Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 460 Old Tang's Plan

This is because the school is newly built; schools established in the 60s or earlier wouldn't even have the necessary allocation procedures.

Xiao Wei stared at Principal Sun for a while, then said, "Fine, five hundred it is. To be honest, Principal Sun, if it weren't for your attitude at the beginning, I really wouldn't have considered taking a single penny from you. Forget it, there's no point in saying anything more. Here, take the money, and I'll write you a receipt."

Principal Sun pursed his lips, took out a stack of papers, and said, "Write it down, I'll go get the money." He then stood up and left.

Xiao Wei took a pen and wrote a receipt on the manuscript paper that Principal Sun had provided, proving that he had received money from the school and that the land occupied by the two and a half classrooms in the northeast corner of the school and the boiler room would henceforth belong to the school.

A few minutes later, Principal Sun came in, threw five hundred yuan on the table, picked up the manuscript paper, looked at it, went to get ink and asked Xiao Wei to put his fingerprint on it. Xiao Wei did as she said, picked up the five hundred yuan and said, "Alright, let's settle the accounts. We have nothing to do with each other anymore. I'll use this five hundred yuan to buy some stationery and pens for the children. Principal Sun, I just wanted to tell you that you have to be reasonable in doing things."

Principal Sun remained silent with a gloomy face. Xiao Wei and the other two left the office. Xia Maosheng said in a low voice, "Damn, you really went all out with that last move. It was even more ruthless than asking for more money."

Chen Hui said, "This kind of person needs to be dealt with like this. If someone like this really climbs up and becomes a high-ranking leader, who knows how many people will suffer as a result. Are they really going to buy stationery?"

Xiao Wei said, "Buy it, and have Chen Xiao, Geng Hui, and Xiao Hong come over and give it to the kids. Consider it a blessing for your two children."

Xia Maosheng clapped his hands and said, "This is good. Why don't we buy more? I think those kids don't come from very well-off families."

Xiao Wei said, "That's for sure. You don't even know what kind of place this is. It's already a miracle that the kids can come to school. We don't consider the tuition of a few dozen yuan a semester as money. Many families have to borrow it."

Starting in the late 80s, the income gap between rural and urban areas began to widen, with cities becoming increasingly better off and rural areas becoming increasingly poorer. This was especially true for those with rural household registration in cities; their lives were incredibly difficult. They had rural household registration but no land, and while living in the city, they had no job opportunities. With economic growth and urban expansion, the number of people in this situation continued to increase.

Back then, a single household registration quota for converting rural residents to urban residents could drive many families crazy. It was truly incomprehensible. You expanded, taking away people's land and people, but you didn't give them back land or money, and then you didn't even give them household registration. How were they supposed to live? In fact, that's exactly how it was. Cities developed rapidly, and the economy improved, but the landless farmers in the cities lived worse than dogs.

Chen Hui said, "It's fate that we met. Once we move in, we can come over and visit whenever we have free time. It's so close by. We can get some stationery, a few sets of clothes, and stuff like that. We need to hire people, right? I think we can just pick from the parents of these kids. What do you two think?"

Xiao Wei shook his head and said, "It's unrealistic. Sympathy and pity are not about giving alms without thinking. Recruitment should be based on conditions. Opportunities can be given, but the individual has to be capable."

Xia Maosheng nodded and said, "Yes, that makes sense. We can't act impulsively; we have to think things through more carefully."

The three men came from the school-run factory, found Engineer Wang, and told him about the situation. Engineer Wang walked around, looked at them, and nodded to indicate that he understood. The three men then said goodbye to Engineer Wang and went to the restaurant.

Xiao Hong, Geng Hui, and Chen Xiao are already here. Xiao Hong is now close to the end of the semester and has entered the review stage, so she has a lot of freedom.

The three men called An Laowu to their office, and the seven of them sat down to drink tea and talk.

An Laowu is now in high spirits, and his entire demeanor has undergone a dramatic transformation. He has also gained a lot of weight. Xiao Wei pinched An Laowu's arm and said with a smile, "Fifth Brother, if you keep going like this, you can sell for several days straight."

Anji Old Restaurant can now sell two pigs a day.

Old Man An patted his belly and said, "There's nothing I can do about it. A relaxed mind makes you plump. I'm in a good mood now and life is comfortable, so what can I do?"

Xiao Wei said, "You should exercise. Go for a run in the morning and go for a walk in the evening. If you do this, you'll easily get sick in the future, and you'll suffer as well as your family."

Old Man An lit a cigarette and said, "Your sister-in-law doesn't want to sleep in the same bed with me anymore. She's gotten so fat that her snoring is too loud."

Xia Maosheng said, "I think the snoring is secondary. My sister-in-law must feel unsafe. If she rolls over and gets crushed while sleeping, she probably won't even be able to scream."

Old Man An laughed and said, "She did, but she pinched me awake. She really pinched me hard. Now she usually sleeps in the same room as my daughter, which worries my daughter a lot. She often says, 'Dad, why don't you take your wife back? What's the point of her always staying in my room?'"

Everyone laughed. Xiao Wei said, "I came back to discuss the branch store with you, Fifth Brother. What are your plans, Fifth Brother?"

An Laowu said, "I definitely hope to open more, maybe even all over the country. But that's unrealistic. I originally planned to take on a few apprentices, but Xiaowei, didn't you say we wouldn't for now? Actually, I'm not even sure about taking on apprentices myself. In today's society, you never know."

Xiao Wei said, "We can have Bozi take over in Antong first. It would be troublesome to open more later. I think we can open three or four stores in Fengtian."

An Laowu said, "What are you thinking? Tell me."

Xiao Wei said, "The technology belongs to your family, what can I think? Besides, the secret recipe must be kept, otherwise it will be even more troublesome. To be honest, I did have an idea for the food factory a few days ago, but I don't know if it will work."

Xia Maosheng asked, "What are your thoughts?"

Xiao Wei said, "I've always wanted to sell instant noodles, and the other day I suddenly thought, could we make the soup base like the instant noodle seasoning packets? When we produce it and open a branch, we can just use it there. We can just add it directly to the dishes, and that would solve all the problems with apprentices and masters, right? Is that feasible?"

An Laowu, after tidying his parted hair, thought for a while and said, "I've never tried it before. How about we give it a try sometime?"

Chen Hui asked, "How do we try?"

Old Man An said, "Just make some stock, thicken it, let it cool, and then package it up. You can't actually make dried noodles, can you? You can't."

Xia Maosheng thought for a moment and said, "A lot of oil and strong flavor should work. We'll still need to teach some apprentices at the branch. We need to know the basic method, and then add the seasoning packet, and that should be about right. We can give it a try. Fifth Brother, you make the broth, and then have Xiaowei make a pot of it without any seasonings according to your method. Then we can add the broth in and have a taste, right?"

(End of this chapter)