The promise of promotion

  When Lin Zhenhua arrived at Zhu Tiejun's home, Zhu Tiejun was sitting in the house drinking tea and listening to the radio play "Fang Qing Xi Gu", humming along with the song. Upon hearing that Lin Zhenhua had arrived, Zhu Tiejun quickly got up to greet him, inviting Lin Zhenhua to sit on the rattan sofa, and also asked his wife to brew a cup of local green tea for Lin Zhenhua.

  This was Lin Zhenhua's first visit to Zhu Tiejun's home, and he had long heard that Zhu Tiejun was the one with the most simple furnishings among all the factory leaders. At present, many families are gradually adding furniture, and the 48-leg rule not only applies to young people who want to get married but also to economically well-off married couples. Lin Zhenhua secretly counted the number of legs of Zhu Tiejun's home furniture and found that it was far from 48, and if he wanted to make up for 48, he could only count all the small bamboo chairs and so on.

  Lin Zhenhua and Zhu Tiejun are sitting on a pair of rattan sofas, which is the most luxurious furniture in Zhu's home. In between them is a small tea table that looks quite new. What he doesn't know is that this is the only piece of furniture Zhu bought after he retired from the army and moved to the local area. The other furniture in his home, such as the bed and wardrobe, are all old items that Zhu brought back from the army.

  "Kobayashi, when did you get back?" Zhu Tiejun asked.

  "I arrived home in the afternoon and just finished dinner, so I came over to report on work."

  "It's not busy reporting work, you just came back and should rest early." Zhu Tiejun said, "These days at the petrochemical plant, you must be exhausted?"

  "I'm not tired at all, just acting as an interpreter for foreign experts, it's just a matter of moving my lips." Lin Zhenhua said with a smile, "Besides, I have meals with the foreign experts every day, and the food is very good."

  Zhu Tiejun was infected by Lin Zhenhua's emotions and also smiled: "You little Lin, you're really quite interesting. Being able to serve as a translator for foreign experts is such an honorable thing, but you seem to not care at all."

  Lin Zhenhua said: "What's there to worry about? As long as China maintains its open policy, in a few years, we'll have more and more foreigners around us. At that time, going abroad to be a translator will be a chore, not an honor. My ideal is for foreigners to learn Chinese in the future, and those who don't pass the Chinese proficiency test are prohibited from entering the country."

  Zhu Tiejun said: "Your idea is good, but it's still unrealistic for now. We need to import equipment from abroad and ask for help from others."

  Lin Zhenhua said, "Speaking of imported equipment, this is the main thing I came to report to you. Director Zhu, do you remember? I said that we should think of a way to get foreigners to give our factory a CNC milling machine?"

  "Of course I remember," Zhu Tiejun said, "How, did you really succeed?"

  "It's done." Lin Zhenhua said lightly, but in fact he was showing off in his heart, and on the surface he had to pretend to be nonchalant. The more he did so, the more he could show a certain kind of swagger.

  "What you said is true!" Zhu Tiejun was overjoyed, although after Lin Zhenhua told him about this matter, he had some vague expectations, but from a rational point of view, he felt that the possibility was really too small. Now, hearing Lin Zhenhua say that he actually persuaded the foreigner to donate a machine tool to Hanhua Factory, how could Zhu Tiejun not be extremely surprised and delighted?

  "Mr. Ford left the petrochemical plant today and is expected to return to Hong Kong in two days' time. He promised me that as soon as he arrives in Hong Kong, he will send the goods, and at that time, he will mail the delivery note to our factory, with your name as the contact person. We may need to go to Guangzhou to pick up the goods." Lin Zhenhua said calmly.

  "This is great!" Zhu Tiejun said excitedly, "I asked Old Fan about it, he said that CNC machine tools are really great, all operations are automatically controlled by computers, and the efficiency is equivalent to that of a dozen or so fourth-grade workers. In fact, how efficient it is is secondary, the key point is that this represents high-tech, with it, our factory's workers will no longer be frogs in a well, they can also know what new technologies there are in the world."

  "I also think so."

  "Kobayashi, tell me, how did you persuade that Ford?"

  "It's actually quite simple. I was working as a translator for Ford at the time, so I gradually became familiar with that device. Their equipment had a small design flaw, which I happened to discover. So I made some reasonable suggestions to them, and they were very grateful to me. They decided to pay me some compensation. I said, you don't have to pay me compensation, if you really want to thank me, just give our factory one of the devices instead. And so they agreed."

  "A device for over ten thousand dollars, your rationalization suggestion, is it worth that much money?" Zhu Tiejun was somewhat unbelievable.

