Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 444 Keep it safe and secure
If it were before he stepped down, Director Yang would never have sought advice from a young man like Chen Fan.

If you're going to look for someone, look for experienced people like senior leaders or veteran workers. These young people haven't eaten a lot of rice or walked many bridges. Besides causing trouble, what's there to praise them for?
However, in the years that followed, he did not give up completely. Instead, he reflected on his past gains and losses and humbly sought advice from those around him whenever he encountered a problem he did not understand.

Finally, I understood a principle that has been passed down for more than 2,500 years: "Among three people walking together, there must be one who can teach me!"
Therefore, after being reinstated, he listened to a wide range of opinions, adopted the beneficial ones, and forged ahead. He not only successfully completed the tasks assigned by his superiors, but also significantly increased the output of unplanned products by improving efficiency and pass rates, which in turn brought a wave of benefits to the employees of the machinery factory.

He is now very confident that with the support of all the factory workers, even if another gust of wind comes, he will not be blown down.

However, as the leader of the machinery factory, while the factory was thriving, he also saw some crises that others could not see.

As the saying goes, "No one is lucky for a thousand days, and no flower blooms for a hundred days. If you don't plan ahead, you'll end up with nothing."

These days, a few companies are losing money every year, such as the Gufeng County Agricultural Machinery Factory, the Explosion-proof Equipment Factory of a certain district, the Tractor Factory of a certain county, etc. The production and operation of these companies are almost at a standstill, and workers' wages are all subsidized by the government.

It is precisely because of financial support that they can still live a very comfortable life.

But it's not easy to ask for money, and what if the higher-ups also run out of money one day? How will the factory survive?
Now let's look at Chen Fan.

What are the conditions in Lujiawan?
Among all the production teams in the entire Yunhu area, it would be nothing special.

Most production teams have what Lujiawan has, and some production teams have what Lujiawan doesn't.

For example, the production teams around Gufeng County and even around Yunhu City have far better geographical conditions than the communes around Lujiawan, and their basic conditions are not much better than those around Lujiawan.

But Chen Fan single-handedly revitalized this place, and in less than a year!

Today, Lujiawan may not be the best in Yunhu, but it should easily be in the top five, and the biggest contributor to this is Chen Fan.

Would he let such talent slip by... and ask him for advice?!

But after hearing his words, Chen Fan blurted out, "I don't know, I'm not sure, I can't."

Factory Director Yang silently smoked his cigarette. After a few seconds of silence, he suddenly remembered something a young man named Sanhu had said at the dinner table when he was drunk: "Xiao Chen doesn't release the hawk until he sees the rabbit, and he doesn't cast the bait until he sees the fish!"

Then they said something like "little boat" and other things I couldn't understand.

Suddenly, a realization dawned on me.

He glanced at Chen Fan, exhaled a puff of smoke, and said softly, "I heard that your little boat is for the repair shop of the water transport company..."

Before he could finish speaking, Chen Fan resolutely corrected him, "The reward was given to me by the brigade headquarters. What does it have to do with the water transport company?"

Factory Director Yang fell silent again.

At this moment, he adjusted his evaluation of Chen Fan once again.

Following "excellent", "righteous", "generalist" and "not willing to suffer losses", another one has been added: "thick-skinned".

But it doesn't matter. As long as we have the greater good in mind, these trivial matters are not worth mentioning!
He racked his brains, trying to think of something that could move Chen Fan.
Give money?

He even donated all of the more than 10,000 yuan his parents left him; otherwise, he could have lived a life of ease with the interest from that 10,000 yuan in savings!

Give a house?

They have big houses left by their parents; what kind of dormitory can compare?
After much thought, Director Yang's eyes lit up. If that were the case... it would kill two birds with one stone!

He then coughed twice, looked around, and saw that apart from the crew and militia who were still waiting on the big ship to take him back, there was no one else around.

He then took a step to the right, moved closer to Chen Fan, and whispered, "Look at you, a special medical officer from the prefectural committee's health department, receiving a deputy section chief's salary, yet you're only in charge of this one place, Lujiawan. Isn't that a waste of your talents?"

Just as Chen Fan was about to say he wouldn't waste his talents, he heard Factory Director Yang continue, "How many people are there in Lujiawan? Do you have 5000?"

Chen Fan blinked, thinking it should be around 4500, right?

Director Yang spoke rapidly, “It’s such a waste of talent to have such a small number of people tied up here as a nationally renowned health expert! It’s a huge waste of human resources!”

Then, changing the subject, he said, "Our machine factory has tens of thousands of employees, but the sanitary conditions are appalling..."

