Back to the 80s Machinery Factory

Chapter 449 Liang Zhongwei's Headache
I just parked the car, and haven't even gotten out yet.
The window of a Santana across the street rolled down with a "whoosh," revealing half of Lao Han's face.

"Hey, Wang Li!" Old Han, a cigarette dangling from his lips, waved at him.

"I heard you changed your car seat?"

Wang Li said with a smile, "This is quite a rumor... they even changed the car seat."

Why didn't you tell me I wanted to get a new car?

"I replaced the springs!"

"Can the spring be replaced?"

Old Han asked in surprise, "Aren't these things usually welded to the bottom of the chair?"

"Yes, they can!" Wang Li enthusiastically explained, "That's what the repair shop does. After they replace it, it feels amazing, much more comfortable to sit in."

"Where is the place?"

Old Han injured his back when he was young. Whenever the weather gets cold or he sits for a long time, his buttocks feel like they're being cut with a knife.

He heard about a place that appealed to him!

"It's right near the West Railway Station! They just called me and said they'd replace some parts for me for free or something. If you have some free time, go check it out."

"Okay, I'll go take a look when I have a day off. If it's not working, at least replace the spring."

Before he could finish speaking, Wang Li quickly reached out to stop him: "Don't come up here and say you need to change the springs."

Old Han was taken aback: "Why?"

Wang Li explained, "I had a nail in my tire, and the brake line was leaking. They repaired the tire and replaced the brake line for me."

"This seat spring replacement was a gift from them when their new factory opened."

Old Han was surprised: "You can give this as a gift?"

“Why not! Keep talking.” Wang Li patiently taught him, sentence by sentence.

"Don't be silly and say 'I'm here to change the springs' when you go."

"Just say the car keeps making noise and you want to check for problems. If they bring it up themselves and say it's a spring problem, then go along with it."

"What if they didn't say so?"

"Then bring it up. If that doesn't work, ask them to issue you more invoices!"

Wang Li then shared his own experience: "If they promise to issue you more invoices, keep them. If they don't, just say you won't get an invoice and you'll just get a different spring."

Old Han's eyes lit up!
"Wang Li, that's quite a clever idea!"

Wang Li confidently raised his head: "There has to be a proper way to do it~ Go ahead! If it really doesn't work, mention my name."

"They said it was a referral from a long-time customer, so we should at least treat them well!"

Old Han thought about it and agreed!

Since my car also had a minor problem, I figured we might as well go get it checked together!

……

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Lao Han drove his yellow and white Santana towards the West Railway Station.

The large iron gate of the Jinba Auto Maintenance and Repair Center was already wide open.

There were three vehicles parked in the yard, and an old Jiefang truck with an "official" sign was undergoing a chassis inspection.

Several mechanics were busy working around the car, while a few young people stood nearby, holding notebooks and measuring instruments, taking notes as they looked at the machine.

As soon as he entered the workshop, Lao Han was startled by the strong smell of machine oil mixed with cutting fluid.

"Master, need your car fixed?" The young man at the door saw him and immediately ran out.

"Yes." Old Han nodded. "This car has been making a rattling noise lately, and the steering wheel feels a bit unstable."

"Please get out of the car first and go to the lounge to sit for a while. Our driver will take a look at you," the young man said enthusiastically.

Although it's a repair shop.

However, at Chen Luyang's insistence, a waiting room was added next to the reception room.

The sofa and small table were both salvaged by Sheng Haisen.

Although the sofa and small table were in a terrible state when they were salvaged,
However, Director Lu was meticulous and went out first to buy some cloth and make a sofa cover.

I bought another small bucket of paint and carefully painted the little table.

After tidying up like this, the sofa and small table immediately look clean and nice.

As soon as Lao Han sat down, Li He placed a cup of hot water on the small table.

"You seem to get a lot of people getting their cars repaired here!" Old Han warmed his hands with his teacup and looked at the two trucks that had driven into the yard, asking curiously.

“Actually, we don’t usually have this many,” Li He replied with a smile.

"We've been replacing parts for cars that we've repaired before for free these past two days, so we've had more customers coming in."

Before Lao Han could ask any further questions, Zhang Guoqiang walked in, rolling up the sleeves of his work uniform, and asked:
"Comrade, is that Santana yours?"

"Yes!"

"The chassis mounting pads on your car are worn out, the washers are deformed, and there are cracks at the edges. The chassis shakes when you drive, and the steering wheel is unstable."

"Can you fix this?" Old Han asked instinctively.

These days, repairing a car isn't the problem; replacing parts is the real hassle!

I often visit several places but still can't find a suitable match.

Zhang Guoqiang understood his meaning and laughed: "Now that you're here, how could it not be fixed?"

