Reborn in 1977, starting with severing ties with family.

It snowed heavily all night.

When I woke up the next day, everything outside was covered in white.

The old cripple got up very early and swept all the snow from the doorway.

Outside the gate, members of the neighborhood committee were pushing bicycles and using loudspeakers to spread the word.

"Attention residents! Attention residents! There is important news broadcast tonight, please tune in on time. If you don't have a TV, turn on your radio! The neighborhood committee's broadcasting station will also be broadcasting, please listen on time!"

"Attention residents! Attention residents! Tonight..."

As the sound faded into the distance, Jiang Sen knew that the most important moment of this era had arrived.

The old cripple stood in the yard and listened for a while, then said, "Today is a good day, let's have a good time tonight!"

Jiang Sen smiled and nodded, "Sure! Want to make it lively? I'll call them all over!"

"Whatever! I'm going to find Yingzi. It's freezing cold, let's roast a lamb!"

Eating roasted lamb on a snowy day is something only those who have lived in the mountains would think of.

Other ordinary families wouldn't even dare to dream of such a thing!

Jiang Sen went inside to make a phone call.

"Hey, Jianguo, did you go to the company with all this snow... Oh, then don't worry about your exam, come over for roast lamb after you're done... Okay, it's a deal then!"

"Hey Jianshe, we're having roast lamb tonight. Come over if you're free, and bring Xiaoping too... Oh, okay, come on over then, I'll go with you!"

After making the call, Jiang Sen went to the kitchen and saw the old cripple and Yingzi discussing what to cook for dinner.

"I'm going out with Jianshe later. Is there anything else we need to buy for the house? I'll bring it back later!"

Yingzi said, "We have everything, except a sheep. Old Cripple and I will go to the farmers' market later to see if we can find one."

"Okay! Don't be stingy with money!"

"understood!"

Jiang Sen smiled as he returned to his study, took out a notebook, and opened it.

He wrote a lot of things on it, some from the past, some from the present, and then he turned to the back and wrote about what would happen in the future.

He was afraid that he would gradually forget things over time, so he wrote down whatever came to mind.

I found the place that said 1978 and 1979, looked at the words, pointed to them with my finger, closed the drawer, put it back, and locked it.

More than half an hour later, he got into Luo Jianshe's jeep and drove towards the West Station.

The driver was still the same expressionless young man.

Luo Jianshe didn't speak behind his back.

"We've secured the furniture factory; I'll take you to see it today."

Jiang Sen was overjoyed. "That was incredibly fast! What's the situation over there now?"

"It's about to go bankrupt. There are less than ten people left to keep it up. The rest have either been transferred or gone out to do small business. We promised the higher-ups that we would take good care of those ten people, but well, it's been... well, you know?"

Jiang Sen understood, but he was afraid that the people who stayed behind would be difficult to control, disobey management, and cause trouble later.

But from another perspective, it also depends on who stays behind.

"Let's go take a look and see!"

Soon, they arrived near the West Station. Beyond the low-rise residential area lay the railway lined with weeds.

After crossing the railway, you can see a large lake frozen in ice, and only after that do some factories begin to appear.

When Jiang Sen saw the lake, he made up his mind.

"What do those factories do?" Jiang Sen asked.

"They have everything: a pickle factory, a candle factory, and a match factory. That's about it."

The jeep drove through a large, open iron gate. The original road was overgrown with weeds and covered by snow, with only a small section showing, making it look extremely desolate.

It was very large inside, with an office building in the middle and two large factory buildings on both sides. There were piles of timber in the yard, all covered with thick snow.

There were several rows of footprints on the snow, leading to the office building.

Several bicycles were parked in front of the office building.

After getting out of the car, the two walked towards the office building entrance. Suddenly, the entrance opened, and a person walked out, smiling broadly at Luo Jianshe.

"Mr. Luo, I've called them all here!"

Jiang Sen raised an eyebrow as soon as this person appeared.

My mind was screaming, "No way, what a coincidence! No way, what a coincidence!"

This person was none other than the one with the red nose who was beaten up by Jiang Sen and Yingzi on the train back to Kyoto, and was later taken away by the police.

At the time, when the police checked their letters of introduction, they seemed to have mentioned that they were salesmen from some factory, but he didn't pay attention.

I never expected to run into him here.

Jiang Sen exclaimed, "The world is so small! Why don't you hide a little more?"

Because it was summer then and it's winter now, and Jiang Sen's padded coat and hood are much better than they were back then, the person with the red nose didn't recognize Jiang Sen at all.

He smiled broadly and led the two inside.

“We came early this morning to wait for General Manager Luo. The factory manager has difficulty walking, so he asked me to greet General Manager Luo.”

Luo Jianshe secretly told Jiang Sen, "Their factory director is named Ma Qian. He's worked his whole life. Last year, he injured his leg while trying to stop some factory workers from stealing wood."

Jiang Sen nodded. Hearing this, he realized that the factory director was indeed a good comrade.

The office building's main entrance is still the old-fashioned glass door with a wooden frame. Inside, there's a cotton curtain; once it's lifted, a cloud of white mist appears.

The room was heated and very warm. Jiang Sen and Luo Jianshe unbuttoned their coats, took their cotton hats in their hands, and followed the man into a conference room.

Once inside, everyone looked up at them with varying expressions. A man in his fifties or sixties with gray hair stood up, leaning on the table, and the others also stood up sparsely.

Their eyes were filled with apprehension and scrutiny as they wondered if they would be fired and kicked out of the furniture factory.

"Factory manager, General Manager Luo is here!" The man with the red nose scurried over and pulled out a chair.

Luo Jianshe glanced at him, then smiled and extended his hand, "Director Ma, thank you for coming in this freezing weather!"

"It's alright!" Director Ma was very kind. He looked at him and then at Jiang Sen. "We also want to know as soon as possible how we, the veteran employees, will be arranged. The New Year is coming soon, and the sooner we know, the better we can make plans."

"Let me introduce you!" Luo Jianshe pulled Jiang Sen over. "This is Jiang Sen, the general manager of our Senyang Trading Company, and he will also be the general manager here in the future."

"Director Ma, it's a pleasure to meet you!" Jiang Sen smiled and went over to shake hands.

"General Manager Jiang!" Factory Director Ma was somewhat surprised. Initially, it was Luo Jianshe who came to make the talks, and he thought Luo Jianshe was the general manager. He didn't expect that this was the real general manager.

Luo Jianshe is just a gofer!

"Everyone, please sit down!" Jiang Sen waved to everyone with a smile.

He and Luo Jianshe had already discussed what they were here for when they arrived.

Therefore, Jiang Sen had already considered how to say it.

After everyone sat down, the man with the red nose suddenly stood up again, "I'll get some water!"

Jiang Sen glanced at him.

Factory Director Ma said, "His name is Feng Baoguo, and he used to be the director of the factory's office."

Jiang Sen raised an eyebrow. "The office director, huh!"

While on the train, the letter of introduction stated "sales".

However, the office director is responsible for issuing letters of introduction. He can issue one to himself and use any excuse of a business trip to go out for food, drink and entertainment on public funds.

Judging from his current state, what happened back then probably didn't affect him much.

Luo Jianshe sipped his tea with a smile, solidifying his persona as an errand runner.

Jiang Sen said, "Let's get straight to the point. I'd like to know what you all did in the factory before!"