Rebirth in 1960, My Industrial Age

Chapter 435 Trying to Use Connections
Zhou Fengnian's son and grandson are both quite intelligent, but Zhou Xianyang's upbringing and discipline were neglected when he was young, which made him unruly.

Now, seeing how smart my grandson is, already starting to learn to read, I wonder if he can really achieve the feat of "knowing a thousand characters at the age of three" in another year.

For this reason alone, Zhou Fengnian deserves to be nurtured.

We won't force Zhou Zeqian to study in a cramming style, but we also can't let him fall behind; with this intelligence, he might be able to enter junior high school at eight or nine years old.

After chatting with his wife and Bai Yujie for a while, Zhou Fengnian took the time to call his elderly father.

After learning that they were arranging a holiday at the Old Zhou's Chili Sauce Factory and wouldn't be able to come to Beijing until tomorrow, I hung up the phone with peace of mind.

Mr. Zhou is in perfect health right now. The energy and spirit he had on the phone just now were just like that of a man in his forties or fifties.

Factories in rural towns don't operate during the Spring Festival, and no one is willing to work overtime. Zhou's father also didn't want to stay at the factory, so he planned to arrange for some people to take shifts, and then he would come to Beijing to spend the Spring Festival.

It was easy to arrange for people to be on duty. There were many widowed or elderly people living alone in the village, so Zhou's father hired them to watch over the factory.

They can just patrol and report anything suspicious to the police; there's no need for them to chase after thieves or people.

The salary is quite good, thirty or forty yuan a month, and food and lodging are provided. Four or five people living alone can get together to relieve their boredom.

While he claimed he was hiring someone to watch over the factory, Zhou's father's real intention was to take care of the widowed and elderly people living alone in other villages.

After all, not all villages are like Hongjia Village, where every household is rich enough to receive dividends and live comfortably for a lifetime without having to work.

"Good year, where are you planning to go for the New Year this year? The Imperial Kitchen or at home?"

Bai Yujie suddenly smiled and asked, "Dad asked me to come and ask you what your plans are. He got his hands on some good tea leaves this year and said he'd bring them over for you to enjoy during the New Year."

"You have good tea? That's great. Old Master Bai doesn't even need to wait until the New Year; he can come over in the next couple of days."

Zhou Fengnian said with a smile that he wanted to try some good tea; there were some teas he liked that even those with power couldn't get their hands on, since he wasn't the only one with power.

"What does Grandpa Bai think? I don't think he's too keen on going to the Imperial Kitchen. Maybe he can stay at home."

After thinking for a moment, Zhou Fengnian continued, "We'll set up two tables each in the middle courtyard and the front courtyard; there should be enough room to sit."

In Beijing, the only relatives they could gather together for the New Year were the Bai family and Zhou Yan's maternal family. The others lived far away and wouldn't come to celebrate the New Year with them.

The front yard and the middle yard together can seat a hundred people, which is definitely enough.

Upon hearing this, Bai Yujie smiled and said, "Okay, then I'll go back and tell Dad."

Zhou Fengnian then asked, "How is Old Master Bai's health? Perhaps we can get him some treatment in a couple of years."

Although he reduced his visits to the Institute of Biological Cell Research, Zhou Fengnian kept a close eye on it.

He wants to give next year's quota to Zhou's mother first, and in two years, there might be more quotas for improving physical condition.

When the time comes, all his relatives and family members will receive a share, but Zhou Fengnian will have to inject himself with cell evolution serum the year after next.

If he doesn't experience it properly, how will he research new serums in the future?

The so-called "one person attains enlightenment" perfectly describes the current situation of the Zhou family. He started out as just a technician, a far cry from Old Master Bai's level.

However, in just over ten years, they completely caught up and eventually surpassed it by a considerable margin; his family also benefited, and now both Zhou Weitian and Zhou Jia'an are treated as honored guests whenever they invest in a city.

His son, Zhou Xianyang, has a chance to become a member of the municipal people's congress in the next year or the year after, after all, he donated 20 million yuan, and he will donate again if he has the opportunity in the future.

The following day, as soon as Zhou Fengnian arrived at the Academy of Sciences, he hadn't even been sitting in his chair for long when Dean Wu called him to go to Zhonghai to report to the leaders.

There are too many departments directly under China Overseas, and many things that need to be finalized are reported by individual departments, so there are no meetings where many departments come together.

Their report to the Academy of Sciences is scheduled for today, and besides, they also need to discuss the matter of appointing a new vice president with the leadership.

Upon arriving at Zhonghai, Dean Wu and Zhou Fengnian quickly met with Director Zhang.

"Dean Wu, Vice Dean Zhou, you've arrived quite early. Please wait a moment; the leaders are having lunch. I'll go ask them."

