The golden age began in 1977

Chapter 354 Major Car Modification, Qian Jinpin Publishes Newspaper Ads

Qian Jin never took credit for the city-wide snow removal efforts.

and so.

no problem.

He laughed heartily and said, "Manager Zhang, this is a great thing! I wholeheartedly support it!"

"The more vehicles we have, the faster we can clear the snow! As for the sign, you can put it up however you want. We can call it 'Five-Lun Snow Removal Pioneer' as you wish. That's quite a catchy name!"

"That's wonderful! Director Qian, thank you so much!" Zhang Guangfu once again gripped Qian Jin's hand tightly and shook it vigorously.

"Don't worry, the vehicle and driver will be here soon! This modification work will probably require your extra effort! If you need more manpower, our Fifth Transportation Maintenance Department has people available! We'll provide all the necessary tools and materials!"

“Okay!” Qian Jin also got enthusiastic. “But Manager Zhang, I have a suggestion.”

"After the snow removal work this morning, we found that the wooden snowplow was still not enough. The snow removal road conditions in the city are complicated, and the snow is deeper and harder in some places. Moreover, this work cannot be completed in a day or two."

"No matter how sturdy the wood is, it's very risky to wear down, crack, or even fall apart under long-term, high-intensity use. We need to find a stronger and more durable method!"

Zhang Guangfu and Li Guodong exchanged a glance and immediately nodded: "Director Qian is right, that makes sense. So what do you mean?"

“We need steel plates,” Qian Jin said, explaining his idea from that morning. “We can weld thin steel plates together to make a real steel plow. This way, it will be strong, wear-resistant, and have a long lifespan.”

"Steel plate? Welding?" Zhang Guangfu's eyes lit up, but then he was a little troubled. "This, I'm afraid we'll have to find a machine shop. Our repair shop can weld a car frame, but we're not sure we can make such large steel components."

"I'll contact the machinery factory," Qian Jin said confidently.

He now has too many connections in various factories, after all, he now controls the gateway for all factories and enterprises in the city to introduce foreign technology and equipment.

“I know Director Zhao of the Xindongfeng Machinery Factory in the city. Their factory has gas cutting and electric welding capabilities and has strong technical strength. As long as you provide steel plates and vehicles, I will ask them to send their best welders over.”

"We'll modify it on-site at your Fifth Transportation Maintenance Workshop and put it into use as soon as possible."

"Alright, let's do it this way." Zhang Guangfu slapped his thigh, full of bravado. "We'll take care of the steel plates."

He looked at Li Guodong, who was in charge of logistics.

Li Guodong lived up to expectations and said, "We still have some Q235 thin plates in our warehouse. It's a common carbon structural steel with a thickness of 3mm. Is that enough?"

"If it's not enough, I'll borrow from other units or get a permit from the materials bureau. Anyway, there's definitely no problem with this."

"In addition, the drivers and vehicles can be assembled immediately, and the repair shop can bring in vehicles at any time. We will fully cooperate with the modification work."

This time it's a proper modification.

That afternoon, instead of removing the snow, Qian Jin and his companion went to the maintenance workshop of the Fifth Transportation Company.

The once deserted workshop has become bustling with activity.

The huge workshop door was wide open, and the cold wind, carrying snow from the courtyard, poured in, but the workshop was not cold at all. Four large coke ovens were evenly placed in the center.

At this moment, Zhang Guangfu was very generous and lit all four stoves.

The wind was strong today, which made it easier for the flames to burn in the stove.

The chimney sticking out of the room was billowing out thick, gray-black smoke, which kept the stove radiating scorching heat and dispelling the chill in the repair shop.

The workshop was bustling with noise.

Seven Yuejin NJ130 motorcycles from the Fifth Transportation Company were lined up in a row, with their fronts facing the workshop gate.

Several experienced mechanics at the repair shop, along with their apprentices, were busy disassembling the front bumper and cleaning the oil and rust from the connecting parts.

Subsequently, the support team sent by New Oriental Machinery Factory arrived.

The team was led by Liu Manfu, the deputy head of the factory's technical department and an eighth-level welder. His eighth-level welder status is currently the highest level, indicating excellent skills.

But he was not old, not even fifty, with a stocky build and a full beard, which fits the image of an old master craftsman in people's minds.

