Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

Page 351

After Li Hongying finished her introduction, she asked, "Where is the lathe operator?"

"Master hasn't arrived yet."

"Is it that Master didn't come, or that there is no Master at all?" Li Huaide asked.

"Of course, there is a master for this."

"Really? I think that's unlikely. Everyone in the capital who knows how to use a lathe has gone to work in steel rolling mills and heavy machinery factories. Where would you find a master lathe operator?"

Li Hongying said, "They were hired from a heavy machinery factory. We have already discussed it with their mentors and they will be here to start work soon."

The heavy machinery plant is a large factory that is no less powerful than the steel rolling mill. There are many skilled workers there. As long as they don't explain things clearly, Li Huaide can't say that there's anything wrong with them.

This was the pre-arranged explanation; if all else fails, we'll bring Tong Zhi and Da Zhuang over to take sides.

Li Huaide couldn't really blame them, since they couldn't exactly ask them to bring the people over; it wouldn't make any sense.

District Chief Guo stopped worrying about these trivial matters. Today's events had deviated significantly from expectations, and he was too lazy to probe further. It was better to cut to the chase quickly.

"Let's go to the office first."

Li Hongying nodded in agreement, and then the two invited her to the office, poured her tea, and said, "The office here is rather simple and the conditions are limited. Please bear with us, leaders."

"You're welcome."

District Chief Guo, sipping his cheap tea, remained unperturbed. He put down his teacup and said, "I've taken a look, and I feel that your machinery factory has no future."

Li Huaide also said, "Yes, although you have the equipment, your technical skills are lacking, so you can't fully utilize the equipment's capabilities."

District Chief Guo then said, “I think your subdistrict should continue to focus on expanding and strengthening its braised meat shops and canneries, rather than starting this machinery factory and entering an unfamiliar field.”

“Boss, we have a plan. We have already recruited 50 apprentices. With a little training, we will be able to open the factory and create 50 jobs.”

District Chief Guo said, "This is easy to handle. The 50 apprentices can be transferred to the steel rolling mill along with the machines, and they can compensate you."

Li Hongying was stunned for a moment. Just as she had guessed, District Chief Guo had come to support Li Huaide of the steel rolling mill.

"Boss, this isn't right. This machine doesn't belong to our neighborhood."

Now it was District Chief Guo and Li Huaide's turn to be stunned. They looked at each other, and then District Chief Guo asked:

"What do you mean by that? What do you mean this machine doesn't belong to your neighborhood?"

Director Li explained, "This was donated to our neighborhood by patriotic overseas Chinese residing in Moscow. It's a machinery factory jointly built by both parties, and the ownership of these machine tools does not belong to our neighborhood."

"No, didn't you buy this?" Li Huaide said anxiously.

Li Hongying said, "Of course not. Where in our neighborhood would we get so much money to buy this batch of machine tools? That's an asset worth hundreds of thousands."

These machine tools are no cheaper than cars. Li Huaide hadn't thought much about it before, since only collective streets could possibly buy this batch of machine tools; individuals certainly wouldn't have the means.

But I never thought that this machine tool didn't belong to the street.

Li Hongying explained that the resident was currently in Moscow and had learned that the area was facing difficulties, with not enough factories to provide employment for its residents.

They pooled their resources with some people to purchase a batch of second-hand machine tools, and then partnered with the local community to set up a machinery factory.

When He Yuzhu and Li Hongying discussed it before, they came up with a plan. Since many people on the street had indeed gone to Moscow, Li Hongying borrowed someone's name and had He Yuzhu write a document in Russian, the gist of which was to cooperate with the street using these lathes.

The two sides could set up a machinery factory and recruit villagers from the same neighborhood; this reason alone would be enough to reject District Chief Guo's proposal.

After explaining, Li Hongying asked He Yuzhu to bring a document and handed it to District Chief Guo, saying:

"Boss, look, this is the letter he wrote."

When District Chief Guo saw that his hand was covered in Russian, he was immediately overwhelmed, as he couldn't understand it at all!

"I won't look at the documents, this matter..." District Chief Guo hesitated for a moment.

Director Li said, "Sir, I'm really sorry, but the other party specifically requested cooperation with the street office. If I transfer these machine tools to the steel rolling mill, I won't be able to explain it when he comes back to visit relatives in two years."

"Since they have made a request, then we should comply with their request." Although District Chief Guo was a leader, he was only a deputy after all, and he couldn't force Li Hongying to hand over the lathe to Li Huaide, because that would be unreasonable.

Li Huaide opened his mouth but didn't say much. After all, it involved Chinese people living in Moscow, and this kind of thing could be a big deal or a small deal.

The other party was able to contact a group of Chinese people to donate money and get more than 20 lathes sent back. Who knows how much influence they have or what important figures or leaders they know?

My plan is somewhat unsavory and I can't bring it up. If I run into a brick wall, I'll be the one who suffers.

District Chief Guo stopped talking about transferring the machine tools to the steel rolling mill and started talking about other things.

Director Li protested instead, saying, "What you said earlier is right, but the two technicians we brought from the heavy machinery plant are a bit too weak in terms of skills. How about the steel rolling mill sends us two lathe technicians instead?"

"This..." District Chief Guo felt like he had shot himself in the foot.

