Chapter 301: The Life and Death Talisman

Perhaps feeling that she had spent two days at the Eight-Nine Forest Farm without accomplishing anything substantial and suspecting that she might be seen as freeloading, Wang Zhiya, after being scolded by Li Xian, got up early the next morning and went to the Eight-Nine Forest Farm's headquarters.

After some investigation, she learned that the forest farm was mobilizing its employees to set up a sauerkraut factory, and some progress had already been made. She immediately began organizing the matter and gathering information.

When Xu Chaoyang initially asked her to come to the Eight-Nine Forest Farm to review the situation at the wood chip factory, she had felt uneasy. Strictly speaking, both the wood chip factory and Xinao Paper Company had become private enterprises under Li Xian. Currently, the forestry sector was more interested in seeing township enterprises with government or collective shares as models for reform.

From this perspective, the sauerkraut factory, which had collective shares from the forest farm, was more suitable as a reform model. So, before starting work at the Berry Research Institute and the initial processing plant, she reported the matter to Xu Chaoyang by phone.

Xu Chaoyang was quite surprised when he learned that Li Xian had silently started a sauerkraut factory upon returning to the forest farm. He thought that Li Xian was endlessly inventive and kept providing surprises.

When he learned that the sauerkraut factory was established with the intention of helping all the workers in the forest farm prosper under the new manager Li You, Xu Chaoyang immediately recognized it as a live example of grassroots cadres responding to the Fourteenth National Congress's call.

Although the sauerkraut factory's investment was pitifully small, it was an excellent model for the forest farm, which had been relying solely on timber from the mountain and seasonal logging to generate benefits.

At this moment, all the forest farms under the Forestry Bureau had completed the election of the new farm managers. Apart from the Eight-Nine Forest Farm, where the manager had been replaced from Gao Dayi to the current Li You, the other forest farm leaders remained unchanged.

Thinking that it would be beneficial for these long-standing grassroots workers to see this example and refresh their minds, Xu Chaoyang decided to visit the Eight-Nine Forest Farm for a study tour.

When Wang Zhiya informed Li You of this news, Li You was thrilled.

Just a few days after taking office, the director was going to bring managers from more than ten other forest farms to visit his own place. How impressive was that?!

He immediately instructed the cafeteria to prepare meals and started making arrangements.

---

Upon hearing that Xu Chaoyang would be visiting in the next few days, Accountant Liu Yuan was particularly worried.

At Liu Yuan's home.

His second son, Liu Guangfa, and Liu Yuan's wife, upon hearing that the director would be inspecting the forest farm, also lost their earlier cheerfulness.

In fact, since Li You had defeated Gao Dayi and been elected as the farm manager, the family had been in a state of concern. Over the past six months, they had often clashed with the old Li family at the forest farm. Now that Gao Dayi had fallen and Li You had risen, a sense of crisis constantly loomed over the entire family.

"Dear, Gao Dayi was defeated by Li You, and now you're the only opponent left in the whole farm. With the director coming, won't Li You take the opportunity to do something?"

Hearing his wife's words, Liu Yuan put down his chopsticks with a stern face and said, "What can he do? Gao Dayi brought this upon himself. He reported a few bribes and tried to establish relations with the family planning office, which got Li Xian involved. What about me? Even if Li You dislikes me and wants to deal with me, he needs a reason."

Although Liu Yuan spoke firmly, his wife was still concerned.

"Dear... with Gao Dayi now out of office, and the Forestry Bureau coming to audit soon... will there be any problems?" Seeing her husband's worried expression, Liu Yuan's wife quickly added, "I'm not questioning your accounting, but Gao Dayi's downfall was so sudden, many things were left unarranged. We can't afford any issues, right?"

Although Liu Yuan found his wife's concern somewhat annoying, he understood it was for his and the family's sake. He sighed and said, "Gao Dayi was a real pain, and his sudden downfall was quite unpleasant. He disappeared without a trace, but I've been cleaning up his mess these days. Still, it's fine. The big account is clear, and even if the auditors come, they won't find anything."

"That's good, that's good."

Liu Yuan's wife patted her chest. Every time she thought of Gao Dayi's fate, she felt a pang of anxiety.

Over the years, their family had taken a lot of money from the forest farm. If something went wrong, she wasn't sure if she would have the courage to be as resolute as Guo Guixiang, who left everything behind and fled.

Seeing his wife's worried expression, Liu Yuan sighed inwardly.

Though he spoke confidently, he also felt some unease.

Since Gao Dayi's departure, he had lost contact with him.

Although the big account was fine, he and Gao Dayi had previously shared a private account. To track the distribution of money, they had detailed records of every transaction during the logging season over the past five years.

There were two account books: one for him and one for Gao Dayi.

Now that Gao Dayi had disappeared, Liu Yuan had tried several times to find the private account book in the manager's office while Li You was away but had not been successful. He was still worried about this private account...

Just as he was anxiously concerned, his second son Liu Guangfa snorted coldly.

"Li You and Li Laoer, those two bastards, I refuse to believe they can't be dealt with! Dad, Mom, don't worry. Xu Ju and the others are coming, so watch me!"

"Second son, Li You's position in the farm is currently very strong. Don't make any reckless moves!" Liu Yuan knew about his second son's previous report on Li Qing.

Since the new year, Liu Guangfa had been searching for Li's family's weaknesses, and Liu Yuan thought he might be a bit obsessive.

Seeing that his second son seemed to be plotting something again, Liu Yuan quickly advised him.

"Rest assured, Dad. I'm aware of what I'm doing. I won't make any overt moves, but I definitely can't let Li You and Li Xian have it easy. You don't need to worry."

Seeing his second son's determined face, Liu Yuan sighed.

Why did life have to be so difficult?

---

On the other side.

Li Xian had a hard time stopping Li You from slaughtering the big pig at home to entertain guests.

Although the big pig's brain was damaged and its weight had become seriously over the limit, Li Xian had developed an attachment to it every time he saw it at home, much like a large yellow dog. He really didn't want to kill it for meat.

Anyway, the family wasn't short of a few pigs' worth of money, so he thought of keeping it as a pet.

Unable to persuade his son, Li You had to go to the butcher Wang Laer's house and arrange for the pig to be slaughtered for Xu Chaoyang's visit.

Seeing the big pig narrowly escaping death once again and happily grunting, Li Daoyun in the yard was also delighted.

"This creature has found a benefactor."

Hearing Li Daoyun's teasing, Li Xian laughed, "Grandpa, it's not me protecting it. Think about it, during the New Year, our family originally planned to slaughter both pigs in the pen, but because of various matters and people we needed to entertain, the pig avoided death. Recently, hailstones as big as fists killed many of the farm's animals. But this pig, despite having a swollen head and becoming a bit foolish, miraculously survived. It's a lucky pig!"

Li Daoyun couldn't help but laugh and scold his grandson for talking about luck, "Little rascal, you're quite something."

But after thinking about it, he agreed with Li Xian's point, "Well, come to think of it, this pig really does seem lucky. Let's keep it, though it's a pity it's not a sow; otherwise, it could have had some piglets."

Watching his grandson laugh foolishly with the pig in the pen, Li Daoyun shook his head helplessly. He put away his pipe, reached into his pocket, and took out a small black notebook, handing it over.

"What's this, Grandpa?" Li Xian asked, frowning at the small notebook that looked like a ledger.

Li Daoyun raised his eyebrows with a smile, "It's the life and death talisman."