Chapter 10: The War of the Arms and Thighs

  Wen Qing had a meal at Li Siqing's house, with fresh wild vegetables, newly laid eggs, and a bowl of noodles cooked in a savory broth that he had never tasted before. Wen Qing drank a full big bowl, while Li Siqing watched from the side, supporting her chin, with a smile on her face, as if Wen Qing eating her cooking was the happiest thing in the world.

  It wasn't until Wen Ze asked that he found out Li Siqing had been learning to cook with her father since Li Shengli opened the restaurant, and for the past two years, she had been cooking every day. Although there were no ingredients, she still managed to make the simplest dishes very delicious, showing that talent is required for everything. If Li Shengli had his daughter's current level of skill, the restaurant probably wouldn't have closed down so quickly.

  Wen Tai praised her highly, then left the 200 yuan that Ding Mei had brought with him to Li Siqing. With this money, their living expenses for the next two months were basically guaranteed, and he didn't have to worry anymore.

  As they walked, Li Siqing saw him off at the gate. Wen Ze gave a loud slap on his forehead and said: "Look at my memory! Don't worry about the start of junior high school, leave everything to brother." Li Siqing bit her lip and nodded heavily. With the experience from earlier, in her young heart, brother was all-powerful.

  "Brother, will you come visit me again?"

  Li Siqing's eyes were full of expectation, but she was also afraid that her request would put Wen Chen in a difficult position, and her head hung low, almost touching her chest.

  Wen Cheng stroked her hair, and the young man's eyes sparkled like the stars on his head. "Brother will come to see you whenever he has time. Nuan Nuan's cooking is so delicious that I think it's not okay if I don't come, haha."

  Li Siqing looked at the distant back of Wen Qian, her small body leaning against the doorpost. Brother, I know that wild vegetables can't make a good meal... Nuan Nuan knows...

  As soon as Wen Huiming entered the house, he slapped the table and scolded: "I let you send money to Nuan Nuan, where did you go? You only know how to come back home so late?"

  "Dad, you're from the policy research office, I wonder if you manage theoretical research?"

  Wen Huaiming was taken aback and said unclearly: "Of course, it's going to be managed..."

  "There's no speaking out without investigation, isn't that right? I not only sent money but also had a chat with Nuan, you guys are so bureaucratic, thinking that just giving some money to a little kid is enough? Here," Wen Ze pointed to his chest, "is the most important thing, if the heart disease isn't treated, it'll be fatal sooner or later."

  Wen Huaming surprisingly did not lose his temper, let out a sigh and said softly: "Yes, this time it was my fault for being too straightforward and rough, I won't do it again."

  Wen Qiang slowly sat down on the armrest of the sofa, put his arms around Wen Huiming's shoulders and said: "Dad, what to do with Nuan Nuan entering junior high school? Can't you find someone to help?"

  Wen Huaiming didn't mind his son's impertinence, saying: "I've asked about it, her situation doesn't meet the Hope Project funding standards. Moreover, Nuan's grades aren't good, and she did poorly on the junior high school entrance exam. Let alone no schools wanting to accept her, even if there were, where would the tuition and living expenses come from? Dad isn't being stingy, once or twice is okay, but if it really goes on for a long time, my intention is that it's not possible."

  Wen Jie also knew that his father was telling the truth. The wages of the two were barely enough to cover their daily expenses. Although Wen Huiming didn't have much power, he still had to attend social events at the municipal party committee, and during holidays, weddings, and funerals, they couldn't skimp on gift money either. In the long run, life was getting tighter and tighter. What's more, now that the agricultural machinery factory might go bankrupt, Wen Huiming would have to support Li Siqing and his family with just one person's salary, truly sharing the joys and sorrows together.

  Wen Cai scratched his head, he couldn't tell his father that he was reborn, and he would be able to make money soon. Please take care of her for now. After thinking about it, he still got stuck on the issue of money. Actually, Wen Cai had already figured out a plan today, but lacked the initial capital, which was a big problem.

  Although in his previous life, Ding Mei did clothing business after the agricultural machinery factory went bankrupt and it was not bad, but now if Wen Qiang said in the past, "Mom, you go do business, we don't want that job at the agricultural machinery factory." Without being beaten to death by Ding Mei, being beaten half to death is certain. If you are not a person of that era, you won't know how much people valued their iron rice bowl.

  Especially the most important point is that Dingmei's clothing store funds are still subsidized by the agricultural machinery factory!

