Back to the 80s Machinery Factory

Chapter 502 I Can't Control Your People

This sentence struck Chen Luyang like a blow to the head, making him shudder.

"Factory manager...!!!"

Chen Luyang did a somersault and rushed to Wang Qingzhou, gripping Wang Qingzhou's arm tightly with both hands. Her face was flushed with excitement, and her voice was tinged with a sob:
"Why are you so late?!"

"Life at our repair shop is really tough...!"

When talking about the word "bitter",
Chen Luyang deliberately looked up, and two large tears "plop, plop" fell straight onto the ground!

Damn it.

Zhang Nan was instantly dumbfounded.

This sudden wail, coupled with those two lines of "genuine" tears, completely stunned everyone in the room.

Even Wang Qingzhou was startled by the scene and almost pulled his arm back.

Good guy...

It is said that knowledge changes destiny.

He was perfectly fine before going to university.

How could someone become mentally ill after only half a year of schooling?!
Chen Luyang had already gotten into the habit of crying, clinging tightly to Wang Qingzhou's arm and refusing to let go, her voice filled with sorrow:
"Factory manager! Our lives are so hard."

"The brothers eat pickled vegetables and drink thin porridge every day. They can't even bear to buy a piece of meat. They save it all and invest it in the project!"

"Now, even a single screw represents our hard-earned money, earned by pulling out of our pockets!"

"Even with such tight belts, not a single person complained or said they were tired!"

At this point, Chen Luyang's eyes became bloodshot, as if she were having a seizure, and her voice rose again:
"Factory manager, let's fight hard because of the brothers' passion and dedication!!!"
"It's almost the end of the year, you should at least give everyone an 'Advanced Individual' award and a few medals, so that everyone can at least have the face to go home for the New Year!!!"

After he finished speaking, the room fell into an indescribable silence.

Zhang Nan stared at Chen Luyang in disbelief, her eyes filled with shock and shame.

These days, what matters is collective honor and silent dedication.

Everyone willingly gave up their "advanced" and "honor" titles to others.

Who would cry and beg for a medal to the factory manager's face?

But you, you come here crying and screaming to steal the credit!
...The problem is, even if you want honor, you have to do it in such a shameful way.

Seeing this grown man crying and wailing made Zhang Nan feel ashamed and flustered!
Wang Qingzhou glanced at Chen Luyang with a forced smile and said indifferently:
"Director Chen, if you're craving meat, there's still a large pot of braised pork and stewed rooster with mushrooms in the kitchen."

Chen Luyang's throat, which had been choked with sobs, suddenly tightened, and her crying stopped abruptly.

Wang Qingzhou added insult to injury: "If you feel it's not oily enough, there's still a lot of water left in the pot. You can heat it up and add some salt, and it will also be good with rice."

Chen Luyang pretended not to understand, looked up at him blankly, and pitifully said:
"Factory manager, did you bring this braised pork especially for us?"

Wang Qingzhou burst out laughing: "Old Dong, I think this little rascal has been away for half a year and hasn't learned any other skills, but he's certainly gotten a lot thicker-skinned."

Upon hearing the words "Old Dong," Chen Luyang immediately began to control her expression.

Just as he was preparing to transform his feelings of grievance and lamentation into excitement and enthusiasm,
next moment,
Chen Luyang's eyes widened suddenly, and she froze.

"Director Dong, what happened to you?!"

To be honest, although Dong Jiangchao is not as good-looking as Technician Song, he is still considered a top performer among the middle-aged workers in the factory.

He was tall, straight, and fair-skinned.

The person in front of me is quite something; he's as dark-skinned as Song Xiaobao, even his chin and neck are dark.

"I got sunbathed in the Blue Ocean," Dong Jiangchao said casually.

"I had several layers of skin peel off from the sun before, but it has almost recovered now."

Chen Luyang quickly flattered him, saying, "Boss, if you keep this up all winter, you'll be back to square one next year."

Seeing that the greetings had been exchanged,

Chen Luyang finally couldn't hold back any longer and casually probed:
"Factory manager, what brings you all to Pian'er City today? Are you here to take us all home?"

Wang Qingzhou immediately narrowed his eyes, looking suspicious: "Take you home?"

"You have so many people, why do you need to pick them up?"

"Are you trying to set me up again, kid?"

really……

He guessed correctly.

Chen Luyang immediately put on a "bitter face," and her voice choked up:
"Factory manager, we really need your help this time."

"To be honest, this is partly my fault."

"Originally, I thought that everyone had worked hard outside for more than half a year and was finally looking forward to the New Year, so I told them to buy tickets and go home early, while I stayed until the last day of the Lunar New Year to guard the post."

