Chapter 41 Friends
The next morning, Li Daqi told Song Yuanchao that he had talked to Gu Jie, but Gu Jie wanted to meet Song Yuanchao first.
Song Yuanchao was not surprised by this reply. After all, this was not a trivial matter, and it was normal for Gu Jie to have concerns.
The morning time was limited, and Song Yuanchao and Li Daqi had to go to work in the school-run factory. Song Yuanchao thought about it and asked Li Daqi to ask Gu Jie to meet at a nearby state-owned restaurant in the evening to have a meal together and settle the matter.
After get off work, Song Yuanchao and Li Daqi rode their bikes to the state-owned hotel. As soon as they parked the car, they saw Gu Jie arriving.
"Gu Jie!"
"Brother Song, Daqi." Gu Jie smiled and waved to Song Yuanchao and the others, but Song Yuanchao noticed that his smile was a little forced, as if he was worried about something.
After entering the restaurant , Song Yuanchao ordered dishes from the waiter at the counter. When it was time to pay the bill, Gu Jie was about to rush to pay, but before he could take out the money, Song Yuanchao gave him a look, and Li Daqi, understanding what he meant, directly dragged him away and pressed him to a seat inside.
After paying the bill and taking the ticket, Gu Jie came to his seat with two bottles of rice wine. He said embarrassedly, "Brother Yuan Chao, it should be me who treats you..."
"We are all brothers, so it doesn't matter who treats us." Song Yuanchao said with a smile, and put the wine in his hand on the table. Gu Jie quickly took it, pried open the bottle cap with chopsticks, and took the glass to fill it for Song Yuanchao first.
After pouring the wine, Gu Jie was about to pass out the cigarettes, but Li Daqi's hands were faster than his. He passed out some cigarettes first and then lit one.
Soon, the dishes came up, and Song Yuanchao raised his glass and said with a smile: "Come on, Daqi, Gu Jie, let's have a drink first."
"cheers!"
They clinked glasses, drank it all in one gulp, put down the glass, and Song Yuanchao invited them to eat.
The dishes in the state-owned restaurant were very good, especially to Song Yuanchao's taste. Traditional local dishes like this were hard to find in later generations, so Song Yuanchao naturally wanted to eat more of them while he could still see them.
No one talked about the matter right away. They ate and drank first. After three rounds of drinking, Gu Jie couldn't help but take out a cigarette to pass around. Song Yuanchao took it and lit it, then asked with a smile: "Did Daqi tell you about that?"
"I told you yesterday, Brother Song, why are you going to quit this business?" Gu Jie asked a little nervously.
"Haha..." Song Yuanchao smiled and said, "Gu Jie, you are not an outsider. Although we have known each other for a short time, you are Daqi's good friend. Daqi and I grew up together and are closer than brothers. You are his good friend, which means you are also my friend."
"This business was only possible thanks to your help..." Having said that, seeing that Gu Jie was about to say something, Song Yuanchao waved his hand, signaling for him to finish first.
"It was a coincidence that we were able to do this business. We just happened to have a source of casings, and you helped me solve the site problem so that I could do this business."
"Do you remember what I said when you borrowed the air-raid shelter? I originally planned to do this for two or three months. To be honest, this business is not difficult. It's just about raw materials, production and sales. Production is very simple, and you have all been trained in sales these days. As for the raw materials, iron wire is easy to get, and the difficult part is the casing."
At this point, Song Yuanchao smiled and said, "So, it's easy to be successful if you know how. Now Zhang Bin and Wang Jianjun are planning to work alone. We can't stop them. Since we can't stop them, let them do it. Gu Jie, I'll be honest with you. Even if you take over this business, I'm afraid you can only do it for another month. First, the inventory of casing is limited. Second, this business is skirting the rules and there are certain risks. It's okay in the short term."
"But Brother Song, even if Zhang Bin and the others go out to work on their own, you can still lead us to continue working!" Gu Jie said hurriedly.
Song Yuanchao looked at Li Daqi beside him and smiled: "Daqi and I haven't contributed much these days. We are very busy at the factory. Apart from coming to take a look in the morning and evening to check the accounts, you are the one who is busy with many things. In this case, it is better to give it to you directly. It is better to give it to others than to others, right?"
At this moment, Gu Jie's heart was filled with gratitude and he was speechless for a moment.
