The golden age began in 1977

Chapter 196 The Second Enlarged Meeting of the Third Quarter of the Haibin City Supply and Marketing Service Association

Late August is autumn according to the solar terms, but the autumn heat in Haibin City is unusually fierce, and the weather is very hot.

In the conference room of the All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives, three ceiling fans were running at the same time, but they still couldn't dispel the heat filling the room.

The room was crowded with people; all the key cadres of the Haibin City Supply and Marketing Service Cooperative had come.

President Wei Bin, Vice President Yi Xuebing, Head of Labor and Wages Cui Hu, Head of Publicity Peng Youliang, Head of Political Work Feng Changfan, New Minister of Warehousing and Transportation Qi Dong, and heads of various county-level supply and marketing cooperatives all came.

The long conference table was packed with people on both sides. And that wasn't all. At the head of the table were Niu Wenhua, deputy director of the provincial capital's general cooperative; Zheng Chaoyang, deputy director of the organization and personnel department; Zhou Huaimin, director of the foreign affairs department; Sun Peng, an officer of the finance and audit department, and others.

The weather was hot, and the vice president of Niu Culture unbuttoned the top button of his gray polyester shirt, revealing the collar of his faded military green vest underneath.

He was a retired military officer, tall and strong, who was not afraid of the cold but was most afraid of the heat. At this moment, he was using a blue booklet as a fan to cool himself down.

On the red-lacquered conference table in front of him was a document marked "Confidential." The cadres glanced at the document and quickly looked away.

You shouldn't look at things you shouldn't look at.

Yi Xuebing noticed Niu Wenhua's situation and waved to the clerk at the conference room door, whispering a few words to him.

The clerk immediately ran out and came back carrying an 18-inch Phoenix brand large fan.

This fan is very powerful. After placing it next to Niu Wenhua and plugging it in, the howling wind blew away the heat and almost blew away the confidential documents.

Niu Wenhua breathed a sigh of relief. He tapped the file folder against the porcelain teacup and asked Wei Bin tentatively, "Old Wei, are you all here?"

Wei Bin calmly said, "Everyone's here."

"Shall we have a meeting then?"

"Okay, boss, let's start the meeting."

“Comrades,” Niu Wenhua tapped his teacup with his fingers, which were holding a cigarette.

"Let's officially begin the meeting, the second expanded meeting of the third quarter of the Haibin City Supply and Marketing Service Association. There are quite a few topics to discuss today, so let's get straight to the point without any formalities."

"First of all, today we will convey the spirit of the Head Office's Document No. 7."

At this point, he nodded to his secretary, who was writing furiously, and said, "Comrade, today's meeting involves important classified information. After the meeting, copies should be sent out according to the number of attendees. The content of the meeting must not be disclosed."

The secretary nodded hurriedly: "Boss, I understand!"

Niu Wenhua nodded and continued, "Comrades, the main purpose of this meeting today is to convey the important spirit of the Central Committee regarding the reform of supply and marketing cooperatives."

"In accordance with the spirit of the Central Committee's July 5th Conference, the national supply and marketing system is at a critical stage of recovery and reconstruction. Let me first report a set of data, data from last year, which is very important data."

"By the end of 1978, the national supply and marketing cooperatives accounted for 75% of the retail sales of goods in the rural market and 80% of the supply of agricultural materials in the national plan. How about that? Isn't that very optimistic?"

The leaders present, both high and low, nodded in agreement, saying they were playing the straight man for the big boss.

But everyone knew that problems were bound to arise next.

Sure enough, Niu Wenhua slammed his fist on the table and said, "Anyone who thinks that's optimistic is far too optimistic!"

"Comrades and leaders, we have encountered a major problem. There is a contradiction in our provincial supply and marketing service system: some materials are in serious stockpiling while others are in severe shortage. Another problem is that the debt ratio at the grassroots level is as high as 80% or more."

He tapped the documents on the table and said, "As a major coastal city, Haibin City's data is not good, which is unacceptable. Your local debt ratio is also very high. What's going on?"

