Liu Jun suddenly remembered something. Thinking that Jiali might understand this kind of matter better, he asked her: “What’s the current market price for pork chops per jin?”
Jiali thought for a moment and smiled: “The housekeeper always does the shopping. I forgot how much it costs—I haven’t paid attention.”
“Regular pork chops are fifteen or sixteen yuan per jin. Skinned and deboned ones cost two yuan more, and they say prices are still rising,” Cui Bingbing paused. “Are you also starting to care about the market basket?”
“That expensive already? I remember it used to be seven or eight yuan per jin. One jin of pork chops can be cut into five pieces. If we calculate that one person eats two pieces of pork chops or equivalent per day, that means for just the basic expense of eating pork chops alone, a person’s monthly living costs would increase by at least fifty yuan, not counting other price increases. No wonder our cleaning lady, Aunt Fu, complained that her salary wasn’t as good as stock trading and quit so readily. I’ve been traveling abroad recently and overlooked these things.”
Qian Hongming laughed: “We used to say you were like ‘why don’t they eat meat if they have no rice,’ but it seems we wronged you.”
Cui Bingbing said, “That was your misconception. Liu Jun always speaks with data and regulations when it comes to management. You can believe that when he returns to the company, he’ll randomly survey several employees, investigate changes in daily living expenses, and decide how much living allowance to add. He won’t be like those government officials who raise living allowances by five or eight hundred yuan without any justification. By the way, Liu Jun, make sure to set it up as a living allowance item—don’t add it directly to salaries. Salaries are fixed and will be difficult to adjust flexibly in the future.”
“You two are in sync.”
Cui Bingbing glanced at Jiali and said, “Hardly. We two are like the legendary ‘holding your wife’s hand is like your left hand holding your right hand’—utterly boring.”
Liu Jun smiled: “Don’t set a trap for me. If I dared to agree, you’d hand me a sharp knife tonight and ask me to try cutting off a hand to see how it tastes.”
Qian Hongming was better at reading facial expressions than Liu Jun. He immediately saw through Cui Bingbing’s intention and casually steered the conversation away. “Recently, the day before yesterday, there was big news. A’San, have you heard? Yang Xun, in this booming market, actually cut through the mess with a sharp knife and sold his coal mine shares, completely withdrawing from Shanxi. We’re all guessing his intentions. A’San, do you know anything?”
“Your information network is quite sharp. I only just found out, too, but I don’t know the inside story.”
Liu Jun suddenly thought of that time when he wanted to go gambling in Macau and encountered Yang Xun on the way. Could he apply his mood at that time to Yang Xun, who was also going gambling alone? Or perhaps, could it be that the old hand Yang Xun sniffed something unsettling in the air? He shared his thoughts with everyone. Qian Hongming laughed: “With money, you can’t settle local officials? Besides, coal prices are so good now that customers have to bring cash to pick up goods. Yang Xun has plenty of money, and that person couldn’t possibly have principles like you. If you went to Shanxi to mine coal and returned halfway, the reason would be crystal clear—there’s only one possibility.”
Cui Bingbing said, “I heard earlier that Yang Xun is negotiating to purchase a nickel mine. Hongming, Shanxi local officials aren’t as easy to handle as you say. Two years ago, during the power shortage, even deputy provincial governors from other provinces couldn’t get favorable treatment when they visited. Since there are children present, let’s not discuss this. This is a family gathering—no business talk. Aren’t you adults being boring?”
It wasn’t until the next day, when they dropped Jiali off at the Shanghai Library to buy books, and the family of three set off on their own, that Cui Bingbing admitted to Liu Jun that Jiali’s surprise visit to Shanghai was something she had deliberately encouraged. She really couldn’t stand that lukewarm family relationship—one too fake, one too naive. Jiali had been kept like a pet until her intelligence had nearly approached zero. Unfortunately, Qian Hongming disrupted things last night, and everyone stayed at the hotels. One night was enough time for Qian Hongming to coordinate damage control by phone.
Liu Jun couldn’t help but look up at the mother and daughter in the back seat. Seeing that Dandan was probably tired from playing with Xiao Suihua in the same bed last night and was now sleeping soundly in her mother’s arms, he said: “It was my suggestion last night not to go to Qian Hongming’s Shanghai home. Jiali can’t even give a rough price for pork chops—what could she do if she knew?”
“Looking at those wealthy merchants’ wives scheming to calculate their husbands’ money disgusts me, but someone like Jiali makes me feel tired for her. Money really can distort people. Fortunately, I also have plenty of money myself.”
“How are you any different? We’re left-hand holding right-hand. Are you still resentful that I wanted to sign a prenuptial agreement with you?”
