettes—though the gifts were not extravagant, they cast a shadow over the recruitment process.

Li You was currently experiencing a period of expansion, so Li Xian instructed Li Daoyun to oversee the situation, strictly forbidding Li You from accepting any gifts—otherwise, it would be impossible to manage the recruitment.

Li Daoyun, being older and understanding the principle of "don't accept gifts if you don't want trouble," assured Li Xian that he would sit at the door like a sentry with his pipe and turn away anyone bringing gifts.

Li Xian felt relieved and thought he must quickly return to the forestry bureau to finalize the staffing structure for the wood chipping factory to avoid a lot of trouble before the factory even started.

On the 16th day of the lunar New Year, the buses were already running. Li Jie, who had completely given up, didn't wait for Li Xian and took the bus back to the forestry bureau.

Li Xian planned to leave in the afternoon with Wu Shengli, but just as they were heading to the forestry station's checkpoint fuel depot to refuel, someone stopped the Cherokee on the main road.

Seeing the person blocking the road, Li Xian didn't want Wu Shengli to stop. But seeing that the person was nearly standing in the middle of the road, Wu Shengli braked hard.

The Cherokee was still a manual transmission, and the sudden deceleration caused the engine to stall.

"Damn it, the road is full of snow, and even a single brake can't stop the car! Seeking death, are you?"

Old Wu's driving skills weren't great, but he had the demeanor of an experienced driver. Seeing the person blocking the road, he stopped the car, got out, and started cursing.

Seeing the person with his head down and not speaking, Li Xian sighed, patted Old Wu's shoulder, opened the door, and got out of the car.

Standing in front of the person, Li Xian looked at his shifty eyes and said coldly, "What do you want?"

"Second Brother, I want to talk to you…"

Li Xian asked, and Gao Ming finally looked up and hesitantly said.

"What is there to talk about?" Li Xian restrained the impulse to slap him and decided to clarify things, "About you and the third brother, your family disagrees, that's none of your concern. But how have you handled it? The third brother has been at the forestry bureau for two months, and you haven't been there once. Gao Ming, haven't you thought about it when you can't sleep at night?"

Li Xian turned around and looked at the road, seeing no pedestrians. He grabbed Gao Ming by the collar, pulled him close, and whispered fiercely, "Damn it, Li Jie gave you everything! What does she, a young girl, want? She never thought you'd abandon her one day!"

Gao Ming lowered his head, slightly evading, his face almost overflowing with bitterness.

"Second Brother, I know… but my mom and dad…"

Li Xian didn't want to hear his explanation and pushed him away, "I'm asking you now, if Li Jie and your mother fell into the river, who would you save first?"

Hearing this question, Gao Ming was almost in tears.

"Second Brother… this… this…" He stuttered for a long time, "Oh!"

He threw his dog-skin hat onto the ground and then, with a sullen face, squatted beside the hat.

Looking at Gao Ming's hair, crushed into a nest by the hat, and his scruffy face, Li Xian took a deep breath. He adjusted Gao Ming's black wool coat, which had come undone due to his vigorous movements, and gave him a cold stare.

"Whenever you have the resolve to first save your mother and then come back to jump into the river to die with Li Jie, then come find me."

Leaving those words, Li Xian got back into the car and waved to Wu Shengli.

The car started again and drove off.

Listening to the sound of the departing car, Gao Ming angrily hit his head in the snow.

"What can I do!"

At this moment, a group of people approached from a distance on the main road.

"How much do you think they're paying per month? Why post the notice so early?"

"Why are you asking? The old Li family must be planning to set up a big factory, worried about not recruiting enough people, so they're giving a heads-up!"

"But if the factory starts up and they still can't find people, isn't that just a mess?"

Hearing people's discussions, Gao Ming hesitated, then grabbed his hat from the ground, stood up, and walked west with determined strides.

...

On the 16th day of the lunar New Year, three major events occurred at the 89th Forestry Station:

The first was that the Li family was setting up a wood chipping factory. Over a hundred people from the station came to apply for the jobs, and the Li family's new house was more lively than the forestry bureau's offices.

The second was that at the east end of the station, Zhu Laowu's family had a baby. Zhu Laowu's wife gave birth to quadruplets, all boys, after

 ten months of pregnancy. To avoid family planning issues, Zhu Laowu immediately drove his tractor and fled with his entire family.

Compared to this, the third event seemed to make everyone feel as though the station's world was changing.

In the afternoon, a young man entered the Li family's house. Amidst the shocked gazes of around thirty people in the room, he wrote his name on the job application form.

It was not unusual for young people to come to apply for jobs at Li You's place, as many young people with less land at home were looking for work now that the logging season was ending in over a month.

But this young man, the only son of the factory director, who was about to become the station's party secretary and would likely succeed the factory director position, caused a great deal of astonishment!