Chapter 326: The Story of Digging a Well
Su He slept exceptionally well through the night.
When she woke up, Director Tian’s face was split into a wide, blooming grin. “Little Su, I just went to the dining car and got you some piping hot millet porridge and white flour steamed buns. Come on down and eat while it’s hot!”
Su He asked, puzzled, “Director, didn’t we bring our own dry rations? Why spend money on this?”
“Those rations are far too coarse. You’re right at the age where you’re still growing, so you need to eat something fine and nutritious.”
Su He: “…”
“Director, I’m already eighteen!”
“What do you know? Growth spurts can happen all the way up to twenty-three, you’re still young! Quick, come down, go wash your face, brush your teeth, and eat!”
Director Tian had fully figured things out by now. As long as he consistently played the emotional card, Little Su would never abandon him or the food factory!
Therefore, he had to be an understanding, exemplary director!
Su He could only nod. After freshening up, she sat down to eat her breakfast.
Director Tian peeled a hard-boiled egg and handed it to her. “Little Su, as your leader, I really have to give you a piece of my mind!”
“Even if you want to contribute to the country’s export and foreign exchange earnings, you still have to take care of your own body. Look at how exhausted you’ve been these past two days! Last night, you were even talking in your sleep about negotiating business with people!”
Principal Chen and the other two veterans: “…”
How come none of us heard that?!
Tian the Cheapskate, just to flatter her, you’ve completely thrown your principles out the window!
Director Tian didn’t care in the slightest what they thought. Keeping Little Su happy was the only thing that mattered!
After finishing breakfast, Su He climbed back up to the top bunk and lay there, letting her mind drift into space.
The system popped up again: [Host, aren’t you going to talk to Jim about the pearl hair accessories and brooches? We’re arriving in Guangzhou tomorrow morning.]
Su He replied lazily in her mind, “If I go to him now, the upper hand passes entirely into his hands. So at this point, it’s just a matter of seeing who loses their composure first.”
“System, what you lack right now is the art of composure.”
“Take yesterday, for instance. The moment I mentioned having you top up some funds for me, you hurriedly made up an excuse and fled. Doing that makes you look incredibly unrefined.”
“If you didn’t want to give me a top-up, you could have rejected me with sound logic and valid reasons. Why did you have to slip away like a thief? So, you really need to learn this art of composure from me in the future.”
The system was utterly infuriated!
Reject you with sound logic and valid reasons?
Give me a break!
No matter how logical and valid my reasons are, once it passes through your mouth, it becomes nothing but unreasonable badgering!
When that time comes, what I lose won’t just be a tiny bit of funds—you might end up draining my entire private piggy bank empty!
You’re not teaching me composure; you’re trying to provoke me to death!
Terrified that Su He would bring up the fund top-up again, the system directly vanished.
Unrefined or not, it was still a hundred times better than being plucked entirely bald!
Close to noon, Section Chief Niu from the Foreign Trade Department of the Capital North Meat Processing Plant walked over with a jovial smile.
“Little Su, I’d like to treat you to lunch in the dining car, if it’s convenient?”
Su He agreed gracefully and followed Section Chief Niu to the dining car.
Once they ordered their food, they began to chat over their meal.
“Little Su, being able to secure that order this time was entirely thanks to your help. I know you aren’t looking for any reward, but our factory does have standard incentive measures in place.”
“Since you helped us secure a hundred-thousand-dollar order this time, you are entitled to a one-thousand-yuan bonus.”
“Once the Canton Fair concludes, I’ll have our factory’s finance department wire the money directly to you.”
Su He hurriedly tried to decline. “Section Chief Niu…”
Section Chief Niu directly cut her off. “Little Su, if you decline any further, it means you’re looking down on me, Old Niu!”
Su He had no choice but to “reluctantly” agree.
Both of them held an excellent impression of one another, making the conversation thoroughly enjoyable.
As they conversed, the topic naturally shifted to the export of sausage casings and pig bristles.