Behind him were several young and strong apprentices who brought heavy welding machines, oxygen cylinders, and acetylene cylinders. They also brought a toolbox, which contained welding torches, welding rods, masks, hammers, steel rulers, stone pencils, and other tools.

The equipment is complete.

This is completely different from the modification work that Qian Jin and his team did this morning.

In contrast, the assault team's approach was just a charlatan's blunder; the other side was the real, legitimate army.

"Hello Director Qian, hello Manager Zhang." Liu Manfu's voice was loud and clear, with a heavy Northeastern accent. "We came here as soon as we received Director Zhao's call. Where's the work? Where are the blueprints?"

"Section Chief Liu is here? Thank you for your hard work!" Qian Jin and Zhang Guangfu hurriedly went to greet him.

Liu Manfu laughed heartily and said, "How dare I call myself 'Chief' in front of you? Just call me by my nickname, my brothers all call me Liu the Hammer."

Qian Jin laughed and said, "Liu Dachui? That name sounds just like something a working-class person would say."

Liu Manfu grinned: "Who says otherwise? Director Qian, please provide the blueprints. Factory Director Zhao said this job is urgent today, so I'll get started right away."

Qian Jin said awkwardly, "Blueprints? There are no blueprints."

He pointed to the Yuejin vehicle next to him, which had been modified into a broken snowplow: "Make it according to the shape of that wedge, but this time use steel plates, and make it sturdy and durable."

Liu Dachui walked up to the wooden plow and began to examine it carefully.

Qian Jin approached and squatted down beside him, explaining his ideas to the other party one by one.

Wooden snowplows are different from iron ones.

He looked up some information about snowplows in the mall and found that many of the designs for snowplows couldn't be used on wood. Now that iron snowplows are being built, these designs can be applied.

Liu Dachui nodded repeatedly as he listened.

Finally, he circled the huge wooden wedge twice, then tapped the joint with his hand and said, "Director Qian, I understand now. The thing you're making is called a snowplow."

"Hmm, this wooden thing has a good idea, but it's not durable. Let's see what we can do next!"

“I grew up in Northeast China, so I know a thing or two about snow removal equipment.”

He turned to one of his apprentices and shouted, "Erga, take the measurements, and you draw the layout. Xiao San, get the oxy-acetylene torch ready. Come on, let's cut the material!"

"Alright, Master." The two apprentices immediately got to work.

The other two workers then began to prepare the tools together.

Erga Zi's real name is Li Qiang. He took out a steel tape measure and a slate pencil and quickly measured the length, width, height, and angle of the wooden wedge, especially the angle of the crucial snow-breaking blade and the length of the bevel.

As he measured, he quickly recorded and calculated on his drawing board, and then used a stone pencil to sketch a 1:1 layout on a flat cement floor.

That's a rough style, and that's quite capable.

Wang Jianjun, nicknamed "Little Third," skillfully connected the oxygen-acetylene cutting torch's pipeline, adjusted the pressure, and lit the torch. The blue flame immediately emitted a "whooshing" sound.

"Where's the steel plate?" Liu Dachui asked.

"Here you are, Section Chief Liu." The materials clerk from the Fifth Transportation Company quickly called for people to bring over several large 4mm thick steel plates.

Liu Dachui tried it out and nodded: "Good stuff, Q245 ordinary carbon structural steel. Using this for snow removal is a bit of an overkill."

"It's about contributing to the people of the city, whether you're a big shot or a small fry," Li Guodong immediately replied with a smile.

These steel plates are indeed high-quality; even a layman like Qian Jin can tell that.

Its surface is covered with a thin layer of oxide scale and rust-preventive oil. When placed next to the stove, it gleams with a cold, hard metallic luster in the firelight.

Liu Dachui looked at the layout drawing, then at the steel plate, picked up a stone pencil, and started drawing cutting lines directly on the steel plate with a "swish swish swish" sound.

His technique is skillful, and his lines are precise and smooth, requiring no templates at all.

After seeing it, Qian Jin gave a thumbs up: "Level 8 welder, awesome!"

After marking out a spot, Liu Dachui instructed Xiao San'er, "Cut it here."

He then said to Qian Jin and the others beside him, "Fellow leaders and comrades, shall we step back a bit?"

"They say water and fire are merciless, but the acetylene fire produced by our high-pressure oxygen is even more ruthless."

The mistress put on dark sunglasses, picked up the heavy oxy-acetylene torch, and started cutting the stone pencil line.

