Back to the 80s Machinery Factory

Chapter 523 Not to mention Russians, there wasn't even a single hair.
as predicted,

As soon as Director Chen returned, he was immediately drawn to the factory bulletins on the door and couldn't bear to leave them.

Don't be fooled by the fact that Du Han is only now stepping forward to greet Chen Luyang.
But in reality, he had been secretly observing from the sidelines for quite some time.

It has to be Dong Mangui!

They really grasped Director Chen's core preferences right away.

Director Chen watched intently, lingering there, reluctant to leave.

I wish I could look at every single one of them carefully before I was satisfied.

Du Han was also calculating the time.

When Chen Luyang had almost finished looking at the last picture, she took the initiative to rush out and greet him.

Make a positive impression on both sides!

Chen Luyang said happily, "It's written very well. We've done a lot in the past six months!"

While speaking,

Chen Luyang pushed open the door and walked into the workshop.

As soon as I entered the room, a familiar smell of rubber and vulcanizing agents hit me!

On the production line, semi-finished products such as hoses, sealing rings, and gaskets are neatly stacked in batches.

Wrenches, knives, and calipers were all hanging on the tool rack, their positions outlined in white lines. The warehouse shelves were clearly divided into sections. Several copies of the "Machinery Factory Bulletin" and political study materials were neatly stacked on the table in the rest area. The kettle and tea mug were also arranged in an orderly fashion.

It looks great...

Chen Luyang looked at the workshop with a happy expression, feeling a sense of relief.

Last year, he implemented the "two rectifications, two clean-ups, and one quality improvement" work method in the workshop.

Surprisingly, when I came back from winter break, the workshop was still in pretty good condition!

"Good morning, Director Chen!"

Chen Luyang turned her head and saw the four group leaders, Huang Pingtao, Sun Jianbo, Zhao Yuejin, and Dong Mangui, walking towards her with smiles.

Knowing that Chen Luyang was coming back today, the four of them arrived at the workshop early in the morning.

"Good morning~" Chen Luyang said cheerfully.

"Thanks for your hard work, everyone! The workshop maintenance is excellent!! Great job, guys!"

Huang Pingtao laughed and said, "Director Chen, we don't have any special considerations. We just strictly follow the work methods you set. Whatever you say, we'll do!"

Sun Jianbo also laughed and said, "Yes, Director, your work method is really effective! Everyone has continued to use it, the workstations are cleaner, fewer parts are lost, and efficiency is higher."

While the group was chatting, many rubber workshop workers who were supposed to be on duty also entered the workshop.

Upon seeing Chen Luyang, everyone's eyes lit up, and they greeted her warmly.

"Oh, Director Chen is back!"

"You're back, Director Chen!"

"Good morning, Director Chen!!!"

……

Chen Luyang responded with a smile, feeling as comfortable as if she had drunk hot tea.

Until a young man greeted him enthusiastically, "Good morning, Director Chen!!!"

"Good morning~" Chen Luyang replied casually, but upon closer inspection, she realized that the face in front of her was somewhat unfamiliar.

He smiled and asked, "I've never seen you before, are you new here?"

The young man smiled and said, "Director, I was newly recruited by the factory in the second half of last year. I've heard a lot about you before, and I'm so happy to finally have the chance to meet you today!"

Chen Luyang was amused by his words.

"What's there to be happy about? We'll have plenty of opportunities to meet in the future. Just don't get tired of seeing me and then get annoyed with me."

The young man exclaimed happily, "Director, I don't find it troublesome at all!"

“I heard from them that you also run a repair shop in Pian’er City. I’m planning to go and see it sometime and broaden my horizons.”

These words struck a chord with Chen Luyang.

"Sure, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future. Just don't regret it when you're actually recruited and find yourself busy and exhausted."

The young man chuckled: "Director, it's all worth it to work with you and broaden my horizons, no matter how tiring it is! ... Director, I'm going to work now."

After saying that, the young man quickly took off his thick cotton-padded coat, grabbed his tools, and headed towards the machine tool.

Huang Pingtao explained from the side, "Director Chen, the factory recruited new workers in the second half of last year, and our workshop had more than 50 more people."

"Our workshop now has more than 200 people, which is already considered a large workshop in the factory."

Upon hearing this number, Chen Luyang couldn't help but let out a profound exclamation!
"It's true what they say, you don't know the harm until you compare!"

Although it's all my territory
But in terms of area, number of people, and equipment...

This rubber workshop is almost equivalent to seven or eight repair shops.

If only half of the workers in this house could be taken to Pian'er City.

If he had even a small force, he wouldn't be in such a passive position.

After walking around the workshop, Chen Luyang returned to his director's office.

The office is even cleaner than the factory!

The table and floor were spotless, and the pothos on the small coffee table was fresh and vibrant, its broad leaves cascading down smoothly.

