Chapter Thirty-One: Inviting Connections

  With a nervous heart, he made the call to the middle-aged man. After connecting, he heard the voice on the other end of the phone was very noisy. The other party didn't speak for a long time, and Ye Pingyu felt that it might not be convenient to answer the phone, so he thought about hanging up and calling again later. However, suddenly a voice came from the other end: "Who is this?"

  As soon as he heard the words, Ye Pingyu hastily replied: "Director Zhu, I am Xiao Ye from Cao Lingzi Township, Ye Pingyu."

  As soon as they heard Ye Pingyu's name, laughter immediately spread: "It turned out to be Little Ye, has your village finished harvesting rice?"

  Ye Pingyu said happily: "We've finished collecting, the masses in our village are very grateful to you and thought of going to the region to find you..."

  As the conversation went on, Ye Pingyu originally wanted to continue talking and directly mention the matter of sending a banner and inviting guests, but just as he was about to say it, he suddenly heard the other person's voice speaking with someone else. The other party didn't seem to be listening seriously, apparently they were very busy, and calling at this time might have disturbed them.

  Just as Ye Pingyu was at a loss for what to do, the voice came again: "Ai, Xiao Ye, I'm listening. What did you just say? I want to ask you something first."

  Ye Pingyu hastily said: "Director Zhu, what do you want to ask? I'm listening!"

  He paused again, as if he had just finished talking to someone else, and then said: "Xiao Ye, aren't you from Jinhu Village? I want to ask you, is there an old man named Ye Bingyi in your village?"

  Ye Pingyu's mind was suddenly stunned, and he said: "Director Zhu, why are you asking about this?"

  "It's like this little leaf, I have a friend who wants to find this person, do you know or not?" The other end said.

  Ye Pingyu felt strange and didn't know what his purpose was, so he thought for a moment and said: "Director Zhu, my grandfather's name is Ye Bingyi, but I don't know if it's the person your friend is looking for!"

  Suddenly hearing this news, the other end was obviously silent for a moment, then there were voices talking to others, and then said to Ye Pingyu: "Little Ye, how old is your grandfather this year?"

  Ye Pingyu thought for a moment and said, "He's probably over 70 years old, but I don't remember exactly how old he is. In our village, only my grandfather was named Ye Bingyi, I haven't heard anyone else with this name!"

  After finishing speaking, the voice came again, and then Ye Pingyu heard a strange voice on the phone: "Is there an old locust tree in front of your grandfather's house, which is over a hundred years old?"

  As soon as he heard someone ask about this on the phone, Ye Pingyu was stunned for a moment, but quickly replied: "Yes, there is an old locust tree at my grandfather's door. How do you know this?"

  The old locust tree in front of Grandpa's house, Ye Pingyu often climbed on it when he was a child. When he was young, there were no toys, and that old locust tree was the place where he often had fun. Later, his father Ye Cunli wanted to cut down the old locust tree and plant other trees, but was stopped by Grandpa. Grandpa said it was a divine tree and couldn't be cut down, and he didn't want his father to cut it down either. This is his childhood memory. In the summer, it can still provide shade, and Grandpa rests under the tree. If it's cut down, what a pity!

  Ye Pingyu asked back, but the other end was silent. Then, Zhu Zi Chuan took over the phone and said: "Xiao Ye, wait at home tomorrow, we'll go to your grandfather's place tomorrow to visit him!"

  As soon as he heard that Zhu Zi Chuan was going to visit his grandfather, Ye Pingyu's heart was filled with doubts. What's going on? Last time he came to Jinhu Village, he didn't mention visiting his grandfather at all. Now he tells him that he wants to come and visit his grandfather, isn't this strange?

  "Congratulations, Director... does your grandfather know you?" Ye Pingyu asked.

  Zhu Zi Chuan just smiled and said: "Don't ask about this for now, you'll understand once we get there."

  Having heard this, Ye Pingyu was very surprised, but since Zhu Zishen didn't say anything, he had no choice. However, the matter of inviting him out hadn't been mentioned yet, so he hastily said to Zhu Zishen: "Director Zhu, I called you earlier because something came up."

  The Zhu Zi boat is now much easier, and smiled: "Almost forgot, what did you say just now, want to thank me? You don't have to be polite, your village people encountered difficulties in selling rice, I helped you is also should, you help me tell them, their kind intentions I accepted, but do not mention anything about gratitude."

  Ye Pingyu patiently waited for him to finish speaking, then said: "Director Zhu, our village also wants to thank you and Manager Han. We were thinking of going to the regional area tonight to find you and Manager Han, specifically to present you with a silk banner and invite you to dinner!"

  After listening to Ye Pingyu, Zhu Zishen finally understood why Ye Pingyu wanted to call him. It turned out that the village officials wanted to thank him. He immediately understood the intention behind this and thought for a moment before saying: "You're mainly here to thank Manager Han, okay, you can come then. After arriving, come directly to the regional government office to find me!"

  Unexpectedly, things went very smoothly. After Ye Pingyu hung up the phone, he was still in an excited mood, standing there thinking for a while before quickly running to Cao Dafu's office to tell him the news.

