Su Xiaotian looked at Fan Shufang’s eager expression, neither agreeing nor refusing.
As for future matters, they could be discussed later! After all, there was still quite some time, and who knew what might happen.
After dinner, the Su family children surrounded Dong Yuanzhong, listening to him tell stories of the war years.
Dong Yuanzhong spoke about these with great enthusiasm, extremely happy.
Tong Xing’an also listened by the side, as engrossed as the Su family children.
Fan Shufang looked at the childish Tong Xing’an and smiled, shaking her head slightly.
The previous Xiao Yuan had too many thoughts and was exploited by Dr. Wu.
But Tong Xing’an was still too young, with a childish demeanor.
Never mind, where in this world are there perfect people?
For someone of Old Dong’s status, loyalty was the most important thing!
As for other things, some relaxation was permissible!
When the Su family elders called the children home, the children still looked as if they hadn’t had enough.
Not to mention the children, even Dong Yuanzhong, who was telling the stories, looked reluctant to stop.
It was rare to find people willing to listen to his old tales, so why were they leaving now?
Su Xiaotian, however, felt that Grandpa Dong was not very good at telling stories.
However, the plot of the stories was clear, and she would organize them after returning home.
Su Xiaotian had even thought of a title: “Grandpa Dong Tells Stories.”
Because they had delayed some time, Su Xiaotian and the others went straight home that evening, not returning to Yiming Pavilion.
Thus, they missed Lü Ruya, who had been waiting for them at Yiming Pavilion all afternoon.
Lü Ruya waited at Yiming Pavilion for the entire afternoon, and still hadn’t seen Su Xiaotian and the others return by the time Yiming Pavilion closed.
Seeing the waiter’s suspicious look, Lü Ruya couldn’t help but wonder if Director Hu had been mistaken.
That young girl was Old Chi’s disciple, not the owner of Yiming Pavilion.
Lü Ruya noticed that besides himself, who had stayed at Yiming Pavilion for an entire afternoon, another person had also sat there for the whole afternoon, not only drinking tea but also eating.
However, that person left after dinner.
The next day was Monday.
Su Xiaotian and her siblings went to school together early in the morning.
After sending off their grandchildren, Grandpa Su and the others went to Yiming Pavilion.
As soon as they reached the entrance, Liang Xiu’s sharp eyes spotted someone pushing a bicycle and standing at the entrance of Yiming Pavilion.
Yesterday, she had heard a waiter say that someone had been in the shop all afternoon, and she had come out to take a look. It seemed like this person was the strange guest from yesterday.
Liang Xiu immediately felt a sense of vigilance.
This guest had lingered in the shop for a long time yesterday, why had he come again today?
Did he like their family’s dishes that much?
Liang Xiu felt it was unlikely.
No matter how much one liked the dishes at a restaurant, they wouldn’t come back to eat consecutively!
When Liang Xiu and the others saw Director Lü, Director Lü also saw the three people approaching Yiming Pavilion.
He took a look but didn’t recognize them, though the two elders had also been seen fleetingly yesterday.
However, when he saw them opening the door to Yiming Pavilion, he suddenly understood.
He patted his head, propped his bicycle aside, and went forward to greet them.
“Hello, comrade, may I ask if you are Su Xiaotian’s grandfather?” he asked politely.
Since Old Hu had said so, it must be true.
The young girl, judging by her age, must be in school and wouldn’t be at the restaurant at this time.
He was foolish not to have asked yesterday.
Grandpa Su, who was about to enter, looked at Director Lü in surprise.
After carefully observing him, Grandpa Su was sure that he had never met this person before.
Why would a strange man be looking for his precious granddaughter for no reason?
Ever since Su Xiaotian was almost harmed back then, Grandpa Su had been very cautious about such matters.
“You are…”
Grandpa Su, adhering to the principle of not offending anyone, asked very politely.
Director Lü then remembered that he had forgotten to introduce himself.
He usually considered himself quite smart, but why did he always make mistakes at crucial moments?
He quickly introduced his identity and purpose, even taking out his work ID to gain the Su family’s trust.
Grandpa Su pondered for a moment and said, “My granddaughter has gone to school. I really don’t know if she will agree to this matter.”
“Comrade, I actually have another reason for coming today, which is to ask student Su Xiaotian to help introduce Mr. Chi Ge.”
Director Lü was somewhat resorting to desperate measures.
Time was running out, and if he couldn’t find a suitable person soon, the director’s few remaining hairs would likely abandon his head.
And Chi Ge was undoubtedly the most suitable candidate, much more suitable than the unreliable little girl.
“Chi Ge!” Grandpa Su muttered.
“Yes, I want to meet Mr. Chi,” Director Lü said excitedly.
“Chi Ge is not very willing to meet outsiders!” Grandpa Su was not sure if Chi Ge would be willing to meet unrelated people.
“Comrade, to be honest, Mr. Chi is the only one who can help our factory now!”
Director Lü spoke very sincerely and quickly and concisely explained the problems facing the Qili Silk Factory to Grandpa Su.
Grandpa Su was a very principled elder, and after hearing Director Lü’s explanation, he felt that this matter truly needed to be helped.
If he had known how Director Ma had caused trouble that day, he definitely wouldn’t have agreed to help!
“He might come in the afternoon, why don’t you come and take a look then?” Grandpa Su finally gave a hint.
Director Lü was extremely grateful.
Little did he know that Grandpa Su also had his own little calculations.
In Grandpa Su’s opinion, it was better to let this man of unknown origin meet Chi Ge directly than to let him meet Xiaotian.
Grandpa Su felt that what he was doing was absolutely correct.
Director Lü clearly hadn’t expected that this trip would yield such useful information.
