Chapter 2319

As soon as Zhou Andong turned into Chenggen Road, he saw a lamp head hanging on a branch of the old locust tree, illuminating the surroundings as bright as day. Under the tree, quite a few people were gathered; they were all workers from the construction team. Some were playing cards, some were playing chess, and the rest were watching the fun.

These workers rented places quite far away. If they took the bus, they couldn't bear the fare. If they rode bicycles, it would take more than an hour or even two hours, and three or four hours were wasted on the road every day.

So, when they saw that these houses were empty, they found the boss, Liu Zhanyong, and told him about this matter, hoping to live here, so Liu Zhanyong found Tang Lin.

For this request, Tang Lin agreed very readily. Anyway, the houses were empty, so if they were willing to live there, let them; it wouldn't delay the renovation of the houses. By the time the interior renovation started, the exterior project would likely be finished.

Moreover, if the workers lived here, not only could they rest earlier at night, but they could also sleep a little longer in the morning, without wasting time on the road, so they could have more energy when working and do more work. As the saying goes, convenience for others is convenience for oneself, as long as they didn't damage the rooms.

Zhou Andong and Gu Bing walked over. Someone noticed them and hurriedly greeted them enthusiastically: "Zhou Dong, Zhou Dong..."

Zhou Andong waved his hand with a smile to respond, then took half a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and started handing them out, but there were quite a few people, and this half pack wasn't enough to go around. Wang Wentian took two packs of cigarettes from the car, Zhou Andong took them, and handed out another pack.

"Tired after working all day? It's almost nine o'clock, why not rest yet?" Zhou

A man in his forties took out a lighter and lit the cigarette: "It's stuffy and hot in the room, can't sleep at all, so everyone plays cards and chess to kill time."

Zhou Andong nodded, looked at the few people playing cards, with small change of one or two mao piled in front of them, and asked with a smile: "How is it, who won?"

"I won!" A young man about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old raised his hand excitedly: "They are no match for me!"

Zhou Andong was amused and asked curiously: "How much did you win?"

The young man casually shuffled the small change in front of him: "Hmm... probably eight or nine yuan."

"Not a small win!"

Zhou Andong nodded. In this era, working as a manual laborer in an engineering team, the daily wage was only eight or nine yuan. Although this was the capital and the wage might be slightly higher, it shouldn't be too much higher.

"You guys continue playing, I'm heading back first." Zhou Andong waved to everyone, turned around, and left with Gu Bing.

The landscape lights in Anqiu Hutong were also very bright, and the entire hutong was illuminated brightly. Three security personnel on duty at the gate saw Zhou Andong walking over, immediately stood straight, raised their hands to salute. Zhou Andong nodded with a smile, casually threw the remaining pack of cigarettes in his hand to them, and then stepped into the gate.

Entering the courtyard, besides the chirping of crickets, one could hear the sound of television and chatting coming from the rooms. Clearly, everyone hadn't slept yet.

Arriving at the fourth courtyard, Zhou Andong said to Gu Bing: "I'm going to the back building to see the child, and I'll be back in a while."

Gu Bing asked with some doubt: "Are you also staying in the guest room?"

Zhou Andong answered without stopping: "Your aunt and Qiuqiu are staying together, which is convenient for taking care of the child."

Watching Zhou Andong's disappearing back, Gu Bing entered the guest room. It was indeed a bit stuffy, so he picked up a chair, put it by the water pool in the courtyard, sat down, and lit a cigarette.

At this time, Gu Minglan was washing diapers in the bathroom. Hearing the door open, she turned her head to look and saw her son-in-law had returned. Without hesitation, she threw the diapers in her hand into the water pool, then wiped her hands, walked out of the bathroom quickly, and asked with concern.

"First day of work today, how was it?"

Zhou Andong stood in front of the crib, looking at his daughter sleeping soundly, his eyes filled with tenderness and love.

"Very good!"

Zhou Andong said softly, then reached out and poked lightly on his daughter's tender little face.

Seeing Jian Qiu got off the bed, walked to Zhou Andong's side, and asked with a smile: "Very good? Specifically, how was it good?"

Zhou Andong bent down slightly, leaned close to his daughter's cute little face again, and kissed her lightly on the face.

At this very moment, only a 'pop' sound was heard, and his daughter's little hand slapped lightly on Zhou Andong's face. Then her little mouth moved, probably dreaming of drinking milk.

Zhou Andong couldn't help but chuckle: "You little thing, you actually dare to hit your dad!"

Seeing Jian Qiu watched this scene from the side and couldn't help but laugh: "Serves you right, when she was sleeping soundly, you insisted on kissing her; if she doesn't hit you, who would she hit!"

Zhou Andong carefully stretched out his finger and pinched his daughter's little face lightly. The little one's hand swiped around again, seemingly protesting this sudden attack.

