Reborn in 1985, starting from a machine factory

"Knock knock knock!"

"Second brother, dinner's ready!"

The sound of the bamboo pole poking the partition startled Chen Mo.

He opened his eyes, and the surroundings were brightly lit.

Oops!

I'm late!

Chen Mo grabbed the watch from beside his pillow, and after just one glance, he felt completely deflated.

6:40!

So early?

Chen Mo reluctantly buried his head in the pillow, trying to block out the noise.

The bamboo pole just kept moving without stopping.

"Second brother, dinner's ready!"

"Dinner's ready!"

Chen Fen's voice was mixed in.

"Why!"

Seeing that he couldn't avoid it, Chen Mo slowly crawled out of bed: "Wait a minute, I'm coming down now!"

After a brief pause in the sound, Chen Mo yawned and grabbed some clothes from the side.

downstairs.

Li Guihua prepared breakfast early in the morning. This kind of millet porridge tastes better if it's cooked for a while.

After dropping the bamboo pole, Chen Fen sat obediently at the table, holding an enamel bowl, and drank the porridge while circling the rim of the bowl.

Seeing Chen Mo come down, Chen Fen immediately put down her bowl: "Second Brother, do you think this piece of cloth I picked out looks good?"

Chen Mo rubbed his eyes. A thin red cloth covered the dark gray television.

Half of the character for "happiness" was drawn on the red cloth with needle and thread.

"It looks good." Chen Mo said, "You didn't call me just for this?"

"No!" Li Guihua said, "The Guo Jing I saw yesterday was quite handsome. Third Brother asked you to call him out early this morning."

"She'll watch for a while before going to school."

"We dare not do it, for fear of breaking it."

Chen Fen raised her face, her eyes full of anticipation.

"Um?"

This sentence instantly snapped Chen Mo out of his daze.

"Third brother, you're telling me to call him out so he can continue acting in your TV drama?"

"Yes, yes, second brother, that's exactly what I mean."

"They could watch the movie without any problems before, but if someone made a big fuss, they would show it again."

"I..." Chen Mo was about to speak, but suddenly didn't know what to say.

Li Guihua and Chen Fen knew absolutely nothing about signals or anything like that.

After hesitating for a moment, Chen Mo said, "Third brother, this TV series is different from that one. It airs at fixed times."

"What should I do? I still have to go to school!"

"Couldn't it have been earlier?" Chen Fen asked, her face full of confusion.

"No, it was broadcast on TV."

Chen Fen scratched her head, wanting to ask who the TV station was.

But this doesn't sound quite right; it doesn't seem like a person's name.

Suddenly, Li Guihua tapped on the table: "Third brother, hurry up and eat, then go to school."

Chen Fen was startled and immediately picked up the enamel bowl.

"Second son, you have to help buy groceries this afternoon, and you'll have to stay home all day tomorrow." Li Guihua handed the porridge to Chen Mo.

"Your older brother already told your aunt yesterday, and your aunt will talk to them about the rest."

"Mom, I know. I'll ask for leave this morning." Chen Mo took the bowl of rice. "What groceries do you need to buy?"

"Four are cold, eight are hot, see for yourself!" Li Guihua served herself a bowl of rice.

Chen Mo took a sip of porridge.

...

Four cold dishes and eight hot dishes are the usual practice for family banquets in Northeast China.

There are specific rules regarding whether a dish is served cold or hot. For example, smashed cucumber and cucumber with soybean paste may both contain cucumber, but they are actually two completely different dishes.

Cucumbers are just too precious this season!

Chen Mo pondered this in his mind, pedaling tirelessly, and entered the factory area early.

The others hadn't arrived yet; only Wang Gong and Wang Guojun were there.

After a brief greeting, Chen Mo returned to his workstation.

He pulled out a sheet of paper and carefully wrote down a list of ingredients for the banquet at the top.

This thing needs to be handled more carefully than ordinary documents. If there are typos in a document, you can simply correct them, but if you forget to buy something, you'll be in trouble when you need it tomorrow.

"If you can't find cucumbers, use radishes."

