Today was an eventful day. First, he played basketball with Mu Shanshan, then he was taken to the disciplinary office, and he heard a lot of inside stories from Zuo Yuxi. Wen Liang felt dizzy and his whole body ached. He went home to take a shower and change clothes. Fortunately, Ding Mei was cooking in the kitchen and Wen Huaiming hadn't gotten off work yet, so no one questioned his dirty appearance, which made Wen Liang, who had made up a lot of lies, feel relieved.
Wen Huaiming came back from outside after dinner. He went to the study without saying a word. Ding Mei and Wen Liang looked at each other. Wen Liang stopped his mother who wanted to go in to see him. He took a cup of tea and knocked on the door of the study. Without waiting for a response, he pushed the door open and went in.
Wen Huaiming was writing something under the lamp. Wen Liang put the teacup beside him and asked, "Is the Qinghua Factory not going well?"
After that incident, Wen Huaiming no longer hid anything from his son. He put down his pen, rubbed his temples, and said, "The opinions in the province are divided. There are many voices supporting Zhou Yuanting. Secretary Xu is in a difficult situation."
Wen Liang hesitated for a moment and said, "Who is Xu Fuyan's backer in the province?"
The most secretive and most difficult to hide thing in officialdom is the network of relationships. When it comes to Xu Fuyan's level, outsiders will never know where his real trump card lies. You think you have seen everything, but it may be just the tip of the iceberg. Some people, you think they have a deep background and an unbreakable foundation, but in fact they are just relying on the power of others to bully others and are deliberately mysterious.
When the false is made to appear true, the true becomes false; this is the truest portrayal of officialdom.
Wen Liang knew that Wen Huaiming had recently followed Xu Fuyan to Guanshan City, the provincial capital, many times, and he might be able to get some information. Wen Huaiming smiled bitterly and said, "I met with seven or eight officials, including Vice Secretary Qian of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Governor Zhu in charge of industry, Director Yan of the Provincial Economic and Trade Commission, Director Wang of the Planning Commission, and Director Lin of the Industrial Department, but I have no idea who is really willing to help Xu Fuyan. He wandered around various departments during the day, and when the banquet was over in the evening, I went back to the hotel, and I had no idea where Xu Fuyan went."
Wen Liang nodded. This was expected. Wen Huaiming's current loyalty to Xu Fuyan was trustworthy, but his level was too low. He was not even qualified to be a cannon fodder in the provincial game. Xu Fuyan naturally would not let him know too much.
Wen Liang pondered for a moment and said with a smile: "Although Qinghua Factory is well-known in the province, it is not worth the attention of those bigwigs. The final decision still needs to be made by the Qingzhou Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government. So whether the province supports or opposes it, it will not make a final decision. If you take a clear stand, you will be responsible, right?"
Wen Huaiming sighed, threw the materials he was writing to Wen Liang, and said, "So Xu Fuyan will inspect the Qinghua Factory again tomorrow. I have to prepare some materials and go with him. Maybe I will give a speech on the spot..."
"Oh?" Wen Liang raised his eyebrows, took the materials and said jokingly, "The Secretary is very courageous this time. He inspected the Qinghua Plant twice within a month. This signal flare is shining brightly."
"Who said it wasn't?" Wen Huaiming frowned, "The confrontation is so fierce, I really don't know whether it is a blessing or a curse."
Wen Liang took a quick look and consoled him, "It's okay. After all, Xu Fuyan is the top leader. He has no choice but to be forced to this point. The public has sharp eyes. Zhou Yuanting dare not go too far. Although public opinion is nothing, sometimes the sound alone can scare people."
Wen Huaiming glared at him and was about to scold him with a stern face. Wen Liang quickly raised his hands in surrender: "Okay, I know I was wrong. Dad, the following sentences should be added to the materials. The reform of state-owned enterprises is a gradual process, but the reform cannot be based on sacrificing the interests of the people. No matter what plan Qinghua Factory adopts for reform, we must first ensure that state-owned assets are not lost. Secondly, we must fully consider the resettlement of more than 3,000 employees. Finally, we must ensure that we turn losses into profits within a certain period of time. You can modify the specific content, as long as we emphasize these three points, we will be invincible!"