  Cao Dafu had just finished contacting Han Yuanqing, and when he spoke with Han Yuanqing, the latter always had a somewhat unenthusiastic and condescending tone, although it made him uncomfortable to listen to. However, they managed to get in touch and Han agreed to let them come find him in the area, so this matter was also settled smoothly.

  When Ye Pingyu came over to tell him about the successful contact with Zhu Zishen, Cao Dafu was also delighted. The look in his eyes towards Ye Pingyu had a more affectionate meaning, it seemed that the relationship between Ye Pingyu and Zhu Zishen was real. This appointment was indeed made possible because of their close relationship. If they were just ordinary friends, how could Ye Pingyu have arranged this meeting with his current status?

  "Xiao Ye, let's get ready now and have Yang Leyi come over together. He is specially responsible for delivering the silk banner. Without him, we can't speak well either. Let him bring a few bags of Jinhu tribute rice, which will be our little intention at that time!" Cao Dafu instructed Ye Pingyu.

  At this time, Ye Pingyu was also very happy in his heart. After listening to Cao Dafu's words, he went downstairs to make arrangements. There were only three people going this time, and a Jeep could just seat them. It was just that they still had to bring several bags of rice, which was not very convenient. However, since Cao Dafu arranged it this way, Ye Pingyu couldn't say no, so he could only call Yang Leyi and ask him to hurry up and bring the rice to the countryside, and then go to the area together.

  After calling Yang Leyi, Ye Pingyu went to the finance department to withdraw some money as required by Cao Dafu. Since he was going to entertain guests in the area, he couldn't go without bringing money. As the director of the party and government office, he was now in charge of arranging everything, including food, clothing, housing, and transportation, so he naturally needed a lot of money. In the past, Niu Zhencai spent money like water, always withdrawing cash from the finance department first, then taking the invoice to report back, and finally pulling out the IOU. He never said that he would spend his own money first and then take the invoice to report back. If it couldn't be reported, the money spent would not be returned, just like he had spent his own money to buy a bed. As a result, after reporting the account, if it was delayed and could not be reported, it was equivalent to him spending his own money to buy a bed for the public, which was a loss of personal wealth for the benefit of the public.

  Although it sounds noble and upright, there's no need to bully people like this. Originally, his salary wasn't high, and his family wasn't wealthy either, so where would he have the money to spend on public affairs? Moreover, others were all thinking of ways to get some benefits from public funds, but he couldn't even report this small amount of money in time, it's no wonder he was quite annoyed.

  After finishing the phone call, Ye Pingyu came to the finance office. The finance office was not located in the party and government office building, but in a few rooms in front of it. There were five or six employees in the finance office, who were also quite arrogant. Originally, although he was from the party and government office, he had no power in his hands, so they didn't take him seriously, let alone Zhao Yuncai. He came several times to report expenses, but they just ignored him.

  He walked over and sat down at the entrance of the Finance Department's office, where Little Zhou immediately saw him and stood up with a smile: "Director Ye, you're here!"

  This little Zhou is also very flexible in his daily life, with a bit of Liang Jun's style. When he came before, he didn't even glance at us, but now as soon as he sees us, he immediately stands up to greet us, with sparkling eyes, showing extreme enthusiasm.

  "What about Zhao?" Ye Pingyu glanced at him and asked casually without any expression.

  Xiao Zhou immediately came out and led him to another room, saying: "Director Zhao is inside, I'll go announce it!"

  After finishing speaking, he quickly ran over and shouted at Zhao Yuncai, who was staring at the computer: "Director Zhao, Director Ye is looking for you."

  Zhao Yuncai didn't react immediately, thinking to himself which village head is this Ye Director, just about to ask when Ye Pingyu walked over. At the sight of Ye Pingyu, he suddenly remembered and felt dizzy again, almost forgetting that Ye Pingyu had become the director of the Party and Government Office. This brain shouldn't be used as a finance minister in the future either.

  "Ah, Director Ye, come in and sit down quickly. Why didn't you call first?" Zhao Yuncai hastily stood up, giving his seat to Ye Pingyu, while Xiao Zhou also helped move a chair over for Ye Pingyu, then smiled and walked out.

  Zhao Yun had a room all to himself, which not only had a computer and TV, but also a bed and a resting area. It was very comfortable for one person to stay in, even more so than Cao Da Fu.

  Ye Pingyu had been here once or twice, so he was not unfamiliar with the place. He didn't have much to say to them either, so he directly stated his intention: "Secretary Cao asked me to come and get some money in advance for use. Do you have any here?"

  "Yes, yes, definitely!" Zhao Yuncai hastily said. If the leader says there is no money, then he doesn't need to be the head of the finance department anymore. After talking with Ye Pingyu, he quickly called over the cashier from the finance department.

  The cashier of the finance office was a woman comrade in her thirties. After she came in, Zhao Yuncai asked: "How much cash is left in the office?"

  The cashier said: "There are still over 5,000 yuan in cash, which is placed in the safe!"

  Zhao Yuncai turned around and asked Ye Pingyu: "Director Ye, is 5,000 yuan enough?"

  Before, Cao Dafu didn't let him take out much money, but every time Niu Zhencai was around, he often saw him carrying 3,000 to 5,000 yuan in his pocket. This time, they were going to the region for a banquet, and if there wasn't enough money, it would be embarrassing, so it's better to have more than less. After thinking about it, he said: "Then withdraw 5,000!"