They wanted to get these 20 lathes into the steel rolling mill, but that didn't work out. Now they're going to have to pay people to come in?

Li Hongying said, "I was just about to report to the leaders. Our machinery factory was donated by overseas Chinese. If we don't have enough experienced workers to train our operators, they will be disappointed when they come because our neighborhood committee is just going through the motions and not working hard."

"But..."

Li Huaide thought to himself that he had indeed acted rashly this time. Although he hadn't completely broken off relations, he had still lost face.

Now that the predetermined goal has not been achieved and the neighborhood committee has been offended, he needs to find a way to repair his relationship with the neighborhood committee.

Otherwise, he, as the deputy factory director, would be derelict in his duties. After all, although the steel rolling mill is a directly subordinate unit of the deployment, it still needs to deal with the street and requires the support and cooperation of the street.

Especially the housing issue. Many workers live on the streets. If the street authorities cause trouble, the person in charge of logistics will be the one who suffers.

"Our steel rolling mill was able to operate smoothly thanks to the strong support from the neighborhood committee for our logistical work. Since the neighborhood committee is facing difficulties, our steel rolling mill cannot stand idly by."

Li Huaide raised his voice and said, "However, our steel rolling mill is currently facing a heavy production task, so we can only temporarily borrow a master craftsman to come over."

Li Hongying was overjoyed. She was also unsure of herself, but she decided to give it a shot first. She didn't expect Li Huaide to offer her a mentor.

Li Hongying said, "I know Master Ding Guangtai from your factory. We can just borrow him here."

Li Huaide, of course, couldn't possibly know everyone at the steel rolling mill, so he asked, "What grade of worker is this Master Ding?"

If it's a higher-level worker, I can't just let go, since every senior worker is very valuable and their production schedule is packed.

"His rank is not high, only level four."

Level 4 workers are the threshold for entering the intermediate level, belonging to the middle-level technicians in steel rolling mills, and they are quite common.

Li Huaide nodded: "A level four worker is good, that's fine, I'll arrange for him to come over later."

This is compensation to the street. He wanted to seize the machine tool by force, but he failed. He wanted to eliminate the impact of this incident so that Director Yang's side wouldn't hold a grudge against him.

Seeing that Li Huaide and Li Hongying had reached an agreement, District Chief Guo took his leave, citing other matters as the reason.

Li Hongying then invited the two of them into the car and drove them away.

Back in the office, Li Hongying told He Yuzhu about the outcome.

He Yuzhu said, "Alright, let's strike while the iron is hot and invite Master Ding over."

He originally thought he would have to find Director Yang to solve the problem, but he didn't expect Li Huaide to come to him so quickly. This time he really lost both his wife and his army.

"Yes, I'll go back and take care of the paperwork right away. Don't worry, he wouldn't dare refuse to give it to me."

He actually agreed to what was supposed to be a joke. If he dared to go back on his word, there were plenty of ways the locals could make things difficult for Li Huaide.

Li Huaide didn't; the street-level staff had already arrived at his office at the steel plant.

Li Huaide had no choice but to reluctantly agree, sign the papers, and complete the formalities to temporarily transfer Ding Guangtai to the street's machinery factory.

After the people on the street had passed, they called the workshop director over and gave him a lecture, complaining that the information he provided was incorrect.

The workshop director felt extremely wronged and was filled with anger. When he returned to the workshop, he looked at Yi Zhonghai with eyes blazing with fury.

They found some excuse to reprimand Yi Zhonghai, leaving him feeling extremely aggrieved. He asked:

"Director, what's wrong with you?"

"It's all your doing. The lathes in that machine factory were all donated by overseas Chinese."

Yi Zhonghai protested, "Director, I was just chatting with you for a bit. How would I know whether it was a donation or something the neighborhood bought?"

The workshop director was speechless. Yes, Yi Zhonghai had only provided a clue, saying that there were more than 20 lathes on the street.

That makes sense, since Li Huaide wanted to acquire it without investigating it properly, so he had no choice but to swallow his pride and bear the consequences.

Yi Zhonghai was also gloomy. How could this have happened so unexpectedly? He thought that with Li Huaide's help, he could easily get the lathe from the street.

Who knew it would end up like this?

When Ding Guangtai was notified that he was being temporarily transferred to the machinery factory in the street, he was still confused. How could he be temporarily transferred out when he was perfectly fine?

However, this is also a good thing. After being seconded out, there is usually a subsidy, which provides additional income and makes things much easier.

In the afternoon, Ding Guangtai arrived at the street office with the temporary transfer documents.

After completing all the formalities, Li Hongying accompanied her to the machinery factory.

He Yuzhu helped him settle down and then talked to him about what needed to be done next.

The matter is actually quite simple: to teach these apprentices and get the machines up and running as quickly as possible.

"Okay, let's start the lesson today. We'll start with the basics and begin by making the simplest parts."

"Okay, Mr. Ding, I'll leave the rest to you. Please let me know if you need anything and do your best to provide good service."

Although Ding Guangtai was only a fourth-level worker, he had an incredibly rich experience in training apprentices.

His lectures were lively and humorous, captivating the audience. Most of the apprentices listened attentively, with only a few daydreaming.

He Yuzhu kept everything in mind and then listened carefully to Master Ding's explanation.