As an educated youth who returned to the city, Gu Jie's family conditions were not very good. Like most educated youth, he had brothers and sisters, and his family lived in poor conditions. More importantly, Gu Jie had not been able to find a job after returning to the city.
Just when Gu Jie was worried about this, Li Daqi found him. At first, he came to him just to rent a warehouse. Gu Jie remembered the air-raid shelter that his father was in charge of, so he rented the air-raid shelter to Song Yuanchao without telling his father.
Gu Jie was just doing a favor for his friend and didn't expect to gain any benefit from it, so when he brought Song Yuanchao and others to see the air-raid shelter, when Song Yuanchao specifically asked about the rent, Gu Jie didn't ask for a penny.
It was because of Gu Jie's honesty that Song Yuanchao pulled him into this small group, which gave him the opportunity to do this business with Song Yuanchao later.
In this month, Gu Jie earned his father's entire year's salary. As the business became more and more popular, Gu Jie became happier.
In Gu Jie's opinion, Song Yuanchao is a man of great ability, and it is his luck to make friends with such a man. This month, Gu Jie's life has been more fulfilling than any other time period in the past years. Seeing hope, Gu Jie is full of beautiful visions for the future.
But just yesterday, Li Daqi suddenly found him and said that Song Yuanchao and he were going to quit, and asked if he was willing to take over the clothes hanger business. When Gu Jie heard this, he was completely stunned. What happened? Why did Song Yuanchao suddenly quit when he was doing well?
Li Daqi did not hide it from him and told Gu Jie about Zhang Bin and Wang Jianjun in private. After learning about this, Gu Jie was as angry as Li Daqi and wanted to go to Zhang Bin and them to argue on the spot. Later, Li Daqi grabbed him and told him that Song Yuanchao had already considered this matter, and not only because of this matter, Song Yuanchao originally did not want to do this business for a long time. Now that Zhang Bin and them had happened, Song Yuanchao planned to transfer the business to Gu Jie and specifically asked him to ask Gu Jie's opinion.
Gu Jie was confused at the time and didn't know how to answer for a while. He told Li Daqi to think about it and hoped to meet with Song Yuanchao to talk.
Li Daqi said that this was not a big problem, but he had to communicate with Song Yuanchao first. This morning, Li Daqi came to tell Gu Jie that Song Yuanchao agreed, which led to the current situation of the state-owned hotel.
"Brother Song, Daqi." After taking a long puff of his cigarette, Gu Jie said, "This business originally belonged to Brother Song. It doesn't matter if you and Daqi can't take care of it. You have jobs now but I don't. I can just help you keep an eye on it. It's fine as before. There's no need to hand it over to me directly."
"Sanmao, good brother!" Li Daqi said with emotion. He had misjudged Zhang Bin and Wang Jianjun, but Gu Jie's performance made him see once again the sincerity of friendship between friends.
As he spoke, Li Daqi turned his gaze to Song Yuanchao, as if asking what Song Yuanchao meant.
Song Yuanchao shook his head and smiled, "This is inappropriate. We all gave up, but you still take the lion's share. This is unfair to you."
"But Brother Song..."
"Listen to me first." Song Yuanchao said to Gu Jie, "After these days of contact, you should know what kind of person I am. Do you think Daqi and I are the kind of people who take advantage of our brothers? So don't mention it again, just take over directly. Although it can only last for a month, it will be a good business if it is done well. Gu Jie, don't worry about it, just do it boldly. If you encounter any problems, you can ask Daqi or me. Since we are brothers, I won't say anything else. Come on! Let's drink!"
"Okay, Sanmao, just listen to what Yuan Chao said!" On the side, Li Daqi said to Gu Jie with the same encouraging look.
Gu Jie thought about it, then looked up at Song Yuanchao and said, "Brother Song, since that's the case, I'll accept it, but I have one condition that I hope you will agree to."
"What conditions?" Song Yuanchao asked curiously.
"If... I mean if." Gu Jie swallowed his saliva and said sincerely, "Brother Song, if you need my help in the future, just let me know. I, Sanmao, am a loyal person. I would like to work with you if there is a chance!"
Song Yuanchao showed an admiring look. The fact that Gu Jie could say this showed that he was not stupid and his character was trustworthy. Such a friend was worth making. Song Yuanchao naturally would not refuse and agreed immediately.
