Chapter 519: Gossip Survival System (18)

Xie Yang was called before the factory leadership just like that.

After hearing the Factory Director's inquiry, she blinked: "Earning extra money? I haven't."

"How have you not? If not, how are you making screws and nuts of this specification? These are clearly not parts our factory is supposed to produce."

He Wenli was even more anxious than the Factory Director, tossing out the evidence he had discovered in the scrap parts bin.

"Oh, this." Xie Yang said slowly, "I saw that Hui Yi and their workshop had been working overtime until late every night recently for a high-requirement part, so I pondered whether I could improve the lathe so that it would be easier to machine the parts we need. So these past few days, after finishing my assigned Task, I've been mulling this over. These screws and nuts are test pieces I made using scrap parts, but the precision still isn't enough. I wanted to try and see if I could machine even more precise specifications, so I didn't report it to the leadership yet, since it was only halfway through."

Factory Director Yang: "!!!"

Secretary Liang: "!!!"

He Wenli: "Impossible!!!"

Xie Yang glanced at He Wenli: "If Workshop Director He doesn't believe in my ability, he should at least believe in the upbringing my mom and dad gave me. My parents have always treated the factory as their home, and even after getting off work, they would study relevant knowledge at home. I have been influenced by this since I was young, and I have always wanted to be an Iron Lady like my mom. Unfortunately, my physical fitness is too poor; I'm sure all the leaders have noticed this."

Speaking of this, Xie Yang paused, gave a shy smile toward Factory Director Yang and Secretary Liang, and without waiting for them to ask, continued:

"Since my physical strength can't keep up, I wondered if I could contribute to the factory in other ways. After all, no matter if it's a black cat or a white cat, a cat that catches mice is a good cat..."

"Well said!" Factory Director Yang took the lead in applauding, "I was saying that the precision of these screws and nuts is something our current lathes can't produce. I didn't expect that it was you, Xiao Xie, who independently improved the lathe machining technology."

Factory Director Yang patted Xie Yang on the shoulder with gratification.

He himself was a Technician by trade, and his main job was overseeing the factory's production.

If Xie Yang had truly improved the precision of lathe machining, it meant their factory could take on more orders, and the parts produced could reach a broader field.

Thinking of this, how could he sit still: "Let's go, let's go! Take me to see the lathe you improved!"

"Old Yang!" Secretary Liang followed out, holding his tea mug, "See which day the factory's production Tasks aren't so tight, and convene a general meeting of all employees. Comrade Xiao Xie has set a very good example; we must praise her properly and call on the whole factory to learn from her."

"..."

He Wenli opened his mouth, wanting to say, "What upbringing?"

Who didn't know that Fu Ruolan's daughter had poor grades since she was small and only came to the Mechanical Factory to take over the job because she couldn't get into high school?

She had only been in the factory for four or five months at most. Without a professional master to guide her, it was believable if she did some manual labor, but improving lathe machining precision... the hell, who is she trying to fool!

But whether it was the Factory Director or the Secretary, one truly believed Xie Yang's story and followed her to the workshop with swift strides; the other turned back to his office, deliberating on drafting a speech for the general employee meeting.

No one cared about him.

He bit his back teeth; at this moment, he felt like a clown.

Factory Director Yang strode to Yichejian and witnessed with his own eyes Xie Yang using the lathe she was responsible for to perform secondary processing on the scrapped screws and nuts, machining parts with higher precision and finer specifications than the originals, and exclaimed "Good" repeatedly in surprise.

"Xiao Xie, you have performed a great service for our factory! Don't worry, once our leadership team holds a meeting, the reward you deserve won't go anywhere."

Xie Yang: "Factory Director, how about waiting until I try again..."

"Eh, you can continue to try, but the existing results must also be affirmed!" Factory Director Yang waved his hand, "You don't need to work in Yichejian anymore. Go to the Personnel Section in a moment to handle the paperwork. Starting tomorrow, go to the Technical Department to work. Your task from now on is to improve lathes for the factory."

This was exactly what Xie Yang needed.

Even at the lowest level, a Technician's salary was 45!

If one's skills were outstanding and one was borrowed by other factories for business trips, just like her predecessor's father back then, not only would there be an expatriate allowance, but there would also be prizes and bonuses after solving technical problems.

Of course, the bonuses would be highest for developing more precise lathe technology.

"Thank you, Factory Director! I will definitely give it my all!"

Give it my all to earn more money! Improving life is wonderful!

Just like that, relying on the self-studied Interstellar Engineer Series Tutorials, Xie Yang successfully transitioned from a Workshop Worker to a Technician with a 15-yuan raise.

From now on, she was a member of the Mechanical Factory's Technical Department, specializing in... well, lathe improvement and new technology research.

She was transferred to the Technical Department with the task of lathe improvement; not only was she not ostracized, but she was also very popular, with people even fighting to be her assistant.

Of course, their purpose might be to steal her techniques.

If it were a local Technician, to avoid the situation of "teaching the apprentice and starving the master," they would want to hide things.

But Xie Yang was eager to teach everyone. If other Technicians learned, there would be no need to stare at her to improve the factory's many Machine Tools one by one.

When other factories came to borrow people, they wouldn't have to send her on business trips.

Compared to repetitive improvement work, Xie Yang preferred staying in the Technical Department, using interstellar mechanical engineering knowledge to research more advanced lathe technology for this plane.

Half a month later, Xie Yang received her first salary after transferring to the Technical Department.

Because she was in the workshop for the first half of the month and only transferred to the Technical Department in the second half, this salary was neither 30 yuan nor 45 yuan, but 40 yuan.

In addition, compared to when she worked in the workshop, she received one more Soap coupon, one box of Matches coupon, one jin of kerosene coupon, two Industrial Coupons, two liang of Meat Coupon, and two liang of Sugar Coupon.

These were all coupons issued monthly.

The annual Cloth Coupon and Leather Shoes coupon also arrived.

She was now a Technician and received ten feet of Cloth Coupon and two Leather Shoes coupons.

He Wenli, even as a Workshop Director, only had eight feet of Cloth Coupon and one Leather Shoes coupon.

Meeting him on payday, his complexion couldn't have been uglier.

Xie Yang raised an eyebrow; this was just the beginning.

The lathe technology she was currently improving already had some progress. As long as the trial production was successful, the factory would recommend her for the Engineer exam. If she passed, she could enjoy the treatment of an Intermediate Technician, which was double her current salary!

On the Sunday after receiving her salary, Xie Yang took her money and coupons to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative and spent all the coupons for things like Soap, Matches, and kerosene.

Although the hutongs in Beijing had been electrified for a long time and the kerosene lamps at home had been shelved for many years, there was still a kerosene stove. When the weather was cold, it was used for hot pot; eating while cooking was very warm, so the food wouldn't get cold before it was finished.

Besides these, she also bought shoes.

The Technician's quota for shoe coupons was two, so she bought a pair of cotton-lined Leather Shoes for herself and the old lady for the winter.

Actually, in terms of comfort, she preferred warm shoes with soft uppers.

But considering that it would snow in Beijing in winter—look, it had already snowed a few times in the past two days, though it hadn't accumulated on the ground.

Once December arrived, with the visit of cold air from Siberia, goose-feather-sized snow could fall at any time.

Besides keeping warm, cotton-lined Leather Shoes were also waterproof and slip-resistant; she didn't plan to save money on this.