Rebirth 93: Break off the engagement at the beginning and marry Bai Fumei

Chen Guohua chuckled and told them to think about it: even if the electronics factory and battery factory couldn't keep operating, they were still better off than our supply and marketing department! To put it bluntly, our supply and marketing department was just a middleman; we didn't produce any products ourselves.

Take televisions for example. We sell Panda and Panasonic, as well as Peony and Venus. Not to mention refrigerators, we sell Meiling and Qingdao, and we also have Snowflake and Wanbao. In short, our supply and marketing department can find almost any brand that is available on the market!

“Tell me yourselves, back in the day, refrigerators were all about Snowflake in the north and Wanbao in the south, and washing machines were all about White Chrysanthemum in the north and Narcissus in the south. Which brand didn’t we have in our supply and marketing department?” Chen Guohua said, his face full of pride. “Why are we able to have so many brands of appliances? It’s all thanks to Old Qin going door-to-door to them!”

At this point, Chen Guohua patted Qin Haofeng's father on the shoulder forcefully. He vaguely remembered how many places Qin Haofeng had traveled to, having eaten steamed buns in Shaanxi and noodles in Lanzhou; he had seen the Bund in Shanghai and slept on the beach in Qinhuangdao. He had traveled all over the country.

Old Qin was a little bewildered by Chen Guohua's sudden enthusiasm. He waved his hand with a smile and said, "Hey, that was so many years ago, you still remember!" However, his evasive eyes and slightly upturned lips betrayed him.

Seeing Qin's expression, Chen Guohua knew he still remembered it, so he pressed on even more enthusiastically, "Hey, Qin, do you remember that time in Inner Mongolia? That time really shocked us all!"

Old Qin tried to appear thoughtful, "What happened in Inner Mongolia? I don't remember."

Old Qin smiled and waved his hand, indicating that he had forgotten. His eyes involuntarily looked outside the restaurant. How could he have forgotten?

Chen Guohua grabbed Lao Qin's neck and said, "Keep pretending! You dare say you don't remember that time you had a drinking contest with someone, drinking until you threw up and then drinking again, until you finally... what was that person called again..."

Chen Guohua suddenly stopped speaking, slapping his forehead hard as he tried to recall the person's name. "Oh dear, that person's name is so hard to pronounce, something like... something like Utu... Utubamu something..."

"Ulanbatel!" Old Qin couldn't stand it anymore and had no choice but to remind him helplessly.

"Yes, yes, yes! It's Ulanbatel!" Chen Guohua slapped his thigh and said excitedly, "Old Qin, you really impressed Ulanbatel! 2000 home appliances sold! Awesome!"

Old Qin felt a little embarrassed by Chen Guohua's words. He waved his hand and said modestly, "Oh, it's all in the past, not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning..."

"How do you say that drinking phrase? You should have learned it from us after you came back. How do you say it?" Chen Guohua asked, putting his arm around Qin Haofeng's father's shoulder.

Infected by Chen Guohua's enthusiasm, Lao Qin couldn't help but laugh. He cleared his throat and spoke in a nostalgic tone, "South of the Yellow River, north of the mountains, the vast Tumochuan Plain; my friend from afar, let's drink and chat. Grasshoppers on the grassland fly in groups of three, drinking three cups with one wing; eight steeds gallop swiftly, each hoof treading on four cups; the lark sings, the song never stops, so don't put down your cup!"

After saying that, Old Qin deliberately shuddered and said, "What I fear most is this lark. You can control yourself with other birds, but with this lark, it has no self-control!"

"How can you not count?" Old Zhao asked curiously.

Old Qin smiled mysteriously, "This 'lark' isn't actually a real lark placed there to sing. It's the local girls who are good at singing and dancing. They'll stand right in front of you, singing beautiful songs while pouring you wine..."

"You haven't seen anything like it! Those girls, one after another, sang in front of you, and the key is that they sang so well. Their voices were as clear and melodious as larks. You couldn't possibly refuse them!"

As Lao Qin recounted this, he couldn't help but wipe the sweat from his forehead. "Oh my, I was really overwhelmed with alcohol back then!"

"What's there to be embarrassed about?" Old Zhao smiled and glanced at Old Qin. "You just think that young lady is pretty!"

"Get lost! You go try it, if you can knock down the glass, I'll admire you!"