Wei Bin coughed and looked at him, saying, "It's like this, leader, I need to report on the development of the grassroots supply and marketing cooperatives in Haibin City last year."

“Our city currently has 283 grassroots supply and marketing cooperatives and 1287 dual-agent stores. However, due to the impact of last year’s typhoon, the grassroots supply and marketing cooperatives in three counties were severely damaged. This resulted in a large amount of funds being used for post-disaster reconstruction. Comrade Xuebing, do you have the report with you?”

Yi Xuebing nodded and pulled a report from his notebook, handing it to Niu Wenhua.

Niu Wenhua looked down at the report, while Wei Bin continued his report but slowed down his speaking pace.

Yi Xuebing then submitted several more reports and bills, which Niu Wenhua reviewed with a shake of his head and a sigh.

Su Xiwang, director of the provincial cooperative's office, said, "Sir, how about we move on to the next topic first?"

Niu Wenhua nodded and said, "Director Su, let me take a look at these data first. You can chair the next topic."

Su Xiwang took a sip of tea, coughed lightly, and said:

"Respected leaders and comrades, according to the document from the Central Supply and Marketing Cooperative, supply and marketing cooperatives should begin to restore three characteristics in the second half of the year: mass participation in organization, democratic management, and flexibility in operation."

"Following instructions from higher-level leaders and discussions at a meeting of key provincial leaders, this work has been assigned to Haibin City with several key focuses."

"The first is ownership reform, gradually transitioning from ownership by the whole people to collective ownership, and allowing grassroots cooperatives to carry out horizontal cooperation."

"The second is business adjustment. In addition to fulfilling the national unified purchase and sales task, we can pilot the purchase and sale of agricultural and sideline products on behalf of others."

"The last point is the personnel system. We need to eliminate non-professional personnel and strengthen the grassroots level."

"As all of you here should know, the country will be undergoing significant economic changes in the future. We need to cultivate talent and make good use of talent. In the words of our superiors, we should use talent without being bound by convention!"

His gaze swept over Cui Hu: "The relevant departments, especially the labor and personnel department, need to come up with a plan as soon as possible."

"Do any of you have any questions or anything to add on this topic?"

Gao Yuan, the head of the Yuezhou County Supply and Marketing Service Cooperative, raised his hand to signal.

Su pointed at him with the cap of his pen: "Please let this comrade speak."

Gao Yuan said, “In our Yuezhou County, there is a Xiping Production Brigade. The brigade is located inside Xiping Mountain. Historically, it has been poor and weak, and the people have a very difficult life.”

"The commune supply and marketing cooperative to which the brigade belonged came up with a solution for them. Xiping Mountain has little land resources. If they grow grain, after paying the public grain tax, the surplus grain will not be enough to support the people's livelihood."

"Besides growing public grain, they mainly grow cash crops, namely vegetables, on other farmland, which are then supplied to the logistics departments of various government agencies in the city, or bought back by the state."

"Considering the limited economic value of vegetables, they began pickling vegetables under the leadership of the commune's supply and marketing cooperative, with the help of Shuangdai stores and even the supply and marketing cooperative itself in selling them..."

Upon hearing this, Qi Dong, the new head of the warehousing and transportation department, couldn't help but say, "Isn't this against regulations?"

Su Xiwang waved his hand: "No, no, no, that comrade, please continue. What comes next?"

The head of the Yuezhou County Supply and Marketing Cooperative spread his hands and said, "Their vegetables are of good quality, and their pickled vegetables are delicious. The people like them very much, and the sales volume is considerable."

"It can be said that if this continues, the brigade will definitely be able to shed its label of being poor and weak in just a few years and become a relatively wealthy brigade."

Su hopes to look to cattle culture.

Niu Wenhua took a puff of his cigarette and said, "This is a good thing. The pickled vegetables sold by this brigade are carried out collectively by the brigade, not in an individual's name, right?"

"Yes, leader, I personally investigated this, and it is mainly based on the brigade collective," said the head of the Yuezhou County Supply and Marketing Cooperative.

