The Fiery Era: Becoming an Industrial Giant

Chapter 146 Following His Path [Please Subscribe]

The financial issue is something Zhou Zhiqiang must address, as it relates to the subsequent factory expansion.

Moreover, the biggest expense for the factory is wages. The average wage for all factory workers is 39 yuan, and the fixed monthly expenditure is nearly 40,000 yuan.

Aside from that, there are only logistics supplies and factory material purchases; there aren't many other expenses.

Zhou Zhiqiang set the amount neither too high nor too low, just right between daily expenses and large expenditures.

After learning about this, Secretary Li shook his head and said nothing.

He knew what his superiors meant: to "protect" Zhou Zhiqiang and keep an eye on the Second Machine Tool Plant to prevent any trouble.

It wasn't really about making him the factory manager; besides, Li Younian knew he didn't have the ability.

He only needs to manage files, discipline, ideology, and personnel. If he were to manage other aspects of production, the factory would run into problems.

After arranging the factory's finances and production, Zhou Zhiqiang plunged into the research and development of high-precision coordinate boring machines.

He will be going to Henan Province soon to finalize the research and development direction and technical theory with the research institute there, so he needs to summarize and organize the technical principles first.

Zhou Zhiqiang solved the biggest challenge of exploring and identifying the technical direction, making the subsequent research and development experiments much simpler.

The news that the factory had money gradually spread, and this news seemed to stabilize production.

This will help stabilize the production atmosphere in the factory.

Although Zhou Zhiqiang spends his days in the office drawing and organizing technical drawings and principles, he also takes time to visit the factory.

Every three days, I would visit the workshop and chat with the workers for half an hour or an hour.

This way, their production wouldn't be disrupted, and the factory manager wouldn't be away from frontline production for too long.

Moreover, the news that he was an eighth-grade worker gradually spread, so Zhou Zhiqiang also showed off his skills.

In the past, at Dafeng Agricultural Machinery Equipment Factory, Zhou Zhiqiang's words carried more weight than those of the workshop director, all because of his top-level technical skills.

His hand was as steady as a ruler; he could carve exactly how many lines he wanted.

To gain the workers' respect, you must surpass them in their areas of expertise; only then will they be convinced.

Zhou Zhiqiang can do it; he's skilled in both fitter and lathe work, and his hands are incredibly steady.

After processing a high-precision part in the workshop, the other workers measured it with calipers and found it to be exactly the same.

This immediately shocked all the workers who were watching. Some of them knew that Deputy Factory Director Zhou was a Level 5 Engineer, but engineers were engaged in scientific research and process engineering, while they, the workers, were engaged in processing technology.

I never expected the factory manager to have such a skill; the error of the parts he produced was even smaller than that of the most skilled level eight worker in their workshop.

Based on this skill alone, many senior workers admire Zhou Zhiqiang; there's no doubt about it, senior workers can't be arrogant in front of Zhou Zhiqiang.

He held the position of deputy factory director, but he didn't detach himself from the front lines; this is what it means for both the upper and lower levels to take charge.

Once he develops the factory and leads the workers to a better life, he will have almost absolute authority in the factory.

However, the most urgent task is to develop and manufacture a high-precision coordinate boring machine. Without results, all talk is in vain.

Now that Zhou Zhiqiang is back home, he spends all his time drawing up parts blueprints. Sometimes he just creates a framework, marks the data, and then dumps it all on the technical department for them to refine.

This will save Zhou Zhiqiang at least two-thirds of his time; he only needs to do one final check.

Zhou Zhiqiang's improved physical fitness is not only reflected in his strength, but also in his mental abilities. Mental calculation and photographic memory are now a piece of cake for him.

A quick glance is enough to tell whether a component drawing is up to standard or not.

Sunday.

The Zhou Zhiqiang family of three rarely gets to go out for a stroll in the park.

There was no river or danger nearby, so Zhou Zhiqiang let his son run around freely in the vicinity. Anyway, he could keep his son out of his sight and he could catch up with him at any time if anything happened.

His son was practicing running over there, while he and Guo Yuting sat and rested on the side, enjoying this rare moment of relaxation.

However, after Zhou Zhiqiang told Guo Yuting that he was going to Henan Province on a business trip for a while, Guo Yuting's face immediately fell.

He said to Zhou Zhiqiang with great displeasure, "Why do I have to go on a business trip again? You were away on business trips for more than half a year last year, and you didn't stay at home for very long."

"This trip will be short; I'll stay in Henan Province for a maximum of half a month."

Zhou Zhiqiang comforted him, saying, "It's work, there's no way around it, someone always has to do it."

Now that I have this ability, I can't just let it go to waste.

When Zhou Zhiqiang first arrived, he also had a "live and let live" mentality, thinking that based on his understanding of the future, things would definitely not be bad.

But this era is so inspiring and motivating, especially seeing so many people around us working hard for development and contributing their share.

Zhou Zhiqiang sometimes wants to rest, but he feels that being lazy is a bad thing. He has to do something for the country's development and strengthening.

