As Liu Shanmin was leaving Ma County, he said to Li Long:
"To be honest, this trip had my heart in my throat too, but however you look at it, things turned out well. I told Gaolou before that you were my lucky star, and I really wasn't wrong.
"I came over this time to hand over some materials. You'd think that counted as both an achievement and hard work, but the actual benefits I got weren't even as good as what I got from helping you get those people out."
Hearing that, Li Long understood. Liu Gaolou had probably reported the matter to his contact over the past two days. Although their main focus was collecting equipment and information, after Liu Shanmin had done something like this, it would hardly have been right not to commend him.
He smiled and said:
"Whatever the case, you really put in a lot of effort over there. Otherwise, those people wouldn't have been released so quickly. They might even have died there.
"You put in the work, so you deserve the benefits. Even our ancestors said that when you've done a good deed, you shouldn't turn down recognition or rewards. And don't call me your lucky star. Without you getting things over here for me, I couldn't be living this well either. It's a win-win for us."
"Right, right, a win-win." Liu Shanmin smiled. "Let's hope we keep winning. All right, I'm off. If anything comes up later, let's keep each other posted."
After Liu Shanmin left, Li Long was in an excellent mood too. He even hummed on his way back to the Drip Irrigation Tape Factory. "We ordinary folks are really, truly happy today..."
The Drip Irrigation Tape Factory's production workload was lighter than before. Mainly, almost everyone who wanted