Niu Wenhua said, "That's great. This situation needs to be publicized internally in the newspaper."

Where is Peng Youliang?

Peng Youliang, the director of the publicity department, immediately raised his hand.

Niu Wenhua pointed at him and said, "Section Chief Peng, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and hand me the promotional materials."

"This is a good example of business adjustment. You see, they legally and compliantly completed the national unified purchase and sales task, and then produced agricultural and sideline products for sale."

"Local farmers and consumers like it, and it's convenient for them. The impoverished production team makes money. Isn't that great?"

"You just said that their commune's supply and marketing cooperative helped sell the pickled vegetables?"

The head of the Yuezhou County Supply and Marketing Cooperative said, "Yes, the idea of ​​turning vegetables into high-quality pickled vegetables was actually the idea of ​​the head of the supply and marketing cooperative."

"He even said that the capital has Liubiju, a company famous for its pickled vegetables and condiments, and Yangzhou has Sanhe and Simei, which specialize in the production of pickled vegetables, fermented bean curd and soy sauce. So why can't our coastal city have Xipingshan pickled vegetables, which are famous for producing specialty pickled vegetables?"

Niu Wenhua laughed heartily: "This cadre is good, he's got guts. He'd definitely be a top general in the army."

"If I'm not mistaken, this comrade is a young man!"

Before the policy guidance was issued today, this kind of thing was considered a borderline issue, and middle-aged or elderly supply and marketing managers would not dare to take such risks.

Feng Changfan, who had been silent until now, said, "The leader guessed correctly, it's a young man in his twenties, Qian Jin, right?"

The head of the Yuezhou County Supply and Marketing Cooperative nodded: "Yes, Comrade Qian Jin."

Niu Wenhua took a sip of tea and said thoughtfully, "Oh, Qian Jin. Come on, let's continue our topic. What should we talk about next?"

Zheng Chaoyang, deputy director of the Organization and Personnel Department of the Provincial Supply and Marketing Cooperative and head of the research team for the preparatory group of the Foreign Investment Office of the Haibin City Supply and Marketing Service Federation, said: "Shouldn't we start exploring marketization and risk management?"

“Wait a minute, I’d like to add something,” Su Xiwang said.

"That's right. The Central Supply and Marketing Cooperative has emphasized that our supply and marketing cooperatives should become the hub of the rural economy. Localities should try to establish an integrated 'production-processing-sales' model, such as the project you mentioned of selling vegetables as pickles. This is a model."

"In addition, the Central News Agency specifically mentioned Haibin City, which has a thriving seafood industry. We should leverage this advantage!"

Wei Bin lowered his head and frantically took notes.

Niu Wenhua said, "Then let's talk about market-oriented exploration and risk management. Comrade Qi Dong, you must have something to say on this topic."

Wei Bin, Yi Xuebing, and several other leaders of the municipal supply and marketing cooperative frowned.

Qi Dong stood up and said in a deep voice, "Reporting to the leaders, last month our department arbitrarily used the method of transferring diesel from other places to solve the diesel shortage problem. Although we exceeded the transportation target, there are policy risks involved."

The cattle culture is all smiles.

He glanced at Su Xiwang beside him, who frowned and said, "Comrade Qi Dong, let's not play word games at a time like this."

What does it mean to have exceeded the transportation target but still face policy risks?

"Let me ask you, is the so-called off-site diesel transfer work actually being done by transferring diesel from abroad?"

Qi Dong shook his head: "No."

Su Xiwang said, "No, it's not that. You brought back diesel from the area where our brother unit is located."

"Why do you still need to buy diesel from other places? Because there is a diesel shortage now, and there is a lack of diesel everywhere."

"You intercepted our company's diesel fuel, what are we going to do? They'll complain to us!"

Qi Dong lowered his head.

Wei Bin had no choice but to smooth things over: "Comrade Qi Dong has just been transferred here to serve as the head of the warehousing and transportation department. As is the case with new officials, he is bound to be impatient and his work is a bit rough."

Haibin City is a large city with a high status within the province.

As the president, Wei Bin's rank is similar to that of Niu Culture.

