Chapter 188: Assigned To The Canteen For Odd Jobs
Director Zhou could never accept Lu Qiaoge’s money. Although he also felt heartbroken about such an exorbitant telephone fee, Lu Qiaoge had inquired very clearly about the clothing situation in Hong Kong, so it was worth it.
Although no one dared to say what the attitude of the authorities was now, what if it was approved? Their side would be the first trial venue.
If the transaction was really reached, they could exchange back the grain and supplies that were still in short supply now.
Although nominally it was a donation, it was actually a kind of exchange.
He said straightforwardly: “Qiao Ge, you’re being too polite. Although we’re not in the same system, we’ve cooperated before, and you’re also doing this for the people of Jiangcheng. This is all official business. How can I let you pay personally? This topic is off-limits!”
Lu Qiaoge was naturally happy. She thanked Director Zhou and also detailed her own ideas. Now it only depended on whether the people above would agree.
But there was still one worry: what if negotiations with Hong Kong didn’t work out?
Lu Qiaoge said: “As long as we offer enough, they will rush to come. For example, the Hong Kong clothing company that Zhen Xi mentioned earlier, with annual sales volume nearly one million. If we can make his clothing company reach one million five hundred thousand or even two million in a month, wouldn’t he come? Wouldn’t he happily donate ten percent or even fifteen percent of the sales volume to us?”
Elder Sister Su stared in surprise with wide eyes and asked Lu Qiaoge: “Can our Jiangcheng sell two million yuan worth of goods?”
Lu Qiaoge said: “I roughly asked around. Currently, just our city’s population, the staff is about seven hundred thousand. The Women’s Federation has data from the year before last, with about two hundred ten thousand female staff. If a clothing exhibition from Hong Kong was really held, wouldn’t you say these female staff would come to take a look?”
Elder Sister Su said: “If I were a female staff member, I’d definitely want to come see such excitement.”
Now buying clothes was no longer tense, but the quantity wasn’t large either, and cloth tickets were still needed.
Even if you had money but no cloth ticket, you couldn’t buy any.
Especially clothing from Hong Kong.
Lu Qiaoge: “If there are good-looking clothes at prices one can afford, like a beautiful women’s windbreaker priced around sixty yuan, wouldn’t female staff be willing to buy it?”
Did that even need asking? There would definitely be people willing to buy it.
As far as Elder Sister Su knew, to buy such a piece of clothing now required connections. Otherwise, even with money but no cloth ticket, it wouldn’t work.
There was one thing to admit: no matter what era, even in times of war, there was always a group of people unaffected, still living well.
It was the same now.
“Suppose there are ten thousand windbreakers, Elder Sister Su, do you think they would all sell out?”
Lu Qiaoge added: “Not just in our city, but other cities too. Ten thousand windbreakers is no problem at all in my view.”
Don’t underestimate the purchasing power on the mainland.
If it really happened, they would be shocked.
How great was this market potential? So great that those capitalists couldn’t even imagine it.
But at the beginning of reform, those who made soft money from us, who should have been the ones flattering us, instead had us flattering them…
Elder Sister Su also felt that after listening to Zhen Xi, it was like opening the door to a new world.
“I actually like wearing cotton cloth clothes. Just polyester is neither cool nor breathable, though it’s neat and doesn’t wrinkle easily. But Zhen Xi said cotton cloth and polyester can be combined into some new thing…”
Lu Qiaoge said: “It’s called blended fabric. Generally, cotton cloth accounts for sixty-five percent, polyester thirty-five percent.” She paused and then said: “Our country also produces blended fabric, but the output is not high, and it prioritizes supply to the military and diplomatic personnel.”
Elder Sister Su nodded: “It seems we have a lot to learn.”
When Lu Qiaoge returned to the neighborhood committee, she learned that Liu Jing had been transferred to the canteen to do odd jobs.
The accountant hadn’t arrived yet, so Accountant Shen was handling it temporarily.
Dragon Country was originally a society of human relations, not to mention such a large factory.
Moreover, the successor system was still in place, all military industry children, so this was just an enlarged family.
Lu Qiaoge was originally setting a trap to catch fish in the act, first to give a lesson to Liu Jing who had always been picking on her, and second to prepare for the food factory’s finance office to become independent.
But actually, there was a variable here: if Liu Jing behaved properly, even if she had prejudice against her, Lu Qiaoge would absolutely not use this method to deal with her.
The facts proved that Liu Jing’s conduct was poor, so it was no fault of hers.
But then again, the personal relationships here were intricate and complex, basically all related by blood or marriage.
Just like something Meng Xia had once told her family.
One year, they gathered together to paste paper matchboxes. Women of similar ages sitting together naturally wouldn’t be silent; they chatted about family matters, neighborhood gossip, whatever they wanted.
Several people started talking about the deputy director of another neighborhood committee.
Ordinary people gossiping about officials behind their backs rarely said anything good.
So they cursed merrily, one after another, until one woman suddenly stood up, hands on hips, and said irritably: “Stop cursing, he’s my eldest nephew, blood-related!”
So Lu Qiaoge didn’t intend to do anything to Liu Jing anyway, as the food factory’s finance would soon become independent.
Besides, she wasn’t someone everyone liked. As long as it was passable on the surface, Lu Qiaoge didn’t mind.
But she didn’t expect Liu Jing to leave so quickly, and to the canteen for odd jobs at that—not even allowed to do finance work anymore. Clearly, it was the authorities’ decision.
Even Old Hu didn’t have that much energy.
Lu Qiaoge called out to Xiao Cangcang who was in the backyard: “You go find Hua Hua and the others. Split up and check out exactly what’s going on.”
Xiao Cangcang happily agreed and whooshed away flying.
Actually, the little fairy rarely had them do things, but the little fairy didn’t know how much they liked doing things. Only at these times did they feel truly different from the others.
Lu Qiaoge organized her work notebook. Looking at the notebook she had filled halfway, she felt a great sense of achievement.
She heard that the year-end reward for advanced workers included a notebook, and it was quite thick with a cowhide cover, very sturdy.
For this notebook, she had to work hard too!
Sister Hua walked over and said quietly to Lu Qiaoge: “Liu Jing was suddenly transferred away this morning. Old Hu made a telephone call. He should know what’s going on, but he didn’t tell us. Do you want to go ask him?”
Sister Qiao also walked over and said disapprovingly: “Many people think Qiao Ge got Representative Qin to get rid of her. At this time, Qiao Ge should just pretend she knows nothing.”
Elder Sister Hua thought about it and felt Sister Qiao was right.
But Elder Sister Hua said to Lu Qiaoge: “Accountant Shen is arrogant and fussy. He just threw a big tantrum. Be careful when going to the finance office to handle things, don’t let him pick on any faults.”
Sister Qiao said: “Xiao Liu’s conduct was all indulged by Accountant Shen. He still has the nerve to get angry?”
Lu Qiaoge silently looked at the two.
Accountant Shen was over forty years old, a strict and by-the-book man. Normally, people might think in terms of male-female relationships, but no one would, because Accountant Shen was impeccable on issues of personal conduct.
Either he was pretending, but if he could pretend for a lifetime, fake becomes real.
