The Fiery Era: Becoming an Industrial Giant

Chapter 122 Spending the New Year at My Biological Father's House [Please Subscribe]

Zhou Zhiqiang said, "Go ahead. If we don't go, I'm really afraid they'll bring their whole family to our house. Our meager rations can't support four people like them."

If you and your child go hungry, you'll be furious with me.

"Get lost, I'm not that immature."

Guo Yuting said with a smile, then walked around the table and put her son in Zhou Zhiqiang's arms, saying, "Don't bother. You say you'll come home to be with us, but you go back to your study and stay there every day after dinner."

"Look after my son, I'll go get Tian Dong and the others to come and get the things."

After saying that, Guo Yuting turned and left.

Helpless, Zhou Zhiqiang had no choice but to temporarily put down his work and carry his son outside.

The clothes his son wore were made of the most substantial material, stuffed with plenty of soft cotton. Zhou Zhi was afraid the child would get sick from suffocation, so he forced him to put in less cotton.

It's not cold to stay in the yard, and he would hold the child outside for a while, then immediately bring him back inside as soon as his face got cold.

A short while later, after hearing the noise from the front yard, Zhou Zhiqiang put his son in the stroller.

He had several of these little toys made by a carpenter, including cribs and baby walkers, all made of wood.

It probably won't last a year or two, but since each child only needs to use it once, it's enough.

Upon arriving at the front yard, Zhao Tiandong and Wu Xiaojun saw Zhou Zhiqiang approaching and quickly greeted him, "Brother Zhiqiang."

"Zhiqiang".

Zhou Zhiqiang said, "I'll take them for you. You can divide the New Year's goods among yourselves and take them back. It's enough for the two of us."

Upon hearing this, Guo Yuting handed the matter over to Zhou Zhiqiang and went to the backyard to take care of her son.

The factory gave Zhou Zhiqiang a lot of things, probably because Deputy Factory Director An was in charge of logistics. This time, the New Year's gifts he received exceeded those for a section chief.

Thirty catties of refined grains, fifteen catties of meat, and some other New Year's goods.

He didn't bother separating the smaller New Year's goods, as tea, fruit, candy, and the like were difficult to categorize; Zhou Zhiqiang simply took two bags and filled them with about seven or eight pounds of refined grains.

Then they cut two large pieces of meat, each weighing about four pounds.

After packing it up, he handed it to Zhao Tiandong and Wu Xiaojun, saying, "Brother Xiaojun, Tiandong, take this back for Teacher Wu and the village chief to eat."

"You apprentices don't have much to give out for the New Year, but the ministry will organize a technical level assessment next March, and then you'll be officially hired."

Zhao Tiandong and Wu Xiaojun saw too much, one waving his hand and the other saying, "Brother Zhiqiang, this is too much, bring out some more."

"Alright, do you think I'd need this? Take it, or else I'll have to be stingy when you help us with chores in the future."

As Zhou Zhiqiang spoke, he stuffed two bags into the two men's arms and continued, "I'm not going back to Sanhe Township. Otherwise, if I run into that family, they'll definitely cause trouble for me again."

He wasn't worried about the Zhou family causing trouble for him; he was annoyed by some self-righteous hypocrites telling him things like the debt of raising someone is greater than the debt of giving birth, so he simply decided not to go back.

Zhao Tiandong immediately said, "If they dare to cause trouble, I'll deal with them right away. They're a family of troublemakers."

"Zhiqiang, you wait, I'll give them a good beating when I get back."

Wu Xiaojun didn't say anything, but his eyes showed that he would definitely do the same.

The two men went from being farmers and idlers in the countryside to becoming proud senior workers, all thanks to Zhou Zhiqiang.

Moreover, it's now widely known in Sanhe Township that the Zhou family snatched Zhou Zhiqiang from his biological mother and also stole a lot of money from him.

That's why they have the money to build houses and cover all kinds of expenses.

"Tian Dong, don't start a fight. You're married now, but you're still a worker. Don't let someone who's jealous of you report you."

Zhou Zhiqiang instructed, "Don't worry about the families of bad elements; they'll suffer later."