Now that he had already intervened, Su Xiwang felt embarrassed to pursue the matter any further.

Yi Xuebing took a drag of his cigarette and said, "Comrade Qi Dong, since we've come to this point, there's something I need to report to the leaders."

"Yesterday, during the loading and unloading of fertilizer, the warehousing and transportation department encountered a problem. Comrade Qi Dong did not insist on using our unit's transport workers, but instead hired migrant workers to do the work. As a result, the migrant workers caused two tons of ammonium bicarbonate to become damp due to improper handling during the process..."

Wei Bin's face darkened as he looked at Qi Dong: "How could this happen?"

"This is a serious accident caused by negligence! The central government has repeatedly emphasized the need to ensure the safety of supplies, and you've managed to create such a huge mess for me!"

Qi Dong's face turned pale and then red.

Wei Bin asked him, "I'm asking you, speak up, how could this happen?"

Qi Dong said, "That's right, leaders. In my previous unit, I calculated that using farmers outside the established staffing quota as temporary workers can increase work efficiency by 60% while reducing costs by 50%, and it can also flexibly respond to unexpected needs..."

He sighed as he finished speaking: "But I was greedy for credit and acted rashly. I offer this severe self-criticism to all the leaders!"

Su hoped to flip through the notebook, her brows furrowing as if she was about to criticize him.

Niu Wenhua preemptively said, "Let Lao Wei handle the Haibin Society's problems himself. Let's continue planning the next steps."

Wei Bin knew that Niu Wenhua was mediating and did not want to cause conflict between the provincial and municipal federations of cooperatives.

So, being quite sensible, he immediately said, "I will personally oversee how to resolve this matter."

"The first step is to establish a special working group and submit an investigation report within three days."

"Secondly, we will coordinate with our sister companies to compensate them for double the lost diesel quota." "Thirdly, we will immediately suspend the hiring of non-professional porters and await approval from the provincial supply and marketing cooperative."

Niu Wenhua nodded: "Since President Wei is following up on these two matters, they should be easy to resolve."

"In addition, we all know that Haibin City has a good foundation in all aspects, but we need to pay attention to the pace in our work. There is no problem with reform; the central government's key meeting this time mentioned the topic of reform and efficiency improvement."

"But comrades, remember this: reform is not about reckless action; we must seek breakthroughs while maintaining stability..."

One issue after another was developed and advanced, until finally the last one was reached.

Zheng Chaoyang opened the manila envelope, which contained a series of assessment documents.

He handed the compiled materials to Niu Wenhua, Wei Bin, and other key leaders, saying, "This is the assessment result that our research team obtained throughout August."

"To put it simply, among the 22 members of the preparatory group for the Foreign Investment Office of Haibin City, Comrade Qian Jin ranked first in overall score."

"The highest cliff!"

Niu Wenhua and Wei Bin had already heard the report on the results of this survey and assessment in advance, so reviewing the materials now was just a formality.

So Niu Wenhua flipped through the documents and said with a smile, "Since all our main leaders are here today, we need to decide on the director of the Foreign Investment Office first."

"Comrades, do you have any thoughts you'd like to share?"

Su Xiwang pondered for a moment and said, "As the director of the provincial cooperative office, I believe I have some say in the selection and recommendation of the director of the Haibin City Foreign Investment Office. So, I'll start by offering my opinion in response to Comrade Wenhua's call."

He flipped through the resumes of the preparatory team members, and finally pulled out one and said: "Comrade Cheng Xia from the Logistics Support Section of the Haibin City Supply and Marketing Cooperative joined the army in 1970 and transferred to the supply and marketing cooperative in 1975."

"Two years ago, when I was in charge of flood control material allocation, I set a record of successfully allocating 5,000 tons of materials in three days."

He looked up at the others and said, "This comrade should be familiar to all of you here. I don't think I need to go into his other deeds."

"What I want to say here is that the Foreign Investment Office will be a new department of the Haibin City Supply and Marketing Cooperative. After it starts working, it will need to start from scratch, so it will probably need a strong leader."

