Chapter 1271: Deputy Factory Director Wang

"Xiao Hui:

Seeing your handwriting is like seeing your face.

Your letter has been received; everything at home is fine... Dad says you must study hard, Mom says you must take care of your health; enclosed with this letter is five yuan, do not be too hard on yourself.

There is one more matter I must tell you. Second Aunt introduced a match to me, a technician who repairs machines at the county textile mill; the day after we met for the blind date, he became the head of the machine repair group. He is also a college graduate, having graduated from Anhui Institute of Technology with a major in Mechanical Engineering.

His family owns over two thousand books, which he said he stole back when they were being centrally burned; he stole them twice. He gave me more than twenty books and even helped me outline the college entrance examination and prepare review materials. He said these few years are the easiest time to take the college entrance exam, and it will become increasingly difficult in the future because competition will be more fierce.

He said that as long as I review according to his teachings, I will definitely get into university next year. He also said that if, by that time, the county refuses to let me attend school due to issues of family background, he will cause a huge scene at the government to demand justice for me.

He said he has a bit of influence.

This morning, he rode the factory's motorcycle to our home; he told me the motorcycle was discarded by the County Gongan Bureau because they could not repair it, the textile mill took it over to have him fix it, and he spent over a month repairing the vehicle.

He took me to his home; at noon we ate at the state-run restaurant in the county. All along the way, many people greeted him; when I asked him why, he said...

I cannot describe the feeling he gives me; I only know that being with him feels very natural and harmonious; he possesses extensive knowledge, can trace many matters to their sources, and speaks with great logic. When I asked him why he knows so much, he said to view books and think using the Instructor's ideology, to read history, and to understand what Westerners call philosophy.

Dad says you are too straightforward, unwilling to be flexible, and in this aspect you are not as reasonable as Wang Yan. I also asked Wang Yan for his Qing De Kan Fa on these matters and told him about your situation.

He said knowing right from wrong and having persistence is good, but with limited strength and no ability to resist, mere disgust is of no help to the situation and yields no gain for oneself; this is not a war between two nations, nor an ethnic war, so it is better to act as a spy, to understand, to learn, and to utilize; wait until you have the ability to change things, and as long as you have not forgotten your original intention, it will not be too late to effect change then.

He also said that in university, study is paramount, but beyond studying, one must also pay attention to other matters, maintain relationships with teachers and classmates, and not just with classmates in one's own major; one must also actively befriend classmates from other majors, ensuring at least that they know your name, Song Yunhui; this is very important, as in the life ahead, they will provide you with much help.

I think what he said is very correct, so I am telling you these words, hoping you can learn some experience to help you live and study better.

Since Wang Yan and Second Aunt both work at the textile mill and our homes are less than a hundred meters apart, I thought that since I am already here, it would not be proper not to visit Second Aunt's home..."

In a dormitory at Anyun University, Song Yunhui looked at the letter in his hand, his mood not very beautiful.

Between the lines of his older sister's writing, he saw only two words: liking; it was very obvious she had taken a fancy to this college student from the county town.

Of course, he admitted that based on the information his sister wrote, this person was very impressive and spoke with great logic, yet he still did not want his sister to marry herself off so quickly; he wanted his sister to focus on studying and getting into university.

Because his own attendance at university came at the cost of his older sister giving up her own dreams, he did not want his sister to abandon her pursuit of dreams so easily; how could anyone not want to go to university?

Thus he wielded his brush swiftly, writing a very long letter, urging his sister to think carefully about her lifelong marriage affair and absolutely not make a hasty decision, while simultaneously encouraging his sister to read, review, and pass the college entrance exam, and so on...

Wang Yan did not know that Song Yunhui opposed him becoming a brother-in-law, and even if he knew, it would not matter much, as his opposition would be of no use.

He still went to find Song Yunping whenever Sunday rest arrived, riding the motorcycle to take Song Yunping all around the county town, having already begun touring the county; next, he planned to take Song Yunping to tour the city, as Song Yunping had never been to the city before.

Although the two of them had not spent even ten days together, Song Yunping was no longer as shy as she had been at the start; she had gradually accepted such a relationship, considered to be dating.

Thanks to Wang Yan's former fame as the top hotspot in the county town, many people in the county knew that Wang Yan was dating and approaching marriage; indeed, some people breathed a sigh of relief.

