Chapter 591: Restless and Moving

He Yuzhu shook his head, "The higher-ups will definitely send a newcomer to be this Deputy Director. As for me, I'm not part of the oil system; they won't give me any face."

Lv Hong didn't show much disappointment on her face, and she smiled, "It's fine. Wu Zhanggen is a capable person; he will surely make a name for himself over at the Nongken Base. It's even better to climb up by one's own ability."

Man Ya suddenly interjected: "I think the worst one is that Deputy Director Ma! Deputy Director Zhang is at most a fox pretending to be a tiger; he is the real venomous snake behind the scenes!"

He Yuzhu was amused and said: "Little comrade Liu Siman, your eyes are very sharp! You can see the essence through the phenomena!"

In fact, Man Yatou had understood the ways of the world since she was young, and having followed He Yuzhu for these past few years, her ability to read people and recognize things had truly been honed.

Being praised by He Yuzhu like this, Man Ya's face flushed red, but the corners of her mouth couldn't help but curl upward; she was feeling quite proud.

Li Xiangxiu listened to their back-and-forth and suddenly spoke up: "Zhuzi, how about you transfer me to Deputy Director Ma's side? I'd like to see what kind of waves he can still stir up."

He Yuzhu waved his hand: "You should keep watching that counter-espionage line. I always feel that some people are about to lose their composure."

"How so?" Li Xiangxiu frowned.

"By the end of the year, our oilfield's production will be able to hit two million tons. With such a large oilfield discovered, can the Bald Party sit still? I've read the internal reference; the fact that Man Ya can find high-yield wells has already spread. If things go wrong, someone might make a move against her," He Yuzhu said.

Upon hearing this, Man Ya felt both proud and nervous, her little face tightening: "Sp... spies will really target me?"

He Yuzhu nodded, "They are omnipresent!"

Li Xiangxiu thought for a moment and said: "How about I transfer a few people over from the Municipal Bureau?"

He Yuzhu nodded: "That would be best. Your people need to infiltrate among the workers."

"I'll go ask Tian Dan for people right now!" Li Xiangxiu immediately went to make a call.

At the same time, Deputy Director Zhang was smoking with his head down, and amidst the swirling smoke, his brows were knitted into a knot: "Lao Ma, Lao Xiao didn't betray us; we have to save him!"

Deputy Director Ma gave a bitter smile and mocked himself: "The people above me have been sidelined; I can't help him. If you have connections, hurry up and apply for a transfer to Dongying. I'm afraid we can't stay in this place anymore."

"Why? Why should we give up our place for him?" Deputy Director Zhang's voice suddenly rose, and his eyes turned red.

Deputy Director Ma lowered his voice and leaned in closer: "This time, the investigation from above regarding the wheat seeds at the Nongken Base has already spread. Do you know what the workers are saying? They say Lao Xiao is eating inside and out. Between the lines, they are implicating us too. You're still young, get out quickly!"

Hearing this, Deputy Director Zhang felt a warmth in his heart. He remained silent for a long while before saying in a deep voice: "I will talk to Secretary-General Chen and try to get us both transferred together."

He Yuzhu's prediction was soon verified.

A few days later, the higher-ups sent a new Deputy Director to replace Lao Xiao.

This person was named Dang Kaiquan, a veteran who smiled at everyone he met.

Although he didn't directly oppose He Yuzhu, he showed subtle dissatisfaction on many issues.

Two months later, Deputy Director Zhang was also transferred away to Dongying.

Only Deputy Director Ma remained stuck in his position. However, he had withered quite a bit; he didn't say a word during meetings, and he just coasted through his work as much as he could.

Once Deputy Director Zhang left, He Yuzhu immediately submitted Wu Zhanggen's name to take over. The result? It was rejected again. The higher-ups sent someone else named Kang Feng.

This person had worked his way up from a technician and knew mechanical equipment inside and out.

