I painted an aircraft carrier on the courtyard house for Dongda University.

Zhou Weiguo looked up and saw Wang Jianguo leaning out of the window of the gatehouse, his face full of excitement.

He jogged out, grabbed Zhou Weiguo, and headed towards the security office: "Where have you been these past few months? The factory's practically in chaos! Without you, I don't know what to do!"

Upon entering the security office, Wang Jianguo didn't even wait for him to speak before immediately launching into machine gun mode.

"The factory has completely changed in the last few months. Only your four workshops are still relatively normal; I hardly recognize the rest of the place. Take Lao Li, for example. He was suspended from his post and sent home by the new guy surnamed Liu under some pretext. Chief Engineer Song invited me for drinks twice, saying he had no interest in working here and applied for a transfer. This guy surnamed Liu doesn't focus on production or discipline; all he does is hold meetings, discussions, and criticism sessions all day long. He'll say this atmosphere is bad one minute and talk about that advanced ideology the next. The most outrageous thing is that the Ministry of Metallurgical Industry praised our factory for doubling its output the other day, saying it set a good example for the industrial system. I just don't understand; those workshops in the factory spend two hours a day in meetings, how could their output be higher than before? That's nonsense!" Wang Jianguo rattled off a whole bunch of things, his face full of dissatisfaction.

Zhou Weiguo's face darkened: "Is there anything else?"

Wang Jianguo took a sip of tea and continued, "Of course! Right after you left, the higher-ups ordered six more workshops to be built for your factory, saying they'd arrange it when you returned. But after that Liu guy took power, he just transferred all those workshops away and applied for a large batch of new machine tools, but nothing's happened yet. And then there's the oxygen top-blown converter. They'd already built three furnaces, and a while ago there was a sudden, loud bang. That Liu guy just said there was a problem with the converter and had the area cordoned off. But my men saw several people covered in white sheets being carried out of the workshop; I reckon it was most likely a furnace explosion!"

Zhou Weiguo's face instantly turned extremely ugly. The oxygen top-blown converter was a mature technology researched by Natasha and her team, and under normal circumstances, it should never have any problems. The only possibility was human error.

"Is there anything else?"

"Yes, there are plenty. Even the best canteen, the No. 2 one, isn't good anymore. Starting about two weeks ago, the food quality has plummeted. Chef Wu, who used to be in charge of the kitchen, is gone, replaced by a fat guy. Your colleagues in the workshop have complained a lot about this, and the deputy director of logistics, surnamed Liu, who was promoted, is still very arrogant, saying that the people in your workshop are just freeloaders and that they should be grateful to have anything to eat. By the way, all the people who were temporarily transferred to your workshop have been pulled back to their original workshops by the steel rolling mill. The security department has also been through a lot. Except for my team, all the other staff have been transferred. Now we are only responsible for guarding the main gate and patrolling your workshop. I, as the head of the security department, am not as good as my team leader."

Zhou Weiguo's eyes narrowed: "Can someone surnamed Liu interfere in matters of the Security Department?"

Wang Jianguo sighed helplessly: "Yes, it was an order directly from the Municipal Bureau. If it weren't for my special mission to protect your four workshops, I might have been transferred as well."

Zhou Weiguo suddenly laughed, a laugh tinged with sarcasm and amusement.

Seeing this, Wang Jianguo said somewhat uneasily, "Weiguo, don't get agitated. There are definitely a lot of problems here. I reported this to Elder Qin before, and he didn't say much, just told me to protect your four workshops and not to interfere in anything else. This matter definitely involves many high-ranking figures, so..."

Zhou Weiguo fell into deep thought, recalling the scene when he met Elder Qin and Elder Long that day, but he couldn't make sense of it: "Interesting, very interesting! I want to see who has such great abilities? Could it really be related to that Wu fellow?"

Wang Jianguo didn't reply, but just shook his head helplessly.

"Alright, Lao Wang, don't worry about it. I'll go back to the workshop to check the situation first, and we'll talk about the rest later." After saying that, Zhou Weiguo got up and rode his motorcycle towards the workshop.

Upon arriving at the workshop entrance, Zhou Weiguo was once again astonished. There were no fewer than 20 guards standing watch at the gate, something unimaginable before, as the main gate was usually guarded by only three to five armed men.

When Colonel Zhang saw Zhou Weiguo, he immediately greeted him with a smile and patted him on the shoulder: "You're finally back! Go and comfort your men; they've suffered quite a bit of injustice lately."

Zhou Weiguo, without bothering with pleasantries, strode into the workshop. As soon as he entered, people spotted him, and excited shouts erupted: "Master's back! Master's back!"

A crowd gathered around, and Zhang Heng finally managed to squeeze through the throng to Zhou Weiguo, excitedly exclaiming, "Master, you're finally back!"

Zhou Weiguo announced loudly, "I'm back! Don't worry, everyone, I'll handle everything. Just focus on your work, leave the rest to me!"

Upon hearing this, everyone smiled with relief and replied in unison, "Yes, Master!"

After everyone dispersed and returned to their work stations, Zhou Weiguo gestured for Zhang Heng to follow him into his small office. As soon as they entered, Zhou Weiguo told Zhang Heng to close the door: "Alright, tell me the details."

Zhang Heng immediately reported, "Master, the multi-functional jeep you had us research before you left has been assembled and undergone simple testing; its performance is quite good. The heavy-duty truck is also mostly complete, except for the engine, which still has some issues. The engine we built according to your blueprints isn't powerful enough. However, we discovered the problem was with the cylinder a couple of days ago. Give us some time, and we'll definitely be able to fix it!"

Zhou Weiguo waved his hand: "I believe you. You've suffered these past few months. Don't worry, I will definitely get justice for you!"

Zhang Heng scratched his head: "Master, it's really nothing, just that the food is a bit bad, and the supply of parts from the steel rolling mill is a bit slow. By the way, Senior Brother and Second Senior Brother have been transferred back to the steel rolling mill workshop. We argued with the people at the steel rolling mill, but they said that Senior Brother and Second Senior Brother were originally from the steel rolling mill and had their own tasks, and the transfer was only temporary."

"Does that mean all the people seconded to the steel rolling mill have been transferred away?"

"Yes, Master, but the people transferred from other ministries haven't been moved."

Then, as if remembering something, Zhou Weiguo asked, "Your wages have always been paid by the steel rolling mill. Have they been normal these past few months?"

"It's normal, don't worry, sir."

Just then, the phone in the small office rang. Zhou Weiguo answered the phone: "Hello, this is Zhou Weiguo."

Qin Lao's familiar voice came from the other end of the phone: "You're at the factory, kid? How's it going? Did you throw a tantrum?"

Zhou Weiguo's eyes narrowed. He gestured for Zhang Heng to leave and closed the door, then said, "Old Qin, what exactly happened? I've only been gone for two or three months, and the factory is almost unrecognizable!"

Old Qin laughed heartily: "For the sake of the country, don't overthink it, this has nothing to do with you. It involves some high-level matters, some 'tigers' trying to cause trouble, so we'll take this opportunity to wipe them out in one fell swoop, killing two birds with one stone."

P.S.: Please urge me to update more and give me good reviews. Thank you!