In many people's understanding, marriage signifies maturity, meaning one has grown up and become sensible, although reality is not quite so; even though people of this era mature early, or rather assume social roles quite early, and under many customs the marriage age is also very young, with the legal marriage age stipulated as twenty for men and eighteen for women.

But ultimately, people of this time were not more mature than those still studying on campus forty years later; they were all peers, still thinking of relaxing and playing, it was just that reality was as it was.

Nevertheless, people ultimately hoped Wang Yan would sheathe his sword and store his spear; he was already a college student, and it would be improper to keep catching people and beating them up all day...

Wang Yan was too lazy to pay them any mind; with that time, he would rather stroll around and admire the scenery, which was better than anything; he also wanted to take photographs, but alas cameras were quite expensive; of course he could afford one, and even if he couldn't afford one, he could still afford one, it was just that buying one would be hard to explain; after all, it was not something to secretly consume for oneself, but something to take onto the street to use, consuming film and requiring development.

Money was naturally a small issue for him; if he took a day off to go to the city and communicated with those groups trading tickets on the black market, he could afford any camera...

Therefore, apart from dating Song Yunping, he simply went to work diligently every day.

Also, through his efforts, when snow began to fall in Jiang Nan, the loom he had been tinkering with for a long time was finally completed.

On this day, the factory leaders all gathered in the production workshop, watching as Wang Yan led people in tinkering with the machine that no longer resembled its original form at all.

If one had to say there was any resemblance, it was only that its appearance remained as old and dilapidated as before.

After a while, Wang Yan finished debugging, called a worker over to connect the warp and weft, and after simply starting it, the machine began to operate; with a click, the loom's structure clearly lifted the warp threads one up and one down, then a stream of water shot past at high speed, driving the weft thread to shuttle through, after which the machine operated again, with a click, tightening the weft thread that had just shuttled through, and once again clearly lifting the warp threads...

"What our factory originally used was a shuttle loom; leaders should all know the disadvantages of this type of shuttle loom; in the last century..."

Wang Yan stood to one side, explaining to everyone the history of shuttleless looms and various exploratory research, finally summarizing, "Currently, this machine of ours is a water-jet loom; however, due to limited conditions, its structure is not perfect, and the materials are not good enough, but leaders have all seen its advantages.

However, it has one important disadvantage, which is the severe pollution of water sources, affecting the life and safety of our county's masses.

Leaders must be clear on this point; if our factory were to fully adopt this type of water-jet loom, we would have two major expenditures: first, the renovation of the factory building, and second, sewage treatment; regarding this expenditure, given our factory's conditions, managing the factory renovation would already stretch us thin, and doing sewage treatment well would be even more difficult.

However, there is also some good news; I previously learned that even though the machine before us is crude, in terms of our domestic context, this technology is leading; currently, what we mainly procure are foreign looms, which are also water-jet looms; our loom may not match them in comprehensive strength, but domestically it will definitely not lack buyers, after all, not many factories can afford entirely foreign equipment.

Moreover, our equipment can be upgraded and perfected in the future, it will definitely get better and better, and we might even be able to export!"

"Aiyo, listen to you, the tone of a college student is so grand; is it really as impressive as you kid claim?" the old factory director said, somewhat unable to believe it.

Others followed suit, expressing doubt.

The county town was too backward, and information was relatively closed off; let alone keeping up with the international scene, they could not even align information with domestic industries; perhaps some leaders came from technical backgrounds, but after sitting in offices for too long, detached from continuous learning and progress, their sensitivity continuously declined, so it was understandable that they were unaware.

Wang Yan did not explain further; he waved his hand to summon the worker under him, took two sheets of paper from his hand.

"This sheet contains the parameters of the current loom; this sheet contains the projected data parameters achievable with my personal strength under relatively sufficient conditions."

Slapping the two sheets of paper into the old factory director's hand, Wang Yan said, "Factory Director, over these next few days, you should make some inquiries, preferably finding some knowledgeable people to come here for inspection; by then, we can request funding from the county to begin producing this kind of machine.

Additionally, I have one point to make: everyone in our factory who has decision-making power is here, so we must first unify our understanding; that is, no matter what, this technology must remain in our hands; no matter who comes or who speaks, it will not work; production must also be done by us alone.

This technology is mine; although I am not qualified to attend our factory affairs meetings, I count as a technical leader; on the other hand, although this factory belongs to the county, more importantly, it belongs to all the staff and workers of our textile mill.

Once the production of this water-jet loom is implemented, with so many textile mills across the country, our efficiency will definitely not be poor; then, there will be one matter to prioritize solving.

