Living in a Siheyuan

The next day, in the morning, Zhou Changming came over and called Li Pingan to go to the meeting together.

Li Pingan was also puzzled. How could they, the deputy section chiefs, have the qualifications to attend meetings? Aren't all decisions made by the leaders?

Following Zhou Changming, Li Pingan came to the meeting room.

There were already quite a few people sitting inside, mostly section chiefs, including several deputy section chiefs from their logistics department.

After a while, Director Yang came in with Li Huaide and a few others.

Director Yang saw that everyone was present, so he coughed and said, "The purpose of calling everyone to the meeting today is to solve the problem of insufficient food in the factory. According to the estimation of the canteen, we will be out of food in a week at most."

"This is definitely not okay. If the workers go hungry, we will all be held accountable. Now let's think about what solutions we can have. Let's pool our wisdom."

Li Huaide, the deputy director in charge of logistics, also said after Director Yang finished speaking: "Comrades, not only is there not enough food, but the vegetables are also almost gone. By then, there will definitely be no new vegetables. We have to find a way to solve this problem."

After the two factory managers finished speaking, the people below lowered their heads and started talking.

Everyone knows that food is running low, but now we know that it is not enough for even a week. That is a big problem. Who dares to let the workers go to work on an empty stomach? The workers will surely be furious.

But no one has a good solution. Food is not something that can be produced by thinking of ways. It is grown in the fields. Now there are constant natural disasters. There is a shortage of food everywhere. How can these people get food?

Looking at the people whispering below, Director Yang knocked on the table impatiently.

Everyone fell silent and looked at Director Yang.

"Deputy Director Li also proposed today that we could organize people to go dig wild vegetables in the next few days. This is a good idea. We can take turns to organize each department and workshop to dig more. Combined with the leftover vegetables, we can last a while longer."

"The most important goal now is food. Everyone should use their connections to think about where to get food. As long as you can get the food back, you will be a great contributor to our factory. The factory will not treat you unfairly."

It's just that Director Yang said it very well and the pie was painted very big, but there's nothing we can do about it now.

After a long meeting, seeing that there was still no solution, Director Yang could only adjourn the meeting and let everyone go back to continue thinking of solutions.

Li Pingan didn't say a word at the meeting, he just listened to what others said.

He has food. There are ten acres of land in the space plus three acres of vegetable fields. That's thirteen acres. He can produce food twice a month, and each time he can produce nearly thirty thousand catties of rice. That's sixty thousand catties a month. But it's hard to explain how he got this thing out.

Back in the office, Li Pingan thought about it and decided that he had to get the food out, otherwise life in the factory would be too difficult.

With ideas comes action.

After get off work, Li Pingan was not in a hurry to go home.

He rode his bike to a ruin near the suburbs. There were many collapsed houses that were no longer habitable. Li Pingan looked around and found a relatively intact large house that could be used as a warehouse.

After checking the warehouse, Li Pingan rode back. The rest of the plan would be carried out at the factory.

When I got home, Yu Li was cooking. Lou Xiao'e was already three months pregnant and was starting to show signs of pregnancy. She was also helping in the kitchen.

Xu Damao's grandson is here too. It seems he didn't go to the countryside today.

He was teasing the two children, and when he saw Li Ping'an coming back, he said, "Ping'an, why did you come back so late today? I wanted to be with you after get off work, but you were nowhere to be found."

"I went to the suburbs to check the situation. The factory is organizing everyone to pick wild vegetables in the next few days. I'll go see if there are still many wild vegetables outside."

"Is it that serious? Are there not enough food?"

At this time, Yu Li and Lou Xiao'e came in with food. Yu Li heard it and asked in surprise.

After everyone started eating, Li Pingan said, "Yes, the situation in the factory is very serious now. There is not enough food to last a week, and there are not many vegetables left. We discussed it for a long time in the meeting today, and we can only organize everyone to dig wild vegetables."

"As for food, there's really nothing we can do about it."

Hearing that the situation had become so serious, the other three were silent. Looking at the white flour buns and the meat and vegetable dishes on the table, they really didn't expect that even the factory would have such serious consequences.

Li Pingan said: "But don't worry, I can still guarantee the supplies for our family. I can't let you go hungry no matter what. We still have children."

Xu Damao said a little embarrassedly: "Then Ping An, I will give you an extra 20 yuan every month in the future, otherwise both of us will be embarrassed to come to your house for dinner."