"Hey! My flower is still alive!"

Chen Luyang smiled and fiddled with the leaves of the pothos.

This pothos plant was a gift from Old Jiang from the fusion workshop when he first became the director of the rubber workshop.

He had been gone for almost half a year, and I thought the pothos had died.

I didn't expect this guy to be so energetic!

Dong Mangui chuckled from the side, "Director, we've been taking turns watering and caring for these flowers. We clean your room every day so that it's always spotless when you come back!"

He paused, then added with a touch of pride, "I even brought some rice water from home to dilute it. Look how glossy and healthy these leaves are!"

Chen Luyang laughed: "Well, my flowers even have someone to take care of them. That's quite a good treatment!"

As Chen Luyang sat back down behind his desk, the four group leaders lined up in a row and began to report on their work over the past six months.

Dong Mangui spoke first: "Director, these past six months have really been tough for us."

"The factory has assigned several tasks to our rubber workshop."

"For the passenger car sector alone, we were required to supply three batches of oil hoses, sealing rings, and shock absorber bushings, totaling more than 30,000 pieces. We not only gritted our teeth and completed the task, but also reduced the defect rate to less than 2%. The factory held a summary meeting and specifically praised our workshop."

Huang Pingtao added, "Besides cars, the project in the flight workshop also needs rubber parts. Originally, the factory planned to purchase anti-vibration pads and door sealing strips from outside, but after the department coordinated, they placed an order with us. We temporarily set up a team to work overtime to rush the production, and delivered two batches before the end of the year, totaling more than 3,000 pieces, all of which were qualified."

Chen Luyang frowned: "Have we had such a heavy workload in the past six months?"

"That's not all, Director... We also took on work from a sister factory." Sun Jianbo shook his head and said:
"The bearing factory needed custom-made rubber rings, and the boiler factory needed high-temperature resistant gaskets, and we took them all."

After saying that, Sun Jianbo added with considerable emotion:
“In the past, the brothers in the workshop were idle all day long and just hoped to have some work to do.”

After he finished speaking, all four group leaders fell silent.

Things are so different now...

Previously, there were dozens of people in the workshop, but they were all useless at everything and left nothing to eat.

The workshop was almost shut down. Then Director Chen arrived, and not only did he lead the workshop to take over the rubber production tasks from the fusion workshop, but he also took on work from the boiler factory and snatched orders from the rubber factory.

The workshop has expanded from a few dozen people to more than 200 people, making it a medium to large-sized workshop.

Now we finally have work to do.

Not only is there work to do, but... I'm exhausted, sob sob sob.

Dong Mangui is quite optimistic and full of energy:

"Fortunately, we recruited dozens of people last year, and now there are more than 200 people in the workshop. Everyone works around the clock and has never missed a delivery."

Zhao Yuejin couldn't help but interject: "However, Director, there are quite a few problems as well. The most critical issue is the raw materials."

Chen Luyang frowned: "What happened to the raw materials?"

Currently, the rubber raw materials used by the machinery factory are imported from Japan and are recycled rubber made from waste tires.

In theory, these raw materials should be sufficient for the workshop's use.

How could the problem be with the raw materials?
Zhao Yuejin sighed.

"Although we refine our own recycled rubber, its strength and pressure resistance are not as good as genuine synthetic rubber."

"Last year, the factory mainly relied on Qicheng Petrochemical and synthetic rubber from Fan Xian's hometown. When they are in trouble, we will be cut off as well."

"Last October, when we were on the verge of running out of stock, it was Deputy Factory Director Yu who led a few of us to the city to coordinate and manage to get the batches through. After that, we also made special emergency stockpiles, doubling the storage capacity."

Chen Luyang nodded solemnly.

With the factory's increased production capacity for helicopters and cars, rubber raw materials have once again become a pressing issue.

He asked, "Hasn't Xiang Guowu been researching rubber with the rubber factory? How's the research going? Any results?"

Upon hearing Chen Luyang's conversation, none of the four people uttered a sound, and subtle expressions appeared on their faces.

Dong Mangui coughed and stammered, "Director... for the past six months, we've basically been the ones handling everything in the workshop. As for Comrade Guowu, he's basically... barely shown up."

Although no one said anything openly.
However, due to Xiang Guowu's absence from workshop work for more than a year, everyone has basically made him almost invisible.

The rubber workshop usually doesn't have a workshop director; all matters, big and small, are discussed and resolved by the four of them, so there's no longer a place for Xiang Guowu.

If Xiang Guowu doesn't come back, they won't take the initiative to ask him what's going on.

There's no need to mention the technological reforms he implemented at the rubber factory.

Chen Luyang sighed softly to herself and didn't press the matter further.

Now is not the time to mention him.

"Is there anything else?" Chen Luyang asked.