"Comrade Cheng Xia is a soldier. His fighting spirit, his ability to withstand pressure, and his resilience are beyond doubt. With such a comrade leading the team, I believe the Foreign Investment Office will be able to fight bravely and win victories!"

Yi Xuebing said with a smile, "I do know Comrade Cheng Xia well. He is a good comrade. There is only one problem. I saw him yesterday. His learning ability is a bit lacking."

"Originally, I shared the same idea as Director Su. Moreover, I also considered that the Foreign Business Office needs to deal with foreigners, so it must have a comrade with strong ideology and firm will to lead the team."

"But Comrade Cheng Xia has been in the preparatory group for almost half a year, and he hasn't made any progress in foreign languages. He should at least be able to speak English, Japanese, Russian, and German, right?"

He shook his head as he spoke: "He can't either!"

"I asked him how he would carry out his work after joining the Foreign Investment Office, and guess what he said?"

"He told me that imperialists have never given up their desire to destroy us, and we cannot learn their language, otherwise it would be a sign of weakness. We should make them learn our language!"

Niu Wenhua smiled wryly and shook his head repeatedly.

Su hoped that this would end the discussion.

Knowing his suggestion had been rejected, he asked, "Comrade Xuebing, do you have any good candidates to recommend?"

Yi Xuebing tapped the assessment materials in his hand and said, "I would like to recommend Comrade Liao Chunfeng, the head of the audit team of the Finance Department. He graduated from Shanghai University of Foreign Languages ​​and his major is relevant to this field."

"At the same time, his father is an official in the provincial materials bureau. He has been exposed to this since childhood and is quite experienced in leading teams. I think he will definitely be able to lead a good team."

Wei Bin raised his hand to interrupt him, saying, "Do you know anything about Comrade Lao Yi? He is indeed a college graduate from the Foreign Languages ​​Institute, but are you clear about his background?"

Yi Xuebing said, "I'm not very clear about it. I'm not familiar with him."

Wei Bin took a sip of herbal tea and said:

“This comrade is a worker-peasant-soldier college student. He was recommended by the local poor peasants when he went to the countryside. I know his foreign language level. He is at the stage where he can recognize foreign letters but he doesn’t recognize foreign letters.”

Snickers broke out in the meeting room.

Yi Xuebing was very embarrassed.

He never expected that the talent he recommended would turn out to be such a complete idiot!
But he tried his best to help Liao Chunfeng improve: "Learning is a lifelong endeavor. Even if you didn't do well in the past, as long as you study hard in the future, you will eventually achieve results."

Wei Bin bluntly said, "Comrade Xuebing, if a hunter can't even catch any prey in the park, how can he possibly catch any prey in the forest?"

"Liao Chunfeng didn't study during his university years, but now that he's graduated and working, he suddenly seems to have a breakthrough and can study well again?"

Niu Wenhua chuckled and tapped the table with his pen cap: "Old Wei, you're still as humorous as ever. I enjoy having meetings with you; you always teach me something new."

"Old Zhou, the personnel transfer process needs to follow the organizational procedures. Old Zheng, please give everyone a concise overview of all the comrades' situations so we can discuss it further."

"The Foreign Investment Office will be a very important department in the future, and we must select a comrade who is capable of leading a strong team to be its leader."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Chaoyang began his explanation without notes, systematically recounting the performance, achievements, and evaluations from colleagues and the public of the 22 members of the preparatory team in their new positions.

He introduced Qian Jin last.

Other people's introductions are short, lasting only thirty or forty seconds, and at most a minute and a half.

But when it came to Qian Jin, he explained for five minutes straight.

Niu Wenhua chuckled as he smoked, "Well, although Comrade Chaoyang didn't recommend anyone, I think everyone knows who he wants to recommend."

Feng Changfan couldn't help but say, "Distinguished leaders, Deputy Director Zheng mentioned Qian Jin at the end. As a member of the research team, I would like to share my thoughts on this comrade."

Niu Wenhua nodded: "Tell me about it."

