Chapter 479 - 401: Zhang Zhanshan Falls
When spring began, Zhao Jun’s hunt for the Pig God gave Zhou Chunming a leg up, you could say, allowing him to smoothly become the head of the Forest Farm.
Afterward, the Forestry Bureau sent someone to take over as production director. As soon as this new director took office, he organized acceptance inspections and scheduling training to prepare for the upcoming winter transport season.
Today, the scheduling team was holding a meeting, while the acceptance team, led by Xu Baoshan, was studying the Forestry Production Safety Regulations.
These were all rough-and-tumble men. Making them study was even more exhausting than making them do back-breaking labor. After a whole morning of it, they were all dizzy and muddle-headed, feeling absolutely miserable.
To motivate his men, Xu Baoshan put up his own money and meal tickets, sending his apprentice, Ma Liang, along with three others to the Forest Farm cafeteria to pick up lunch. The four of them were to bring back meals for the entire acceptance team, saving everyone else a trip to the cafeteria.
This way, they could make the most of their study time. The sooner they finished, the sooner they could go home.
Four men went to get the food in total. Two went to Cafeteria No. 1, and two went to Cafeteria No. 2. From each cafeteria, they brought back a large pot of food.
When Ma Liang returned carrying a pot of stewed tofu with pickled greens, he started dishing it out. When it was Zhao Jun’s turn, Ma Liang’s hand paused, and he asked, "Brother, I seem to recall you’re pretty tight with Li Baoyu from the vehicle depot, right?"
"Yeah!" Zhao Jun answered instinctively. A suspicion was already forming in his mind, but he could hardly believe it. ’That was way too fast!’
Then, Zhang Xuefeng, who had gone to Cafeteria No. 2 with Ma Liang, chimed in, "We just saw this kid at Cafeteria No. 2. He’s got some mouth on him. He was giving the head chef there a real earful."
"I don’t think he was just giving him a hard time," Ma Liang added. "It sounded like the real deal, all the details were there. It must be true."
Hearing this, Zhang Xuefeng said, "Well, if Zhang Zhanshan really did that, then he’s not even human."
"What are you two talking about?" Just then, Xu Baoshan walked over, holding a piece of steamed corn bread. "What’s this about Zhang Zhanshan?"
As he asked, Xu Baoshan glanced at Zhao Jun. He was well aware of the feud between the Zhao and Zhang families.
Once Ma Liang and Zhang Xuefeng recounted the story they’d heard from Li Ruhai, the entire acceptance team erupted in discussion, all of them agreeing that Zhang Zhanshan and his son were in the wrong.
As Zhao Jun ate his stewed tofu with pickled greens, he marveled at how nicely this "dish" for Zhang Zhanshan was being prepared. He also had to admire just how incredible Li Ruhai was.
To achieve such results in just one morning... ’This kid is a natural. It’s a real shame to have a guy with his talents stuck out in this backwater valley.’
After lunch, the studying continued. Compared to the older men, Zhao Jun was young and had a good memory. The crucial thing was that he had already memorized this material in his past life. Although he had long since forgotten it, picking it back up was easy.
So, by a little after three in the afternoon, he had passed Xu Baoshan’s test. He shouldered his satchel and left the acceptance team.
Zhao Jun went straight to the vehicle depot at the Forest Farm. When he found that Lin Xiangshun wasn’t there, he asked Mu Peishi, the man in charge of repairs, "Elder Mu, when my second brother came in today, did he bring someone with him?"
"Oh, man!" Mu Peishi waved a hand dismissively. "Don’t even get me started. That kid’s mouth hasn’t stopped moving since the moment he got here. He was talking and gesturing wildly all morning."
Zhao Jun chuckled and asked, "So where’d he go after that?"
"Later..." Mu Peishi thought for a moment before answering. "I saw him at Cafeteria No. 1 around noon. When the bell rang for us to head back to the depot, it looked like he left with the Gui Ling crew."
Near the end of the lunch break, a bell would ring throughout the Forest Farm, reminding the workers that they had ten minutes to get back to work.
The Forest Farm’s Gui Ling teams were different from the Gui Ling workers at the Logging Camp. The workers at the Logging Camp were temporary laborers recruited by a Leader.
The Gui Ling workers at the Forest Farm, on the other hand, were permanent employees.
The Yong’an Forest Farm had two Gui Ling divisions. Each division was further split into ten teams, with fifty workers on each team.
Before being transferred to the scheduling department, Li Dayong had been a team leader in one of the Gui Ling divisions. Of course, his position as a team leader still meant he was fundamentally a worker—just the one who led the others on the job.
Li Dayong had worked in the Gui Ling divisions for a solid decade and had plenty of friends there. Li Ruhai must have run into one of these old-timers and followed them off.
Zhao Jun knew the kid wouldn’t get lost, but one thing didn’t make sense. ’When Ma Liang and Zhang Xuefeng were getting lunch, Li Ruhai was definitely in Cafeteria No. 2. So how, according to Mu Peishi, did he end up at Cafeteria No. 1?’
Still pondering this question, Zhao Jun arrived at Cafeteria No. 1. There were no other workers inside, but Zhao Jun spotted Li Ruhai sitting in a corner.
Zhao Jun walked over quickly. He saw Li Ruhai gnawing on a steamed cornbread bun. In front of him sat a large, empty bowl and a small porcelain saucer.
The small saucer held some pickled mustard root preserved in soy sauce.
"Ruhai!" Zhao Jun came closer, frowning as he looked at him. "Is this all you’re eating?"
"URP!" Li Ruhai let out a burp and grinned at Zhao Jun. "My uncle just made me noodles with a poached egg. I wasn’t quite full."
As soon as Zhao Jun heard this, he turned and headed for the kitchen.
Zhao Jun reached the kitchen and pushed aside the curtain. Zhao Youcai was sitting on a long bench, his back against the wall, resting with his eyes closed.
Seeing Zhao Jun enter, Zhao Youcai opened his eyes and asked, "How are you off work so early?"
Instead of answering, Zhao Jun asked his own question, "Dad, why didn’t you let Ruhai eat until he was full?"
Zhao Youcai shot his son a look and scoffed, "Two fried eggs and over half a pound of dried noodles. What more could he possibly eat?"
Zhao Jun fell silent. Over half a pound of dried noodles was a lot. ’Even if I ate my fill,’ he thought, ’that’s probably about all I could manage, too.’