The Fiery Era: Becoming an Industrial Giant

Don't bother asking about Chapter 270!
After Liu Danian and Zhao Daguo arranged the farming tasks for the village, they...

He then led a few production team members, carrying their village's bamboo mats, bamboo baskets, and other handicrafts, and headed towards the city.

Over the course of two months, the households in Hongqi Village, including some women who did not work in the fields, wove a total of more than one hundred bamboo mats and more than fifty bamboo baskets.

This is quite a lot. Normally, we wouldn't need to weave this much; if we put it on the commune and couldn't sell it, it would be a complete waste of effort.

But now that the machine tool factory is backing them up, they are weaving so hard. Some rural women have a lot of confidence in Jiuzhou Machine Tool Factory, or rather, they have confidence in Zhou Zhiqiang.

Late at night, they weave in the courtyard by the moonlight. It is early spring, and they are not afraid of the cold.

It takes three or four nights to weave a bamboo mat, and two nights are enough for a diligent person.

It had only been a little over two months since the Lunar New Year, and they had already collected so much. This was because the materials they used were very common, and the finished products were not as good as those made in factories.

Therefore, their bamboo mats and baskets are priced relatively cheaply, with bamboo mats costing 50 cents each and bamboo baskets costing 40 cents each.

Even if each item only costs a few cents, Liu Danian can still earn more than seventy yuan from this trip to the city.

Each household received either more than two yuan or as little as nine mao.

Nowadays, a strong laborer in the countryside can only earn about fourteen or fifteen yuan a year by farming in the fields.

If the women in the family can do this kind of work in their spare time, they can add more than ten yuan to their family's income in a year.

Early in the morning, Liu Danian and Zhao Daguo set off in their car.

This journey would take quite a while, but fortunately they started before dawn and walked for more than five hours before finally arriving in Beijing and finding the Jiuzhou Machine Tool Factory.

At the main gate of Jiuzhou Machine Tool Factory, the security guard saw several people driving a car towards the factory gate and quickly stepped forward to stop them, saying, "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"You can't just approach the Jiuzhou Machine Tool Factory. Leave quickly."

"Comrade, we are not just anyone, we are from the Hongqi Village Production Brigade of Sanhe Commune in Changping, and we have a worker-peasant mutual aid agreement with your factory."

Liu Danian quickly replied, then took out a pack of cheap cigarettes he had been saving for a long time, handed one over, and continued, "Your factory director, Mr. Zhou, told our village that he wanted to buy some bamboo handicrafts, so we brought them over today."

In addition to delivering handicrafts to the machine tool factory, Liu Danian and his colleagues also planned to go to the Ministry of Agriculture to ask Technician Song for advice on what to do next with greenhouse cultivation.

Thanks to Zhou Zhiqiang's connections, their village bypassed the commune and county agricultural stations and got direct access to technicians from the Ministry of Agriculture.

If you're looking for someone, you should naturally go to the Ministry of Agriculture. Last time, before Technician Song left, he gave them his address.

"Director Zhou?"

The gate guards were taken aback when they heard this. Upon hearing Zhou Zhiqiang's name, they dared not drive him away at will.

What if it really was Factory Director Zhou who called them?

"Wait a moment, I'll go make a call and ask."

After the security guard finished speaking, he went back to his duty room to make a phone call. They had direct phone numbers to the factory office and the security department.

The news was relayed layer by layer, and soon Zhang Yaoguo found out.

Hearing the name Hongqi Village sound familiar, Zhang Yaoguo took out his notebook and flipped through it, finally finding a record about Hongqi Village.

Zhang Yaoguo then immediately contacted Deputy Director Wu of the logistics department. Since Zhou Zhiqiang was not at the factory, he could directly contact the logistics department about this matter.

Not long after, Zhang Yaoguo and Wu Youcai arrived at the factory gate together.

Upon seeing the two approaching, the security guard at the gate immediately said, "Section Chief Zhang, Director Wu, they're over there. We can't let them in without notifying them."

Zhang Yaoguo used to be a section chief. Although he doesn't hold a position in any department now, he is already a full section chief. Except for Zhou Zhiqiang and Li Younian, everyone else calls him Section Chief Zhang.

Wu Youcai said, "It's alright, I'll take them in now. This is indeed something Director Zhou mentioned. Please open the door."

"Okay, I'll open the door now."

The security guard quickly opened the gate and called to Liu Danian and the others to come in. Seeing that someone had come to pick them up, Liu Danian, Zhao Daguo, and the others hurriedly drove into the factory.

