Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 482 Going Home
The machinery factory, formerly an auto repair shop, was transformed into an automotive testing laboratory after adding a lot of equipment.

The vans and luxury cars that Chen Fan provided were all being prototyped here.

After finishing his exams, he went home and rested for a while. Taking advantage of the remaining time in the afternoon, he went to the machinery factory to check if there were any problems with automobile production.

He was surrounded by a dozen or so people, including several engineers from the technical department, several level-eight workers from the workshop, and several veteran mechanics from the newly established car company (who were actually the original auto repair shop). They were holding blueprints and discussing the "technical difficulties."

The drawings are already quite complete; the only things to discuss are the points that need attention during production and certain technological issues.

Director Yang, who had been overseeing the car trial production for the past few days, was not present.

Not far away, he held his Writers' Association work card in his hand, his eyebrows furrowed together. After a long while, he turned to look at Deputy Factory Director Li and asked, "Old Li, what's the plan?"

Deputy Factory Director Li was holding a Writers Association membership card. He looked even more dazed than Old Yang. After hearing Factory Director Yang's words, he let out a long sigh and turned to look at Chairman Zhao of the Trade Union, "Old Zhao, what do you say?"

Chairman Zhao waved his university bachelor's degree certificate in his hand and said with a serious face, "According to regulations, those who obtain vocational school, junior college, and bachelor's degree certificates will receive salary increases respectively..."

Before he could finish speaking, Deputy Factory Director Li waved his hand dismissively, "Come on, you always try to smooth things over when it comes to crucial moments. Is this about adjusting wages?"

The other two deputy factory directors, as well as Secretary Zhang of the Youth League Committee, Director Qian of the Women's Federation, and other leaders, all grinned and laughed without any restraint.

Chairman Zhao was not embarrassed at all; on the contrary, he seemed rather smug.

Anyway, you asked for my opinion, and I've already said that whether it's adopted or not is none of my business.

You can't ask anymore!
Factory Director Yang wiped his face, turned around and looked at Chen Fan, who was surrounded by the crowd, with mixed feelings.

When the comrades from the Provincial Public Security Bureau came to investigate Chen Fan's background, he was overjoyed. He had thought that his old brother's whole family was gone, but he didn't expect that there was still a son alive. That day, he went to the cemetery to tell the couple the good news and patted his chest to promise that he would take good care of the child.

Unexpectedly, after going to great lengths to get this child into the machine factory, thinking that I could take care of him, it turned out that he made a great contribution to the factory. If everything goes smoothly, the machine factory will definitely have a leapfrog development.

Now it's even more outrageous.

At such a young age, just over 17 years old, he has already become a leading cadre in the provincial writers' association through his own abilities, and he is at the deputy division level, only one level below me.

In comparison, the bachelor's degree I just received seems insignificant.

Indeed, heroes have always emerged from among the young; who knows who will take care of whom in the future?

It's a pity that this guy is already engaged to the child of Jiang Heng from the cotton mill. Otherwise, my daughter would actually be quite suitable; everyone praises her beauty. ...Well, she's just not as pretty as the Jiang family's child.

Young people these days are too superficial!

Factory Director Yang was lost in thought. After thinking it over, Deputy Factory Director Li said softly, "After all, Xiao Chen isn't a formal employee of our factory. He's not needed for a raise or a promotion."

Hearing his words, Director Yang snapped out of his daze and turned to look at him. "Then what do you suggest we do? Little Chen is now the director of the European and American branch of the Foreign Liaison Department of the Provincial Writers Association, a deputy division-level cadre. He's come to your lousy factory as an advisor, and you don't even offer him any thanks?"

The others around him looked extremely strange upon hearing this.

You are the Party Secretary and Director of a prestigious machinery factory, and you talk about your own factory like this?
Deputy Factory Director Li simply rolled his eyes. "When did I say I didn't offer anything?"

He glanced at Chen Fan, who was still discussing, and lowered his voice to say, "This is what I think. Although Xiao Chen has become a member of the Writers Association and a leading cadre of the Provincial Writers Association, he still serves as a technical consultant in the Health Department. Moreover, his medical certificate is still registered at the First People's Hospital of the region. Therefore, our factory can continue to hold this title of health consultant."

Factory Director Yang hummed in agreement, waiting for him to continue.

She sighed inwardly. Why was the First Hospital so stingy? It was clearly just a doctor's certificate that was being used for a fee, but they refused to let go. Otherwise, Xiao Fan would be considered half an employee of the machinery factory. In that case, they could promote him to director or vice president now. Although the level wouldn't be as high as the one in the Writers' Association, it would still be a legitimate promotion and raise.

