Chapter 66 Turning Myself into a Second-Generation Official: Promoting My Parents' Official Positions

The second batch of trucks that Wang Xiao had been eagerly anticipating didn't arrive until late September.

Interestingly, this batch of cars was still driven over by themselves; they weren't shipped by sea.

It's not that the Soviet seas froze that quickly, but rather that Wang Xiao took on a business deal.

What kind of business? Procuring fertilizer for the Jiangdong Provincial Government.

Since the floodwaters receded, disaster relief has become the government's primary task.

The flooded areas in Gangdong Province are mostly rural, resulting in severe agricultural losses.

One of the important ways to increase farmland yield is by applying chemical fertilizers.

Don't underestimate the power of chemical fertilizers.

Before transmigrating into the book, Wang Xiao had also promoted agricultural products, one of which was pollution-free rice.

The local rice is grown without pesticides or chemical fertilizers, using only organic fertilizers and biological methods to control pests. It is managed by a dedicated team of agricultural experts.

So what is their yield per mu? It's ratooning rice. The first harvest yields 500 jin, and the second harvest yields 200 jin.

That's the total output.

Ordinary farmers in the world certainly cannot follow this path to make a living; they will inevitably still need to apply chemical fertilizers to their fields.

Fertilizer was cheap in the Soviet Union, really cheap.

Wang Xiao then produced fertilizer, but instead of making money from the provincial government, he transported it directly to Jiangdong and sold it to the provincial government at the original price.

Including travel expenses, it was actually half the price of fertilizer produced in Jiangdong.

No wonder they have to impose import quota restrictions; otherwise, fertilizer plants really can't compete in this area.

Along with the truck came five Lada cars.

Wang Xiao chose the red car as his personal vehicle, and also provided Feng Zhonglin with the orange-yellow one.

Tang Yicheng waved his hand, indicating that he didn't need it. He said he would either ride his motorcycle or follow a truck when he went out, so why would he need to drive a car?

Wang Xiao still reserved one for him, which he would leave in the commercial city for public use if he didn't need it.

No one had any objections. In Feng Zhonglin's words, they let it go, but Wang Xiao should have had her own car long ago.

Otherwise, it would be really unbelievable for such a big boss not to have a dedicated car and driver.

Now that's great, with a car to pick her up and drop her off, she won't have to run around like that anymore.

As a result, from the time Wang Xiao arrived in Xiaozhou in early September to the end of October, he lost a full 10 pounds.

It doesn't sound like a big deal, just losing five pounds in a month.

But considering that she is 166 cm tall and originally weighed only 105 catties, this rapid weight loss is a bit alarming.

Terrified, Feng Zhonglin and Tang Yicheng took her one after the other to Jiangbei Provincial People's Hospital and Jiangbei Provincial Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital for a comprehensive physical examination.

They both suspected that she either had diabetes or hyperthyroidism.

Otherwise, how come she can eat so much but not gain weight, and even lose weight so much?

Seriously, she eats a lot, and unlike other fussy young girls, she doesn't even bother to rinse vegetables with oil before eating them.

She eats three meals a day with the construction site workers, without any restrictions on what she eats—chicken, duck, fish, meat, or eggs—and has a bowl of rice with each meal. In the evening, she also has a bowl of corn and milk porridge as a late-night snack.

Oh, it used to be barbecue. The reason she's been avoiding it lately is because she couldn't stand the mouth ulcers.

But even though she ate so much rice, she still lost 10 pounds.

Wang Xiao thought they were making a fuss over nothing, and the medical examination results showed that she was in good health.

The doctor even said it was quite rare for a girl her age to have so much muscle. He asked her if she did aerobics every day.

Wang Xiao solemnly told people that she does the Eight Pieces of Brocade exercise once every morning and evening.

There's no way around it, she's just too busy. And given how many steps she walks each day, there's really no need to schedule any jogging.

Besides, she felt that her lifestyle was quite healthy.

In this era before smartphones, she would sleep all night and never stay up late.

Although she gets up early in the morning, she basically wakes up naturally.

Tang Yicheng complained: "You still need an alarm clock? Your head is full of alarm clocks."

