Back to my 1980s

Do you have gloves?

Zhao Hua turned around and searched the warehouse. It was very messy, with all sorts of things, including a huge pile of cement.

"No, there's a quota for gloves in my factory. Why didn't you think of bringing gloves before you came?" The warehouse manager waved his hand, trying to shoo Zhao Hua out.

Zhao Hua knew in his heart that it was probably the factory director's brother-in-law who had pulled some strings, otherwise his attitude wouldn't have been so bad.

Zhao Hua could understand that no one was helping with loading the truck; that's how state-owned factories are these days. But not even providing a pair of gloves was abnormal.

However, he wasn't angry. He grinned and put his arm around the warehouse manager's neck, then took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth. He just didn't light it for him. There was so much asbestos fiber in the factory, and this was a warehouse. If it caught fire somewhere, it wouldn't be a joke.

"What's your surname, brother?" Zhao Hua asked the warehouse manager with a grin.

Meng Qinghe stood at the door watching, not understanding why Zhao Hua was suddenly being so obsequious. Not only Meng Qinghe, but even the warehouse manager was confused.

However, one shouldn't hit a smiling face, so the warehouse manager replied curtly, "My surname is Zhou."

"Brother Zhou." Zhao Hua shook hands with the warehouse manager warmly.

The warehouse manager was quite uncomfortable with Zhao Hua's actions of putting his arm around his neck and shaking his hand. He tried to break free, but he wasn't as strong as Zhao Hua and couldn't break free after a couple of attempts.

He said coldly, "Don't try to get close to me, it won't work. I'm not giving you the gloves."

Zhao Hua waved his hand and laughed, "What's the big deal? I can move them all in a bit by myself, even if I'm empty-handed."

The warehouse manager glanced at him but didn't say anything. He was joking. If he moved the asbestos tiles empty-handed, the thorns on them would make Zhao Hua cry for three to five days.

Zhao Hua ignored his gaze and chuckled, "Brother, your cement? To tell you the truth, I couldn't find any cement anywhere when I was building my house, but I didn't expect you to have some here."

The warehouse manager suddenly realized what was going on and quickly waved his hand, saying, "Impossible! Don't even think about it. You're dreaming! I keep track of how much cement goes in and out of the warehouse. You think you can use cement to build a house? Lots of people in the village want to build houses with cement. Do you think I have to give it to everyone who comes?"

Zhao Hua curled his lip, not caring. In his eyes, the factory was rotten to the core. Even selling asbestos tiles, they could find loopholes to seek personal gain. Since this warehouse manager listened to the factory's brother-in-law, it meant he wasn't a good person either.

Without a word, he put one arm around the warehouse manager, their backs to the door, and with the other hand, he pulled out the money from his pocket to show him. Waving the banknotes in his hand, Zhao Hua laughed and said, "Name your price. I want quite a lot, around a thousand catties. Don't worry, I promise I won't go around making a fuss, so you won't be implicated."

The warehouse clerk stared at the money in Zhao Hua's hand and immediately stopped struggling. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "Brother, it's not that I don't want to help you, but you're asking for too much. It would be fine if you asked for less."

Zhao Hua curled his lip. So this is calling for a younger brother? He didn't believe the warehouse manager had no ideas. Since he didn't refuse outright, there must be a chance. All this nonsense was just an attempt to raise the price.

Zhao Huacai wasn't buying it. He stuffed the money back into his pocket, loosened his grip on Zhao Huacai's neck, and said, "Forget it. I won't care about less. What can such a small amount of cement do? We might as well use lime instead."

He then made a move to head towards the warehouse.

"Hey! Tsk! Look at you, what's the rush?" The warehouse manager quickly pulled Zhao Hua back, went outside and peeked out, then beckoned Meng Qinghe, who was standing at the door, into the room, and finally locked the door from the inside.

After doing these things, he pulled Zhao Hua to a chair and said with a smile, "Your sister-in-law is really beautiful. No wonder the factory director's brother-in-law secretly tripped you up. That guy is no good. Relying on his brother-in-law's power and having some money, he has cheated countless young women who are having a hard time after getting married. Your sister-in-law is so beautiful, you can't let her stand outside by herself."

Zhao Hua waved his hand, knowing that this was a signal of goodwill from him.

However, once Zhao Hua took out the money from his pocket, the balance of power reversed. He was too lazy to waste any more words and said, "Brother, this is too little for me. A little bit of cement and lime is not enough. My house has already had its foundation laid and is about to be built. I don't have time to wait for you to save up slowly. Otherwise, we can talk about it."

The warehouse clerk nodded hurriedly and said, "I understand, I understand. You want to build your own house as soon as possible so that things will be easier, right? Your wife is so beautiful, I understand, I understand."

Upon hearing this, Meng Qinghe blushed instantly and stared intently at Zhao Hua with wide eyes.

Zhao Hua was also speechless. People's mouths are really rough these days, and they can say anything. He quickly glared back at Meng Qinghe to indicate that these words had nothing to do with him and were not said by him.

Ignoring the exchange of glances between the two, the warehouse keeper clicked his tongue and continued, "A thousand catties isn't impossible to handle, it's just that it would cause too much of a commotion. I'm not really capable of that myself, I'd have to go and make some arrangements."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Hua turned to the warehouse manager and said, "Just tell me what price you can sell it to me for. I don't care who you bribe. Just spread it evenly in the cement price. Anyway, I only spent money to buy some cement."

The warehouse clerk gave Zhao Hua a subtle look and smiled, "Alright, I can see that you're a straightforward guy. I won't hold back with you. I'll give you the best cement, grade 425. I'll give you 100 yuan a thousand kilograms."

Zhao Hua pursed his lips. He had thought it would be that expensive. The main problem was that he had really gone to many places, and cement was in short supply. Unlike bricks and gravel, which were hard to buy even if you had the money, he had no way of knowing the price.

So when you calculate it like that, all this talk about "bribing" is pure nonsense. If you really bribe someone, can you even show off ten or eight dollars?

I reckon it all ended up in that old bastard's pocket.

Although he felt it was a very good deal, Zhao Hua didn't show it on his face. He pretended to hesitate for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Fine! I'll take a thousand catties. I'll come and pick it up tonight. I'll give you ten yuan first, and then I'll call the tractor and bring the rest of the money tonight to take it all away in one trip, okay?"

The warehouse clerk took the ten yuan Zhao Hua handed over and nodded hurriedly, saying, "Sure, sure! It's best to come over after dark, rather than early. I'm sleeping at the factory tonight. Also, you can't say you took it from here when you take it back."

Zhao Hua nodded and smiled, "Don't worry, I promise I won't go around spreading rumors."

As for how the warehouse manager would handle the cement for Zhao Hua, he didn't care at all. He would either report it as damp and unusable, or deduct a little more from the bill for losses. A thousand kilograms might seem like a lot, but for these factories, it was actually not much.

After the two finished talking, Zhao Hua got up to install the asbestos tiles.

This time, Zhao Hua didn't need to bring it up, and the warehouse manager didn't mention any quotas either. He proactively handed the gloves to Zhao Hua.