Chapter 87: Unintentional Willow (Part 9)
Thanks to the enthusiastic voting from friends, Xiao Qiao has finally climbed to the first page of the monthly ticket rankings. I am overjoyed and deeply grateful.
— Xiao Qiao
With the promise from Director Zhu of the Transportation Bureau, Hou Weidong and Zeng Xiangang were naturally elated. Yet, their joy was tinged with anxiety. They had each invested twenty thousand yuan upfront to purchase equipment, explosives, install electricity, and pay for land acquisition and compensation. Their funds were nearly depleted. Even the local villagers working at the quarry were cautiously asking for advance wages.
Sitting in Zeng Xiangang’s home, the two men calculated their expenses repeatedly. They concluded that they needed at least another twenty thousand yuan just to keep the operation afloat. Hou Weidong’s initial capital had been borrowed from his parents. Zeng Xiangang, having recently renovated his house, was even more strapped for cash; the ten thousand yuan he had contributed was scraped together from various friends.
“We can’t just give up. We definitely need to find more money. Brother Gang, tell your wife to start cooking early. Once we’ve had a few drinks, a solution will surely come to us.”
As the saying goes, a lack of a single penny can stifle a hero, let alone twenty thousand yuan. Zeng Xiangang looked deeply troubled. “What else can we think of? I’ve exhausted every possible idea.”
Hou Weidong channeled the same tenacious spirit he had shown during the road construction project. He raised his voice, “I refuse to believe that a living person can be憋 (stifled) to death by their own urine. We must find a way. Are we really going to let a mere twenty thousand yuan ruin our grand plan for wealth?”
“If it comes down to it, we can take out a loan. Bai Chuncheng talks a big game, but he falls short when it matters. I’m not familiar with Station Master Huang, and I’ve heard he’s not easy to deal with. I’ll go directly to Town Mayor Su and ask him to help us secure the loan.”
Zeng Xiangang nodded. “If Town Mayor Su is willing to help, there won’t be any problem.”
Hearing the word “loan,” Zeng Xiangang’s wife spoke up quietly from the side. “We’ve used up all the money in the house. Loan interest rates are so high. If we can’t repay it, we’ll have to mortgage the house, and our whole family will end up sleeping in the mountains.”
Zeng Xiangang was already irritable. Hearing his wife’s complaints made his temper flare. “Go away! Go prepare a pot of hotpot fish. Make sure it tastes good. I’m going to eat and chat with my crazy brother.” He then turned to Hou Weidong and added, “Women have long hair but short sight. Don’t take it to heart.”
Hou Weidong laughed. “My pager number is registered under ‘Crazy.’ Crazy never gets upset over such trivial matters.”
After drinking, Hou Weidong left Jianshan Village and took a different path, heading straight for the Qinglin Township Government. He descended along a steep trail. The scenery along this route was more beautiful than the other path, but with the burden of the loan on his mind, he had no heart to admire the views. He ran swiftly, his mind racing with thoughts on how to secure the loan.
This was his first time taking out a loan for personal reasons. This time, it was purely for private business. How to bring it up required some tact.
As he reached the entrance of the Lower Qinglin Forest Farm, Hou Weidong thought of an excuse. Engineer Liu Wei’s drawings still owed ten thousand yuan. He could use the repayment of the drawing fees as a pretext to borrow another ten thousand.
However, Su Ming had gone to a village and was not in his office. Hou Weidong did not wish to linger at the township government. After greeting Yang Feng, he sat at a spot along Su Ming’s usual route home, bought a pack of Yunyan cigarettes, and waited, puffing away in a cloud of smoke.
At around four o’clock, he saw Su Ming walking home with his bag in hand.
Hou Weidong stood up immediately. “Town Mayor Su.”
Su Ming had gone to Hongheba Village that morning and had lunch at Secretary Yang’s house. He had been drinking against two people—the village head and the party secretary—and had gotten them both drunk. His own head was slightly dizzy. Seeing Hou Weidong, he asked, “Do you need something? Come, let’s talk at my home.”
Once home, Su Ming slumped onto the sofa, closing his eyes to rest for a few seconds before asking, “Weidong, what urgent matter do you have?”
Su Ming was in charge of road construction. He knew that Hou Weidong had exhausted himself to get the Qinglin project approved. Zhao Yongsheng’s attitude that day had been unacceptable. What was even more commendable was that Hou Weidong, despite such treatment, had not become discouraged. He had persisted at the construction site. After this incident, Su Ming had looked at Hou Weidong with new respect.
Hou Weidong pretended to be casual. “It’s just about the drawings. Engineer Liu is pressing for the remaining ten thousand yuan.”
Su Ming frowned. “You want to take out a loan to pay for the drawings? Can’t you ask Engineer Liu to wait a few days?”
Hou Weidong feigned difficulty. “Last time, I agreed with Engineer Liu to pay the drawing fees in two installments: ten thousand upon collecting the drawings, and the remaining ten thousand upon project completion. Since the rough road structure is already in place, he called to urge payment.”
The excuse was reasonable, and Su Ming had no reason to doubt it. He thought for a moment and said, “In the past, this would have been easy. I would just tell Station Master Huang, handle the paperwork, and get the money. But recently, the township has established a Financial Supervision Group, with Secretary Zhao as the leader. Any expenditure over five thousand yuan requires the signatures of both the Financial Supervision Group leader and Town Mayor Qin to be reimbursed. The same procedure applies to the foundation’s related paperwork.”
Su Ming continued, “Secretary Zhao has some misunderstandings about you. If you apply for the loan in your own name, it probably won’t pass.”