He felt as if he saw bright sunshine.
Grandpa Su looked at the smiling Lü Director and for a moment felt that all the factory directors in the capital were so foolish.
He impatiently told him to leave quickly.
With someone blocking the entrance, how could they open for business?
He was truly lacking in perception!
Unaware that he was being looked down upon, Director Lü thanked him again and left contentedly.
As he walked on the road, he felt that his day had gone quite smoothly.
He even felt that perhaps the afternoon would be just as smooth, smoothly meeting Mr. Chi and even smoothly persuading Mr. Chi to agree.
Director Lü returned to Qili Silk Factory happily, with a face full of smiles.
His radiant appearance made people feel annoyed.
Especially Director Ma, who had always disliked Director Lü, became even more furious seeing him like this.
The result of Director Ma’s anger was that he directly blocked the factory entrance with a cold face.
Fortunately, the factory workers had all gone to the workshops to work at this time, otherwise, if they saw the two deputy directors confronting each other at the factory entrance, wouldn’t they gossip?
“Is Director Lü’s watch broken?” Director Ma asked sarcastically.
Director Lü immediately understood that this meant he was late.
“Director Ma, look at what you’re saying. My watch is a genuine Shanghai brand, and it works extremely well!”
Director Lü deliberately showed the watch on his wrist to Director Ma.
This was the latest model of the Shanghai brand watch, which was much more beautiful than the old-fashioned watch on Director Ma’s wrist.
Director Ma, who already found Director Lü unpleasant to look at, was even more frustrated to see Director Lü flaunting a new watch.
“If you have something to say, say it. Don’t be flippant. We’re talking about your lateness!” Director Ma angrily pushed away Director Lü’s arm, which was waving in front of him.
“Director Ma, I had official business to attend to this morning, and the director knows about it!”
Director Lü’s arm was patted, and he quickly withdrew it.
However, it didn’t matter if his arm was patted, but it would be a significant loss if his watch was broken.
He glanced at Director Ma with a cold smile, thinking to himself that the person named Ma was truly a useless bastard, only good at showing off in the factory.
He didn’t seize the good opportunity in front of him, causing everyone to suffer so much?
“Are you using the director to pressure me?” Director Ma’s face immediately turned cold.
“No, no, how would I dare? I always remember that you are the first deputy director!”
This was what Director Ma often said, and Director Lü was now casually returning it.
“Don’t forget, factory discipline is under my jurisdiction!”
“Deputy Director Ma, discipline is under your jurisdiction, that’s correct. However, don’t forget that I, as a deputy director, am not under you, the first deputy director!”
Perhaps because he felt Director Ma had made a mistake, or perhaps because what he was about to do was about to be accomplished, Director Lü felt much more confident.
If it were in the past, he wouldn’t have openly confronted Director Ma like this, but at this moment, he did.
Director Ma didn’t expect Director Lü to show him such disrespect.
Especially when he saw a few workers passing by in the distance, his face turned even darker.
“Director Ma, should I remind you that the German merchants will be here in four days? Have you found a translator?” Director Lü didn’t want to argue with Director Ma any further, so he cut straight to the point.
Director Ma:…
“If you haven’t found one, you should hurry up. If the trade talks are delayed, neither of us can bear the responsibility!”
With these words, Director Ma’s arrogance was almost completely suppressed. Director Ma gnashed his teeth in hatred, but he didn’t know how to reply.
He looked fiercely at the smug Director Lü with his slightly cloudy triangular eyes, almost grinding his teeth to powder.
He decided that no matter what, he had to go to the director about this matter and let this person named Lü handle it.
Didn’t this person named Lü think he was capable? Then let him try.
He wanted to see how capable this person named Lü was to handle this matter properly.
He had approached everyone in the capital who could be ranked, asked so many people, and begged so many favors, but none of them had succeeded.
Director Lü, having gained the upper hand in the argument, felt even better.
He hummed a little tune triumphantly as he walked towards his office.
As he passed the director’s office, Director Lü suddenly thought of something, turned around, and walked into the director’s office.
The director was an old man in his fifties, with sparse gray hair on his head, indicating that he had indeed devoted himself wholeheartedly to the silk factory over the years.
“Xiao Lü, why are you here?” The director was having a headache and his tone was not very good when he saw Director Lü.
Lü Ruya sat opposite the director and briefly reported on the progress of his work over the past two days.
Then, he leaned closer to the director and whispered that he planned to meet Mr. Chi Ge that afternoon.
“Chi Ge? Are you sure you can meet him?” The director also became excited.
For the past few days, he had been so worried about the translation matter that his hair had turned white and he was almost bald.
However, everyone he had approached said that Mr. Chi was not seeing outsiders now.
As for other people who could barely serve as on-site translators, they were all extremely modest.
Upon hearing that it was for on-site translation, they all refused.
They even said that to take on this job, only Mr. Chi Ge himself could handle it.
However, Mr. Chi had just returned from the Northwest and had closed his doors to guests, not seeing anyone.
He admitted that he did not have the ability to persuade Mr. Chi to come out.
For the past few days, the director had been so worried that he couldn’t eat or sleep, and he had almost gone to the translation department for help.
“Director, I heard that Mr. Chi will be going somewhere this afternoon! I plan to try my luck, what if I happen to meet him?” Director Lü said with a smile.
“Try your luck!” The director, who had been extremely excited, lost nine-tenths of his interest upon hearing Director Lü’s words about trying his luck.
Director Lü paused and said, “Director, I heard that Director Ma seems to have already met Mr. Chi!”
Saying only half the story was enough.
The director was surprised. Director Ma had already met Mr. Chi?
Why had he never mentioned it?