Section Chief Niu let out a sigh. “Casings and bristles are indeed highly popular among foreigners. Logically speaking, we shouldn’t have anything to complain about.”
“However, Little Su, since we aren’t strangers, I’ll pour my heart out to you.”
“Let’s talk about casings first. Not only is this stuff a massive hassle to process, but the critical issue is that production is limited. No matter how capable I am, without a massive number of live pigs, it’s all useless!”
“As for pig bristles, they’re basically plucked by hand by the farmers. After we purchase them, we process and export them, only earning a small middleman fee.”
“Because of this, we’ve been constantly searching for a new growth point in foreign trade.”
“But there hasn’t been any progress. We did manage to import a luncheon meat production line earlier, but it simply won’t sell domestically, and international buyers prefer the Plum Blossom brand from the Shanghai Meat Products Factory. A massive pile of inventory is just gathering dust in our warehouse, sigh…”
Su He thought about it for a moment and said, “Section Chief Niu, you must have heard about what happened with the Steel Mill yesterday, right?”
“Sausage casings and pig bristles are in extremely high demand at the Canton Fair. You can also try a bundling strategy—meaning, if they want to buy casings or bristles, they must purchase a certain portion of luncheon meat alongside them.”
“Of course, the pricing for the luncheon meat must be appropriately lowered, otherwise the other party won’t accept it.”
Section Chief Niu’s eyes lit up instantly!
Lowering the price was absolutely no problem!
It was dead inventory anyway; if they didn’t sell it soon, it would expire!
The only reason it hadn’t gone bad yet was because luncheon meat had a shelf life of three years!
He became incredibly excited. “Little Su, this… this… you’ve just done us another massive favor! I don’t even know how to thank you anymore! Rest assured, I definitely won’t let you down on this!”
Because he was too excited, Section Chief Niu’s speech became a bit scattered. “Little Su, our meat processing plant is desperately lacking a talent like you!”
“To tell you the truth, I actually harbored the intention to poach you yesterday!”
“But then I thought about it—we’re located too far apart, and you’re highly valued by your current units. Saying it would be a waste of breath, so I could only give up on the idea…”
Su He rubbed her hands together. “Section Chief Niu, have you ever heard the story of digging a well?”
Section Chief Niu looked entirely blank. “What story about digging a well?”
“It’s said that there was a person digging a well. He dug and dug, and after digging for a very long time without striking water, he gave up. In reality, if he had just dug one more shovel full, he would have seen water.”
After Su He finished speaking, she blinked her eyes and looked at Section Chief Niu.
Section Chief Niu: “…”
Does she mean what I think she means?
“Little Su, you… do you mean you’re willing to come work at our meat processing plant? If you’re truly willing, I can’t speak for other things, but you can name whatever salary and benefits you want!”
Su He replied with a beaming smile, “Section Chief Niu, because working full-time in another city is indeed rather difficult, I can work part-time instead.”
“There are precedents for this. The Shanghai No. 1 Textile Factory, the Shanghai Food Factory, and the Jinqiao Vegetable Processing Factory are all units where I hold part-time positions.”
“Whenever anything comes up, we simply communicate over the phone. So far, the collaborations have been extremely pleasant.”
“Through our conversation, I’ve found that you are a leader with a grand vision and deep patriotic sentiments. Coupled with the fact that I have long admired the Capital North Meat Processing Plant, I would be very willing to take on a part-time role at your factory. As for the title, you can decide whatever fits; any position works for me.”
Section Chief Niu: “…”
Hearing that you held positions in three different factories in Anxin County was astonishing enough!
As it turns out, you even have part-time gigs in Shanghai? Three of them at that?
Let’s just ask: do you even have enough time to manage all this?!
While Section Chief Niu was drowning in shock, the system popped up.
[Host, why are you taking a part-time job at the meat processing plant? Is shearing sheep no longer satisfying enough, so you’re preparing to pluck pig bristles now?]