Hou Weidong understood the situation. “Historically, the town mayor had sole approval authority. Secretary Zhao’s creation of a Financial Supervision Group is actually an attempt to weaken Town Mayor Qin Feiyue’s most important power.”
He was reluctant to give up. “Town Mayor Su, could we find a workaround? I could borrow four thousand yuan this month. That way, it wouldn’t need approval from the Financial Leadership Group.”
Su Ming rejected the proposal. “Road construction is public business. This money should be covered by the township. It was already inappropriate to have you take out a loan in your personal name last time. I will find a time to raise this issue and have the township resolve these twenty thousand yuan. The county awarded two hundred thousand yuan, yet not a single penny was spent on the road. That simply doesn’t make sense. Tell Engineer Liu that we will pay him before May.”
Hearing Su Ming’s stance, Hou Weidong cursed inwardly. He thanked him repeatedly, put on a smile, and left. Once on the street, he mocked himself. “Hou Weidong, Hou Weidong, who told you to be so clever? Now your cleverness has backfired, and you’ve hurt your own foot.”
Thinking of his second sister, Hou Xiaoying, who also wanted to take out a loan in Qinglin Township, Hou Weidong could only smile bitterly. “When you are a small person, you have to beg for everything. This feeling is truly damn unpleasant.”
He wandered aimlessly through the Lower Qinglin Forest Farm town, mentally reviewing everyone he knew. Having just entered society, his network was extremely limited. No one could help him solve this funding gap. Suddenly, he thought of Jiang Dali, who was far away in Guangzhou. He hurriedly found a public payphone and dialed the number Jiang Dali had left previously. The call connected, but no one answered.
Hou Weidong did not stay long in Lower Qinglin. With Jiang Dali as his potential savior, he saw hope. He headed enthusiastically toward Upper Qinglin. Entering the small courtyard of the Upper Qinglin Forest Farm town, he did not waste time and went straight to the postal agency in the corner of the yard.
Jiang Dali’s phone still went unanswered.
Hou Weidong called every few minutes, trying five times in total, but still got no answer. It was nearly seven o’clock. By normal hours, Xiaojia in Shazhou should have left the office. Unable to reach Jiang Dali, Hou Weidong casually dialed Xiaojia’s number. To his surprise, Xiaojia was still in the office.
“Hou Weidong, what exactly are you busy with? Why didn’t you call me yesterday?” Whenever Xiaojia pretended to be angry, she always used his full name.
Hou Weidong had too many things on his mind. He had genuinely forgotten to call Xiaojia yesterday. He quickly replied, “I got drunk yesterday and just woke up this morning.” The lie came out naturally, with no flaws. After speaking, Hou Weidong was even surprised by himself. What’s happening to me? I’m lying flawlessly now.
On the other end of the line, Xiaojia fell for it and forgot to scold him. Instead, she spoke with concern. “Drink less, take care of your health. There’s an older colleague in our office who drank too much in his youth. He was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis a few days ago. Hubby, we are still young, and our happy life has just begun. We must protect our health.”
Hou Weidong replied, “When you are in the world, you are not the master of your own fate. I will be careful in the future.”
Xiaojia was satisfied. She happily said, “Yesterday at dinner, our big boss praised the speech material I wrote. They are preparing to officially process my transfer. Today, Director Jin from the Organization Department talked to me, and the transfer order will be issued shortly.”
Hou Weidong was naturally happy for Xiaojia. He said sincerely, “Once you are at the Construction Committee, cherish your position and work hard.” Xiaojia coquettishly replied, “Of course I will work hard. I’m working overtime writing materials right now.”
After chatting with Xiaojia for a few sentences, Hou Weidong saw the timer reach two minutes and fifty seconds. He quickly said a few affectionate words and hung up. It was just two minutes and fifty-six seconds, which would be charged as three minutes. If it went over by one second, it would be charged as four minutes.
He had just put down the receiver when the phone rang again. Yang Xinchun saw the incoming call and said, “Hou Weidong, it’s a number from Guangzhou.”
“Winter Melon, you finally remembered me and called me proactively.”
Hou Weidong was overjoyed. “Baldy Jiang, I have something to ask you. You are my only savior.”
On the other end of the line, Jiang Dali was in a good mood. He said happily, “Winter Melon, spit it out quickly. Don’t beat around the bush.”
“My second sister lost her job. She is running a quarry in Dushi Village, Upper Qinglin. She has already negotiated a contract with the Transportation Bureau to supply riprap and crushed stone. She is now short about twenty thousand yuan in operating expenses. Do you have any money? Lend it to me first. I estimate I can repay you in half a year. The interest will be calculated according to the bank’s concurrent loan rate.”
Jiang Dali cursed loudly on the phone. “You bastard. You learned some law and used it on your brother. Don’t forget, I also studied law. What is your account number? I will transfer twenty thousand to you tomorrow. If you have money, pay it back. If not, consider it a gift.” He was doing well in the pharmaceutical business in Guangzhou and had opened up a good situation. He had earned nearly one hundred thousand yuan this month. Hearing that Hou Weidong wanted to borrow twenty thousand, he agreed without hesitation.
After hanging up, Hou Weidong was happy, but then fell into deep thought. Jiang Dali really has money now. Instead of opening a quarry in Upper Qinglin, I might as well go to Guangzhou to make my way and achieve something.
Thinking of the word “career,” Hou Weidong reflected inwardly. The grand ideals of my student days were so illusory. What does it mean to have a successful career? What is a career, and what does it mean to be successful?