Li Pingan didn't want to accept the money, but Lou Xiao'e on the side kept persuading him. After thinking about it, Li Pingan accepted it. This would also make Lou Xiao'e feel at ease to eat here.

At night, Yu Li hugged Li Ping'an and said, "Ping'an, why don't we eat more whole grains and steamed bread? Otherwise, eating like this will be too conspicuous."

Li Pingan touched her head and said, "It's okay. We've locked the door and no one can get in. Don't be afraid. But I'll bring some cornmeal back some other day, and you can make some steamed bread and keep it when you're free. If someone comes, we can serve it out and eat the good stuff in secret."

Yu Li nodded vigorously after hearing this. She always listened to her man.

The next day at work, Li Pingan thought about it and went directly to Li Huaide's office.

Li Huaide is so worried about food that his hair is almost falling out. A man is smoking in the office. The whole office is filled with smoke.

Seeing Li Pingan coming, he threw a cigarette to Li Pingan and said, "Pingan, what are you doing here today?"

Li Pingan was smoking a cigarette, looking a little hesitant.

Li Huaide said, "Just tell me what's the matter. I will definitely help you if I can solve it."

Li Pingan took a long puff of his cigarette and said, "Director Li, I might be able to get some food."

Li Huaide originally thought that Li Pingan came to ask him for help. But when he heard that Li Pingan could get food, Li Huaide stood up from behind the table.

He walked a few steps to Li Ping'an and asked anxiously, "Really? How much can you get?"

Li Pingan looked at his anxious look and said, "Someone said they can provide us with food, but the source might be problematic. But he said at least 60,000 kilograms of rice per month, and there will be other things if we cooperate well."

"How much? Sixty thousand kilograms of rice? Is that really that much?"

"I'm not sure about this, but that's what they say. And you can inspect the goods before paying."

"That's great! If there really are that many, then our factory won't have to worry about food."

"But there might be something wrong with where their stuff came from. Isn't this hard to explain?"

Li Huaide was still in the happy stage. He waved his hand and said, "It's okay. Whoever can get the food now has the ability. There is no need to explain to others. As long as the food is not stolen or robbed, it's fine."

"Even if it was stolen or robbed, we just need to make sure the workers eat it. No one can do anything about it. Can we still get it out? Then we can just say we didn't know."

Seeing Li Huaide's confident look, Li Pingan stopped trying to persuade him. He said directly, "He said he would contact me tomorrow to give him an answer. What do you think about this?"

Li Huaide thought for a moment and said, "Let's go to Director Yang. We need his approval for this matter."

In this way, Li Pingan and Li Huaide came to Director Yang's office again.

After hearing this, Director Yang pondered for a long time and said, "This is not a trivial matter. Someone will definitely come to investigate in the future. For now, we must keep it secret for as long as we can."

"Wait a moment, I'll go call the secretary over, and it'll be fine if the four of us know about this."

He sent his secretary to call over the insignificant Secretary He, and they discussed the matter in the office.

Finally, they agreed to trade grain and told the public that the grain was transferred from other places.

Li Pingan and Li Huaide will lead the team to do the transaction. Let's do the transaction once and see how it goes.

After everything was discussed, Li Pingan returned to the office. He thought about everything. He felt that even if he was found out, he could deny the crime. He was not aware of it anyway.

A day later, as Li Huaide and his companions were anxiously waiting, Li Ping'an arrived with news.

It was still Director Yang's office. Director Yang asked anxiously, "Ping An, how is it? Did they agree?"

Li Pingan replied, "They agreed and gave me an address in the suburbs. I will go there to trade tomorrow night. They provide high-quality rice for one yuan per pound. And they will trade 30,000 pounds tomorrow night."

Li Huaide listened and said, "It's OK. As long as the quality is good, it can be much cheaper than the black market."

Director Yang also said: "Since it has been confirmed, you can go and trade with them tomorrow night. Bring a few more people with you this time and be careful."

After discussing the specific operation, they went back to make preparations. Everything would be decided tomorrow night. If the transaction went smoothly, it would mean that the steel mill would no longer have to worry about food. They could focus on production.

But how long it can be concealed is uncertain. Anyway, it's better to trade as much as possible.

Li Pingan also went back to prepare.

He asked Lu Dehua in the space to dress up early and put the rice to be traded into sacks. He also gave Lu Dehua some specific instructions on the action.

This was the first time that Lu Dehua had cooperated with him in an outside operation. He would always be worried if he didn't explain everything well. He must not reveal his true colors. Otherwise, it would bring him a lot of trouble.

Everything is ready. Just waiting for action tomorrow night.