Chapter 2302: Good days are ahead

Gu Bing stared at Nian Shihua's receding back until he completely disappeared at the factory gate, then slowly sighed.

"I feel that when dealing with old comrades like Nian Shihua, as long as the problem isn't too big, we should adopt some more gentle methods to handle it. After all, having worked in the factory for so many years and knowing the factory's situation quite well, we also need such old comrades; there's no need to use such intense means."

Zhou Andong didn't respond immediately, but tilted his head slightly, looking at Gu Bing with a smile that wasn't quite a smile, then opened his mouth unhurriedly: "Seek peace through struggle and peace will exist; seek peace through compromise and peace will perish. You shouldn't find this sentence unfamiliar, right?"

Gu Bing didn't speak, just silently nodded slightly. As a child of the compound, he had heard this sentence many times from the elders in his family when he was young.

Zhou Andong paused slightly, then continued: "Peace is the goal we pursue, but to achieve this goal, struggle is an indispensable means."

"Peace is not an absolute state, but a relative one; it needs to be maintained and consolidated through constant struggle. Only after experiencing intense struggle can we truly obtain lasting peace."

"Peace is not begged for; it is fought for. If we only rely on gentle means, attempting to control the woolen mill, that is undoubtedly a pipe dream. Because whether it's Shi Guoqiang or Hu Dajun, or people like Zhang Qun and Dong Dashan, they will not abandon their interests because of our goodwill."

"Therefore, we cannot have the slightest retreat or compromise. Because as long as we show a little weakness, they will immediately bare their fangs like hungry wolves and bite us fiercely."

"Although we are not afraid of their threats, in this way, our energy and time will be consumed in endless struggle, thereby slowing down the progress of the woolen mill's reform, which is something I absolutely cannot tolerate!"

Speaking to this point, Zhou Andong patted Gu Bing's shoulder and was just about to turn back when he suddenly heard a noisy sound and the ringing of bicycle bells.

"Ding-a-ling..."

"Ding-a-ling..."

Zhou Andong looked up and saw a group of people riding bicycles rushing into the factory gate like a gust of wind. Each bicycle was carrying a person on the back seat; there was no need to guess—it must be the school staff.

"They're here!"

Zhou Andong withdrew the foot he had already raised, a smile appearing on his face. In the blink of an eye, the bicycle brigade rushed to the front like a flood, then stopped their cars one by one and jumped off.

"Secretary, Factory Director!"

"Factory Director, Secretary!"

"..."

Greetings rose one after another in the crowd. The appointment notices for Zhou Andong and Gu Bing both had photos attached, and the notices were not only posted on the notice board at the factory gate but also posted at the entrance of each workshop and the school gate, so these staff members recognized them at a glance.

Zhou Andong and Gu Bing waved their hands with smiles, responding to everyone's enthusiastic greetings.

"Secretary, Factory Director!"

A shout came from behind the crowd, and Liu Bo was seen squeezing through the crowd.

Zhou Andong shook hands with Liu Bo and asked with a smile: "Where are Principal Ma and Principal Yuan?"

Liu Bo smiled and said: "Many people don't have bicycles, so Principal Ma and Principal Yuan walked over with them. I reckon they'll be here soon too."

Zhou Andong nodded after hearing this, then raised his volume and shouted to the crowd: "The weather outside is really too hot, everyone go inside first, but the money from the bank hasn't arrived yet, so everyone might need to wait a little while."

"It's okay!" A loud response suddenly came from the crowd. Zhou Andong looked over and saw a thin young man, who shouted with a face full of smiles, "We've waited for three months, a few hours more won't hurt!"

Zhou Andong looked at the crowd in front of him—men and women, fat and thin, but overall they didn't look very old, the oldest estimated to be around forty or fifty.

Their clothing was very simple; the colors were either gray or black, and some even had patches on their trousers.

And standing in front of Zhou Andong, a middle-aged teacher wearing myopia glasses was wearing a white shirt, the collar of which was frayed, but it was washed very clean.

Of course, among this group, there were also a few young men and women dressed quite well, looking bright and beautiful, dressed very fashionably.

These people should have better family conditions, either their spouses worked in other units, or they hadn't married yet and were still relying on their parents.

These few fashionably dressed young men and women standing among the gray and black crowd looked particularly eye-catching, as if they were a touch of green in a sea of flowers, adding a bit of vitality and energy to the whole scene.

A surge of indescribable sourness welled up in Zhou Andong's heart. If this were in a county town or an impoverished area, where people's living conditions were difficult, such a situation might not be rare.

However, this was the capital! And these people were all staff of the woolen mill's factory-run school. They should have enjoyed relatively better living conditions and treatment, yet they couldn't even fill their stomachs now.