Seeing that Director Yang didn't speak, Deputy Factory Director Li continued, "As long as Xiao Chen continues to serve as our factory's consultant, we can give him a big commendation for becoming a member of the Writers' Association."

He lowered his voice even further as he spoke, causing others to gravitate closer.

"My idea is to hang banners inside and outside the factory to celebrate Xiao Chen becoming a member of the Provincial Writers Association and give him some material rewards. This is to make him famous."

Chairman Zhao, standing nearby, grumbled twice, "Does he need us to make him famous?"

Deputy Factory Director Li turned his head impatiently, "Then you do it!"

Chairman Zhao repeatedly gestured, "Continue, continue, I won't interrupt."

Deputy Factory Director Li rolled his eyes, turned around and continued, "Just give the material rewards as you see fit. There are precedents for this in the factory anyway. Just aim for a provincial-level individual honor."

Factory Director Yang hesitated for two seconds, then finally nodded, "Yes, I have no objection."

He had no objection, but several leaders nearby did have some thoughts.

Chairman Zhao, "Isn't that a bit too little? After all, Xiao Chen is an advisor, not an employee of our unit, so he doesn't receive many of the usual benefits."

Deputy Factory Director Li slowly exhaled a long breath and chuckled softly, "Of course I know that, but..."

He turned and pointed to Chen Fan not far away, "Isn't he still helping with car research and development? He also has several suggestions for small appliance production lines. We'll reward him for each one that's implemented, according to the highest standards for foreign aid. We can't let him down."

The rewards for external players are much higher than those for internal players. Internal players might only receive a hundred or two hundred yuan, but it's not uncommon for external players to receive a thousand or two thousand yuan. For example, last time, Chen Fan was rewarded with a whole bunch of appliances.

This reward system stems from two factors: firstly, the belief that "outsiders are better at managing resources," and secondly, the fact that while internal rewards are smaller, they are recorded in personnel files and prioritized for future promotions and salary increases, providing a long-term, sustainable benefit. In contrast, external rewards are often a one-off deal, resulting in larger rewards.

However, Chen Fan had a lot of hammers, and had already banged them down many times in the machine factory.

Hearing what Deputy Factory Director Li said, Factory Director Yang nodded in satisfaction, "Hmm, your suggestion is good, I have no objection."

When Deputy Factory Director Li saw that Factory Director Yang also agreed, he smiled with relief.

It wasn't that he was afraid of offending his immediate superior; the superior was only one level below him, and the connections were different, so he wasn't intimidated by this leader at all. It was just that the two had some differences in their philosophies on production and management, and the current situation was special, making it unsuitable for a confrontation, which was why they maintained the current harmonious situation.

However, as the factory continues to grow and expand, and as long as both of them are ambitious, they will inevitably clash sooner or later.

But it was all for work, and there was no personal grudge involved.

Since it's for work, it's easy to understand that they have something in common.

Coincidentally, their common ground was their desire to befriend and win over Chen Fan. Director Yang was half self-serving and half public-spirited, while Deputy Director Li was entirely public-spirited, even more so than Director Yang in wanting Chen Fan to stay at the machinery factory long-term. In the past, it was to gain fame and earn some achievements that would catch the leaders' eye; now, he hoped to get more technical benefits.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but look at Chen Fan again, his eyes full of confusion. Could it really be true that like begets like, or like rats that know how to dig holes?
Old Chen was a tech guru, one of the best in the machine factory's technical department back in the day. His son was even more remarkable; at just over ten years old, he completely outclassed the entire technical department. Even if someone drew up the blueprints, the son couldn't fully understand them and needed to be explained to him by others!
There's nowhere to reason with them!

Chen Fan spent more than an hour explaining the key technical points and process requirements to the technical department and veteran workers. He then told them to study it on their own. "Make the parts first. The machine factory has no shortage of materials. If you try to make them several times, you will eventually find the optimal solution."

Once the optimal process standards are determined based on the existing mechanical equipment, we can begin manufacturing the production line. For vans, we should try to automate the process as much as possible. For cars, it's impossible to achieve mass production on a production line with our current conditions; we'll still have to rely on the skills of highly skilled master craftsmen.

An eighth-grade worker immediately grinned and said, "What Teacher Chen means is that we are advanced production equipment. He thinks highly of us."

As soon as he said that, everyone around burst into laughter.

After finishing his work, Chen Fan took his leave.

Factory Director Yang held him back, saying, "Why are you leaving so soon? It's almost evening, you should at least have dinner."

Chen Fan leaned closer and whispered, "We're not strangers, why should I be polite? There's something I really need to do. There's a friend in Lujiawan who was supposed to get married the day before yesterday, but I had to rush off to the provincial capital without telling him. I need to go back and see what's going on."

