Siheyuan: a better life

Chapter 838 Benefits of the Trade Department
On the morning of the 27th day of the lunar calendar, all employees of the Trade Department cleaned the office and canteen inside and out, and then went to the logistics warehouse by department to collect this year's year-end benefits.

"Brother Wang! What specific New Year's goods will our company give out as year-end benefits this year?" A young employee followed his colleague to the door of the logistics warehouse. When he saw his colleague walking out of the logistics warehouse happily with two cloth bags in his hands, he greeted him with a smile.

When Wang Ge heard the young man's question, he lifted the cloth bag in his hand and replied with a smile: "It's about the same as last year, but this year there are three more pounds of apples and two feet of Dacron cloth."

After hearing what Brother Wang said and learning about the year-end benefits his company had distributed this year, the young man happily replied, "It looks like we can have another good New Year this year."

When Wang Ge heard the young man's words, he thought of the benefits that the Trade Department had provided during the Spring Festival in recent years, and replied with pride: "Because of our director, since the establishment of the Trade Department, the benefits during the festival have been getting better every year."

When the young man heard what Brother Wang said, he thought of the New Year's goods his wife brought back the day before yesterday, nodded in agreement, and replied: "Brother Wang! You are right. My wife works at the General Bureau of Materials. This year, their company only distributed two kilograms of pork, five kilograms of white flour, and three kilograms of peanuts and melon seeds. Compared with our company's New Year's goods, it is simply not worth mentioning."

After hearing the young man's introduction, Wang thought of the New Year's goods his wife had brought back, and replied with a smile: "Xiao Guo! The New Year's goods from the General Bureau of Materials are pretty good. My husband works in the Ministry of Light Industry, and the New Year's goods he got this year were only one pound of pork and five pounds of flour."

The middle-aged man standing behind Xiao Guo heard the conversation between Lao Wang and Xiao Guo, and thought of the news he heard in the cafeteria at noon, so he quickly said to the two of them: "Lao Wang! Xiao Guo! Our company's benefits are more than just these."

"Don't forget, in addition to the annual New Year's goods distributed by our company, there is another benefit, that is, the party dinner tomorrow night. I heard that the purchasing department has purchased a large amount of pork, duck, fish and meat, as well as a lot of Erguotou liquor. With the cooking skills of our canteen director He, everyone will be in for a treat tomorrow night."

When the two heard the middle-aged man's words and thought of Sha Zhu's cooking skills, they instinctively swallowed their saliva. Old Wang said with a look of longing, "Old Chen! Our Director He's cooking skills are really amazing. The big pot dishes in our cafeteria have already spoiled the tastes of several of our kids. Every day when they get home from school, they look forward to the food I bring back from the cafeteria."

When everyone was chatting enthusiastically, a middle-aged man came out of the logistics warehouse with a bag in his hand. He heard the discussion and said to the three people with a smile: "Lao Chen! Lao Wang! Xiao Zhao! In fact, the real welfare of our unit is not the New Year's goods distributed, nor the dinner tomorrow night, but the food standard provided by our cafeteria every day."

"Think about it. Our company cafeteria has provided meat dishes every day since its establishment until the end of last year. Although each person can only take one extra meat dish home, it is enough to ensure that the family will not lack oil and water."

"Other canteens provide meat dishes once every two weeks, let alone every other day. That's a great thing. So compared to the New Year's goods distributed by the company, the food provided by the company canteen is our real benefit."

When Old Chen heard the middle-aged man's words, he thought of the food in the company cafeteria, nodded in agreement, and replied, "Deputy Director Zhang is right. Before I was transferred to the Trade Department, it was a luxury for our family to eat meat once a month. Since I was transferred to the Trade Department, our family no longer has to worry about the problem of insufficient oil and water. The children in the family have grown a lot taller all of a sudden."

When Xiao Guo heard what Lao Chen said about the meals provided by the company cafeteria, he replied in agreement: "Deputy Director Zhang is right. When my wife gave birth, supplies were in short supply. Fortunately, the company cafeteria provided meat dishes every day, so my wife did not show any symptoms of malnutrition during her confinement."

At this point, Xiao Guo suddenly remembered that someone had reported the Trade Department canteen for having too high a standard of food, and complained angrily, "I don't know which son of a bitch was jealous of the food in our Trade Department and actually reported it to the State Council, saying that our canteen's food standard exceeded the standard, forcing our director to reduce the number of times meat dishes were served."

When Deputy Director Zhang heard Xiao Guo mention the report about the excessive food in the unit, he replied, "At the beginning, our director reminded everyone not to brag about the good food in the unit. But some people just couldn't control their mouths, which caused some jealous people to report our excessive food to their superiors."

