The Fiery Era: Becoming an Industrial Giant

Chapter 261 They Came to Ask for Help

"Don't run around."

Upon arriving at the supply and marketing cooperative, Zhou Zhiqiang grabbed Zhou Bocai, who was trying to run inside, and then solemnly warned him, "If you two run around, have your mother take you back immediately. There are so many people here; how dare you run around like that?"

After Zhou Zhiqiang said that, Zhou Bocai became more obedient. He hadn't started school yet, so he didn't have many opportunities to go out.

I finally managed to get out of the house, and I don't want to be taken back as soon as I get there.

With only a few days left until Lunar New Year's Eve, this is always the busiest time for the supply and marketing cooperative.

Even though it's lunchtime now, the supply and marketing cooperative is still bustling with people. It will probably be less crowded after 8 o'clock.

However, Zhou Zhiqiang and his group only bought some candy and snacks for the children today.

Now, if their family needs anything, they just go to the special supply store to buy it. This store is specifically set up for the families of high-ranking officials.

There was a long queue in front of the candy counter. Zhou Zhiqiang and his wife each held one of their children and waited for about ten minutes before it was their turn.

After glancing at it a few times, Zhou Zhiqiang said, "Comrade, give me three catties each of those fruit candies and shortbreads from Northeast China."

Zhou Bocai tugged at Zhou Zhiqiang and said, "Dad, I want to eat coffee candy."

"How old are you to be eating coffee candy?"

Although Zhou Zhiqiang had said one sentence, he continued to say to the clerk at the candy counter, "Comrade, give me half a pound of coffee candy as well."

The candy counter clerk glanced at Zhou Zhiqiang, but after Zhou Zhiqiang took out his money, she quickly went to weigh and pack the candy.

It's unusual to buy so much candy at once. Although it's all cheap candy, it's enough for a family to eat for several months.

After buying the candy, Guo Yuting originally wanted to go back as soon as possible, but Zhou Zhiqiang pulled her to the clothing and shoe counter.

Supply and marketing cooperatives also sell clothes and shoes, but they are all ready-made. If they don't have the right size, you can only order them by order or alter them at home.

Zhou Zhiqiang wanted to buy Guo Yuting some clothes, so he secretly took out the cloth coupons before leaving the house.

When Guo Yuting saw that they had come to buy her clothes, she quickly grabbed Zhou Zhiqiang and said, "Zhiqiang, I don't need any new clothes. My old clothes are still wearable."

“Things are things of the past, but you haven’t bought any new clothes in years.”

After Zhou Zhiqiang finished speaking, seeing that Guo Yuting still wanted to say something, he interrupted her and said, "Don't always think about buying new clothes for the children. Old clothes can be altered and worn. Don't always think about buying them new clothes. It's not good for their future growth."

Listen to me, that's it.

"Okay then."

After hearing his last words, Guo Yuting stopped arguing. Zhou Zhiqiang was usually too busy to care about anything, but if he made a decision, Guo Yuting would definitely go along with him.

And Guo Yuting is happy to hear that she's going to get clothes bought for her.

Zhou Zhiqiang came to the counter and said, "Comrade, bring that garment down so we can take a look."

The sales clerk was initially impatient and about to say something, but when she glanced at Zhou Zhiqiang, he looked somewhat familiar. After a few seconds, she remembered him and immediately changed her expression, saying, "Wait a moment, I'll get it right away."

After the coat was taken down, Zhou Zhiqiang had Guo Yuting try it on. She thought it fit well, so he immediately bought it.

After buying the clothes, they didn't need to buy anything else, so they took their two children outside.

After leaving the supply and marketing cooperative, Zhou Zhiqiang said to Guo Yuting, "I may have to reduce the number of times I come out in the future."

Guo Yuting looked around and asked, "What's wrong?"

"The clothes seller seemed to recognize me, probably because of the newspaper from a few days ago."

Zhou Zhiqiang paused for a moment, thought for a moment, and then continued, "I guess quite a few people recognized me. I guess it was because the Minsheng Daily took photos and published a report about me a few days ago."

