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

After hearing the appointment, Zhou Weiguo looked at Chief Engineer Song in astonishment: "Uncle Song, does the factory have a cleaning department?"

Chief Engineer Song looked equally bewildered and shook his head, replying, "There's only a cleaning team, not a cleaning department."

Zhou Weiguo couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing.

"Director Wang is too ruthless. Giving Yang Weimin a fictitious section chief title is worse than just making him a janitor. A janitor's section chief? More like a toilet supervisor!"

Chief Engineer Song, forcing a smile, walked over: "Alright, the show's over. Looks like Director Wang isn't in the mood for a feast today, so we'll be leaving now. Section Chief Zhou, keep up the good work!"

After seeing off the ministers and Elder Chen, Zhou Weiguo returned to the technical department and saw Chief Engineer Song smoking, which was unusual for him. He joked, "Uncle Song, why aren't you happy now that you've become an official?"

"Go away! Stop teasing me. If I wanted to be an official, why would I come to a steel mill? I hate this kind of nonsense. I just want to focus on my technical work; managing production is too much trouble."

Just then, Li Huaide's voice came from the doorway: "Chief Engineer Song, don't worry. I just saw Director Wang off. He asked me to tell you that you can temporarily fill in for two days, and he'll find a suitable person to transfer over to take charge of production as soon as he gets back."

Chief Engineer Song then smiled: "That's good! I'm just not cut out to be an official; I'm better suited to technical work."

Seeing this, Li Huaide suggested, "Come on, come on, we haven't eaten yet. I'll treat you two to a good meal."

Zhou Weiguo and Uncle Song had been busy for a long time and were starving, so they nodded in agreement.

Li Huaide led the two men to the drivers' quarters in a hurry, picked up a driver, and took them straight to the state-run restaurant.

After taking his seat, he waved his hand and ordered eight main dishes in one go, along with two bottles of Moutai.

The aroma of the food and wine filled the air, and the three of them began to raise their glasses and drink. As they clinked glasses, the atmosphere gradually became lively.

After a few rounds of drinks, Li Huaide put down his glass and asked cautiously, "For the country, brother, I've been thinking about this. Do you have any unique ideas for the future development of our factory?"

This unexpected question caught Zhou Weiguo off guard. He asked, his face full of confusion, "You're the factory manager! Shouldn't you be asking Chief Engineer Song? You two are the proper factory managers, okay?"

Li Huaide explained with a smile, his eyes full of anticipation: "Isn't it because I value your R&D skills? I was thinking about whether you could find a new project suitable for our steel rolling mill, so that the mill can reach a higher level."

Zhou Weiguo pondered for a moment, then his eyes suddenly lit up, and his tone was filled with undisguised excitement: "You've really hit the nail on the head! The motorcycle project I mentioned to Uncle Song before wasn't just something I said offhand; I've had an idea for a while now!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Uncle Song jumped to his feet, his expression excited: "For the country, are you serious? But since the founding of our country, we've only ever manufactured two types of motorcycles, and even a decent three-wheeled vehicle is rare. Which country's model do you want to copy? I'll see if I can get it for you!"

Zhou Weiguo thought for a moment. How would he know whose design to copy? The Ural M63 model hadn't even been developed yet. He could only laugh helplessly and say, "Uncle Song, why do we have to copy? I just want to develop our own sidecar motorcycle, and the sidecar has to be detachable. Once detached, it becomes a two-wheeled heavy motorcycle, very practical!"

Uncle Song frowned upon hearing this, thinking, "This kid's bragging way too much. Motorcycles can be developed so easily? Oh well, this kid's had a smooth ride since leaving school; it's good that he's stumbled and toned down his arrogance." He said, "Alright then! Weiguo, you provide some blueprints first, and I can give you some advice!"

Zhou Weiguo waved his hand confidently and said, "Why bother with blueprints? Let's just start building it and make changes as we go. That's much more efficient!"

Uncle Song's face turned green upon hearing this, and he couldn't help but curse, "You brat, you can't just brag like that! You think you can just start making it yourself? You're talking nonsense! Don't even mention the steel mill, in the whole of Beijing, in the whole of China, no one dares to say they can make a motorcycle without referencing, learning from, or imitating. What... what... what am I supposed to say to you? You're trying to bite off more than you can chew. You really want to get rich quick? If you have that ability, why are you making motorcycles? You might as well go make giant mushrooms!"

After saying that, Uncle Song got so angry that he downed a glass of wine in one gulp.

Hearing this, Zhou Weiguo understood that Uncle Song was doing it for his own good, and quickly said, "Uncle Song, don't misunderstand. I have my own ideas. I'll try it out first. If it doesn't work, we can find a foreign motorcycle to learn from, what do you say?"

Li Huaide quickly smoothed things over, saying, "That's right, that's right. Weiguo is just trying to help me, isn't he? Besides, it's a good thing for young people to be a bit impetuous. We should give him a platform to try his hand at things; that's the only way to do justice to Weiguo's talent. Don't you think that makes sense?"

.............................

Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu rushed back to the courtyard house without even having lunch.

Yi Zhonghai, looking flustered, rushed straight into the deaf old woman's house.

"Old lady! Old lady!"

The deaf old woman looked at Yi Zhonghai, who was panting and supporting his legs, and shook her head with a sigh, "Zhonghai, you're not young anymore. Why are you still so impulsive? You don't act like a proper old man at all. Tell me slowly."

Yi Zhonghai's face darkened: "What time is it, old lady! Factory Director Yang Weimin has been demoted to head of the cleaning department for serious disciplinary violations!"

"What?!" The deaf old woman jumped to her feet in shock, asking incredulously, "How could a factory director suddenly be demoted to section chief? What exactly did Yang Weimin do?"

Yi Zhonghai hurriedly explained, "A high-ranking leader from the Ministry of Metallurgy came to investigate, asking Director Yang if he was responsible for Sha Zhu's incident, and whether he had asked the police station to release me. He also asked if he was targeting Zhou Weiguo. Then, the whole factory was notified that the matter was settled."

The deaf old woman slumped onto the stool, muttering to herself, "I tricked Yang Weimin out of his position? All I did was teach Sha Zhu a lesson and say a few nice words to Xiao Yi. How did he go from being the factory manager of a big factory to a cleaning foreman? This doesn't make sense; there's definitely something wrong!"

Yi Zhonghai continued, "Oh, right, Sha Zhu got promoted to deputy director of the cafeteria. The most outrageous thing is, Zhou Weiguo actually became the head of the technical department! Grandma, am I dreaming?"

The deaf old woman's eyes widened: "Impossible! Absolutely impossible! Zhou Weiguo is still in university, how could he go straight into a steel rolling mill? There must be something fishy going on!"

Yi Zhonghai grasped the deaf old woman's hand: "Please don't worry about whether he has a problem or not. Tell me what I should do now? Even the factory manager has been reduced to a janitor. Do you think they'll punish me too?"