Rebirth in a Courtyard: I Am a Little Hunter

Wei Chen rode alongside, a basket of goods on his back. Feeling the heat from the metal bicycle and the aching from the bumps, he listened attentively. He nodded: "Understood, Master Hu. It means I pay for it myself, and I'll get reimbursed with the receipt."

"That's right!" Hu Songnian seemed quite satisfied with Wei Chen's comprehension, raising his voice slightly. "This trick works for dealing with small, everyday things! But what if you encounter... oh... a big one? For example, today in the village, the village chief suddenly tells you that their team just killed a huge wild boar! Goodness, hundreds of pounds of meat! That's not something we can afford with the little change in our pockets!"

He pedaled hard twice, and the bike wobbled. "At this point, there are two options! First, if you have enough money on you, or can scrape together enough, and are worried about someone else getting there first, then decide to buy it! You can handle the paperwork with the factory later; generally, there won't be any problems, after all, it's for the public good..."

Secondly, if the amount of money is far from enough, or the item is too large or too much, such as a whole cow, a donkey, or a large quantity of grain, then quickly find a place to make a phone call! Call the department and find our Section Chief Wang!

Tell him the location, the items, and the approximate price, and tell him to come over with the money and paperwork as soon as possible! For large transactions like this, sometimes you have to go through official bank transfers, and the production team also needs their receipts… You'll gradually figure out these intricacies.”

Hu Songnian talked on and on, sharing many tips and tricks for the purchasing process, all accumulated from his years of experience. He taught with great care. Every word was soaked with sweat and the practical wisdom he had accumulated over the years.

As Wei Chen listened, he silently digested and verified the information in his mind. He realized that behind this seemingly simple procurement work was a set of survival rules that allowed for flexible adaptation within a framework of regulations.

At the same time, he saw more clearly the room for maneuver in using meat from the "game world" to complete tasks—as long as the source of the goods was plausible (for example, pushing it to a "remote mountain village"), he could buy them out of his own pocket and then go through the reimbursement process, which was entirely feasible! Moreover, wild boar and roe deer were precisely the main types of "wild game" that could be hunted in the village!

"In short..." Hu Songnian concluded, his voice heavy with exhaustion, "You have to be sharp-eyed, diligent, sweet-talking, and quick-witted! You have to be worthy of the money the factory pays you, and you also have to make the villagers feel that we are honest, so that they will be willing to save the good stuff for us next time! You have to find the right balance yourself."

The sun finally sank below the horizon, leaving only a dark red glow in the western sky. The summer heat subsided slightly, and the evening breeze brought a touch of coolness.

When the massive, dimly lit outline of the steel rolling mill finally came into view, Hu Songnian let out a long, relieved breath and, along with Wei Chen, pushed the cart straight to the logistics department's material warehouse.

The logistics warehouse was located deep within the factory area, consisting of a row of tall, single-story red brick buildings. The air was filled with a complex mixture of smells, including machine oil, wood, grain, and pickled vegetables.

A few dim incandescent lights shone at the warehouse entrance, attracting countless small flying insects to hover and flutter. Several warehouse workers, dressed in overalls and looking equally tired, were busy counting and moving various supplies.

"Old Zhang! Receive the goods!" Hu Songnian leaned his bicycle against the wall, wiped his sweat, and shouted to a middle-aged warehouse manager who was smoking a cigarette and directing the moving of sacks.

"Hey, Lao Hu! You're back early today? Wow, you've got a lot of stuff!" The warehouse manager, known as Lao Zhang, stubbed out his cigarette and walked over, examining the heavy willow basket on the back of the bicycle in the lamplight.

"Don't even mention it, I almost dried myself out!" Hu Songnian complained, then called to Wei Chen, "Wei Chen, give me a hand and help me unload these things."

