Chapter 7 Treating guests to dinner
Chapter 7 Treating guests to dinner
After delivering the goods, time had unknowingly come to eleven o'clock, and there was less than half an hour left before getting off work.
At this time, Li Kailang came back and a group of workers surrounded him.
"Brother Li, don't forget about going to the restaurant!"
"Yes, we are planning to have a big meal."
"Don't forget your old love just because you have a new one!"
……
The workers around him were joking around, including apprentices from the transportation department and maintenance workers.
Almost all truck drivers can repair their cars, but they are mostly minor problems and some that can be dealt with urgently.
If they encounter more serious problems, they still have to rely on maintenance workers to fix them.
"Don't worry, if I say I'll treat you, I will definitely do so. I will never go back on my word." Li Kailang promised.
On the other side, Lu Wenjiang returned to the office and found that Zhang Jinwu was not there, knowing that he was also on a mission.
So he took the goods list to the Finance Department and handed over the goods handover form, warehouse shipping form and transportation task order.
These three lists corroborate each other to ensure that there are no errors in the transported goods.
"Unity is strength
unity is strength
This force is iron
This strength is steel."
The dismissal bell rang.
"Come on, come on, it's time to get off work. Brother Li, please go to a restaurant."
"Let's go."
A group of eleven or twelve people walked out of the factory in a mighty procession.
"Which restaurant do you want to go to?" Li Kailang asked. He was so busy chatting that he didn't even ask where to eat.
"Lao Mo!" someone joked.
"Wanze Building!" someone joked.
"Go to hell, a meal like this would cost dozens of dollars!" someone retorted.
"Besides, these two restaurants are far away. We'll be late after eating. Do you still want to eat?"
"Just go to the nearest small restaurant. I know one that's particularly delicious, with lots of dishes and plenty of rice. Most importantly, it's cheap, and you can come back and rest after eating."
"Okay, let's go to this one." Li Kailang decided.
As he spoke, the man led everyone through a small alley and came to a restaurant.
This restaurant is not big, only a dozen square meters. If it were run as a public-private partnership, this small restaurant would have been unable to make ends meet long ago.
"I've been eating here for a long time," the man said.
"Wow, so many people." The restaurant owner was surprised when he saw so many people standing outside. [Use "boss" so that everyone can understand.]
Today’s workers either eat at the factory or go home to eat and rarely eat out. But that also means that anyone who eats out generally has some money.
"Please come in, please come in." The boss immediately went out to greet everyone.
"Let's go, this is the one." Everyone looked at Li Kailang. After all, it was his treat. Li Kailang led everyone into the restaurant.
There were only a few tables with customers in the restaurant, making it seem a bit deserted.
"Boss, please prepare more dishes so that we can eat enough." Li Kailang said directly.
"Okay, wait a minute, I'll make it right away." After saying that, the boss immediately went back to the kitchen to prepare the meal.
While waiting, everyone started chatting again.
"Brother Li, are you driving today?" someone asked.
"Yes, Brother Li has a driver's license and now he can finally drive a car, unlike us who have to continue repairing cars." As he spoke, there was some envy in his eyes.
“You will all pass the driving test one day, and now I can touch the car, but I also need to repair it, and no one can change that.
Everyone should practice car repair skills first, so that if you encounter any problems on the road in the future, you can still fix it yourself, and don't get stuck on the road. "Li Kailang comforted.
Everyone chatted while waiting for the food to be served.
Soon, a table full of rich dishes was served.
"Stop chatting and eat first." Li Kailang was the first to pick up his chopsticks.
Everyone immediately began to feast on the food, and the dishes on the table were quickly cleared out, leaving nothing behind.
Finally, they licked the bowl clean with their tongues, even cleaner than washing it.
After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, Li Kailang rested for a while and then got up to pay the bill.
Two side dishes cost thirty cents, shredded pork with green pepper cost seventy cents, and braised pork cost one dollar...all adding up everything, plus the meal tickets, meat tickets and other various receipts, this meal cost Li Kailang four dollars and thirty-two cents.
Because everyone eats a lot, the amount of food has increased accordingly, so it is very normal for the price to increase.
"The bill has been settled, let's go back first." Li Kailang said, and led a large group of people back to the factory.
