Back to the 80s Machinery Factory

Chapter 557 He will retire next semester

After class, Chen Luyang didn't go back to her dormitory to write her manuscript immediately. Instead, she went straight to the administration building with her backpack.

The External Relations Department is reopening this semester, and he needs to report for duty first.

Before I could even push the door open, I heard Shen Fei erupt in a tirade from inside:
"I'm not going! You can go if you want, but I'm not going!"

"Let whoever wants to go, go ahead!"

"If you want to listen to his nonsense, then listen; I'm not going to listen!"

"Whoever wants to listen can listen."

Chen Luyang paused in her steps.

What's wrong with this person now?
Then, the voice of the Minister of Culture and Arts rang out from inside the room.

"Oh, go ahead, it doesn't matter where you sit, you can just listen to him say a few words!"

“You only attended one student council meeting during the first semester.”

“Every time the External Relations Department is called out for roll call, you are all absent.”

"If things continue like this in the second semester, aren't you afraid that Teacher Wang will remove you from the program?"

It would have been better if he hadn't said anything, because saying those words only made Shen Fei angrier!
"Take it away! I've wanted to quit for a long time."

"My external relations department is constantly begging people for help, contacting this person and that person. Aren't we the busiest people at every event, inside and out?!"

After the words were spoken, there was a moment of silence in the room.

Even the Minister of Culture couldn't help but exclaim, "If you're going to say that, then I can't hold back anymore!"

"Tell me how much work I did for our student union last year?! But when it comes to the good things, when they give praise, I'm not one of them."

"As a result, he criticized us in front of so many people just because we posted the slogans two days late last year."

Shen Fei said with exasperation, "If you ask me, you deserve it!"

"I fucking told you not to go! You insisted on going!"

"If you go, who else will he punish if not you!"

"The whole school knows that the three of us ran for student council president back then. In terms of grades and abilities, we were no match for him in any way!"

"And then, just because he wrote an article in an academic journal and got a chance to appear at a city-level symposium, he got the chairman's position?!"

"Is this an election for chairman or an election for writing reports?!"

After Shen Fei finished his tirade, the head of the Literature and Art Department also slammed his fist on the table, his voice even louder than Shen Fei's:

"that is!"

"The three of us were clearly evenly matched competitors back then, so why did he end up taking the position?!"

"Putting everything else aside, which of us hasn't organized an event before?"

"The welcome party, poetry recitals, debates, school sports meets—which one wasn't kept afloat by the two of us working ourselves to the bone?!"

"He's fine, he just stays in his room writing articles. Once he wrote something and it was presented at a city-level symposium, he was treated like a treasure."

"If this is a competition of who can write the best documents, then we might as well just appoint the department secretary as the student union president!"

Chen Luyang frowned slightly!
This storyline seems familiar... I feel like I've heard it somewhere before.
"I'm not going! Let whoever wants to go, I'm not going!"

The Minister of Culture and Arts became increasingly angry as he spoke, and in the end, his attempt to persuade others turned into a complete resignation.

"Anyway, I'll be a senior next year, so I'll have to hand over the position of Minister of Arts and Literature. Let whoever wants it do it!"

As the tension in the room subsided slightly, Chen Luyang was about to knock on the door and enter when the head of the arts department said:

"When you have a chance, talk to Chen Luyang and tell him to be careful."

Ok?
Chen Luyang paused as she pushed the door open.

Shen Fei's puzzled voice came through: "What's wrong with our Xiao Chen? What's he paying attention to?"

The Minister of Arts and Literature retorted irritably, "Who else could we be paying attention to?! Of course, we're paying attention to Luo Tian!"

“Yesterday, Chen Luyang drove into the campus to help us transport things. Luo Tian saw him. If I hadn’t covered for him, he might have punished Chen Luyang for driving into the campus without permission.”

Shen Fei blurted out, "I think he's just bored!"

"Instead of studying how hens lay eggs, he's busy worrying about trivial things like who rides a bike and who walks."

"What's wrong with Xiao Chen driving in here?!"

"That was to help our external relations department move things!"

“If Luo Tian dares to bring this up again, I’ll go find Teacher Wang. Right now, the school has Women’s Day and May Fourth Movement celebrations, one activity after another waiting for people to do.”

"Our External Relations Department managed to procure a car to support the school's activities; who else could pull that off?!"

In just a few words, the car was transformed from a "student violation" into a "departmental resource".

These days, cars are a rarity.

Of the thousands of students in the school, very few can even touch a steering wheel, let alone get a whole car into the campus.

Chen Luyang's gaze deepened!

It's truly worth it to have worked for Shenfei all this time.

When something happens, he really steps up!
The door was pushed open with a "bang".

