Material Empire

When Zhai Jianguo went to negotiate with Qin Hai, Wei Baolin knocked on the door of the old factory director Ning Zhongying with a box of tea.

"Who is it!"

There was an angry voice from inside the room.

"Old factory manager, it's me, Xiaowei." Wei Baolin replied in a gentle voice.

"Xiao Wei?" The people in the room muttered, and then the door opened, and an old man with a height of about 1.7 meters, a straight back and gray hair appeared in front of Wei Baolin.

"Old factory manager, let me come to see you. Someone just gave me a box of good tea. I remembered that the old factory manager likes to drink Biluochun the most, so I brought it to you." Wei Baolin took out the box of tea and handed it to In front of the old man Ning Zhongying, he said with a smile.

"Oh, thank you then." Ning Zhongying nodded slightly, reached out to take the tea, and let Wei Baolin into the living room.

"Old factory manager, what have you been up to lately?" After the host and guest sat down respectively, Wei Baolin asked about Ning Zhongying's daily life in a homely tone.

When Ning Zhongying was the factory director, Wei Baolin was his office director, and the relationship between the two was very harmonious at that time. Wei Baolin is quite clever in doing things, he knows Ning Zhongying's preferences and habits like the palm of his hand, and handles all kinds of affairs very well according to Ning Zhongying's wishes, so he is deeply appreciated by Ning Zhongying.

After the policy of "smart people run the house" was issued, Ning Zhongying, as a veteran cadre who was over fifty years old and had no diploma, naturally could only retreat to the second line. When the county economic committee asked him to nominate a successor, Ning Zhongying did not recommend Wei Baolin, but another deputy factory director. According to Ning Zhongying, Wei Baolin is very competent as the director of the waiter's office, but he is not suitable to be the head of a factory.

But Wei Baolin himself didn't think so. He felt that he had a college degree and was good at dancing. He was a pioneering talent. Why couldn't he be a factory director? He used the friendship he formed with some county officials during the reception to launch various lobbying activities, and finally made the county reject Ning Zhongying's recommendation, and instead appointed Wei Baolin as the director of Qingfeng Factory.

The director of the County Economic Commission personally came to Qingfeng Factory to announce Wei Baolin's appointment decision. At the same time, he appointed Ning Zhongying as the director of the Research Office of Qingfeng Factory, and told Ning Zhongying to "support the young comrades and give them a ride." At that meeting, Ning Zhongying changed from his usual domineering attitude and kept silent throughout the meeting. Even when the director of the economic committee asked him to make a statement, he just waved his hand, which made the director of the economic committee feel embarrassed.

After the director of the economic committee left, Wei Baolin timidly came to Ning Zhongying and asked the old leader to make demands on him. Ning Zhongying looked at Wei Baolin with a half-smile, then pointed to the sky and then to the ground, said "I can do it for myself", and walked away.

The dog leg Zhai Jianguo who followed Wei Baolin didn't understand Ning Zhongying's charade, so he just grinned foolishly. But Wei Baolin, who had followed Ning Zhongying for many years, suddenly changed his face, and even wanted to curse.

Pointing to the sky and the earth is a well-known political joke in those years. It is about a certain old man's contempt for a certain "rocket" cadre. Whether this joke is true or not is impossible to verify, but Wei Baolin is very clear about the meaning of this action, which means that he does not know the heights of the sky and the depths of the earth.

Two years have passed since then. Wei Baolin's governance in Qingfeng Factory was not smooth, and Qingfeng Factory's operating performance was declining, which attracted a lot of criticism against him. Surprisingly, Ning Zhongying, who was not optimistic about Wei Baolin from the beginning, never expressed his opinion on the operation of the factory. Even when Xiang Jiyong, Xiao Dongping and other subordinates came to his house to complain, he would He just laughed without saying a word, and refused to comment.

Wei Baolin adopted a strategy of superficial respect and private precautions towards Ning Zhongying. Every two or three months, he would personally visit Ning Zhongying to greet him, and he would definitely bring some small gifts every time. Same as when the chief of staff. When Ning Zhongying needed to use a car or reimburse medical expenses, Wei Baolin gave him the greatest support, and asked the administration department and finance department not to neglect Ning Zhongying in the slightest.

Because Wei Baolin has always maintained humility, Ning Zhongying's attitude towards him is also relatively friendly, at least in a state of discord between face and heart. Wei Baolin knew that Ning Zhongying always believed that he was not suitable to be the factory director, and after he became the factory director, he did confirm Ning Zhongying's prophecy, so Ning Zhongying was extremely disdainful of him. Wei Baolin didn't expect to win Ning Zhongying's affirmation, he just needed to appease Ning Zhongying and let the other party not tear down his position.

Hearing Wei Baolin's greeting, Ning Zhongying leaned on the sofa and smiled slightly, and said, "What can I do as an old man, I just eat and wait to die every day, nothing else."