"Oh my!" Seeing Jian Qiu on the side saw this, and said angrily, patting Zhou Andong's arm: "If you wake her up, you're responsible for coaxing her when she cries."

Zhou Andong hurriedly retracted his hand, not daring to tease the little one again, fearing he would really wake her up. Afterward, Zhou Andong tiptoed out of the bedroom and sat on the sofa in the living room.

Gu Minglan and Seeing Jian Qiu also followed out, sitting on the left and right opposite Zhou Andong, their gazes falling on him simultaneously, clearly waiting for him to tell them about his first day of work.

"Today, at the appointment and removal meeting, I made some adjustments to the leaders' assigned work, and also established a new department..."

Zhou Andong simply said a few things, including the teachers of the factory school having their wages suspended for three months.

Gu Minglan's face was gloomy: "This Shi Guoqiang and Hu Dajun are too outrageous, simply bastards. The Woolen Mill staff can be paid basic wages, and the school teachers being paid half wages is enough, but they actually suspended them. There must be ulterior motives here. Dongzi, you must investigate this matter strictly. If there is really a problem, you must punish them strictly."

"They have many problems, not just this matter." Zhou Andong snorted: "The financial audit of the Woolen Mill has already started. I believe that it won't take long for some problems to be exposed."

Seeing Jian Qiu looked at Zhou Andong and said with some worry: "First day of work, and you already handled the Finance Department's section chief. Isn't that a bit too fast?"

"The situation at the Woolen Mill is much more serious than we anticipated."

Zhou Andong subconsciously touched his pocket, wanting to smoke a cigarette. When his hand touched his empty pocket, he suddenly remembered that he had given the cigarettes to the security guard on duty at the gate.

"As early as when the news spread that I was going to be the Factory Director, they had already started plotting in secret. Therefore, we must act decisively, cut the Gordian knot, completely disrupt their plans, and absolutely not give them any time to breathe or react."

Gu Minglan, sitting to the side, watched her son-in-law quietly, her eyes revealing full appreciation and pride. Regarding Zhou Andong serving as the Factory Director of the Woolen Mill and leading the reform of the Woolen Mill, she had always been full of confidence. But she also hadn't expected that her son-in-law would open up the situation so quickly on his first day in office.

Such ability, such means—let alone the younger generation, even among their generation, I'm afraid not many people could do it. As for Jian Minglang and the others, compared to Zhou Andong, they were no longer at the same height.

Not to mention anything else, even if you bundled Jian Mingqi, Jian Mingzhi, and Jian Minglang together and put them in the Woolen Mill, I'm afraid they would have been wiped out, let alone opening up the situation so quickly.

"By the way!" Seeing Jian Qiu suddenly remembered something and said: "Man Zong and the others have arrived in the capital and bought tickets to Xiangjiang the day after tomorrow."

"August 20th, Xurishang goes public, still half a month away." Zhou Andong nodded and said with great emotion: "It's truly not easy; it can be described as full of twists and turns, but fortunately, we finally reached this step smoothly, which can be considered good things come after much hardship."

Seeing Jian Qiu asked with a smile: "Such a big thing, as the Chairman, aren't you going to Xiangjiang?"

Zhou Andong shook his head slightly: "I just took over the Woolen Mill, there are too many things, and I can't get away. However, on August 15th, I do have a gift for Elder Man."

"What gift?" Seeing Jian Qiu asked, and immediately reacted: "I know."

Gu Minglan on the side saw this and couldn't help but feel somewhat confused, looking at her daughter and son-in-law, and asked curiously: "What riddles are you two playing? Can you speak openly if you have something to say, don't be so secretive!"

Zhou Andong chuckled, stood up, and stretched: "Let your daughter explain it to you, old lady. I'm a bit sleepy, going to sleep first."

Gu Bing, sitting in the courtyard, didn't know where he found a fan, leaning lazily against the back of the chair, with a second cigarette in his mouth, shaking the fan in his hand, looking very comfortable.

"Why aren't you sleeping, sitting in the courtyard?"

"It's hot in the room, can't sleep." Gu Bing glanced at Zhou Andong and sat up straight: "When the house was renovated, why didn't you install air conditioning?"

"No money!" Zhou Andong said this without any hesitation, blurting it out.

"..."

Gu Bing was speechless for a while, then sighed: "I just wanted to chat with you properly, but you, this calf, just won't walk on the right path, so boring."

Zhou Andong laughed, took a cigarette from Gu Bing's pocket and lit it: "Our house has many rooms, so to install central air conditioning, the power capacity must be increased. So I thought, wait until the clubhouse in front is renovated, and install the air conditioning together."

"Isn't the clubhouse already finished?" Gu Bing said very uncomprehendingly: "Buy it quickly, install it quickly, and you can still enjoy it for a month."

Zhou Andong took a puff of his cigarette: "Jinghua Electric is about to open, how can such a big order be cheaper for others." ===== CHAPTER 2320 =====