Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

Page 558

"I just asked. In addition to the grain rations allocated by the higher authorities, there is another batch of grain that the logistics director obtained to make up for the grain shortage."

With food shortages, the higher authorities have cut spending, and ordinary people get at most 15 jin of grain a month.

Sometimes they can't even give that much; in fact, they're lucky if they can give 12 jin (6 catties).

Most of these are coarse grains and substitute foods; there are no refined grains at all, and sometimes pumpkin and winter melon are used as substitutes.

If the workers only had this much food, they wouldn't be able to carry out safe production at all, so the superiors gave them some extra food.

Even with these grains, the average person only gets about seven ounces a day, which is not enough to do many physically demanding jobs.

He Yuzhu obtained a large quantity of grain from a major northern country, and periodically used a portion of it to make up for the grain shortage.

Of course, this price is a bit higher than the official price, but it is significantly lower than the price on the black market.

After the previous struggle with Jiang Hanyang, the amount of grain produced each time was reduced, but the frequency was increased.

It means ensuring that the machinery factory doesn't run out of food while I'm still on duty.

He Yuzhu took leave a few days ago, so of course the food supply will stop.

The logistics director was also one of their own, so of course he also took a long leave.

There's no point in him not asking for leave, since he can't produce any food anyway.

The secretary stammered as she explained the situation.

Geng Feiyan asked in surprise, "You mean the logistics director, who has been procuring a batch of grain himself to supplement the factory's shortages?"

"Yes, now that he's on extended leave, we're short of food."

Geng Feiyan secretly groaned. It turned out that He Yuzhu's request for leave to go back was a strategic retreat to force her into the palace.

The issue of cooks was easy to resolve, since it was all a personnel problem. We could simply bring in a few cooks from other places, along with some helpers, and the canteen could be set up and running.

But now, where in the whole country is there no shortage of food?

With only a few days left before the grain depot delivers its grain, the grain in the warehouse simply cannot last until that day.

There's a three-day gap in the timeframe, which we need to fill ourselves.

Geng Feiyan didn't know where the logistics director got the food from, since it wasn't a small amount.

The factory now has a total of 6000 employees, excluding those who live nearby and do not eat in the canteen.

He also needed to procure enough food to feed three thousand people for three lunches each.

This amount of grain is approximately 3600 jin (1,800 catties), consisting of a small amount of wheat flour and a large amount of cornmeal.

The factory no longer provides white flour and rice. The best option is a mixture of flour and a small amount of white flour, but the vast majority of the bread is still cornbread made primarily of cornmeal.

The thought of such a large gap made Gao Feiyan's scalp tingle.

Then I called Jiang Hanyang.

"What? You're saying the machinery factory has a grain shortage of 3600 jin?"

"Yes, I didn't expect that the logistics director would actually manage to get an extra batch of grain to make up for the shortage of the ration."

"This is troublesome. Where are we going to get so much food in such a short time?"

If it's a small amount, tens or even two or three hundred kilograms of grain is still easy to obtain.

But if the number exceeds a thousand, that would be too difficult.

Not only did it exceed 1,000 jin, but it also reached 3600 jin. Neither Geng Feiyan nor Jiang Hanyang, nor even the Geng family, could produce that much grain.

Even if you went to the black market, you couldn't buy such a large quantity of grain, no matter how much money you had.

"Don't worry, I'm coming right now."

After waiting for 20 minutes, Jiang Hanyang arrived at the machinery factory from the street.

The couple went face-to-face to clarify the details, and Jiang Hanyang asked, "Could we ask the grain depot to send over a batch of grain ahead of schedule?"

Geng Feiyan shook her head: "I just called and asked, and they don't have any extra grain. All the grain they have has been put to use."

"Then we'll have to go find the logistics director."

"I just called, but I couldn't get through to their number."

"Then let's not wait any longer, let's go straight to his house. We need to find out how he got the grain, since he hasn't been transferred yet, he's just on leave."