  Lin Zhenhua said, "Actually, this money is not a lot. They sell over 1,000 machine tools, if they need to be returned for repairs due to defects, wouldn't the repair cost of 1,000 yuan per unit be incurred? Now, they take out $10 from each machine tool and give it to me, which adds up to over 10,000 yuan, enough to buy a piece of equipment. Moreover, the equipment is produced by themselves, selling for over $10,000, but the actual ex-factory price might only be a few thousand dollars, which is negligible for such a large enterprise."

  "You're right." Zhu Tiejun accepted this explanation, but immediately asked again: "Little Lin, logically speaking, this money was earned by you, and as a result, you let them use it to compensate for the machines sent to the factory. Isn't that equivalent to you donating all the money to the factory?"

  Lin Zhenhua hesitated for a moment, saying: "I just didn't dare to take so much money. I let them donate the machine to the factory, which is equivalent to giving the big head to the factory, and I kept a small head for myself."

  "Oh, how much money?" Zhu Tiejun asked with interest, and as soon as he finished asking, he immediately changed his tone, "Forget it, you don't have to tell me. This money is all your hard-earned income, you can have it."

  Lin Zhenhua admired Zhu Tiejun very much in this regard, which was also the reason why he and Zhu Tiejun could get close to each other in a short period of time. Although Zhu Tiejun was from a military background and not familiar with local affairs, and his age was relatively old, his thinking was very liberal, and many leaders thought that things that went against the rules were acceptable to him. Of course, Zhu Tiejun also had his personality flaws, which was being extremely intolerant of evil and unable to tolerate unorthodox practices.

  "Director Zhu, after this CNC machine is delivered back to the factory, who does the factory plan to have operate it?" Lin Zhenhua asked.

  Zhu Tiejun shook his head: "This matter has never been discussed at the factory meeting, and no one knows if you can really get a CNC machine. What's your idea?"

  "Hmm, I have some ideas, but I don't know if I should mention them," said Lin Zhenhua.

  "You won't be thinking of operating it yourself, will you?" Zhu Tiejun guessed, and without waiting for Lin Zhenhua's response, he directly refused: "Little Lin, I won't agree to let you operate the CNC machine."

  "Why?" Lin Zhenhua was puzzled, he had never thought of operating a CNC machine by himself, but Zhu Tiejun's blunt refusal also made him wonder.

  Zhu Tiejun said: "Little Lin, I can see that you are a clever person and have culture in your mind. It's a waste for you to operate a lathe."

  "So that's how it is." Lin Zhenhua felt a bit relieved, "Director Zhu, are you saying I should continue being a porter and occasionally play the role of technical director?"

  Zhu Tiejun burst out laughing: "On the contrary, I'm letting you be the head of the technical department. If you're willing, you can occasionally play the role of a porter."

  "Section Chief of Technology!" Although Lao Lin was mentally tough, he was still shocked this time. "What's wrong? Did Section Chief Fan make a mistake? Won't be that he fell in love with some middle-aged woman at the petrochemical plant and made a mistake in his personal life?"

  Lin Zhenhua thought about it and felt that Fan Shibin could only make a mistake in the matter of flowers. As the head of the technical department, he had no financial power and had no opportunity to be corrupt.

  "What nonsense are you talking about?" Zhu Tiejun scolded with a smile. "Let Old Fan hear it, and he won't fight to the death with you? He's still the head of the technical department, and you go to the technical department as deputy director. There's a bit of a problem with the staffing, so for now, you can only take on the role temporarily, and we'll give you a chance to switch later."

  "Director Zhu, does your word count in this matter?" Lin Zhenhua asked cautiously.

  Zhu Tiejun said: "This matter has been discussed at the factory affairs meeting. This time, the buried welding incident, your contribution is the greatest, Old Fan has been reflecting this situation to the factory affairs meeting for you and asking for credit. In addition, the CNC machine tool thing, I also mentioned it at the factory affairs meeting, several factory directors and secretaries all think that if you really have the ability to get the CNC machine tool, you can be promoted to deputy director of the technical department. Now that you say it's done, just wait for the machine to enter the factory, and then go through the formalities."

  "Let me think for a moment..." Lin Zhenhua's mind was a bit messy. At first, when Zhu Tiejun agreed to let him become a technician, he had flatly refused, because he thought being a technician was not as comfortable as being a porter. But now that there was an opportunity to become the deputy head of the technical department, he was hesitant. After all, he was a master's student in mechanical engineering, and design was his specialty. If he could invent something earth-shattering with his own ingenuity, it wouldn't be a waste of time to cross over into this world.