In particular, he met with a leader who took his walking stick and patted him on the shoulder, saying, "Comrade Zhiqiang, the future of national construction depends on your generation." He worked so hard not because others forced him, but because Zhou Zhiqiang wanted to do something himself.

"Don't worry, Yuting, I'll spend a lot of time with you in the future. We'll live to be over ninety years old, so we can be together for seventy years."

Zhou Zhiqiang paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "That's more than 25,000 days. We've only been gone for 15 days. There's still plenty of time ahead."

Fifteen is indeed a huge difference compared to twenty-five thousand, but after Guo Yuting did the math in her head, she felt it really wasn't much.

"What you said is right, isn't it? How can you be so good at talking? I was fooled by you without even realizing it."

But Guo Yuting quickly realized what was happening and angrily pinched Zhou Zhiqiang.

Zhou Zhiqiang laughed and said that he wouldn't be so easy to fool anymore; his silly wife from before was much easier to fool.

The couple played with their son in the park for a while, but Zhou Bocai quickly ran out of energy and returned to his parents' side sleepily, wanting to rest.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Zhiqiang smiled, picked up his son, and prepared to go home for dinner.

They came to a park near Nanluoguxiang, and it wouldn't take long to walk back, only about ten minutes.

As Zhou Zhiqiang and Guo Yuting hurried home, they discussed what to eat for lunch.

Before long, Guo Yuting ordered a few of her favorite dishes and told Zhou Zhiqiang to hurry back and cook them.

However, as the two were hurrying home, a disturbance suddenly broke out on the other side of the street.

Zhou Zhiqiang was tall and had sharp eyes, so he quickly saw that it was a chase, and the shouts caused by someone running around made people on the side of the road scatter.

"Yuting, hold the child and move away a bit."

Zhou Zhiqiang noticed that the two people being chased didn't seem to have guns, but were just brandishing knives, so he handed his son to Guo Yuting and told her to stay back a bit.

"Zhiqiang, what are you doing? Let's not get involved in this."

"If you see someone you know, you should stay away from them."

It turned out to be an acquaintance. Zhou Zhiqiang had originally planned to hide in a corner with his wife, but then he saw that the policeman chasing them was Chen Weiguo.

He had a good relationship with the Chen family, and since he had the ability to help, it wouldn't be right not to lend a hand, so Zhou Zhiqiang decided to lend a hand.

And there were only three of them, and they didn't have guns.
After telling his wife to go to the corner, Zhou Zhiqiang seized the opportunity, rushed over, and kicked someone directly in the back.

Zhou Zhiqiang felt that his kick had broken several bones, but he couldn't care less at the moment. After landing and regaining his footing, he threw another punch at someone's face.

Click!
The man who was hit squarely by Zhou Zhiqiang had his nose shattered, and the intense pain caused him to collapse to the ground unconscious.

"I'm so stupid."

Bang!
The last man angrily grabbed a knife and tried to rush forward to confront Zhou Zhiqiang, but Zhou Zhiqiang kicked him in the stomach with such force that it felt like he had been gored by a bull.

He flew backward and landed hard on his butt, then clutched his stomach and convulsed in pain.

From the moment Zhou Zhiqiang jumped out and kicked one person to the moment he knocked down the last person, it took less than forty seconds. All three people being chased by the police were already lying on the ground, unable to get up.

"Zhiqiang!?"

Chen Weiguo ran up breathlessly and saw that the person who had helped them was an acquaintance. He immediately widened his eyes and asked, "What are you doing here?"

Just as the other police officers were about to surround them, Chen Weiguo quickly waved his hand and said, "This is my friend, one of our own. Go check on those three kidnappers."

“My home is nearby, and the route you took to chase the thief was the same route I took home. If I hadn’t seen you, I would probably still be hiding in a corner of the street right now.”

Zhou Zhiqiang explained to Chen Weiguo, then gestured with his chin and asked, "Is there anything else? Is this serious?"

"What's so serious? You could kill them all and it wouldn't matter. They're just a few kidnappers. If there weren't so many people around, I would have just opened fire."

Those bastards always run towards crowded places; I was genuinely worried they might hurt someone.

After spitting out a mouthful of spittle, Chen Weiguo muttered some curses. Then, noticing Guo Yuting and Zhou Bocai on the street, he quickly stopped talking and said, "Your sister-in-law and nephew are here too. You should go back first. I'll handle this."

By the way, where do you live? I'll come find you after I'm done."

"No. 63 Nanluoguxiang. If you arrive before noon, my family can treat you to a meal."

Zhou Zhiqiang said, "Then we'll go back first and wait for you at home."

"Okay, go back now. Thank you so much this time."

After letting Zhou Zhiqiang leave first, Chen Weiguo turned to his men and said, "Cuff them all and take them back."

"Captain, don't take them back yet. I have a feeling they're about to die."

One of the policemen, after checking several people, reported to Chen Weiguo with a distressed expression: "Only one is still barely breathing, the other two are taking in air but not exhaling. Captain, what should we do?"

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(End of this chapter)