Chapter 134: My Dad Went Too Far

After returning to the forestry bureau, Li Xian first went with Wu Shengli to the retirement home. It was only the 16th day of the lunar New Year, and many of the old men hadn't returned yet. The retirement home was very quiet, but with his adopted son having had a reunion year, Wu Shengli was quite satisfied.

When Li Xian asked to accompany him for two more days, the old man waved him off, telling him to go about his business and come back when he had time. Wu Shengli was content to stay there, happy with his reunion and all.

Seeing that Li Xian was still worried, the old man learned how to operate a video recorder, grinning as he said he would finish watching "The Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain" and then spoil the ending for Old Zheng and the others when they came back, just to annoy them.

Seeing that the old man was in good spirits, Li Xian felt reassured. He stayed the night in a dormitory he hadn't used in a while and went to Xinlang Paper Industry early the next morning.

After the Lantern Festival, the workers at Xinlang Paper Factory resumed work.

However, the factory was currently in disarray. The old equipment had been dismantled and shipped away, while the new pulping equipment from Beilin Paper Factory was being installed. These tasks required technicians and skilled workers, leaving the ordinary workers to handle the miscellaneous tasks of moving things around.

To speed up the drying of the new pulping tanks, someone had the idea to use numerous iron stoves, which had been retrofitted with iron pipes and ventilation. Although this made the workshop feel like summer, the excessive stoves made the air smoky and caused headaches.

When Li Xian returned to the factory, he saw the place bustling with activity.

He first sought out Xu Dequan, instructing him to be very cautious about safety to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning accidents, and then he assessed the current progress.

It seemed that the pulping tanks would be completed in another two or three days.

The method might be rudimentary, but it was effective.

"Factory Director, this part will be finished soon. Shouldn't we hurry up the progress at the wood chipping factory?" Xu Dequan, the current deputy factory director, had been overseeing the progress since the New Year, supervising the construction of the pulping tanks. He had been working in the makeshift drying room, looking rather comical with a wet white towel wrapped around his nose.

Li Xian found it amusing but was also touched by Xu Dequan's dedication. Working so hard during the New Year, Xu was indeed commendable.

Pulling Xu Dequan out of the workshop for some fresh air, Li Xian told him to select five or six workers from the pulping team, and then he called over Zhang Dagong to discuss sending personnel to the Eight-Nine Forest Farm to be the backbone of the wood chipping factory.

As an essential supporting facility for the factory, relying solely on Li You was not enough.

The issue of manpower was easy to solve. Xinlang was not responsible for producing paper yet, only for pulping. Although the workload wouldn't decrease, the number of workers needed was less.

Moreover, since Xinlang wasn't producing paper yet, the sales and procurement departments could also spare some personnel.

While the three were discussing whom to send, Li Jie, with red-rimmed eyes, ran into the workshop. Seeing Li Xian talking with Zhang and Xu, she called out, "Second Brother," then stood quietly at a distance.

Li Xian quickly understood that something was wrong. After telling Zhang and Xu to make their own decisions, he walked over to Li Jie.

"Third Sister, what's wrong?"

Li Jie pouted, "Second Brother... Dad just called. He said he had a fight with Gao Dayi..."

"Ah?!"

Li Xian was stunned by this shocking news.

Li You! That was Comrade Li You!

In his memory, although Li You had a bad temper, he had never had conflicts with outsiders or committed any violent crimes! How could he have fought with Gao Dayi?

"How's Dad? Did he say if he was injured?"

Li Jie wiped her tears, "Grandpa said Dad wasn't hurt, but he scratched Gao Dayi. Gao Dayi has already gone down the mountain to complain, saying he will report us to the bureau and wants to have Dad arrested..."

He scratched Gao Dayi... scratched...

Oh~~~~~

Li Xian wiped his face vigorously, speechless.

Meanwhile, Li Jie tearfully explained the situation. After Gao Ming applied for a job with Li You, Gao Dayi came to confront them. Perhaps it was because the Li family's current influence overshadowed his position as factory director or because his own son diminished his authority. In any case, Gao Dayi came in a huff.

Not only did he bring trouble, but he also tore down the Li family's recruitment notice.

Li You was outraged, feeling his newly established authority as factory director was being challenged. Naturally, a verbal altercation turned into a full-blown fight. Gao Dayi was pushed into a drain and slipped on ice, where Li You scratched him.

Fortunately, there were many people around, and the two were quickly separated. No major accidents occurred, but the feud between the two families was now irreparable.

Gao Dayi vowed to report the incident to the forestry bureau, and he wasn't just talking. After making his threats, he drove his tractor down the mountain.

This all happened in the morning, so the people should have arrived by now.

