Siheyuan: Starting from the driver

Chapter 761 The First Day in the Technology Department

Steel rolling mill.

Technical Department.

Li Kailang walked in, accompanied by the head of the personnel department in a rather polite manner.

Wang Shouye, the head of the technical department and a junior engineer, is an old technician with gray hair and thick glasses.

I had some doubts when I heard that a night school graduate who was ranked first in two subjects was coming, and that he was an assistant technician whom Director Yang had personally approved and quickly promoted.

"Where did Director Yang recruit this night school graduate? Why would he come to the factory out of nowhere?"

Graduates from night school are highly sought after everywhere. They usually stay in their respective factories and won't go to other factories unless there's something important to do.

There was only one undergraduate student majoring in materials science at the steel rolling mill.

But he wasn't familiar with that deputy section chief. How could someone who only graduated from junior high school be the top student in both subjects?

Soon, Li Kailang's figure appeared before him, which surprised him greatly; he hadn't expected it to really be him.

"Deputy Section Chief Li, welcome to the Technical Section." Wang Shouye said in a flat tone, extending his hand to shake hands with Li Kailang symbolically. The hand felt rough and cold. "I am Wang Shouye, the director of the Technical Section."

"Director Wang, hello, I'm Li Kailang, you can just call me Xiao Li. From now on I'll be a technician, not a deputy section chief."

Li Kailang knew about Wang Shouye, since he would be working there in the future and Wang Shouye would be his superior.

I am still quite a distance from being an engineer.

"Okay, Technician Li, let me introduce you to the situation in our department." Wang Shouye briefly introduced the other colleagues in the office.

Li Kailang had also heard of them.

There are experienced technicians, such as Engineer Zhang, Engineer Li, and Engineer Chen, who are all around forty or fifty years old.

They merely glanced at Li Kailang, nodded, and then buried themselves back in the drawings or slide rules on the table, their attitude neither warm nor cold.

There were also seven or eight younger technicians, whose eyes were filled with curiosity, knowing that they would be adding another one to the department in the future.

Of course, there was also an acquaintance, Engineer Liu, with whom there had been some conflict in the warehouse.

"Thank you, Section Chief Wang, and thank you all, senior colleagues. I'm new here and there are many things I don't understand. I hope you can guide me in the future."

Li Kailang adopted a very humble attitude and demeanor.

The head of the personnel department smiled and smoothed things over: "Section Chief Wang, Comrade Li Kailang is a young talent that Director Yang values ​​highly. He's ranked first in both departments and has a bright future! We've completed all the formalities, so we're entrusting him to you now."

Having completed his mission, he exchanged a few pleasantries and then took his leave.

Wang Shouye nodded, not saying much, but simply pointed to the empty table by the window: "Xiao Li, you can sit at that table. Xiao Zhao."

He called to a young technician, "Help Comrade Xiao Li tidy up."

"Yes, Director!" Xiao Zhao replied and came over to help make room.

Wang Shouye adjusted his glasses and looked at Li Kailang: "Our technical department's work mainly involves solving technical problems in production, reviewing process drawings, and conducting equipment modification demonstrations."

"Since you're new here or just graduated, take this time to familiarize yourself with the environment and look at the documents related to a few issues we've been working on recently."

"Engineer Ling went to a meeting at the Ministry of Metallurgy. He is most familiar with this batch of machine tools. You can learn from him then."

"I don't have any specific tasks for you right now. Just observe and learn more."

Wang Shouye didn't know Li Kailang's true abilities, but judging from his first place in two subjects, he could see that Li was quite capable and had few limitations.

"I understand, Section Chief Wang. I will definitely observe and learn more." Li Kailang calmly accepted the arrangement.

Go tidy up your workstation first.

"Brother Li, I can do it." Xiao Zhao, standing to the side, seemed quite eager.

"Thank you."

While cleaning his workstation, Li Kailang asked Xiao Zhao about the situation in the technical department.

Xiao Zhao, Zhao Guoqiang, is also a vocational school graduate who came to the technical department this year. Like Li Kailang, he is an intern, but he arrived a while earlier than Li Kailang.

The personnel within the department form a pyramid structure.

At the very top are the engineers, in the middle are the technicians, at the bottom are the assistant technicians, and at the very bottom are the trainees.

However, there are very few trainees. Currently, they are all vocational school students who come here to study. In the future, they may work here or they may leave.

Even among people on the same level, there are distinctions of rank.

Like Li Kailang, a college student intern, once he becomes a full-time technician, he will be promoted to level 13, thus advancing to the middle level.

While rank is important, ability is even more important. As long as you have sufficient ability, rank is not important.