Can you believe it?

This person had eaten lunch and taken a nap, and was supposed to get up to work at 1:30.

As a result, she made an appointment to talk to someone, and she managed to get up by herself at 1:10, and she was actually asleep.

It's...it's kind of scary.

Wang Xiao replied irritably, "I lost weight naturally, it's normal."

Which one is abnormal? Overwork-related obesity, where you're exhausted to the point of collapse but gain weight rapidly.

It was only at that point that I truly began to suspect that I had an endocrine disorder.

Now, she's reaped the rewards of losing those 10 pounds.

In less than two months, the International Trade City has moved from an inflatable tent to a five-story foreign trade building and started normal operations.

The provincial newspapers in Jiangbei are now praising it, saying it's the "Xiaozhou speed".

So, with all her hard work, is she now rolling in money?

Haha, how sad.

The truth is, the company currently only has enough cash on hand to maintain daily operations.

Why do some people get poorer the busier they are?

First of all, the geographical advantage is extremely important.

Despite having three international transport routes approved for sales in Xiaozhou, their combined volume doesn't even equal half the shipment volume of Moscow, a major international transport hub.

Consequently, the revenue of Xiaozhou International Trade City has also decreased by more than half.

Secondly, building a house is really expensive.

The resort in Jiangzhimen will consist of 27 buildings, with a budget of 100 million yuan and a construction period of one year.

Not to mention the International Trade City in Xiaozhou, the main building will be 61 stories high, and there are two auxiliary buildings with 32 and 28 stories respectively. The total construction period of the entire project is expected to be 38 months, with an investment of up to 1 billion yuan.

What does this mean? It means that over the next few years, she will have to keep pouring money into it.

Once it stops, well, the tragedy of unfinished buildings awaits.

Having these two money-devouring beasts isn't enough; the real problem is that there's another big expense coming up recently.

In September of this year, before the rice had even ripened, Ivanov led the purchase of five more aircraft for a total of fifteen million US dollars.

The reason they are so expensive is that these five aircraft have been in use for less than 10 years and have high residual value.

Secondly, they were just unlucky.

Ivanov bought the planes through connections in Ukraine. The two sides had almost reached an agreement: five planes for $8 million.

The contract was signed, and it was time for the cash payment and delivery when the Ukrainian leader in charge of the matter was arrested.

Why was he arrested? Was it because he was found to have committed embezzlement and corruption?

What nonsense! It's as if his successor wasn't corrupt.

Since the August coup attempt failed, a purge was inevitable within the government.

The judicial authorities have now arrested a bunch of political prisoners who have not undergone any public trial.

Democrats who claim to want to build a humane regime, a united society, honest politics, and a country governed by the rule of law are just as adept at arresting political prisoners.

In this situation, even if Ivanov had ten times the courage, he wouldn't dare to argue with the newly appointed leader.

A contract is worthless.

Even if someone tears it up and throws it in his face, wouldn't he have to put up with it?

Because he really needed those five planes.

Their urgency is attributed to the changing customer base.

Due to Moscow's special status as a transportation hub, the middlemen and middlemen who operate the Moscow-Jiangzhimen route are mostly large wholesalers.

Therefore, many of them operate on a business model where one person charters a cargo plane, rather than using manpower to carry goods to avoid taxes.

Therefore, two passenger planes were able to meet the needs of 20 cargo planes.

But that didn't work in Xiaozhou.

The traders from Kyiv, Almaty, and Vilnius may not be as big as the wealthy Moscow traders, but they have a lot of people.

Every day, thousands of people travel from Xiaozhou Airport to the International Trade City.

They mostly transport goods manually; one person can carry ten shirts, four sweaters, three denim jackets, and two down jackets through customs.

Furthermore, since each person is required to purchase the full $5,000 duty-free allowance, a passenger plane customer basically only needs one cargo plane as their baggage carrier.

Such customer demand means that the ratio of passenger planes to cargo planes needs to be roughly 1:1, which immediately puts passenger planes in high demand.

So what should we do?

Although the economic benefits brought by individual travelers are small, Wang Xiao successfully persuaded Ivanov to believe that, over time, this type of customer would become the mainstream of their Wuzhou Company's services.