After returning to the factory, they still have some time to rest.
After work in the afternoon, Lu Wenjiang walked up to Li Kailang and told him that his master was in the office and asked him to come over.
"Okay, brother, do you know what Master wants to talk to me about?" Li Kailang asked before leaving.
"You'll know when you go there," said Lu Wenjiang.
Li Kailang came to his master's office and knocked on the door. After hearing the voice "Come in" from inside, he pushed the door open and walked into the office.
"Master, what do you want to talk to me about?" Li Kailang asked.
Nothing, I just want to ask how the shipment went this morning?" Zhang Jinwu replied.
"Fortunately, my senior brother was there to help, so nothing happened." Li Kailang replied.
"That's good. By the way, Xiao Lu just told me that your driving skills have improved by leaps and bounds. What's going on?" Zhang Jinwu changed the subject.
"You probably didn't learn it outside," Zhang Jinwu added.
Li Kailang's driving skills suddenly improved, which made Zhang Jinwu suspicious.
In this era, the inheritance of skills is very important. If an apprentice learns other people's skills without the master's approval, he will be expelled.
"How is that possible, Master? You also know that something happened at home some time ago."
"I know that. Please accept my condolences." Zhang Jinwu comforted.
"Maybe after my mom passed away, I figured out some things and my driving skills changed a bit," Li Kailang explained.
Hearing this, Zhang Jinwu's face suddenly darkened, and he immediately said:
"Okay, I get it. Be careful next time you drive. During this time, you and Xiao Lu should get familiar with the car and the route. I will take you there myself. Let's go back to work."
Zhang Jinwu's tone was a little heavy, and he was obviously worried about Li Kailang's condition.
He instantly thought of the way Li Kailang died, and believed that something had happened at home and he had lost the will to live, so he used this fearless way to end his life as soon as possible.
If Li Kailang knew about this misunderstanding, he would definitely be very happy, as this would explain the change in his driving skills.
However, for Zhang Jinwu, if Li Kailang really has a natural talent for driving skills, he could try to take that road.
This is also the reason why Zhang Jinwu decided to take care of Li Kailang personally in the end.
After Li Kailang left, Lu Wenjiang entered the office.
"Master, what about my junior brother?" Lu Wenjiang asked.
"Xiao Li, there's no problem. You can guide him for a while. If his driving skills are really good, I will take him on that road later." Zhang Jinwu said.
"Master, which road is it?" Lu Wenjiang asked carefully.
Zhang Jinwu nodded without answering.
That road is the closest to the cement plant from the steel rolling mill, and it is also the most dangerous road.
The steel rolling mill also has its own residential buildings under construction, so there is a great demand for cement.
However, since the supply of cement is limited, whoever arrives first can get more cement first.
The steel mill is closest to the cement plant, but that road is too dangerous.
The road had a long and steep downhill slope, and the steel bars being transported weighed 4 tons, making it extremely dangerous when going downhill.
At that time, the truck load generally did not exceed 3 tons, but gasoline was limited and was all imported from outside. A lot of gasoline was consumed in multiple round trips.
Secondly, trucks sometimes have to complete additional tasks, which requires more gasoline.
Therefore, the load will be increased, and we can even say that we can carry as much as possible under safe conditions.
In the past, drivers had tried to take this route many times in order to benefit the steel mill and save gasoline, but they were unsuccessful and three people were sacrificed.
After that, the steel mill strictly prohibited drivers from taking this road, except Zhang Jinwu.
However, the weight of the steel bars carried by Zhang Jinwu would not exceed 2.5 tons. But even so, he was not the first to arrive at the cement factory, so naturally the amount of cement he received would not be much.
It is not certain when the cement factory will need the goods, and they cannot do it in advance even if they want to. It is impossible for them to occupy one person for a long time for this task.
Over time, this became the biggest headache for the Transportation Department, which is why Zhang Jinwu decided to train Li Kailang to solve this problem.
He is old and unable to do the job, and none of the drivers behind him are technically up to par.
If he can handle the driving task on this road, he will not only have the opportunity to be promoted and get a raise, but he may also be assigned to a tube-shaped building.
During this period, tube-shaped buildings were a symbol of cadres and ordinary people could not live in them at all.
(End of this chapter)