The two carefully lifted the basket off the shelf. Old Zhang, holding a goods receipt slip with carbon paper clipped to it and a worn-out pencil, began to count: "Eggs...hmm, count...one hundred and three? The size is alright...wild mushrooms, this bag...black fungus...oh, not bad quality...two wild rabbits...three pheasants...a piece of roe deer meat...hmm, some dried vegetables..." As he counted, he crookedly recorded the name, quantity, and weight of the items on the slip (eggs by the piece, meat by the pound), occasionally muttering it aloud.

Wei Chen watched carefully, learning how the warehouse manager inspected and recorded the goods. He noticed that Old Zhang seemed to trust Hu Songnian's purchases, only glancing at their quality and focusing primarily on counting the quantity. He only weighed the roe deer meat, without investigating its origin. This reassured Wei Chen somewhat.

After the inventory was completed, Old Zhang signed his name on the receiving slip in a flamboyant manner, tore off the top copy, and handed it to Hu Songnian: "Alright, Old Hu, the items are correct. Take the receiving slip and hurry up and hand it in to the finance department. You've had a long day."

Hu Songnian took the mimeographed document stamped with the red seal of "Materials Verified by the Logistics Department of Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill," a slight smile appearing on his tired face: "Thanks, Lao Zhang! Wei Chen, let's go, last stop, the Finance Department!"

The finance department was located on the first floor of the factory's office building. It was past closing time, but as a core department, several windows were still lit, and the crisp sound of abacuses clicking away could be heard. A faint smell of ink and paper lingered in the air.

Hu Songnian led Wei Chen to a window with a sign that read "Purchase Settlement". Behind the window sat a female accountant in her forties with short hair and wearing arm sleeves. She was intently fiddling with an old, shiny wooden abacus, her fingers flying across the page, the beads clattering rapidly. On the table in front of her were stacks of receipts and ledgers.

"Sister Liu! You've worked so hard, haven't you finished get off work yet?" Hu Songnian handed the warehouse receipt through the small window, a smile spreading across his face.

The accountant, known as Sister Liu, looked up, adjusted her glasses, and, recognizing Hu Songnian, gave him a helpless yet familiar smile: "Old Hu, I've been waiting for you! How was the harvest today?"

She took the inventory slip, glanced at it, and casually picked up the abacus beside her. With a series of crisp clicks, her fingers moved so fast they almost left afterimages. "Eggs, 103, 8 cents each... 8.24 yuan; mushrooms, 2.5 jin... total 27.105 yuan." The abacus sound stopped abruptly as she recited a number accurate to the cent.

"Sister Liu, you have a good eye and a good plan!" Hu Songnian complimented, handing over his notebook filled with villagers' names and items. "This is the list, please check it."

Sister Liu took it, quickly glanced at it, nodded, and wrote down Hu Songnian's purchase amount in the notebook: 27.15 yuan. Then she took out a thick notebook with "Purchase Funds Settlement" written on the cover from the drawer, turned to Hu Songnian's page, and wrote down the expenses and balance for the week (50-27.15=22.85 yuan).

"Alright, Lao Hu, you have 22.85 yuan left this week. Keep up the good work tomorrow!" Sister Liu pushed the notebook and Hu Songnian's purchasing certificate out the window.

Hu Songnian packed up his things and breathed a sigh of relief; he had successfully completed his task for the day. He nudged Wei Chen beside him: "Wei Chen, it's your turn. Didn't you want an advance on this week's purchasing funds? Tell Sister Liu."

Wei Chen quickly stepped forward and handed his purchasing permit and his brand-new work ID (with his name, department, position, and photo printed on it) through the window, trying to make his voice sound calm: "Hello, Sister Liu, I'm Wei Chen, a new employee in the third purchasing department. I'd like to get an advance on this week's purchasing funds."

Sister Liu took the documents, adjusted her glasses, carefully examined Wei Chen's work ID, and then opened a registration book to look it up. Her finger traced across the book before she suddenly stopped, a hint of surprise on her face. She then looked up at Wei Chen, her gaze behind her glasses scrutinizing him and carrying a barely perceptible smile.

"Comrade Wei Chen, right?" Sister Liu's voice carried a peculiar tone. "Collecting this week's purchasing allowance? Young man, have you forgotten something?"