Zhou Andong looked around and saw that the complexions of most of the staff were somewhat pale, even carrying a sallow color. This was obviously not a normal healthy state, but caused by long-term malnutrition and life pressure, and all of this was the evil created by Shi Guoqiang and Hu Dajun.

"Comrades!" Zhou Andong shouted loudly: "I don't know if Principal Liu, Principal Ma, and Principal Yuan have told you about the Party Committee's next work focus. Here, I will first give you a solemn promise. From now on, your wages will be equal pay for equal work with the frontline staff!"

"Our principal has already told us." The young man who spoke earlier came to Zhou Andong: "Factory Director, I'm not married yet, don't even have a partner, and my parents haven't retired yet, so even if I don't get wages, I won't starve to death.

But there are many teachers in our school who are couples; their days are not so easy, especially those whose spouses don't have jobs. That life is truly too difficult."

Zhou Andong listened quietly to the young man's words, and after he finished speaking, he nodded slowly and then opened his mouth to say: "I already know everything; I understand everyone's situation.

Next, my key work is to solve the problem of insufficient school buildings and classrooms, as well as the staff dormitory problem. If these problems aren't solved, everyone's life will definitely be greatly affected."

Speaking to this point, Zhou Andong paused. His gaze swept across the crowd, and then, he continued in a firm tone: "Therefore, please believe me, I will definitely do my best to solve these problems. Your good days are ahead; they will come very soon!"

Someone in the crowd shouted loudly: "Factory Director, we all believe in you very much. If you say good days are coming soon, then it must be true."

Someone echoed: "Yes, Factory Director, we absolutely only believe in you, and of course the Secretary too."

At this time, an angry shout came: "Those two dog-mother-born bastards Shi Guoqiang and Hu Dajun stopped our wages, making us unable to even eat a full meal. But as soon as you came, you not only solved our wage suspension problem but also want equal pay for equal work with factory staff. If we don't believe in you, can we believe in those two dog-mother-born bastards Shi Guoqiang and Hu Dajun?"

Then someone else said excitedly: "Secretary, Factory Director, you must thoroughly investigate Shi Guoqiang and Hu Dajun. They only know how to scoop money into their own pockets and don't care about the life or death of us teachers at all.

The woolen mill becoming what it is now must be them making trouble in the middle, emptying the factory's funds. You must investigate them well, and other factory leaders too; not one of them is clean."

For a time, everyone responded one after another, accusing Shi Guoqiang and Hu Dajun in a jumble. The whole scene instantly turned into a criticism meeting against Shi Guoqiang and Hu Dajun, everyone saying one thing after another, their emotions becoming increasingly excited.

But if one observed carefully, one would find that in this crowd of righteous indignation, those who were cursing Shi Guoqiang and Hu Dajun and strongly demanding their investigation were basically young people. As for those who were a bit older, they all stood silently to the side and did not participate in the denunciation.

Just at this time, those who had walked over arrived one after another. Zhou Andong raised his head, his gaze swept over everyone, and then he smiled and raised his hand, pressing it down: "Alright, alright, the weather outside is really too hot, everyone go inside quickly, the corridor will be relatively cooler."

"Let's go!" The young man shouted loudly: "It's really hot as hell outside, let's go inside and wait."

Thus, those who arrived first walked into the building one after another, and others who walked over also arrived one after another.

Zhou Andong noticed that there were quite a few older teachers among these people, and many of them had graying temples.

Even more so, there were several white-haired old men who looked at least seventy years old, estimated to be retired and then rehired by the school.

"Dear teachers!" Zhou Andong stood at the entrance and shouted loudly again, "Go inside quickly, wait inside, don't stand outside."

Following his shout, people walked into the building one after another, and finally only Zhou Andong, Gu Bing, Liu Bo, Ma Qingmin, and Yuan Liying were left.

Zhou Andong said to Gu Bing: "Secretary, you and Principal Ma and Principal Yuan go to the Finance Department. There are too many people; although they are all teachers and have quality, it would be bad if any problems arise. I and Principal Liu will go to the secondary vocational department to take a look and see the teaching building."

"Okay!" Gu Bing smiled and said to Ma Qingmin and Yuan Liying: "Principal Ma, Principal Yuan, let's go in too."

Watching them enter the factory department, Zhou Andong took out a cigarette from his pocket and handed it to Liu Bo, then took out his lighter to light it for Liu Bo.

"Factory Director, I'll do it myself." Liu Bo waved his hand hurriedly: "I have a light!"

"Come on, what's the courtesy of lighting a cigarette." Zhou Andong lit the cigarette for Liu Bo, then lowered his head to light one for himself, and took a deep drag: "Let's go!"

The predecessor of the woolen mill was the Puli Woolen Company, and the company's office building stood there like an old man who had experienced the vicissitudes of life, silently witnessing the century-old history and vicissitudes of the woolen mill, and also witnessing countless stories that had happened.

