Chapter 98: The Kid’s Got Good Looks, Though
Wei Qiang shook his head. Actually, he had forgotten many things, but for some reason, they suddenly came to mind.
Maybe he was really stimulated by his own family background?
At this moment, Wei Qiang became curious about his biological father.
But Uncle said he had forgotten everything, and that sent him away.
But he knew that his biological father was a righteous man.
When there was an opportunity, he definitely had to ask Comrade Lu about that old man’s situation.
Meanwhile, Lu Qiaoge had arrived at the Department Store. She had come prepared, so she carried a basket woven from thin willow branches, inside which were ten corn cakes wrapped in white cotton cloth.
These were for Mu Dan and the team leader of the Food Group.
She first went to the Hardware Group. Because she rode a bicycle, Lu Qiaoge was still wearing that set of cotton summer clothes.
The young woman was pretty, so she stood out particularly in the crowd.
Mu Dan had sharp eyes and naturally spotted Lu Qiaoge at a glance.
Seeing her carrying a vegetable basket, she thought she had come to buy vegetables, but the Department Store’s vegetables were downstairs.
Before she could speak, Lu Qiaoge greeted her with a beaming smile: “Team Leader Mu, I’ve come to find you about something.”
So, Mu Dan took Lu Qiaoge to the office behind the counter.
It was also their rest room.
Lu Qiaoge didn’t see the young woman she had met that day when buying the bicycle, not knowing if she was resting or something.
Mu Dan didn’t mention it, so naturally she wouldn’t ask proactively.
Lu Qiaoge lifted the cotton cloth on the basket, and a burst of fragrance hit her face.
Ten round corn cakes lay in the willow basket.
Because they were made from cornmeal, they were particularly golden yellow, and because they were mixed with white flour, they looked more delicate than ordinary cornbread buns.
At this moment, the tempting appearance mixed with the sweet aroma drilled into people’s noses.
Even though Mu Dan had eaten lunch, looking at the corn cakes now, she couldn’t help but swallow a mouthful of saliva.
She widened her eyes: “What kind of cakes are these?”
She was a staff member of the Department Store. To put it not exaggeratedly, as long as it was sold in the Department Store, even if she hadn’t eaten it, she had seen it.
But ones with such a golden yellow color, this was the first time she had seen them.
Large cakes in this era were an ordinary food that couldn’t be more ordinary.
So no one would think of selling such coarse cakes.
After Mu Dan ate one cake, she decisively covered the basket: “Come on, I’ll take you to find Team Leader Song. Whatever requests you have, tell her. Let me tell you, these corn cakes are unique at the moment. As long as the factory is set up, she guarantees she’ll only buy from your factory.”
Then she added: “Before it’s settled, don’t tell anyone else no matter what.”
But this had no technical content. Lu Qiaoge was just selling something novel. Mainly, cornmeal was cheap and easy to buy.
But to make the outside golden, crispy, and the inside soft, glutinous, and sweet wasn’t that easy.
Actually, this was still a bit short of perfecting, but there wasn’t enough oil at home to experiment, so it could only be like this for now.
Team Leader Song’s reaction was similar to Mu Dan’s.
But she spotted the cornmeal in it at a glance.
She ate one and nodded in admiration: “Coarse grains made finely, the effect is surprisingly this good.”
Lu Qiaoge handed the basket to Team Leader Song: “Our director has already gone to handle the approval for the food factory, but it’s a collective enterprise, so the authorities definitely won’t allocate funds. Team Leader Song, I just want to ask, if this works out, can the Department Store make a partial advance payment in advance?”
Although this request seemed a bit excessive, it wasn’t without precedent. Besides, how would she know it wouldn’t work if she didn’t ask?
What if it did?
People doing business need to have thick skin.
Team Leader Song glanced at the poised Lu Qiaoge. This young woman really dared to think big.
But for some reason, her behavior didn’t make anyone feel offended at all.
Lu Qiaoge smiled sweetly at Team Leader Song and said: “If it’s feasible, let’s talk about the discounts.”
Team Leader Song became interested: “Then tell me about it.”
Lu Qiaoge: “Five cents cheaper than the price of the First Food Factory, and all unsold expired ones will be unconditionally recycled, with payment refunded.”
The essence of discounts was the price, and everyone knew that.
But recycling all the expired ones?
What if they didn’t sell well? Reporting losses was also very troublesome.
It was a bit tempting.
Team Leader Song was a straightforward person. She said to Lu Qiaoge: “As long as you can set up the food factory, all these are negotiable.”
Not rejecting outright meant there was hope.
However, Team Leader Song emphasized again: “Qiao Ge, I mean on the basis of your Street Food Factory being established, then I can report to the leader.”
Lu Qiaoge smiled and thanked her: “I know. No matter if it works out or not, thank you, Team Leader Song.”
Anyway, she wasn’t counting on it definitely succeeding, but Team Leader Song’s words could be relayed to Director Hu and Aunt Huang to boost their confidence a bit.
Don’t think that a factory run by the Neighborhood Committee is somehow inferior.
Lu Qiaoge went back to report on the work. Before she could speak, she was pulled by Huang Juan into her office.
The leaders nowadays were all very simple. Even with their own offices, the main door was always open, and Neighborhood Committee staff could come and go freely. If tired from overtime, they could lie on the wooden chair and rest for a while.
For example, Cadre Liu often came to mooch Director Hu’s tea leaves.
It wasn’t really good tea, basically just tea leaf stems.
And Huang Juan’s office was the same.
Without important meetings, the door was basically open every day, but at this moment, Huang Juan had closed the door.
Lu Qiaoge looked puzzled at the mysterious Huang Juan.
What was this about?
Had some major event happened?
Huang Juan had originally wanted to talk to Lu Qiaoge properly after work, but Old Hu was right—what if the factory director suddenly remembered to call in the afternoon?
Finally, after anxiously waiting for Lu Qiaoge to return, she said to her: “Qiao Ge, let me tell you something.”
Her tone made Lu Qiaoge serious too: “What is it, Aunt Huang? Tell me.”
When only the two of them were around, Lu Qiaoge liked this intimate way of addressing her.
Seeing Lu Qiaoge’s tense little face looking even prettier, Huang Juan suddenly realized something.
The factory director and Old Hu were acting separately.
But the information wasn’t equal.
For example, had the factory director told Qin Hengzhi? If he had, what was Qin Hengzhi’s attitude? If he didn’t agree, and she had told Qiao Ge about introducing Qin Hengzhi, wouldn’t that be pitting Qiao Ge?
If it were anyone else, it would be fine, but the other party was Qin Hengzhi. That young man might have good looks, but his personality couldn’t be called gentle. No one could see through his depths.
Huang Juan swallowed the words she was about to say, waved her hand: “Aren’t you going to help Sister Hua copy the registration book? Go do that. I have something with Old Hu.”
With that, she hurriedly left first.
Lu Qiaoge: ……
What on earth was Aunt Huang doing? Why did she stop short of saying something?
She wanted to go report to Director Hu, but as she left Huang Juan’s office, she saw her entering Old Hu’s office.
Lu Qiaoge had no choice but to obediently go copy the registration book.
At this moment, Huang Juan and Old Hu were glaring at each other: “Why are you looking at me? This morning you led me astray, talking about the factory director calling—that’s not right. You have to quietly call the factory director yourself and see what Representative Qin thinks. If he doesn’t agree, just pretend this never happened. Absolutely don’t tell Qiao Ge, got it?”
