That year the flowers bloomed 1981

Chapter 1669 Moral Blackmail
Li Ye stayed in the southwest for half a month, offending many people who had to be offended on Lu Zhizhang's behalf, making many people hate him so much that they wished he would get out of there as soon as possible.

There was no other way. Lu Zhizhang wanted to establish himself in the southwest, so he couldn't do some things too excessively. Li Ye, this "short-term worker" from the capital, was naturally the best shield.

Sigh, this is a tough situation. Our CEO, Mr. Li, is very petty. He doesn't allow anyone to break the rules he sets, or I'll be in trouble.

I need to consult with General Manager Li about this. Otherwise, even if I agree, it won't matter, because General Manager Li controls the finance department! The finance department is all under his control.

A good leader must be able to handle responsibilities and attract resources. Li Ye was tasked with taking on all the difficult tasks for Lu Zhizhang in the shortest possible time.

Therefore, during his time in the southwest, Li Ye mainly focused on establishing rules and taking precautions, taking all the "inhuman" conflicts and hatred upon himself.

Lu Zhizhang was truly grateful for this. In his decades of work, he had seen countless irresponsible leaders, but a boss as "righteous" as Li Ye was extremely rare.

However, Lu Zhizhang and Li Ye had been working together for eight years, and their relationship was no longer that of ordinary colleagues. Verbal gratitude was unnecessary; everything was understood without words.

Lu Zhizhang doesn't engage in verbal sparring with Li Ye, but others are a different story.

Although Yue Lingshan lost money due to her stock losses, she was included in the "20%" of retained employees after Jingnan Group took over the Southwest region, and was given an important position in the supply department.

This touched Yue Lingshan deeply, so much so that she would bring food to Li Ye and Lu Zhizhang every day at lunchtime.

"President Li, President Lu, the food in the Southwest is too spicy. You might not be used to it right away. Here are some shredded pork with sweet bean sauce and braised pork that I made. Please try them."

While joking and laughing with Li Ye and Lu Zhizhang, Yue Lingshan placed two lunch boxes in front of them, attracting the attention of many people in the cafeteria.

Lu Zhizhang said helplessly, "Oh, Xiao Yue, I told you not to be so polite. We two can enjoy Sichuan cuisine."

"It's alright, it's alright. If you can't finish it, I'll take it with me. I'll go over there now."

Yue Lingshan threw down her lunchbox and left, leaving Lu Zhizhang and Li Ye both amused and exasperated.

The large-pot dishes from Southwest China are indeed mostly spicy. If you actually tell these Sichuan chefs you don't want it spicy, they'll feel really awkward.

It's not that they can't cook without chili peppers, but their decades-long cooking habits have made them feel that cooking without chili peppers is like a person without a soul, leaving them somewhat at a loss.

Actually, some people have suggested setting up a separate canteen for northerners these days, but it was rejected by Li Ye and Lu Zhizhang.

The Southwest Branch is currently in its most delicate "integration period." People from Beijing need to quickly integrate with the locals, and any overly distinct distinctions must be avoided as much as possible.

Don't think that adding another canteen is a trivial matter. In special circumstances, anything can be seriously misunderstood.

"Look at them, look at them! Those people from the capital are all gentlemen. Even their food is different from ours. They eat delicacies from land and sea, while we eat pork and coarse grains."

"Absolutely! People from Beijing are so arrogant. They're incredibly picky during production. I've been a fitter for over ten years, and they keep saying my work is substandard and making me rework it. Isn't that just making things difficult for me?"

It's a tradition for grassroots workers to criticize managers, especially when two groups with vastly different productivity levels clash, making it easier for them to cause unreasonable incidents.

Therefore, when Li Ye and Lu Zhizhang made work requirements for the new canteen, they asked them to increase the per capita meal standard while maintaining a slight profit margin, to ensure that the workers were well-fed and well-nourished. However, they did not consider providing special meals for the northerners from Beijing, just to avoid any unforeseen complications.

But Yue Lingshan bringing food to Li Ye and Lu Zhizhang in front of so many people made Li Ye have to reconsider.

Is it just about two boxes of food?
Yue Lingshan was blatantly showing off, flaunting that she was a favorite of Lu Zhizhang and Li Ye.

Of course, Yue Lingshan had her reasons. When she wanted to return to the capital, Li Ye told her to "wait and see." So now, Yue Lingshan was in Cao Cao's camp but her heart was with Han. She was finally a meritorious official who had been waiting for the Han army. What's wrong with being a little famous? What's wrong with showing off a little?
If Yue Lingshan can find an excuse to deliver food to Lu Zhizhang and Li Ye today, will Li Lingshan and Wang Lingshan also try to get close to people tomorrow?

