I was married off to a disabled hero in lieu of marriage; my in-laws doted on me and I aspired to gr

For dinner, the whole family sat together.

Xiao Wei can already eat by himself. He holds a bowl of fish soup with rice, taking a bite himself and then giving Xiao Huang a bite.

Zhou Wenhui picked up a piece of fish, put it in his mouth, and then spat it out.

Luo Meiyun asked, "Wenhui, what's wrong? Does it not taste good? Mom made it, and she put ginger and scallions in it."

Zhou Wenhui looked at Qiaoqiao with a troubled expression. Qiaoqiao took a bite and said, "Delicious, very fresh and tender."

Luo Meiyun smiled with relief, while Zhou Wenhui said with difficulty, "Mom, the fish should be pan-fried until golden brown on both sides before boiling in water. The one you made has a muddy taste and doesn't taste good."

"Does the fish need to be fried? Shouldn't we just boil the water and put the fish in to cook?" Luo Meiyun asked in confusion.

"Mom, you're good at surgery, but you're really bad at cooking. We finally get to eat normal meals, but as soon as you start cooking, the quality of our food goes back down."

Zhou Wenhui really couldn't eat the muddy-tasting fish and muttered to himself.

"You little rascal, you're already being picky about food, you should be grateful you have something to eat."

Zhou Zhonghai said fiercely, "Actually, I can't eat either. Who puts fish directly into boiling water to cook?"

But he was protective of his wife, and wouldn't say anything even if the food didn't taste good.

Luo Meiyun panicked: "I'm sorry, Wenhui, Yu Fu said to fry it, I... I thought you liked Mom's fish. Yu Fu, what other dishes do you have at home? Cook something new for Wenhui."

Before Zhou Wenhui could speak, Zhou Zhonghai said, "Yu Fu, didn't you bring back potatoes? Go stir-fry some shredded potatoes."

Hu Xiaomei stood up and said, "You guys eat, I'll go cook."

Every mother thinks her child likes the food she cooks, but in reality, it's because they haven't tried other flavors of food before.

After eating the dishes prepared by Qiaoqiao and Hu Xiaomei, Zhou Wenhui and Zhou Zhonghai had little to say about Luo Meiyun's cooking skills.

Zhou Wenhui dared to say it, but Zhou Zhonghai would never say it. Even the pumpkin that he hated the most had to eat a few bites in front of Luo Meiyun.

Soon, the fragrant shredded potatoes were served. Zhou Zhonghai chuckled and picked up a piece, saying, "These are potatoes from our Dashui Village. I tricked Xia Lei into giving me the potato seeds."

Zhou Wenhui unceremoniously served the shredded potatoes to himself and Qiaoqiao: "Leave the nutritious fish for Dad, we'll eat the oil-removing shredded potatoes."

Qiaoqiao, not understanding, nodded repeatedly, which angered Zhou Zhonghai, who picked up a piece of tofu from the fish soup and said, "Zhou Wenhui, you little brat, you've got guts."

"Your wife rarely cooks, so you should eat more." Zhou Wenhui didn't care about Zhou Zhonghai's threat at all.

Gu Quan doesn't like eating fish either, but he tried to please her by picking up a few shredded potatoes with his chopsticks.

Yu Fu eats fish, Hu Xiaomei eats fish, isn't it delicious?

Yes, it has a fishy smell. Fish naturally has a fishy smell. In this day and age, it's quite good to be able to eat fish.

Zhou Xiaowei was very obliging, eating a bowl of fish soup with rice and then asking for another bowl, mainly because Xiao Huang really liked it.

Luo Meiyun spared no effort in serving fish to Zhou Zhonghai and Xiao Wei, and the whole family was happy together.

After dinner, Yu Fu and Hu Xiaomei cleaned up the dishes, Qiaoqiao was busy giving Xiaowei a bath, and Zhou Wenhui, Zhou Zhonghai and Luo Meiyun sat on the wooden sofa drinking tea.

"Dad, are you preparing for industrial reform? You haven't even arrived yet, and things are already turbulent in Huailin." Zhou Wenhui poured tea for Zhou Zhonghai.

"Huailin is my first battle as vice governor. It's not just an undercurrent, it's a painful but necessary overhaul. The problems accumulated during the ten-year campaign were too deep. We need to get rid of the incompetent, corrupt, and lazy officials and make way for capable and competent people."

