The Fiery Era: Becoming an Industrial Giant

Chapter 274 If you don't want to work here anymore, I'll help you retire.

After leaving the ward, Director Ren asked the doctor for more details. After learning about Comrade Li Younian's condition from the surgeon, his expression turned serious.

After pondering for a while with a calm face, Director Ren turned his head and said, "Zhiqiang, Comrade Wenzhou, do not reveal Comrade Younian's health condition today."

Both at the factory and at home, not a single word could be spoken; it had to be kept secret from everyone.

Zhou Zhiqiang nodded and said, "I understand, Director Ren. However, many people probably saw me when I brought Secretary Li to the hospital today."

"If they see it, let them guess. If anyone asks, just say that Comrade Li Younian's surgery went very smoothly."

Director Ren instructed, "Anyway, don't leak any other information."

"Row."

"He certainly won't say much, Director Ren."

Zhou Zhiqiang and Liu Wenzhou spoke one after the other.

Logically speaking, a secretary's illness is not a particularly important matter. Zhou Zhiqiang knew what Director Ren was planning to do. However, Liu Wenzhou only found out today that Li Younian planned to recommend Zhou Zhiqiang as a factory party official.

Moreover, Director Ren's instructions surprised Liu Wenzhou.

However, Director Ren didn't elaborate on this matter. Afterwards, he and Zhou Zhiqiang's group went to a secluded spot outside the hospital and inquired about other things.

"Zhiqiang, how's the project at the factory going?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhiqiang said, "Everything is going smoothly. We will definitely be able to obtain the final operational test data of the composite machining CNC machine tool before mid-September."

The supporting branch factory isn't very cooperative; the factory director and the party secretary don't get along, and Deputy Factory Director Liu even had to deal with it once. I plan to hold a meeting with them.”

"Multi-functional CNC machine tools are definitely better than single-function CNC machine tools, but it's unclear whether they'll sell well at the Canton Fair."
After all, our previous foreign trade partners were mainly Western-owned companies, and it seems like we didn't have many international purchasing orders. I wonder if they might have some concerns this time. Oh, by the way, the people visiting from France seemed very interested in our country's CNC machine tools.

This country is a bit strange. Logically, it should be closer to Western countries, but the new leaders are showing endless goodwill towards China.

After the diplomatic visit, they not only said nothing, but also acknowledged that they are the only true China, so it's estimated that establishing diplomatic relations is imminent.

When it comes time to discuss foreign trade with a Western country with which we have established diplomatic relations, it will be very easy. Moreover, Zhou Zhiqiang also introduced the concept of a composite machining center to the French foreign affairs personnel.

The foreign affairs personnel who visited their factory at the time were also very interested in this and immediately expressed that they would continue to pay attention to it.

France has done quite well in heavy industry, but it is not in the top tier in CNC machine tools.

Furthermore, France doesn't have a particularly strong spirit of independent research and development, nor does it have the idea that it's better to produce what others have.

If they can buy it, they will use it; once they buy it, it becomes their own. They will invest in research and development themselves. They will weigh the time and investment costs, and if the costs are too high, they will give up.

"I'm never worried about the project's research and development. Just follow your plan, and report to the ministry if you need anything."

After saying this, Director Ren changed the subject and continued, "Whoever is at fault should be dealt with accordingly. Production absolutely cannot be delayed."

"That's what I think too. I've already notified all the branch factory's Party committees to come to the main factory for a meeting tomorrow. If they say they won't change, then we'll deal with them."

Director Ren nodded and said, "You also need to familiarize yourself with personnel and ideological work as soon as possible. I won't say anything more. After Vice Leader Wu finishes his meeting, I will call him to discuss today's matters."

You go home first, I'll call you in the next couple of days.

Zhou Zhiqiang said, "Alright, I'll head back to the factory now, Director Ren."

"Then go ahead, but remember to get some rest."

Ren Licheng's original intention was to let Zhou Zhiqiang go home and rest, not to have him return to the factory to continue working.

However, since Zhou Zhiqiang had already spoken, Ren Licheng couldn't say anything like "go back and rest."

After Director Ren left, Zhou Zhiqiang turned to Liu Wenzhou and asked, "Comrade Wenzhou, are you coming back to the factory with me, or going home to rest?"