Wu Youcai asked, "Did you bring bamboo mats and bamboo baskets this time? Are there any other items? The factory manager should have told you the prices, five cents and four cents, right?"

Liu Danian nodded quickly and said, "Yes, yes, five cents and four cents, the others will take some time, at least until May or June."

"It's alright, come with us. Let's take inventory and put it into storage first, then I'll take you to get the money."

After Wu Youcai finished speaking, he turned to Zhang Yaoguo and said, "Section Chief Zhang, leave this to me. There's nothing else to do, you can go back now."

"Alright, then I'll trouble you, Director Wu."

After Zhang Yaoguo finished speaking, he then said to Liu Danian and the others, "The factory director is not in the factory right now. He is busy with a project at the branch factory, but he had previously given instructions about the Hongqi Village matter."

"Next time you come, just tell the security guard you're looking for me or Director Wu. My name is Zhang Yaoguo, and I'm Director Zhou's personal assistant."

Liu Danian quickly wrote it down and then said, "I understand, Comrade Zhang. We'll come to you when we come to the machine tool factory in the future."

"Alright, then you can go with Director Wu to deposit the money into the treasury."

After Zhang Yaoguo finished speaking, he went back to continue his work, and Wu Youcai led them towards the warehouse.

Their factory usually gives the workers some things, like towels, shoes, and gloves. There are tons of these in the factory, so it's not unusual for Director Zhou to give the workers bamboo mats and baskets as well.

Anyway, there's always a summer at some point in the year, and this thing will definitely come in handy then.

After counting and storing the items, Wu Youcai told the others to wait at the factory gate while he led Liu Danian and the others to the finance department.

On the way there, Wu Youcai reminded him, "Secretary Liu, Director Tian used to be in charge of liaison with you, but I will be in charge from now on."

I heard from Factory Director Zhou that your village will be sending fresh vegetables in the future? If you have any, please send them directly to our factory. We have a lot of people, and we can never have enough of this."

The main factory has more than 10,000 employees, and they have expanded the canteen by two. Moreover, if the workers work overtime, the kitchen and canteen will also have to work overtime.

Although Wu Youcai, the logistics director, had a lot to manage, he was also under a lot of pressure. If it weren't for the good foundation that Tian Wenguo had left him, which allowed him to directly take over the farmers' mutual aid program, Wu Youcai would have been worried sick just about the extra material needs.

"I understand, leader. We'll definitely send you anything good from our village in the future."

“You can tell the factory what you need, even if it’s just bowls, chopsticks, tables and chairs. It’s much more convenient for our factory to purchase these things than for individuals in your village to do so.”

Liu Danian nodded in agreement, saying, "Yes, leader, you're right."

After receiving the money from the finance department, Liu Danian and Zhao Daguo finally felt at ease, knowing that the village would have another stable source of income.

Furthermore, Liu Danian was also thinking that he could collect bamboo mats and baskets from other villages, earning two cents from each, which would significantly increase their village's income.
Section Chief Feng

Just as Wu Youcai was about to take Liu Danian and Zhao Daguo out, Deputy Factory Director Hou suddenly arrived at the Finance Department.

Seeing that Wu Youcai was accompanied by two people who didn't seem to be from the factory, he called out to them and asked, "Director Wu, who are they? Aren't they from our factory?"

Wu Youcai casually explained, "Deputy Factory Director Hou, they are from Hongqi Village in Changping. It's one of the dozen or so villages under our factory's worker-peasant mutual aid agreement. They've come to deliver some things to our factory."

Deputy Factory Director Hou pressed further, "What was that gift?"

Wu Youcai grumbled inwardly, then continued, "It's just some bamboo mats and bamboo baskets and the like."

"How should we deliver these things? Does our factory need them?"

Before Deputy Factory Director Hou could finish speaking, Wu Youcai interrupted him, saying, "Of course it's necessary. Besides, Deputy Factory Director Hou, Deputy Factory Director Sun and Factory Director Zhou both know about this, so you don't need to ask."

I have some things to take care of, so I won't bother you any longer, Deputy Factory Director Hou.

After saying that, Wu Youcai led Liu Danian and the other man away, completely ignoring Deputy Factory Director Hou's face, which was as black as the bottom of a pot.

He was promoted to the position of logistics director by Director Zhou. In the factory, he listened to Director Zhou first. As for those who did not get along with Zhou Zhiqiang, it was already a favor that Wu Youcai was giving them face.

(End of this chapter)