"The arrangements were all set up perfectly, but who would have thought that Director Lu and Uncle Zhang, relying on their age, would refuse to listen to any advice."

"Even if we came together, we must leave together."

"The problem is that group tickets for the period around the Lunar New Year are already sold out."

"The tickets can be bought separately, but none of them want to leave first; they all insist on waiting for me!"

“I tried to persuade them, but they wouldn’t listen. When I insisted, they even got angry.”

"Now it's even worse, we can't even buy tickets, and everyone's stuck here."

Chen Luyang grew angrier and angrier as she spoke, her expression becoming increasingly agitated, as if she were truly enraged.

"Factory manager, I can't control these people anymore."

"You've come at the perfect time! Hurry up! Take them all away!"

Director Lu and Uncle Zhang's group have absolutely gone mad.

She could have bought tickets earlier and gone home for the New Year earlier.

But they all seemed to be possessed, waiting for him here.

They even said that it gets harder to buy tickets as the Lunar New Year approaches, but it gets easier after New Year's Eve.

If we really can't buy tickets to go home, we'll all stay in Pian'er City and have New Year's Eve dinner with him.

Let's go home together on the first day of the Lunar New Year.

He had originally planned to take advantage of Wang Qingzhou and Director Niu's visit to help resolve the issue of "everyone's return tickets."

Unexpectedly, Wang Qingzhou chuckled upon hearing this.
"I can't handle this."

"You're their director now, your words carry no weight. I'm just a factory manager, how could I possibly have that kind of power?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Luyang's heart skipped a beat.

He really couldn't tell if the old fox was deliberately shirking his responsibilities or subtly hinting at something.

But the show has already gone this far, and they've already lost face pretty much.

Let's just go all the way down this path!
Chen Luyang simply stuck out his neck and said, "Fine! Then we old men will spend the New Year in Pian'er City!"

"If we don't have money to buy meat to make dumplings, we'll go to the snow to dig for wild vegetables and dig up tree roots! We'll eat whatever we can!"

Everyone was amused by Chen Luyang's words.

"Go dig for wild vegetables...where are you going to dig for wild vegetables!"

Dong Jiangchao joked, "Don't even mention digging up tree roots, you'd get arrested by the urban management officers if you just peeled off a piece of bark!"

Chen Luyang cried out miserably, "Then we'll just have to starve!"

It's rare for the boss to be here, if I don't cry now, when will I ever cry!

Just as Chen Luyang was about to take this opportunity to add some more material, to make it even more tragic and difficult,
Suddenly, Zhang Nan spoke up:

"There are wild vegetables at school."

In an instant,
Chen Luyang's expression became visibly conflicted and twisted, his eyes looking like they were about to shoot out two knives and stab Zhang Nan to death.

“There really are some at school.” Seeing that Chen Luyang’s expression was off, Zhang Nan quickly added:
"And the school cafeteria is open during the holidays, so no one will go hungry."

Zhang Nan was getting a little anxious.

At first, when he saw Chen Luyang crying and wailing, he thought she was just putting on an act.

But the more he looked, the more he felt something was wrong.

For the past six months, he has followed Chen Luyang all over the country, going to small workshops or technical schools.

No matter how big the difficulties she encountered, Chen Luyang always just laughed them off.

No matter how big the problem, he can always find a way out.

There has never been a time like this before, when someone shamelessly complains about being poor and complaining!

Therefore, Zhang Nan concluded:

Chen Luyang's repair shop is really out of money!

"If you really don't have money for food, I still have unused meal tickets, I'll leave them all for you later!"

"...!!!"

Chen Luyang really wished he could take out a roll of duct tape and seal this "living Buddha's" mouth shut!
You're a proper college student who got into Peking University, how come you have no sense of propriety at all!
Not only can't you tell the difference between the eyebrows and eyes, but you're also trying to undermine us!

He had spent a long time building up his emotions and getting into the right frame of mind.

And then you popped out!
"Now that there's a school cafeteria, we can rest assured."

Wang Qingzhou patted Chen Luyang on the shoulder with a smile, his tone slightly teasing:

"There must be dumplings at school, but we don't have the chance to taste Peking University's dumplings!"

"Fine!" Chen Luyang gritted her teeth, truly convinced.

Normally, if I were shameless enough, I could probably achieve some small goal.

But I can't help having someone around me who undermines me; every time I say something, they take it back.

No trick,

He could only change the subject, abruptly, and feign ignorance, asking:

"Factory manager, you didn't even tell us you were coming!"

"If I had known earlier, I would have at least gone to the train station to pick you up and made arrangements for the leaders."

Wang Qingzhou waved his hand, smiling as if he were looking at his own child:
"This time, we are here to attend the National Advanced Industrial Units Commendation Conference. Everything has been arranged by the conference organizing committee."