It's only been a few years, but it will be increasingly difficult for bad elements to survive in the future. They will be the first to suffer if anything happens.

"Take it back with you. I hope you have a good New Year this year, Brother Xiaojun. Next year, I'll have Yuting help you find a matchmaker."

Every time Wu Xiaojun heard about his marriage, he would blush and wave his hands, saying, "No...no need."

Seeing this, Zhou Zhiqiang smiled and said, "Then hurry up and finish it."

He didn't particularly enjoy being a matchmaker, but in this era, the first thing that would happen if someone was older and unmarried was that their family would be in turmoil.

Zhou Zhiqiang estimates that Wu Xiaojun will argue with Teacher Wu again this year, just because he is not married, while Zhao Tiandong, who went to the city with him, has been married for half a year.

Decades later, people will be pressured to get married even if they're older. In this era, it's even more serious than it will be decades later. Over time, there will be rumors and gossip, which might even destroy a family.

Zhao Tiandong said with a smile, "Brother Zhiqiang, Brother Xiaojun has taken a liking to a girl in the factory, and they've been chatting about it every day lately."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhiqiang immediately asked with interest, "Is that so? Who is it?"

Wu Xiaojun was immediately embarrassed and hadn't even had a chance to stop Zhao Tiandong from speaking, but Zhao Tiandong blurted out, "It's a girl in the kitchen. It seems she took over her family's job and hasn't been at the factory for long."

"You have good taste, Brother Xiaojun. You won't have to worry about food in the cafeteria from now on."

Zhou Zhiqiang said with a smile, "If you've settled things, hurry up and have Teacher Wu come to the factory, so you won't have to argue anymore."

Wu Xiaojun managed to say, "After I get my permanent position, I'll go to Xiaochun's house and tell them about this."

"It'll be soon."

Zhou Zhiqiang then chatted with the two for a while before seeing them off.

Back in the backyard, Zhou Zhiqiang saw his wife comforting their son, so he went back to his study to continue his work.

He was really busy with the large hydraulic press project team, so busy that he didn't even have time to attend the factory's summary and commendation meeting.

However, since Zhou Zhiqiang had called the factory director and the party secretary in advance to ask for leave, they could understand.

People transferred from other provinces are always allowed to go home for the Spring Festival in advance. Otherwise, it's convenient for locals to go back during the holiday, but it takes one or two days for people from other provinces to travel by train.

These people have left, but their locals will eventually follow.

Zhou Zhiqiang has to attend a meeting tomorrow, where he will make plans, check progress, and inspect the modified process equipment.
Complete these tasks within three days, then summarize and report to Team Leader Shen, and you'll be able to take the holiday.

"Zhiqiang, let's go!"

Guo Yuting, holding her son, called out to Zhou Zhiqiang inside the house, "Hurry up, it's getting late."

Zhou Zhiqiang quickly came out of the house, then locked the door and said, "Don't rush, we need to check everything thoroughly before we can feel at ease."

Zhou Zhiqiang locked the cabinets, the cellar, the main house door, the study, and the storage room. He also planned to lock the main gate of the compound when they left.

Guo Yuting looked through the things she had brought and asked, "Did you bring everything?"

"There's not much to check, just this little bit of stuff."

Zhou Zhiqiang glanced at Guo Yuting, then joked, "Don't be too nervous, just act normally. We're just going over for a meal, we'll be back in a bit."

"It's not as easy as you make it sound."

Guo Yuting casually remarked that she didn't care about the size of the leader; what mattered was her husband's biological father, whom she had previously reported to the police station.

That's why she was nervous.

"Let's hurry up and go. There are no buses running today. Let's see if there are any rickshaws on the street. Our son is still cold."

After Zhou Zhiqiang finished speaking, he picked up the gifts he was going to take and walked out.

There wasn't much stuff, just two bottles of wine, some candy and snacks, and peanuts and melon seeds.

Yu Zhongguo is a military attaché stationed abroad, with a rank equivalent to that of an ambassador. If he were transferred back, he would be at the deputy provincial or ministerial level, with a salary and benefits two to three times that of Yu Zhongguo.

