Allantoin

  "Right Xing Ge, this business of selling fertilizer, I think we'd better call it off." Lin Zhenhua said to Cen Youxin in a tone of negotiation.

  "Xiao Lin, this is 8 tons of fertilizer, what can our family use it for? Even if you don't sell it on the black market, at least you can sell it to your relatives and friends. You finally managed to ask someone for help, and they agreed to give it to you. If you don't want it, aren't you being foolish?"

  Lin Zhenhua nodded: "Uh-huh, selling it to relatives and friends is fine too. But let's not go by the black market price, just the original price will do."

  Cen Youxin shook his head: "Little Lin, you're a very capable person, I really admire you. But on this matter, you still have to listen to your elder brother. The factory director gave you the ex-factory price, it's your face. You sell it to relatives and friends at the supply and marketing agency's price, they will also thank you, because they can't even buy it."

  "But I'm making money for everyone, isn't that inappropriate?" Lin Zhenhua said, "I sell it to them at the ex-factory price, wouldn't they be even happier?"

  "You haven't heard the old saying, 'A scoop of rice for kindness, a peck of rice for hatred.' When people are starving, giving them a scoop of rice will make them grateful. But if you give them a peck of rice, they'll think you're rich and feel that one peck is too little. Now that you can help everyone get urea, they're already very thankful to you. If you still sell it to them at the factory price, they'll think you're a capable person and will keep coming to ask for your help in the future. If you don't help, they'll hate you."

  I'm speechless... Lin Zhenhua was left tongue-tied by Cen Youxin's words. Don't look down on others just because you were a master of Huqing in your past life, when it comes to being a good person and doing things right, even a villager from this small place is far better than you.

  "Right, Brother Xin Ge, what should I do in your opinion?" Lin Zhenhua asked sincerely.

  "Xiao Lin, if you trust me with this matter, I'll take care of it. There are 8 tons of fertilizer, a total of 100 bags. My uncle and I will each take 4 bags, leaving 92 bags. I'll help you sell them, and just give me some labor costs, that's all."

  "I don't want a single cent of the money I earn." Lin Zhenhua hastily declared. However, he soon saw Xun Youxin's teasing gaze and reluctantly said: "Okay, let's split the money we make equally between us two."

  Cen Youxin said: "Divide it equally? I don't dare ask for that. If you're willing, giving me 20% would be enough for me to make in a year."

  "Alright, let's just agree to disagree." Lin Zhenhua stopped arguing, thinking that Cen Youxin was indeed a pretty good person, quick-witted and knowing his limits. If he gave him an opportunity... Ah, opportunity! Lin Zhenhua's mind lit up with a bright idea, and he couldn't help but smile, knowing what Cen Youxin could do.

  "Kobayashi, I think like this, these 92 bags of urea, I'll ask my close relatives and friends, especially those who are close to me, as well as the production team leader's family, and sell them at wholesale price, one bag is 45.6 yuan. For ordinary families, we'll sell at the supply and marketing cooperative's price, which is 52 yuan. In total, we can make around 1,500 yuan."

  "Alright, I'll do as you said, Xin Ge." Lin Zhenhua replied.

  To be honest, 15,000 yuan is no longer a big impact for Lin Zhenhua. If the sales of electric fans next year can meet expectations, his personal dividend will be 24 million. According to his idea, he might as well give all 15,000 yuan to the Cen brothers. With this money, it's enough for Mao Chao to eat meat every day.

  However, what Cen Youxin said is also right. He simply and unreasonably gave them all the benefits, which may not be a good thing. Small favors can win people's hearts, but when the favor becomes too great, it becomes a debt for the recipient. At that time, it's possible that everyone will become unhappy instead.

  "By the way, Xin Ge, this 8 tons of urea is also worth over 3,000 yuan in goods, I don't have that much money right now, what do you think we should do?" Lin Zhenhua suddenly remembered something and hastily reminded him.

  Cen Youxin was unconvinced: "Xiaolin, don't worry, I've got this covered. Tonight I'll go from door to door collecting money, and tomorrow we'll take it to the county town."

  "Uh, okay, you're in charge then." Lin Zhenhua conceded defeat, he really wasn't as good at this as Cen Youxin.

  Cen Youxin obtained Lin Zhenhua's authorization and felt more confident. He pulled Lin Zhenhua and said, "Little Lin, let's go see Liu Secretary first."

  "What did you see Secretary doing?" Lin Zhenhua was confused again.

  "Just come with me."

  The secretary's office is a suite, with the phone in the outer room and the secretary working in the inner room. Since there was someone making a call outside, the secretary closed the door to the inner room.