There have been cases in the past where people who achieved results were promoted two or three levels at once.

After finding out the situation and tidying up his workstation, Li Kailang calmed down and picked up the documents that Wang Shouye had asked him to review.

He couldn't see these materials before, even though Director Yang intended to train him.

After a whole morning, Li Kailang felt like he was invisible.

The technical staff were all busy with their own things, occasionally discussing in hushed tones the problems on the drawings or the anomalies reported from the workshop, and no one took the initiative to talk to him.

Li Kailang looked at the descriptions and preliminary analysis in the materials, combined with the professional knowledge he had learned at night school.

Especially those fragments of mechanical knowledge that were ahead of their time in my mind, and some vague ideas began to form in my heart.

But he didn't speak rashly; he simply wrote down his thoughts in his notebook.

At noon, while he was eating lunch, someone from the security department suddenly came looking for him.

"Comrade Li Kailang, there's a guy surnamed Jin looking for you at the main gate. He says he's your classmate."

"Jin Jianxian! You gave me an answer after only one day?" Li Kailang stood up abruptly. "You guys eat first, I'm going out for a bit."

We just agreed on this yesterday, but I didn't expect Jin Jianxian to give him a reply so quickly.

Zhao Guoqiang watched Li Kailang leave in a hurry, puzzled, but from what the security guard had just said, he knew that Li was most likely a student from the night school.

"Brother Li is really something. He not only came himself, but he also brought others along."

"Yes, our technical department will most likely have another college graduate."

Li Kailang rushed to the gate and, sure enough, saw Jin Jianxian.

"Jianxian!"

"Cheerful!"

"Why are you here?" Li Kailang asked expectantly, eagerly awaiting Jin Jianxian to say what he wanted to hear.

As expected, Jin Jianxian spoke up: "Kanglang, do you still stand by what you said yesterday at noon?"

"A promise is a promise!"

"Okay, I'll come to stay with you next month. Don't look down on me then."

"Why would I complain? Your original factory already handled it."

"Pretty much. I've already submitted my resignation letter, but there's still a little trouble. I'm afraid my factory manager will deliberately hold onto my personnel file."

"Don't worry about it. I'll talk to my factory manager, and he'll definitely help you with that," Li Kailang said immediately.

After a few words, Jin Jianxian finished explaining the matter and left.

Li Kailang didn't even bother to eat; he went straight to Director Yang to discuss the matter.

"Good, good! Xiao Li, you're truly a lucky star for our factory!" Factory Director Yang patted him on the shoulder happily.

Not only did he graduate with top marks in both subjects, but he was also able to recruit people from other factories.

This is a buy-one-get-one-free deal!

"As long as he can come, the factory can handle everything else so he doesn't have to worry and can work here with peace of mind." "The factory will also provide him with the required benefits and compensation. Ask him if he has any questions, and the factory can help resolve them."

"Does he have a house to live in? If not, the factory will arrange one for him. By the way, does he have a girlfriend? If not, the factory can arrange one for him too."

Factory Director Yang did everything he could to help Jin Jianxian resolve his problems.

Li Kailang didn't seem jealous at all; on the contrary, he was very happy to see Jin Jianxian being valued as before.

"Oh, by the way, Xiao Li, you're not getting any younger, why don't you just settle down with your girlfriend/partner together?"

"There's no need for the factory director to worry about that. I have my own ideas," Li Kailang said, waving his hands repeatedly.

He also forgot that after graduation, he too would eventually be pressured to get married.

Before, I could use "focusing on studying" as an excuse to continue studying, but now that I've graduated, I have no excuse left.

I imagine matchmakers will soon be coming to introduce potential partners.

"I see." Director Yang said with a hint of regret. "Go find him now, no, in a little while, and tell him what I said so that he doesn't need to worry."

"A small third parts factory, the kind of person our third steel rolling mill wants, how could they not give him up!"

“Okay! I’ll go tell him.” Li Kailang didn’t even finish his meal and immediately went to the Third Parts Factory.

After agreeing on the matter with Jin Jianxian, Li Kailang returned to the factory.

"Before Jianxian arrives, I need to get things done in the technical department first."

If a friend is coming to work with us, we should make sure to handle things properly for them, like managing interpersonal relationships, so that we don't come and then come to do nothing if we can't help them.

In the afternoon, Li Kailang continued reviewing the materials.

But my mindset is different now.

Jin Jianxian's promise to join him and Director Yang's strong support acted like a shot of adrenaline, dispelling the initial unease of his arrival.

For his own sake and for Kim Geon-hyun's sake, Lee Kai-lang felt he had a future to look forward to.