Even when people become too close together, there should be limits; otherwise, they cannot exert a check and balance on each other.

Li Ye smacked his lips and whispered to Lu Zhizhang, "Old Lu, if it doesn't work out, let's open a few separate windows serving Northern cuisine in the main cafeteria! Let's not keep a small cafeteria."

Lu Zhizhang nodded and said, "I've been thinking about this too! Things have calmed down these past few days. I'll discuss it with the kitchen staff and open a few specialty windows. Also, I'll have the union promote the unique characteristics of Southwestern and Northern cuisines."

"Okay, Lao Lu, I trust you to handle things."

Lu Zhizhang was very efficient, and the canteen staff were very cooperative. They quickly set up several windows serving Northern cuisine and said they would regularly introduce some Northern specialties for everyone to try and give positive feedback.

Many managers from Beijing also warmly invited their colleagues from the southwest to dine together, bringing them closer together.

However, Li Ye and Lu Zhizhang did not expect that their hard work in arranging this matter would attract some people from the Southwest Heavy Truck's garrison.

These people used to work for the light vehicle company, and they all came to the Southwest with Dong Shan last year. However, they almost all have one thing in common—they curse.

They're the kind of people who, when leaving the light vehicle company, "made some harsh remarks," cursing the company for being "blind to talent" and saying, "If they don't want me here, I'll find somewhere else to keep me."

No matter how good a company is, there are always people who are not doing well. So when these people leave the light vehicle company, they all feel that they are not being given the opportunity to shine, and that fortunes change every thirty years.

But a little over a year later, they found themselves in an incredibly awkward situation.

The former employer acquired Southwest Heavy Truck, but only retained 20% of the management personnel. These people were all excluded from the 20% and waited for the local authorities' arrangements along with the remaining 600-700 staff.

Isn't this like the sky falling down?

These are all locals who have worked at Southwest Heavy Truck for decades. They have worked hard, even if they haven't made any great contributions. But they have only been in Southwest for a year. Even if all six or seven hundred people are assigned jobs, there is no guarantee that they will be assigned a job.

Therefore, in recent days, several people who are flexible and resourceful have repeatedly asked for favors and connections to reach out to Li Ye and Lu Zhizhang, expressing their desire to return to work at Jingnan Group.

Li Ye and Lu Zhizhang wouldn't give face to either of them, because if they accepted these opportunistic traitors, it would be unfair to the others.

You think the other mountain is higher, but after rolling down that mountain, you start to appreciate the good things about this one.
The management team from Beijing also didn't treat these people well. After several unpleasant encounters, they were too embarrassed to go to Li Ye and Lu Zhizhang's office to confront them.

But at lunchtime today, Li Ye and Lu Zhizhang ran into them again.

One of them was Lai Jiayi, an old acquaintance of Li Ye and Lu Zhizhang.

Lai Jiayi joined Li Ye and Lu Zhizhang at the newly established branch factory, making her one of the factory's veterans. If the three of them worked together, her position would be almost as high as Lu Zhizhang's right now.

Unfortunately, Lai Jiayi had high standards and couldn't connect with Li Ye and Lu Zhizhang at all. Later, in order to get promoted, she followed Dong Shan to the southwest and enjoyed a period of great success, even seemingly getting involved with someone behind Dong Shan. But now Dong Shan is under investigation, and his backer has disappeared. How could Lai Jiayi, who was once so successful, be content with this?
Because Lai Jiayi and the others used to be employees of Southwest Heavy Truck, they had their old canteen food tickets, so the cooks didn't make things difficult for them and served them their food without any problems.

But after these people had eaten together for a short while, they began to sob quietly, and the more they cried, the louder they became, making the surrounding workers feel embarrassed.

Li Ye and Lu Zhizhang exchanged a glance and stood up in tacit agreement to leave, but Lai Jiayi suddenly walked over.

"Old Lu, Li Ye, I have a few words I want to say to you, just a few words! Let's find a place."

"Sit down! Say whatever you want to say."

In front of many people in the cafeteria, Li Ye and Lu Zhizhang couldn't be too aloof, but they didn't agree to Lai Jiayi's request to "talk privately," so they let Lai Jiayi speak in the cafeteria.

