Chapter 64: Misunderstanding and Miscommunication

As soon as Zhu Daodong left, Xu Jun immediately took two bottles of wine to the county committee. When Guo Lin'an saw the beautifully packaged Shumu Ridge wine, he praised it endlessly. He had already learned about Zhu Daodong's "military order" in Shumu Ridge Township. He greatly admired Zhu Daodong's ability to think creatively and liberate his mind, using the strategy of putting old wine in new bottles to repackage the wine.

"How much of this wine did you buy?" Guo Lin'an asked, putting down the wine bottle.

"Five hundred cases," Xu Jun said with a hint of pride.

"Five hundred cases? That's basically all of it, right?" Guo Lin'an was surprised. Five hundred cases of white wine would fill a large truck.

"There's only so much of this wine. If I don't buy it all, where will I find it for my guests in the future? Even if the Shumu Ridge wine factory starts production immediately, it will take half a year before new wine is available. This is aged wine from a traditional cellar," Xu Jun said with a smile.

"Your business acumen has always been sharp. This wine is indeed worth collecting," Guo Lin'an said, his eyes filled with admiration. Before he came to Yuhua County, Xu Jun had already opened Xiangshan Villa. As one of the first people in Yuhua County to venture into business after the reform and opening up, Xu Jun had at least a million yuan in assets thanks to Xiangshan Villa.

"If even Secretary Lian says it's worth collecting, the price of this wine should be increased by at least thirty percent," Xu Jun chuckled.

"As long as others agree, you can sell it for a thousand yuan a bottle if you want, but that has nothing to do with me," Guo Lin'an said with a smile.

"How's everything going?" Yuan Ping glanced at Liu Wei, who was smiling broadly, and asked casually.

"The packaging factory, the bottle factory, and the wine factory have been working overtime. They finally managed to repackage all the premium old white wine into Shumu Ridge wine today," Liu Wei said with a bow and a broad smile. This time, the efficiency of the wine factory was the fastest in history, even surprising Liu Wei himself.

"That's a pretty fast speed. I believe others won't have much to say. Is Zhu Daodong satisfied with the wine?" Yuan Ping nodded. As long as Liu Wei acted quickly, no one could criticize, and when the time came, ordering Zhu Daodong to resign or directly dismissing him would be reasonable and legal.

"He is satisfied. I heard he went to the county in the afternoon, probably to promote the wine," Liu Wei said with a smile.

"Do you think he can sell this wine?" Yuan Ping asked, still a bit uneasy, though he was confident, what if something went wrong?

"Don't worry, Township Chief. If he only sells it in the county, he definitely won't be able to. I've already spoken to all the wine specialty counters and stores in the county, asking them not to sell Shumu Ridge wine," Liu Wei said, having come to report to Yuan Ping right after completing the packaging of Shumu Ridge wine. He was doing his best to serve the township chief.

"Old Liu, isn't that a bit too much?" Yuan Ping frowned slightly, but the corners of his mouth betrayed his true feelings.

"I'm just being cautious. Besides, Zhu Daodong won't know," Liu Wei said with a smile.

Zhu Daodong indeed didn't know. He hadn't even contacted the wine stores in the county, so he had no idea that the few stores he had already contacted would suddenly change their minds. Now, he was carrying a black plastic bag with 30,000 yuan, heading to the township government with great enthusiasm.

Although Zhu Daodong kept telling himself to stay calm and composed, it was his first time carrying such a large sum of money, and 20,000 yuan of it would be his own. It was indeed hard to stay calm. Due to his nervousness, he tightly clutched the plastic bag, his fingers turning white, though he was unaware of it. From a young age, Zhu Daodong had never seen more than 10,000 yuan at once, and now he was carrying 30,000 yuan.

When he arrived at the office, the township government had already closed, and the credit union was also shut. He had to keep this large sum of money with him. But Zhu Daodong searched his office from under the pillow to under the bed, from the wine box to the locked cabinet, and couldn't find a place he considered safe enough.

In fact, his office had never been locked before, and nothing had ever been stolen. But our friend Zhu Daodong had never seen such a large sum of money. 30,000 yuan was more than his father had earned in his entire life.

In the end, just before going to bed, he couldn't feel at ease and had to tie the three bundles of money around his waist. Only then did he practice the "Turtle Breath" technique and gradually fall asleep. The next morning, Zhu Daodong woke up very early. It was a miracle he didn't have nightmares with 30,000 yuan tied to his body.

But his regular morning run was out of the question today. He had to keep an eye on the money. After locking the three bundles in the cabinet, he ran up and down the corridor several times.

Finally, at eight o'clock, he immediately took the plastic bag to the credit union, only to find it closed. It was Sunday, and the credit union staff, who were sent from the county, had returned to the city the previous afternoon.

With the credit union closed, the finance office wouldn't open either, so the money had to stay with him for another day. When he was poor, Zhu Daodong had always dreamed of getting rich, but now that a large sum of money had suddenly landed in his pocket, he was anxious and uncertain. It seemed his composure still needed improvement.

After severely criticizing himself, Zhu Daodong returned to the office, threw the plastic bag into the cabinet, took out 10,000 yuan and put it in his pocket, locked the cabinet, and went to the wine factory. But the wine factory wasn't open either. Liu Wei had been working overtime for days and finally had a day off on Sunday. Little did he know that in just one day, Zhu Daodong had sold all the Shumu Ridge wine.

With a gloomy face, Zhu Daodong had to return to the township government. He met Old Wan from the canteen, who, noticing Zhu Daodong's poor expression, cautiously asked, "Things not going well?"

"Nothing is going well!" Zhu Daodong didn't pay attention to Wan Jianhua's expression, sighed, and returned to the office.

This morning, he had gone to deposit the money, but the credit union was closed. He wanted to pick up the wine from the factory, but no one was there. For him, today was indeed not going well. However, Wan Jianhua misunderstood. When he asked, "Things not going well?" he was referring to Zhu Daodong's wine sales. When Zhu Daodong replied, "Nothing is going well," he was referring to his day. But Wan Jianhua thought Zhu Daodong meant that his wine sales were not going well.

Chinese people are always gossipy, especially since Zhu Daodong's wine sales were decided by the party committee and related to his future. Because of this, Zhu Daodong had become a notable figure in Shumu Ridge, though he didn't realize it. His every move was drawing attention.

Soon, the news that Zhu Daodong couldn't sell the wine he had contracted to sell spread like wildfire. By noon, all the township officials at home knew about it, and those involved, such as Liu Wei and Yuan Ping, also received the latest news.