With a "whoosh," the high-pressure oxygen blew away the molten metal, and the scorching flames instantly sliced ​​the steel plate apart.

Blue flames danced across the steel plate, hissing piercingly. Molten iron dripped like lava, splashing sparks on the cold cement floor before instantly solidifying into black iron pellets.

Qian Jin was astonished.

As the mistress operated, pieces of steel plates of various shapes were cut off:

There are flat plates that serve as bases, trapezoidal plates that form inclined surfaces, and stiffening plates used for reinforcement...

"Come on, get on the platform and get ready to team up." Liu Dachui directed the other two workers to start moving things.

Two workers put on thick gloves and carried the cut steel plates to a makeshift welding platform made of thick steel plates in the center of the workshop.

The real technical work has begun.

Liu Dachui personally took charge of the project.

"Comrades, don't look at me like that. If you're still curious, wait until I say it's okay before you turn around, or you'll go blind." He put on his heavy welding helmet, picked up the welding torch, clamped the welding rod, and turned on the power.

The moment the welding rod touched the edge of the steel plate, a piercing "sizzle" sound rang out.

Qian Jin turned his back, but out of the corner of his eye, he could see a dazzling arc of light flash instantly.

The welding rod was as steady as a rock in Liu Dachui's hand, moving evenly along the joint of the steel plate.

The molten welding rod metal and the base material fuse together, producing a crackling sound, forming a uniform fish-scale-like weld.

The welding slag kept falling off like popcorn.

While operating the hammer, Liu Dachui called to his apprentice to come and help: "Erga, stop here. Xiao San'er, where's your hammer? You know it's in your hand? What are you doing, just standing there hammering away? Come on, break the slag!"

Ergazi used a spot welding gun to temporarily spot weld and fix the steel plates that needed to be assembled.

The third child, holding a hammer, waited for the master to finish welding a section before quickly knocking off the black slag covering the weld seam, revealing the bright silver weld metal underneath.

Inside the workshop, the sounds of electric welding, gas cutting, hammering, and Liu Dachui's shouts mingled together.

The air was filled with a mixed smell that was hard to describe, and it was a bit pungent. But thankfully, Zhang Guangfu was a leader who had risen through the ranks from the front line and had welding experience. He kept the workshop gate open so that the air could be blown in.

Chen Shoujiang drove away in his small truck to continue clearing the snow.

Li Guodong gestured to Qian Jin, "Let's go to the office and have a cup of tea first. This job won't be done so quickly."

Qian Jin waved his hand: "No need, just wait outside."

They chatted with their hands behind their backs by the door, and after a while, Liu Dachui's voice rang out: "It's done!"

Qian Jin hurriedly turned around to look.

The iron plate that had been there before had now become a solid whole – a steel plowshare that gleamed with a cold light.

This is the power of industrial workers!

This is the power of industry!

"Director Qian, Manager Zhang, take a look at my weld, what do you think?" Liu Dachui lifted his welding helmet, pointed at the weld with a smug look on his face.

Erga was afraid they wouldn't understand, so he explained it to them: "This is called fish scale welding. The weld is full and even, with deep interlocking. It's really strong. To be honest, it's a hundred times better than that wooden thing from before!"

Liu Dachui retorted, "Hey, Erga Zi, what are you saying? People use wood to do the work of welders, that's real skill, that's what you call wisdom."

Qian Jin went up to examine the iron contraption up close and exclaimed, "Master Hammer, you don't need to be modest. This is really good. Comrade Li Qiang is right. This iron contraption is a hundred times stronger than our wooden contraption."

"Yes, this is excellent! Master Liu's skills are superb!" Zhang Guangfu exclaimed in agreement.

After it was finished, the snowplow was completely black, with sharp edges and a sturdy structure. Its sharp blade gleamed coldly in the sunlight.
The wooden plow was like a musket placed in front of a cannon.

Everyone pitched in and lifted it to the front of the car, then gestured to show it.

Qian Jin found a suitable height and prepared to have Liu Dachui weld it to the front of the car.

Professionalism is professionalism.

Liu Dachui shook his head: "It's easy to weld it on, but difficult to remove it. These trucks will still need to run transportation on the road in the future, and they can't carry such a big ramming head all the time."

"Don't weld it directly on. I'll drill a few holes in the angle steel of the vehicle body and then we'll bolt it on. It's just for shoveling snow, so it doesn't need to be too sturdy."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Guangfu squinted his eyes with delight: "Okay, okay, Master Hammer, you've really gone to a lot of trouble."