After hearing the entire story, Li Xian felt somewhat relieved. As long as his father wasn't hurt, he could relax a bit.

Looking at the sobbing Li Jie, he waved his hand to dry her tears. "Dad didn't suffer any losses, so why are you crying?"

"I'm angry! And Gao Ming, what a mess! He doesn't say whether it's broken or not, just dragging things out. Now there's this big trouble, making Dad suffer."

Seeing Li Jie's mixed emotions, crying and complaining, Li Xian shook his head. "Third Sister, you can't judge a person by just one moment or incident. You have to consider the long term. Gao Ming's actions were surprising, but I have to tell you, marrying into their family means dealing with such in-laws for half your life."

Thinking of Li Jie's past experiences, Li Xian spoke from the heart.

Li Jie nodded, wiped her tears, "Brother, I understand."

Whether she truly understood or not, Li Xian waved her off to return to her accounting work and then called over Zhou Yong, who had been helping with the pulping machine.

When Zhou Yong heard that he would no longer be working in the workshop but would be a full-time driver for Li Xian, his face lit up with joy. He repeatedly assured Li Xian that he would do a great job.

The two went to the retirement home to pick up the car and headed straight to the forestry bureau.

...

Meanwhile, outside the forestry bureau's office building, a blue Sifeng tricycle had just pulled up.

Before the car even came to a full stop, Gao Dayi, who had covered his face with a white towel to avoid the wind, stormed into the office building.

Having frequently visited the bureau for meetings, he was familiar with the layout. He greeted the reception and went straight to the third floor to the bureau chief's office.

Xu Chaoyang had been at work for several days, not because he was particularly diligent, but because he was interested in the recent reforms Li Xian had implemented at the tile and paper factories. Before the New Year, he had received a notice from the General Administration saying that there would be a visiting group and other forestry bureau leaders coming to inspect and learn after the New Year.

This was an opportunity to gain recognition and potentially boost his performance. With the 14th National Congress's market economy reform plans underway, the forestry bureau was already ahead.

Xu Chaoyang didn't want to miss this chance.

So, starting from the eighth day of the New Year, he mobilized the commercial bureau to prepare materials and organize the reception.

While he was reviewing the performance reports of the paper and tile factories over the past two months submitted by Wang Zhiya, someone knocked on the office door.

"Come in."

Xu Chaoyang answered cheerfully.

"Chief! I can't be the factory director anymore!"

The door opened halfway, and Gao Dayi's aggrieved voice came through.

Xu Chaoyang frowned and looked at the visitor.

Gao Dayi, holding a towel that resembled the Libyan flag with red stripes on a white background, had blood streaming down his face.

"Old Gao, what happened?"

Xu Chaoyang quickly got up and went over to inspect. Seeing the bloodstains, he clicked his tongue, "Trouble at home during the New Year?"

Gao Dayi sighed deeply, angrily slapping the towel onto the coffee table. "If my wife dared to hit me, I'd skin her alive!"

"What happened?" Xu Chaoyang straightened up, "You said you can't be the factory director anymore. What's the situation? Be clear."

Gao Dayi took a deep breath and explained the situation. He detailed how someone in the forest farm had been causing trouble, used forest protection relations to kidnap the accountant's son, and then, without the forest farm's approval, set up a factory, disrupting the forest farm's operations and affecting the harvesting schedule. He also mentioned the fight with Li You, a nursery worker who beat him up.

"Li You?"

Xu Chaoyang found the name familiar but couldn't quite place it.

Such trouble at the forest farm, forcing a factory director into such a situation, and using forest protection connections to bully others—it was unacceptable!

Xu Chaoyang snorted coldly, "Why should such behavior be tolerated? Old Gao, you go back first. I'll call the Forest Protection Section to find out what's going on. Meanwhile, go to the bureau's police station and have Zhao Fangshan send people to control the perpetrators and bring them to the bureau. We'll investigate further and hold them accountable. A nursery worker shouldn't be getting out of hand like this!"

After giving these instructions, Xu Chaoyang set down his hand from his waist and poured a cup of water for Gao Dayi.

As he poured the water, he noticed the two reports on the desk and suddenly remembered something. "By the way, I remember Li Xian is from your forest farm, right? Has that kid returned for the New Year?"

At that moment, Xu Chaoyang's office door was knocked on again.

Not noticing Gao Dayi's widened eyes, Xu Chaoyang said in a deep voice, "Come in."

A young man walked in briskly, exchanged some New Year greetings, and then noticed Gao Dayi sitting on the sofa.

After scrutinizing Gao Dayi's face, the young man smiled broadly. "Oh my goodness, my dad really went too far!"