Siheyuan: I am Banggeng's uncle

Chapter 1012 A Glimmer of Hope After a Dark End!

"Dingling! Dingling! Dingling!"

The middle-aged man sitting in the jeep was named Xiao Zhijun. He was the director of the political department of the municipal public security bureau. He had just finished a meeting at the government and returned to his office. Before he could even sit down properly, the phone on his desk suddenly rang.

Upon hearing the phone ring, Xiao Zhijun picked up the receiver and asked in a polite yet authoritative tone, "Hello! This is Xiao Zhijun! Who is this?"

"Brother! This is Zhimin! I remember Wei Jiansheng, the director of the General Office of the State Administration of Commerce, is your old comrade-in-arms, right? Do you still keep in touch with him?" Xiao Zhijun's question had just ended when a middle-aged woman's voice came from the phone.

Upon hearing his sister Xiao Zhimin's question, Xiao Zhijun frowned and asked her in a somewhat serious tone, "Zhimin! Why are you asking about Wei Jiansheng?"

Upon hearing Xiao Zhijun's question, Xiao Zhimin, who knew Xiao Zhijun's personality very well, immediately explained, "Brother! Here's the thing, Lili is getting married in two months, right? Lao Hu and I were planning to prepare some dowry for her. Last night, Lao Hu came home from get off work and told me that the Municipal Bureau of Commerce had purchased a batch of color televisions from Hong Kong, and we were thinking of buying one for Lili as part of her dowry."

"This morning I called Ye Qing at the Municipal Bureau of Commerce, hoping she could help me get a quota for a color television set. But Ye Qing told me that I called too late; the two quotas she had were already taken. However, Ye Qing told me that the General Administration had quotas for twenty color television sets, so I would like to ask you to call Wei Jiansheng for me and ask if he has any quotas for color television sets."

After hearing Xiao Zhimin's explanation, Xiao Zhijun understood why Xiao Zhimin had come to him. Considering that asking for quotas wasn't against his principles, Xiao Zhijun nodded and agreed, "Zhimin! If it's just this matter, then I'll make the call for you. However, I can't guarantee whether Lao Wei has any quotas."

Hearing Xiao Zhijun's reply and learning that he had agreed to make the call for her, Xiao Zhimin was overjoyed and quickly said to him, "Brother! I'll wait for your call in the office."

Upon hearing Xiao Zhimin's words, Xiao Zhijun immediately hung up the phone, then vigorously shook the handset a few times before picking up the receiver and politely saying, "Is this the switchboard? Could you please transfer me to the office of Director Wei in the General Office of the State Administration of Commerce?"

"Hello! This is Wei Jiansheng. May I ask who this is?" The call was quickly connected. Before Xiao Zhijun could even speak, a middle-aged man's polite voice came from the other end of the line.

Upon hearing the familiar voice on the phone, Xiao Zhijun immediately greeted the caller with a smile, "Old Wei! It's me, Old Xiao! What have you been up to lately? I haven't seen you come over for a few drinks."

Upon hearing Xiao Zhijun's familiar voice on the phone, Wei Jiansheng immediately greeted him with a smile, "Oh, it's our Director Xiao! What brings you here today to call me?"

Upon hearing Wei Jiansheng's words, Xiao Zhijun smiled and said, "Old Wei! I only come here when I need something; I have a favor to ask you." Wei Jiansheng, remembering Xiao Zhijun's personality, was visibly taken aback. He then chuckled and teased, "Our Director Xiao, you rarely ask for favors. What brings you to make an exception and call me for help today?"

Xiao Zhijun, upon hearing Wei Jiansheng's teasing, naturally didn't take it to heart and said with a smile, "Old Wei! Here's the thing: my niece is getting married soon, and my sister and brother-in-law heard that the Municipal Bureau of Commerce has purchased a batch of color televisions from Hong Kong, so they're thinking of buying one as part of my niece's dowry."

"Ye Qing, the deputy director of our city's Bureau of Commerce, is my sister's classmate. So she called Ye Qing, intending to ask him for a quota to buy a color TV. But she made the call too late; the two quotas she had had had already been taken by others."

"However, Ye Qing told my sister that your General Administration had obtained the quota for twenty color television sets from the Municipal Administration in advance, so he asked me to ask you if you had any quotas on hand."

Upon hearing Xiao Zhijun's explanation and learning the purpose of Xiao Zhijun's visit, Wei Jiansheng's face immediately showed a troubled expression. He said to Xiao Zhijun, "Old Xiao! If you had called me two hours earlier, the quota I had would definitely have been yours. But just an hour ago, Vice President Chen's son came to me and took the quota that was mine."

Upon hearing Wei Jiansheng's reply and learning that Wei Jiansheng's quota had already been taken, Xiao Zhijun's face showed disappointment. He then said to Wei Jiansheng, "Old Wei! I never expected that this color television set would be so sought after. It was just delivered to Beijing yesterday, and it's already been snatched up today."

Upon hearing Xiao Zhijun's lament, Wei Jiansheng replied helplessly, "Old Xiao! You don't know this, but this color TV, although it costs over a thousand yuan, is more than twice the size of the TVs we use now. Plus, it's an imported appliance, so as soon as the news spread, many people started calling to ask for quotas."

Upon hearing Wei Jiansheng's account, Xiao Zhijun suddenly recalled the scene he had witnessed when he returned from the meeting: Liu, the deputy director's son, was seen carrying a large box out of Jia Dongming's jeep in the courtyard.

Thinking of this scene, Xiao Zhijun immediately recalled how Jia Dongming helped the Ministry of Industry to purchase various equipment from Hong Kong.

Recalling this incident and the scene he had just witnessed in the compound, Xiao Zhijun smiled and asked Wei Jiansheng, "Old Wei! Do you know how the Municipal Bureau of Commerce transported these color televisions back from Hong Kong?"

When Wei Jiansheng heard Xiao Zhijun ask about the origin of the color televisions, his eyes lit up, and he muttered to himself, "Huh! How could I have forgotten about that?"

After saying this, Wei Jiansheng immediately said to Xiao Zhijun, "Old Xiao! Isn't Jia Dongming, the director of the security department of Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill, also the deputy chief of the criminal investigation team of your unit? This batch of imported electrical appliances from the Municipal Bureau of Commerce was purchased from Hong Kong through Jia Dongming's network of connections. If your sister wants to buy a color TV, you can go and find Jia Dongming. Maybe he can find a way to solve it."

(End of this chapter)