Chapter 24: Who Is This Kid?

Northern Donghai City.

Although Wenming Village technically fell under the jurisdiction of the northern city, in truth, there was only one bus from Donghai City to the village each day, making a single round trip. Wenming Village was the final stop, and it took a full two hours to get there. If Xu Fei took the bus, by the time he returned, the factory would likely have closed for the day.

Meanwhile, Zheng Yongjin and Zhao Yongzhi were playing chess only because Xiao Zhang, who managed the warehouse, hadn’t come to work. Simply put, without access to the storeroom, the sales department had no work to do.

Glancing at the clock, Xu Fei saw it was already noon. Four hours just for the round trip—if there were any delays on the way, he’d certainly miss the window.

What to do?

Xu Fei mulled over his predicament until he suddenly remembered what Brother Liu had mentioned that morning: his relative had a truck to unload, which meant the cinema must have other trucks available. If he could use one of those, he could fetch Xiao Zhang and haul out the half-ton of sugar himself.

With this thought, Xu Fei turned and dashed out of the sales department.

He hurried to Workshop One, where he conveniently ran into Zhang Dajun as the man was leaving.

“Xu Fei, what have you been up to today? Are you just skipping work now?”

“Master Zhang, I might need to take the day off.”

“You think you can just take leave whenever you please? Don’t you have any sense of discipline?”

At that moment, Old Liu was heading out as well.

“Brother Liu!”

“What’s wrong, Xu Fei?”

Xu Fei pulled him aside and quickly explained his plan.

Old Liu nodded. “I can make a call for you.”

“Really?”

Old Liu told him to wait and went to Wang Guoqing’s office.

After a short while, Old Liu emerged smiling.

“It’s settled. Go find him.”

Grinning, Xu Fei was about to leave for the cinema when Zhang Dajun stepped in front of him.

“And where do you think you’re going?”

Xu Fei, recognizing him, replied blandly, “It’s lunchtime. Can’t I take a walk?”

“Just make sure you bring back some materials this afternoon. We’re still waiting on raw goods.”

Xu Fei only nodded, tossing over his shoulder, “Got it,” as he hurried away.

Watching Xu Fei’s retreating figure, Zhang Dajun muttered, “What’s got that kid so worked up?”

Old Liu simply shook his head. “That’s his own business. I’m not interested in snooping. If you want to know, ask him yourself.”

Zhang Dajun was left speechless by Old Liu’s bluntness.

“You—!”

But Old Liu was an old hand at the factory and didn’t care much for Zhang Dajun’s opinion. As Old Liu disappeared into the workshop, Zhang Dajun snorted and turned his gaze after Xu Fei.

“What is that kid up to, all mysterious like that?”

Meanwhile, Xu Fei had reached the cinema and found Old Liu’s relative.

His name was An Laosan. Xu Fei didn’t know his full name, so he just called him Third Brother.

“Third Brother, do I owe you for the ride?”

“Nonsense. Old Liu’s like a big brother to me. His friends are my friends too.”

An Laosan was the cinema’s driver—a very prestigious job in those days. He found a Jie Fang truck, started it with a crank, and took Xu Fei straight to Wenming Village.

Unlike the bus, the truck didn’t have to stop along the way, so they reached Wenming Village within an hour.

Wenming Village nestled by mountains and water, and the road was fairly good. Once in the village, Xu Fei asked a few locals for directions and found Xiao Zhang’s house.

He entered the courtyard to find Xiao Zhang spreading rice to dry.

Here, most families grew rice. In the city, it would be a prized commodity, but here, it was nothing special.

“You’re Xiao Zhang, right?”

Xiao Zhang put down his tool. “And you are?”

“My name’s Xu Fei, from Workshop One.”

“Workshop One? What do you need?”

Xu Fei showed him the shipping order. “I’ve got half a ton of sugar to move out. I went to the sales department, and they said you were off.”

“You came all the way from Donghai?”

Xu Fei introduced An Laosan.

Xiao Zhang nodded. “What’s the big rush?”

“Don’t ask. Can you help me out?”

“You’ve come all this way; of course I’ll help. Let’s go right now.”

Xu Fei was elated. He followed Xiao Zhang out, and the two of them climbed into the truck. An Laosan drove them straight back to Donghai.

On the journey, Xu Fei chatted with Xiao Zhang, asking about the rice.

Xiao Zhang explained that Wenming Village had enjoyed several years of bumper crops, and every household had a thousand or more pounds of rice—far more than they could eat, but it was impossible to sell. Some of it ended up ground into feed for animals and poultry.

Xiao Zhang mentioned this offhand, but Xu Fei took careful note. There was a business opportunity here: he could look into the market price for rice, and perhaps buy some to sell in the city.

An hour later, An Laosan’s truck rolled into the Donghai Sugar Factory.

Zheng Yongjin and Zhao Yong were deep in their chess game when a screech of brakes outside startled them.

They saw Xiao Zhang jump down from the truck.

“Who’s that kid?”

Zheng Yongjin and Zhao Yong abandoned their unfinished game and hurried out.

Xiao Zhang strode to the warehouse, unlocked the door, and called back to Xu Fei, “Come with me.”

Xu Fei waved to An Laosan, who drove the truck straight into the warehouse.

Xu Fei loaded the half-ton of sugar himself.

By this time, Zheng Yongjin and Zhao Yong had come over, staring at Xu Fei in surprise.

“Where did you get this truck?” they asked.

Xu Fei grinned and hopped down from the truck.

“Friends,” he replied, pulling three yuan from his pocket and pressing it into Xiao Zhang’s hand.

“Brother, buy yourself some cigarettes with this. I need to deliver these goods in a hurry, so I can’t buy you any myself this time.”

Xiao Zhang was stunned by the generous gesture—three yuan was a lot, as he only earned one and a half yuan for a day’s work.

“This… this is too much.”

“It’s not. You went to a lot of trouble for me. I won’t be driving you back, but when I’m free, I’ll buy you and Li Laosi a drink.”

“You’re too kind.”

Xu Fei climbed back into the truck.

An Laosan started the engine, and the two of them drove off with the sugar.

“Xiao Zhang, who’s that kid?”

“Xu Fei, just joined the factory, from Workshop One, I think.”

Zheng Yongjin regretted not knowing sooner—he still had a spare key. As head of sales, it would have been simple for him to handle the shipment himself. He almost wanted to slap himself.

Meanwhile, in the truck, Xu Fei pulled out a ten-yuan note.

“Third Brother, you’ve worked hard today. Let me thank you.”

He tucked the money under An Laosan’s seat.

An Laosan, having just seen Xu Fei give Xiao Zhang three yuan, had been wondering if he would get anything for his afternoon’s effort. Xu Fei, it turned out, was indeed generous.

“Brother, if you ever need a truck, just say the word.”

Xu Fei nodded, then had An Laosan drive to his own home.

They unloaded the half-ton of sugar, and An Laosan drove off.

Xu Fei then made his way to Aunt Wang’s house.

As soon as he stepped into the yard, Aunt Wang came out to greet him.

“Xu Fei, my cousin has been waiting for you for quite a while.”