"Don't worry, not only can it be repaired, but we also guarantee that you won't be charged if it can't be repaired."

As he spoke, he walked to the tool rack, took out several shiny black rubber pads from a small drawer, and pressed the edges flat.

"Look, this is a batch of standard rubber gaskets that we just started trial production. They are universal models with matching dimensions. Installing them will definitely ensure stability."

Old Han picked up a piece and looked at it. The texture was good, but the appearance was a bit rustic.

It doesn't look very good...

"How much is this?"

“这个垫片1块5。我们人工费是2块。一共收你3块5。”

As Zhang Guoqiang spoke, he pointed to the price list on the wall.

"We have clearly marked prices here, and we will never overcharge."

The price is okay.
Old Han glanced at the price: "Okay, let's get it fixed."

Although Lao Han readily agreed,
But when the gaskets were being changed, he couldn't help but leave the break room and stand there watching.

really,

When Zhang Guoqiang took out the old gasket, the poor gasket was deformed.

When Zhang Guoqiang removed the old gasket, the rubber was already twisted and deformed, and the edges were bulging.

After repairing it, Zhang Guoqiang, as usual, went around the car to check it again. When he got to the driver's seat, he suddenly stopped.

"Comrade, this seat is too hard; the backrest springs are about to collapse."

Upon hearing this, Old Han quickly chimed in, "Is it because the seat is hard? I thought it was my back that was hurting."

Zhang Guoqiang shook his head: "This chair is too big for someone our age, even a young man wouldn't be able to sit in it."

"Okay, I'll replace the spring cushion for you, so it'll be more comfortable to sit on."

Old Han's eyes lit up. Remembering Wang Li's words, he quickly pretended to ask casually, "How much?"

"It's free," Zhang Guoqiang said readily.

"We have springs here, it's easy to find."

"If you ever have any problems driving your car, come and have a look at our services."

As he spoke, Zhang Guoqiang bent down and got to work, removing screws, prying clips, and taking off the seat cushion in one go.

"Look, both of these springs are broken."

Zhang Guoqiang showed him the tattered seat cushion, saying, "You've been sitting on one side of the backrest all the time, so the steel wire has cracked. Anyone would have back pain sitting on this."

As he spoke, Zhang Guoqiang quickly replaced all the springs on Lao Han's seat. "Try sitting on it again this time."

"Hey! That really feels great."

Old Han swayed back and forth in his seat, then leaned back heavily, feeling much more comfortable than the previous hard seat cushion.

This place is nice!

...I don't know what's going on with those young people next to me.

Upon seeing the broken spring that had been removed, he was overjoyed, as if he had found some great treasure, and jumped up and took it away.

They looked like a bunch of scavengers.

After the car was repaired and Lao Han paid the bill, he was about to ask for a few more yuan in receipts when the receipt book was printed.

"Comrade, I'm really sorry." Zhang Guoqiang waved his hand and pointed to the red paper on the wall.

"We have a rule here that we can't issue too many invoices. Otherwise, if the leaders investigate, we'll all get criticized."

Seeing Zhang Guoqiang's apologetic look, Lao Han was already mentally prepared.

According to Wang Li, he originally planned to wait until they said they couldn't issue an invoice before bringing up the matter of replacing the spring.

However, before that step could be taken, Zhang Guoqiang changed his own chair.

Old Han didn't waste any time, reached into his pocket, took out a pack of "Peony" cigarettes, and handed it over.

"Thank you, sir. I'll come back to you for car inspections again in the future."

Zhang Guoqiang accepted the cigarette with a smile.

This has almost become the norm.

Although they can't issue more invoices, they'll still accept cigarettes like these.

Anyway, we're all smoking together, and it's a good way to perk ourselves up when we're sleepy.

Old Han looked at the car with satisfaction and laughed, "I must say, it really was thanks to an acquaintance's introduction, otherwise how would I have known there was such a great place?"

At this moment, Director Lu peeked over from the side and asked curiously, "Comrade, who introduced you here?"

“Wang Li!” Old Han said, “We’re from the same company. He’s the one who recommended me to come here today.”

"Oh! Him!" Director Lu chuckled.

"You should have said earlier that he was the one who introduced us. We're still waiting for him to come back."

……

After the car was repaired, Lao Han comfortably rode back to the dispatch station.

Before he could even get off the bus, he was assigned a task: to pick up someone at the entrance of the Municipal Economic Commission and take them to Fengnan.

Ten minutes later, the car arrived at the entrance of the Municipal Economic Commission.

A middle-aged man in a dark gray Zhongshan suit stood at the bottom of the steps, looking hurried.

"Comrade Liang Zhongwei?" Old Han asked, rolling down the car window.

"It's me." The middle-aged man nodded, took out a yellow document envelope, pulled out the dispatch order from the middle, and handed it over.