When Xiao Guo heard what Deputy Director Zhang said, he thought of the fact that Wu Aiguo had been reported, and replied angrily, "Our food is good. We use our own office funds and the surplus funds from reception. We don't take a penny from the public. I don't know what those people are thinking. They are jealous of us being able to eat meat every day and report to the superiors that our food exceeds the standard."

Lao Chen works in the Finance Department. He knows the financial situation of the company better than anyone else. When Lao Chen heard Xiao Guo's complaint, he quickly corrected him, "Xiao Guo! Don't talk nonsense! The food standards in our canteen are the same as those in other units' canteens." "The reason why we can eat meat every day is that the director subsidizes us with the reception expenses, and the director and his friends almost always pay for meals out of their own pockets. That's why when the superiors sent people to check the accounts in our canteen, they didn't find any problems. After all, the reception expenses of the leaders are also part of the canteen funds."

After hearing what Lao Chen said, Deputy Director Zhang nodded in agreement and replied, "Lao Chen is right! We have meat dishes in our cafeteria every day. The director uses the reception funds of the department to subsidize everyone, and the director pays for the reception of guests out of his own pocket."

"Lao Zhang! What do you mean by paying out of your own pocket? You are talking about me behind my back. Aren't you afraid that I will make things difficult for you?" Deputy Director Zhang had just finished speaking when Wu Aiguo's smiling voice suddenly came from behind him.

When Xiao Guo heard Wu Aiguo's question, he immediately took the lead and introduced it to Wu Aiguo without waiting for Deputy Director Zhang to answer: "Director! The situation is like this. Just now we mentioned that the welfare of the department is good. Every year, everyone can spend a good New Year with their families because of the New Year's goods distributed by the department."

"While we were discussing this topic, Deputy Director Zhang came out after receiving the New Year's goods. He heard what we were discussing and told us that the best benefit of our department is not the New Year's goods distributed every year, but the daily food supply in the cafeteria. He also said that this is the reception fee you use to subsidize the comrades in the department."

Wu Aiguo understood the whole story after hearing what Xiao Guo said. He replied modestly, "Comrades! If the reception expenses of the company are not spent, they will be fully paid during the financial inspection. Then the higher-ups will think that we don't need so much reception expenses and will reduce our reception expenses next year."

"Instead of handing over the reception fees that should belong to everyone, it is better to take it from the people and use it for the people! So I decided to take out the extra reception fees and subsidize the canteen expenses to improve the meals of the comrades."

After hearing Wu Aiguo's explanation, Deputy Director Zhang immediately said to Wu Aiguo in order to compliment him on his selflessness: "Director! You can't say that. Other units, like us, allocate reception expenses based on the number of people. However, the reception expenses of other units are not enough and even occupy the canteen's procurement funds. You hardly receive guests, and even if you do, you pay for it out of your own pocket."

Wu Aiguo heard what Deputy Director Zhang said, how could he not understand the purpose of Deputy Director Zhang's words, and replied modestly: "Lao Zhang! The nature of our unit is different from other units. We currently have only one client, that is, the overseas Wang family. Unlike other units, our business is related to many departments, so the number of receptions will naturally be very large. It is normal that the reception expenses are not enough."

When Lao Wang heard what Wu Aiguo said, he thought of the report on the canteen of the Trade Bureau and immediately expressed his guess.

"Director! Leaders of other units also have private banquets, but I think there are almost no leaders who actually pay for it out of their own pockets. As for why those units have so many receptions, we all know the reason very well in our hearts."

"And I guess the person who reported that our cafeteria's food was over-the-limit should be someone from a nearby unit, a leader who pretends to entertain guests all day long but is actually just there to have a good meal."

After hearing Lao Wang's analysis, Xiao Guo immediately nodded in agreement and said, "Director! Brother Wang is right. There are several units on this street that don't need to receive guests like us, but the number of receptions in the canteens of these units is no less than that of other units."

"I guess the comrades in these units knew that you used the reception funds to subsidize the canteen meals, and they were dissatisfied with their leaders. One of the leaders reported you because of this matter."

Wu Aiguo had no idea who reported him, but Xiao Guo's guess was exactly the same as Wu Aiguo's.

Although Wu Aiguo also thought so, as the head of the Trade Department, Wu Aiguo knew that there were some things he could say and some things he couldn't say, so he immediately changed the subject and said to everyone with a smile: "Okay! Everyone, don't talk about this topic anymore. Everyone, please send the New Year's goods home quickly. Don't forget to come to the company on time for the meeting tomorrow morning."

(End of this chapter)