Is it a bit convoluted? Does it sound a little confusing?

It's actually quite easy to understand.

That is, with the Soviet Union, this red behemoth, crumbling, the economic collapse of its constituent republics was practically a foregone conclusion.

Previously, the supply in stores was limited, but by then it was completely gone.

But ordinary people can't live on the open sky, sleeping on the ground and eating only dew. Basic living needs won't disappear; when people are poor, they think of ways to change their circumstances, and the number of people who actively go out to work as traders to earn a living will increase dramatically.

Those who are new to the industry and missed the earliest period of wealth accumulation can only work alone and rely on a small-scale, individual sales model.

Therefore, even if Ukraine were to demand exorbitant prices for the aircraft, Wuzhou Company would have no choice but to accept it.

If you waste even a day, the money you've already earned will just disappear.

Moreover, airplanes are not cars. To put it bluntly, it is estimated that the former Soviet countries will not be able to manufacture airplanes for a long time.

Therefore, the aircraft are now in a state where every one purchased reduces the number available.

Believe it or not, business in Xiaozhou really took off after those five passenger planes joined the fleet.

It wasn't that the number of customers increased dramatically, but rather that the volume of goods sold surged.

When the international traders arrived in Xiaozhou, they found that the small commodities from Jiangbei Province were very much to their liking, and they bought bag after bag.

Since they couldn't take it with them themselves, they hired villagers from the airport village as international porters.

As long as the middlemen and women extend an invitation under the guise of inviting a friend's family to visit their home, the local government of Xiaozhou will cooperate by issuing passports to the villagers so that they can take more goods with them.

Because of the overwhelming demand from these customers, the labor costs for farmers in the airport village have skyrocketed, now reaching $50 per round trip.

At the current official exchange rate, it's equivalent to 250 yuan, but in the general public, many people would rather exchange 400 yuan for this 50 US dollars.

It truly is like money falling from the sky.

But this money isn't so easy to earn.

From Xiaozhou Airport to their destination, everyone has to sit in cramped seats for 6 to 10 hours without eating or drinking.

Why? Because after eating and drinking, you need to use the restroom, and using the restroom is too difficult for passengers.

If possible, Wang Xiao really wants to post a picture to show everyone just how outrageous it is that passenger planes are contracted out by resellers.

Luggage, luggage everywhere.

The luggage racks were far from enough, and the aisle between the left and right seats was piled high with luggage.

The idea of ​​flight attendants pushing carts to serve drinks is completely unfounded. They can't possibly be climbing all over piles of luggage to bring food and drinks to everyone.

The middlemen and women involved in the reselling were also very restrained. Even though they loved fine wine, they would stay on the plane obediently for the entire journey and resolutely not touch the bottles.

It saves you from having to climb all over your luggage to go to the toilet, and if you accidentally damage someone else's souvenirs, it will cause a lot of trouble.

What if you get too hungry? If there are no Snickers bars, you just eat chocolate. If you're thirsty, you take a small sip of water and hold it in your mouth for an hour or two before swallowing.

We'll talk about everything after we get off the plane.

When the village children are also hired to carry goods (there are no children's tickets on airplanes, so they can carry the same amount of free money as the $5,000), the adults will automatically arrange for them to sit closest to the toilet.

This way, children can eat and drink without restraint on the plane, and if they need to relieve themselves, they can simply go to the toilet.

They are probably the most unrestricted children in the history of aviation.

No matter how much they exclaimed about their flight or how much they chattered together, the adults always greeted them with kind smiles.

Nobody will find them noisy.

After all, adult passengers on airplanes generally don't talk in order to conserve their energy; they either lean back in their seats with their eyes closed to rest, or they look around aimlessly.

The children's laughter and their smiling faces were a rare welcome change from the otherwise silent journey.

As for being disturbed from sleep? Well, kids have boundless energy, and that energy fades quickly too. They won't play for long before they're sprawled out in their chairs, fast asleep.

In this way, almost all the children in the village went abroad.

When they returned, the group of children wandered around the village, and when they caught up with elderly people who were too old to board the plane, they would boast about them with great enthusiasm.

