Siheyuan: Why does your brother beat you up every day, Shazhu?

"You're really good! You did this in the army, and you're still doing this after returning to the countryside?"

"So I should always be cleaning up your ass, right?"

He Weiguo chuckled: "That can't be helped, since you are my old battalion commander."

"Get out of here, stop it!" Zhou Zhenbang scolded with a smile, but there was no real anger in his tone.

Ten years of friendship during the war had already made the two of them closer than brothers. "Then where are you going to eat?"

He Weiguo then remembered:

"Hey, brother, now that you've reminded me, I just remembered that we were so anxious to talk about eating, but we haven't decided where to eat, whether at home or out!"

Zhou Zhenbang thought about it and made the final decision:

"Well, don't do it at home."

"First of all, I think that Shazhu was beaten up by you, and he's embarrassed. He won't be able to eat well there."

"Secondly, your hospital has many people with many eyes, and many of them work in the steel mill."

"Li Huaide just had such a fight with Sha Zhu at the factory today, and now he's going to your house for dinner tonight. What kind of nonsense is that?"

"Let's go to Hongbinlou! The Shandong cuisine there is quite authentic. I'll have my correspondent go there later and book a private room."

"Also," Zhou Zhenbang took out a car key from the drawer and threw it to He Weiguo:

"You can pick him up in my jeep later."

"When you're eating, you have to give the other person enough face."

"It's not right for you to drive your factory's rickety truck to pick up the factory leader. Driving my jeep will show that you take it seriously."

As the Minister of Armed Forces, Zhou Zhenbang still has a high degree of freedom in the use of a car.

He Weiguo did not ask in detail whether the car belonged to the department or Zhou Zhenbang personally. He remembered that it was this car he used when fishing.

But he didn't ask, he took the key and said, "Okay, thank you, brother!"

"Thanks for nothing! Remember to drive it back to me tonight!" Zhou Zhenbang cursed with a smile, then waved his hand:

"Anything else? If not, get out of here and don't bother me."

He Weiguo stood up:

"Then I'll be leaving first. I delivered the goods to the steel mill this morning and haven't reported back to the team yet. I have to go back and tell the captain."

"Get out of here!" Zhou Zhenbang waved his hand without even raising his head.

He Weiguo took the car keys and walked out of the office, and found the grass-green military jeep parked nearby.

He first lifted his bicycle and hung it on the back of the jeep, then found two ropes to tie it tightly, then started the car and drove towards the food factory.

Chapter 117 Return to the Food Factory

Soon, He Weiguo drove the military green jeep back to the food factory transport team.

When Wen Tiezhu and Liu Jun saw He Weiguo jump out of the jeep, their eyes almost popped out.

Wen Tiezhu was the first to come over, touching the hood of the jeep and marveling:

"Weiguo! You're really good! Where did you get this thing and drive it back?"

"Damn it, I dream of driving a car like this every day!"

"That old truck creaks and rattles and it makes my butt hurt. This car is much more comfortable!"

Liu Jun also looked envious and walked around the car several times.

Those who drive big trucks usually have little contact with small cars like these for leaders to ride in. They basically deal with large trucks with patches on top of patches. When they see this jeep, they are all envious.

He Weiguo did not hide it, smiled and said:

"Oh, I drove over from my brother's place. I had something to do this afternoon, so I had to pick someone up and use the car."

After he said this, Wen Tiezhu and Liu Jun immediately understood.

The two of them were even more envious. It was really great to have such a solid old leader protecting them.

The two of them lingered around the car for a while before returning to the main topic. Wen Tiezhu restrained his smile and asked:

"Weiguo, how are things going over there?"

They must have heard about the steel mill from Li Dachui who had returned.

This doesn't mean that Li Dachui sold out He Weiguo. It's mainly because Wen Tiezhu is the captain, and there must be a specific reason why He Weiguo didn't return to the team.

He Weiguo waved his hand, his tone becoming more relaxed:

"It's okay, Captain. It was just a minor problem, and it's almost resolved."

"I'll probably be delayed a bit this afternoon. I have to leave early to treat Director Li from the steel mill to dinner."

"What happened today was indeed the fault of my kid. He should apologize to him."

Wen Tiezhu listened and nodded:

"Okay! There's no urgent work this afternoon anyway, so just maintain the car assigned to you."