  Wen Qian was deep in thought, Wen Huai Ming also seemed to have something on his mind, leaning against the sofa with his eyes closed, the old and young sat quietly like this, startling Ding Mei who had just entered the room.

  "Have the two of you had a fight? No, that can't be right, if they were fighting, they wouldn't sit so close together. What's going on here?" Ding Mei was very familiar with Wen Huai Ming, and since he wasn't reading the newspaper or watching TV news at home, something must have happened.

  Wen Huaiming opened his eyes and waited for Ding Mei to sit down on the sofa opposite him, saying: "It's still that broken thing from the city, today at the Standing Committee meeting Zhou Yuanting fired again."

  "What's wrong?" Ding Mei was not interested in politics, but she did her duty as a wife well. If her husband had troubles and didn't tell his wife, who could he tell?

  "It was just the other day that Xu Fuyan went to Qinghua Factory for inspection, and the factory director Lao Yuan arranged it well. Secretary Xu praised the team of Qinghua Factory a few words, especially mentioning that Director Yuan worked hard and made great contributions to the economic construction of Qingzhou..."

  Ding Mei curled her lip and said disdainfully: "Compared to the Qinghua Factory, it's not much better than the Agricultural Machinery Factory, but with more hard work!"

  "The problem is right here," Wen Huiming said with a wry smile: "Today, at the Standing Committee meeting, Zhou Yuting made a veiled criticism, saying that some of our leaders should be cautious when expressing themselves externally and not easily change the city's strategic decisions. He also said that the municipal party committee and government should communicate in advance to avoid disunity between the party and government, making it difficult for comrades at the grassroots level to follow..."

  Wen Cheng listened with his eyes wide and mouth agape. He had long known that Zhou Yuanting was powerful, and also knew about Xu Fuyan's nickname "Hand-raising Secretary", but he never thought that he would so brazenly slap Xu Fuyan in the face at the Standing Committee meeting... This is even more venomous than those poisonous snakes on later generations' forums...

  Listening to this, Wen Xiao still didn't understand, truly wasting the reincarnation quota. The fate of Qinghua Factory in its previous life was more miserable than that of Nongji Factory. After Nongji Factory went bankrupt and reorganized, it changed its name to Nongxiu Factory and barely managed to survive. The retirement pensions for retired workers were paid until 2007. However, Qinghua Factory was completely cut off, with over 3,000 employees not being reassigned, having to find their own jobs, causing a stir in Qingzhou for five years, only calming down at the beginning of the next century.

  It seems that the city is going to take action against Qinghua Factory, and the factory director Yuan Dazhu somehow established a relationship with Xu Fuyan, and Xu Secretary publicly expressed his attitude, or Xu Secretary wanted to make his own voice heard in Qingzhou too much, and he reluctantly got on board.

  Wen Qian understood, and Yuan Dazhu was not necessarily thinking of keeping Qinghua Factory. It must have been that Zhou Yuanting had given him a position that was too unpalatable, so this old fox immediately found Xu Fuyan, wanting to use his influence to change Zhou's mind.

  This is really courting death! Wen Xiang laughed coldly in his heart, relying on you, a small official, to find balance between the secretary and the mayor? Zhou Yuanting is what kind of person, he can swallow you whole and spit out only bones, yet he dares to use Xu Fuyan, this insignificant secretary, to put pressure on him. Truly, I don't know how to write the word "death".

  Wen Huaiming scratched his head in distress and said irritably, "I really don't know what Secretary Xu is thinking. This matter is complicated and how can we easily take a stand? Now at the Standing Committee meeting, Zhou Yuanting has taken the moral high ground, forcing us into a dead end. The situation is truly embarrassing."

  "Really?" Ding Mei also found it hard to believe, "It's come to this and Secretary Xu can still bear with it?"

  Xu Fuyan smiled and said that he indeed was a bit rash, accepting Mayor Zhou's opinion, and the matter was settled. However, after the Standing Committee meeting, rumors spread, and all sorts of unpleasant words were spoken in the city...

  "Isn't the Standing Committee supposed to be confidential? How do you know so clearly, Old Wen, when did your rank get mixed into the Standing Committee?" Ding Mei saw the atmosphere was heavy and intentionally made a joke.

  Wen Huiming hummed and didn't speak, but Wen Ze smiled and interjected: "Now the municipal party committee and government have two hearts, and there are no secrets in the standing committee meeting. No matter which side loses out, the other side will do its best to spread the news."