Feng Changfan took a deep breath and listed some of Qian Jin's behaviors in the commune.

He concluded by saying, "I am a political cadre. Because Ma Defu, this scoundrel and criminal, came from Zidian Commune, I always feel ashamed when I face the people of Zidian."

"But Comrade Qian Jin cleaned up our mess with his solid work. To be honest, what I saw and heard in Zidian Commune showed me the image of a supply and marketing cooperative cadre who is rooted in the grassroots and makes silent contributions."

"Unassuming and unpretentious, they have won the sincere praise of the masses through their small but practical actions!"

"As my comrades know, I have a chronic problem of insomnia. For many years, whenever I wake up in the middle of the night and can't fall back asleep, I think about one question: What kind of cadre is a good cadre?"

"I had many answers in my heart, but they were all somewhat vague. Until a few days ago when I went to his shop, Qian Jin gave me the most simple answer through his actions. Since then, I have the answer!"

Niu Wenhua asked with great interest, "The two comrades before you were stuck on their professional skills. How is Comrade Qian Jin's foreign language proficiency?"

Qi Dong said, "I know a little about this. He should be quite outstanding. After I took office, I talked to the comrades in Jiagang, and they mentioned that Qian Jin had studied English with a professional English teacher."

"In addition, he also asked his friends to learn English, because he believed that the country would inevitably have to communicate with foreign countries in the future, and learning in advance is always more effective than cramming at the last minute."

Niu Wenhua and Wei Bin exchanged a glance, and the former asked with a smile, "Why does he believe that the country will inevitably need to engage in exchanges with foreign countries in the future?"

Qi Dong shook his head: "I haven't talked to this comrade yet. My understanding of him comes from the comrades in Jiagang, so I don't know what he's thinking."

Niu Wenhua then asked Feng Changfan, "Comrade Changfan, how is Qian Jin's management ability?"

Feng Changfan immediately explained Qian Jin's transformation of the Zidian Commune Supply and Marketing Cooperative, and also described the financial work rules and regulations he had copied, as well as the improvements made to the three major job categories of accounting, sales, and warehousing.

He also showed a work report entitled "On the Role of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives in Rural Commodity Circulation," which was a summary of his grassroots work this month and was even more insightful than the provincial newspaper editorial.

The cattle culture team has taken the work report.

He nodded repeatedly as he looked at it and handed it to Wei Bin, saying, "Old Wei, your Haibin City is indeed full of hidden talents."

Wei Bin said, "This comrade is indeed quite capable. I heard about his meritorious service many times when he was working in the porters' team."

"In addition, he invented four new types of carts, which won excellent results in the practical tool invention competition of the Logistics and Equipment Department of the Central News Agency."

Niu Wenhua asked, "So, what do you think of Comrade Qian Jin as the head of the new department?"

Cui Hu hesitated and said, "Qian Jin's performance and ability are undeniable, but he is still only a level 25 cadre. According to policy, he can only be promoted to the head of a county department or the deputy head of a city department at most."

"It's against regulations to directly appoint someone as the head of a municipal department, and how will the issue of salary discrepancies be resolved?"

"In addition, as Vice President Yi mentioned, Comrade Liao Chunfeng is a level 24 cadre. If Qian Jin were to become the director, there would be a problem of inverted leadership ranks, making it even more impossible to carry out the work."

Peng Youliang stood up and said, "If the organization is going to promote Comrade Qian Jin, I will coordinate the issue of his rank!"

"The Municipal Workers' Cultural Palace will soon hold a report meeting on model workers for the first half of this year. Comrade Qian Jin is one of the candidates for model worker in our unit. If he is elected as a model worker, then there will be a policy basis for adjusting his job rank."

Yi Xuebing hurriedly said, "Don't rush to adjust his rank. I have a general understanding of Qian Jin's situation."

"He's only been with our unit for less than a year, and he's already been promoted from a level 30 porter to a level 25 manager. That's a bit too fast, and many of the older colleagues have complaints..."

"What opinions do the veteran comrades have?" Niu Wenhua interrupted him and asked in return.