This two-story building had now lost its former glory and looked dilapidated. The wall skin peeled off, revealing the bricks and stones inside, as if telling people about the wind and rain it had experienced.

The wooden structure was also damaged due to the erosion of time, and some places were even already crumbling. And the iron sheet had also rusted, presenting a mottled rust color, making people feel the old age and fragility of this small building. However, it was these traces left by time that recorded the former glory and vicissitudes of this small building.

It witnessed the changes of the times and also carried the memories of countless people. This two-story building was a typical brick-wood mixed structure building from the Republic of China period. Its design was unique, blending Chinese and Western architectural styles.

The doors and windows adopted foreign designs, with simple and smooth lines, showing the fashion and modernity of the time. And the masonry method of the wall bricks was the traditional Chinese three-stretch-one-horizontal, which not only made the wall stronger but also reflected the exquisite craftsmanship of traditional Chinese architecture. The column height of the small building was about 7 meters, the roof ridge was about 10 meters high, and the total construction area reached 540 square meters.

Zhou Andong stood quietly in front of this two-story building, his gaze fixed on it, as if time had frozen at this moment, and he could clearly feel the history carried by this small building.

The reason Zhou Andong chose to come to the secondary vocational department first was that this old office building was closer; turning left out of the factory gate and walking a few hundred meters, he was there.

Liu Bo stood beside Zhou Andong and said with great emotion: "My parents both worked at the woolen mill, and when they just started working, the factory department was here. In addition, I have three younger sisters and two younger brothers, counting my brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, the whole family of more than ten people are all woolen mill staff. It can be said that the woolen mill supported our whole family for three generations."

Zhou Andong stepped to a window, where a class was in session. When he approached the window, a male student sitting by the window noticed him, first baring his teeth and smiling at him, and then when his gaze swept over Liu Bo behind Zhou Andong, the guy's smile instantly disappeared, replaced by a slightly nervous expression.

Then he quickly turned his head away, and his previously slightly hunched waist involuntarily straightened up, his eyes fixed on the blackboard, his face presenting a look of full concentration and attentive listening.

Zhou Andong couldn't help but laugh 'heh', raised his hand, and patted the exposed wall bricks lightly: "I originally planned to tear down this building and build a teaching building on the original site."

"But when I truly stood here and looked at this building, I suddenly felt that I couldn't do this. Because this office building witnessed the century-old history and vicissitudes of the woolen mill, and it carries too many memories and stories. If it were just torn down like this, it would be too much of a pity."

Zhou Andong turned and walked toward the entrance of the small building, saying as he walked: "Therefore, I decided to keep this building. After our factory has enough funds, we must carry out professional restoration, preserve its original appearance as much as possible, and then build this small building into our woolen mill's story museum, so that future generations can understand the development process of the woolen mill and the stories that once happened here."

"This idea is good, our factory really has many, many moving stories." Liu Bo looked somewhat excited: "I grew up here since I was a child, and I am infinitely familiar with every brick, every tile, and every piece of soil here. They witnessed every moment of my growth and also carried the memories and emotions of our generation."

He took a deep breath and continued: "Especially my parents' generation, they dedicated their youth to the woolen mill. Every corner here left their figures."

"Therefore, their feelings and love for the woolen mill are not something ordinary people can imagine. If we can really build this building into the woolen mill's story museum, they will definitely be very happy."

"Ding-a-ling..."

Just at this time, the bell for the end of class rang, and the sound of desks and chairs moving and the harsh sound of table legs rubbing against the floor came from the teaching building. Immediately after, the previously quiet teaching building seemed to have been ignited, instantly becoming lively. Shouts, laughter, and playful sounds intertwined, rising one after another.

"Youth is really good!" Looking at the children rushing out of the teaching building, Zhou Andong said with great emotion.

Liu Bo's mouth twitched. Your age isn't big either, right? The appointment notice says you are only twenty-eight this year, so why are you acting so old-fashioned? However, he thought this in his heart, but didn't dare to say it, and even nodded in agreement.

"They are just at the age of being carefree."

"Principal!"

A fashionably dressed, young and beautiful-looking girl, stepping on high heels and carrying a small bag, ran out of the teaching building and then saw Liu Bo standing at the entrance.

"Have the wages been paid?"

Liu Bo smiled and said: "Paid, go over."

"That's great!" The girl ran two steps, then suddenly stopped, then turned her head abruptly, pointing at Zhou Andong: "Zhou... Zhou..."

Liu Bo couldn't help but say: "Factory Director!"

The girl looked pleasantly surprised, turned around, and walked back: "Oh my, it's really Chairman Zhou!"

Liu Bo reminded: "It's our Factory Director!"

"No!" The girl said excitedly: "It's Chairman Zhou!" ===== CHAPTER 2303 =====