"There's another piece of good news!" Huang Pingtao said with a smile:

"In the second half of last year, the factory assigned us two new tasks. One was to pave the playground of the newly built stadium in the city, and the other was to renovate the playgrounds of two primary schools in the suburbs."

"After a few of us discussed it, we readjusted the formula and adjusted the wear resistance and elasticity to the right levels. When the playground was laid out, the experts from the provincial sports school came and gave us a thumbs up, saying that our factory's rubber layer was thick and smooth, and no worse than the imported materials they had ever seen."

Sun Jianbo added: "There are many children in the primary school, so we specially added an anti-slip ratio to the surface layer, mixing in fumed silica and rosin powder. Although it doesn't have the fancy formula of the imported ones, when we lay this on the playground, even on a rainy day, the soles of our shoes can still grip the ground after running around."

Chen Luyang nodded in agreement: "Great! This was handled beautifully."

After the group finished discussing their work achievements, Huang Pingtao handed over a list.

"Director, this is the list of new employees who joined the workshop last year. The four of us personally selected them."

Chen Luyang took the list and looked at each name. Some of the faces were ones he had already met in the workshop, while others were completely unfamiliar.

He closed the paper, smiled and nodded: "Don't we have a workshop-wide team summary meeting every Monday? This is a good opportunity to gather all the new and old employees together, and I can also say hello to everyone and get to know them."

By the time the summary meeting and new employee orientation were over, the clock had already struck ten.

Chen Luyang returned to his office and was about to check the recent production data from the workshop when he heard a loud "bang"!
"Brother Chen!!!"

Song Liaosha, a figure as large as a giant, kicked open the office door and blocked it like a big bear!
Then, to Chen Luyang's astonishment,
Song Liaosha opened her arms and ran towards Chen Luyang.

Poor Chen Luyang was caught off guard and almost died from being strangled by Song Liaosha's steel arm.

"Alright, alright, alright!"

Chen Luyang struggled to pat Song Liaosha's arm, finally managing to break free from the embrace of death!
Song Liaosha punched him in the shoulder again: "You bastard, you didn't even tell me you were coming back so I could have sent Vasily to pick you up!"

Chen Luyang was stunned!
"What do you mean? You didn't pick me up yourself when I came back, you made Vasily pick me up instead?!"

Song Liaosha took off her thick cotton-padded coat, unbuttoned her shirt, sat on the sofa, and explained:

"I just got back. I took the train last night and only got off this morning."

Chen Luyang asked curiously, "Where have you been? It's almost Chinese New Year, is there anything else the factory needs to buy?"

Usually, the purchasing department has already bought all the necessary items for the holiday and made all the necessary arrangements before New Year's Day.

With the Lunar New Year approaching, workshop work has slowed down, so why is Song Liaosha busier than him?

“I’m going to Cone River,” Song Liaosha said without hesitation.

"Brother, you don't know, do you? The government has issued a policy that allows our borders to be opened to the outside world and permits small-scale trade."

"I'm thinking of going to Cone River City to see if any Soviets are coming."

Chen Luyang asked curiously, "Is there?"

Song Liaosha slapped her thighs, even cursing herself: "No. Not even a single Russian! Not a single hair!"

"I'm so damn confused!"

"The country has agreed to open up to the outside world, so why couldn't the Soviet Union?!"

Song Liaosha became more and more excited as she spoke, and even her eyes turned a little red.

Chen Luyang looked at Song Liaosha.

The young man in front of them was clearly dressed up carefully.

Not only was his hair freshly cut, but he was also wearing a watch that Technician Song had given him, and underneath his brick-red V-neck sweater was the white shirt that Chen Luyang had bought for him.

To put it bluntly, he managed to get all of Song Liaosha's valuable and useful possessions onto her body.

It's obvious that Song Liaosha took the train to the border specifically because she dreamed of seeing her mother.

Song Liaosha's voice was a little hoarse.

“I thought that even if I couldn’t see my mother, I knew a few Soviets and could make friends with them so that they could help me find out about her in the future.”

"Brother...didn't you say that the country's borders would open sooner or later?"

"Why isn't it open yet...?"

Chen Luyang was also feeling bad.

He advised, "Great Song Dynasty, now that the country has announced the opening of its borders to the outside world, it's only a matter of time before we align ourselves with the Soviet Union!"

"If it doesn't work this year, it will open next year or the year after."

"Besides, think about it, it's not like they can just open it up in a flash. There will definitely be some private communication and groundwork laid beforehand."

"You didn't see them this time, but maybe you'll see one or two Soviets next time you go."

Song Liaosha listened to Chen Luyang's analysis with red eyes.

"Putting everything else aside, there's so much timber along the Soviet border! If the border opens up in the future, that'll be a huge source of timber!"

Song Liaosha paused for a moment: "Timber?"

(End of this chapter)