Wen Huaiming has been in the officialdom for many years, and he knows everything. The first is to occupy the political high ground, the second is to cater to public opinion, and the third is to set up obstacles for opponents. He has the courage and vision, and his words are upright, which makes Zhou Yuanting feel sick, but he can't say "no"! These are not really profound theories, but Wen Huaiming subconsciously doesn't want to offend Zhou Yuanting deeply, so he is inevitably hesitant when doing things.
Wen Liang wanted to tell him that since things had come to this point, there was no way back. If Xu Fuyan took a step back, he would only lose most of his control over Qingzhou. However, the secretary was still the secretary after all. But if Wen Huaiming took a step back, could he still expect Zhou Yuanting not to cause trouble for him
So whether it's for self-protection or for personal gain, what Wen Huaiming needs to do most is to push Xu Fuyan forward until there is no possibility of compromise between him and Zhou Yuanting.
Wen Huaiming understood what Wen Liang meant. After thinking for a long time, he slammed the table and said, "Let's do it!"
A day later, Xu Fuyan's speech at the Qinghua Plant caused an uproar. Zhou Yuanting did not mention it at the routine office meeting, and his contempt was self-evident. Wei Chenfeng, one of the main players of the Fang faction, the member of the Standing Committee of the Municipal Party Committee and the Minister of Propaganda, actually instructed Qingzhou TV to deliberately downplay the Qingzhou news broadcast that night. Xu Fuyan's fifteen-minute speech was edited into less than five seconds of footage. It was so domineering and arrogant that it was really appalling. After Xu Fuyan set up the banner, some forces that were ready to move and intend to surrender again lay dormant. It can be expected that before the situation is clear, Xu Fuyan will hardly find any help in Qingzhou.
Xu Fuyan wanted to test Zhou Yuanting's bottom line, but after firing the second shot, he found that he was so vulnerable. In the current situation, the balance in the province is difficult to break, and there is no strong support. If he wants to break the situation, he can only rely on himself to fight alone in Qingzhou, but facing Fang Mingtang and Zhou Yuanting, a behemoth that has been operating in Qingzhou for ten years, his sense of powerlessness becomes more and more serious.
And all this was within Wen Liang's expectations.
The reason why he encouraged his father to do those things was to force Xu Fuyan into a corner. The more difficult Xu Fuyan's situation was, the more important Zuo Yuxi's support would become, and as a middleman, his position would be more stable. This was a plan that killed three birds with one stone.
Everything is ready. What is needed now is to find a suitable opportunity to visit Xu Yao's father, Xu Fuyan, the nominal boss of Qingzhou, nicknamed the Secretary Who Raises His Hand.
This side is easy to say, but it is also difficult, even more difficult than pushing Zuo Yuxi, Xu Yao, Ning Xiaoning and Ji Su at the same time.
After school on the 10th, Wen Liang was thinking hard about countermeasures at home when he suddenly received a call from Li Shengli, which surprised him greatly. Almost a month had passed, and he thought that Li Shengli still didn't believe in his sincerity, or still couldn't get over the blow of his wife's betrayal. He felt regretful but also relieved. In any case, he had tried his best and he had explained to Nuan Nuan.
Wen Liang didn't expect Li Shengli to call him, so he immediately rode his bike to his house. He had been busy fighting with Mu Shanshan since school started, and didn't have time to come and see Nuannuan, which made Wen Liang feel a little guilty. Perhaps because of his better mood, Li Siqing's face regained some color, not as sallow as when they first met. His hair was tied behind his head with a rubber band, and it swayed when he walked, and he looked like he had some of the vitality and enthusiasm of his peers.
Li Shengli asked Wen Liang to sit down at the table, and Li Siqing sat obediently on a small stool beside him, using a winnowing basket to peel corn. Her family lived in the suburbs, but she was not a farmer and had no land. The corn must have been picked up from other people's fields. It was small and wrinkled, and was something that no one wanted.
"Uncle Li, how can I put it? I'm... I'm very happy that you can figure those things out!"