Factory Director Yang nodded in realization, but then said, "It won't make a difference if you stay one more night. I'll have someone take you home first thing tomorrow morning."

Chen Fan lowered his voice even further, "Wouldn't rushing back overnight show sincerity? Otherwise, I wouldn't have come here this afternoon and would have gone straight back to Lujiawan."

Factory Director Yang was speechless. So, you, an outstanding young man, have so many tricks up your sleeve?

However, he was no stranger to this kind of thing, so he didn't say anything more and turned to wave to Deputy Factory Director Li, "Have someone bring a New Year's welfare gift."

Deputy Factory Director Li chuckled and said, "It's been prepared for a long time."

Before he finished speaking, two people came over carrying a lot of things and put them directly into the trunk of the small jeep.

Luckily, I cleared out a lot of souvenirs beforehand, otherwise I wouldn't have had enough space.

A bag of rice, a small bucket of lard, a box of apples, a can of malted milk powder, a bag of canned meat, canned fish, and canned fruit—all rare and expensive items.

I don't know what level of standard all these items represent, but ordinary employees certainly wouldn't have this many welfare benefits.

Chen Fan didn't refuse. After thanking him with a smile, he set off.

I had already said goodbye to the Jiang sisters when I left, so I didn't need to go back. I drove directly to the North City Freight Terminal.

Having been away for several days, and with the cargo dock being quite dusty, the small yacht was covered in a thick layer of dust. Chen Fan first found a bucket to wash the yacht's deck clean, then wiped the inside several times with a rag before transferring the items from the car to the boat.

He then gave the manager two packs of cigarettes, parked his car next to the management office, and then drove away by boat.

By the time they returned to the small dock of Team 6 in Lujiawan, it was completely dark.

I checked the time, but it wasn't even 6 p.m. yet.

Chen Fan glanced at the sky; it looked like it might snow again.

After mooring the boat, I grabbed a few bags, jumped onto the dock, and headed home.

After taking only a few steps, they heard the chirping of a hawk overhead.

Chen Fan looked up, smiled, and whistled. The falcon immediately swooped down and landed steadily on his outstretched left arm.

Now that the Eurasian Hobby has reached adulthood, it is over 40 centimeters long, nearly one-tenth longer than the average Eurasian Hobby which is about 36 centimeters long. Moreover, it has strong claws and sharp eyes, making it look like a bird of prey.

However, the fierce hawk was quite docile at this moment, perched on Chen Fan's arm with its eyes half-closed, seemingly enjoying itself, occasionally chirping and chatting with Chen Fan.

Chen Fan was very patient, making sounds as he asked about the falcon's family.

However, the Eurasian Hobby wasn't very intelligent. It just said that the little horse and the others had moved from the front to the back. The myna was very naughty and often caused trouble for Gun Gun, especially when Gun Gun was sleeping, it would "call Chen Fan back." When Gun Gun woke up, it didn't see anyone, which made Gun Gun angry whenever it saw it.

Chen Fan laughed heartily, "Where's the myna bird? Why hasn't it come out?"

The Eurasian Hobby is asleep.

Well, he really is a mischievous boy. He plays all day and then goes to sleep as soon as it gets dark.

The man and the bird chatted for a while, and soon they were off the embankment.

The recent educated youth settlement was eerily quiet, devoid of any light or shadow. Chen Fan twitched his ears and discovered that it seemed to have been emptied out; he couldn't hear a single breath.

He didn't care either.

When he was fishing in the dry lake before, he told Captain Yang that he wanted to move all the animals out of the educated youth settlement and make room for the new educated youth who would be coming.

He just didn't expect Captain Yang to be so quick; he had only been gone for a week, and he had already finished the job.

After passing the former educated youth compound and going up the long slope, you will arrive at your doorstep.

The Eurasian Hobby then took flight, chirping loudly several times.

This is serious.

The myna bird was the first to fly out of the nest. As soon as it saw Chen Fan, it shouted loudly, "Little Chen is back! Little Chen is back!"

Chen Fan's face darkened, and he immediately picked up a pebble and flicked it away.

The myna bird, forgetting its lesson, fell to the ground with a thud and immediately stopped moving.

Then came the sound of horses neighing from behind the house, accompanied by barking. Two dogs darted out from the path next to the house and circled around Chen Fan's legs.

Such a commotion naturally woke up the girls who were reading at the coffee table in the living room. They quickly ran out, and Huang Ying was the first to open the door. When she saw Chen Fan playing with the dog, she couldn't help but exclaim with delight, "Teacher Chen is back!"

(End of this chapter)