"Let's go back to the factory; I have a ton of things to do."

Liu Wenzhou immediately said, "How can the factory director go back to work while he rests at home?"

Besides, there was indeed a lot of work to be done at the factory. He hadn't been there for more than half a month, and his assigned tasks had been handed over to Secretary Li.

It's estimated that the tasks of the factory director and deputy director, plus the things the secretary himself was supposed to handle, suddenly kept their old secretary very busy.

Liu Wenzhou felt quite embarrassed when he thought about it, and thought to himself that he would buy some gifts and visit Secretary Li alone tomorrow or the day after.

If the responsibility for Secretary Li's hospitalization and surgery were divided into three parts, Liu Wenzhou felt that he and Director Zhou could each take one-third of the responsibility.

She shirked her responsibilities, leaving the old man exhausted.

After returning to the factory, Zhou Zhiqiang continued to handle the accumulated affairs. He also instructed Zhang Yaoguo to make a trip to the department where he had previously reported to Party officials the next day.

Before Secretary Li returns, all work can be transferred to the factory director's office, where he will temporarily take over the duties of the secretary.

Zhou Zhiqiang felt that he would be even busier in the future. Fortunately, there wasn't much to do on the integrated CNC system side. There were people helping him with the design and experimentation, so he didn't need to stay at the branch factory every day.

They can check on the progress every day, or every other day. If they encounter difficulties, Zhou Zhiqiang will lead the team to study them.

Zhou Zhiqiang was busy until nearly 11 p.m. before he asked his driver to take him home.

The children in the house were all asleep, and there was no sound from his mother-in-law's room. Only his and Guo Yuting's room had a light still on.

Guo Yuting was worried that Zhou Zhiqiang would come back too late and the yard would be too dark, so she placed the kerosene lamp by the window as a way to guide Zhou Zhiqiang when he came back late.

When Zhou Zhiqiang pushed open the door, Guo Yuting, who was a light sleeper, was also awakened.

"Zhiqiang?"

"Yes, it's me. I'll wash my face and come back to sleep. You can continue sleeping."

Zhou Zhiqiang replied, then took a towel that had been prepared in advance and wiped his face and body, otherwise, after a busy day, he wouldn't be able to go to bed to rest because he was covered in dust.

After Zhou Zhiqiang lay down on the bed, Guo Yuting suddenly asked, "Why did you sigh just now?"

"You noticed that too? Yuting, you're getting more and more observant." Zhou Zhiqiang was surprised for a moment, then remembered and continued, "By the way, if you're free after get off work tomorrow, go to ward 304 at the 216 Hospital and visit our factory's Party Secretary, Li Younian."

Bring some gifts, and buy plenty of nutritional supplements; I took him to the hospital for surgery today, and he just woke up this afternoon.”

Upon hearing this, Guo Yuting asked in surprise, "What? You sent it in?"

"Don't get me wrong, he fell ill and I helped take him to the hospital. I didn't call him. You're quite the conjecturer. Do you think your man is some kind of violent maniac?"

After Zhou Zhiqiang chuckled, he continued, "We've worked together for over five years, and I don't have any money on me today. There's bound to be a lot of work to do at the factory tomorrow."

You have more free time after get off work than I do, could you run an errand for me?

Guo Yuting breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Okay, I'll try to find someone else to help us with the tickets tomorrow, otherwise we might not be able to buy many leftover tickets."

But what was the reason he was hospitalized?

"I'm exhausted. My health wasn't great during a previous medical checkup, and the work intensity at our machine tool factory is high."

Before Zhou Zhiqiang could finish speaking, Guo Yuting said anxiously, "Zhiqiang, even your factory's Party Secretary has collapsed from exhaustion. You can't let anything happen to you."

"Don't worry, you've seen all my medical reports, haven't you? I've had so many tests done. If you search all over the country, you probably won't find anyone healthier than me."

If Hei's health is not good, he will be the first to apply for rest; but the reason he is busy every day is because he has 'strong' protection.

"Get some rest. Remember to visit them tomorrow and tell them I'm very busy at the factory and can't spare much time."

"Okay, I understand. Don't worry."

------

The next day.

Early in the morning, the Jiuzhou Machine Tool Plant was bustling with activity and production.

Work hard this year, and you'll get a bonus at the end of the year – a shared apartment building.