Although he was of high rank, no bodyguards or drivers were assigned to him upon his return. If needed, he could apply to the Ministry of National Defense.

It's highly likely that it will be approved, but Yu Zhongguo won't apply for it.

After locking the door, the couple walked out onto the street.

Fortunately, I was lucky and soon found a tricycle driver.

However, seeing that the three of them were carrying some things, the tricycle driver quoted a high price of one yuan and fifty cents.

Zhou Zhiqiang didn't haggle. After handing over the money, he even wished Zhou a Happy New Year, which made the tricycle driver a little embarrassed. He quickly helped Zhou Zhiqiang carry his things.

Moreover, he guaranteed absolute safety on the road, and even if he fell, he wouldn't let Zhou Zhiqiang and the others fall.

Zhou Zhiqiang pretended not to hear this; he didn't believe that the driver could have caused the passenger to fall and still be unharmed.

However, nothing happened along the way. He rode the third route fast and steadily, so it seems that the 1.5 yuan really gave him a lot of energy.

When they reached the gate of the compound, the tricycle driver stopped more than twenty meters away and turned to Zhou Zhiqiang, saying, "Guys, you can walk the rest. I'll drop you off here."

"Okay, thank you for your hard work."

"Oh, it's no trouble at all. I wish you all a happy new year too."

The tricycle driver immediately helped unload the items, said a few kind words, and then rode away.

Zhou Zhiqiang and his wife then arrived at the gate of the compound. After showing their work IDs, the gatekeeper allowed them to enter.

Yu Zhongguo told the gatekeeper early in the morning that someone was looking for him today, and that the person had come again in the morning.

The gatekeeper heard it twice, so naturally he wouldn't forget it.

"This place is quite nice. I just found out that there are residential areas like this in Beijing."

Guo Yuting looked left and right and said, "Look over there, there are such big trees. It must be beautiful in the summer."

Zhou Zhiqiang said, "We'll plant a tree when we get back home, so it can provide shade and shelter from the rain for you. But where is the building number?"

After wandering around for a while, I still couldn't find the address.

"Section Chief?"

Zhou Zhiqiang suddenly heard someone call him. He turned around and saw Chen Li. He greeted her and asked, "Deputy Section Chief Chen, you live here too?"

As Chen Li approached, she smiled and asked, "Yes, Section Chief, what brings you here? Who are you looking for?"

"Could you help me find this building number? The building numbers here are just randomly assigned; there's no pattern at all."

Zhou Zhiqiang handed Chen Li an address slip of paper. Chen Li took it and glanced at it, wondering what was going on, but immediately pointed and said, "It's over there. Go forty meters ahead on this road, turn left, then go to the end and turn right again. That's it."

This seems to be Uncle Yu's house, Section Chief, you and Uncle Yu...

Zhou Zhiqiang nodded and said, "Let's have a meal."

Upon hearing this, Chen Li smiled and said, "That's great. My dad also said he'll go to Uncle Yu's house later to have some fun with him."

"Section Chief, Yuting, you two go ahead, I need to go buy some things too."

After saying goodbye, Chen Li walked out of the residential area.

Following the directions given by Chen Li, Zhou Zhiqiang and his wife quickly found the Yu family's home.

After knocking, a voice came from inside very quickly, and a little boy, about four or five years old, opened the door.

Who are you?

Before the question was finished, the little boy ran into the house, shouting as he ran, "Mommy, there are people I don't know!"

"Zhiqiang, Yuting, is that you?"

Yu Zhongguo quickly arrived at the door and saw that it was indeed his son, daughter-in-law, and eldest grandson outside. Overjoyed, he grinned and said, "Quickly, come in, don't let my grandson get cold."

After welcoming the two into the house, Yu Zhongguo said to Guo Yuting, "Yuting, let me hug Bocai. He likes me, his grandpa."

"Row."

Guo Yuting smiled and agreed, then handed the child over.

After holding the baby, Yu Zhongguo laughed happily. Then he called to the kitchen, "Mengjie, don't cook yet. Make some tea and bring it over, along with some fruit and snacks."

　Third update
　　Asking for a monthly ticket!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)