Old Han took a look, quickly stamped the form with the company's vehicle dispatch stamp, and handed it back.

"Get in the car."

The car door closed, and the Santana made a soft thud as it drove away from the company gate, heading towards Fengnan.

There was a moment of silence inside the car.

Old Han gripped the steering wheel and focused on driving.

In the back seat, Liang Zhongwei's brows remained furrowed, and his face was gloomy.

During this period, the city wanted to take advantage of the booming individual economy to gain a head start in the plastic packaging sector.

One of the key pilot tasks is for Fengnan Light Industry Factory to complete a batch of "lightweight polyethylene packaging bags" by the end of the year, which will be supplied to several soap factories, garment workshops and grain stores in the city for use as inner packaging.

The project doesn't look very big.

But behind this is a clear "policy implementation order" issued by the Economic Commission.

Once completed, it is expected to become a model for light industry that can be promoted throughout the city.

But that's where the problems begin.

The light factory used to make traditional crafts like cardboard boxes, coarse cloth bags, and woven bags, and was completely unfamiliar with plastic processing.

Moreover, the equipment was second-hand machinery that was urgently transferred from the south.

Although the machine has wire drawing and heat sealing equipment, no one knows how to use it.

The factory's technical backbone consisted of just a few veteran salesmen who had previously worked at the Canton Fair, and they relied entirely on "studying the manuals and working their way up."

With this in mind, the city specifically arranged for a collaborative training base to be built with the Pian'ercheng Packaging Machinery Technical School.
Three experienced teachers from the technical school will be assigned to the factory to work on-site, and students will take turns training in the workshop to assist in guidance and participate in production.

But as soon as the plan was proposed, the factory started passing the buck:
"This isn't a classroom, it's a production line! If students come and teachers have to be there, who's responsible if something goes wrong?"

"We're too busy with our own tasks to keep up with everyone else, let alone have anyone to teach students."

"Besides, we need these orders to meet our year-end targets, so it's important to avoid any mistakes."

He said he was "worried about safety".
But in his heart, he was secretly thinking that he didn't want outsiders to share the credit.

This is the task list used for year-end evaluations!

What you submit are the results; what you receive are honors and funding.

Although the technical school sent out the personnel list and schedule well in advance, the factory did not provide dormitories, issue pre-job notices, or designate job responsibility areas.

As time went by, the Human Resources Cooperation Section of the Municipal Economic Commission made several calls and sent letters to urge them to return to work.

The other party only vaguely replied, "We'll look into it further."

Finally, the vice principal of the vocational school couldn't hold back any longer and personally went to the city to lay the situation on the table, even revealing some inside information!

It is said that the light industrial park applied for special subsidies under the guise of a technical school, but did not actually carry out any cooperation!
Upon hearing this, Liang Zhongwei's face turned ashen.

This factory was a key unit that he personally pushed for to be included in the city's "Factory-School Joint Skilled Worker Training Pilot" list, and it was planned to be "showed off" at the end of the year.

But unfortunately, none of the company's three vehicles are needed right now!

A vehicle was borrowed by the suburban construction committee to deliver materials, and they said it wouldn't be back until the afternoon.

A car went to the repair shop for maintenance.

The last car went to take a cadre's family member to see a doctor.

Helpless, Liang Zhongwei could only head straight to the General Affairs Department with a belly full of anger, take a "business trip ticket" from the city dispatch station, and call a taxi to the light factory.

The car was halfway there when
Old Han glanced at the rearview mirror and casually struck up a conversation:
"Comrade, you don't look well on the way here. Are you feeling unwell?"

Liang Zhongwei paused for a moment, then casually said, "It's nothing, I'm just feeling down."

"You drive quite steadily," he changed the subject.

"That's right!" Old Han said happily, "Mainly because we just came from the repair shop this morning. They replaced the chassis gaskets, so it's much more stable now."

When it came to car repair, he became quite talkative:
"You know what, that place is really good. Not only do they repair cars well, but they also make their own parts."

"This morning I went to change a seat cushion, and they also replaced the seat springs for me. It's so comfortable to sit in now."

Liang Zhongwei became curious.

"Is the repair shop you mentioned the one near the West Railway Station?"

Old Han said, "Yes! That's the one. It's really good."

Thinking of Chen Luyang, Liang Zhongwei raised his eyebrows slightly.

Although he had only met Chen Luyang twice, he had a pretty good impression of this junior brother.

He's a very enthusiastic and positive young man.

The previous two times, it was Chen Luyang praising himself, and Liang Zhongwei just took it as a joke.

Now even taxi drivers are praising it, so it seems there's some truth to it.

You should go and see it if you have the chance.

(End of this chapter)