Wei Chen was taken aback: "Forgot...what?"

Sister Liu turned the register around and pointed to a line of strong, bold penmanship, which was the record that Director Wang had personally filled out yesterday afternoon: "Look for yourself. On Monday, you handed in a wild boar and a roe deer, totaling 135.8 yuan. That means you've completed the purchase task of 135.8 yuan. Here are the receipts." As she spoke, she precisely pulled out two warehouse receipts and settlement slips stamped with red seals from a stack of documents next to her.

Wei Chen stared blankly at the clear handwriting and bright red stamp on the receipt, and at the prominent number "135.8 yuan" that Sister Liu pointed to in the register. He had only thought about handing over the items that day and hadn't considered the subsequent task calculations at all.

Seeing Wei Chen's somewhat dazed expression, Sister Liu smiled and patiently explained, "According to our factory's rules, the value of the items a purchasing agent submits is converted into the amount of their completed purchasing quota. You've submitted over a hundred yuan worth of goods, far exceeding your basic weekly quota of fifty yuan. You only started yesterday, and this month has just begun." She flipped through another ledger, "You've already completed your quota for this week and next week ahead of schedule."

She picked up the abacus and proceeded to perform a dazzling series of operations: "Your basic weekly quota is fifty yuan. Yesterday, you submitted materials worth one hundred and thirty-five yuan and eight mao, resulting in a net over-quota of eighty-five yuan and eight mao. According to regulations, the excess amount will not be deducted and will be included in your total monthly quota."

Meanwhile, since you've already exceeded your two-week target, the finance department can advance you your monthly procurement funds. Your base target is 50 yuan per week. Your base monthly target is 200 yuan (calculated over four weeks), and you've already achieved 135.8 yuan. So theoretically, you only need to complete another 64.2 yuan of procurement to reach your monthly target. Of course, if you want to do more, there will be bonuses for exceeding the target.

Sister Liu stopped calculating, looked at Wei Chen, and said clearly, "So, you now have two choices: First, don't collect the money and wait until the week after next. Second, get an advance of 64.2 yuan for this month's task; once you complete that, this month's task will be finished."

Wei Chen was deeply moved! This was completely unexpected! Yesterday, the wild boar and roe deer were just "stepping stones" in his mind, but he never imagined that in the factory's financial system, they would directly turn into a real purchase performance worth nearly two hundred yuan! This meant that he had only worked for one day, and his main task for the month was almost completed? If he submitted another 64.2 yuan worth of supplies, he could get a month's "vacation" for free? This job was perfect for him.

He suppressed his surprise and tried to keep his voice calm: "Sister Liu, then...then I choose to advance this month's purchase funds."

"Okay." Sister Liu nodded and quickly wrote it down in the register. Then she opened a large, locked drawer next to her, inside which were neatly stacked banknotes of various denominations. She counted out a few: six ten-yuan notes, two one-yuan notes, and then a few small bills.

"This is an advance payment of 64.2 yuan for this month's purchases. Please check it and sign it." She pushed the money and an advance payment slip out of the window.

Wei Chen took the thick wad of cash—over sixty yuan! In an era when the average monthly salary was only twenty or thirty yuan, this was definitely a "huge sum"! He took a deep breath, counted the money carefully, confirmed it was correct, and neatly signed his name on the advance payment slip.

"Alright, Comrade Wei Chen," Sister Liu said, putting away the receipts, her tone becoming formal yet gentle. "Take this money and use it flexibly next week. Remember, this is public money, so make sure it's kept safe and the accounts are clear. Also, you've basically completed your tasks for this month, so the pressure isn't too great. You can familiarize yourself with the connections or find some unusual items; there will be extra bonuses for exceeding your targets. Keep up the good work!"

"Thank you, Sister Liu! I'll definitely be careful!" Wei Chen carefully tucked the money into his inner pocket, feeling its weight and warmth. This wasn't just money; it represented a certain degree of freedom and the confidence to act!