The first batch of workers have already moved into the dormitory-style apartment buildings assigned to them. Although each building is only 30 square meters, they can still be partitioned into a small living room and two bedrooms.

Moreover, the corridors are wide enough, and the public toilets and restrooms are also large enough.

When the tenement buildings were being built, Zhou Zhiqiang instructed that they were all for his workers and that they should be made comfortable.

Don't build cramped and crowded houses just to have a little more space, making it uncomfortable for the workers to live in.

Spurred by the benefits of the tenement buildings, the workers are now highly motivated on their own, without needing any mobilization from the propaganda department.

After arriving at the factory early in the morning, Zhou Zhiqiang began to handle factory affairs.

After working for a while, Zhou Zhiqiang asked Zhang Yaoguo to invite Director Li and Deputy Director Bai of the trade union over.

When they arrived, Zhou Zhiqiang put down his work and greeted them, saying, "Director Li, Deputy Director Bai, sit down and let's talk."

After Zhang Yaoguo brought the tea and left the office, Zhou Zhiqiang spoke up, "Director Li, Deputy Director Bai, you should have heard about Secretary Li's hospitalization yesterday. He was just too tired, which is also related to the high-intensity work at our factory."
I was thinking that if even Secretary Li was like this, then there must be many workers in the factory who might also have accumulated illnesses. So I was thinking of having the labor union take the lead in conducting a medical check-up and screening at the factory.

"We'll start by arranging for older workers who usually work a lot of overtime to get a medical check-up. If their health isn't good, our factory can arrange for them to take a break as appropriate."
However, there are too many people in the factory, and we can't have all the workers undergo medical checkups at once. So, your union needs to take the lead, come up with a plan, and then implement it in the factory.

Upon hearing this, Director Li immediately agreed, saying, "That's a good thing, I completely agree."

Their union is there to work for the benefit of workers; if you disagree with this, you're really out of your mind.

"Even for the factory manager, a large-scale medical checkup would definitely cost a lot of money."

"The factory still has a considerable surplus in its finances. We'll start by drawing from the factory's accounts, and by around November of this year, our factory will have some unplanned income."

After thinking for a moment, Zhou Zhiqiang continued, "Let's start with workers over forty years old. How many people will be in the first batch? Please come up with a plan and submit it to me."

After I finished reading it, I tried it out at the factory. And while Secretary Li is hospitalized, if you have any issues, please report directly to me.

"Okay, factory manager, we'll arrange for someone to conduct the research when we get back, and we'll submit the plan to you as soon as it's ready."

Director Li quickly replied that he had no objection to reporting this matter to Zhou Zhiqiang.

Secretary Li used to often tell them, "Ask Comrade Zhiqiang for his opinion on this matter."

Now that the Party Secretary is gone, it's only natural to listen to the factory director.

"That's the matter. By the way, if you don't have enough manpower, then hand over the list of female workers to the Women's Federation and let them participate as well."

After hearing this, Director Li nodded and said, "I understand, Factory Director."

After discussing some other matters with Director Li and Deputy Director Bai, Zhou Zhiqiang glanced at his watch and said to them, "Alright. I have another meeting to attend to, so I won't take up any more of your time."

"Then we'll take our leave now, factory manager."

Upon hearing this, Director Li and Deputy Director Bai also got up to say goodbye and quickly left Zhou Zhiqiang's office.

After seeing the two off, Zhou Zhiqiang saw that it was only a few minutes before the meeting of the branch factory's Party Committee, so he got up and walked towards the meeting room.

Upon arriving at the conference room, Zhou Zhiqiang immediately sensed something was off. Judging from the expressions of the others, it seemed as if an argument had taken place before his arrival.

"What's wrong with you?"

After Zhou Zhiqiang sat down, he didn't tolerate them and directly reprimanded them: "The supporting branch factory has only been built for a few days, and you've already submitted two production plans to me."

"Do you still want to work here? If you don't, just say so, and I'll help you submit your retirement application. Don't just sit there doing nothing."

"The main factory applied for nearly 20 million yuan from the State Planning Commission, not for you to fight for power and profit. Anyone who obstructs production will be dealt with by me first!"

Zhou Zhiqiang's words were extremely impolite; he practically called out everyone by name and started cursing.

(End of this chapter)