"Let me tell you, old lady, foreign countries are so beautiful. Those lights are so bright, just like the crystal chandeliers in foreign royal palaces that you see on TV! Hanging from the ceiling, wow! Such bright light."

The elderly people didn't find them annoying at all, and just listened happily, until finally they sighed, "It's a pity that the old lady can't sit down."

The boastful little fellow's eyes darted around, and he patted his chest, promising, "When I grow up and fly a plane, you, Grandma, will be able to ride in one."

Now, let her ride it a few more times!

How can she learn to fly a plane if she doesn't travel much?

The short-haired uncle said that if you sit in a car for a long time, you'll learn to drive.

Flying an airplane must be the same.

It's really not difficult for her to want to fly more often.

Because if it weren't for the fact that children need to be accompanied by family members when they go out, these scalpers would hire all the Boy Scouts.

Children are lightweight and small, which saves more space and weight, making it easier for airplanes to carry more cargo.

Wang Xiao was amazed by these speculators.

It just goes to show that when it comes to making money, everyone will do anything, even resort to the most unconventional methods.

Of course, the farmers at the airport are also very clever. They have now learned, without any formal instruction, how to bring goods back from abroad to sell.

They couldn't touch their $5,000 luggage, so they imitated others by wearing many clothes on their bodies. Once they arrived at their destination, they would take them off and sell them directly to their employers, thus having money to buy more goods.

They could carry back anything, from deer antlers to antelope horns.

There is also a multi-functional ruler that sells for more than ten yuan in shopping malls in Xiaozhou, but they managed to get it wholesale for only two cents in Almaty.

With this transaction, some people made tens of thousands of yuan.

However, when they went to Almaty for the second time, the ruler had increased in price by several dollars.

Wang Xiao originally thought they would rather earn less than stop buying more goods, since they were already there.

But to my surprise, everyone was very shrewd.

They immediately realized that it was because they had previously purchased a large quantity of rulers that Almaty merchants felt they had sold them at a loss, which was why they raised the price on the spot.

Hey, how did they know that?

Because they did the same thing to the Russians.

What should we do in this situation?

Press it down and let it cool.

If they don't buy, no one will drive up the price, and the price of the ruler will naturally fall back down.

This tactic was truly effective. When the villagers of Airport Village went there for the third time, the price of the ruler had indeed fallen back to two cents.

But they were incredibly resilient and simply didn't buy anything. Since there were plenty of other things to buy, they naturally opted for the cheapest and most profitable options.

After hearing this, Wang Xiao could only give a thumbs up.

Now she truly believes in the saying, "The bigger the stage, the bigger the world."

At the end of October, she returned to Jiangdong on business. When she told her mother about it, her mother was extremely curious.

Dr. Chen thought that anyone willing to earn this money would at least be able to speak fluent Russian.

Based on those few words, they dare to travel a thousand miles alone?

What audacity! Ignorance truly breeds fearlessness.

Compared to them, Engineer Miao from the Chemical Engineering Institute doesn't seem so special.

Hearing this, Wang Xiao asked curiously while eating an orange, "What strange thing did Sister Miao do?"

"Her," Dr. Chen said, his face full of unspoken words, "is also a freelancer."

Wang Xiao simply said "Oh," without showing any particular surprise.

When she left the Chemical Engineering Institute after applying for a leave of absence without pay, she privately approached Sister Miao and expressed her willingness to continue to financially support part of the institute's research funding.

However, Sister Miao said that she had already completed the procedures for taking a leave of absence without pay and had even arranged for the company to provide benefits for going abroad, so the institute could not ask her for money anymore.

Wang Xiao did not persist.

After all, everyone has self-respect. Besides, at that time, Sister Miao and the others had already earned a set of instruments and equipment by going to Moscow to sell goods.

So it's not a bad thing for them to have side jobs to support their main job.

Now, Dr. Chen says that it's only natural for Sister Miao to work independently.

To everyone's surprise, Chen Yanqiu's eyes widened and her voice rose: "What do you mean by taking it for granted? What do you know? She's really something now. Every Saturday, she carries five thousand US dollars worth of goods to Moscow, and I mean, she sells them herself."