Many children of our factory's staff and workers have reached working age; they are all our own people, so bring them all in; Old Li, didn't you want to arrange a position for your nephew? If this goes smoothly, I can arrange positions for ten of your nephews; additionally, our factory's pension and medical expenses will be more generous in the future; for staff and workers with enthusiasm who wish to return to their posts, positions will also be arranged, making life better for everyone.

That is the matter; however, once we have money in hand, there will certainly be many other things to do; but the Factory Director said the wind direction from above is about to change, so let us sell machines first and see how the wind blows before deciding; these are some of my personal suggestions, leaders can discuss and study them at a later meeting."

Wang Yan, audacious to the heavens, directly and without any courtesy drew lines for the factory leaders and assigned tasks.

To this, the leaders raised no objections, all nodding with smiles.

Of course, it was impossible for them to have no objections; they simply would never show it, because Wang Yan would truly scold them, making people lose face on the spot, and later would petty-mindedly retaliate; they had power, but not such immense power; dealing with ordinary staff and workers was no problem, but dealing with Wang Yan truly made them tremble.

But they also had to admit that what Wang Yan said made great sense, and the events were extremely likely to occur; absolutely cannot hand over the technology, cannot hand over production tasks to other factories...

The old factory director still knew some people; that very day he called relevant contacts in the city, reporting the various parameters of the single water-jet loom currently in the factory; the next day, a group of people from the City Textile Mill arrived, while the old factory director also summoned officials from the County Administration for Industry and Commerce and the County Head to witness on-site the working efficiency of the machine Wang Yan had modified.

Of course, the county officials came merely to listen to what the people from the city had to say, facilitating the request for money from the county.

Meanwhile, the people who came from the City Textile Mill were mainly discussing with Wang Yan the reliability of the current machine and the feasibility of the other set of perfected loom data.

Wang Yan did not selflessly give lessons to others.

Although everyone belonged to the same faction, times were hard for all of them, and their county town was relatively worse off. He could reveal certain things to let people understand his capabilities, but he could not actively accelerate the research efforts of other textile factories.

He had to secure his own livelihood first before speaking of a nationwide unified plan, before discussing ideals, and before everyone developing together. His stance was rooted in the Jin Ling County Textile Factory; prioritizing the expansion of the Jin Ling County Textile Factory and benefiting all its workers was paramount.

Therefore, he only appropriately revealed some content, making people believe in his strength and trust in the reliability of the water-jet loom he had developed.

At the same time, he negotiated a deal on the spot with the municipal textile factory; they would first purchase one unit, and after verification, they would order ten more. They immediately issued the order form and signed the contract on the spot, promising to transfer the money upon their return.

Thus, after warmly hosting them, the textile factory convened a small meeting with the county leaders and Wang Yan. The theme of the meeting was requesting funds from the county.

"Wang Yan, you explain it: how much money is needed to build this production workshop for the water-jet looms?"

The County Magistrate singled him out; he was also clear about Wang Yan as a person, knowing Wang Yan's exaggerated and fierce track record. Even if he himself was unclear, those around him would inform him.

Wang Yan paused briefly in thought, then opened his mouth to say: "We need a factory building, we need sufficient lathes..."

He recited a long list of equipment, materials, and so on, finally naming a price: "I believe five hundred thousand yuan will be sufficient."

The County Magistrate laughed upon hearing this: "You kid are bullying me for knowing nothing. Many of the parts you mentioned, our county lacks the capacity to produce, but other counties do, and the city does too. We can manufacture screws and nuts ourselves; you only need to produce a few key components and then perform the final assembly. Where is the need for so much money?"

"The factory building is even easier to solve; why build a new one? Our county's Agricultural Machinery Factory is a longstanding difficult problem; with over a hundred workers, they cannot produce any decent machinery, usually just repairing our county's agricultural machines, and sometimes they cannot even fix them properly, requiring people from the city to make a trip. Now it fits perfectly; your textile factory can take over the Agricultural Machinery Factory, and the workers are readily available."

"You also understand technology; I heard that the motorcycle at your factory was repaired by you. Agricultural machinery is not much more complex than a motorcycle. In the future, you keep a portion of the people to guarantee the agricultural machinery work for our county."

"I will personally make a trip to the city to strive to secure some lathe equipment for you. The equipment will certainly be insufficient, but you start production first; for every unit we produce, we sell one, and slowly add more equipment. At that time, we will directly buy good ones, or even import them! Family assets are accumulated just like this. To summarize: we must take big strides, but also be careful not to pull a muscle."