  Wen Huiming pointed at Ding Mei and said, "A person in his forties still doesn't understand what a child can see. His son is not bad, he has some of his father's political sensitivity, reward him with 10 yuan, take it!" Old Wen was actually quite open-minded, the city's messy things were not taboo when talking to his son, and would even consciously guide him to experience some.

  The flowers in the greenhouse can't grow big, Wen Huiming has always believed this, so he is also very dissatisfied with Wen Rong's weak personality. However, during this summer vacation, his son seems to have opened up and speaks and acts much stronger than before, it turns out that my educational methods are correct after all! Old Wen is self-satisfied, with a bit of the complacency of a people's educator.

  "But Dad, what does this have to do with you being a small deputy director?" Wen Xiang asked in confusion.

  "Cough cough," one sentence almost suffocated Wen Huaming to death. What's with this "little deputy director" nonsense? His eyes widened: "You little scamp, you're itching for a fight?"

  With a warm and gentle smile, Wen Huaiming let out a long sigh and said: "How can we say that people are unlucky and have ghosts urging them? Secretary Xu was offended at the meeting, and when he came down, he wanted the Policy Research Office to do some research on the Qinghua Factory, to see if it is scientifically feasible to thoroughly cancel the Qinghua Factory, and whether the subsequent impact can be controlled. The most important thing is to see if there is a feasible way to make the Qinghua Factory come back to life."

  "What's next?" Ding Mei accurately positioned herself as a sidekick, she didn't quite understand, but that didn't stop her from playing along.

  Then Director Meng handed this hot potato over to me. Wen Huaiming had an expression as if he had just stepped on dog poop.

  "This Meng Shanshui is a white-eyed wolf who can't be fed enough. During holidays and festivals, which link have we not gone through? On ordinary days, he would smile at us, but once something happens, he would turn against us and frame us!"

  Wen Huaiming signaled her to be quiet, but didn't refute it, showing that he was very much in agreement with his wife's words.

  Wen Jie didn't say anything, but the director of this policy research office, Meng Shanshui, was really too shameless. This was clearly a thankless job. On one hand, there was the powerful Zhou Yuanting, and on the other hand, there was the city committee's boss, Xu Fuyan. If Dad said to abolish it, that would be like pouring salt on Xu's wound, and the consequences would be predictable. But if you wanted to say that abolishing it would bring new life, Zhou Yuanting's reputation wasn't something to be trifled with. This was the most difficult part: you had to try to please both sides, saying that abolition wasn't the perfect solution, but there were many ways to revive Qinghua Factory, and whether they would work or not depended on feeling one's way across the river by touching stones. So abolishing it was also an effective method. This kind of talk usually worked in everyday life - you just had to avoid offending either side, and everything would be fine.

  The problem is, this isn't an ordinary time!

  The mayor slapped the secretary at the Standing Committee meeting, and the secretary followed up on this task, obviously wanting to find an excuse to slap back. Not only the reason but also the palm was found on the spot. So the conclusion of this study is about the reason, and the person being studied is that palm.

  As the saying goes, "the bigger the official, the more people are crushed", let alone several levels higher. Well, everything is done by Wen Huaiming, and when the time comes, Xu Fuyan can't bear it, just hand over the old Wen and he won't be implicated at all. Of course, Wen Huaiming estimates that Xu Fuyan will not do so, if something happens, the people below will come to take the blame, who else dares to rely on this secretary? The most likely outcome is that as long as Zhou Yuanting is in power, Wen Huaiming will never have a chance to rise again, being thoroughly marginalized is the inevitable result. Although Wen Huaiming's position in the municipal party committee was not high, he was at least a deputy department head, and there were people who flattered and fawned on him. Once he is thoroughly marginalized, for the young Wen Huaiming, it will be more painful than death.

  Damn it, Meng Shan Shui only knows how to bully the weak, and will eventually settle accounts with you. Wen Xiang secretly scolded in his heart, he understood with his butt that among the three deputy directors of the policy research office, his father had the least foundation and background, but was actually a real deputy director, with full weight and status, such a good scapegoat, if Wen Xiang came to find him, he wouldn't let it go either.

  Most importantly, Wen Jian remembered that in the winter of 1995 and the beginning of 1996, Old Wen was transferred to the Quality Supervision Bureau as a deputy director-level assistant researcher, thoroughly ending his political life. Perhaps the root cause lies in this clash between two strong forces, where Wen Huiming stood on the wrong side.

  It's all settled!