Back to the 80s Machinery Factory

Chapter 484 The competition~ I know what I'm doing!
On this day, Chen Luyang had just arrived at the classroom as agreed when Wei Chuxiong pulled him to the Foreign Languages ​​Department, saying that Gao Hongming wanted to see him.

Once inside the teachers' office,

Gao Hongming took out a new book from the drawer, its cover still smelling of ink, and handed it to Chen Luyang.

"This 'Practical English Communication Handbook' is the first copy printed as a textbook, and it's a special gift to you, the original author."

Textbook version?
Chen Luyang excitedly took it, opened it, and took a look!
Unlike the booklets previously published by the provincial university press,

This edition features a dark blue textured cover with large gold lettering, and the words "Recommended Reference Textbook by the Ministry of Education" are prominently displayed in small red print in the upper right corner.
The most eye-catching thing is the line of text at the bottom:

Compiled by: Chen Luyang
These words are placed properly and neatly between the Peking University Press and the Ministry of Education's Teaching Affairs Department's approval mark!
With this kind of setup, it's more than just a "reference book".
They're the kind of things that would be displayed in a library glass case or on campus showcase!
Chen Luyang's fingers tightened slightly.

He carefully opened the table of contents. The page layout was neat and uniform, and the font and size were no longer the careless mimeograph style of the past. It also included Chinese and English translations, real-life illustrations, and a sentence structure variation table.

On the next page is an appendix containing audio materials, which clearly states:

"The audio recordings accompanying this textbook were produced by the audio team of Peking University Press."

This is a whole level better than that previous "little reference book".

Gao Hongming laughed and said, "The version you printed last time was printed as a reference book, with only a few hundred copies printed, so its circulation was limited."

"This time, it is a college teaching reference book officially registered with the Ministry of Education and is part of the national college textbook system. It will be distributed uniformly after the winter break, starting with key colleges and universities with foreign language departments."

"The first print run is 3,000 copies."

Chen Luyang asked excitedly, "Really?"

"The first sample copy you're holding is in your hand," Gao Hongming smiled. "It can't be fake."

Chen Luyang screamed wildly with excitement.

Print it...

Print it!!!

Print as many as possible!

It would be best if my name could be known throughout the country.
"But don't get too excited," Gao Hongming interrupted with a smile.

"If you have any additional or revised suggestions, please review them in the next couple of days."

"The finalized materials will be submitted next Monday. If there are any missing typos, or if we want to add an example sentence or supplement a chapter, we need to submit them as soon as possible."

"Although this book has passed the Ministry of Education's review, it still needs your final approval as the original author."

"Understood!" Chen Luyang nodded.

"I'll definitely take the time to look at it carefully these next couple of days."

"Oh, right, there's one more thing." Gao Hongming said, pulling out a light pink invitation-style document with a red stamp from the folder on the table and handing it to him.

"The organizing committee of the National Higher Education Foreign Language English Speech Contest formally invites you to serve as a judge for this contest."

What?
Chen Luyang was stunned on the spot, and almost dropped the invitation.

Wei Chuxiong, standing to the side, also stared wide-eyed, his jaw practically dropping as he looked at him in disbelief.

"I'll be a judge?!"

Chen Luyang asked in surprise, "Is this... appropriate?"

“Why wouldn’t that be appropriate!” Gao Hongming said with a smile.

“You are the author of the textbook. The school’s foreign language department nominated you, and the organizing committee also agreed.”

"but,"

Gao Hongming paused, looked at Chen Luyang, then at Wei Chuxiong, and said:

"Judges are judges, but they must be fair and impartial during the competition."

"You can't secretly give Xiao Wei a high score just because he's a contestant from our school, understand?"

"That's impossible!" Chen Luyang said seriously.
"How could I possibly do such a thing!"

Before Gao Hongming could even breathe a sigh of relief, Chen Luyang said seriously:

"It's a competition, I get it!"

"The highest score will be removed!"

"???"

Gao Hongming was stunned for a moment, as if he hadn't understood: "What did you say?"

"Don't worry, teacher! I know what I'm doing." Chen Luyang's expression was extremely serious.

"I will act according to the circumstances and give Senior Brother Wei a careful score!"

Gao Hongming: (⊙_⊙)?
Wei Chuxiong: Thanks (ω)

Chen Luyang: (*▽*)
……

Although Gao Hongming repeatedly stated that the textbook still needed the "final say" from the original author, Chen Luyang, before it could be officially published.
However, this book had already been meticulously polished by the provincial university press and reviewed word by word by the expert group of the Ministry of Education.

Let alone typos, even the usage of a single punctuation mark was carefully discussed by a group of proofreaders around the punctuation standard manual.

The reason for giving the book to Chen Luyang was simply to respect his status as the original author and to give him a copy of the first edition.