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan couldn't help but look at him with disdain.

The machinery factory has its own independent hospital. Although it is not very big, about the same size as a commune health center, and the doctors are of average quality, the equipment is so good that even the director of the First People's Hospital of Lianyunhu is envious.

Given these conditions, you'd say the hygiene is questionable?

Director Yang seemed oblivious to his gaze and continued, "So I plan to apply to the health department after I get back to include the machinery factory in your inspection area as well."

You don't need to work regular hours. You can go once a week when you have time, or once a month when you don't. The main job is to supervise the sanitation work in our machinery factory.

Of course, I won't let you work for nothing,"

He held up one finger, "Our factory gives you a 100 yuan allowance every month."

100 yuan?
Chen Fan hesitated for two seconds, then said with difficulty, "Uncle Yang, it's not that I don't want to go, it's just that I'm currently running between Lujiawan and the health department, and time is really tight. I can't manage it all."

A year ago, if someone had offered him a salary of 100 yuan, or even 50 yuan, he would have immediately switched jobs.

But now, how long has it been since I last went to the pottery factory in Team 6? He's still there getting paid 100 yuan a month.

Just for 100 yuan, I have to go to the machine factory every week?

Whoever wants to go will go!
Factory Director Yang frowned slightly. 100 yuan wasn't enough?

He thought for a moment and said, "You have to go to the health department to report on your work every week, and you can also visit the machinery factory while you're at it. It's not too much trouble, is it?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he changed his tone and said in a deep voice, "It's not that Uncle Yang wants to make things difficult for you, it's just that the sanitary conditions in the machinery factory are not good. Our factory has a lot of accidents, but the factory hospital has limited resources, and you have made outstanding contributions in emergency care, so I came up with this solution."

Chen Fan also looked troubled. "Uncle Yang, it's not that I don't want to go, but it's really difficult to arrange the time. For example, if I go to the prefectural committee, I have to leave in the morning, and after arriving at Yunhu, I have to transfer several buses to get to my unit. It's the same on the way back. Although I don't spend much time at the health department each time, I spend all my time on the road. Isn't all this back and forth a waste of time?"

Although the factory has returned the house to me, allowing me to stay overnight at the prefectural committee office, compared to the machinery factory which has a factory hospital, Lujiawan only has one doctor, so I still need to be there frequently. It's really inconvenient for me to stay out overnight!

Factory Director Yang fell into deep thought.

Is it not advisable to stay out overnight?
Who is the person who always stays in the cadre room of the guesthouse when visiting the health department?

Sanhu is right. This kid really won't act until he sees a rabbit, and it can't be a small rabbit; it has to be a fat rabbit!
If it were someone else, Director Yang wouldn't bother arguing; he could just ask the health department leaders for a few good doctors.

But this kid is, after all, the son of my old brother. He's been away for two or three years and has suffered a lot. I just wanted to take care of him so I could have peace of mind.

Furthermore, if we bring him into the factory, regardless of his position, wouldn't it be much more convenient to ask him for help or solve small problems later? Even for future publicity, we could say that the famous writer Chen Fan works for our machinery factory, just like the health department does!
That was his main purpose!
But who would have thought that this kid wouldn't take it seriously?!
then what should we do?

After thinking for a moment, Director Yang saw the large boats moored by the river and suddenly remembered Chen Fan's small boat, which made his eyes light up.

Then, with a confident smile, she said softly, "Your current problem is simply that time is too tight, and you've been wasting time on the road, right?"

Chen Fan blinked, thinking to himself, "Do you think you can somehow arrange a private car for me?"

Besides, my visits to the prefectural committee are not fixed; I usually go whenever I want. He can't possibly arrange for a car to wait for me at the passenger terminal every day.

Seeing Chen Fan nod slightly with a hint of hesitation, Director Yang smiled confidently and continued, "It's simple. Our machinery factory's motorcade has a few learning slots every year, which are usually sent to the passenger transport company's driving school or the bus company's driving school."

Moreover, the machinery factory has a good relationship with both companies. Some of their spare parts are supplied by the machinery factory, and our motorcade vehicles are often sent there for repairs.

"It just so happens that there are still some driving license slots available this year, I can make an offer for you..."

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan understood what he meant, and his eyes immediately lit up.

Seeing the gleam in Chen Fan's eyes, Factory Director Yang inwardly praised the lad's quick wit, his smile widening as he continued,

"Under normal circumstances, it takes half a year to learn before you are qualified to drive a small car. If you want to drive a large vehicle, you may need to learn for one to two years. First, you need to learn auto repair, and then you need to learn to drive."

