Siheyuan: Struggle Begins in the 1950s

After parting with Wang Jianjun, Lou Xiao'e said goodbye to her father with a heavy heart and went home first.

She wanted to go back and talk to her mother about Xu Damao.

Seeing that his daughter was not in a good mood, Lou Bancheng asked the driver to take her back first. He had wanted to take this opportunity to let Lou Xiaoe meet Xu Damao, but it seems that he can only do it next time.

When Lou Bancheng came to the steel mill, he was naturally accompanied by the mill director.

The current director of the steel rolling mill is surnamed Lin, and the future director Yang is currently following behind and playing a supporting role.

A group of people first went to inspect the factory.

Looking at the current appearance of the steel rolling mill that once belonged to him, Lou Bancheng couldn't help but sigh.

His era has passed.

Director Lin had some personal connections with him, so Lou Bancheng knew the purpose of this reception before he came.

To put it bluntly, the country is short of money.

The Great Steelmaking Movement, which will only begin next year, has actually shown signs of growth this year.

In order to catch up with Britain and the United States, the highest instruction put forward the idea of ​​a large-scale steel production campaign.

At this time, the highest instructions can be said to be an imperial edict.

As soon as this idea was put forward, a draft was prepared.

The plan has been initially formulated and the current stage is to prepare for implementation.

Once steel is refined, it must be used.

Therefore, the higher-ups plan to expand large steel-consuming enterprises such as steel rolling mills first.

When Director Lin received the order, the first person he thought of was Lou Bancheng.

There’s no way, the steel mill is short of money.

Not only steel rolling mills but many other state-owned factories are facing this problem.

The funds provided by the higher-ups are limited and the tasks are tight, which gives these leaders a headache.

The reason for inviting Lou Bancheng this time was to exchange several years' profits from the steel mill for his investment.

It is not realistic to rely on Loubancheng alone for so many factories.

It just so happened that Lou Bancheng knew quite a few capitalists, and these capitalists had a lot of money.

When the time comes, let Lou Bancheng act as a bridge and the money problem will be solved.

Lou Bancheng was not opposed to investing money.

But from a business perspective, Lou Bancheng is actually not optimistic about this plan.

He himself was the owner of a steel mill, so he naturally knew that steel production was linked to a country's industrial strength.

It’s not that he doesn’t believe in the country.

But given the current strength of the domestic industry, we would be happy if the steel production capacity could be increased by half.

It is simply impossible to multiply it several times.

Of course he couldn't tell these people about these thoughts, that would be a mistake.

Therefore, he just said a few perfunctory words to Director Lin's explicit and implicit requests and did not give a direct response.

After touring the factory, the group of people went to the cafeteria to have a quick meal.

The reception dinner is in the evening, and the lunch is eaten in the cafeteria. This shows that our leaders are as hard-working and simple as the workers.

Of course, ordinary people can’t see the dishes that the leaders eat, but there must be at least one meat dish.

After dinner, take a break and then relax and watch a movie in the afternoon.

The person showing the movie was naturally Xu Damao.

This time, a talkie was shown, so there was no need for Xu Damao to explain.

Lou Bancheng originally wanted to meet Xu Damao and have a chat with him.

But when he saw Xu Damao's donkey face and traitor's attire, he felt a little unhappy.

How come Lao Xu's son looks like this?

His father doesn't seem to be that ugly.

Would Xiao'e be interested in this look?

Lou Bancheng hesitated for a moment, and out of politeness just nodded to Xu Damao.

However, the result made Xu Damao mistakenly believe that his future father-in-law was very satisfied with him.

He was so excited that he had already begun to imagine getting promoted and getting rich after marrying Lou Xiao'e.

After the movie was over and the leaders had left, Xu Damao came to the head of the Propaganda Department and said in a frivolous way:

"Director, are we still going to eat in the cafeteria tonight?"

The director of the publicity department rolled his eyes and said:

"What are you thinking about? We are not included in today's reception."

"What? Why?"

Xu Damao was a little dissatisfied. He was Lou Bancheng's future son-in-law, so why couldn't he sit at the table?

"Why? Those who can sit at the table in our factory are at least deputy factory directors. Even I, the director of the publicity department, am just occupying a seat in the logistics department. I don't even have the qualifications to sit at the table."

The director of the Propaganda Department felt that Xu Damao was somewhat ignorant of the seriousness of the matter.

Normally when we bring him to the table for receptions it's just because he's a talkative guy and loves to drink, and we just use him to keep people from drinking and to liven up the atmosphere.

I don’t know if Xu Damao has the nerve to ask for a seat at the table today.

Xu Damao was dumbfounded when he heard this.

As Lou Bancheng's future son-in-law, he was not even qualified to sit at the table.

Then why am I showing off in front of Shazhu today?

Xu Damao's face turned pale and blue at this moment, and he wished he could find a crack to crawl into.

In the small cafeteria on the other side, Sha Zhu bribed Liu Lan with two steamed buns and asked her to go to the private room to see if Xu Damao was there.

While serving tea and water, Liu Lan took a quick look and ran back to tell Sha Zhu:

"Silly Zhu, you've been fooled by Xu Damao. The people at the table are the factory director and the deputy factory director. How could Xu Damao be qualified to sit at the table?"

When Sha Zhu heard this, he sneered:

"Xu Damao is such a boaster. No, I have to go find him. Let's see if he dares to show off in front of me again in the future."

As Sha Zhu said this, he took off his apron and ran to the Propaganda Department.

When Sha Zhu arrived at the Propaganda Department, he saw Xu Damao drinking alone.

Upon seeing this, Sha Zhu immediately laughed frivolously and said:

"Hey, isn't this our projectionist Xu? Why, the factory director and the others didn't invite you to drink, so you're drinking alone here?"

Xu Damao was mocked by Sha Zhu and stood up and cursed:

"Silly Zhu! What's your business? Go wherever you want! It's none of your business!"

Sha Zhu was not angry at being scolded, and continued with a smile on his face:

"What's the matter? Are you still angry? I told you that you, Xu Damao, love to brag. Now you've been boasting.

Xu Damao was so angry that he pointed at Sha Zhu and cursed:

"Silly Zhu! Just wait for me. When I marry Lou Bancheng's daughter, I'll be the first one to kick you out."

Sha Zhu said disdainfully:

"You want to marry Lou Bancheng's daughter? You're dreaming!"

Xu Damao was so angry that he grabbed a cup and threw it at Sha Zhu.

Unfortunately, Sha Zhu dodged it with his nimble movements.

"Shamao, just drink here slowly by yourself! Master Zhu, I won't accompany you."

Sha Zhu said this and ran away, leaving Xu Damao alone standing there, helpless and furious.

After cursing for a while, Xu Damao calmed down.

He is a man who never holds grudges overnight.

He thought of a solution after a moment's thought.

Then he took a pack of cigarettes from the drawer and walked towards the security department.

He is a very sociable person and has acquaintances in many departments in the factory.

There just happened to be a few people in the security department who were on good terms with him.

The person who knows you best is always your enemy.

Xu Damao knew Sha Zhu thoroughly.

Whenever there was a reception in the factory, Sha Zhu would steal vegetables.

Like today's reception, he had to prepare at least three boxes of meat and vegetables as the base.

Today, Xu Damao wants to let Sha Zhu know what the consequences will be if he offends him.