Courtyard House: I'm an engineer, and a fairy godmother transferred me to a different position.

After receiving this reply, Director Lin patted his shoulder twice more before getting up to take his leave.

He did not stay long.

The primary purpose of this trip was to remind Liu Guangqi that now that the matter of settling down had been settled, he should focus wholeheartedly on the tough battles to come.

Another, more important thing is to inform them that the approval for the new factory has been granted.

This means that the Hongxing Chuanghui Machinery Factory, jointly promoted by the two ministries, is about to move from paper to reality.

At that time, the production line must operate at full speed, and the heated products must be delivered in a timely manner.

Director Lin knew in his heart that the new induction cookers and rice cookers that Liu Guangqi was developing would be the key to unlocking a broader international market.

After all, having experienced the surge in orders from Russia, the heating products developed by Liu Guangqi and the First Ministry of Machine Building have long been a shining name card for the foreign trade sector.

Can the "warmth magic" of the East continue its legend and reach new heights?

All of this weight truly rested on the young man's still slender shoulders.

Director Lin must come in person, see him with his own eyes, and personally convey this pressure and expectation to him.

Time flies by.

As the new week unfolded in the morning light, the entire First Ministry of Machine Building seemed to be infused with some invisible vitality, and a subtle restlessness and warmth rippled through the air.

"Clang! Clang!"

Inside the heating workshop, the workers swung their wrenches more vigorously than usual, and the clanging of metal grew louder and more powerful. It's unclear who started this enthusiasm, but the clanging sounds rose and fell, creating a vibrant rhythm.

Someone in the workshop started humming that familiar melody, which gradually blended into a rough and deep chorus. The smell of sweat mingled with the metallic scent of machine oil, rising and falling in the air.

"Master Zhao!" A young worker, his face still showing signs of youth, pushed a material cart closer, his eyes shining. "Once the new factory is up and running, your skills will surely earn you a senior worker title, right?"

The old craftsman spat into his palm and gripped the file firmly: "Following Team Leader Liu, you can't go wrong!" Upon hearing this, the other experienced craftsmen around him, who were engrossed in their work, smiled and quickened their pace.

The sound of a trolley's wheels came from the doorway. The workshop foreman pushed in a stack of freshly printed forms, the top one circled prominently in vermilion—delivery deadline for the order from Russia: forty-five days.

The workers immediately crowded around, their necks seemingly stretched out by an invisible hand. "Boss, are we being prioritized for hiring at the new factory?" "Can these old bones like us even go?"

The director raised his hand to silence the commotion, but couldn't hide the smile in his eyes: "Once we secure these orders in the spring—" He paused deliberately, "our old workshop will have gloriously completed its mission, and the entire factory will be moved to the new plant!"

A low gasp of surprise erupted from the crowd. The director held up three fingers: "In the new place, everyone will receive an extra three dollars in foreign exchange allowance per month. And the performance evaluation... has also been given the green light."

That sentence was like a spark splashed into an oil drum. The entire workshop erupted in chaos; the previously hummed tunes turned into roars, shaking the dust off the roof beams. A fire burned in everyone's eyes.

—

In the ministry buildings several kilometers apart, Director Lin lightly tapped his knuckles on the table. The telephone receiver was pressed to his ear, and the booming voice of Director Chen from the Ministry of Foreign Trade came through:

"Old Lin, let's be frank—it's a waste to keep a multi-talented person like Liu Guangqi stuck in your research lab! Since you're unwilling to let him join the foreign trade system, then send him to Hongxing Chuanghui Machinery Factory. The new factory needs a deputy factory director who can coordinate technology, R&D, and foreign trade; it needs a versatile talent like him who can keep things under control!"

Director Lin's gaze fell upon the unfolded blueprints. On the corner of the induction cooker's structural diagram, a line of small, red-inked annotations stood out: "[Compatible with Russian voltage standards]". He smiled silently.

"Have you made a habit of poaching people?" Director Lin said calmly. "Unfortunately, he won't agree to it."

A hearty laugh came from across the room: "What do you mean 'poaching'? This is making the best use of people! The new factory, jointly built by two provincial-level units, has a deputy factory director who's a full-fledged deputy division-level position, half a rank higher than him now." Director Chen lowered his voice, "Do you really think he'll refuse?"

