Siheyuan: Big City, Small Love

Chapter 396 Lighter Factory

Just when He Lai and Old Lady Zhou were chatting enthusiastically, Old Man Zhou came back.

"Wow, it's quite lively!" Mr. Zhou said happily when he saw so many children in the house.

"I'm back. These two little ones are the children of Xiao Laizi's neighbor. I brought them here specially for me to see. They are so well behaved. Nannan and Xier call me Grandpa Zhou."

Old Mrs. Zhou said with a smile.

"Hello, Grandpa Zhou." Nannan and Xier said together.

"Oh, good, good, you two little kids, you are so polite, come to grandpa."

Grandpa Zhou waved to the two children with a smile on his face. Nannan and Xier looked at each other and then walked to Grandpa Zhou.

Grandpa Zhou touched Nannan's head and pinched Xier's face.

"Yeah, so cute, she looks exactly like little Rainwater when she was a child."

Yu Shui recalled the time when she was fishing in Grandpa Zhou’s arms when she was a child. Her face turned red and she felt a little embarrassed.

"Do you like candy? Grandpa has lots of candy here!"

"Grandpa, we don't want it anymore. Grandma has already given it to us. Look."

Nannan opened her pocket and showed it to Grandpa Zhou.

"Well, okay, Nannan is really good. All right, go to your Grandma Zhou's place, I'll talk to your brother."

Mr. Zhou didn't force them. He returned them to Old Lady Zhou and sat opposite He Lai.

"Good boy, you went to the Canton Fair and shocked the whole city! I didn't expect you to bring back nearly 100 million US dollars. You really want to go to the sky!"

Mr. Zhou said with a smile.

"There are so many. I don't know. They were all signed by Director Li. I never took care of them!"

He Lai spread his hands, indicating that he was unaware of it.

"Why are you pretending, you little bastard? Your performance at the Canton Fair has been in front of us for a long time! Do you think you can hide it from us?

You are so young, but you can speak so many foreign languages, including Russian, English, and Cantonese. If I hadn't watched you grow up, I would have suspected that you were a spy from Taiwan!"

Mr. Zhou scolded with a smile.

"What the hell is a spy? Are spies as good as me? I have helped catch many spies."

He Lai added.

"Okay, the higher-ups have given the order to build a lighter factory within half a month, specifically for external sales, and staff will be drawn from various factories. Do you want to go?"

Mr. Zhou asked.

"I'm not going. I'm tired. I want to lie down." He Lai refused directly and lay down on the sofa.

"I knew you would say that. You are a hopeless case. Okay, then you can stay in the technical department of the steel mill."

Mr. Zhou didn't force it and just let He come. After all, he was only seventeen years old.

"This time, each factory will transfer many workers to the lighter factory. If anyone wants to join the factory, tell the old man and I will arrange it for you."

Mr. Zhou said.

"Really? I have two cousins ​​who are still living in the countryside. Can you arrange that?"

He Lai said with a smile.

"Okay, write me their information and I'll make arrangements for you."

Mr. Zhou said.

"Grandpa Zhou, why do you need to do it yourself? Why don't you let me do it myself?"

He Lai felt a little embarrassed. After all, it was a bit of a waste of talent for Mr. Zhou, a minister, to help people arrange work.

"Why, do you know people from other factories? Or do you still want to arrange for them all to be placed in the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill?"

Mr. Zhou asked back.

"Uh...I don't know him." He Lai replied awkwardly.

"That's it. Don't worry. Your Grandpa Zhou still has some power. Every factory is hiring people now. It's not a big deal to cram a few people into the factory."

Mr. Zhou said.

"Okay, then thank you, Grandpa Zhou." He Lai was no longer shy. Since it was just a piece of cake, it would save him the trouble.

"Why thank you? The country is out of food now, and we can use this foreign exchange to buy food. Don't you know that the country is in great need of food now? They should thank you.

Someone originally suggested that you be the factory manager, but you are too young and you have just graduated for a year, so the position was given to someone else. "

Mr. Zhou explained.

"Then who did you give it to?" He Lai asked curiously.

"You wouldn't know him even if I told you. His last name is Gong, and he's in the same camp as Li Huaide. That's all you need to know."

Mr. Zhou revealed this information.

He Lai thought about it and realized that his surname was Gong, and it seemed that Li Huaide's father-in-law had the same surname as Gong. It seemed that he was a direct descendant of Li Huaide. That meant that the factory was taken over by people from Li Huaide's faction.

"Oh, pretty good."

"Okay, forget it. This factory is attached to your steel mill anyway. If you want to go, just let me know."

Mr. Zhou saw He Lai was in deep thought and thought he wanted to leave.

"Uh... no, no, I'd better stay here." Although He Lai really wanted to go, after all, he still had a plastic lighter in his hand, but he hadn't found the machine yet.

I forgot about this when I was in Gangcheng. I should have asked Lou Bancheng and others to help me get a few injection molding machines.

Never mind, never mind, it seems a bit too hasty to bring it out now, let’s wait until next year! Anyway, it will be many years before this plastic lighter is invented.

"Okay, you little brat, play chess with the old man."

Mr. Zhou didn't bother with this anymore and walked to the chessboard, ready to play chess.

"Grandpa Zhou, why don't we play Go? There are a lot of pieces there, so I'd like to learn it."

He Lai sat opposite Mr. Zhou, placing chess pieces in his hands and talking.

"Go, okay, I'll get a set some other day. The first shot!"

"Grandpa Zhou, you haven't given up yet!"

"Get the hell out of here!"

"If you don't let me, I won't get off!"

"You kid...

……

In this way, they played for the whole afternoon. Yu Shui also helped He Lai play chess. Unexpectedly, Yu Shui's chess skills were quite good. The two of them suppressed Grandpa Zhou in no time.

"Come again, come again, Grandpa Zhou, you don't have to give way this time."

He Lai discovered the joy of winning the game and quickly started setting up the chess pieces.

"Fuck, two people are bullying an old man like me. I don't want to play anymore. I'm tired."

Mr. Zhou knew he couldn't win, so he just gave up.

"Okay, Grandpa Zhou, please move aside. Yu Shui and I will have a plate."

He Lai is in high spirits and must play another game.

"Hey, you little brat, you dare to ask an old man to give way? Give up your seat yourself, come over to my side and stand with Xiao Yushui."

Mr. Zhou was not willing to give in and gave the order directly.

He Lai had no choice but to get up, take a small stool, and sit aside to listen to the rain.

I don’t know if Mr. Zhou wanted He Lai to lose on purpose. He reminded Yu Shui at several critical moments, which resulted in He Lai not winning a single game.

"I'm not going to go down, it's boring. Grandma Zhou, have you eaten yet? I'm hungry."

"Okay, grandma will make it now." Grandma Zhou was having so much fun playing with the two kids that she forgot about cooking. She quickly got up and went to the kitchen.

When Yu Shui saw this, he also went to the kitchen.

"You are really lucky, look how sensible little Yushui is."

"Well, Grandpa Zhou, you are unlucky. I will go talk to Grandma Zhou later."

He Lai obviously held a grudge against Mr. Zhou.

"Good boy, you dare to fight back against your Grandpa Zhou, I will beat you up."

"Hey, I can't hit it!"

He Lai dodged, distanced himself from him, and started making faces.

Old Master Zhou looked at He Lai's funny appearance, smiled awkwardly, sat down again and started drinking tea.

After a while, Old Mrs. Zhou came out with Yu Shui and the two little ones, serving dishes.