"Just keep an eye on the time. When the time comes, you can leave on your own. You don't need to tell me specifically."

"Oh, thank you, Captain." He Weiguo responded.

Wen Tiezhu hit him on the shoulder and scolded him with a smile:

"Hey! We're all brothers, stirring the same pot together. What are you thanking me for? You're an outsider, aren't you?"

At this time, Liu Jun next to him came over and reminded:

"By the way, Weiguo, have you bought your meal ticket yet?"

"Your quota has been empty for several days. Why don't you go to the Finance Department and buy your meal ticket while you have some free time?"

After Liu Jun reminded him, He Weiguo finally remembered this.

He really didn't eat much in the factory cafeteria in the past two days, and the occasional meal or two was at Wen Tiezhu or Liu Jun's.

It's time to buy meal tickets.

"Okay! Thanks for the reminder, Brother Liu! I'll go to the Finance Department now."

After He Weiguo finished speaking, he walked towards the factory office building.

The food factory was not small, and He Weiguo took a long time to find the finance department office.

He knocked on the door and pushed it open when he heard a voice saying "Come in".

There are several old desks in the Finance Department's office, and several accountants are busy using abacus or writing and drawing.

The section chief is a middle-aged woman in her fifties with shoulder-length hair and glasses. She looks very capable.

Seeing He Weiguo come in, she raised her head, adjusted her glasses and asked:

"Comrade, what can you do?"

He Weiguo quickly said, "Hello, Section Chief. I'm He Weiguo from the transport team. I'm here to buy a meal ticket."

The female section chief didn't have much impression of He Weiguo, after all, there were many workers in the factory.

She shouted to a young female clerk in the office:

"Xiao Li, there's a comrade here who wants to buy a meal ticket. Please come and connect him."

The female clerk named "Xiao Li" looked to be in her early twenties. She had two thick black braids and looked quite pretty.

She raised her head and saw the tall and resolute He Weiguo. Her face flushed slightly and she said politely:

"Comrade, come to my side."

He Weiguo nodded and walked to Xiao Li's desk.

"Comrade, how many meal tickets do you want to buy?" Xiao Li asked as he took out the ticket book.

He Weiguo scratched his head a little embarrassedly:

"Well, comrade, it is like this."

"I just got back from the army not long ago, and I don't quite understand how to buy meal tickets in our factory. Could you please explain it to me?"

After hearing this, Xiao Li became more patient and explained:

"Comrade, it's like this. Our factory's steamed bun coupons are two liang of grain coupons plus four cents each. One coupon can buy a standard steamed bun of two liang."

"A vegetarian ticket is three cents a piece, and a meat ticket is ten cents a piece."

"How much do you think you need?"

He Weiguo thought about it and although he didn't necessarily eat at the factory every day, he was too lazy to go to the finance department all the time, so he said:

"Then comrade... please give me a month's supply first."

Xiao Li was a little surprised when he heard this. Because money was tight in those days, and food coupons were extremely valuable, most workers bought them week after week, and few would buy them for a month at a time.

However, when she noticed the "Transportation Team" work ID hanging on He Weiguo's chest, she understood a little bit - the masters of the transportation team seemed to buy a lot, although she didn't quite understand why they bought so many factory meal tickets when they were often out on the road.

"Okay, wait a moment." Xiao Li didn't ask any more questions and started counting skillfully.

Soon, she handed a stack of sorted meal tickets to He Weiguo, and then calculated the total price on her abacus.

He Weiguo took out the corresponding money and food coupons and handed them over. After taking the meal ticket, he said thank you and turned to leave the Finance Department.

After he left, the female officer named Xiao Li couldn't help but glance towards the door a few times.

She is 21 years old this year and is considered an older unmarried woman in the factory. She has high standards and has never met the right person.

When I saw He Weiguo today, I thought he was a tall and energetic man. He was also a driver and spoke very politely. My first impression of him was quite good.

Just when she was lost in thought, an older female colleague next to her smiled and waved her hand in front of her eyes:

"Hey! What are you looking at? Everyone's gone!"

Xiao Li's face instantly turned red, and he quickly lowered his head and pretended to sort out the bills:

"Oh, Sister Wu...you just know how to tease me!"

Sister Wu was an experienced person. She came closer and smiled in a low voice: