Faced with Director Liang’s invitation, Li Yi remained completely unfazed!
He could tell that Director Liang was genuinely inviting him, and he could sense the weight of this opportunity.
Under normal circumstances, given his educational background, the chances of him getting into a major factory like the sugar mill were slim to none.
Even if he did get in, he’d likely be stuck doing the work of an ordinary laborer.
Yet Director Liang had directly promoted him to a managerial position—any ordinary person would have accepted the offer long ago.
But was Li Yi an ordinary person? Clearly not.
He simply smiled and said, “Thank you for your appreciation, Brother Liang, but I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you—I have no intention of joining the factory!”
Wang Anguo and Li Gang were both taken aback. They had considered this possibility—after all, a true exceptional talent is bound to stand above the rest.
No matter what decision Li Yi made, they would have understood.
But they hadn’t expected him to refuse so flatly, so decisively.
Factory Director Liang wasn’t upset. In fact, he could tell from Li Yi’s decision to set up a stall right outside their sugar factory that he wasn’t the type to be bound by rules.
Besides, that little stall of his might look makeshift, but it actually brought in quite a bit of money.
Selling a few hundred servings of liangpi a day—even if he only made five cents per serving—still added up to several dozen yuan in daily income.
Now look at their sugar factory—even as the factory director, he only made seventy or eighty yuan a month. It was simply not an attractive offer.
“Brother Li Yi, won’t you reconsider? It’s a rare opportunity,” Wang Anguo reminded him.
Li Yi suddenly thought of something and said, “Brother Liang, I really don’t have any plans to join the factory myself, but could you give me two spots for others to join?”
“No problem,” Director Liang replied immediately. “But they’ll only be regular positions—I can only give you managerial roles!”
“No need for a managerial position—a regular job is fine!” Li Yi said.
“Alright then. Just send the person directly to me whenever they’re ready to start, and I’ll have someone handle their onboarding!” Factory Director Liang said.
“Thank you so much, Brother Liang!”
“Let’s not mention ‘thank you’—if we’re being honest, every single employee at our sugar factory should be bowing to you in gratitude!” Factory Director Liang said with a laugh.
“Hahaha, Brother Liang, you’re joking. Let’s not bring up the past!” Li Yi said.
Wang Anguo knew Li Yi’s temperament. Although he was always willing to help others, he never liked to dwell on things once they were over.
Maybe that’s just how things are done in their line of work, or perhaps it’s simply Li Yi’s personality.
“Brother Liang, let’s just put this behind us. You know what happened, and that’s all that matters!” Wang Anguo said.
“Alright, then it’s over!”
Then Plant Manager Liang spoke again: “Actually, the reason I had Anguo bring Brother Li Yi over today is that I need your help with two things!”
“Brother Liang, just tell me—I’ll do whatever I can to help!” Li Yi replied.
“First, I want you to take a look and see if this matter has been completely resolved.”
Then Director Liang explained further, “To be honest, after what happened last time, I’m still a bit uneasy about it!”
Li Yi smiled and said, “Judging purely by appearances, the matter seems to be resolved, but…”
The moment he uttered those two words, the expressions of everyone present changed. It was just like when a doctor delivers a diagnosis—the moment that “however” comes out, it never bodes well!
“But what? Brother Li Yi, just say it—I can handle it!” Factory Director Liang said, sweat beading on his forehead.
“Brother Liang, don’t worry. What I mean is, while your immediate crisis regarding workplace safety has passed, your factory is actually hiding an even greater crisis!” Li Yi said.
“A bigger crisis?”
Those words terrified Director Liang. This crisis had nearly landed them all in prison—what kind of life-threatening disaster could this “greater crisis” possibly be?
Wang Anguo also hurriedly asked, “Brother Li Yi, could you tell us what this even bigger crisis is?”
Li Yi shook his head and said, “It’s still too early to say. Let’s wait until the government relaxes its controls on the private sector.”
“The government is going to relax its controls on the private sector?”
Factory Director Liang was taken aback by this. He hadn’t heard a thing about it—not even a whisper.
Li Yi smiled and said, “They won’t relax controls just yet, but they will ease restrictions on individual businesses! Don’t ask too many questions—it will all become clear by the end of the year!”
“Well…”
“Brother Li Yi, are you saying that the crisis at our sugar factory is related to the government relaxing its controls on the private sector?”
“Yeah, there’s no point discussing this right now. By then, you might not even be the plant manager anymore!” Li Yi said with a smile.
“You’re right!”
Then Director Liang spoke again: “As for the second matter, I’d like to place an order with Brother Li Yi for some liangpi and white-skinned pancakes!”
“Ordering liangpi and pancakes? How many do you need?”
“Eight hundred servings of liangpi a day, and sixteen hundred pancakes. Let’s make it a week-long order!” Director Liang said, making a startling announcement.
Li Yi immediately understood—this so-called “favor” was just a roundabout way for them to thank him.
“Brother Liang, there’s no need to go this far…”
Before he could finish, Factory Director Liang cut him off and said, “It’s not entirely about gratitude. The main reason is that the factory wants to provide some benefits to the employees!”
“Perks?”
“Right. Actually, every year when our factory is rushing to meet production targets, we provide extra meals for the workers. Sometimes it’s mutton soup, and other times we hand out cookies or twisted doughnuts!”
Factory Director Liang continued, “But meat dishes are simply too expensive—each employee wouldn’t get much. And while biscuits and twisted doughnuts aren’t cheap either, most employees take them home for their elderly parents and children, which defeats the purpose of our initiative!”
“I’ve tried the liangpi you make—it’s delicious, affordable, and doesn’t keep for long. I plan to provide an extra meal every day for all the workers in the factory for the foreseeable future—just liangpi and white flatbread!”
Li Yi smiled and said, “Aren’t Workshop 1 and Workshop 3 out of commission? Do the workers still have to meet their quotas?”
“They’re out of commission, but we still have three production workshops that are fully operational! Besides, we’ll need to tear down and rebuild those non-compliant factory buildings during this period. In short, the workers are definitely going to have a particularly tough time in the coming days,” said Plant Manager Liang.
Li Yi knew full well that this was just lip service—who hands out cold noodles and white flatbreads as employee benefits?
But he didn’t refuse Plant Manager Liang’s offer. He nodded and said, “Alright, I’ll take the job. When do you need it?”
“How about tomorrow?”
“Sure!”
“Hahaha, then it’s settled!” Factory Director Liang said happily.
“Rest assured, 800 portions of liangpi and 1,600 white-skinned pancakes will definitely be delivered to you on time by noon tomorrow!” Li Yi said with a smile.
“Alright!”
……