Chapter 49: An Unprecedented Sense of Achievement

Gu Bing said to Zhou Andong: “Stop eating. Come with me.”

Zhou Andong shook his head: “I’m not factory leadership. I don’t need to speak. Why call me?”

Gu Bing said: “You check for gaps and fill them. If I missed anything, you make up for it.”

Zhou Andong grumbled: “You’re not senile. How could you forget something this simple?”

“Enough nonsense!” Gu Bing grabbed Zhou Andong and dragged him out. Outside the office, they saw Zhang Deyou’s back vanish around the stair corner.

“Damn!” Zhou Andong cursed. “Hurry, chase him!”

Zhang Deyou had just reached the second floor when he heard someone shout behind him: “Comrade Zhang, where are you rushing off to?”

Zhang Deyou turned around and saw Gu Bing and Zhou Andong. His face changed instantly. He unconsciously quickened his pace, then suddenly tripped over something, stumbled, and rolled down the stairs screaming.

“Factory chief, how could you be so careless!” Zhou Andong cried out, leaping down two steps. The moment he touched Zhang Deyou’s arm, the old man let out a shriek.

“Ow! It hurts like hell!”

Looking at Zhang Deyou’s bruised and swollen face, Zhou Andong’s lips twitched. He forced back a laugh and said with feigned urgency: “Bad news—his arm’s probably broken. We need to get him to the hospital right away.”

Gu Bing strolled down calmly and asked with apparent concern: “Old Zhang, how are you?”

Zhang Deyou gritted his teeth, glaring furiously at Gu Bing.

“You’re not young anymore. Why are you still so clumsy? Lucky you didn’t hit your head,” Gu Bing sighed. “Wait—I’ll find someone to take you to the hospital right away. Comrade Zhou Andong, you stay here and look after the factory chief. If anything else happens, I won’t forgive you.” With that, he walked off, hands behind his back, swaying lazily.

“Zhou Andong!” Zhang Deyou’s voice came out like it was squeezed through his throat—low, thick with suppressed rage: “Did you trip me?”

“I tripped you?” Zhou Andong shot back, furious: “Factory chief, I’m here looking after you out of kindness. How can you accuse me of lying?”

Zhou Andong snorted angrily and turned to leave: “You bite the hand that feeds you. I don’t care if you live or die.”

“Right here!” A security officer hurried over. “Factory chief, how are you?”

“Do you even need to ask? Go arrange a vehicle. We’re carrying him out.”

Zhou Andong glanced back, cracked his mouth into a grin, and walked out the factory gate.

At the factory gate, all the workers had gathered—a sea of dark figures. Someone shouted: “The secretary’s here!”

“Secretary Gu!”

“Good morning, Secretary Gu!”

“Secretary, good!”

Greetings rose in waves. Everyone’s eyes sparkled, faces lit with smiles—they saw hope, and that hope was Gu Bing. Of course, Zhou An’s name was also deeply etched in their minds. As for the earlier curses against Gu Bing and Zhou Andong, they had selectively forgotten them the moment they saw the newspaper and heard the news.

“Clap, clap, clap…”

Someone started clapping again, then applause erupted across the crowd. Over a thousand people clapping drew passersby to stop and watch.

Gu Bing had never received such treatment before. It filled him with a sense of accomplishment—and deep emotion. These workers asked for so little: just enough to fill their stomachs, and they’d be eternally grateful.

“Everyone, quiet down!” Gu Bing bellowed.

The front row fell silent instantly, but those in the back couldn’t hear and kept making noise.

Gu Bing sighed helplessly and shouted again—still no effect. Then suddenly, a loud roar cut through the crowd.

“Quiet! Listen to Secretary Gu!” That booming voice silenced the back instantly.

Gu Bing chuckled: “Who shouted that? When I speak, if anyone in back can’t hear, you repeat it for them.”

“No problem!” the loud voice replied.

“I know everyone’s seen the newspaper. Those who haven’t have heard the news. I’m telling you—it’s all true. The supply and marketing department and my office phones have been flooded with calls—everyone wants to buy Jiangzhou Imperial Wine.”

Gu Bing paused. The loud voice repeated it for those in back.

After the loud voice finished, Gu Bing continued: “I can guarantee now—before the New Year, we’ll pay all back wages in full, the 60-yuan raise will be issued on time, and the year-end bonus will be double the highest amount in the last ten years.”

“Good!” Applause erupted again, loud and fierce. Those in back didn’t know what happened—they kept asking each other: “What? What did he say? Why isn’t anyone relaying it? Damn, I’m dying of curiosity!”

When the applause died down, the loud voice relayed the message. Then the back erupted in applause again, mixed with whistles.

Gu Bing was pleased with the effect: “One more piece of good news: every worker gets one case of ***-type Imperial Wine sales rights. The factory price remains 165 yuan per bottle. But whatever price you sell it for—265, 365, even 1650—the profit is yours.”

The loud voice repeated it—but there was no explosion of cheers or applause. Only silence.

Gu Bing blinked, instantly understanding: “Let me be clear—our Jiangzhou Imperial Wine, sealed ***-type, totals only twenty tons. Crucially, the ***-type is not sold on the open market. The supply department knows this.”

“The individual buyers and wholesalers calling today asked most often and ordered most heavily for the ***-type. So your one case of ***-type sales rights is extremely valuable. Hold onto it. Don’t sell it lightly. Wait until the price is right.”

This time, everyone understood. Faces flushed with excitement. The quick-witted instantly grasped the profit potential. The slower ones figured even at retail price, one case could net over a hundred yuan.

“Secretary, when do we resume work?” someone asked.

Gu Bing said: “After the New Year. This year, with money in your pockets, enjoy a good holiday. Then we’ll restart production.”

“Good!” Applause rose again—louder than before.

Of all Gu Bing said, nothing thrilled them more than the news of resuming work. Only when the factory ran again, when they had work to do, would their hearts truly settle.

The crowd dispersed. Their faces no longer bore their old heaviness. They walked away smiling, light-hearted.

“Secretary!” As Gu Bing turned to leave, he heard a voice behind him. He turned—it was Qian Zhen.

“Deputy Factory Chief Qian!” Gu Bing could clearly see the tears glistening in Qian Zhen’s eyes.

“Secretary!” Qian Zhen gripped Gu Bing’s hand tightly. “Thank you. Thank you for standing firm under pressure—for everything you’ve done for the factory, for over a thousand workers.”