Wang Xiao became genuinely curious and asked with interest, "Who did she sell it to? I didn't hear Ivanov mention it."

There's a spontaneously organized free market near Moscow airport.

International middlemen typically sell here for double the price, then return to China or other major wholesale markets like Türkiye to continue buying goods.

Chen Yanqiu shook her head vigorously, vehemently denying it: "That's not true. She took it to Moscow and sold it herself."

How will you sell it? Will you set up a stall at the free market?

No, no, it's sold at the university over there.

When we visited Moscow last time, Sister Miao met a Chinese professor.

He was an early student studying abroad, and just as he was about to graduate and receive his Candidate of Sciences degree, Sino-Soviet relations began to deteriorate. The government notified them to return immediately.

But according to the professor, he was really reluctant to give up his studies, which were about to be completed, and he never expected that the two socialist countries with the same communist ideology would later have such a big falling out; so he planned to wait until he finished his studies before returning to his country.

Well, this delay means we can't go back now.

Domestically, he was classified as a defector.

He met his current wife in the Soviet Union and decided to stay. He later earned a doctorate and gradually rose to become a well-known authority in the field.

Although Sister Miao and the others whispered among themselves, the professor's actions were very likely a defection. Back then, people in China were starving, and life in the Soviet Union seemed like paradise in comparison.

People naturally strive for better opportunities, just as water flows downhill. Besides, the Soviet Union wasn't a capitalist country, so it wasn't too difficult for them to accept, and they simply went with the flow and stayed to enjoy a better life.

But Sister Miao and the others had to admit that, as a foreigner, it was quite remarkable that he had achieved such success.

Professor Li was accepting of Sister Miao and others' speculative business dealings between the two countries and expressed sympathy and support.

After all, in his impression, China was poor and had a weak foundation, so it was only natural that those who did scientific research were even poorer.

It was with the help of the couple that Sister Miao and her husband were able to travel back and forth between the two countries time and time again, earning four or five times their initial investment each time.

Wang Xiao was truly shocked this time. Wow, it turns out that when people are pushed to the limit, they can come up with any method.

Chen Yanqiu retorted irritably, "Look at what they've done to this perfectly good engineer."

Wang Xiao felt no psychological burden at all.

She didn't create this social situation, so why is she putting pressure on herself?

She also joked with a smile, "What's wrong with that? Back then, our talent flowed out, but now Sister Miao is building a bridge so that we can bring the talent back later."

Chen Yanqiu's eyes widened: "How could that be? You're just talking nonsense. That's Moscow, Soviet Union. He's such a famous university professor, living in a villa, driving a car, with a high salary and great benefits. He's living a very comfortable life. Why would he come back?"

Speak with conscience.

Moscow looks much more impressive than Jiangdong.

Wang Xiao touched his nose and said vaguely, "That's hard to say. A house and a car can't be eaten. When you can't even afford food or clothes, the most important thing is to get by."

Chen Yanqiu, who grew up listening to the Soviet Union as an elder brother, still couldn't accept it and emphasized again: "It's not that bad, it's not that serious."

Wang Xiaoting can understand this mentality.

For example, before she transmigrated into the book, if official media outlets claimed that people in Europe and America were suffering terribly and about to collapse, the most upvoted comments would definitely be dissenting, full of mockery.

Even after seeing the sparsely populated shop counters in Moscow, Dr. Chen still believes that his elder brother wouldn't be in such a dire situation that he would be completely starving.

Even a starved camel is bigger than a horse.

Wang Xiao held up a finger and explained to her mother why the Soviet Union later fell into great chaos.

"The Soviet Union was a constituent republic, and now each of them is clamoring for independence. Their leader can't control them, and in the end, they may all break up."

But once we get to that point, things get really complicated.

Even a starved camel is bigger than a horse, but once it dies, it's gone.

The Soviet Union's reforms were unsuccessful; its model remained a typical planned economy.

For example, it imports cotton from Kazakhstan to Ukraine to weave it into clothes, and then sells them in Russian stores.

Previously, how much to produce and how to do it were all determined by instructions from above. And where the products went after they were finished was also decided by those above.