Director Zhang smiled and said something when he saw the two of them. Then he took them to a resting place and went to report the matter to his superiors.

A short while later, Director Zhang returned the way he came and said to the two of them, "Dean Wu, Vice Dean Zhou, come with me, the leaders have finished eating."

The two of them then followed Director Zhang to the leader's office, where the leader's secretary was clearing the breakfast off the table.

They said they had finished eating, but they were only halfway through when they heard that Dean Wu and Zhou Fengnian were coming over, so they immediately had the food put away.

Dean Wu also saw the breakfast that the leader's secretary had taken away. After sitting down, he couldn't help but say, "Leader, you can have breakfast first. Vice Dean Zhou and I can just relax with some tea. We're not in a hurry."

"No way. Since you're busy, then take care of your business first. Once you're done, you'll have time to relax and have some tea."

The leader chuckled, then looked at Zhou Fengnian and said, "Fengnian, I didn't expect you to come and report. You usually avoid these kinds of things."

Let me guess, you must have something to say this time, and it's not a small matter.

Back when he was in the Fourth Ministry of Machine Building, Zhou Fengnian rarely came to report unless he needed something.

It was only when Zhonghai needed to ask him something that they had to call him and then he could get Zhou Fengnian to come over.

Today was quite unexpected for the leader; Zhou Fengnian actually came on his own initiative, so he must have something to say.

"The leader guessed correctly. As for other matters of reporting results, Dean Wu is more than capable of it than I am."

The main reason I came along this time was to discuss with Dean Wu the idea of ​​adding another vice president to the Academy to help handle its daily affairs.

After pausing for two seconds, Zhou Fengnian continued to his superior, "Sir, the Chinese Academy of Sciences now has nine bureau-level departments, and I frequently travel for work. In addition to developing research projects, I also have to handle departmental work and cutting-edge scientific projects."

I've said a lot, but to sum it up, it all boils down to one thing: I'm too busy, I can't keep up.

Fortunately, there were nine bureau-level departments that helped handle a lot of things, but the work that was compiled and handed over to Zhou Fengnian was still quite a lot.

Zhou Fengnian had previously used a business trip as an excuse to leave Dean Wu with some time, which eventually became unbearable for Dean Wu.

"Yes, what you said is true. There weren't many research projects before, so the two deans, one principal and one vice dean, were able to handle it all."

However, in the past two years, our technological development has yielded many achievements, and judging by our previous perspective is clearly no longer sufficient.

After pondering for a while, the leader said, "I have no objections. We will hold a meeting in a couple of days to discuss it, and we should be able to finalize it for you after the New Year."

The reasons are valid, the application is sufficient, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences has seen explosive growth in both the number of researchers and the number of research projects in recent years.

Numerous achievements have been made, and scientific research has made great strides in line with reform and opening up.

It's just adding a vice dean; it's a perfectly reasonable request.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Fengnian smiled and said, "Then thank you very much, leader."

The leader waved his hand and laughed, "Hey, you're not thanking me just so you can relax, are you?" "Haha, definitely not."

After finishing this matter, Dean Wu began to report on other things. Several research projects involving national defense strategy still needed to be decided, and Zhou Fengnian also proposed the research direction for the next three years.

They spent almost the entire morning reporting to their superiors, and the two of them still had lunch before leaving by car.

While in the car, Dean Wu said, "Feng Nian, the position of vice dean has been finalized. You were the one who proposed this, so you can nominate him later."

Based on what the leader just said, they will definitely agree to promote him from within the company. If all goes well, the process could be completed in January or February.

"I've only been here for a short time and don't know them well; and I only have one requirement: they must be able to get things done, and they must get things done in a practical way."

Zhou Fengnian's original intention in proposing to add a vice president was to help him share the burden. If a mediocre person were selected, it would be difficult to remove him.

Dean Wu waved his hand and said, "Hey, that's why you need to get in touch. They'll be helping you with things in the future, so you can't avoid them."

"Now that you mention it, you're right."

After thinking for a moment, Zhou Fengnian said, "I'll take a look around before the New Year."

He had a decent impression of the bureau-level cadres at the Academy of Sciences, which was probably related to his rank. None of them dared to fool him, and they would do their best to complete the tasks assigned to them.

However, as I said before, the time spent together was too short, and Zhou Fengnian was really unsure about how to select a few candidates to submit.

After arriving at the Academy of Sciences, Zhou Fengnian returned to his office.

However, after returning, Zhou Fengnian called Qian Zhi into the house and asked, "Did anyone come looking for me just now?"

"Yes, quite a few leaders. Director Wei and Director Feng called to inquire, and Director Cai even came over in person."

