Scholars in the courtyard.

Chapter 3071 The right candidate

After listening to Yang Xiaotao's explanation, Li Rong shook her head and smiled, "Five hundred billion? You really dare to ask for a price."

"I doubt they even have that much money!"

Yang Xiaotao quickly said, "It's alright, just have them find a few more partners. The Japanese market is so big, one company can't handle it all."

"Besides, don't they still have a sugar daddy behind them?"

"Let them borrow money. They've already sold their underwear, what are they afraid of?"

"Okay, I'll contact them right now."

Li Rong felt that this matter could be accomplished, and now she couldn't sit still any longer, no longer caring about the foreign trade targets for this year.

Since so many departments failed to complete their tasks anyway, one more of them won't make a difference.

Now, we need to look forward.

Next year will definitely be an important and glorious year.

Yang Xiaotao and the other two got up to see her off. As Li Rong left the office building, she reminded Yang Xiaotao, "Old Chen's health is such that he won't listen to anything we say. You should go and check on him when you have time."

“I know, I advised him last time he came, but he said he would rest after the Lunar New Year. I don’t know if he really meant it!”

"Alright, I'll let you know as soon as I have any news!"

"it is good!"

Li Rong got into the car and left, but she felt she needed to be more cautious and not let the Japanese think she was in a hurry.

Watching Li Rong leave, Yang Xiaotao turned to Bai Jingshu and said, "Let's eat, then head to the chemical plant this afternoon!"

Bai Jingshu laughed and said, "Boss, you'd better leave some for us, you mighty lion!"

"Haha, that depends on how your meals are!"

Perhaps because he heard good news in the morning, he had a couple more drinks at the pharmaceutical factory at noon, and then went to the chemical plant next door.

Yang Xiaotao finally brought Liu Lixue back to headquarters at 3 p.m.

As soon as he returned, Li Hongfeng walked in with a smile, "Have you finished looking around?"

"I've already visited the pharmaceutical and chemical plants. Tomorrow I'll go check out the steel plant. They mentioned an electric arc furnace there last time; I wonder how the construction is going!"

Liu Lixue poured Yang Xiaotao a cup of tea; she knew exactly how much alcohol he had drunk at noon.

After taking a sip of water, Yang Xiaotao asked, "How's it going over there?"

"Fortunately!"

Li Hongfeng took the teacup and put it down. "Everything is arranged properly at the West-East Gas Pipeline. Li Chengjun will be in charge of the Northwest section, Zhan Lei will oversee the middle section, and Elder Xia will oversee the East section. All we need to do is ensure the supply of materials."

"By the way, Elder Xia will be back in a couple of days. He said he wants to report on the progress of the West-East Gas Pipeline project. I reckon the three of them will be together."

Yang Xiaotao nodded, "Then let's listen and see if there's anything else we need to do. If we can solve it, we'll solve it all at once."

Li Hongfeng nodded, "The nuclear power plant and the area along the pipeline are all ready, everything is prepared, and Chen Gong has distributed the welfare benefits."

"I have to say, we've been giving out much more benefits this year than last year."

Lou Xiao'e looked up from behind the computer and said, "Secretary Li, you just said a lot, but we haven't seen anything yet."

Li Hongfeng laughed, "Then we'll send them to the more remote areas first. We're closer here, so we can send them before the New Year!"

He then added with a smile, "This year, our New Year's goods are divided into three parts."

"All workers have a set of clothes, gloves, hats, and shoes."

"Each person gets two cans of canned food, one beef and one mutton, all of which are produced by ourselves. Old Chen has been extremely busy transporting these cans lately."

"Finally, the headquarters gave all workers a 20-yuan New Year's allowance, and they could buy whatever they wanted."

After Li Hongfeng finished speaking, he laughed and said, "That's all. I heard that many local textile factories have to work until New Year's Eve."

