Siheyuan, my new life

So Chang Changzheng and the other factory leaders silently smoked, none of them intending to speak, and everyone quietly waited for the security department's decision.

Time passed silently, second by second, until more than half an hour later, three crisp knocks came from outside the office door. Chang Changzheng was startled by the sudden sound, then realized that the security department must have sent their handling opinions, so he quickly said in a deep voice, "Come in."

The office door opened, and a security guard who looked to be under thirty years old appeared in the doorway. However, before he could even speak, a thick cloud of smoke rushed in, making the office look like a fairyland. The smoke was so thick and indistinct that it was difficult to make out the faces of the steel mill leaders without careful observation. This showed just how much smoking these leaders had done.

After waiting for about half a minute, the smoke finally thinned out a bit, allowing the faces of the steel mill leaders in the room to be clearly seen. Then, a security guard stepped into the office and said in a respectful but firm tone, "Secretary Chang, hello everyone. Our Security Director Qin has instructed me to deliver the interrogation record of Hao Aiguo, a worker in the No. 2 Fitter Workshop, the investigation record of the steel mill workers residing in the courtyard at No. 95 Nanluoguxiang, and our Security Department's proposed handling of this matter to you all." He then stepped forward and placed a thick stack of documents on Secretary Chang's desk.

Seeing that the person delivering the materials was an unfamiliar security staff member, Chang Changzheng felt somewhat displeased. Even if Qin Ming didn't come to report in person, he should have sent a deputy director. When they went to the fitter's workshop to arrest Hao Aiguo, Deputy Director Xiong Qingshan personally led the team. But now, when reporting to the secretary's office at the steel rolling mill, he only sent an ordinary staff member. Clearly, the security department didn't respect him, the head of the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill.

So Chang Changzheng picked up the stack of materials on his desk and casually asked, "Where is your Director Qin?"

The security staff member remained calm and composed, saying in a flat tone, "Originally, Director Qin planned to come and report this matter in person, but after receiving a call from Secretary Lin, he and several deputy directors have already gone to the security training base for a meeting."

Chang Changzheng was met with a tough but not overt rebuff. He couldn't get angry at the security staff member in front of him, so he could only wave his hand with a bit of helplessness: "Alright, thank you for your hard work, young comrade."

The security staff member nodded slightly and then turned and left the office.

Li Huaide glanced at Chang Changzheng, whose face was gloomy, and couldn't help but sneer inwardly. This Secretary Chang really had a screw loose, thinking that he could have Director Qin Ming come over to report in person. Ever since Lin Yu took office as the director of the security department of Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill, the security department had basically been decoupled from the steel rolling mill. In the past, the security department's salary and benefits were directly transferred from above to the steel rolling mill's account, and then the steel rolling mill was responsible for distributing them on its behalf.

However, since Lin Yu took office, the Security Department has established its own Finance Department and Logistics Department, and has also built its own canteen at the Security Department's training base. Since then, the Security Department's funds have never been deposited into the steel mill's financial account, but have been directly transferred to its own Finance Department.

If in the past, Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill could at least have some leverage over the Security Department in terms of welfare and benefits, now it can only look on with envy. Moreover, the current welfare and benefits of the Security Department are something that not only ordinary workers at Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill covet, but even many cadres are drooling over.

Let's not even talk about other benefits; the food at the Security Department's training base canteen alone is enough to make anyone envious. Think about it: the canteen at the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill only serves boiled potatoes and cabbage in water every day, and can barely provide meat dishes four times a month. But when it's divided among the workers, each meat dish only has three or five slices of meat. But now, the Security Department's training base canteen serves two meat dishes and a soup every day. It's either pork stew with cabbage and vermicelli or beef stew with potatoes. The soup is either old hen ginseng soup or pork bone soup. The staple food is also unlimited steamed buns and rice. To be honest, even the meals served at the steel rolling mill might not be as good as the food at their canteen.

As the deputy factory director in charge of logistics and supply, Li Huaide was under immense pressure. Not only were the workers complaining, but many leaders were also quite dissatisfied.

However, even Li Huaide, a skilled cook, couldn't cook without rice. The higher-ups only allocated a small amount of pork each month. Now, a deputy section chief from the purchasing department spends every day at the meat processing plant, begging and pleading to get some extra quotas. Unfortunately, there are too many monks and not enough porridge, and the meat processing plant can't just conjure up a large number of pigs out of thin air to meet the needs of various factories and units.

It wasn't that no one was openly or secretly trying to get Li Huaide to ask Lin Yu for help; Secretary Chang had mentioned it more than once, but Li Huaide wouldn't open that door.

It should be noted that after this expansion, the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill will have just reached 10,000 employees. To reach or approach the food quality of the Security Department's training base canteen, it would need at least 5,000 to 6,000 jin of meat every day, which would amount to 150,000 to 160,000 jin per month.

But the security department only has three to five hundred people. Even if each person gets one pound of meat every day, it would only be a little over ten thousand pounds a month. Besides, the security department's logistics supplies, especially meat and grain supplies, are not allocated from above. They are all provided by Lin Yu himself, and the price is even lower than the national allocation price.

The leaders of the steel rolling mill all knew that Li Huaide had a good personal relationship with Lin Yu. Therefore, after learning through their connections that Lin Yu was still providing a lot of meat and grain to the city, the municipal bureau, and related departments, they all suggested that Li Huaide should ask Lin Yu to also provide some meat and grain to the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill. Some even suggested that the price could be increased appropriately.

Li Huaide scoffed at these people's suggestions and rejected them outright without the slightest hesitation. He did have a good personal relationship with Lin Yu, and Lin Yu had helped him a lot on several occasions, but he wouldn't ask Lin Yu for something so clearly beyond his purview. In fact, Lin Yu had already been quite considerate, knowing he was under considerable pressure, and had directly entrusted him with the food supply quota from the security department, which would at least somewhat make up for the logistical gaps on his side.