Qian Zhi quickly reported, "I've relayed what you told me to do, but they said they really have something to report and asked me to wait for you to return before informing them. What do you think, boss?"

"Let them come; you can't stop this kind of thing."

Zhou Fengnian had some impression of these three people; they were fairly efficient, but he still needed to observe them further.

Those at this level are generally quite capable, especially since we are currently in the midst of reform and opening up, and everyone needs capable people, including the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"I understand, boss."

Upon hearing this, Qian Zhi went down to prepare, and then, following the order of the phone calls, notified the people to come over one by one.

The news of the appointment of a new vice president quickly spread throughout the Academy of Sciences. Anyone who heard about it couldn't resist getting up from their seats and preparing to pull some strings.

However, they all failed with Dean Wu, who had worked at the Academy of Sciences for nearly twelve years and saw through their intentions at a glance.

He told the people who came to him directly that this matter was proposed by Vice Dean Zhou, so the alternate positions would only be valid if they were also proposed by Vice Dean Zhou.

After hearing Dean Wu's words, those who wanted to be promoted to vice dean felt they had found a way to succeed. It's just that Zhou Fengnian's path was a bit bumpy and difficult.

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The night before Lunar New Year's Eve, Zhou Fengnian was so busy that he didn't get off work until after 10 p.m.

Today is considered a holiday as I leave work. Zhou Fengnian will not return to work until the fifth day of the Lunar New Year.

When he got home, it was already pitch black and snowing lightly. It wasn't cold, though; Zhou Fengnian was wearing a much thicker cotton coat than he had a dozen years ago. The ground was just incredibly slippery.

Zhou Fengnian's return to the backyard after opening the door quickly prompted Zhou Yan to get out of bed, wearing a cotton coat.

Seeing Zhou Fengnian push the door open and come in, she got out of bed to prepare hot water for him, and asked as she did so, "You're back quite late today. Are you going to work tomorrow?"

"I'm not going. Lao Wu will cover for me for the last day tomorrow. I'll go a day earlier after the New Year."

After taking off his coat, Zhou Fengnian rubbed his hands together and asked, "Is there anything else to eat at home? I ate dinner a bit early, and now I'm hungry again."

"Shall I make you some wontons?"

Zhou Fengnian smiled and said, "Okay, then thank you for your help."

Zhou Yan rolled her eyes and said, "Why be so polite at home?"

Now, heating has been installed in every room of the courtyard house, including the toilets. Zhou Xianyang had always wanted Zhou Fengnian and Zhou Yan to live in a better place, and he wasn't short of money at all.

The heating pipes in the main house are installed on three walls. Sometimes Zhou Fengnian feels so hot that he has to turn off two of the heating valves.

Aside from being a bit cold outside, this place is more comfortable than the previous garden villa.

The main reason is that their whole family lives nearby. Zhou Weitian and Zhou Jia'an's families used to live elsewhere, but now they are thinking of moving to Nanluoguxiang.

Even Zhou Hao had the same thought. After visiting Zhou Fengnian's house a few times, he felt that the apartment building wasn't so appealing anymore.

However, housing prices have risen considerably, and if they want to acquire an independent courtyard house, it will probably cost them hundreds of thousands of yuan.

If we move everything here, visiting each other will be incredibly convenient. We won't even need to drive; we can just walk a few hundred meters.

A short while later, Zhou Yan brought in freshly cooked wontons, which Zhou Fengnian took and sat down at the table to eat.

While watching her husband eat, Zhou Yan smiled and said, "My brother said he'll have the food delivered directly from the restaurant tomorrow, so we don't need to prepare anything."

Zhou Fengnian said, "This is great, otherwise I would be exhausted from the New Year's Eve dinner, there are too many people now."

The three families gathered together to celebrate the New Year, and even the smallest family, the Bai family, had eleven people.

Zhou Yan immediately laughed and teased, "Didn't you used to like cooking? You even volunteered to cook back then."

"Can that be the same!"

Zhou Fengnian said, "Before, there were only about ten people, and the job was done in no time. Now, it takes me an entire afternoon to prepare a New Year's Eve dinner."

Mr. Zhou's long-held wish for a large and prosperous family has been fulfilled. He now has seven great-grandchildren, and given his current health, he could easily live another thirty years.

I will definitely meet my great-grandson.

The next day.

Zhou Fengnian slept in late for once, without an alarm clock or anyone to disturb him, and didn't get up until almost nine o'clock.

However, just as Zhou Fengnian was about to wash up, Zhou Yan walked in from the central courtyard and said to Zhou Fengnian, "Fengnian, hurry up and get ready, your colleague is here?"

"Who? Is it Yan Zhengzhi?"

"No, I'm at the Academy of Sciences with you."

(End of this chapter)