Courtyard Houses: The Great Masters of a Nation Hidden Within

Gao Jianguo began assigning tasks one by one.

He first approached Sister Fang and Ronghua: "Sister Fang, Ronghua, how far have you progressed with the testing of that protective tube material?"

Sister Fang ran through it in her mind: "It'll be quick, there shouldn't be any major problems finishing up today."

"How are the data from the completed tests? Is the temperature stable?"

"It's quite stable; the temperature is within the range we marked."

Gao Jianguo felt relieved: "That's good. You two keep testing and try to finish it today."

"OK."

Gao Jianguo turned to Liang Jianguo and Yi Zhonghai and said, "Engineer Liang, Master Yi, you two lend a hand."

Next Monday, Sister Fang will hand over the protective tube materials and samples to you. You should then lead your team to get to work quickly and produce a small batch for testing.

Try to get this done by next Thursday or Saturday.

Liang Jianguo exchanged a glance with Yi Zhonghai and nodded: "Once the materials arrive, you can rest assured about our side."

Gao Jianguo then said to Sister Fang and Liu Qiang, "Sister Fang, Ronghua, after you finish the work on the protective tubes, pick two people from your group to help Engineer Liang and the others test that small batch of products."

While I was at it, I also compiled all the instruction manuals, parameter books, and temperature-electromotive force matching tables for both type K and type N thermocouples.

Didn't we make a small batch of secondary headers before? Let's take them over and compare them to see if they match.

Both of them agreed.

With most of the work assigned, Gao Jianguo smiled and gestured with his chin towards Deputy Section Chief Wu De: "Section Chief Wu, would you mind taking the records and making a trip to General Manager Chen's office?"

Deputy Section Chief Wu De chuckled, "Let's go together."

Gao Jianguo waved his hand: "It's not completely finished yet."

Let's go together once all the finished products are ready.

This is a temporary situation; one person can handle the situation.

The implication was clear: to let Deputy Section Chief Wu De make an appearance before Chief Engineer Chen.

As for Lao Chen, Gao Jianguo doesn't care about saving face; there's no need for him to steal half of Lao Chen's limelight.

Anyway, when the final product is released, I'll have to go anyway.

Deputy Section Chief Wu De nodded, appreciating Gao Jianguo's kindness, and replied with a veiled remark: "Zhendong's work arrangements are always meticulous."

"Hehe, okay, I'll go make a run for it right now."

The group of people understood immediately and returned to their places.

Gao Jianguo and Wu De, the deputy section chief, stepped out of the vacuum induction furnace laboratory. One went back to his office, and the other went to Chief Engineer Chen's room.

Chief Engineer Chen sat behind his desk, looking at the two test records over and over again, unable to suppress the smile on his face.

After a long pause, he put down the materials and addressed Deputy Section Chief Wu De, his voice louder than usual: "Good! Good! Old Wu, you've really done a great job leading these people under you. They're very motivated and efficient. They've made great progress in just a few days."

According to Chief Engineer Chen's original estimate, even if things went smoothly, it would take at least two months to complete this thing.

Who knew that, judging from what Deputy Section Chief Wu De said, we'd see a small batch of goods next week.

Deputy Section Chief Wu adopted a very humble attitude: "I was just doing my job."

Deputy Team Leader Gao truly went all out. He came up with the plans, drew the designs, tackled the toughest challenges, and handled the instrumentation—he managed everything from top to bottom.

Deputy Section Chief Wu De knew perfectly well what the relationship was between Chief Engineer Chen and Gao Jianguo. Chief Engineer Chen had a clear understanding of all the things Gao Jianguo had done in the group.

The best approach is to speak honestly and sincerely, and to praise genuinely.

Chief Engineer Chen knew better than anyone what kind of person Gao Jianguo was, so Deputy Section Chief Wu De simply offered him a generous reward: "Don't be modest. Without you, this old horse, leading the way for everyone, there would be countless bumps and stumbles in the group's affairs. Just coordinating things would be enough to drive people crazy, haha."

That's absolutely true.

Gao Jianguo didn't know many people in the factory, unlike Deputy Section Chief Wu De, who knew exactly which door to knock on when he needed something.

If this job were given to Gao Jianguo now, he'd be covered in bumps and bruises.

Deputy Section Chief Wu De put in a lot of effort to make the thermocouple project grow so fast.

This proves the old saying: no matter how capable a person is, even if they are made of iron, how many nails can they hammer? With a good helper, one plus one is more than two.

Chief Engineer Chen personally acknowledged his importance in the project, and Deputy Section Chief Wu De felt extremely relieved: "Sigh, no matter how well I coordinate, they still have to do their job well."

Otherwise, all my efforts would be wasted, and the whole factory would laugh at me for working so hard for nothing.

He paused for a moment, then went on to praise her to the end.

Anyway, Gao Jianguo's work and achievements are all out in the open, so there's no qualms about praising him: "President Chen, your apprentice is remarkable."

Let's put aside his research for now; his stock trading skills alone are top-notch.

The subordinates were all smoothed out and became more and more in sync.

At first, I thought I could help him suppress a few of the troublemakers, but I didn't even have to lift a finger. He sorted things out himself, and not a single one caused trouble.

Chief Engineer Chen listened as if he had been flattered, his smile deepening, and he continued to smile, saying, "He does have some talent in this area, but he's still very inexperienced. You all need to mentor him more."

The two men started exchanging compliments in Chief Engineer Chen's office, going back and forth.

Someone came into Gao Jianguo's room.

He was busy working at the table when someone suddenly patted his shoulder, and a gruff voice boomed in his ear: "Haha, old platoon leader!"

Gao Jianguo turned his head and Wang Tiezhu's face was right in front of him.

He quickly put down his pen and swayed the man towards a chair.

As Gao Jianguo poured water, he muttered to himself, "What are you doing at our factory? Are you here with the case?"

Wang Tiezhu plopped down and shook his head: "No cases."

Have you forgotten? A while ago you came up with a plan for police-community cooperation, which I submitted. After a lot of back and forth between the two sides, we finally have a definite answer now.

Our station chief, myself, and the security captain all came here, just to discuss this matter.

I figured you'd been lurking around here, so I found out what was going on and came over.

Gao Jianguo felt incredibly relieved. It's rare for someone to be unhappy when their idea is approved and implemented by their superiors: "That's great! But aren't you in criminal investigation? Shouldn't this fall under the jurisdiction of the public security department?"

Wang Tiezhu scratched his head, feeling a little embarrassed: "Hehe, I have to thank you."

The station chief said I was quick-witted and could come up with ideas, so he relayed a message to the branch office and gave me more responsibilities.

Gao Jianguo immediately understood that this meant he was being promoted to deputy director.

But he also understood that the root of the problem lay with Wang Tiezhu himself. His usual work had definitely been under surveillance for a long time, and it had little to do with his own ideas: "I dare not take credit for this, haha, you are the one who does your job convincingly."

Wang Tiezhu waved his hand and said, "You know what, it really does have something to do with this."

The former director used to criticize me, saying that I only knew how to work blindly and didn't know how to look up and see the bigger picture; my approach to work was too rigid.

This incident has finally plugged the hole in my body.

"Hey platoon leader, how about we find somewhere to sit and have some fun this weekend?"

Gao Jianguo readily agreed: "Okay, we definitely have to have some fun."

The two chatted for a bit more, but Wang Tiezhu had to go back and discuss the police-civilian cooperation project with others, so he turned and left.

Gao Jianguo stared at Wang Tiezhu's back, and a thought suddenly flashed through his mind—"Wait."

He remembered that when he put down his chopsticks at his house last time, there was something he had forgotten to do.