“You’re such a person—pure engineer’s mind, methodical and rigid, never engaging in duplicity. I gradually came to understand your personality later. You’re a strange creature. Even stranger is that your entire center is full of strange creatures.”
“Strange creatures are good. Strange creatures make exports incredibly convenient. My first overseas sale of F-1 was the most difficult—customers didn’t trust the quality of Chinese products, much less my after-sales service. Fortunately, our prices were truly competitive, so they reluctantly gave us a chance. But after the first unit went into production smoothly and they saw that our rigorous and standardized approach wasn’t an act but the company’s consistent practice, they immediately sent us more contracts without hesitation, and not just for F-1. I hate hearing them say I’m different from other Chinese companies. I really can’t consider that praise. Are Chinese people only fit to export cheap goods? But I can’t speak up. The conveyor frames their company ordered from China didn’t even have basic rust prevention—such a simple I-beam frame…”
“Stop! Don’t be a full man who doesn’t know a hungry man’s hunger. Think about those days when you were developing F-1—that kind of suffering. If people had other ways to make a living, who would want to take your path? Only strange creatures like those at your center could endure it. Besides, although others don’t do rust prevention well, those types of enterprises haven’t had worse profits than yours these past few years. Want to bet?”
“Hey, aren’t you afraid of provoking the other hand? Can’t you let me feel proud for a moment?”
“Who’s your left hand holding right hand? Let our two hands arm-wrestle instead—that’s more comfortable.”
“I looked into that conveyor frame company when I returned, and it’s just as you said—their scale is like a small kingdom. Some of the steel used in their frames is even hot-rolled by their facilities. They only started building their factory in 1997, almost simultaneously with us, which shows they’ve been earning well and living comfortably. But now, with rising crude oil prices and diesel prices abroad, shipping costs have increased significantly this year. Do their bulky equipment still have advantages when shipped overseas? But they don’t worry—save a bit on emission control, cut worker benefits a little, even make rust prevention treatment superficial, and there’s always profit to be squeezed out.”
“What you’re describing lacks technical content, which precisely shows you haven’t put your mind to those things, nor do you need to. One of my clients told me that on April 1st, didn’t the country cancel export tax rebates for steel billets? But tax rebates were their only source of profit for export products—what to do? The fact is, they’re still doing well with exports, getting the rebates they can get. They just take a detour when declaring at customs, reporting steel billets as iron blocks for pressing cranes—it’s that simple. You focus on technical research while others exploit loopholes in other areas—each following their path. Of course, I prefer your solid approach—I sleep peacefully at night, too.”
But before the family of three could leave Greater Shanghai, Jiali called Cui Bingbing’s phone. Liu Jun only heard Cui Bingbing in the back seat repeatedly saying “don’t cry,” but those two words alone made him realize that Qian Hongming hadn’t cleaned up thoroughly—the scandal had been exposed. He quickly pulled into a service area, jumped out of the car, and called Qian Hongming to ask what had happened. Qian Hongming told him that Jiali must have discovered many clues and started crying almost as soon as she entered the house. All the cleaning the housekeeper did last night was useless. He still didn’t know exactly what Jiali had discovered—he only knew she would cry looking at this thing, then cry looking at that thing.
“A’San told me that even if I changed the angle of turning when entering the door by less than 5 degrees, she could guess whether I had bad intentions that day. Jiali must be even more perceptive than our A’San, plus you’ve been married longer, and Jiali stays at home, paying more attention to you. Didn’t I try hard to stop you from bringing them home this morning? You are careless.”
“I… I never thought Jiali… What should I do? Both big and small are crying. Jiali won’t talk, just cries, and won’t let me get close. Liu Jun, could you trouble yourself to turn back and help me?”
“I’ll turn back, but I don’t know how to help you. I once asked A’San as a precaution, asking about women’s thoughts—if you were discovered by Jiali to have problems, how could it be handled? Even she doesn’t know. Jiali’s personality is rather closed and quite special—that’s the real problem.”
“Liu Jun, no matter how you handle it, I have only one condition: no divorce, no separation. I’ll agree to any other conditions Jiali has.”
“Would you agree never to touch other women again?”
Qian Hongming fell silent for a long while. “Liu Jun, we’re both men—speaking heart to heart, have you ever encountered this kind of situation: a very important client goes specifically for girls, and if you don’t accompany him to see girls, it’s disrespectful, spoils the mood, and you become a potential time bomb for exposing his pleasure-seeking, so after one meeting there’s no next time? Have you had this experience? I’ll be frank first—I have many such opportunities. What man goes to clubs not for beautiful women?”