Chapter 69: Negotiating the Convoy! Rushing to the Factory to Load the Goods!

If the money he earned was still obediently handed over to Ma Yulian, for her to pass on to him, Chen Dazhu wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to drive Li Junsheng into a corner!

Chen Dazhu and his son walked away, muttering to themselves, thinking they were subtle in their scheming. In reality, Li Junsheng saw right through their thoughts.

Two days passed in a flash. While Li Junsheng was across the hall watching over his granddaughter Tiantian, Chen Dazhu suddenly knocked at the door!

As soon as Li Junsheng opened it, he saw Chen Dazhu’s face lit up with excitement.

“Old Li, come out with me for a moment. Those trucks you asked me to find? I’ve found them for you. Do you have time to come down and take a look?”

Li Junsheng was intrigued—he hadn’t expected Chen Dazhu to be so quick. He’d thought it would take at least two more days before there’d be any news.

“All right, let’s go. I’d better go down and have a look. Wait for me while I take the child back.”

Holding his little granddaughter in his arms, Li Junsheng handed the child to Li Chun’ya, said a word to her, and followed Chen Dazhu out.

Chen Dazhu led Li Junsheng to an open space near the bus station reserved for parking. From a distance, they could see two battered trucks parked there.

A young man, looking to be in his late twenties or early thirties, was carefully wiping down one of the trucks.

“Captain Qin, cleaning up your trucks? We’re here to take a look at your fleet,” Chen Dazhu called out to the young man, who immediately put down his rag and walked over with a smile.

“Uncle Chen, and this is…?”

“This is Li Junsheng, your Uncle Li. He’s the one who needs trucks to haul goods.”

“Hello, Uncle Li. I’m Qin Yong.”

Qin Yong shook hands with Li Junsheng. The young man had thick eyebrows and bright eyes, a cheerful smile on his face—open and straightforward, not the least bit shifty.

Li Junsheng smiled as he talked with him. “Captain Qin, our main job is to haul some goods from the machine factory. If there aren’t any problems on your side, what’s your rate?”

“The price is easy to discuss. As long as it’s enough to support my family, that’s good enough…”

Qin Yong was honest. Though his trucks were rather run-down, he himself seemed reliable, and Li Junsheng didn’t mind. As long as the trucks could haul goods, they were good enough.

Most importantly, Qin Yong wasn’t greedy. He didn’t quote sky-high prices, so Li Junsheng decided on the spot to use his fleet!

Seeing that Li Junsheng had no objections and was satisfied with Qin Yong, Chen Dazhu impatiently pulled him aside to whisper.

“So, what do you think? If this fleet is all right, can you take me to meet your big fleet’s captain? At least let him meet Qin Yong!”

Chen Dazhu still wanted to use Qin Yong as a pretext, but Li Junsheng deflected.

“The captain trusts me—he said as long as I check things out, it’s fine. I’ll contact him after I’ve looked things over.”

“Are you really authorized to make such big decisions? It’s better to have your captain take a look, just to be careful in business matters,” Chen Dazhu pressed, trying to get information out of him, but Li Junsheng only smiled and turned back to talk with Qin Yong.

Unable to get anything out of him, Chen Dazhu could only tag along at Li Junsheng’s side.

He stuck close, making it impossible for Li Junsheng to discuss business with Qin Yong. After thinking it over, Li Junsheng asked Chen Dazhu, “Is there a restroom nearby? I need to use it.”

“I’ll take you,” Chen Dazhu grumbled inwardly about Li Junsheng’s frequent needs, but still led him to the restroom.

Li Junsheng asked him for some paper. Chen Dazhu didn’t follow him in, instead squatting a distance away to smoke.

Taking advantage of his inattention, Li Junsheng quietly circled back to find Qin Yong alone.

“Uncle Li, didn’t you go to the restroom? You’re back so quickly?” Qin Yong asked in surprise.

“Don’t worry about that. Let me give you my contact information and pay a deposit. When we need to haul goods, I’ll call you, all right?”

“Oh? Sure, here’s my number…”

Li Junsheng quickly paid the deposit to Qin Yong, exchanged landline numbers, and arranged to contact him when there was work. Then he slipped back to the restroom.

“All right, we’ve met Qin Yong today. If we need to haul goods, we’ll get in touch with him,” Li Junsheng said, tidying his clothes as he emerged in front of Chen Dazhu.

Chen Dazhu’s eyes flickered, still trying to probe him.

“Now that everything’s settled and you’re free, can you take me to meet your captain?”

“By the way, haven’t you worked these past two days?” Li Junsheng replied smoothly.

“No, I’m just a temp. I fill in when others are too tired or can’t work. So, the jobs aren’t regular.”

“Sounds like your captain is a busy man too?”

“I wouldn’t know about that. You could try your luck around where I wandered last time—maybe you’ll run into him or someone else from the fleet. I’ll help you find out where he is,” Li Junsheng said, stringing him along.

“All right, hurry up then.”

“Sure, if I run into the captain, I’ll bring him to meet you and Qin Yong, all right?” Li Junsheng nodded, playing the part of an honest man.

In truth, he shook off Chen Dazhu and headed straight for Section Chief Zhou’s office at the machine factory.

“Section Chief Zhou, could you write another authorization? We’d like to haul another batch of scrap material.”

Chief Zhou was taken aback—he hadn’t expected Li Junsheng to move so quickly.

“You’ve already processed the last batch?”

He inquired quietly, and Li Junsheng nodded with a smile.

“Yes. I remember you said last time that I could haul a bit more, so here I am.”

Li Junsheng subtly reminded Chief Zhou that he was only following his suggestion.

Now that he was here, Chief Zhou couldn’t very well refuse—doing so would be an embarrassment.

So, reluctantly, he wrote another authorization for Li Junsheng.

“All right, I’ll give you the paperwork. Go to the warehouse and haul the goods.”

Chief Zhou brought out pen, paper, and the official seal, issuing the document, but he was uneasy.

Was the demand for this scrap so high outside? If it was all aboveboard, it would sell easily.

If that was the case… why shouldn’t he get involved and take a share himself?

Li Junsheng had no idea what Chief Zhou was thinking. Now that he’d secured a trucking team, he only wanted to stockpile as much scrap as possible, fast.

When it was sold, he’d make a fortune—after all, before long, there wouldn’t be any more of this scrap to haul.

“All right, Section Chief Zhou, I’ll get ready to haul the goods. When it’s done, I’ll treat you to dinner, and we’ll split the profits as usual.”

Chief Zhou nodded, though he seemed distracted, lost in his own calculations.

Li Junsheng didn’t notice anything amiss. With the paperwork in hand, he went straight to the small shop downstairs and used their landline to call Qin Yong.

He told him to get ready—they’d be heading to the machine factory to pick up freight!

Qin Yong was surprised and delighted.

He hadn’t expected Li Junsheng to have work for them so soon. It looked like his trucking team would be earning their first pot of gold in no time.

“All right, Uncle Li, we’ll be there right away. Please wait a moment.”