Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

As the head of the textile factory, Dong Tianbao faced immense pressure after his grain trucks were intercepted three times.

Because the factory doesn't have enough food to eat!

Textile factories are mostly staffed by women. Being a female worker is great, but when women get angry, they can be just as fierce as men.

They haven't had enough to eat for three days, how can they have the strength to work? They're bound to make a fuss!

Dong Tianbao not only faces the issue of dealing with the workers, but also the responsibility of being held accountable by his superiors.

The leaders of the Ministry of Metallurgy were furious about this.

But ultimately, the problem stemmed from the interception of grain, and dealing with Dong Tianbao was simple.

The key is to calm things down and allocate some grain to the textile factory first.

This gave the Ministry of Metallurgy a headache, since they weren't the State Grain Administration and didn't have any surplus grain.

Allocation cannot be resolved with just a few words.

If possible, it's best to resolve this internally.

So the heads of the Ministry of Metallurgy sat down together to discuss it.

We're thinking of transferring some supplies from other factories in Beijing first, to get through this difficult time.

So someone immediately went to check and ask the major factories if they still had a lot of surplus grain.

When asked, it turned out that nobody had any surplus food; there wasn't even enough for them to eat themselves, so they couldn't spare any.

Minister Wang and Elder Li knew that the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill had stockpiled nearly a year's worth of grain.

The workers at Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill could eat their fill for a year.

They did want the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill to allocate some funds, not much, just enough for the textile factory to eat for half a month.

But having these ideas is one thing; actually saying them is another.

They knew that Li Jiuzhou had foreseen the risks and stockpiled grain in advance, but of course, only the two of them knew; the other leaders did not receive the news.

Old Li looked at Minister Wang, and Minister Wang was also looking at Old Li. They both knew what the other was thinking.

I need to talk to someone from Red Star...

There were four people sitting in the office of the Party Secretary of Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill.

Secretary Nie, Yang Ligong, Li Huaide, and Li Jiuzhou.

After Secretary Nie relayed the opinions of the two leaders, Yang Ligong immediately erupted:

"What...we're telling us to give Dong Tianbao food?"

"That would be worse than killing me! Damn Dong Tianbao, I'll never forgive him!"

Secretary Nie pressed down lightly with his right hand:

"You've done something right! What kind of rash talk is this? Sit down and talk."

Yang Ligong obediently sat down, but his face was still full of anger:

"Secretary, I'm not having it. Why should we clean up the mess that Dong Tianbao made?"

"With such limited abilities, what kind of Party Secretary are you?"

Secretary Nie snorted coldly:

"Hmph, you'd better bear with it. The two leaders didn't force us; they discussed it with us."

"But precisely because of this, I think the two leaders meant they wanted us to be generous and contribute to the cause, prioritizing the overall situation!"

Upon hearing this, Yang Ligong's face was filled with bitterness:

"You've put it this way, what else can I do?"

"If I don't give it to him, it will make me, Yang Ligong, look down on the bigger picture."

Secretary Nie then looked at the Li family uncle and nephew:

"What did you two say?"

Li Huaide shrugged:

"I'm not convinced either. I felt really uncomfortable helping Dong Tianbao."

"But the boss has given the order, so we just have to do it."

"Jiuzhou, you should also tell them that logistics are your responsibility." Secretary Nie looked at Li Jiuzhou.

Li Jiuzhou stroked his chin:

"Give it to him, but we won't lend it to him, and we don't want Dong Tianbao to return it. Let him exchange it for something or someone."

"It's only about half a month's worth of food, we can afford to provide it."

"As for how to negotiate, let Dong Tianbao come in person, and we'll have the factory manager handle things on our end."

Then Li Jiuzhou smiled at Yang Ligong and said:

"Factory manager, we'll see what benefits you can get from this performance; we won't interfere."

Yang Ligong was stunned for a moment after hearing Li Jiuzhou's words, then overjoyed:

"Hahaha, great, very good!"

"Damn it, if I don't skin Dong Tianbao alive, I'm not a Yang!"

Secretary Nie, Li Huaide, and Li Jiuzhou all rolled their eyes upon hearing Yang Ligong's words, thinking to themselves:

"Your surname hasn't been Yang for a long time!"