Chen Luyang was naturally happy to accept this respect.

Under Chen Luyang's intensive oral English training, Wei Chuxiong's spoken English improved by leaps and bounds.

Everyone is usually busy with classes,

Finally, it's the weekend!

Wei Chuxiong insisted on inviting Chen Luyang to dinner, but unexpectedly, Chen Luyang refused again.

"Senior Brother Wei, it's really not that I don't want to go."

“I also have a repair shop outside, and there are about ten people waiting for meals there. I have to go back and check on it this weekend.”

Upon hearing this, Wei Chuxiong immediately deflated.

Nowadays, everyone in the school knows Chen Luyang, a freshman in the Economics Department. He attends classes during the day, writes reports at night, and spends his spare time guiding city projects.
He is not only the project leader of Peking University's off-campus laboratory, but also owns an off-campus auto repair shop that is listed as a "municipal-level industry-education linkage pilot project".

The school even granted him a special "flexible study period" privilege.

Although everyone was "approving with a slip of paper"
However, Wei Chuxiong usually only approves a classroom for the drama club and a small room for himself to practice English.

It can't compare to Chen Luyang's "flexible study plan" at all!

Moreover, given how busy they are,
It's already quite remarkable that Chen Luyang can still find time at school to tutor Wei Chuxiong in English!
Wei Chuxiong sighed, "Okay, then let's make an appointment when you're free."

Chen Luyang was amused.

He patted Wei Chuxiong on the shoulder and laughed, "Hey! It's just a meal, I'll treat you tomorrow!"

……

After finishing her classes on Friday, Chen Luyang immediately took a bus back to the repair shop with her schoolbag on her back.

As soon as Chen Luyang turned into the West Railway Station's main square, his eyes lit up!
Above the familiar factory gate, below the plaque that reads "Experimental Site of Department of Mechanics, Peking University," a new, gleaming gold plaque has appeared out of nowhere!
"Pilot Unit for Industry-Education Integration in the Urban Area"

Six red characters in regular script, framed in gold, reflected a warm glow under the streetlights, while the freshly painted expansion screw heads still had bits of white lime left to clean.

Chen Luyang chuckled.

No need to guess, this was definitely done by Director Lu!

He walked briskly to the door with his schoolbag on his back, looking up and down.

To be honest, although this repair shop was originally converted from a sunflower seed roasting shop, its storefront is quite large. In fact, it's even more impressive than some of the small workshops in Southwest China.

But even the biggest storefront can't withstand the speed at which signs are being put up all the time!
The repair shop's main gate, a square circle, was almost entirely covered with plaques from top to bottom and left to right.

Jinba Car Maintenance and Repair Center

"Experimental Site of Department of Mechanics, Peking University"

"Joint university-enterprise practice, integrating work and study to cultivate talents"

"Standardized components and universal parts will help propel the wave of modernization."

Now there's another "pilot unit for industry-education integration in urban areas".

hiss……!
If you bring two more, you might block the door completely.

Chen Luyang's expression deepened...

"Director Chen, what are you doing standing outside in this freezing weather? Why aren't you coming inside?"

Director Lu, wrapped in a thick cotton-padded coat and carrying a cloth bag of frozen pears, saw Chen Luyang standing at the gate, deep in thought, with her schoolbag on her back.

Chen Luyang said solemnly, "Let me see if there's any room in this area where we can expand."

expansion?

Director Lu was taken aback and looked at Chen Luyang in surprise: "Are you saying this place is too small?"

"I think it's a bit small," Chen Luyang said, pointing to the entrance.
"Look at this plaque, it's pasted all around like patching up a window crack."

"Give us a few more, and we'll really seal this door off."

Director Lu chuckled: "Hey! Isn't it because you're so capable and get so much done? That's why our little repair shop has also caught up with the status!"

"But this display needs a place to be displayed."

Chen Luyang sighed: "Yes! We have a lot of work to do, and we have more and more people to do it."

"This space is almost full."

In the past six months or so
This two-story street-front repair shop, located near the West Railway Station and featuring a courtyard and warehouse, has grown from fewer than ten employees to more than twenty.

Although the dozen or so people who joined later were students from Peking University, they were not considered part of the repair shop's official staff.
But they eat, drink, write documents, and take care of all their daily needs at the repair shop.

The equipment in the factory is no longer just the basic machines that the provincial machinery factory initially provided.

right now,

Not only were heavy-duty lathes left over from the old Soviet Union added, but a modified train carriage was also specially placed in the yard and used as an experimental platform by the Department of Mechanics.

As for the warehouse, well, let's not even talk about it.

Before, we could turn around and pack up the materials, leaving a corner for them. Now, there's barely any room to even step.