  "Whatever!" Zhu Tiejun's eyes narrowed, "As a soldier, we take up our guns and go, pack our bags and set off, that's how this matter is settled."

  "Uh, okay." Lin Zhenhua said hesitantly, "Director Zhu, as this deputy director, are there any benefits?"

  Zhu Tiejun said: "Can wages be raised a bit? Not much. What benefits do you want?"

  "Our factory is building a new dormitory, isn't it? As deputy department head, don't I have the qualifications to get one?" Lin Zhenhua said.

  The new dormitory building is the first three-story building of Hanhua Machinery Factory, and it is also the only residential building with a kitchen and bathroom in the suite so far. Compared to the bungalows where Lin Zhenhua and all the workers' families currently live, it has gone up a level. Lin Fanghua had once discussed with Lin Zhenhua what it would be like to live in a building, and at that time, Lin Zhenhua thought that his status was definitely not eligible for a building. Now, looking back, the building seems to be not so far away from him either.

  Lin Zhenhua asked, and Zhu Tiejun fell silent. After a moment's thought, he said: "The matter of allocating housing is the responsibility of Director Jiang. I only have the right to make suggestions. I remember telling you that if you can bring in CNC machine tools for the factory, no matter what conditions you propose, I will fight for them. If you really want a set of rooms, I can speak up for you at the factory affairs meeting. Given your contributions to the factory, rewarding you with a set of rooms is not excessive."

  "That's great!" Lin Zhenhua said with joy, it seems that helping the factory get a CNC machine tool is indeed a correct choice.

  Lin Zhenhua initially wanted to help the factory get a CNC machine just to show off his abilities. He saw Zhu Tiejun and Fan Shibin admiring the CNC machine of the petrochemical plant, which gave him this idea. Later, before formally negotiating with Ford, he was also hesitant for a long time, after all, this machine was deducted from his dividend, equivalent to hundreds of thousands of yuan, which was not something that could be easily given away by a porter like him who earned only 37 yuan per month.

  Lin Zhenhua finally made up his mind because he thought that for a fairly long period of time in the future, he would still need to live in this space at Hanhua Machinery Factory. So making some contributions to the factory would be very beneficial for improving his living environment. With a CNC machine as a foundation, even if he did something wrong in the factory, he wouldn't be criticized. If he made some demands on the factory, they should also be met. Now it seems that this decision was too wise. If he didn't get the CNC machine for the factory, could he have gotten an apartment? Although an apartment isn't worth much money, even if you had the money, where would you buy one?

  Zhu Tiejun seemed a bit unenthusiastic after agreeing to help Lin Zhenhua get the house, perhaps because he felt that this young man's condition was somewhat disappointing. After re-composing his emotions, Zhu Tiejun said: "Little Lin, as long as you have the ability and can make contributions to the factory, the factory will try its best to provide you with good living conditions, you can rest assured of that. As for CNC machine tools, currently only you know how to operate them in the whole factory, after the machines arrive, you need to take responsibility for training two operators, is that okay?"

  Lin Zhenhua hastily nodded: "No problem at all. Actually, what I wanted to say just now was not that I myself want to be an operator, but rather I just wanted to recommend Yang Xin."

  "Yang Xin?" Zhu Tiejun said, "She's just an apprentice worker, is that okay?"

  Lin Zhenhua said: "I think, after the CNC machine tool arrives, we will certainly arrange an experienced worker to operate it. This experienced worker should be examined by the factory to see who is more suitable and then selected. I suggest letting Yang Xin as the second operator, as an assistant to the first operator."

  Zhu Tiejun smiled: "Little Lin, I heard you're getting together with Yang Xin. Looks like it's true."

  Lin Zhenhua was embarrassed: "Director Zhu, this matter has been somewhat misinterpreted. Yang Xin and I have a good relationship since childhood, and Yang Shu's family has taken good care of my siblings, so I want to repay them by taking extra care of Yang Xin, which is also my personal preference. However, there is another reason why I recommended Yang Xin, that is, she is the only young person in the machining workshop, and she can accept new things quickly. The CNC milling machine has both inherited and innovated traditional milling operations, so it's helpful to let young people master it, which will also help the factory establish a second echelon."

  Zhu Tiejun nodded: "This requirement is not excessive, I will consider it. Let Yang Xin do the operation work too, at least when you two are on the road, you can also discuss work, others don't have this condition."

  Ordinary people would still feel embarrassed about making jokes about finding a romantic partner, but Lin Zhenhua from the 21st century is used to it. He continued where Zhu Tiejun left off: "Director Zhu, you said that yourself. We young people can't even find a few decent roads to ride our horses on; if the factory has money, shouldn't we consider fixing up the roads in the factory district?"