Ma Yulian’s Restraint! The Section Chief: Say That Again

Seeing Ma Yulian's impatience over the paperwork, Li Junsheng couldn't help but smile coldly to himself. The more urgent she was, the less he would let her have it easily!

"It all depends on when it's convenient for the factory. I'll just have to go back and forth, ask a few more questions, and connect with some people," he replied casually, letting his words fall flat.

Ma Yulian interpreted his lackadaisical attitude as weakness; if he had any competence, obtaining a mere piece of paper wouldn't be so troublesome.

In previous days, she would have scolded him without mercy, but now that she relied on him, she had to speak sweetly instead.

"… Fine! Just make sure you say nice things to them. It's not that difficult; after all, you've already accepted the money from Old Chen, so you should get this sorted as soon as possible."

Li Junsheng nodded, half-listening to her, and even considered scaring her a bit.

"You're right. I drank too much yesterday and kind of regret selling the job to Old Chen. How about I refund the money? If I don't sell them the position anymore, Guojun is definitely going to be upset."

As soon as he said this, Ma Yulian panicked, "That's out of the question! What I meant was… you've already given two hundred yuan of that money to Guohua; there's no way to return it now."

Li Junsheng smirked inwardly. At this moment, she wasn't insisting that he go after Guohua to get the money back.

"Are you sure you don't want me to retrieve the money from Guohua?"

"Definitely not! Isn't Guohua in the hospital with pneumonia? What kind of grandfather would ask for money back now?"

"Besides, he definitely won't have any money to give you in the near future. You can't go back on your word to Old Chen either."

Li Junsheng said, "Oh, I see," and then turned to Ma Yulian with an uncharacteristically stern tone and commanded, "Then go and boil me some noodles. I'll head to the factory after I eat."

"Eat noodles?… Fine!"

Ma Yulian felt a flicker of annoyance but, keeping in mind the job transfer matter, could only acquiesce.

For the first time in years, Li Junsheng was going to have a proper breakfast served to him.

Ma Yulian pretended to be gentle as she added two eggs to his bowl.

Li Junsheng devoured the noodles eagerly—after years of hard work, he deserved to treat himself right.

With money on his mind, Li Junsheng wasn't worried about her poisoning his food.

After finishing a hearty bowl of noodles, he wiped his mouth and prepared to leave, pretending to go to the factory to handle the job transfer paperwork. Ma Yulian was now all smiles as she saw him off.

Once he left the house, however, he bought a few things: several packs of good cigarettes, a bottle of fine liquor, and a couple of cans of fruit.

With these items in hand, Li Junsheng headed to Section Chief Zhou's house.

After getting startup funds from Chen Dazhu, he was eager to embark on a promising path. Now was the perfect time; if he delayed, he might miss out on the opportunity!

Dressed in a white shirt, black trousers, and a tie, Li Junsheng's attire made him look like a young boss as he approached Section Chief Zhou's home.

Just as he was about to knock on the door, it swung open.

"Such a early visit, who is it?"

Zhou's spouse placed her things aside to open the door. She saw the humble Li Junsheng and didn't greet him too warmly.

"Oh, it's Comrade Li from the factory! What brings you here at this hour?"

"I'm here to see the Section Chief, wanted to discuss something. Is he already at the factory?"

Li Junsheng lifted the items in his hands a bit for her to see.

Her expression changed immediately, and she became enthusiastic, inviting him inside.

"Come in! Old Zhou was just about to head to the factory. You're quite the rare visitor!"

Li Junsheng smiled without engaging in conversation, stepping inside with his contributions, and asked, "Where should I put these for the Section Chief?"

Just then, Section Chief Zhou approached, feigning seriousness. "Old Li, what are you doing? We're all respectable people here. If you're facing difficulties, just tell me directly and don't bring me this nonsense! Just take the stuff back."

"Section Chief, you misunderstand. I've resigned from the factory. I came over to thank you for your care before I left."

Since he had nothing to ask of him, it could not be construed as bribery.

Zhou feigned surprise, quickly changing the topic, "You're leaving? What happened? A few more years and you could retire nicely. Leaving now means you won't have any retirement benefits. Have you thought this through?"

"I've thought it through. Otherwise, I wouldn't have come to thank you," Li Junsheng clarified. "I'm passing my job to someone else; I've been doing this for so long; it's just a bit tiring."

Zhou studied Li Junsheng—he hadn't expected him to articulate himself so well when he was usually quite awkward with words.

Even now, Zhou couldn't grasp the reasoning behind Li Junsheng's sudden resignation.

"Seriously? You're leaving just like that? You could've held on for a while longer…"

Li Junsheng shrugged it off. "Let's just sit and have a chat," Zhou finally suggested, not wanting to dismiss him rudely.

Li Junsheng placed his items down and made it a point to glance around, searching for something specific.

Through the window, he noticed that behind the Section Chief's house, a shed was filled with copper scrap that was piled nearly as high as the wall.

The scraps were covered with a black cloth, indicating an effort to obscure their presence.

In reality, these scraps were far inferior to what the factory warehouse held, yet it took considerable effort to accumulate such a sizeable stash.

Feigning surprise, Li Junsheng asked, "What's going on with all this?"

He knew perfectly well that these were excess materials from the factory's military parts production, already written off in the inventory. Section Chief Zhou had likely taken them for personal sale.

Now, with the connection in the black market having been arrested for unrelated matters, what once was a source of income had become a hot potato.

Unable to ask around for fear of being implicated, Zhou was nervous about being discovered. When Li Junsheng inquired, Zhou outright stated they were leftovers needing disposal.

Zhou knew that Li Junsheng was a veteran of the factory and hid nothing from him.

Sighing, Zhou said, "These can only sell for 0.8 yuan per pound to the state recycling plant, which isn't even enough to cover transportation costs."

Li Junsheng realized that Zhou was now without a middleman and couldn't sell these items privately, and he was in need of someone to help.

At this moment, Li Junsheng had his eyes set on being that middleman.

"That cheap? They'd go for much more outside!"

Li Junsheng feigned a sudden idea. "How about this, Section Chief? You trust me, so why not sell these to me? I know ways to move them quickly so you won't have to worry."

Taken aback, Zhou asked, "What connections do you have?"

With a mysterious smile, Li Junsheng replied, "Section Chief, I just need to manage to get rid of these hot potatoes. As for how I do it…"

Zhou nodded, a smile creeping across his face.

He reasoned that whatever Li Junsheng had in mind was of no concern to him.

The less he knew, the safer he felt.

Even if Li Junsheng got caught selling these items on the black market, he could always say he had no knowledge of Li's dealings.

Right now, the priority was to get rid of these risky goods, to ensure they were no longer in his possession!

Zhou's wife thoughtfully brought in tea and quietly left the room.

Zhou moved straight to the point, "So what about the price?"

Li Junsheng pretended to think deeply, lightly tapping his fingers on his knees, his gaze sweeping over the boxes of copper scraps as he seemed to weigh their worth.

His face revealed a slight dilemma but also a keen glimmer of excitement.

"Well…"

"Section Chief," Li Junsheng began, his voice clear but measured, "You mentioned that selling them to the recycling station at 0.8 yuan per pound is already a loss, and that makes perfect sense. It would be a shame to sell them as scrap metal."

"I genuinely want to help you resolve this issue while also finding a new path for myself," he added, observing Zhou's reaction closely. Seeing the other man still maintaining a stern face but seemingly listening intently, he continued, "How about this? I'll buy them at… 0.5 yuan per pound, cash, on the spot!"