Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 374 Director Wang Returns Home

Uncle Wang said, "I'm not in a hurry for a house. I'll stay with my daughter for now. Her place has two bedrooms, which is enough for me. Their house will be almost finished in the second half of the year, and then I can move in there."

Director Wang waved his hand and said, "These are two different things. This is your mandatory benefit. You can't refuse it, can you? What about the other comrades? You have to have it, and you have to get the best of it. This is a matter of policy. You can't talk about personal style when it comes to welfare benefits. Otherwise, it will be difficult to manage relationships with superiors and subordinates."

Old Chen nodded and said, "Things are different up here and down there. You need to learn and observe more. What works down there might not work here. You need to change your mindset. There are some things you can't get involved in, and some things you can't avoid. You should do less or no things that involve talking about style. Just keep that in mind."

Director Wang asked, "Your daughter bought a house?" He looked at Old Chen and asked, "In the area where your power company is located?"

Uncle Wang shook his head and said, "No, it's borrowed. It's a house belonging to my comrade-in-arms, an old squad leader, the chief engineer of Fengtian Taxi Company."

Old Chen said, "Deputy General Manager, Chief Engineer. Brother Liu was stuck on historical issues his whole life and never got promoted. He was a really good person, a hero of the Korean War, an extraordinary figure. What a pity." He turned to look at Director Wang and said, "He has received several first-class and second-class merit awards, not to mention collective merit awards. How many people have those? Sometimes I think, God is unfair."

As soon as the door to the private room opened, Chen Hui and Xiao Wei entered. A waiter came in to set the table and asked softly, "Boss, what would you like to drink?"

Aunt Wang said, "We women drink champagne. We didn't have enough at noon. It's delicious, but it's too expensive."

Aunt Chen said, "It really tastes good. I drink a little before bed every night, saying it's good for sleep and blood vessels. You should drink less before bed too, it's really good. Xiao Hui, take a few bottles back for your two Aunt Wangs later." Chen Hui agreed. A few bottles of wine, selling for 1200 yuan, actually cost less than 300 yuan to import. The import tax is a bit high now, otherwise a few dozen or a hundred yuan would be enough.

Champagne is currently the cheapest of all imported wines. Top-tier Champagne costs around ten thousand yuan, while ordinary ones are only a few hundred or a thousand yuan. This is actually the true price of imported wines. Why is it so cheap? Because only the Champagne region of France can produce and sell it; it's impossible for others to speculate or counterfeit it. Wines from other regions don't cost much abroad either; the price has only been inflated by some people in China looking to make a fortune.

Director Wang said, "Why don't we all drink this? We don't have any outsiders here, and it would be unpleasant to go back drinking baijiu." The waitress opened and poured the wine, and the beautiful women and the fragrant wine created a picturesque scene.

Old Chen said, "This wine was brought in from its place of origin. I went through a lot of connections, and the production volume is less than two thousand bottles a year. It's good stuff."

Director Wang asked curiously, "Why is there only so much? They won't sell it even if we offer to buy it?"

Old Chen said, "You don't understand this wine. It's different abroad than here. The annual production is not fixed, mainly due to the limitation of raw materials. The wineries only use their own grapes to make wine, and they make as much as they can. If the grape production decreases, they will stop making wine for a year and will not buy it from outside. That's why their brands are so strong. We are a bit behind in this aspect in China."

It's more than just a little bit short. In order to make money, haha, any company that doesn't use industrial alcohol can confidently call itself a conscientious enterprise.

Director Wang nodded and said, "Okay, try it. I've never had it before. I think we used to have champagne, but that was just soda."

Once the wine is poured and the dishes are served, a toast is made and the atmosphere becomes lively. Everyone starts eating, and naturally, there is another round of praise.

Director Wang said, "This chef truly lives up to his reputation. I would believe it if he said this recipe is a century-old tradition. The taste is really good. There are indeed masters among the common people."

Chen Hui said, "Uncle Wang, the expert is right here." He pointed to Xiao Wei and said, "This chef is called An Laowu. When we first met, it was because Xiao Wei tasted his family's secret recipe that we got to know each other. He was impressed by Xiao Wei, which led to our current collaboration."

Director Wang was taken aback for a moment and said, "Xiao Wei is that amazing? Wow, incredible!"

Xiao Hong hid behind her mother, giggling happily. Chen Xiao laughed too. Director Wang asked curiously, "What's wrong?"

Xiao Wei said, "They laugh at me for eating pig swill. When I was little, I was greedy and secretly ate pig swill."

Old Chen waved his hand and said, "Eat, eat. The seafood he prepared is also very good. I got this chef from Liu Jingxian; he's a top-level chef."

……

After about an hour, everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, had some tea, chatted for a while, and then went home.

The next morning, Xiao Lu picked up Uncle Wang in his Jetta and took him back to the county town. Xiao Wei then took Mu Lijuan and her daughter back to Longcheng. Xiao Wei already felt very bad about leaving the mother and daughter at the guesthouse all day yesterday and couldn't keep them waiting any longer.

Xiao Wei returned to Longcheng, while Uncle Wang returned to the county town with a mix of excitement and anticipation.

To be honest, my feelings are completely different now that I'm back here after just a few days. When I left, I was filled with anticipation and trepidation, but I'm back feeling triumphant and a little reluctant to leave.

Commander Xiao Lu drove the car directly into the Agricultural Machinery Bureau compound. After getting out of the car, Uncle Wang slowly straightened his clothes and looked around at the old building where he had worked for almost twenty years. He was overwhelmed with mixed feelings.

"The station chief is back?" A staff member from the agricultural machinery station greeted Uncle Wang as he passed by. Uncle Wang smiled and nodded in response, then shook his head and went into his office. After looking around, he found a box, packed his personal belongings, and had Xiao Lu take it down. He then went upstairs to the director's office.

I knocked on the door, and someone called out from inside, "Come in."

Uncle Wang pushed open the door and went in. The bureau chief was sitting on the sofa with a man in his fifties with gray hair; he was the county magistrate. Uncle Wang nodded and greeted him, "County magistrate, bureau chief."

The bureau chief looked at Uncle Wang and asked, "Back so soon? Why didn't you stay a couple more days? Is the child doing well? Come and sit down. Why are you being so polite today, even knocking on the door?" In places like counties and townships, the way of working is rather rough. Usually, Uncle Wang rarely knocks when he comes over; he just pushes the door open and comes in.

Uncle Wang went over, offered a cigarette to each of them, and sat down, saying, "It's perfect that the county magistrate is here too. Well, I probably won't be coming here anymore, so we need to make arrangements for the station chief as soon as possible. It's the busy farming season now, so we don't want anything to go wrong."

The county magistrate looked at Uncle Wang and asked, "What's wrong? You were doing a good job, is something the matter? Do you need any help?"

Uncle Wang helped the county magistrate and bureau chief light the fire, saying, "No. It's just that my daughter is studying in Fengtian. After she finishes, she'll stay there. My son-in-law's household registration has also been transferred there. You know, we only have this one child, so it's not a big deal. My son-in-law asked a friend to transfer my job this time. I went there to report for duty on Monday. I came back to tell you both and thank you for taking care of me all these years."

The county magistrate paused for a moment, then asked, "Transferred to Fengtian? Which unit?"

Uncle Wang nodded and said, "Yes, it's over there. It's in the Construction Department. Call me when you come to Fengtian in the future. Let me know if you need anything."

The county magistrate said, "What a great place! Your son-in-law is quite capable; I never realized it before. What kind of work has he been assigned to?"

(End of this chapter)