Looking at the materials in my hand, I gradually became engrossed, occasionally jotting down some notes.

A soft, dismissive sneer rang out.

Li Kailang looked up and saw it was Engineer Liu, with whom he had a previous conflict.

When Liu saw Li Kailang looking over, he immediately pretended to be nonchalant and walked over. It was obvious that he still held a grudge about what happened back then.

Li Kailang also didn't understand why such a small thing was worth holding a grudge for.

Li Kailang remained calm, pretending not to see anything.

As a fresh graduate who was parachuted in as the "top student in two disciplines," especially with his special background of being transferred from "deputy section chief" to technician, he was bound to become the focus of attention and inevitably faced criticism.

Seeing that Li Kailang ignored him, Engineer Liu felt a little embarrassed, but considering himself an engineer, he naturally wouldn't fuss over such a small matter.

Li Kailang was like an invisible man all afternoon.

Some people from the technical department rushed off to the workshop, while others argued heatedly about the details of the blueprints.

The senior technicians, Zhang, Li, and Chen, were almost always engrossed in their own blueprints, except for occasionally assigning tasks to the younger assistant technicians.

Once you become an engineer, you'll have your own office.

These senior technicians should, in principle, be in the same room as the technicians.

However, considering their skilled expertise, seniority, and the fact that the department had plenty of offices, they were allowed to move to those offices.

Many engineers left the steel rolling mill back then, so much so that several offices are still empty and have become blueprint storage rooms.

"It's good that no one saw it." Li Kailang felt a little relieved that he hadn't been assigned any work.

He made full use of this "neglect" situation, and in addition to studying the materials, he began to observe quietly.

Observe everyone's work habits, observe how they discuss problems, and listen to the technical difficulties revealed in their brief conversations.

You can't overhear what the engineers and veteran technicians are saying; all you hear are the technicians' problems.

If there's anyone in this office who's the most idle, it's probably Engineer Liu. You can see him wandering around from time to time.

Compared to other engineers and veteran technicians, he was the most idle.

Li Kailang was naturally curious about what was going on.

However, since I've just arrived, it's not appropriate for me to inquire about this matter.

at last.

It's almost time to get off work.

Wang Shouye finally looked up from the pile of blueprints, rubbed his throbbing temples, got up to stretch, and left the office.

His gaze swept across the office and landed on Li Kailang, who was sitting by the window.

Seeing the documents spread out in front of him, I couldn't help but nod in satisfaction. He was a technician who got things done.

"Xiao Li," Wang Shouye's voice remained calm and even, "How's the data coming along? Any ideas?"

The office fell silent for a moment.

Curious eyes peeked out from behind a few drawings. Engineer Liu stopped in his tracks, a sneer creeping onto his lips as he waited to see how the newcomer would respond.

Zhao Guoqiang looked nervously at Li Kailang.

Li Kailang stood up and replied neither humbly nor arrogantly, "Director Wang, we are still studying the materials and have no ideas at the moment."

The answer was standard and there were no problems.

In fact, he already had an idea, but to put it forward after only one day of arrival seemed too arrogant.

Whether the idea is good or bad, if the first impression is bad, it will be difficult to change it later. It is better to leave a neutral impression.

It can't be too bad, even at its worst.

Wang Shouyi nodded and offered a few words of encouragement: "You've just arrived, so it's understandable that you don't have any ideas yet. Take a few more days to read the documents and familiarize yourself with the place as soon as possible."

"Our technical department is small, and everyone is usually quite busy. If you have any questions, ask as soon as possible to get them resolved. Don't be ashamed to ask questions; everyone has gone through this process, and technical skills can only improve."

"Understood, Director Wang," Li Kailang nodded in response.

"Alright, if you don't have anything else to do, you can go home now. Oh, by the way, Xiao Zhao."

"Yes!" Xiao Zhao replied.

"Tomorrow, take Xiao Li to visit the workshop. Although Xiao Li works in our factory, there are some workshops he can't enter."

"Take him to the car manufacturing facility tomorrow to familiarize him with the equipment, focusing on the finishing mill and annealing furnace areas. Theory alone is never enough."

"Yes, Director," Xiao Zhao replied.

After saying that, Director Wang went back to his office and continued studying the blueprints.

Everyone lowered their heads and went about their own business.

Xiao Zhao excitedly whispered, "Brother Li, I'll take you tomorrow!"

"Okay, thank you for your help tomorrow."

Jingle Bell--

As the get off work bell rang, the atmosphere in the technical department finally became lively.

Li Kailang packed his things and left first.

The others left only after they finished their own business.

(End of this chapter)