"Hey, how can the old factory manager say that." Wei Baolin said pretending to be reproachful. He scanned the furnishings in the room with his eyes and saw a Go board on the dining table with black and white chess pieces on it, so he walked over, looked at it carefully, and said, "Where is the old factory manager playing scores? Well, this seems to be the game between Jiang Zhujiu and Kobayashi Koichi in the Sino-Japanese Go Challenge? Jiang Zhujiu is really a pity."

Ning Zhongying didn't answer Wei Baolin's words, but just smiled and said nothing. He knew that the more Wei Baolin acted like this, the more important things he wanted to say. Wei Baolin's flirtatiousness is quite useful to the county leaders, but in Ning Zhongying's eyes, it's just some tricks, so don't expect to be able to hide it from him.

"By the way, old factory manager, I'm going to visit today. First, I'll visit the old factory manager to see if there are any inconveniences in the old factory manager's life. Second, I want to invite the old factory manager to help Qingfeng factory. The management put forward some valuable suggestions, which can be used as a guide when making decisions in the factory." Wei Baolin finally brought the topic back to the topic.

"You know my temper. If I'm not in my position, I don't care about my government. Since the county has handed over Qingfeng Factory to you, you can make up your own mind about all the operations. What am I, an old man, talking nonsense for? "Ning Zhongying said.

Wei Baolin said: "You can't say that. After all, the old factory manager is the old leader of Qingfeng Factory. He knows the situation of Qingfeng Factory best, and the county has the most affection. How can the management decisions in the factory be separated from you?" How can such an old leader come up with a plan?"

Ning Zhongying ignored Wei Baolin, took out a cigarette from the cigarette case on the coffee table next to him, and placed it on his own without saying a word.

Wei Baolin knew that this was a sign that Ning Zhongying allowed him to speak. If Ning Zhongying really didn't want to hear about the factory's business problems, he would get up to see off the customers at this time instead of smoking by himself.

"It's like this. Due to fewer and fewer national planning tasks, the traditional business of our Qingfeng factory has continued to shrink, and it has been difficult to support our large factory. Some time ago, several factory leaders and middle-level cadres went to several domestic factories. The city went to investigate and finally found a new product direction for Qingfeng Factory, presumably the old factory manager has heard of it, right?" Wei Baolin said.

Ning Zhongying shook his head and said, "I haven't heard of anything."

Just pretend! Wei Baolin muttered to himself. Since he believed that Qin Hai was instigated by Ning Zhongying to slander the market prospects of the washing machine, it must be a lie for Ning Zhongying to say that he did not know the new business direction of Qingfeng Factory. Almost the whole factory knew about the production of washing machines. How could Ning Zhongying not know about it?

Actually, Wei Baolin really wronged Ning Zhongying. The matter of changing the production of washing machines was only revealed at the middle-level cadre meeting on Monday. Today is Thursday, and only three days have passed in total. After Ning Zhongying retired to the second line, she usually stayed at home and did not go out. The news about the factory was relayed by some cadres and workers who came to visit. In the past few days, no one happened to come to Ning Zhongying's house to chat, so Ning Zhongying really didn't know about the switch to washing machines.

Speaking of which, Ning Mo, Ning Zhongying's precious son, knew about it, but seeing Ning Zhongying was like a mouse seeing a cat, Ning Mo couldn't hide, so how could he take the initiative to talk to his father about the decision-making in the factory. Besides, what Ning Mo has been thinking about in the past few days is going out to earn extra money. Whether the factory is switching to washing machines or aircraft carriers, what does it have to do with him?

Ning Zhongying denied that he knew the new business direction of Qingfeng Factory. Believe it or not, Wei Baolin could only introduce one or two things to him first. Hearing that the new business Wei Baolin chose was to produce washing machines, a trace of disdain clearly flashed across Ning Zhongying's face.

"Old factory manager, what do you think of our choice of direction?" Wei Baolin asked.

Ning Zhongying dusted the cigarette in his hand on the ashtray, and then said slowly: "I only have two words to comment on this direction."

"Which two words?" Wei Baolin asked.

"Nonsense!" Ning Zhongying replied bluntly.

"..." Rao Wei Baolin had already prepared himself mentally. Hearing such straightforward criticism, his face turned into a pig's liver.

"Old factory manager, this direction was chosen by me, Xiao Zhai, and several other middle-level cadres." Wei Baolin said aggrievedly.

Ning Zhongying said: "Whether it is nonsense or not has nothing to do with the number of people. You are the head of a factory, how to run it, you have the final say. However, if you want to ask for my opinion, I only have one sentence: nonsense. "

"Okay..." Wei Baolin said aggrievedly, "Can the old factory manager explain why you think this decision is nonsense?"

"Agricultural machinery and washing machines have nothing to do with each other except that they both have the same word machine. If the agricultural machinery factory can make washing machines, can they also build airplanes in the future? They also have the same word." Ning Zhongying said.