The old factory director's gaze had become very dangerous, sweeping back and forth across the several leaders in the factory.

"Old Qi, you don't need to look at them; no one told me. As an official of our county, if there is a profitable opportunity, I certainly cannot let the city take it away. You definitely do not want other factories in our county to produce it either; it is the same principle. However, since you have found the path and are on the verge of striking it rich, you must also shoulder the responsibility of the advanced assisting the backward."

"You cannot enjoy the help of our county while remaining indifferent to our county's problems. Old Qi, you are an old comrade; your ideological awareness cannot be slackened."

The old factory director smiled and agreed, then immediately turned his gaze toward Wang Yan, seeing what Wang Yan's opinion was.

Thus, the County Magistrate also understood the special status of Wang Yan within the textile factory. He continued speaking: "Wang Yan is one of the few university graduates in our county. Now, relying on the knowledge he has acquired, he has developed a leading-edge water-jet loom, which can solve the problem of declining efficiency in our textile factory and also resolve the longstanding difficult problem of our county. For the national textile industry, this is a major event."

"For him to currently serve as the leader of this maintenance group is a great waste of talent. How about this: we promote based on talent, and since one matter should not trouble two masters, I propose promoting Wang Yan to Deputy Factory Director of our County Textile Factory, taking charge of technology and responsible for the production work of this water-jet loom. Old Qi, what is your opinion?"

"I have no objection." The old factory director nodded.

He had originally intended to promote Wang Yan as well, but he lacked the authority to directly appoint a Deputy Factory Director, so he was merely giving Wang Yan a transitional role first; this was something everyone understood tacitly.

Although the County Magistrate spoke of it as a proposal, in reality, it was equivalent to an appointment; only formal procedures remained to be handled later.

Why was he so accommodating? Naturally, it was because he wanted to leave...

Wang Yan also had no objection; he was not afraid of having many people, but conditions still had to be negotiated.

"County Magistrate, the county cannot simply dump this burden; some support must still be provided. Starting initial production requires a transitional period; profits cannot be made immediately, and various purchases will cost money, so a sum of money is still needed for the transition. How about this: the county provides two hundred thousand yuan."

The County Magistrate shook his head: "The county will provide fifty thousand, and the bank will grant you a loan of one hundred and fifty thousand; let it be settled this way."

He made the final decision. Wang Yan currently did not have the qualification to challenge such an opponent; his accumulation here was not yet sufficient, so naturally, he had no further words.

However, speaking fairly, this was still not bad; the support was not small. After all, the county was not well-off; it was not easy to spare fifty thousand. With a population of over two hundred thousand in the county, people needed food and development; being so impoverished and backward, life was still very difficult.

With matters settled thus, the County Magistrate left the textile factory with a slight sense of anticipation to attend to business, while Wang Yan and the others convened another small meeting.

"Wang Yan, now that we have taken over this mess of the Agricultural Machinery Factory, what shall we do about the children of our factory workers' families?" Old Li remained fixated on the matter of arranging relatives to work in the factory.

But there was no help for it; the county was poor, the leaders of their factory with poor efficiency could not be very wealthy either, nor did they have much power. Everyone was supporting a bunch of poor relatives, and no one's life was easy.

"Let us discuss this after I have secured all the production equipment. Rest assured, the over one hundred people from the Agricultural Machinery Factory will certainly not be enough, as some must be assigned to repair agricultural machinery. It is just that we cannot engage in full-scale production; we do not have enough equipment. We will definitely need people; the more the better; it is merely a question of when. It depends on how much business our people can secure when they go out to solicit orders, and how much money they can bring back."

"Our equipment is not hard to sell, so there is no need to humble ourselves and beg everyone. We can slap the equipment parameters on the table, tell them payment before delivery, and we can get things moving. Once I organize production, within three months, our factory will be utterly transformed."

Wang Yan very naturally took command of the situation, assigning work tasks to the factory leaders, outlining key work priorities, and specifically emphasizing that the upcoming period was crucial for all employees of the textile factory; they must unite as one, overcome difficulties, resolutely carry out all tasks, and ensure implementation.

Regarding Wang Yan's such overstepping of authority, no one expressed the slightest objection; they acknowledged the new power structure within the factory and pledged to resolutely implement all instructions of Deputy Factory Director Wang...