"The pig's head meat is cooked."

"Six pig trotters, the hair must be removed, or you can remove the hair yourself if you don't have any."

"One pork knuckle, buy it from Old Zhang, no coupon required."

"Sichuan peppercorns, chili peppers..."

Chen Mo was writing intently when suddenly a cup of tea was placed on his desk.

He looked up, and Wang Guojun smiled at him: "Engineer Chen, congratulations! You're the first person in our factory to have three articles published."

The other two engineers had also arrived at their workstations. Hearing Wang Guojun speak, they both stood up simultaneously: "Congratulations, Engineer Chen!"

Chen Mo hurriedly stood up, a smile on his face: "Thanks, guys. I was just lucky."

"Engineer Chen, you're too modest!" Wang Guojun didn't even have time to put the teapot down.

"Look how happy Section Chief Sun and the Propaganda Minister were yesterday! They practically worshipped you!"

"That's right! Let's not even talk about them, what about the Beiyang Daily?" another engineer interjected. "The editors still have to reserve a supplement for Engineer Chen!"

"What editor? That's the editor-in-chief!" Wang Guojun said. "Engineer Chen, take us brothers with you when you have time. We don't need the Beiyang Daily, just the factory newspaper will do."

Chen Mo's smile was unnatural. He was used to scheming and suspicion, but this was the first time he had ever encountered flattery.

"Sure, no problem!" Chen Mo said. "If you guys need any help, just let us know."

"We promise not to hide anything."

"Haha, then we'll have to trouble Engineer Chen!" Wang Guojun said, and the others echoed him.

Chen Mo nodded: "Don't mention it being troublesome, we're in the same office!"

"Okay!" Wang Guojun said, returning to his workstation and placing the thermos on the ground.

The office didn't become quiet. Unlike the previous few days, the remaining two engineers were quietly chatting about yesterday's TV series.

Wang Guojun pulled out a book from somewhere and started flipping through it carefully.

Chen Mo noticed this and his heart stirred slightly; these people had finally relaxed a bit.

However, he didn't speak, but instead looked at the manuscript in front of him.

After carefully writing and checking his work, Chen Mo put away his pen.

Normally, Chen Mo wouldn't be asked to do grocery shopping; Li Guihua would be in charge, and Chen's father would do the hard labor.

But today is different. Today, it was Chen Mo who was asked to treat everyone, so this task fell to Chen Mo.

Chen Mo folded the manuscript paper neatly and stuffed it into his work uniform pocket.

Then, he took out a leave application form and carefully wrote the name Chen Mo on it.

...

Secretary Liu's office.

I had just finished getting my leave application signed by Foreman Song when Engineer Wang notified me to come to this office.

Having not figured out what happened with the television yesterday, Chen Mo felt a little nervous as he actually stepped into this place.

Secretary Liu sat behind her desk, and compared to yesterday, there were far fewer documents on it.

Seeing Chen Mo enter, he first pulled out a file from the side: "Engineer Chen, here, sign this!"

Upon closer inspection, Chen Mo saw the words "Application for Transfer to Cadre Position".

The penmanship below is very powerful:

"To the esteemed Personnel Department:..."

Secretary Liu looked up: "I should have had you copy it again, but your handwriting is really not flattering."

"Just sign it, I'll need it tomorrow or the day after."

Chen Mo signed his name; this was the first step in the process of transferring to a cadre position.

"Brother Liu, it looks like we've got this in the bag this time?" Chen Mo asked.

"There wasn't a problem to begin with, you're just being anxious. I went to urge the manager yesterday!"

"Thank you, Brother Liu." Chen Mo smiled. "If there's nothing else, I'll head back now."

"Hmm, there is indeed a small matter!" Secretary Liu put the documents aside.

"As required by higher authorities, we are concerned about the production and living conditions of frontline workers. The factory director plans to set an example by taking the lead and will arrange several home visits in the near future."

"Huh?" Chen Mo looked up. "You mean the factory manager went for a home visit?"

"Yes! The factory manager should be free tomorrow."