Lou Xiao'e quickly replied, "Not to mention the local textile factories, even the textile factories in Beijing and Shanghai are too busy to keep up with demand during this period."

"They also said that the people in the Ninth Department receive clothes every year, and they are so busy at this time of year that they are never home."

"In the past two years, even the subdistrict offices have joined in. I heard that the cotton textile industry has been boosted and expanded by our efforts!"

"Even the local homespun cloth, coarse cloth, and old cloth have become valuable!"

"The elderly men and women in the village are all happily using their looms and spinning wheels. This is a job that earns money for their families, and I heard they're all scrambling to do it!"

Yang Xiaotao laughed and said, "That's right. Aunt Zhai even asked me during the National Day holiday if I needed any new clothes this year."

I said I wanted it!

"Then she said, 'Okay, we'll prepare it for you!'"

"But you have to pay first, then deliver the goods!"

"He said he wanted to spend money to buy machines, so I told him, 'Why buy anything? We'll make them for you!'"

Everyone laughed.

I felt even more proud.

This is the change brought about by the nine parts.

The rapid development of the Ninth Department brought about rapid economic growth and also brought tangible benefits to the workers.

Once workers have money, they want to improve their lives and make their families' lives better.

Therefore, the money that reaches their hands will circulate and become orders for various factories and various demands.

As a result, with a large number of orders coming in, the factory needed to ramp up production.

As the factory expands production, it needs more machines and to recruit a large number of workers.

The demand for machines stimulates production in machine factories, which in turn stimulates the research and development of more and better machines, thereby stimulating the improvement of productivity.

The large demand for workers meant that if workers could not be recruited in the cities, the focus had to be shifted to the countryside, drawing workers from various communes and recruiting workers from various schools.

Such a large number of young farmers began to leave the land and enter factories to become workers.

To maintain productivity, rural areas need more machinery and tools, which means they need better production tools.

Similarly, children in rural areas will also benefit from this, as they will have more opportunities to attend school and more parents will send their children to the classroom.

Thus, one cycle after another, constantly connecting and repeating, rolling forward continuously.

And the Nine Parts are the most dazzling flower in this rolling wave.

After discussing the New Year's goods, Li Hongfeng inquired about the arrangements for the work team going to the Federal Republic of Germany after the New Year.

“The Fourth Ministry of Machine Building can send people to help build base stations.”

After thinking for a moment, Yang Xiaotao finally said, and Li Hongfeng nodded, "They need to get involved in this. More people means more things will be easier."

"Yes, they are good at this."

Yang Xiaotao added, "Pagers and computers both require professional personnel to go there, and personnel..."

"I suggest we send Xiaopang to the pager station. We can have him ask his family for their opinions later."

"Lu Tao and the others can't leave the computer room; the subsequent software development is urgent."

"Let Wang Kun lead the team. He went to the league last time when we were calculating the calculator, so he has experience."

"I also participated in computer research this time, and I am more than capable of handling it."

Yang Xiaotao stated his decision, and Li Hongfeng had no objections. However, the topic of security came up: "Who will lead this security mission?"

"How's Wu Bayi?"

Li Hongfeng pondered for a moment, "Wu Bayi is still a bit lacking in handling emergencies."

Yang Xiaotao stroked his chin, then continued, "Where's Chen Mingli?"

"This is acceptable!"

"Then let him go!"

After the two finished talking, Yang Xiaotao brought up what he had told Li Rong at the chemical plant.

After listening, Li Hongfeng looked at Yang Xiaotao and then smiled, "You, if you don't want to sell, just say so. If you shouted out 50 billion, they would have to be stupid to buy it."

"Alright, I'm going to get busy. Remember to call Shengjing, don't forget."

After saying that, Li Hongfeng left the office.

Yang Xiaotao didn't care. After all, he already had an expectation in mind. He would just take the money for his daily life and wouldn't lose money if he didn't buy anything.

