My Lord, you need to stand up!

Chapter 519 Heavy Pressure
Anyway, Master Chi disappeared after that.

This way, Wei Dong wouldn't be afraid of him absconding with the money, since he's rich and powerful.

But you still can't tell in front of your parents.

In the factory canteen, they had a quiet and unassuming drink with Wu Shengyun and Liu Taiyuan, who had been busy all night.

Later, Wu Shengyun will be rushing to Jiangzhou to catch a boat, hoping to finalize the bookings for three powered cargo ships in two locations before the Spring Festival.

Using Wei Dong's name, he recruited a group of boatmen at the dock. Tomorrow night is New Year's Eve, and he took advantage of the last day before the Spring Festival to take his men to inspect the goods and negotiate prices.

With the tightening of credit, the shadow of triangular debt has begun to emerge over these state-owned and collectively owned shipping and transportation companies. A large number of accounts payable in various regions need to be settled before the Spring Festival, and creditors are all sitting at their workplaces making a scene during the holiday.

This is the crucial moment to take advantage of the situation and drive down prices.

So no matter how bad the situation is, there will always be another group of people profiting by buying at the bottom.

Wei Dong casually mentioned the tourism development company, a ten-million-yuan investment over ten years. Compared to their current projects, where each building costs nearly ten million yuan and they're popping up everywhere, it's nothing.

Even laying a pedestrian path of ten kilometers or so first can be done at a negligible cost.

Wu Shengyun was also keenly aware that his boss was activating the reservoir: "I just hope that when you're developing tourism in the Three Gorges, you can secure some docks, then you'll definitely achieve twice the result with half the effort."

The docks aren't opened just anywhere, but these days the regulations aren't that strict.

The main point is that as long as there is a properly approved dock, there is enough water level to allow berthing. A bunch of berths basically constitutes the right to use a section of the river.

In addition to being able to stop and rest regularly, it can also receive material support from other regions at any time.

Even the smallest barge weighs 150 tons, which is equivalent to the carrying capacity of a fleet of dozens of vehicles.

If we really need to build something in the Three Gorges, a few barges can handle it.

It's like establishing a base in a real-time strategy game, and then crushing the opponent just by relying on your own transportation capabilities.

The Yangtze River has now truly become a "highway" for Weidong at this stage.

It's slower, but the quantity is large and it's cheap.

Liu Taiyuan and his group took photos everywhere, with West Second Street and North Parade Ground naturally becoming the focus. They also skillfully took artistic photos of the elderly couple.

Li Erfeng noticed that the men, each carrying two or three cameras, seemed to be experts at taking photos, not reporters. She quietly changed into some fashionable clothes.

They even had fur coats specially brought back from Shanghai by barge sailors, and even Wei Dong's mother had one.

She was ginger-yellow, and her mother was brown.

Wei Dong could have tolerated seeing two foxes or civets with blooming flowers float by; after all, everyone eats dumplings during the Lunar New Year.

When facing the camera, Li Erfeng pulled out two fur hats from her bosom.

It's like the crown worn by the Monkey King in Peking Opera, with a pom-pom on top.

Are you here to perform a monkey show?
Wei Dong was talking animatedly to Wu Shengyun, so Wei Dong could only crane his neck and say, "That's enough. So many workers are watching. Be mindful of your image. Don't act like a landlord's wife!"

Old Rang wanted to reach out and hit his son, saying, "How can you talk to your mother like that?" but he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

Li Erfeng immediately fell silent and quietly put away her hat and coat.

Wu Shengyun pretended not to see it, recorded the instructions, and went to the dock, asking Wei Dong to have someone drive him there.

Liu Taiyuan and his group wanted to film until night and then take the last riverboat.

Shangzhou truly exudes a fiery energy unlike that of Jiangzhou.

The influence that Wei Dong could bring was too obvious in a prefecture-level city with a population of more than 200,000.

The city of Jiangzhou, with its population of two million, can only cause a relatively small stir.