"We just got off the train and were thinking of entrusting our luggage to the junior staff of the conference organizing committee, so we came here to check on things."

"Once everyone is here, we'll head to the guesthouse to report for duty."

Upon hearing that they were staying at a guesthouse, Chen Luyang immediately began to feign concern and offer words of comfort:
"No guesthouse outside is as comfortable as our home!"

"How about this, you don't need to bother going to any guesthouse. I'll have Director Lu and the others tidy up the second floor, and we'll stay at the factory tonight!"

Wang Qingzhou smiled and said, "And then what? Drink hotpot water and starve alongside you guys?"

Chen Luyang shamelessly said, "No way! I'll go buy you dumplings from Peking University!"

"I'll borrow a car on the day of your meeting and pick you up in advance!"

Speaking of which,
Chen Luyang let out another long sigh, tears streaming down her face as she slapped her thigh and said with deep regret:
"Sigh... In the end, it's because our repair shop is incompetent!"

"Our factory is really making a lot of cars and trucks!"

"But I haven't even been assigned one..."

"If the repair shop had one of its own cars, I could drive you to the conference venue. How prestigious that would be! What an honor that would be!"

Chen Luyang looked distressed.

It was as if the fact that Wang Qingzhou couldn't ride in the factory's car to attend meetings in style was the biggest regret of his life!

"Look at this Director Chen, he's really digging a hole with every single sentence!"

Wang Qingzhou saw right through Chen Luyang.

The moment he opened his mouth, Wang Qingzhou knew exactly what he was up to!
"They just changed their policies and started complaining about being poor, and now they're suggesting we take taxis?"

Chen Luyang quickly chimed in, "I'm not trying to play the poor card... I'm just telling the truth! Even our own factory workers don't have any cars to drive, it really hurts my heart!"

Director Niu chimed in with a smile, "Director Chen, don't worry! The factory leaders have been thinking about this for a long time."

"The factory has already submitted an application to the provincial government, and we will deliver the latest model cars and trucks after the New Year!"

Chen Luyang's eyes lit up: "Really?!"

Director Niu said sternly, "Would my brother lie to you!"

"I wrote that document for the Provincial Transportation Office myself. All the documents have been submitted, and we're just waiting for the approval. After the New Year, the truck will be loaded and head north."

"That's wonderful!!!"

Chen Luyang rubbed his hands together excitedly.

Don't let the small size of the repair shop fool you; there's a lot to handle inside and out every day.

Having a car and a small truck would make things much more convenient.

Seeing Chen Luyang and Wang Qingzhou chatting about work,
Completely unaware that she had just said the wrong thing, Zhang Nan cleverly made an excuse to leave and obediently returned to the reception room to look at the blueprints.

Wang Qingzhou watched Zhang Nan's retreating figure and suddenly asked:
"These Peking University students work for us, are they paid by the university or by us?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Dong Jiangchao and Director Niu both looked at Chen Luyang.

"If no one else is giving it to me, I will," Chen Luyang said cheerfully.

Seeing the puzzled expressions on Wang Qingzhou's, Dong Jiangchao's, and Director Niu's faces, Chen Luyang simply explained everything:

“They are not factory employees and are not formally employed. The factory’s money is reserved for the year-end benefits for Director Lu and Zhang Guoqiang, so it cannot be used.”

"The school doesn't have that budget either."

"They were all sent by the teachers to do practical tasks. It was considered volunteer support, and they were not paid."

“I used all the money the project gave me to buy materials and procure equipment.”

"I really can't raise any more money..."

Chen Luyang's tone was completely different from her previous exaggerated and poor performance.

Listening closely, it even seems to carry a hint of understatement.
It's as if things have already come to this.

There's nothing I can do, I can't solve it, I've resigned myself to my fate.

"I can't let them work for nothing,"

"So I just scraped together my salary, subsidies, and all the bonuses and royalties from the school that I earned from writing articles and giving them to each of them."

"I have no money left in my pocket except for the train ticket home."

finished,

Chen Luyang reached into his pocket and revealed his empty wallet.

Apart from a few coins, there were only three one-cent coins left.
Fearing that Wang Qingzhou and the others wouldn't believe him, Chen Luyang turned around and brought out the factory's account books as well.

Every single transaction is recorded clearly in the ledger.
All public accounts that should be accounted for are clearly documented, with all income and expenditure items clearly accounted for.

Indeed, there is no item for salary expenses.

"You're really going to pay their salaries out of your own pocket?"

Dong Jiangchao's tone was somewhat moved, and even his eyes became more serious.

"Of course, it costs several hundred yuan!"

Chen Luyang spoke lightly, but her heart was bleeding.

"I even took out the allowance my mom gave me..."

(End of this chapter)