"How about... we make a bet?" Director Lin's fine lines around his eyes smoothed out.

"I'll bet! If you lose, you'd better release them right away!"

It's a deal.

The receiver clicked back shut crisply. Director Lin called out towards the door, "Please ask Comrade Guangqi to come over here."

A short while later, there was a knock on the door. A young man in a Zhongshan suit pushed the door open and entered: "Director, you wanted to see me?"

"Sit down." Director Lin gently pushed the teacup towards me, his smile as warm as if we were having a casual chat. "There's something I'd like to hear your thoughts on."

"Guangqi, I've carefully reviewed your induction cooker design proposal, and it's indeed very insightful."

Director Lin put down the blueprints in his hand, his eyes filled with undisguised admiration. "You didn't disappoint me."

Without pausing, he cut straight to the point:

"Director Chen from the Ministry of Foreign Trade just called to talk about the new factory site—which is also related to you."

"I?"

Liu Guangqi was slightly taken aback.

"The Ministry of Foreign Trade intends to transfer you to Hongxing Chuanghui Machinery Factory as deputy factory director, in charge of technology research and development and foreign trade."

Director Lin leaned forward, his gaze sharp as he looked at him. "I want to hear your true thoughts."

Deputy factory director?

Liu Guangqi was startled.

As its name suggests, this factory was a directly affiliated unit jointly run by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and the First Ministry of Machine Building. Although its level was not as high as the steel rolling mill under the Ministry of Metallurgy, it was still at the division level. The deputy factory director was equivalent to a deputy division-level position, and moreover, it was involved in foreign exchange business, so the prospects were broad. If it were to be upgraded to a department-level unit in the future, the weight of the position would be different.

The Ministry of Foreign Trade's actions are indeed extraordinary. Last time, they offered him the salary of a section chief, and now, not long after, they've directly invited him to the position of deputy factory director, a position with real power—a truly exceptional promotion.

Liu Guangqi remained silent for a moment, quickly weighing the options in his mind.

"Director," he looked up, his tone cautious, "does the ministry mean... that they plan to transfer me to the new factory?"

"That's up to you."

Director Lin leaned back in his chair, his expression solemn. "Your post-transfer treatment is clear: deputy division chief level, administrative grade sixteen. You are in a cadre position, so you should understand the significance of this."

He paused, his tone softening slightly:

"Of course, this is just a suggestion from the Ministry of Foreign Trade. Personally, and from the perspective of the Ministry's Research Department—we do not want you to leave."

As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Guangqi understood completely.

This is a choice: the steps ahead or the long-term path.

He suddenly smiled, his expression clearing up:

"Director, I choose to stay at the First Ministry of Machine Building."

"I'd rather focus on my technical work than manage miscellaneous tasks. If I go there and get bogged down in production and foreign trade, I'm afraid I'll find it hard to concentrate on my research."

His words were concise and to the point, without any hesitation.

Liu Guangqi knew that while being a deputy factory director was prestigious, it also confined him to a small factory area. If troubles arose in the future, the internal strife within the factory might be no less intense than that in the steel rolling mill. He was still young, and his ambitions extended beyond this position. Once he left the ministry, his path to advancement would become much narrower.

"good!"

A smile of approval spread across Director Lin's eyes. This was exactly the answer he had been waiting for.

"You didn't let me misjudge you."

He got up and walked to Liu Guangqi's side, patted him on the shoulder, and his words seemed to have a deeper meaning:

"Since you've decided to stay, you'll have to shoulder more responsibility in the research department from now on. Don't complain about being tired."

Liu Guangqi took his leave, his back straight, his steps unwavering.

It was as if he was declining not a coveted position, but a mundane, ordinary matter.

Director Lin watched the figure disappear through the door, shook his head and chuckled, then picked up the phone:

"Old Chen, you've lost. Comrade Guangqi doesn't want to go to the new factory."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the receiver.

The silence on the other end of the phone was almost tangible, with Director Chen's heavy breathing coming through the receiver. Director Lin tapped the rim of his purple clay teacup with his fingertips, and after a few seconds, slowly added the second half of his sentence: "That kid said the technical drawings are more flavorful than the tea in the conference room."