Wei Dong finally got up and went over to urge them to take more photos of the workers, especially to seize the opportunity to take a group photo of so many workshops, which might become a lifelong memento in the future.

Old Rang actually offered his son a cigarette, looking quite embarrassed.

Wei Dong, both amused and exasperated, took the bag and tucked it behind his ear: "You know I don't smoke. I won't be going back to the countryside with you guys for the Spring Festival. I have a lot of things to do in Jiangzhou. I'll leave after I finish these last couple of days."

In fact, during the 1980s, the sense of ritual surrounding the Spring Festival was polarized.

This is true, at least in the Sichuan and Jiangdong areas.

In the countryside, this is highly valued, but it is limited to visits and gatherings between relatives and farmers in the commune and brigade.

Because that's the level of physical mobility.

The atmosphere in districts, counties, and cities is so-so. Some places might have some lion dance activities with gongs and drums, but overall it might be a bit quiet because of the holiday.

The main thing is the sound of firecrackers, which gives it a festive feel.

The biggest reason is that these are small places with very little population movement.

There was no large-scale return of people from other places to visit relatives.

It's just a few days off.

The atmosphere depends on whether local management is celebrating the festival or pushing production to the limit.

Therefore, the free market and night market at Beijiaochang are open every day to maintain the festive atmosphere of the Lunar New Year.

Cleaning, security, and transportation services will continue to operate.

As a result, the construction site of the Third Battalion Commander and Li Erfeng's sanitary napkin factory did not stop work, and the food factory was allowed to close for the holidays.

It's true that your period won't stop just because you have a holiday. There's no labor inspection department to supervise whether holidays are mandatory; the official stance is to encourage working overtime to advance the Four Modernizations.

Wei Dong didn't feel the need to rest; he was too busy making money to even think about it.

Besides, Dong Xueqing is pregnant, so she still needs to go back and take care of her.

I was too lazy to tell my parents.

Old Rang must have heard the gossip that's been circulating all over Shangzhou: "Xiaodie's mom... really went abroad?"

Wei Dong nodded, "Yes, don't take it to heart. Everyone has their own reasons, but the child is innocent. She's been affected a bit, so I have to take good care of her. Come on, Xiao Die, call him Grandpa..."

As expected, they still don't really pay attention to me, but now it seems like I'm getting a little eye roll. You'll have to figure it out for yourself.

Wei Dong was overjoyed and hugged the child affectionately.

Looking at his son, who was outstanding in the city, Lao Rang must still be proud. So he brought up the building project. He certainly wouldn't go to the construction site to help now, but he would pay extra attention to construction safety.

When it comes to the construction soldiers leading the work, their skills immediately surpassed his previous experience at the county construction company. Every day, they lined up, held morning and evening meetings, shouted slogans, explained plans, and made summaries. Every week, they held democratic life meetings involving criticism and self-criticism.

He had served in the army for several years and missed that atmosphere. He wanted to participate, but didn't know what to do.

Wei Dong joked, "Why don't you go and learn to be a supervisor, that is, manage the safety and construction quality of the construction site? How about studying abroad? I can find someone to help you arrange it."

Old Rang quickly shook his head: "What are you talking about? How old am I? How can I be a supervisor?"

Just as Wei Dong was about to explain, his mother, probably having heard the words "studying abroad," immediately retreated into the private room: "So, how exactly are you going to settle down now?"

Li Erfeng carefully supported him from the side, not daring to utter a sound.

Wei Dong thought to himself, "Director Li, even though the sanitary napkin factory doesn't pay you a salary, you can make money selling cured meat and running a canteen. You can make your own life, so why can't you hold your head high and be free to do whatever you want?"

Li Erfeng completely lacked the pastoral mindset of female awakening: "Everyone knows I'm your wife. I don't know about things outside, but when we come back, it's my responsibility to take care of you!"

Half of her body was hidden behind her mother, in a fully defensive posture.