Yi Xuebing paused for a moment and did not answer.

Niu Wenhua opened the blue-covered notebook he had just used to fan himself, placed it on the table, and pushed it out: "Comrades, after this year's college entrance examination, the Guangming Daily, following the instructions of the state, has opened a special column to introduce the perfect score essays from the college entrance examinations across the country."

"The first thing we'll be posting is the perfect score essay from last year's exam. Have you guys been paying attention to this section?"

The group looked at each other and shook their heads.

Niu Wenhua pointed to the notebook and said, "Then you can take a look at my clippings."

"The article published on July 28th was written by a young educated youth from your Haibin City. If I remember correctly, that young educated youth's name was Su Mingyuan."

"Last year, the theme of the Chinese composition exam set by our province was 'An Unforgettable Day.' Su Mingyuan's composition was titled 'The Liberation Truck Takes Me to Battle,' and he mentioned Comrade Qian Jin in it."

"Comrade Qian Jin, the captain of the Taishan Road Labor Commando Team in Haibin City, is this the same person we're talking about?"

Cui Hu and the others nodded in agreement.

Wei Bin, who was reading the essay, suddenly looked up and said, "This essay is really well written. After he graduates from university, let's try to recruit him as a writer."

Niu Wenhua said, "I don't think we can get it. I asked around about Su Mingyuan, and he was admitted to Capital Normal University."

"The Chinese department of that school is famous throughout the country. In the end, you will either go to a central government agency, be given special training to become a teacher, or work in a newspaper."

"Alright, that's a story for later. Let's get back to the main topic: how should we select the director of the Foreign Investment Office? I'll cast my vote for him."

Wei Bin hesitated for a moment and said, "Then I'll also cast my vote for Qian Jin."

The provincial and municipal leaders in charge both voted in favor, and the others naturally had no objections and cast their votes for Qian Jin.

Wei Bin concluded by saying, "Comrade Youliang, go back and find this issue of the newspaper, and then quickly create a special feature on it."

"Our colleague was featured in the Guangming Daily. This is a big deal and should be publicized."

Zhou Huaimin, director of the Foreign Affairs Office, asked, "So, the candidate for director of the Foreign Investment Office of Haibin City has been decided? It's Comrade Qian Jin?"

Niu Wenhua nodded: "Yes, but after reviewing Comrade Qian Jin's file, I can see that he does have some shortcomings in terms of work experience."

"Then let's give him the title of temporary director and give him some time to see how he performs. If he performs well, we'll remove the 'temporary' title; if he doesn't perform well, we'll remove the 'director' title!"

The others nodded in agreement.

Niu Wenhua slammed his hand on the table and said, "Alright, it's settled then."

"Send Qian Jin a job transfer notice as soon as possible. According to the requirements of the Central News Agency, the Foreign Investment Office of Haibin City will be officially established at the beginning of next month. Let Qian Jin prepare to start his new job."

"In addition, Comrade Huaimin, please arrange a learning activity as soon as possible, so that all the comrades from the Foreign Affairs Office of Haibin City can go to the Foreign Affairs Office for on-the-job training. During the training period, complete the job and staffing conversion for them."

"Comrade Changfan, please have the confidential office encrypt and send Qian Jin's file to the provincial supply and marketing cooperative. We need a copy to keep on our side."

Once the final decision was made, the meeting entered its final stage.

Zheng Chaoyang, while organizing the documents, gave a final work summary: "Based on the decisions made at this meeting, it is hereby announced that Comrade Qian Jin will serve as the Acting Director of the Foreign Investment Office of the Haibin City Supply and Marketing Cooperative, with a three-month probationary period!"

Feng Changfan stood up and said, "I propose that we hold an enlarged meeting of the general branch tonight to convey the spirit of this meeting."

Wei Bin said, "This is necessary, but the work appointment of Comrade Qian Jin needs to be kept confidential."

"He is, after all, a young comrade. His ability to lead a team has been tested, but his work ability—well, it seems—has also passed the test."

"Anyway, young people can always benefit from observing more."

(End of this chapter)