Various steel materials, rubber pads, and accessory samples were piled up so high that they could easily be bumped or knocked over.

The once spacious work area has now been squeezed down to just basic operating space.

It's warmer when there are crowds of people in the dead of winter.

When next summer arrives,
Let alone people, even the machines would be smoking from the heat!

It seems that once the second batch of general-purpose parts is in full production and on track,
Factory expansion and space adjustment are issues that must be addressed.

Chen Luyang frowned slightly, silently keeping the matter in mind, and then followed Director Lu into the house.

The repair shop was cozy and warm at that moment.

Early in the morning, when winter was approaching, Director Lu was already thinking about preparing firewood for the winter. He led Li He, Sun Hongjun, and Jiao Long to prepare enough wooden bundles and also bought several hundred kilograms of honeycomb briquettes, which were stacked in a row against the back wall of the warehouse.

Once the stove was lit, the small repair shop became warm and cozy.

In the past few days, everyone has been working late into the night to repair most of the cars that were previously brought in for maintenance.

Although there are still a few newly delivered cars parked outside that haven't been finished, the job is almost done.

The fire in the stove was burning brightly, and everyone sat around it to rest after finishing their work.

Sun Hongjun came out of the kitchen carrying a large basin of freshly thawed frozen persimmons and was enthusiastically distributing them to everyone.

"Hey, Brother Chen is back!"

Upon seeing Chen Luyang return, Sun Hongjun happily picked out the largest persimmon and handed it to her.

"So sweet!"

Chen Luyang took off her scarf, bit open a frozen persimmon, and then happily soaked in the juice inside.

"Eat more if they're sweet; I bought quite a few."

As Sun Hongjun spoke, he took the frozen pear from Director Lu and put it in a basin to thaw.

"I went to the Da'anmen vegetable market specifically to grab these; they cost 16 cents each, which is really expensive!"

While feeling the pinch of the cost of the persimmons, Sun Hongjun said:

"It's expensive, but look at this size! It's huge!"

"Well done, you Red Army soldiers, you're even scrambling for frozen persimmons now." Jiao Long laughed as he ate a persimmon.

"With that kind of fighting power, why don't you go to the train station and scramble for train tickets?"

"Speaking of the train station!" Li He slapped his thigh.
"Have you heard? Yesterday, they caught a ticket scalper near Qianmen. He was trying to snatch up tickets for the Chinese New Year, and he was willing to triple the price of a single ticket, even selling standing tickets for 7.5 yuan!"

"They really dare to ask for such a high price..."

Zhang Guoqiang chimed in, "I remember last year when I went back to Fengyang, a hard seat only cost 4.8 yuan. Now it's being resold for 7.5 yuan?"

“Sigh, these days it’s all about connections and back channels!” Director Lu said.

“My sister’s nephew works as a temporary worker at the train station. He said that the crowds this year are terrifying. You can even sleep by the toilet! Sigh, this year is good... but there are just too many people.”

"I heard that some people locked up their bicycles and threw them in Dashilan to queue up in order to get tickets, and they queued for two days straight!"

Li He clicked his tongue as he wiped his hands, "How homesick he must be..."

Sun Hongjun leaned closer and whispered, "I also heard that some people specifically follow foreign guests, help them carry their bags, and then take them to foreign guest shops to exchange for canned goods and towels... It is said that one can of those canned goods can be sold for the equivalent of three months' salary."

"Really!? Then this job is perfect for me!" Chen Luyang exclaimed with delight.

Not only can he carry bags, but he can also chat with people.

Why can't we earn more?

“Absolutely!” Jiao Long chimed in from the side.
"If our repair shop really had that kind of business, why would we bother repairing cars? The whole shop could just switch to a 'canned food wholesale company'."

"Nonsense, there's no such thing as a canned fruit that valuable!" Chen Luyang said while licking the inside of a persimmon peel.

"If canned food were really that expensive, there wouldn't be enough for all the restaurant staff!"

"Hey! Yeah, that's right." Li He immediately became interested.
"Brother Chen, didn't you used to work at the Foreign Guests Hotel? What exactly does the Foreign Guests Hotel have? Do they really have such expensive canned goods?"

Chen Luyang replied, "Foreign guest hotels just have more foreigners, more delicious food, more trendy items, and some specially supplied candies, beer, drinks, sausages, etc. They're not expensive enough to cost three times the salary."

Li He became even more curious: "Brother Chen, does that mean everyone who enters a foreign guest hotel can learn a foreign language?"

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone in the repair shop looked at Chen Luyang.

As is widely known, Chen Luyang's martial arts skills originated from the Foreign Guests Hotel.

In that beautiful and mysterious place nestled by the river
It has produced an all-around language talent who is fluent in English, Japanese, German, French, Italian... but damn well, not Russian!

(End of this chapter)