Lai Chia-yi hesitated for a moment, but ultimately sat down.
She spoke in a voice only the three of them could hear: "Old Lu, Li Ye, we've known each other for a long time, so I'll get straight to the point. This time, Jingnan Group's acquisition of Southwest Heavy Truck has relegated us veteran employees to the 'stay behind' category. It's really... cruel."

Cruel? You haven't seen anything more cruel.

Li Ye calmly said, "Sister Lai, please don't say that. This time we only acquired a small portion of Southwest Heavy Truck's assets, so we can only take over a portion of the employees. You used to work at the No. 1 factory, so you should know that we don't keep idle people."

"How can we be idle?"

Lai Jiayi was visibly excited after hearing Li Ye's words: "Li Ye, you can take a closer look. Since we arrived at Southwest Heavy Truck, we have doubled our production within six months. This kind of work ability should be considered excellent, right?"

Li Ye almost laughed.

[Excellent? So excellent that it bankrupted Southwest Heavy Truck?]

A tutor helps a student who usually scores 10 points improve their test score to 20 points. Would you consider her excellent?

What about those teachers who can raise a score from 70 to 80?

The outstanding talent Li Ye needs is someone who can elevate a score from 90 to 95.

So Li Ye calmly said, "Sister Lai, outstanding people will never be buried anywhere. Don't worry, gold will always shine."

[Screw your light!]

Lai Jiayi gritted her teeth, lowered her head and said bitterly, "Li Ye, I know that we had different opinions on some things when we worked together before, but that's all in the past, so please don't hold it against me, okay?"
"And look at your colleagues, they all came from Beijing to this strange place, and now the locals are ostracizing them. If you don't accept them, they'll really be driven to desperation. You can't just watch your former colleagues and sisters end up homeless, can you?"

"."

As Lai Chia-yi spoke, tears welled up in her eyes.

Tears are one of a woman's most powerful weapons, especially in China. Once a woman sheds tears, it can easily put a man in a situation where "he is right, but he is wrong."

Li Ye stared coldly at Lai Jiayi, his disgust for her growing even stronger.

When you're riding high, you're arrogant and domineering; when you're down on your luck, you resort to moral blackmail. You're only satisfied when you get all the benefits in the world, aren't you?
Seeing that Li Ye looked unwell, Lu Zhizhang said to Lai Jiayi, "Sister Lai, we've been so busy lately. How about this? We'll have a meeting later to discuss this, and we'll let you know as soon as we have a result."

Lai Jiayi looked at Lu Zhizhang with a disappointed expression, because she was even more adept at this kind of evasive rhetoric than Lu Zhizhang.

"Old Lu, Li Ye, whether you believe it or not, pushing us to the Southwesterners' side is a huge loss for you."

"."

Lai Jiayi left after saying that, and Lu Zhizhang's face immediately darkened.

"Li Ye, do you think there's something hidden in her words?"

"They might be threatening us!"

"Heh~"

Lu Zhizhang smiled and then called over the canteen manager: "The affordable meals in our staff canteen are a benefit for employees, so we are not allowed to sell them to non-employees or outsiders. If outsiders want to eat in our canteen, they should pay in cash according to the market price outside."

"Yes, Mr. Lu, I will pass on this regulation immediately."

Don't be fooled by Lai Jiayi and her ilk's high salaries; they're all incredibly stingy! If you let them eat at the prices you see outside in the cafeteria, they'll only stay for a few meals before giving up.

After the cafeteria posted this clearly targeted notice, Lai Jiayi and others finally launched their counterattack, claiming that they had caused Li Ye losses.

However, in Li Ye's view, this counterattack was ridiculously weak.

Lai Jiayi and others stayed at the post, where they usually received customers who had ordered Southwest Heavy Trucks but had not yet completed delivery.

This is a job that will cause headaches for anyone who does it. People pay money but don't get the goods, and besides crying and making a scene, they might actually hang themselves.

As a result, Lai Jiayi gave these users a suggestion, telling them to turn their anger towards Li Ye.

"The people at the remaining office told us that since you've taken over Southwest Heavy Truck's core assets, you should also take over their unfinished contracts."

"If you don't give us our car, we won't leave. We'll hang ourselves in front of your workplace."

"."

At first, only a few users came to us, but later users and agents all over the country received the news and hundreds of people gathered to demand payment.

Wang Siyu, who was in charge of the market, angrily approached Li Ye: "President Li, I went to the custodian's office to argue with them, but they just tried to smooth things over with me. I think they're the ones behind this. We should notify the police."

"Why notify the police? These are all our potential customers. Once they're all here, we need to have a good talk with them!"

(End of this chapter)