The sunlight filtering through the window slowly crept across the wooden tabletop, pausing at the edge of the still-wet ink of the recommendation letter. Director Lin suddenly realized that Liu Guangqi wasn't rejecting a specific position, but rather a predetermined life path—this young man was using a screwdriver and a circuit board to carve his own course in the cracks of the steel torrent.

As the smell of machine oil from the workshop filled the air, Liu Guangqi's cuffs were already creased from being gripped so tightly. Wang Jianguo's Adam's apple bobbed as he pulled him through the air thick with metal shavings, pointing to the silent, giant stamping press in the corner: "It's dead."

Six technicians stood in a semi-circle, tools scattered like offerings. An old craftsman was tapping his palm with a wrench, each tap carrying the anxious rhythm unique to the stagnation of machinery. The assembly line was like a dragon with its throat choked, unfinished metal parts piling up in pale hills on the conveyor belt.

Liu Guangqi took off his coat and hung it on the gantry crane hook. As he leaned over, his ear was only three fingers' width away from the roaring steel, and a kind of stagnant tremor came from the cold shell—the lingering echo of the machine's final spasm. The crowd of onlookers automatically formed a circular theater. A female worker subconsciously covered the buckle of her tool bag at her waist, afraid that the clanging of metal would disturb this diagnosis.

"I need a string," Liu Guangqi suddenly said.

Wang Jianguo froze for half a second, then turned and rushed into the materials room. When he returned, he was holding a roll of bright silver piano strings in his palm, which gleamed like surgical instruments under the fluorescent lights.

Everyone watched as the silver wire pierced the shadows of the sewage tank, like a golden needle inserted into a pulse in traditional Chinese medicine. The angle at which Liu Guangqi rotated his wrist was reminiscent of a watchmaker adjusting a balance spring, gentle to the point of ritual. When the clump of metal shavings and grease clattered to the ground, a technician suddenly raised his hand and slapped himself on the forehead.

The resurrection ceremony was completed within twenty minutes. The moment Liu Guangqi pressed the green button, the press emitted a heavy sigh, like someone waking from hibernation, followed by a familiar and rhythmic clanging sound—like a steel heart beginning to beat again. Applause spread from the nearest workbench. An apprentice grabbed a thermos to hand it over, only to find his hand trembling so badly that he spilled half a cup of tea.

Wang Jianguo's hand landed heavily between Liu Guangqi's shoulder blades, the force making the calipers on the workbench jump: "Your hands should be insured."

The year-end cold snap shattered a mercury thermometer one morning. As the last batch of wooden crates labeled with export tags were loaded onto the truck, icicles from the workshop dome fell precisely where Liu Guangqi had stood the day before, shattering into a shower of crystal-like prophecies.

The workshop was sweltering, but the workers' faces were flushed with a fiery red, a kind of exhilarating excitement from exhaustion.

The big order from the Russian side is finally coming to an end.

After the last batch of electric kettles and electric blankets were packed and put into storage, the workshop director raised his hand and turned off the main switch.

The roar that had lasted for months suddenly disappeared.

After the extreme noise comes the sudden, dead silence.

Everyone froze in place, as if they hadn't yet recovered from the lingering tremors.

three seconds.

"Done! All done!"

"Order submitted!"

"Finally finished, this last batch!"

It's unclear who shouted first.

The pent-up weariness and elation, like subterranean fire bursting through the rock strata, swept through the entire workshop in an instant. The workers threw their tools on the ground, pounded each other's shoulders and hugged each other's necks, laughing and shouting. A few young men even tossed their work hats into the air, tilting their heads back and grinning foolishly.

The cheers grew louder and louder; everyone was shouting and laughing.

From the beginning of autumn to the end of the year, I worked day and night for more than four months, spending most of each month working overtime, and finally managed to get through this tough challenge before the new year.

Wang Jianguo leaned against the machine tool, reached into his pocket and rummaged around for a while before pulling out a crumpled cigarette. He struck two matches to light it and took a deep drag. As the smoke dissipated, his eyes silently reddened.

Actually, it wasn't just him.

At this moment, Liu Guangqi also relaxed the tension that had been building for more than a month. He found a corner to sit down and slowly exhaled a long breath.

After exhaling that breath, the person seemed to come back to life.

……

After the tsunami-like cheers in the workshop subsided a little.

Wang Jianguo, who was in charge of personnel allocation, cleared his throat and pressed his hands down: "Alright, alright! Everyone, quiet down!"