With that thought in mind, Yang Xiaotao put the matter out of his mind and focused on getting things done before the New Year.

Moreover, the Nine Departments had a lot going on that year.

The production of computers, satellite phones, and pagers all require continuous operation. While children enjoy winter vacation and the Lunar New Year, these companies have to work overtime to generate profits.

Similarly, considering the price issue, Li Rong didn't rush to contact the other party and remained calm, continuing with her usual routine.

She wouldn't even bring up the matter unless the other party took the initiative to contact her.

Of course, there is a time limit, and she set that time after the new year.

On the day before the Lunar New Year, Yang Xiaotao left a little early in the afternoon and returned to Yangjiazhuang to pick up Grandpa Yang and bring him to the capital.

In the past, when he had more time and fewer things to do, Yang Xiaotao could go back to Yangjiazhuang every few days to stay for a couple of days.

Later, he got busy, but his wife and children were in the countryside, so Yang Xiaotao often went back.

Later, I got busy, and Ran Qiuye returned to the city to work, plus there were issues with the children's schooling, so it wasn't appropriate to travel back and forth between the two places.

Miaomiao will be starting high school next year, so she'll have to go back to the city to attend.

Yang Xiaotao and Ran Qiuye decided to move their child's school registration back to their hometown, which would save them trouble.

Although Yang Xiaotao rarely comes back to live here, his house is never short of someone to look after it.

When my great-grandfather was in the village, people from the surrounding villages would come forward to help him.

Yang Dazhuang, Uncle Yang Shitou, and others all helped take care of him.

Therefore, even if Yang Xiaotao doesn't return to his hometown, his house will not be abandoned.

Back in Yangjiazhuang, the village was slaughtering pigs for the New Year, and Yang Xiaotao offered to lend a hand.

In recent years, the farm has become increasingly prosperous, and the number of pigs raised in the pigsty has increased. Not only can some be handed over to the state, but the rest can be slaughtered to improve the farm's diet.

"Xiao Tao, if you ask me, you should stay here and spend the Lunar New Year before going back."

Yang Dazhuang was holding a basin, Yang Xiaotao was holding a knife, and the second senior brother, not far in front of them, was grunting and panting, his four legs in the air foreshadowing what was to come.

Yang Xiaotao shook his head, "Uncle Dazhuang, you know what my family situation is like."

"Qiuye has been so busy lately that she can't even take care of the kids. Her mother-in-law is looking after them. If I don't go back, the house will be in chaos."

Grandpa Yang shook his head, saying, "The children at home are so obedient; it's just that you've been too strict with them."

Uncle Jiu, who was standing nearby, also chimed in, "That's right, Duanwu is very obedient in this village. Ask anyone in our village, who doesn't like him?"

The others laughed and said that Yang Xiaotao glanced at Yang Dazhuang and Yang Shitou, and the two of them smiled. They clearly knew that talking about children with these old men was just asking for trouble.

"Come on, hurry up."

Yang Dazhuang urged Yang Xiaotao to hurry up and get started, saying, "If we're any later, we'll miss dinner."

Yang Xiaotao was no slouch either. His cooking skills hadn't suffered in the past two years. He twirled the knife in his hand, came up to his second brother, put his hand on his head, let his second brother groan, and then seized the opportunity to cut down.

The next moment, his blood was boiling hot, and Yang Dazhuang rushed forward to catch it.

"By the way, Director Gao came by a few days ago."

While the blood was being drawn, Yang Dazhuang said, "It seems that after the New Year, they plan to expand the farm and increase grain production."

Yang Xiaotao struck his second senior brother twice more, silencing him completely, before asking, "Expand the scale?"

"East or west?"

"Go to all directions."

Yang Xiaotao was taken aback. "This area is a bit too big."

Yang Dazhuang grinned, “The new farm starts from Qujiazhaohu and goes all the way west to Huanghua Village. To the north is Xinxiaozhuang Village and to the south is Liujia Village.”

