The Fiery Era: Becoming an Industrial Giant

Chapter 95 Deputy Section Chief Chen Wants a Handout [Seeking Monthly Tickets]

The night was pitch black, and only a few streetlights were on at the entrance of Dafeng Agricultural Machinery Equipment Factory, but they couldn't illuminate very far.

These days there's a severe power shortage, and factories only turn on their lights at night because of patrols to guard important materials.

The houses had no lights at all; if there was any light, it was from candles.

Zhou Zhiqiang pushed his bicycle out of the factory gate and was just about to pedal home when he heard someone call his name.

Section Chief Zhou

Zhou Zhiqiang turned around and saw Chen Li sitting in a jeep, calling to him through the open window.

Having worked with Chen Li for some time, this was the first time Zhou Zhiqiang had ever seen her ride in a jeep.

After pushing his bicycle closer, Zhou Zhiqiang asked, "Is there anything I can help you with, Deputy Section Chief Chen?"

Chen Li asked calmly, "It's too dark, do you need a ride home?"

"Thank you, Deputy Section Chief Chen, but it's no trouble at all. I've been riding my bike home these past few days. It's fast; I can get there in no time."

Zhou Zhiqiang paused for a moment, then continued, "If there's nothing else, I'll head back now, Deputy Section Chief Chen."

Seeing Chen Li shake her head, Zhou Zhiqiang pushed off with his foot and rode away on his bicycle.

Once the figure was out of sight, the middle-aged man in the front seat of the jeep turned around and asked, "Is this the section chief you were talking about, the one who's particularly smart but a bit lazy?"

"No, he's not that kind of lazy. I misunderstood him before."

Chen Li explained that she had previously thought Zhou Zhiqiang was pushing all the work onto her because he was lazy.

But I only learned today that Zhou Zhiqiang was busy developing and designing a small seeder all by himself, and he drew hundreds of drawings from the principles to the structural scheme and component design.

Chen Li's previous misunderstandings about Zhou Zhiqiang completely disappeared after seeing the blueprints for the small seeder.

"He is indeed very intelligent. When he approached, he seemed to glance at the front of the car, and then refused very decisively. He seems to be a person who focuses on getting things done and hates trouble."

The middle-aged man smiled and said, "Lili, learn from him. You can learn a lot from him."

Chen Li was unhappy that her father said she was not as good as others, but she couldn't refute it. She was indeed not as good as Zhou Zhiqiang, so she could only turn her head and say, "Let's go home."

"Let's drive, Xiao Zhao."

The middle-aged man instructed the driver to drive, then turned to the driver and said, "I can't pick you up often, so starting tomorrow, let your brother pick you up."

Your factory is the same; you make us work overtime for three or four months straight without considering what happens to the female employees when they get home late from work.”

“Dad, women can hold up half the sky too. What men can do, I can do too.”

After saying this, Chen Li made a decision and said, "I will apply to the factory for dormitory accommodation tomorrow. I will live in the factory for the next few months and go home on weekends."

"Nonsense!"

The middle-aged man scolded, "Then what about your mother? She can't sleep because she's worried about you not coming home."

"I'll talk to her about it later, but the factory is really busy!"

Chen Li said with determination, "Anyway, I won't desert my post. The factory needs us technicians to train apprentices. Section Chief Zhou's wife is pregnant and he didn't even ask for leave to go back. I certainly won't desert my post."

"Dad, don't try to persuade me about this. There are female workers in the factory's dormitory; I can rest well there."

She's not here to bask in the glory; she's here to create it.

Chen Li is stubborn, and once she gets stubborn, no one can change her mind. Zhou Zhiqiang saw this on the first day, so he always tried to appease her and use verbal traps to make Chen Li fall into them and not be able to get out, and then feel embarrassed to back out.

Seeing that his daughter was being stubborn, the middle-aged man didn't want to try to persuade her any further in the car, so he decided to go home first and talk to her later.

—————— “Zhiqiang, you’re back.”

Zhou Zhiqiang had just parked his bicycle in the yard when he saw his wife, Guo Yuting, walking out of the main house, supporting her pregnant belly.

"Didn't you say you didn't need to wait for me? If you're tired, you should rest early."

“Pingping just left not long ago, and I can’t sleep either.”

As Guo Yuting spoke, she remembered the things that had been delivered that afternoon and quickly said, "Zhiqiang, your factory's deputy director An had the driver deliver three large bags of things today, and they're all in the storage room now."

"It's too heavy for me to handle. Go and see what's inside."

"Okay, I'll go pack. But I just remember asking him to bring some baby formula. Did he buy anything else?"

As Zhou Zhiqiang spoke, he walked toward the storage room. The room where they used to store miscellaneous items and old furniture was in the front yard. Now, their family had separated their grain and miscellaneous items for storage.

The cellar has some protective measures in place to allow the grain to be stored for a longer period of time.

"Wow, this is rice and flour, over a hundred pounds, plus oil and sugar. Quite a lot."

Zhou Zhiqiang opened all the contents of the three large sacks and was surprised to see what Deputy Factory Director An had brought.

You've given away way too much!

He was just thinking of bringing a few cans of milk powder and paying extra for it, but he didn't expect An Xiangjie to send so much at once, including rice, flour, oil, meat, and candy.

A whole bag of flour, probably fifty pounds, rice, and a jar of oil, about ten pounds.

There were 20 jin of brown sugar and white sugar combined, plus five cans of milk powder and ten strips of dried cured meat, each weighing about two jin.

There are quite a lot of things. If Zhou Zhiqiang were to buy all of these things himself, it might take him more than half a year to gather them all.

However, considering that An Xiangjie was going to the south for a large-scale procurement, Zhou Zhiqiang's personal and official large-scale procurements were simply incomparable.

"Zhiqiang, why would that Deputy Factory Director An send you so many things?"

Guo Yuting, who was standing to the side, was shocked when she saw these things. Even with the receipts, these items would cost two or three hundred yuan in total, and the five cans of milk powder alone cost more than a hundred yuan.

Without tickets, even 500 yuan might not be enough to buy everything. Why would a factory leader suddenly give them so many things?
"You want to show me your affections."

Zhou Zhiqiang could guess what An Xiangjie wanted to do, but he couldn't figure out why An Xiangjie was being friendly to him.

After thinking for a moment, Zhou Zhiqiang turned to Zhou Zhiqiang and said, "Don't worry, keep these things for now. You're about to give birth, and you'll need these nutrients."

Sending them back would definitely be difficult; it would be too conspicuous for him to be riding his bike with sacks on it, unless An Xiangjie drives over to pick them up.

However, Zhou Zhiqiang agreed to buy milk powder as a side dish, but the other party gave him a little extra and then had it taken away. Isn't this obviously making an enemy?

Keep them. With these, Zhou Zhiqiang will have to make fewer trips to the pigeon market. Zhou Zhiqiang will remember this favor and find a chance to repay it later.

If he really has no chance to repay it, then he will remember it for the rest of his life.

Zhou Zhiqiang made several trips before he was able to move the rice, flour, oil, and meat into the cellar, and then put the milk powder and sugar in the cabinet in the main house and locked them away.

Only Zhou Zhiqiang and Guo Yuting had the keys to the cellar and the cabinets inside the house; they couldn't have been lost unless the locks were forcibly broken.

After finishing these tasks, Zhou Zhiqiang washed up and went to bed to rest.

Lately, I just collapse into bed as soon as I get home. I'm so busy at the factory, working for over ten hours straight with intense concentration. When I get home at night, I simply don't have the energy to do anything else.

　Asking for a monthly ticket!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)