The two packed their things, and the secretary checked the information and found the address of the logistics director's home. Then they drove there together.

It was quite a coincidence that we caught the logistics director at home today.

Seeing the two of them arrive together, Director Hou had no choice but to bite the bullet and come over to greet them and invite them into the house.

They busied themselves getting tea leaves and preparing the tea.

"Stop busying yourself. I just came to ask you about the grain situation."

"What grain?" Director Hou asked, feigning ignorance.

"Stop pretending to be confused. Where did you get all the extra food?"

Director Hou had already guessed when they came to his door that it must be about the grain.

Anyway, they can't just leave their positions vacant because they want me to go back to be the director; they'd be more than happy if I didn't go back.

"I don't know where this grain came from."

"Stop playing dumb. If you didn't bring them here, then who did?"

"How could I possibly have the ability to get thousands of kilograms of grain every month? Don't you all know who should be procuring the grain?"

Upon hearing what Director Hou said, Geng Feiyan and Jiang Hanyang exchanged a glance.

They all saw three people in each other's eyes: He Yuzhu.

"You're saying that He Yuzhu got all that grain?"

Director Hou knew he couldn't keep this a secret, so he nodded and said, "Yes."

"Where did he get it from?" Geng Feiyan asked.

Director Hou shrugged: "I don't know either. Every time, he would prepare the grain and put it in a house in the city, and then I would find someone to pick up the grain."

Geng Feiyan was furious. He Yuzhu was truly despicable, always keeping everything a secret.

"Let's go find He Yuzhu."

Chapter 389 The Factory Runs Out of Food

After seeing the two troublemakers off, Director Hou didn't even have time to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead. He went inside, plugged in the phone, and then called He Yuzhu.

"Factory manager, Jiang Hanyang and Geng Feiyan just came by and should be looking for you now."

"Ok, I see."

He Yuzhu changed his phone, left the study, and said, "I'm going out for a bit, I won't be back by noon."

"Hmm, is something urgent?"

“What urgent matter could he possibly have? Maybe he’s made plans with some young lady,” Xu Huizhen said calmly.

"No, it's just that Jiang Hanyang and Geng Feiyan and their husband are coming to see me later, so I'm going to hide and buy some time."

"Ah, let's go play in the neighbor's yard then."

Ever since the police came to take Xu Zhaodi to the police station last time, He Yuzhu has told Xu Zhaodi and Xu Xiaomei to stop going to work and stay at home every day to take care of the children.

Upon hearing He Yuzhu say that he wanted to go out to hide from Jiang Hanyang, Xu Huizhen readily agreed. She packed her things, and the three of them took the child to the neighboring courtyard.

He Yuzhu locked the gate and then went out to play.

When Jiang Hanyang and Geng Feiyan arrived outside the courtyard, they saw Iron General guarding it.

The two were stunned. He knew about He Yuzhu's family situation; three adults and several children lived there.

Why is the gate locked?

Suddenly, the sound of children laughing came from the neighboring yard. Jiang Hanyang then remembered that the Xu sisters next door had an ambiguous relationship with He Yuzhu.

Then she knocked on the door, and a moment later, Xu Zhaodi opened the back door.

"It's you?" Xu Zhaodi already knew it was them, but she still pretended to be a little surprised.

Those two police officers were actually acting under the orders of Jiang Hanyang and his associates.

"Comrade Xu Zhaodi, do you know where He Yuzhu went? And where his family went?"

"how could I know."

Xu Zhaodi then closed the door and bolted it. A child inside asked:

"Mom, is it Xiaoli who came to play with me?"

"No, they are the two worst people in the world."

"Oh, is it a big bad guy?"

"Yes, we'll stay home and play, we won't go out."

Hearing the conversation between the mother and daughter inside infuriated Geng Feiyan. With a gloomy face, she turned around and walked back.