What will they do once those meddling hands leave?

Those with cotton cannot weave cloth or make clothes; textile and garment factories lack raw materials, and people who want to wear clothes have nowhere to buy them.

The end result was that everyone was naked and froze to death.

Chen Yanqiu stared in disbelief, and after a long while, she muttered softly, "Is it that serious?"

Wang Xiao nodded: "Of course, it will only be more serious than this."

"But don't they know that?"

If even a little girl like Xiaoxiao can understand this, how could those Soviet officials not understand it?

“I know,” Wang Xiao shook his head, “but his inflated desire for power blinded him.”

The eldest son felt that he was not in charge or in charge of the extended family and had suffered a great loss.

Moreover, he felt that his family was very well-off, and it was not worthwhile to keep relying on others. So he wanted to step out and take charge.

The second son also felt that his parents were biased, that they bullied him from head to toe, and that everything good went to his eldest brother; he also wanted a share of the family property.

Seeing that Doctor Chen was still blinking, Wang Xiao gave a direct analogy: "It's like a country in ancient times with several princes. If the country still exists, then at most only one of them can become emperor. And this emperor is quite young, and we don't know when he will die and pass the throne to us. But if the country is divided, and every prince can become emperor, do you think many of them will really care about the interests of the country and the people?"

The only truth is that the ruling class can never empathize with ordinary working people.

Whether you live or die, I live a carefree and unrestrained life. Holding power is the only way to go.

Dr. Chen sighed again.

This is a characteristic of the Chinese people: they care about the whole world.

Because they fundamentally believe that the working people are the masters of the country.

Wang Xiao quickly called out, "Mom, stop sighing! You'll get older if you keep sighing. Hey—where's Dad? Why isn't he back yet?"

Speak of the devil and he appears.

The sound of the lock opening came from the front door. Wang Tiejun entered the house carrying a bag of water chestnuts in one hand and two lunchboxes in the other. As he changed his shoes, he asked, "Xiaoxiao's back. How did things go with that land deal?"

Chen Yanqiu scolded him, "Don't teach that girl nonsense. It'll be dark by the time she gets back. What leader is she looking for? Doesn't Secretary Cao get off work?"

She took the lunchbox and saw that it contained braised chicken with radish and stewed beef with potatoes. She immediately went to the kitchen to prepare a side dish to serve her meal.

Actually, she was wrong. According to the current norm, this is the perfect time for Wang Xiao to go see Deputy Secretary Cao.

It's time to invite the boss to the newly opened nightclub for a chat, some music, drinks, dancing, and a nice meal. We can discuss business over dinner.

If the conversation isn't finished at the dinner table, go take a bath and have someone massage you while you continue the discussion.

However, doing so would have a negative impact, and a disciplined official in his rising career would likely not like to do it.

Moreover, as a woman, she really didn't find this kind of social interaction appealing.

Even if there are guys with eight-pack abs in nightclubs now, when it comes to doing serious business, it's best to stay as far away from them as possible.

Otherwise, wouldn't it be stupid to have your trade secrets leaked without even knowing what happened?

It's not like a big deal has ended; it's just time for relaxation and leisure.

If we don't choose the nightclub, how about we visit Deputy Secretary Cao's home directly?

I brought two hot braised dishes with me, so I could mooch a dinner from them and maybe even improve my relationship with the boss.

No! Wang Xiao firmly refused.

What she hates most in her life is having her personal space invaded by strangers without prior notice.

Do not do to others what you would not have them do to you.

She and Deputy Secretary Cao weren't neighbors living in the same residential area, so she could easily visit his home under the guise of a casual chat.

Let's stick to business-to-business communication and advocate for maintaining normal relations between government and businesses.

Therefore, she told Comrade Wang Tiejun directly: "I made an appointment with Deputy Secretary Cao, and she has reserved half an hour for me to receive her."

Wang Tiejun, being a leader of some rank, felt that this was a bit too careless.

That's a leader, a leader from the province.

Even when their steel mill is facing economic difficulties, they cannot lower the standards for entertaining leaders.