In his previous life, Li Shengli treated Wen Liang very well. Whenever the two families visited each other, he would always buy the best and most interesting things for Wen Liang, which made little Li Siqing jealous. In this life, Wen Liang was really happy to be able to help him get out of the shadows.
Li Shengli washed his hair very clean, and put on the sky blue work clothes of the agricultural machinery factory. He shaved his beard and looked very energetic. After hearing Wen Liang's words, a look of emotion flashed in his eyes. Finally, he stretched out his hand and gently stroked the edge of the table, sighing: "Two years have passed in a blink of an eye, and even you have grown up and become sensible..."
Wen Liang's nose felt sore, and he smiled and said, "I've been resting for two years, it's time to move around. Do you want to hear my plan?"
Li Shengli nodded: "Well, go ahead."
Wen Liang took out the latest version of the Qingzhou city map from somewhere, spread it out on the table, and asked Li Siqing to take a pencil and draw a big circle in an area.
"Uncle Li, what do you think is the commonality here?"
Li Shengli took a detailed look and pointed to a corner above and said, "It seems that the staff quarters of the Municipal Industry and Commerce Bureau, the Municipal First Construction Bureau, the Industrial and Commercial Bank, and the power plant are here, and there are also some residential areas." Then he moved his finger downwards, "I'm not sure about this side. It seems that there was no such a place two years ago..."
Wen Liang clapped his hands. "Great! That's a commercial area that has just been developed. Not many companies have settled in, and not many people are working. It looks a bit deserted now. But you see, at this location," Wen Liang tapped it with a pen, "it's right at the intersection of the two. People from municipal units and employees of private companies have to pass through here when they go to work. Whether it's purchasing power or willingness to consume, these people are very good potential customers."
Li Shengli had read the breakfast shop plan that Wen Liang had given him. If it hadn't been so well-reasoned, he wouldn't have believed what Wen Liang, a teenager, said. Now that he had seen what he meant, he slapped his thigh and said, "Great! Opening a restaurant here will definitely make money!"
Wen Liang smiled slightly: "Very good, we have reached a preliminary consensus - to open a restaurant! But what about the positioning of the restaurant? You have done this business before, why did it fail?"
Li Shengli thought for a while and said, "I have thought about this question for a long time. I seem to understand it a little bit, but I can't explain it clearly!"
"In my opinion, there are three main reasons. The first is that there are too few people. Your store is located at the entrance of the agricultural machinery factory, and it mainly caters to single employees of the agricultural machinery factory. How many people can there be? The second reason is that the purchasing power was low in those days, and everyone's desire to consume was not strong. I don't know about the guys in the agricultural machinery factory? They can eat a steamed bun with vegetable soup, so how much money can they spend in your store throughout the year? The third and most important point is that you are a small business, but there are too many types of food involved, breakfast, lunch and dinner, steamed buns, fried dough sticks, steamed buns, porridge, soy milk, tofu brain, spicy soup, noodles, stewed noodles, fried noodles, soup noodles, rice, and various stir-fries. You can't sell much in a day, but you have to match all the ingredients. How much is the cost of wasting in a month? How can you not lose money if you run a business like this?"
Li Shengli was originally a kind and honest person. He quit his job and went into business. It was the bravest act under the instigation of Zhao Yaqing. In the end, he lost all his property and even his wife ran away with someone else. Two years ago, he thought that he was a first-class cook and an honest person. The food was full of oil and fishy. There was no reason for him to lose money. So he often complained about his bad luck and fell into depravity. Today, after listening to Wen Liang's words, he really looked at him with a new eye.
Li Siqing had stopped what she was doing, and was listening to Wen Liang intently, with her chin propped up by her hand. Although she didn't quite understand some things, she knew from her father's expression that what Wen Liang said made a lot of sense. The little girl's mind was both innocent and ridiculous. In her eleven-year-old experience, Wen Liang was undoubtedly the most capable person, without exception.
This is the simplest form of worship, and also the most touching form of appreciation, without scheming, without right or wrong, and pure and flawless without any impurities. (To be continued)