Liu Dachui casually said, "Hey, it's nothing."

He busied himself for a while, and then the maintenance workers worked together to lift the heavy steel plow, align it with the front of a "Yuejin" 130, and then used large bolts to pass through the holes pre-drilled in the steel plow base and the angle steel of the vehicle body, along with huge washers and nuts, to put it on.

The maintenance workers from the Fifth Ring Road found a torque wrench and tightened the large bolt with a "squeak, squeak" sound.

Finally, Liu Dachui lifted his foot and stomped hard.

The snowplow didn't budge.

He grinned with satisfaction: "No problem, I guarantee it will be foolproof."

"Why don't we go out and give it a try?" Li Guodong said expectantly.

Qian Jin had seen the wooden plow in operation that morning, and he knew at a glance that the broken steel snowplow was fine and would definitely work.

But practice is the only true test of everything.

The driver jumped into the cab and started the engine. Amidst the expectant gazes of the crowd, the Yuejin 130, adorned with a brand-new steel plow, slowly drove out of the repair shop and onto the street outside, which was still covered by thick snow.

The tip of the steel plow approached the snow layer steadily, like the ramming horn of a warship.

Shift gears.

Add oil.

The engine emitted a deep roar.

The snow layer was child's play for this iron machine; the thick snow on the road was quickly washed away and violently scattered along the smooth steel ramp to both sides of the road.

The efficiency, force, and decisiveness of this snow-breaking action far surpasses that of a wooden plow!
As the car drove past, only a thin layer of snow remained on the road. Li Guodong called for the sanitation workers to sweep it up, and they swept it clean in one go.

Qian Jin led the applause:

"Great, this machine is fantastic."

"Steel is definitely better than wood."

"That force! That speed! The snow removal work in the city will be much easier now, and it will be resolved at least several days ahead of schedule!"
With the successful experience of the first vehicle, the subsequent modification speed was greatly accelerated.

Liu Dachui and his apprentices became more and more skilled at their work.

But as soon as the second broken snowplow was put into production, the materials clerk rushed over to report: "Manager Zhang, Deputy Manager Li, we don't have enough steel plates in our reserves."

Qian Jin subconsciously said, "It can't be that bad, can it? I just went with Deputy Manager Li to check, and you had a lot of steel plates in your warehouse. How come you've used them up so quickly? This stuff doesn't consume materials that much, does it?" The materials clerk explained, "It's not that we've used them all up. I just estimated based on the steel used for the first snowplow. If we need to make seven more snowplow heads, those three-thick plates won't be enough."

"In addition, among the steel plates you just saw with our leader, there were not only 3-thick plates, but also some 3-thick plates, and we have even more 2-thick plates here."

Three "thick" means three millimeters thick.

"Two layers thick is too much?" Liu Dachui thought for a moment, "Two layers thick should be fine. It's just shoveling snow, how much snow can it weigh? Two layers thick is enough."

Qian Jin nodded: "Yes, any wooden plank will do."

Zhang Guangfu objected, saying, "No, two are too thin. I've seen Chen Shoujiang drive to work, and he drives very carefully, afraid that the snowplow will hit the roadside or the curb and get damaged."

"That's why I said 3 thicknesses from the beginning instead of 2 thicknesses. I felt that 2 thicknesses were a bit thin, and I was afraid that the strength would not be enough in areas with high stress."

Qian Jin said, "Yes, actually our wooden snowplow was damaged this morning, but the wood has a mortise and tenon structure, so with a carpenter there, it can be disassembled and replaced. It's very simple and convenient."

Zhang Guangfu said, "Yes, steel is stronger but not as convenient. It's welded as a whole, so you can't just disassemble and replace the whole thing, can you?"

"So I think we still need to use 3mm thick steel plates. If we didn't have so few 4mm thick steel plates left here, I would have made 4mm thick ones a long time ago."

Li Guodong pondered and said, "Then what should I do? Should I call the other sister companies and ask?"

Both of them were thinking about how to get noticed during the citywide snow removal operation, and dared not risk causing any problems.

If something goes wrong and his buttocks are exposed, it will become a laughing stock.

Normally, if there are no problems, the other five transportation companies like to joke about them. But if there are problems again today, they will be laughed at for a year.