However, you have a mechanical background, and you're not an ordinary person, so you won't have that much time to learn. I'll talk to them later and arrange for an experienced instructor to teach you. You'll get your driver's license as soon as you pass the test. If you're capable, even ten days or half a month is fine.

He chuckled and took a breath, "Once you get your driver's license, I'll pick a good one from the scrapped cars in the machinery factory's motorcade, fix it up, and make it just for you."

He paused for a moment, then carefully explained, "It's not that we don't have good cars, but we can't provide them to you. Otherwise, people will gossip. We'll find a decent scrap car, secretly replace the engine and a set of parts, and then repaint the exterior. It'll look brand new, and we won't have to worry about anyone checking."

my country's earliest regulations on automobile scrapping began with the "Automobile Scrapping Standards" issued on July 15, 1997. Before that, for both organizations and individuals, automobiles were major purchases that were more expensive than houses.

scrapped?

impossible!
Unless it's completely beyond repair, everything will be repaired if possible, and even if it's scrapped, the parts will be salvaged and used in other vehicles.

In other words, the machinery factory could manufacture some spare parts itself, and because it needed to transport heavy machinery or other steel products, its superiors almost never rejected their vehicle purchase requests. In addition, they were financially powerful, which made it possible for them to have "scrapped" cars.

Otherwise, like most organizations, they wouldn't even have enough cars, let alone repairable scrapped vehicles!

However, Chen Fan still hesitated, "This method is good, but..."

He looked at Director Yang with pleading eyes, "But I can't drive a truck!"

What kind of vehicles are most common in machinery factories? It has to be the Jiefang (Liberation Army) truck!

Old Dongfeng?
Although the Second Automobile Works developed its flagship product, the first-generation Dongfeng truck, a few years ago, this truck was exclusively for military use.

Oh, the initial design drawings for this car were actually provided by FAW (First Automobile Works). Back then, there was no competition among industry peers; everyone was serving the people and the public. What was there to compete about?
Social connections are the most important!

It wasn't until the 80s that market competition emerged; companies had to compete for market share to survive.

Going back to the point, although the Second Automobile Works (SAW) produced cars, the military could only absorb 1000 Dongfeng vehicles per year. They also had to take care of their big brother, the First Automobile Works (FAW). As a result, a large amount of SAW's production capacity was idle. The large factory with tens of thousands of employees had been in a state of serious loss since its construction began.

Seeing that this was not a solution, the Second Automobile Works applied to produce civilian products, converting the 4.5-ton military trucks into the 5-ton EQ140 civilian model.

The design of this car is now basically finalized. It will be released to the civilian market some time later, around 78.

This vehicle was originally modified from a military truck, so it can naturally be seamlessly supplied to the troops.

This was a huge success; both the military and the civilian market loved it, and the military increased its procurement, which allowed the Second Automobile Works to finally turn a profit.

Unfortunately, they are not available for purchase yet, so the vehicles in the machinery factory are basically all large Jiefang trucks.

A string of thoughts flashed through Chen Fan's mind. He wondered if he could get a smaller microcar, like the kind that Yunhu Waste Recycling Company used to haul his books, or even a motorcycle.

I can use the tools and materials from the machine shop to make a three-wheeled vehicle myself.

Riding a motorcycle is one thing, it's fine in the summer, but in the dead of winter he'd freeze to death, he couldn't stand it.

Just as Chen Fan was thinking about how to bring it up, Factory Director Yang laughed without hesitation, "A big truck? Hey, you want it but I can't give it to you!"
The factory's large trucks are all used for transporting goods. With so many trucks coming and going every day, it's not enough; we can't possibly give them to you!

He paused for a moment, then leaned closer to Chen Fan and whispered, "The government's motorcade has several imported Volga sedans and GAZ-69 off-road vehicles from the 50s."

At this point, a hint of melancholy flashed in his eyes. "Those cars were old cars that your father got from his former workplace, Jiangnan Machinery Factory, when the factory was first established. Later, when they broke down, he couldn't bear to let the car crew take apart the parts. Instead, he thought that when he had time, he would disassemble the cars for research and see if our machinery factory could also manufacture cars in the future."

He let out a long breath, slowly shook his head, swallowed the rest of his words, turned to look at Chen Fan, and smiled, "The car your father got is already a total scrap, it's perfect for you to use, no one will say anything."

He paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "As long as you agree to the temporary assignment, I will hold a meeting when I get back and approve the car for your exclusive use. Our car team will take care of everything, including fuel costs and future maintenance."

As for the car's condition, don't worry. Like I said, just replace whatever's broken, and it'll be fine!

(End of this chapter)