  Cen Youxin arrived at the door of the inner room and knocked. A voice came from inside: "Who is it? Come in."

  Xun Youxin pushed open the door, pulled Lin Zhenhua in together, and faced a middle-aged man sitting behind a worn-out desk, saying to himself: "Secretary Liu, I am Xun Changzhang's elder brother from the Agricultural Machinery Factory, my name is Xun Youxin."

  The secretary of the commune is Liu Limin, a locally promoted cadre. He doesn't know Xun Youxin, but he knows Xun Youjun, after all, the agricultural machinery factory is the largest enterprise in the commune, think about it, can the Premier not know the old general manager of the two oils?

  "Oh, do you have something to say?" Liu Limin sat steadily at his desk, lowering his head and continuing to flip through the documents in his hand, only slightly raising an eyebrow to ask. For a peasant like Cen Youxin, he really didn't need to pay too much attention.

  Cen Youxin said: "Secretary Liu, it's like this. This Comrade Lin was a soldier under my brother when he was in the army and is now working in Jiangnan Province. He came over to see my brother this time and helped my brother's family get some urea. Now there's still some urea left, so I wanted to ask, Secretary Liu, does your family want some?"

  As soon as this was said, Liu Limin's head completely lifted up, and there was a hint of a smile in his eyes: "Oh, you have extra urea? How much can you spare?"

  "Not many left, 4 bags, don't know if it's enough." said Cen Youxin.

  Liu Limin's face broke into a smile, and he raised his hand to gesture: "Sit down quickly and talk about it. Can you really get 4 bags of urea? Oh, right, it was this one..."

  "Director Liu, hello. My name is Lin Zhenhua. I used to be a soldier under Commander Cen's command and now serve as the deputy head of the technical department at Jiangnan Province's Hanhua Machinery Factory."

  "Oh, Director Lin, please take a seat." Liu Limin said, and then he shouted to the outside of the door, asking his secretary to come over and pour water for the guest.

  Lin Zhenhua took this opportunity to continue: "It's like this, our Hanhua Machinery Factory is a subordinate enterprise of the Light Industry Department, so we have some business dealings with some fertilizer factories. Friends from Xiangping Province heard that my squad leader's family was having some difficulties, so they helped out and got some urea for us. The quantity wasn't much either, I heard Secretary You also needed some, I thought a few bags of urea would be a kind intention."

  "Thank you so much, thank you so much." Liu Limin said repeatedly.

  Like Liu Limin, a local cadre, his wife naturally had been arranged to work in some unit of the commune, but at home there were still parents and younger brothers who needed to cultivate responsibility fields. As the commune secretary, Liu Limin was able to get some chemical fertilizers from the supply and marketing cooperative on a priority basis, but the quantity was extremely limited.

  The Yonghe Supply and Marketing Cooperative imports 30-40 tons of fertilizer every year, with only 2-3 tons being urea. The rest are ammonium bicarbonate and other types with lower purity. Out of these 2-3 tons of urea, the cooperative allocated half to supply the main cadres of the commune, with each leader getting about one bag on average. As the secretary, Liu Limin also didn't dare ask for more, so the demand for urea was still very urgent.

  These things, Lin Zhenhua naturally didn't understand, but Xun Youxin was very clear about them. The words Lin Zhenhua spoke earlier were also following Xun Youxin's lead, and after he finished speaking, he saw a hint of a pleased smile on Xun Youxin's face, as if to say: This kid is teachable... I am the proud student of Huqing High School... Lin Zhenhua was extremely depressed.

  "How is this price calculated?" asked Liu Limin.

  "Director Liu, the urea that Director Lin got is at wholesale price, 45.6 yuan per bag. I'll give you 4 bags, which is a total of 182.4 yuan." said Cen Youxin.

  Lin Zhenhua sat aside, secretly amused in his heart. Well done, Cen Youxin, you not only flattered the secretary but also managed to swindle him at the same time. However, what Cen Youxin did was also right; if he really sold it to the secretary at the ex-factory price, he would probably get into trouble instead of gaining benefits.

  As expected, upon hearing Xie Youxin's new offer, Liu Limin's smile grew even brighter. He said with feigned politeness: "How can this be? I'll just pay by the original price of 52 per bag instead. The extra money will be considered as treating Director Lin to a meal."

  "No need, no need." Lin Zhenhua said hastily, "I heard from Pai Zhang and You Xin Ge that Secretary Liu has always taken good care of them. How can I still have the nerve to earn money from Secretary Liu? This time I came in a hurry, didn't even buy anything for Secretary Liu, it's already very embarrassing."