After a while, once most people have forgotten about it, everything will be fine.

Upon hearing this, Guo Yuting said with dissatisfaction, "How could the newspaper people do this? They just publish your photo like that."

Zhou Zhiqiang said, "They have already been criticized, but they will be fine in a while."

Expelling them is too difficult, but disciplining them is definitely not a problem. Deputy Leader Wu made the call to the newspaper. Some people, for the sake of some news, have already started to deliberately mislead the public, even though they haven't fabricated anything yet.

Their machine tool factory built a welfare residential area for family members, which has truly become the biggest 'hot topic' in Beijing.

Zhou Zhiqiang even considered contacting Director Wang of the First Machine Tool Factory to persuade them to build a welfare community for employees' families.

Now, Jiuzhou Machine Tool Factory is eating meat in front, while No. 1 Machine Tool Factory is drinking soup in the back. Although they didn't eat much meat, they drank plenty of soup.

There are only two factories in China that can manufacture CNC machine tools. The First Machine Tool Factory's profits this year are definitely much higher than in previous years. After producing those 1,100 CNC machine tools next year, the factory will be able to retain at least several million yuan in profits.

Zhou Zhiqiang plans to take some time after the New Year to ask Director Wang.

Director Wang is a cadre who wants to get things done, and Zhou Zhiqiang is sure of that. Otherwise, among the many machine tool factories in China, only Director Wang would voluntarily come to their machine tool factory to learn from their experience.

At the time, Zhou Zhiqiang had no intention of keeping the technology secret. As long as his colleagues from domestic machine tool factories came to his Jiuzhou Machine Tool Factory, Zhou Zhiqiang would definitely teach them.

Unfortunately, only one factory director, Wang Zhijun, came.

------

Early the next morning, Zhou Zhiqiang, his wife, and their two children, along with the families of Zhao Tiandong and Wu Xiaojun, returned to Sanhe Township. They went back every year, but it required taking two buses and being on the right time.

First go to Changping, then take a bus back to Sanhe Commune, which was formerly known as Sanhe Township.

Once you arrive at Sanhe Township, you can only take an oxcart or walk back. Nowadays, public buses can only reach the township and commune as far as they can go. If you want to go to a village, you have to see if it is a village you pass by along the way.

They bought tickets at the station, boarded the bus, and waited for it to depart. It took Zhou Zhiqiang and his group about two hours to arrive at Sanhe Township.

Upon arriving in Sanhe Township, Zhou Zhiqiang was greeted at the station by the production team leader, the Party branch secretary, and Old Village Chief Zhao of Hongqi Village.

As soon as Zhou Zhiqiang and the others got out of the car, several people rushed forward to greet them. Among them, Liu Danian, the village secretary, greeted them immediately, saying, "Director Zhou, you've arrived! The Hongqi Village production brigade and all the villagers warmly welcome you."

Zhou Zhiqiang waved his hand and said with a smile, "Comrade Liu, there's no need for such formalities. I just came back to freeload a meal and soak up some of the festive atmosphere of Hongqi Village's celebration."

In addition to Liu Danian, the village party secretary, Zhao Daguo, the production brigade leader, also came. He is the son of the old village chief Zhao and the father of Zhao Tiandong.

When the production brigade was first formed, we originally wanted to appoint Old Village Chief Zhao as the brigade leader, as he had the highest prestige in the village and was fair in his dealings.

However, Village Chief Zhao was too old to be the head of such a demanding production brigade, so he recommended his son to take on the role.

Over the years, it has indeed left the villagers with no complaints. It is so fair that it doesn't even favor its own family. And there's nothing to be biased about. It's just a village, and every day they think about how to fill their stomachs.

"Then shall I call you Comrade Zhiqiang?"

Zhou Zhiqiang said, "Of course, it's not a given that we should call each other comrades."

Liu Danian also said with a smile, "Comrade Zhou, shall we go back to the village now? We brought an oxcart, so your wife and children can ride on it, which will save them some effort."