"Hahaha!" Chen Guohua laughed like a blooming trumpet flower, his stomach jiggling. He pointed at Lao Qin and said to Lao Zhao, "Lao Qin, he's a real talent in our supply and marketing department. He can talk the dead into the living and make the living seem like they're running and jumping!"

"Back in the day, our batch of goods was piled up like a mountain, and it looked like it was about to expire. Old Qin used his silver tongue to persuade a department store in the next city to buy all of them! Hahaha, Old Qin, you are truly our lucky star! Thanks to you, we were able to live for another three years. Otherwise, we would have been starving long ago!"

As Chen Guohua spoke, his gaze shifted to Lao Zhao, and he winked slyly, "Lao Qin is the best talker in our supply and marketing department, and you, Lao Zhao, are the best leg in our supply and marketing department!"

"Me?" Old Zhao looked bewildered, pointed to himself, as if asking, "Are you talking about me?"

Chen Guohua put his arm around Lao Zhao's shoulder and patted him hard like an old friend. "Lao Zhao, you know those Jiefang trucks in our supply and marketing department. They're almost like antiques. Especially the oldest one, which was bought in the 70s. It's older than your son! Look at the electronics factory and the battery factory. They replaced their trucks with new ones in the 80s. Their trucks are in much better condition than ours!"

Chen Guohua paused, his tone becoming meaningful, "But Lao Zhao, don't underestimate our old car. In your hands, it's been used at 120% efficiency, and it's never caused any delays!"

He cleared his throat and said seriously, "For a factory to grow and thrive, having good products isn't enough; you also need talented people who can sell them!" He pointed to Lao Qin, then to Lao Zhao, "Lao Qin is that talented person who can sell the products, but is just selling them enough? Of course not! Logistics must also keep up!"

"Think about it, if logistics can't keep up, goods can't be shipped out, and customers are getting impatient. They can tolerate it once or twice, but in the long run, who would want to cooperate with us? So, Lao Zhao, you are the pillar of our supply and marketing department, the mainstay, the..."

Chen Guohua suddenly stammered, and after a long pause, he finally managed to say, "Anyway, you, Lao Zhao, are extremely important!"

As he spoke, Chen Guohua's eyes reddened slightly. He waved his hand, signaling everyone to stop talking and start drinking. He recalled an incident from the winter of 1988. Heavy snow was falling, the north wind was howling, and the earth was covered in a blanket of white. Zhalatun urgently needed a shipment, and with the New Year approaching, no one wanted to make the trip. Only Old Zhao, without hesitation, drove his most dilapidated Liberation truck, braving the wind and snow, alone in his vehicle, and managed to deliver the goods to Zhalatun.

"The snow that year was really heavy!" Chen Guohua exclaimed. The snow in the supply and marketing office courtyard was ankle-deep! He was so worried that something might happen to Lao Zhao on the road, and how would he explain it to his sister-in-law!

Chen Guohua paused, as if he were back in that snowy winter, his eyes slightly reddening. "On the 29th, I stood in the courtyard of the supply and marketing office, as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, constantly chanting in my heart: Old Zhao, Old Zhao, you must come back safely!"

Chen Guohua's voice trembled slightly as he spoke. Old Zhao silently looked at Chen Guohua. "I regret it. Why did you send Old Zhao? What if we waited until after the New Year? If something had happened, I would have wanted to die."

Just as Chen Guohua was getting anxious, a large Jiefang truck swayed and bumped through the snow. Old Zhao, wearing a thick military overcoat and a dog-skin hat, jumped off the truck. Before Chen Guohua could even ask anything, Old Zhao excitedly said, "The first thing he said to me was, 'Old Chen, I've brought back the payment. It's all here!'"

At this point, Chen Guohua could no longer contain himself. He picked up his wine glass, downed it in one gulp, and then patted Lao Qin and Lao Zhao on the shoulders forcefully, saying excitedly, "He who gains the support of these two brothers gains the world! If I, Chen Guohua, don't trust you, who can I trust!"

Old Zhao and Old Qin escorted him home. Watching Chen Guohua sway and wave goodbye to them, the two turned and walked towards their homes.

"Old Zhao, are you going to the electronics factory?"

"Go ahead!" Old Zhao lit a cigarette. "While I'm still in decent health, I should help Old Chen out. Besides, I'm so tired of staying at home!"

“Okay, I’ll go too!” Old Qin took a deep drag on his cigarette. “Next time we go to Inner Mongolia, I’ll take you there so you can see the young ladies.”

"piss off!"