"This area, if you put it all together, is about the size of twenty villages, and it will all be farms in the future."

"So big?"

"Correct!"

Yang Dazhuang said proudly, and Yang Xiaotao decided to ask about it when he went to Dean Deng's house to pay his New Year's visit.

The pig was quickly cleaned up. Grandpa Yang cut off two jin of pork belly, and Yang Dazhuang also prepared a set of offal for Yang Xiaotao to throw into the car. Then, before it got dark, Yang Xiaotao took Grandpa Yang back to Beijing.

In the evening, I treated Old Master Ye and his family to a meal of pork stew.

Everyone thought the pork was incredibly fragrant, and even the fatty parts weren't greasy.

After the Little New Year, it's time to count down the days until the Big New Year.

The other people in the yard had already begun to relax leisurely, and the boys in the family didn't even eat breakfast, sleeping until they naturally woke up.

Yang Xiaotao and Ran Qiuye, however, could not do that. Not only did they have to get up early to work, but they also had to attend various meetings.

Fortunately, Yang Xiaotao's status and position meant that Li Hongfeng and Yang Youning would attend some of the less important meetings.

As for Yang Xiaotao, he wandered around the headquarters, occasionally going to the research institute to check on the research progress.

Since it was a meeting that Mr. Chen and the others insisted on attending, and I couldn't avoid it, I decided to go and see.

Anyway, we just watched more, talked less, and clapped enthusiastically, and the time passed quite quickly.

At Mr. Chen's home.

Qing Lao and his uncle arrived one after another.

Mr. Chen's wife came out to greet him.

"How is Old Chen's health?"

Old Qing asked with concern, and Old Chen's wife sighed, "He's just showing off."

"I just took the medicine and I feel much better now. I'm sleeping and resting."

"Who's coming?"

At this moment, Old Chen's voice came from the inner room, accompanied by coughing.

Several people hurried into the house and came to the front.

"Why are you all here? You're all so busy."

Old Chen coughed incessantly as he spoke, and clutched his chest as he spoke.

Seeing this, Elder Qing quickly stepped forward, but Elder Chen pushed him away, saying, "Don't get too close. This kind of cold is contagious, so you have to be careful."

He then told the group to step back.

"How did it get so serious?"

What medicine did you take?

"Should we go to the hospital to get it checked out?"

Qing asked with concern, but Chen waved his hand again, saying, "It's alright, I feel better after taking the cephalosporin."

"We also found a doctor, a level eight master acupuncturist, who gave me some acupuncture."

After hearing this, the group once again urged Old Chen to take care of his health. In particular, Old Qing's eyes welled up with sorrow when he saw Old Chen in this state.

He knew that part of the work that Old Chen was doing actually required his supervision.

However, given the current volatile international situation, he needs to focus more of his energy on the external environment.

Unexpectedly, the other party's health deteriorated due to overwork.

After chatting for a while, the group left the bedroom and sat down in the living room.

The uncle didn't light a cigarette, but his expression was solemn.

"With the rapid development of the domestic economy and the increasing number of things to do, if Lao Chen continues like this, his health will not be able to keep up."

Old Qing nodded. "Last year, I asked him to find someone, not to hand over everything, but at the very least, someone who could take on some of the responsibilities by the end of the term."

"The results have never been definite."

At this point, Qing Lao looked at his eldest uncle and asked, "Well, do you have any suitable candidates?"

"We'll announce it together in a couple of days when the big meeting starts."

The uncle took the cigarette off his ear and tucked it behind his ear, then looked up and said, "You should know who I'm looking for, right?"

Old Qing's eyes lit up, and then he laughed and said, "How about we learn from Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu?"

The uncle immediately nodded, dipped his hand in tea, and wrote a single character: Yang!

When Qing Lao opened his palm, there was also a character 'Yang' inside.

The two exchanged a glance and then laughed.

(End of this chapter)