At this moment, Zhao Tiandong suddenly interjected, "Brother Zhiqiang, didn't the kids want to see the commune's market? Why don't I stay and show them around? You and the Party Secretary go back to the village first, and after we've walked around for a while, I'll take the kids back."

The Party Secretary can also leave Erniu and Xiaoguo with me; we'll definitely bring the kids back before noon.

"so."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhiqiang realized that his son and nephew wanted to see the rural market, so after getting off the bus, their eyes darted around.

Zhou Zhiqiang was confident that Zhao Tiandong would take care of the child, since Zhao Tiandong's wife had cared for the child since he was two years old, and the two families had known each other for a long time.

Zhao Tiandong also asked for two more people. With three people looking after the children, they definitely wouldn't get lost.

"No need, no need, we can just wander around the market together."

The village party secretary, Liu Danian, quickly said, "It's still early before lunch. It won't take us more than an hour to get back to the village, and we can spend some time browsing the commune market. Let the children wander around if they want; we also want to take a look around."

Zhao Daguo echoed, "That's right, there's no rush to go back now."

Hearing what they all said, Zhou Zhiqiang didn't stand on ceremony anymore. He then had his wife take the children to stroll through the rural market, while he and Liu Danian followed a short distance behind.

Liu Danian seemed to have something to ask of him, and his attitude was too humble, which made Zhou Zhiqiang a little suspicious.

While following behind Zhou Zhiqiang through the market, Liu Danian kept reporting on their production team's achievements this year.

To be honest, there was no need to report this to Zhou Zhiqiang, since he wasn't a leader of the Sanhe Commune.

But Liu Danian treated him the same way he would a leader.

"Director Zhou, although this year is a bumper harvest and every household has received a good amount of grain, I, as the village party secretary, sometimes feel it's still not enough."

After speaking ingratiatingly with Zhou Zhiqiang for a while, Liu Danian finally couldn't help but say, "Next year I want to lead the villagers to harvest even more, but I only went to elementary school and don't know how to arrange farm work or harvest grain."
As for generating extra revenue, I, Lao Liu, know absolutely nothing; but I do know that Director Zhou, you're a remarkable person. One simple idea from you has fed the whole village... I feel that if we listen to you, we'll definitely reap even greater rewards next year.”

"Hey, Comrade Danian, you're flattering me."

Zhou Zhiqiang couldn't help but laugh and said, "I'm in the industrial sector, not the agricultural sector. If my ideas don't work, you'll all blame me."

"No, definitely not."

Liu Danian shook his head vigorously and said, "Comrade Zhiqiang, just the mushroom seeds and nutrients you gave us are enough to help not only our village, but also several communes nearby. They are all grateful to you and your factory."

"Seeking your help is my personal idea. I, as the village party secretary, am incompetent, and among those who know, you are the smartest. Comrade Zhiqiang, they don't even know about this yet."

“I understand you, Comrade Danian. Having taken on this responsibility, who wouldn't want to lead their comrades to a better life? I also think about leading all the factory workers and their families to a better life every day.”

After Zhou Zhiqiang finished speaking, he thought for a moment and then continued, "Comrade Danian, after thinking about it, I feel that in rural areas nowadays, there is no other way to live a good life except through hard work."

There are only a few ways to improve yields: good fertilizer and mechanized farming.

One goal is to improve the harvest, and the other is to expand the cultivated area; however, a small production brigade certainly cannot afford agricultural machinery and equipment.

They couldn't even get a permit for diesel fuel; it was only available at the commune level.

As for fertilizer, before the large-scale promotion of chemical fertilizers, the rural harvest was just like that.

"Do you have spare manpower during the off-season? If so, why not try collective farming?"

Zhou Zhiqiang knew very little about agriculture; he could only come up with some solutions from the few future memories he had.

Then, after returning, you should consult with the technical experts at the Ministry of Agriculture to see if their suggestions are suitable for the times; otherwise, if they are useless, then the suggestions will have been wasted.

(End of this chapter)