Zhang Guangfu nodded, and Li Guodong prepared to leave.

Liu Dachui stopped them: "No need for that, there's a way."

"Based on my research on this thing, even if it is damaged, it is not the whole thing that is damaged, but the key stress-bearing parts—such as the base and the bevel of the cutting edge, these places are prone to damage."

"How about this: use 3mm thick plates for these stress-bearing parts, and 2mm thick plates for the reinforcing ribs and secondary parts. We can always double-layer them and weld them firmly. I think that will work just as well!"

Erga and the others immediately nodded: "What my master said must be right."

Qian Jin nodded: "Okay, leave the professional work to the professionals, and listen to Master Chui."

Zhang Guangfu immediately made the decision: "Go and get two thick boards."

Welding work continues.

Liu Dachui and his apprentices took turns firing, with electric arcs flashing one after another.

Sweat soaked through their work clothes, then dried by the furnace fire, leaving rings of white salt stains.

The welding fumes blackened their faces, but their eyes shone with focused light beneath their welding helmets.

The maintenance workers from the Fifth Ring Road were also helping out, handing over tools, moving steel plates, and cleaning up welding slag, working together seamlessly.

Once a broken snowplow is successfully welded, a vehicle can be driven out.

They worked from afternoon until nightfall, the repair workshop was brightly lit, like daytime.

The coke oven burned even brighter, dispelling the harsh winter night.

When the workers were hungry, they would nibble on a few dry buns baked on the stove; when they were thirsty, they would drink a few mouthfuls of hot water.

Finally, as darkness fell completely, the last snowplow, welded from 3mm and 2mm Q235 steel plates, was completed.

Li Guodong painted the words "Fifth National Games Snow Removal Pioneer" in bright red paint on the front of the car, and then immediately drove off.

The driver was thrilled.

It's like carrying a gun and heading to the battlefield.

Under the streetlights at night, the dark steel plowshare gleamed coldly in the light.

The bright red banners and the deep roar of the engines combined to create a truly impressive sight.

Zhang Guangfu drove his SUV to inspect this "steel snow-clearing army." Looking at the asphalt roads that had begun to be cleared in the city, he and Li Guodong were so excited that their eyes welled up with tears.

They finally showed their face, this time they really showed their face.

He immediately ordered Li Guodong: "There are fewer people and cars at night, which is perfect for us to work on."

"Furthermore, the temperature is low at night, and after a night of freezing temperatures, this snow is more likely to turn into ice tomorrow."

"So tonight we're mobilizing all the drivers, working in two shifts, and we need to race against time to clear the way for people to go to school and work."

Li Guodong said, "Okay, I'll go back and arrange the shifts."

Qian Jin, sitting in the back seat, was speechless upon hearing these words.

Leaders truly treat their subordinates like beasts of burden; this has always been the case, and it's not something that only future capitalists will do.

A total of nine vehicles, including the wooden snowplow, started moving.

This is very efficient.

Smooth, black tunnels stretched rapidly through the sleeping city.

On the 4th, as the morning sun shone on the snow-covered city, early risers were surprised to find that many roads that were impassable yesterday were now clear!
The teenagers were stunned: "We're doomed, do we have to go to school now?"

But clearing the roads is crucial for the city as a whole, especially since workers can now ride their bikes to work again.

Yesterday, all buses were operating at overcapacity, but today there are significantly fewer passengers, and the pressure on transportation has eased.

When Qian went to work after Sunday's holiday, Deputy Director Li Xiaoyun respectfully brought him several newspapers.

When Qian Jin saw that the picture on the cover was from the "Haibin Daily," he thought it was a report about his mobilization of a labor shock brigade to carry out snow removal work throughout the city.

He didn't care about that and left it on his desk to attend to official business.

When Wei Xiaobo arrived, he was excitedly given a book of newspaper clippings.

Sunlight streamed through the water-stained glass and fell onto the newspaper clippings.

These are the People's Daily, the Haibin Daily, and several other provincial newspapers, all of which prominently feature eye-catching headlines on their front pages:

Breaking the Ice and Introducing New Technologies to Strengthen the Foundation: A Brief Account of the Successful Introduction of Advanced Fertilizer Synthesis Equipment from West Germany to a Coastal City

"The Zheji Bay No. 1 finally sets sail, and the 30 million marks are carefully managed to save the country valuable foreign exchange."