"Isn't this too radical? Won't it backfire?"

Luo Meiyun interjected, "We've offended too many people. Let's not cause another kidnapping incident."

"I will proceed step by step, don't worry."

Zhou Zhonghai patted Luo Meiyun, the result of which was to remove the silt; the process should not be too harsh.

Those people, taking advantage of their political connections, occupied important leadership positions and acted arrogantly for many years; none of them were easy to deal with.

But for industry to develop and integrate with the world, it must be led by talented people.

Everything is difficult at the beginning.

"Dad, why don't we start with the fertilizer plant?" Zhou Wenhui said slowly and deliberately.

"A fertilizer plant? Wenhui, do you know anything about it?"

"I don't understand why you're calling a symposium with various companies. Every company is rushing to put on a show."

The news report that the fertilizer plant sent to the newspaper was the most exaggerated. Instead of mentioning how many tons the fertilizer plant produced annually, they exaggerated how hard the leaders worked, putting in extra hours to meet deadlines. The photos they sent all showed the leadership team on-site, wearing white shirts and directing the work.

"Can white shirts be allowed in the factory? Shouldn't production units be judged by output? I think there's a big problem," Zhou Wenhui analyzed.

"My son is right, so I'll start with the fertilizer factory. Fu Sanjun once said that before I got access to the province's high-quality fertilizer, the entire village of Dashui only had ten bags of fertilizer, totaling 1,000 jin. If we calculate based on 7 jin of fertilizer per mu, Qiaoqiao's family would need more than 50 jin of fertilizer."

A village has over 1,000 mu (approximately 67 hectares) of cornfields and wheat fields, requiring over 7,000 jin (approximately 3,500 kg) of fertilizer. But there isn't any. Where did the fertilizer go? The Huailin City fertilizer plant alone produces at least 1200 tons of fertilizer a year, plus several small county-level fertilizer plants. Farmers shouldn't have trouble buying fertilizer. No, I have to call Fu Sanjun.”

As he calculated, Zhou Zhonghai couldn't sit still any longer.

"Dad, if you're going to target the fertilizer plant, you have to stay calm. Doing administrative work isn't like fighting a war. You know how it's like boiling a frog in lukewarm water? Let them panic first, and once they panic, loopholes will appear."

Fertilizer is a scarce commodity, and Wu Zhengkai was the Party Secretary before; there might have been some shady dealings. Uncle Fu just took office; with so many factories, how could he possibly know every single one of them so quickly?

Zhou Wenhui pulled Zhou Zhonghai back, and Luo Meiyun nodded, saying, "Son is right, you were too hasty. Old Zhou, you are now the vice governor, not a division commander. On the battlefield, you are facing the enemy, and if you are killed by a single shot, you are killed. Now that we are back in the countryside, we are facing the people, and without solid evidence, we cannot punish them."

"Yes, yes, you're right, I have to be more discreet. Luckily, I have a good wife and son to remind me. Meiyun, if Wenhui were involved in politics, he would be far more cunning than I am."

Zhou Zhonghai chuckled. This son of his was observant and had his own opinions. He could put someone in a hopeless situation with just a gentle touch. Amazing, really amazing.

Take that plate of shredded potatoes for example, he didn't let me eat a single bite...

"Dad, please don't use the words 'wise' and 'insidious' interchangeably," Zhou Wenhui said, slightly displeased.

"Okay, you're not cunning, you're wise. Watch me, see how your dad deals with the fertilizer plant, hehe, your dad is wise too."

"Old Zhou, in the future, you should discuss things with your son. I think Wenhui is more composed than you. Besides, he works at a newspaper and has more experience."

"Okay, Wenhui will be my strategist as the vice governor. From now on, I can go home every day and discuss the progress of industrial reform with Wenhui. With his help, I can make fewer mistakes."

Zhou Zhonghai hasn't lived in his hometown for many years.

When I was in the army, I could come back once or twice a month, stay for two or three days, and then leave again.

After being discharged from the army, I went to the provincial capital and went home even less often.

He'll be back in Huailin City to oversee industrial and commercial reforms, and he'll be staying at home for at least a year and a half.