  After some polite conversation, Liu Limin made a gesture to pay the money immediately, but was stopped by Xiang Youxin. He said that tomorrow he would directly send the urea to Liu Limin's home in the countryside and they could settle the account then. This was another place where Xiang Youxin knew how to get things done, as this kind of exclusive deal for the secretary couldn't be brought directly into the commune's courtyard.

  Farewell to Liu Limin, Lin Zhenhua and Cen Youxin walked out of the commune hospital, looked around and saw no one, Lin Zhenhua smiled at Cen Youxin and said: "Brother Youxin, I really admire you, did you learn this set from your master or is it self-taught?"

  Xun Youxin said with a smile: "Little Lin, in terms of reading books, I am not as good as you and Youjun. But when it comes to social things, as an older brother, I am still a little bit stronger than you two. Youjun's management of the agricultural machinery factory is too rigid, I have told him many times to be more flexible, but he just won't listen. Otherwise, the factory wouldn't be in this state."

  Lin Zhenhua asked tentatively: "You Xin Ge, in your opinion, how should we deal with this factory?"

  "This production thing, I don't quite understand. But I know that if you want to make money, you have to go out and run around, you can't just sit at home waiting. Look at those people from Zhejiang, they're good at doing business. Even in our remote area, there are often people from Zhejiang coming over to exchange plastic buckets for rice, and then taking the rice to market to exchange for money. Right Army's factory, up until now doesn't even have a single salesperson, every day is just waiting for the commune to find him work, how can he not lose money?"

  Lin Zhenhua heard that there was a chance and continued to ask: "Right Xin Ge, if you were asked to be a salesperson, do you think you could make it?"

  "Of course I can run." Xun Youxin replied without hesitation, "Isn't it just a matter of thickening your skin and running? As long as you can make money, what's the big deal about face?"

  "Good!" Lin Zhenhua praised, "Let's go find the team leader and make him take over the agricultural machinery factory. He'll be in charge of internal affairs, you, Xin Ge, will be in charge of external affairs, and I'll provide technical support. If we don't earn 100,000 yuan in a year, I'll turn Lin Zhenhua upside down!"

  The last sentence was Lin Zhenhua's self-righteous humor, because the word "Lin" turned left and right is still the word "Lin", which is a deceitful statement. Unfortunately, Cen Youxin didn't have such high culture and wouldn't think that way, so Lin Zhenhua's move was like casting pearls before swine.

  The two people did not go home, but went straight to the agricultural machinery factory. Entering the agricultural machinery factory, Lin Zhenhua once again saw the scene of Xunyang Bicycle Factory.

  All that can be seen within the low wall are withered grass and rusty iron tools scattered among the bushes. When the wind blows, a few old tile-roofed houses appear, which are the workshops and offices of the agricultural machinery factory. The land in rural areas is not worth much money, but the agricultural machinery factory has occupied more than 20 hectares of land, yet there are only a few buildings. Judging from the appearance of the buildings, this factory must have been built for at least ten or twenty years.

  "Is Right Army here?" Xin Sheng yelled loudly. In the countryside, there was no system of making announcements, and communication basically relied on shouting.

  Cen Youjun limped out of a room with the help of his cane, smiling and saying: "Xiao Lin, You Xin, you've arrived. How did things go?"

  "It's going quite smoothly," said Lin Zhenhua.

  Xun Youxin walked up and whispered a few words in his younger brother's ear, and Xun Youjun's face also showed an expression of surprise and delight. Although he said he was afraid to trouble Lin Zhenhua, when Lin Zhenhua got the urea, he was still very happy. No one knows the value of production materials better than a farmer.

  "Actually it's urea, and you've managed to get so much of it?" Zhen Youjun looked at Lin Zhenhua and asked.

  Before Lin Zhenhua could say anything, Cen Youxin interrupted and said: "Let's talk about this later, this isn't the place for conversation."

  "Alright, I'll say it first. We have a few old workers in our factory whose families are having a tough time. We should set aside a few bags of urea for them." Xian Youjun reminded him in a low voice.

  "Don't worry, I've already figured it out." Xun Youxin said with a dissatisfied expression. He then turned back to Lin Zhenhua and smiled: "Little Lin, you don't know, my younger brother isn't like someone who's in charge of the factory, but rather like someone who does good deeds. Whenever there's any benefit, he always thinks of the workers at the factory."

  Lin Zhenhua said: "It's always been like this in our team, in the past when we were in the army, even if there was a little benefit, they would think of us."

  Cen Youjun was overjoyed and said to Lin Zhenhua, "How about it, Little Lin? Didn't you say you wanted to take a look at our factory? It just so happens that we have some tasks today and all the workers are here. Take a look and see if this factory can be saved."