Qian Jin's Negotiation Team Unravels Japanese Conspiracy; Haibin City Approval Commission Displays National Power in Western Europe

……

Qian Jin picked up the newspaper that Li Xiaoyun had given him earlier and started reading.

Hi.

Same content.

He said in surprise, "Why is our case suddenly being reported on by the media today?"

Wei Xiaobo said, "It seems that the higher-ups have asked us to work on a special topic, and the municipal government is also going to hold a New Year's commendation meeting and study meeting on this equipment import project."

"President Han's office just called, asking you to come over for a meeting at 4 PM this afternoon."

Qian Jin nodded to indicate that he understood: "Notify me half an hour in advance."

The approval committee office building and the city government building are very close to each other, only a two or three-minute walk apart.

Wei Xiaobo arranged his itinerary.

He certainly had a lot to do at the beginning of this year.

Last year's drought relief efforts have been completely completed, and a commendation ceremony will be held at the beginning of the year.

There's a commendation ceremony at the city level, a commendation ceremony at the province level, and then the national government organizes one as well.

Haibin City has become famous this time, not only for its excellent work in drought relief and harvest protection in rural areas, but also for spreading its experience to surrounding areas. The city has even had its story published in national newspapers and periodicals multiple times.

The city has now applied for many personal honors for him.

Needless to say, he'll definitely get several individual and team awards this year.

Considering that he was still working at the supply and marketing cooperative last year, the Haibin City Service General Cooperative also applied for a commendation for his meritorious service...

At 3:50 p.m., Qian Jin arrived at the No. 12 meeting room of the municipal government 10 minutes early.

Several people were already chatting inside.

Qian Jinxian saw Yang Dagang.

Goodness, they're all acquaintances.

The group included members of the team that initially negotiated with BASF, as well as key figures from various local newspapers.

As soon as Qian Jin entered, Yang Dagang was the first to stand up and applaud: "The hero who helped our factory introduce this advanced production line has arrived."

The others stood up and clapped with smiles.

Qian Jin quickly waved his hand: "This is municipal territory, don't mess with me, who knows what might happen today."

Yang Dagang said casually, "What else could it be? It must be to praise you for leading the team to introduce advanced production equipment to the country and saving foreign exchange."

He was right.

The meeting was chaired by Han Zhaoxin, but the top leader, Zheng Guodong, specially came to kick it off:

"In this negotiation with West Germany, the delegation led by Comrade Qian Jin and Comrade Wang Zhenbang fought a brilliant battle! An extremely brilliant economic and technological breakthrough!"

"You have made those arrogant 'German war machines' bow their heads! You have saved our city and our country at least 30 million West German marks in foreign exchange. Comrades, this is something to be encouraged!"

His voice trembled slightly with excitement.

Everyone clapped happily and looked at Qian Jin, many of the young cadres looking on with envy.

He is highly capable and has a bright future.

Qian Jin whispered, "It's not as much as thirty million, is it? That's an exaggeration of half."

"No, the foreign exchange savings are indeed a staggering thirty million!" Han Zhaoxin said decisively after hearing this.

"Just a few days ago, on January 1st, Indonesia also purchased this production line from BASF in West Germany. The conditions they received were not as good as ours. They didn't have the additional conditions of three years of training and five years of free replacement of spare parts."

"So, guess how much they paid for the production line?"

The deputy editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper, who was in charge of publicity, thought for a moment and asked, "Could it be, 60 million German marks?"

Everyone looked at him, and he quickly explained, "Because we bought the production line for about 30 million marks, and the two leaders kept emphasizing that this saved the country 30 million marks, so..."

Han Zhaoxin nodded and smiled.

Qian Jin was taken aback: "Indonesia really did spend 60 million German marks to buy the production line?"

Han Zhaoxin burst into laughter: "Absolutely right, to be precise, it's fifty-nine million five hundred thousand—that's quite interesting. Their domestic publicity said it was over fifty million, but when we inquired, we found out it was over fifty-nine million five hundred thousand! Haha!"

Everyone laughed.

Yang Dagang also laughed loudly: "BASF is really amazing. They don't do business at a loss. They didn't make any money from us, but put all the profits into Indonesia."

Qian Jin was incredulous: "The Indonesian working group signed this contract? This is... wow."

He shook his head.