Now that the agreement was reached, Secretary Nie immediately called Minister Wang back, informing him that the grain could be provided, but Dong Tianbao had to come in person to discuss the matter.

Minister Wang smiled with satisfaction after hearing this. As long as they provided the food, he didn't care about what they were talking about, and he couldn't be bothered to care!

But he knew that Dong Tianbao wouldn't have an easy time.

Nie Wuji is no good.

Yang Ligong and Dong Tianbao have a grudge, so this time he's definitely going to make him pay dearly.

Meanwhile, the Li family uncle and nephew cheered them on from the sidelines, making things quite lively.

As for why Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill did this, it's because the textile mill didn't give the steel rolling mill even half a bolt of cloth at the end of last year.

Now that the tables have turned, how can we be happy without taking down Dong Tianbao?

The time has come to beat a dog when it's down.

Dong Tianbao was stunned when he received the news.

The leader said,

Other factories had no surplus grain, only Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill had some. If you wanted some, you could borrow it or exchange it for other things.

But don't worry, you'll definitely be able to borrow it; it's up to you whether you go or not.

That's what the leader means: we'll solve the problem for you, you just go and get the grain.

However, the money for the grain must be paid, and it also depends on what price the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill offers.

This made Dong Tianbao very upset, but he couldn't not go, so he had to have his driver take him to the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill.

I met with Yang Ligong in the office.

Dong Tianbao sat in his chair without saying a word, and Yang Ligong was too lazy to speak, leisurely smoking and drinking tea.

They didn't even invite Dong Tianbao for tea or a cigarette. Whatever...

After a long silence, Dong Tianbao spoke:

"Tell me, do you want money or cloth?"

Even if he needed something from someone, he didn't want to bow down to Yang Ligong.

Yang Ligong snorted coldly:

"I want the cloth, but forget about the money. Take the person as payment."

"Give me five senior electricians and five welders, and you won't be able to refuse any of the cloth my Red Star Steel Rolling Mill needs in the future."

"And they have to give it to us in advance, and give us the best fabric."

Dong Tianbao wanted to hit someone when he heard this. It was one thing to want the cloth, but why did he have to ask for people too?

I didn't know that electricians and welders were such valuable skills.

Large companies, in particular, have a shortage of such people; they are all highly skilled.

Dong Tianbao lit a cigarette and said calmly:

"Yang Ligong, are you robbing me?"

Yang Ligong suddenly laughed upon hearing this:

"Hahaha, I'm robbing you! I'm robbing you, you loser!"

"If you don't agree to my conditions, then get out. What are you pretending to be the boss here for?"

"Your textile factory only has a few people. Even if it is expanded later, it will still have less than 15,000 people."

"Not to mention you've made so many mistakes, you've been stuck in the same place your whole life. But once I'm on my way to the top, I'll give you a piece of my mind!"

Dong Tianbao was furious after hearing Yang Ligong's words:

"Yang Ligong, you've gone too far! You think you're so high and mighty as a son-in-law who marries into his wife's family?"

Yang Ligong was not angry upon hearing this, but shook his head slightly:

"Dong Tianbao, you need to understand that it's not just me, Yang Ligong, who wants to bully you, but all the members of our factory's leadership team."

Upon hearing this, Dong Tianbao's heart skipped a beat, and he looked at Yang Ligong in disbelief.

Upon seeing this, Yang Ligong's face broke into a bright smile:

"Hehe, the seeds you planted back then are bearing fruit soon, and you still won't give us any cloth for the New Year."

"Now the tables have turned, it's time to kick a dog when it's down. I, Yang Ligong, am just a representative. Who do you think you are? You're not worth our full effort, you're just a piece of trash."

It is said that Yang Ligong also has a very sharp tongue, fully demonstrating his skills as a professor at Tsinghua University, cursing people with a string of vulgarities.

Having said that, Dong Tianbao had nothing more to say. The relationship between the two factories was already bad, and he was just happy to get the grain.

He had no choice but to agree to Yang Ligong's conditions. The textile factory couldn't wait any longer; if they ran out of food, there would be no one to work tomorrow.

Having signed the contract, Dong Tianbao didn't want to stay at the steel rolling mill for even a second longer, so the car sped off.