The Fiery Era: Becoming an Industrial Giant

Chapter 49 Sending a Letter to Send Early New Year Greetings

"Your unit has also given out quite a lot. Your benefits are almost as good as mine as a deputy section chief."

Zhou Zhiqiang took the flour bag, three pounds of pork ribs, and water cups and kettles, which finally put Guo Yuting at ease.

"I was recognized as an outstanding individual this year, and I have to say it's all thanks to you, Zhiqiang!"

Guo Yuting said with a smile, "Your suggestions have brought our hospital a lot of recognition. In addition to the New Year's gifts for the staff, there are also awards for outstanding individuals."

The kettle and water cup were the reward for outstanding individuals, and they also received an extra three kilograms of flour.

Although their family doesn't lack this, it's an honor that made Guo Yuting smile all day at the hospital.

"Our factory's supplies have been delivered, so we can eat refined grains every day during the Spring Festival."

After Zhou Zhiqiang put the flour and meat away, he walked out of the kitchen and said to Guo Yuting, "Yuting, I'm planning to write a letter to Dad and send him some things. Although they don't lack money, they certainly don't have the same convenience with ration coupons as we do here."

"Okay, then I'll write one too!"

Upon hearing this, Guo Yuting's eyes lit up. Her father had always said that he just wanted her to be safe and sound and didn't expect her to achieve anything.

Write him a letter now and tell him that your daughter has won the Outstanding Individual Award. See if he will be surprised.

"It seems my little nephew is about to be born, should I send them some milk powder coupons and canned food coupons?"

"This won't work; it won't be usable even if we send it over."

Zhou Zhiqiang shook his head and said, "These tickets are regional tickets, they can't be used outside of Beijing, and we can't get tickets from the Northwest."

I'll go exchange some national grain coupons tomorrow and send them over. They're universally accepted; my father-in-law in the Northwest can use them to exchange for milk powder coupons.

However, Zhou Zhiqiang felt that his father-in-law and brother-in-law's family would not lack milk powder. Although there was a shortage of supplies in the Northwest, one of them was a professor who was assisting in the construction, and the other was an officer from the Production and Construction Corps.

Milk powder is indeed difficult for ordinary people to obtain, but they should have no problem getting it.

However, even though my father-in-law and brother-in-law are not lacking in anything, they should still show their appreciation.

The father-in-law also helped a lot with their wedding, providing many of the major items, and even buying him a new watch and a bicycle.

"Ugh"

Guo Yuting suddenly sighed, prompting Zhou Zhiqiang to ask curiously, "Why are you sighing all of a sudden? Did someone at the hospital upset you again?"

"No, it's just that my sister-in-law is about to give birth, and we haven't made any progress at all?"

Guo Yuting touched her lower abdomen with some displeasure; it was still perfectly flat.

She used to be a little resistant to having children, but after getting married, she heard a lot of other people talking about it at the hospital, mostly about everyday family matters.

Moreover, Guo Yuting is currently very fond of Zhou Zhiqiang and wants to have a child with him, but unfortunately, she hasn't gotten pregnant yet.

"Oh, we can just try a little harder. And I heard it's also related to the position, so let's try some other ones tonight."

"Ugh, don't try to lie to me~"

Although her words were full of rejection, Guo Yuting's tone wasn't too harsh; she was the kind of person who could be persuaded to listen obediently with just a few words of advice in the evening.

After chatting in the courtyard for a while, Zhou Zhiqiang went to get busy.

The next morning was also the first day of the holiday.

After Zhou Zhiqiang prepared breakfast, he woke up his wife, and the two ate and then went out together.

There were still quite a few things to prepare before the New Year. After returning from the supply and marketing cooperative, Zhou Zhiqiang also needed to go to the pigeon market to exchange for a batch of national grain coupons.

Fortunately, with the year-end approaching, there are a lot of people coming to the pigeon market, and since the ticket system has only recently been implemented, checks aren't very strict yet. If it's a few years later, the pigeon market will be cracked down on, and people wanting to exchange tickets will gradually have to turn to the black market.

It was already noon when we got back from Pigeon City.

When Zhou Zhiqiang pushed the cart home, his wife had already prepared dinner. Guo Yuting was carrying the dishes out when he parked the car.

"Zhiqiang is back, how was it?"

Zhou Zhiqiang said, "There are quite a few people scrambling for national grain coupons. I had to pay an extra two yuan to get them. They weigh fifty jin in total. I'll send them over together later."

The national grain coupons also came with oil; the fifty jin of national grain coupons he bought could be exchanged for one jin of oil.

You can get a lot of good things there in the Northwest.

Zhou Zhiqiang then took out another paper bag and said with a smile, "I also bought you half a pound of milk candy."

Upon hearing this, Guo Yuting's face lit up with joy, but then she said reproachfully, "Didn't you say you weren't going to buy it? I'm not a child anymore."

Zhou Zhiqiang said, "If you like it, then buy it. Besides, I like it too. We both earn a little over a hundred yuan a month now, so it's not like we can't afford half a pound of milk candy."

The couple's combined salary is 125 yuan, and their average monthly expenses are only about 20 yuan, sometimes a little more than 30 yuan. They save the rest.

They can't spend money now because they need tickets, so they can only save it up.

"Yuting, why don't you visit Professor Zhang Deli, your father-in-law's friend, this afternoon? Professor Zhang gave me a lot of help when we were working on a project together before."

After washing his hands, Zhou Zhiqiang sat down at the dining table and began to speak while eating.

"Professor Zhang Deli? I've never heard my father mention him, and I don't think he knows him."

"I didn't know him at first, I had only heard his name. Later, he came to me directly because of a project."

Zhou Zhiqiang paused for a moment, then continued, "I am able to get most of the credit for this project thanks to Professor Zhang's strong support."

Besides, I have something I want to discuss with Professor Zhang. Shall we go over there after we finish writing the letter to my father-in-law?

Zhou Zhiqiang was already quite satisfied with being promoted directly to deputy section chief, plus the additional vouchers and bonuses.

Furthermore, Zhou Zhiqiang plans to develop and manufacture small hand-held tractors after the New Year. The diesel engine used in these tractors can also be used to develop many small agricultural machinery and equipment.

Their factory will definitely need a lot of technical personnel by then, but the people in the technical department right now are not very qualified.

With such a weak foundation, Zhou Zhiqiang was hesitant to entrust many projects to them.

Therefore, Zhou Zhiqiang planned to mention this matter when he paid his New Year's visit in advance, hoping that Zhang Deli could recommend some of his students to Dafeng Machinery Factory.

He had dealt with Zhang Deli's students before. They had solid mechanical skills and were very enthusiastic about their work. They would do whatever they were asked to do, and if they couldn't do it, they would find a way to do it well.

Even if he couldn't get a job at Dafeng Machinery Factory after graduation, Zhou Zhiqiang hoped to borrow it before graduation.

It would be even better if he could be assigned here after graduation, but Zhou Zhiqiang knew that would be difficult unless Professor Zhang Deli pulled some strings.

He was able to get assigned to Dafeng Machinery Factory only because his father-in-law, Guo Linhua, used his connections; otherwise, he would definitely have been assigned to another place.

Guo Yuting readily agreed: "Sure, I'll buy some gifts first!"

After finishing their meal, the couple rested for a while before going to the study to write a letter to Guo Linhua.

However, she wrote the letters separately. Zhou Zhiqiang wanted to see his wife's letters, but she hid them very well.

When it came time to seal the envelopes, Guo Yuting insisted on sealing them herself.

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(End of this chapter)