Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 402 Why is Xiaowei so amazing?

Xiaowei said, "Let's go to Fengtian first, drive there, and drop Xiaoxiao and Xiaohong off. Then we can take the train directly from Fengtian."

Xiao Hong said, "One car isn't enough, how about we drive two?"

Xia Maosheng said with a smile, "I haven't run a long distance before, so this is a good opportunity to practice and be a training ground."

Chen Hui, with a look of disdain, said, "The key question is, have you ever done a short trip? How long have you driven?"

Xia Maosheng said, "The company has a Jeep, and I've driven it a few times. I'd take it for a spin whenever I had free time. All in all, I must have driven at least a hundred kilometers, right?" He turned to look at Geng Hui, who said, "I don't know. The number of kilometers I've driven with others is probably only a few dozen kilometers."

Chen Hui scratched his head and said, "Old Xia, if you ask me, you shouldn't drive that far. It's not a joke; Geng Hui is pregnant. This is an eight-hour drive, not the few kilometers you usually drive. Anyway, you have your own car now, and there will be plenty of opportunities later."

Xiao Wei nodded and said, "Yes, Lao Xia, listen to me and Xiao Hui about this. The mountain roads are all difficult to drive on, and driving long distances is completely different from driving near home. I still feel scared when I think about the first time I drove back. I was sweating profusely, and my legs were about to cramp from nervousness. It took me more than ten hours to drive on roads that usually take seven or eight hours. Xiao Hui and Liu Hongliang accompanied me the whole time. It was really a gamble. Let's just forget about it."

Xia Maosheng thought for a moment, looked at Geng Hui, and said, "Okay, I won't drive. I'll ride with you. After what you said, I'm not entirely confident." He smiled and said, "I wasn't very confident to begin with."

Xiao Wei asked, "Do you and Geng Hui need to take a couple of days off?"

Xia Maosheng said, "No need, the car ride isn't tiring. Let's hurry up and get things done and come back quickly, so we don't run into any more trouble."

Xiao Wei thought for a moment and said, "Then let's pack up and go. We still need to withdraw money in Fengtian, and there's a lot to do. By the way, Xiao Hui, can you find a place to get a check? Can we just carry around this 900,000 yuan like this?"

Geng Hui stared at Xiao Wei and the other two in astonishment, her mouth agape and eyes wide. It took her a while to say, "Nine hundred thousand? What are you... what are you going to do?" Xiao Wei gave Geng Hui a strange look and said, "Buy an apartment. Haven't you been listening to that?"

Geng Hui's face flushed red instantly. She clenched her fists and said, "I heard it was something to buy, but I didn't know it was an apartment building, and I didn't know it would cost so much! How do you have so much money?"

Xiao Hong laughed and took Geng Hui's hand, saying, "Xiao Wei and your Xia Maosheng are partners. If Xiao Wei makes money, your family makes money too. Xia Maosheng is a rich man now. You really have stumbled into a lucky nest without even realizing it."

Geng Hui blushed and rubbed her hands together, saying, "I don't want his money."

Xiao Hong laughed and said, "But it's better to have money! You can eat whatever you want, buy whatever you want, isn't that great?"

Chen Hui said, "Let me ask Aunt Liu. We can just get a card from the power company and pay the money there. It's really not right to carry this around like this." Xiao Wei said, "Is that okay? Don't cause Uncle Chen any more trouble."

Chen Hui said, "We're exchanging money for checks, not taking them and running away, it's fine. These days, many private individuals go out to run errands and ask government agencies to exchange checks for them."

In those days, banks didn't operate outside the city, so people could only carry cash when traveling long distances. As a result, there were more pickpockets than passengers on trains and in stations. Goods trucks from other places that came to the Fengtian Wu'ai Market were often intercepted and robbed on the way. A single truckload of people would be robbed of over a million yuan, all in cash, and all of it was old money.

It wasn't until 97, when inter-provincial deposits and withdrawals were allowed with cards, that the situation improved considerably.

Then, for particularly large sums of money, as Chen Hui said, one had to find connections to borrow or exchange checks from government agencies. However, there was usually a handling fee involved, and even then, connections were still necessary. Back then, ordinary people were mostly self-employed and didn't have the right to use checks.

Xiao Wei said, "That will take time. Shall we set off?"

Chen Hui was taken aback for a moment and said, "You're in a hurry? What's wrong? I've never seen you in such a rush before."

Xiao Wei said, "I've got a ton of things to do. On one hand, I need to arrange for people to go down to different areas to sell steamed buns and dumplings, and we need to stock frozen steamed buns and frozen dumplings. The ground behind the restaurant needs to be paved with cement, and we need to move the side dishes down to open a billiards hall. Next month, this batch of students will graduate, and I also need to arrange the exams and certification. As soon as this batch leaves, new students will come in, and I'll have to recruit them. Do you think I'm that idle?"

Chen Hui said, "You haven't made arrangements for the Andong branch yet. How about buying this house and opening a branch?"

Xiao Wei said, "The packaging for the cake shop will arrive soon. I was thinking about whether we should set up our own packaging factory. Once we open our own shop with our students, the amount of packaging we need will be quite substantial. We'll have to order bread, cakes, frozen steamed buns, and dumplings."

Chen Xiao held one hand in mid-air, blinked for a while, and then said, "My goodness, Xiao Wei has to think about so many things every day."

Xiao Hong pouted and looked at Xiao Wei, saying, "This is nothing. The food factory is all set up now. He used to be the one running around doing all the work, but even with Xie Xiaolong now, he still has to manage it. And the pig farm, learning new technologies, they say it could bring in hundreds of thousands more in profit a year if things go well. And the cake shop is about to open a branch, choosing the location, business registration, equipment, raw materials, arranging people, packaging—he has to handle every single one of these."

Chen Hui whispered, "There are also branch stores, don't forget about them."

Chen Xiao thought for a moment and said, "Xiao Wei, you're amazing. From now on, Xiao Hui and I will listen to you."

Geng Hui looked at Xia Maosheng and then at Xiao Wei. Xia Maosheng smiled and said, "We should go to work. Xiao Wei is in charge of everything."

Xiao Wei glanced at Xia Maosheng and said, "Ten years. If you don't become mayor, you'll be letting me down."

Xia Maosheng grinned and said, "Isn't this goal a bit too high?"

Xiao Wei said, "You're a deputy section chief now. You get promoted every three years: section chief, deputy director, director. Nine years is just right." Chuanzhou is a county-level city. The mayor is at the director level, and the secretary is at the deputy provincial level.

Xia Maosheng said, "Brother, I'm currently a deputy section chief, which is equivalent to a deputy section chief, not a deputy section chief cadre. Is that too much to ask?" A deputy section chief enjoys the treatment of a deputy section chief, but the difference between him and a deputy section chief with real power is immeasurable. Many people never make it across in their entire lives, especially in county-level cities like this, where the top official is a full-fledged department head, and only the head of the bureau is a full-fledged section chief. Just keep at it.

To become an official, you need to be in a municipality directly under the central government, where the starting point is high. A township head is a sure way to become a full-fledged department head, and the rank rises very quickly.

Chen Hui said, "Don't rush. Let my old man take care of getting Lao Xia to Fengtian. He can work in a provincial government unit. It's much better than staying down here. He'll have a much higher starting point."

Xiao Hong suddenly remembered something and pointed at Geng Hui, saying to Chen Hui, "She works at a bank."

(End of this chapter)