Amidst the scene where Shen Fei and the Minister of Literature and Art jumped up in fright, Chen Luyang slowly walked into the office.

As he walked, he said with a bold and magnanimous air:

"Don't worry, Brother Shen! As long as we need a car, I'll have someone bring it over right away, without hesitation!"

Shen Fei had no time to be moved; he touched his wildly beating heart, his voice still trembling:
Why didn't you knock before you came in!

"This scared me so much... my heart almost jumped out of my chest."

The Minister of Arts and Literature was also still shaken, glaring and cursing, "You bet! I thought it was Luo Tian who came in."

Good guy...

Nothing is more terrifying than having the door suddenly flung open when you're talking behind someone's back!
"Who is Luo Tian?" Chen Luyang couldn't help but ask.

"Student council president." Shen Fei rolled his eyes and said irritably:
"But he won't be able to work for many more days; he'll have to quit after this semester!"

“That’s right!” the Minister of Arts chimed in, his tone tinged with sarcasm.
"Resign directly and return the officer to his original post!"

Alas……

Chen Luyang was convinced.

These two are really jealous.

They even used such vicious terms as "returning officers to their posts".

Just as he was about to speak, he heard a knock on the door.

Then, a girl pushed open the door and walked in, saying as soon as she opened it:
"There's a student council meeting tonight, don't be late."

Without waiting for a response, he turned and left. He heard a knock on an office door, as if they were notifying each room.

"Let whoever wants to go, go ahead!"

Shen Fei, as usual, had an impatient look on his face.

As they were talking, the office door was pushed open.

Ma Tieli led Xiao Zhongwen in.

Xiao Zhongwen was carrying a large pile of manuscript paper, calendars, and notebooks, all of which were new semester office supplies that he had just received from the school's Youth League Committee warehouse.

As soon as she entered, Ma Tieli brought up the very thing she didn't want to talk about:
"I just saw Fan Lirong going from room to room announcing that the student council meeting would be held tonight."

"Hmm." Shen Fei nodded politely, indicating that he had heard.

"Alright, you guys get back to work, I'm leaving." The head of the Arts and Literature Department, seeing that people had returned, wisely got up and left.

Ma Tieli returned to her desk, took out a small mirror, looked at herself, and said:

"I have to say, the things the school gave out this year are pretty good. Draft paper and calendars are common, but they even gave out hard-cover notebooks with color covers. I've never seen that before."

"Shall we go together tonight, or whoever goes first can reserve a seat?"

Shen Fei, looking half-dead, asked, "Where to?"

Ma Tieli said, "Of course it's a student council meeting! Didn't Fan Lirong just announce it?" Shen Fei coughed and said, "I hereby announce that our External Relations Department has an event tonight, and everyone is on leave."

Ok? !

Ma Tieli and Xiao Zhongwen all turned their eyes to Shen Fei.

What event?

Shen Fei picked up his teacup and took a sip of water: "I haven't decided on any activities yet, we'll talk about it later."

Ma Tieli immediately rolled her eyes.

"I don't care about any activities, I have a student council meeting tonight!"

Hey?!

Shen Fei slammed his crossed legs down.

"Tie Li, why are you still going over there!"

Ma Tieli snorted: "How am I supposed to get involved? I've hardly ever attended any student council meetings since I joined this external relations department."

"Other people get a chance to say a few words and show their faces at meetings, but I'm the opposite. I rarely show up, and it's like I don't even exist."

Shen Fei frowned slightly, knowing he couldn't lash out in front of Xiao Zhongwen and Chen Luyang, so he could only say:
"Tie Li, let me tell you, I'm not going!"

Ma Tieli showed no mercy, resolutely saying, "Go if you want, don't go if you don't!"

"Little Chinese, are you coming with me or not!"

At Ma Tieli's command, Xiao Zhongwen stood up without hesitation and reported:

"Go! I'll go wherever Sister Ma goes."

Ma Tieli waved her hand gracefully: "Okay, sit down."

Little Chinese sat down readily.

Ma Tieli looked at Chen Luyang and asked, "Little Chen, are you coming with me?"

"Go!" Chen Luyang shouted instinctively.

From childhood to adulthood, Chen Luyang's proudest survival skill has been distinguishing between kings and queens!

Despite his family background, Chen Dazhi is the pillar of the household.

But the one who really took charge was Feng Jiuxiang!
Although my brother-in-law is formidable, he's been gradually subdued by my sister.

If you offend Chen Dazhi, you might still survive.

But if you mess with Feng Jiuxiang, you're dead!

Based on his understanding of Shen Fei, he figured Shen Fei wasn't much of a threat at home, and sooner or later he'd just be a tender blade of grass under Sister Lili's thumb, to be torn apart at any moment.