Wei Dong rarely spoke seriously: "Although Baifeng Mountain is not a scholarly family, the customs in the village are still quite proper. We are not married, but at least according to the custom of betrothal, a teacher should come to the door to present the betrothal gifts. We did not do that. Maybe when we were in junior high school, we walked together every day and our parents and elders said a few words casually. There is no need to ruin your life."

The elderly couple quickly assumed a neutral stance and looked up to observe the spiderweb-like structure on the ceiling.

But everyone was busy listening.

Li Erfeng was still quite capable, not afraid of a one-on-one fight: "I've already given them away. When you send Mom and Dad to Jiangzhou for treatment, the bed sheets, blankets, pots and pans you bring back are the engagement gifts. Grandpa and Grandma even covered them with red cloth when they sent them over!"

After a difficult recollection, Wei Dong realized, "My God, it seems there really is such a thing!"
Then you can only resort to pleading: "I've already made it clear to you, I don't accept it, dragging this out will only waste your precious youth!"

The country girl wasn't so delicate: "I know you've fallen for some city woman, but I don't care about you. I'm the one taking care of your grandparents..."

Rang Weidong, who refused to be morally coerced, was about to emphasize that Rang Weidong had also made a lot of money when a commotion erupted outside.

All that could be heard was Liu Taiyuan and his group warmly welcoming them. Qin Yuye and Dong Xueqing had already appeared at the door, while Shen Cuiyue was sneakily hiding behind them.

There were also the plateau girls carrying gift bags, and Mao'er and Shitou leading two mastiffs and a Sichuan dog.

There were also quite a few monkeys and mynah birds.

In the back of the double-row truck bed, there were seven or eight beautiful wheeled suitcases.

Wei Dong suddenly felt dizzy. He wanted to keep a low profile, but you guys have already made me look bad!
But it was clear that this group of women had completely routed Li Erfeng.

Hong Kong girls' fashion sense goes without saying. A bright red turtleneck sweater paired with jeans is such a simple outfit that even Li Erfeng would rack her brains trying to figure out how it differs from her own clothes.

They only had a thick red and black checkered square scarf, and it looked like they were wearing a blanket.

It complements the color of the clothes and highlights the unique temperament of Hong Kong style, which is intense and gorgeous yet not vulgar.

It's definitely the visual center of the surrounding area.

The large crowd of female workers outside the canteen were all staring intently, clearly indicating that this kind of large square scarf was about to become popular in Shangzhou.

Whoever finds a source of goods quickly will definitely make a fortune.

This is what Wei Dong was thinking at the moment.

Dong Xueqing's focus was solely on him; it seemed to be the white turtleneck sweater, slim-fit trousers, and beige woolen short coat he had bought in Chengdu.

She was as delicate and graceful as a lotus emerging from the water, but her face was like a sunflower, which made Wei Dong's eyes redden again.

Did this woman become more emotionally volatile after she got pregnant?

Behind them was Shen Laosan, dressed in denim, seemingly the most casual yet down-to-earth and ordinary attire.

Simply tying her ponytail with a handkerchief reveals her lively and versatile nature, overshadowing her facial features and graceful figure.

Now, with even more practiced ease and warmth, they greeted him: "Uncle Rang, Aunt Rang, it's been so long! You look amazing! We've come to Shangzhou to celebrate New Year's Eve and wish you a Happy New Year..."

When I first got my hands pierced, I started working at a mala tang (spicy hot pot) shop on the food street. I spent every day with Mr. and Mrs. Lao Rang and had already won them over.

So, just moments ago, Li Erfeng was holding her arm, but upon seeing the flowers in full bloom, Rang Ma, who was at a loss, immediately hugged Shen Laosan's arm affectionately and whispered intimately to him.

Instead, it became a case of being treated with great care and attention as an elder.

Speaking of these people, whether they are from cross-border areas, big cities, or prefecture-level cities, compared to the rural areas of Beifeng Mountain, Li Erfeng is suppressed by the urban-rural disparities, just like a mother monkey trapped under a mountain, unable to turn over.

sad.

(End of this chapter)