Siheyuan, my new life

After seeing the three off, Li Huaide opened the office window. The biting cold wind blew into the room, sweeping away the lingering smoke. The cold wind blew on his face, but it did not affect the burning passion in his heart at all.

Of the three people who had been waiting in the office, only Deputy Director Yan of the Logistics Department was one of his own. He had only nodding acquaintances with Section Chief Huang of the Publicity Department and Deputy Director Yao of the Production Department before, since they were under different supervisors. In particular, Section Chief Huang of the Publicity Department, although nominally a section chief, was a genuine deputy director-level official. However, he was limited by the fact that the Publicity Department of Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill was small and insignificant. But he heard that the higher-ups intended to strengthen the construction of the publicity team, so it was very likely that the size of the Publicity Department would be expanded next year, and it would then be transformed into the Publicity Department.

This morning, Section Chief Huang and Deputy Director Yao went to the office of Deputy Factory Director Li Huaide and asked him to intercede with Consultant Lin at the Security Department's training base, requesting that he spare the lives of the few people arrested in their department.

In last night's raid on the black market in Xicheng Old Imperial City by the security department of Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill and the Dongcheng Branch Bureau, five people from the propaganda department alone were arrested, and more than thirty people from various workshops under the production department were arrested. In addition, the total number of people arrested by the two individuals from other units who sought their help exceeded seventy.

What gave Li Huaide a major headache was that Deputy Director Yan of the Logistics Department also came to his office. His purpose was the same as the previous two: to ask him to ask Consultant Lin to bail out the person. The list that Deputy Director Yan brought out included seven people from his own logistics department, and the other twenty or thirty people were from various related units, especially people from the grain station, meat processing plant, supply and marketing cooperative, and other units.

Li Huaide was well aware that if he could successfully help these people escape, he would not only gain a lot of favors, but also increase his influence within the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill and let some people see his close relationship with that consultant Lin once again.

Li Huaide was a little uneasy about getting so many people out of the security department all at once. To be honest, even he found it quite troublesome. But no matter what, he had to bite the bullet and go through with it.

Fortunately, the outcome was a happy one for everyone. Li Huaide not only successfully completed the requests of these people, but also shamelessly pleaded with Qin Ming and the others to secure the lowest possible punishment for those on the list.

According to the division of labor among the leaders of Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill, the publicity department, personnel department, and finance department are under the supervision of the Party Secretary, while the production department and technology department are under the responsibility of the factory director. Theoretically, as the top leader of Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill, the Party Secretary should also assist in the management of the security department. However, due to the presence of Lin Yu, a vice-ministerial-level political advisor, the security department of Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill has long been outside the jurisdiction of the mill. In the past, the mill could exert some influence on the security department through finance and logistics. Although the security department's salary and benefits were directly managed by the higher authorities, special funds were previously transferred to the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill's account through the finance department and then distributed by the mill.

However, since Lin Yu took over as the secretary of the security department of Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill, he set up a separate finance department and logistics department, and the financial funds were directly transferred to the bank account of the security department's finance department, thus effectively severing ties with Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill.

In particular, Lin Yu obtained a large amount of supplies through his own channels, and the Security Department no longer relied on the logistics department of Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill for its supplies.

The most important factor is the special nature of the Security Department's training base. The main leaders of Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill had already learned from the Ministry of Industry that the base was responsible for key national secret projects, and no one was allowed to enter the training base without permission. In addition, three consecutive top leaders of Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill had fallen out with that consultant Lin, and consultant Lin had no intention of interfering in the internal affairs of the steel rolling mill. He even worked directly at the Security Department's training base and almost never set foot in the steel rolling mill. As a result, among the main leaders of the steel rolling mill, the only person who could maintain a good relationship with that consultant Lin was the deputy director, Li Huaide.

After parting ways with Deputy Director Yao of the Production Department at the second-floor stairwell, Section Chief Huang of the Publicity Department went directly back to his office in the Publicity Department.

As soon as they entered the office, the five young men and women who had been huddled around a desk chatting quietly quickly shut up and returned to their own desks, picking up paper and pens and pretending to be working diligently.

Section Chief Huang shook his head with a wry smile. There were fewer than fifteen people in the department at present. The five staff members in front of him all had high school diplomas, and some of them were children of leaders from the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill. The Propaganda Department was the mouthpiece of the Party, and all its staff had to be loyal and reliable. Over the years, most of the staff left over from the Lou's Steel Rolling Mill had been reassigned to other departments and reassigned to new jobs, leaving only projectionist Xu Fugui.

There was nothing that could be done about it. After all, projectionists, as a professional technician, were in short supply, not just at the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill, but in almost every unit. In addition, Xu Fugui was a very tactful person. He not only frequently visited the homes of several leaders during holidays, but also never kept the various local specialties that the village and commune gave him after each movie screening in the countryside for himself. He would share the lion's share with the leaders and often give other colleagues in the department some local specialties such as melon seeds, peanuts, and dried mushrooms. Therefore, Xu Fugui was very popular in the propaganda department.

This morning, Xu Fugui's son, Xu Damao, brought his mother, Liu Lanhua, to Section Chief Huang's house. After explaining their purpose, Section Chief Huang felt a bit of a problem. After all, he only knew Lin, the consultant in the security department, and knew he didn't have the face to ask Lin to release the man. However, thinking about the two small yellow croakers that Xu Fugui had given him in order to help his son, Xu Damao, get a permanent position, Section Chief Huang couldn't refuse outright. So he could only agree and said he would ask his superiors for help after he got to work.

After Xu Damao and his mother left, Section Chief Huang found two small yellow croakers on a chair in the living room. It was clear that these were gifts that Xu Fugui's wife had secretly left there.

Section Chief Huang gestured to his wife to pack up the things, and then hurriedly went to his workplace. He had to find Secretary Chang, because in the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill, the only people who could talk to that Consultant Lin, besides the Deputy Director Li Huaide in charge of logistics, were Secretary Chang. As for the worker named Yue Xiangqian from the food factory that Xu Fugui's wife mentioned, that was just a side matter.