As soon as he arrived, he took the initiative to find He Yuzhu. He spoke earnestly, saying he wouldn't get involved in internal strife and only wanted to focus on technology, asking He Yuzhu to grant him that.

It seemed that there were quite a few people in the Ministry who had opinions about He Yuzhu.

He secretly observed Kang Feng for a while and found that this person really had some skills with mechanical equipment and was steady, so he felt relieved to hand over the entire mechanical equipment department to him.

Time flew by to September.

In these few months, Man Ya's skill in finding wells finally came in handy—she led people all over the place, surveying points, and brought out more than twenty high-yield oil wells in a row.

By the end of September, the statistics showed that the oil production for the first nine months had already hit 1.8 million tons.

At this rate, it would definitely reach 2.4 million tons by the end of the year, and the 3 million tons annual production target He Yuzhu had promised would surely be completed by the end of next year.

A year ago, this number would have been unthinkable.

The oilfield was bustling with activity, but beneath this prosperity, the undercurrents had never ceased.

That night, there was a "thump-thump" at Deputy Director Ma's door.

He opened the door to find a stranger standing outside—about thirty years old, wearing a faded work uniform, no different from the workers in the factory.

Deputy Director Ma frowned and was about to snap something unpleasant when the other party spoke first: "He who lies low for a long time will travel far."

Deputy Director Ma's heart skipped a beat, his face turned pale, and he subconsciously replied: "He who... lies low for a long time will fly high."

The man smiled and reached out his hand: "Deputy Director Ma, I am Xing Fei."

"Quick, please come in!" Deputy Director Ma immediately put on a smiling face, his waist bent a few inches, and he hurriedly ushered the man into the house.

He scrambled to brew a cup of Huangshan Maofeng—a good tea he usually couldn't bear to drink himself—and served it to Xing Fei with both hands.

Xing Fei took the teacup, took a sip, and didn't beat around the bush: "The higher-ups have sent a mission."

Beijing suburbs, Zhang Village.

Under the night sky, the projector went "tada-tada" as it turned, and "Never-Ending Radio Wave" was playing on the screen.

Xu Damao sat next to the projector, with Xie Guafu sitting beside him.

She was holding Abao in her arms.

Nowadays, Xie Guafu relied on the fact that Xu Damao had a solid relationship with Captain Li, so she didn't bother to avoid people as much.

Every time Xu Damao came to the village to show movies, she would accompany him for meals and the screening, acting just like a Deputy Captain.

Captain Li also turned a blind eye; after all, Xu Damao could trade many useful things for the production team.

Xu Damao turned his head to look at her twice and joked with a smile: "Life has been pretty good lately; you and Abao have both put on some weight."

Xie Guafu said happily: "Ever since we started eating from the communal pot, our mother and child haven't had to worry about food or drink. How long do you think these good days will last?"

Xu Damao laughed: "That depends on how much grain your production team has left! If you eat it all, you'll be starving!"

Xie Guafu didn't pay much attention to Xu Damao's words; instead, she raised an eyebrow and said: "If you had come to show the movie last Wednesday, you could have eaten our village's donkey meat! I ate so much meat that day it reached my throat; I was so full when I got home I couldn't sleep all night, it was so uncomfortable..."

Xu Damao was stunned: "Your village is too bold, isn't it? You dare to kill a donkey?"

"It wasn't killed on purpose." Xie Guafu hurriedly waved her hand to explain, "It was the Accountant Lao Wang. He was coming back from the commune at night, and some heartless person had dug a few holes in the ground, which broke the donkey's leg. Director Li had no choice but to kill it. You don't know, the team's Lao Sao, Zhang Datou, and Ma Laonian, those useless ones, ate so much donkey meat they were so full they had to lie on a grave mound for half the night before they recovered."

Hearing this, Xu Damao couldn't hold it in anymore and "pfft"—a mouthful of tea sprayed out, landing squarely on Xie Guafu.

Xie Guafu glared at him, took out a handkerchief, and wiped it vigorously.