Therefore, Chen Luyang made a decisive statement, first showing Ma Tieli a good attitude!

Just as Shen Fei wore an expression of "betrayal" and Ma Tieli looked "satisfied,"
Chen Luyang quickly added, "But sis, I might have a project meeting at the department that night. If I can go, I'll go with you."

Upon hearing this, Shen Fei immediately glanced over.

Brothers!
Ma Tieli rolled her eyes at him: "Then I'll go with Xiao Zhongwen tonight!"

Little Chinese didn't hesitate: "Okay!"

After saying that, the two walked out of the office one after the other with an air of nonchalance, leaving Chen Luyang and Shen Fei with a heartless silhouette.

for a long time,

Shen Fei suddenly erupted, pointing at the door and shouting:

"Am I the minister or is she the minister?!"

"What's wrong with these guys?!"

"Why aren't you following orders!"

Chen Luyang rolled her eyes at him.

"Alright, they're gone. You can shout until your throat hurts, but they won't hear you."

"Don't schedule anything for tonight, how about we have dinner with Pierre and the others?"

Shen Fei was taken aback.

Chen Luyang continued, "I haven't thanked you or them for the many foreign trade contracts I borrowed from them last time."

"Since you haven't made any arrangements for the External Relations Department's event tonight, how about we set the theme as 'A Gathering of Hearts from All Over the World, A Feast of Joy Across Ten Thousand Miles'?"

Shen Fei laughed: "Great job, Xiao Chen! That's a good theme!"

"Okay! Tonight, our External Relations Department will host a celebratory banquet, and let them go to their meeting."

"cut!"

……

That night,

The Peking University campus was brightly lit.

Students were attending classes, holding meetings, rehearsing for cultural performances, cooking in the cafeteria, and burying themselves in taking notes in the study room... The entire campus was filled with the liveliness and vitality of the new semester.

At this moment, in the courtyard of the hardware accessories factory in Chengxi Subdistrict,

Another group of people were also busy in the dim light and noise.

This factory, though called a factory, is really just a row of single-story workshops.

The sign outside has peeled paint, and an old sign that reads "Fifth Processing Department of Municipal Craft Technology Service Station" still hangs at the entrance.

Inside the workshop, several old horizontal lathes and vertical drills hummed, iron filings flew everywhere, and the pungent smell of machine oil mixed with the smell of rust filled the air.

"The precision required for the holes in this coupling sleeve is quite high."

An elderly lathe operator, his face greasy and a cigarette dangling from his lips, bent over, comparing the dimensions of each sample piece next to the machine tool.

"Our old lathe is unreliable. If it can run for a few months after we make it, we'll be lucky."

"Yes."

Another fitter, covered in dust, chimed in, squatting down to examine the nozzle tube. He picked at the burrs at the joint and frowned, saying:
"These enameled wires are hard to find; the ones available on the market don't withstand high voltage. Even if you manage to wind up an ignition coil, it won't last long."

As he spoke, he suddenly blurted out:
"Hmm, this thing... doesn't look like a factory product."

"Hmm?" Several workers around looked up.

The fitter held the part up to the lamplight and pointed to the cutting edge:
“Look at this cut. The knife marks are rough, and the edges aren’t rounded. It doesn’t look like something a master craftsman would do. It looks like something a new apprentice would do while practicing.”

Another experienced worker clicked his tongue and said, "It was indeed a bit rushed, the precision is rough, it doesn't look like the workmanship of a state-owned factory."

At this moment, Qian Chengguo, who had been standing to the side, slammed his pipe on the ground and said impatiently:
"Who cares who did it! Perfect... their skills are poor, you guys fix the details."

"That way, when others compare them, they will think that our parts are better, and I won't have to waste my breath to brag about it."

The workers exchanged glances, said nothing more, and went back to work in silence.

Don't be fooled by the old machine tools and substandard materials here.

But they are all seasoned veterans who have worked in state-owned factories for decades. Who among them hasn't handled tens of thousands of workpieces?
They can tell whether the cut is round or not, or whether the cylinder wall is smooth or not, just by touching it.

If you really copy the sample, you won't be any worse than anyone else.

"Pity……"

An experienced worker sighed as he worked.

"That's a really good idea, even more innovative than what we've seen in the factory before."

"It's a pity we're not good with lathes, otherwise we could have worked on it carefully and made something really good."

Qian Chengguo waved his hand impatiently, interrupting their sighs: "Alright!"

"It's fine as long as it works, it's even better if it doesn't last long."

"If it breaks, we'll fix it; that's how we keep our work going."

His voice deepened, and a hint of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes:
"We already have quite a few samples in hand."

"Tomorrow, I'll contact the taxi fleet manager and get a few to test the waters!"

(End of this chapter)