This is truly a crime against the hard work and struggle of our own people!
Wang Zhenbang said leisurely, "They must have signed the contract. I'm afraid their working group leader isn't like you, able to resist the temptations of sugar-coated bullets. There must be something wrong with their working group leader."

Han Zhaoxin asked with great interest, "Comrade Zhenbang, what made you suddenly have this feeling?"

Wang Zhenbang glanced at it and said with a smile, "You don't know, on the very night BASF hosted a welcome dinner for us, that Schmidt specially sent a blonde female secretary dressed like a fairy to knock on Director Qian's door in the middle of the night."

"You all didn't see it, but our Director Qian closed that door so cleanly and decisively, it was louder than the hammer hitting your factory!" He said, pointing to Yang Dagang as he spoke the last sentence.

Qian Jin was greatly surprised:
Is someone still monitoring me?

That's normal, though, since two of the members of their working group were assigned by the national security department and must have other responsibilities.

Seeing the change in his expression, Wang Zhenbang guessed what he was thinking and said, "Don't misunderstand, Xiao Qian, I'm not secretly monitoring you."

"That night, after I got back, I remembered that you had drunk a bit too much at the banquet. I was worried that something might happen to you, so I thought I'd go and bring you a strong cup of tea to sober you up. But as soon as I stepped out the door, I saw that witch looking for you, so I didn't go over..."

Money enters through a secret passage; the gods are watching from above. The ancients were right.

This deity is not a real god or ghost.

It is the eyes of a discerning person.

Upon hearing this story, Han Zhaoxin slammed his fist on the table and delivered a concluding speech:

"So there was such a side story? Vice President Liao, this needs to be publicized and reported, but don't mention BASF's name, just use 'a large factory in a certain capitalist country' instead."

Liao, the deputy editor-in-chief, is one of the leaders in charge of the Haibin Daily. He exclaimed, "Please rest assured, leaders, we will definitely do a good job in publicity."

"Comrade Qian Jin's selfless dedication, his meticulous attention to equipment and technology, his high sense of responsibility for every penny of state-owned assets, and his unwavering commitment to Party discipline, national laws, and moral principles in the face of temptations are truly worthy of emulation by all the people of the city!"

Han Zhaoxin said, "We will not ask all the people in the city to learn from this spirit and style. First of all, we will ask them to learn from it at the annual work summary meeting of the heads of all government agencies, enterprises and factories in the city in 1980."

"The spirit and demeanor demonstrated by Comrade Qian Jin is the most valuable asset we needed in the early stages of reform and opening up, and it is our core competitiveness when entering the international market."

He then took out a fax sheet from his notebook:

"Furthermore, comrades, yesterday the country received a handwritten letter from Dr. Meyer, President of BASF, forwarded by the Commercial Section of our Embassy in Bonn, the capital of West Germany. In the letter, in addition to expressing expectations for the implementation of cooperation, he specifically praised Comrade Qian Jin and the entire team!"

He cleared his throat, opened the fax paper, and read aloud:
"...The solid technical skills, thorough information preparation, meticulous financial accounting, and precise understanding and mastery of the inherent logic of business rules demonstrated by your team, represented by Mr. Qian, far exceeded our previous expectations of your counterparts."

His unwavering negotiating will and awe-inspiringly rigorous professional standards earned him the highest respect from Dr. Lauten Bach, our Chief Engineer of Agricultural Industrial Technology (a true industrialist)!

He admitted that although fighting against an opponent like Mr. Qian was tough, it was also exhilarating.

What is even more impressive and worthy of a significant place in the industrial history of both China and Germany is the professional ethics and personal dignity that Mr. Qian demonstrated at the last moment, which transcended purely commercial interests and were as steadfast as the rocks of the Alps…

The fax contained a considerable amount of information, at least two thousand words long, which Han Zhaoxin read aloud word for word.

And then, this also has to be published in the newspaper!

Later, Han Zhaoxin produced the comments on the matter from the national leaders in charge, which had to be published in the newspaper!
Finally, Han Zhaoxin explained the purpose of the meeting.

We need to do a special report on Qian Jin and the working group, with Qian Jin himself dedicating a page to two aspects: first, his achievements in drought relief work, and second, his contributions to the two foreign technology and equipment import projects at the Haibin Fertilizer Plant.

Vice President Liao praised him and then pointed out Qian Jin's achievements in both employment of labor shock brigade members and service to citizens.

Han Zhaoxin decided to publish the same notice in the newspaper...

(End of this chapter)