The two generations have different views, so Wang Xiao stopped trying to persuade her father and directly changed the subject: "Hey, Dad, how's your new job going?"

Wang Tiejun was peeling water chestnuts for his daughter when he heard the sound and his hand trembled, almost cutting himself.

Startled, Wang Xiao quickly shouted, "Hey, Dad, stop peeling it, I'll bite it myself."

"It's alright, it's alright." Wang Tiejun rallied his spirits, but he was still incredibly conflicted. "Oh dear, how could I be the deputy factory director?"

When asked to speak during the meeting, he hesitated for a long time and only managed to say three sentences.

Afterwards, he wished he could dig a hole and crawl into it.

Wang Xiao laughed wildly: "That's great, you're the most popular leader among all the factory workers."

He said he'd say three sentences and he really did say three sentences. What kind of amazing leader is he?

Wang Tiejun was still awkward: "I really can't be the deputy factory director. I don't know how. What can I do as deputy factory director? Wouldn't I just be causing trouble for the factory?"

"How did you cause trouble?" Wang Xiao said seriously. "Did you get the factory's 50 million yuan debt back? Did you secure the factory's big order?"

Wang Tiejun muttered with his head down, "You took them all."

Let's not talk about the outstanding debts; they were all settled through barter with the Russians.

That huge order... sigh, their steel mill hadn't even received any orders for post-disaster reconstruction yet, and his daughter had already delivered a huge order.

Steel is needed for construction and building houses.

Whether it's the resort in Zhimen or the international trade city next to Xiaozhou Airport, all the steel needed is sourced from steel mills.

On the day the contract was signed, the factory announced Wang Tiejun's employment.

Wang Xiao asked in surprise, "Why let the good stuff go to outsiders? I don't work at the steel factory. If this order doesn't go to you, who should it go to?"

Wang Tiejun stammered, having lived half his life, and said hesitantly, "But... but even if I become the deputy factory director, I can't do anything for the factory."

"Why can't you do anything?" Wang Xiao asked curiously. "You can get orders for the factory, so you're a hero to the factory. The factory should treat you like royalty."

"But I don't know how to be a leader. Leaders all have a set of rules."

"Just do your job duties and don't do anything wrong," Wang Xiao said, unable to understand. "Do you mean you want to engage in corruption?"

"That...that's impossible!" Wang Tiejun's eyes widened in disbelief.

The only thing he could say he benefited from working at the factory in his half-life was using the skills he learned there to work as a Sunday engineer at a small factory in the countryside to earn extra money.

However, this part-time work was unilaterally stopped by him after he became the workshop director.

Because he felt that as a cadre, he had an obligation to stay at the factory 24 hours a day. In case other workers encountered any technical problems, he, as an eighth-grade fitter, could step in directly.

Wang Xiao was almost in tears. What a good cadre! He actually felt that he was not worthy of being a cadre.

None of them thought about taking more than their share of the profits if they were to be promoted.

These are the cadres most welcomed by the people.

Wang Tiejun panicked: "I'm not capable enough, I don't know how to be a leader."

Wang Xiao waved his hand: "I understand what you mean. You're not the head of the steel plant, so you don't need to be a leader. Dad, believe me, the workers in our factory don't need you to be a leader either. You're just a regular worker. It's enough for you to speak up about what the workers are thinking when the factory leaders have a small meeting."

Wang Tiejun was busy peeling water chestnuts for a long time when Chen Yanqiu, who had gone into the kitchen to cook a side dish, got angry: "Fine, you two don't need to eat rice, just eat water chestnuts."

Wang Tiejun glanced at her, then obediently went to the kitchen and took out the braised beef and potatoes that he had reheated from the microwave. Then he looked at his daughter and said, "Your mother is more respectable as a cadre than I am."

At the very least, Dr. Chen is the head of their family.

If it were him, who could he lead? From childhood to adulthood, he has always been the one being led.

Chen Yanqiu stared wide-eyed: "How can I be a cadre? I'm a doctor."

She is now the head of the medical clinic, and with her expertise and position, she has reached the pinnacle of her career.

Wang Xiao raised his hand: "Mom, if you can be a cadre, the next chairman of the trade union will be you."

Thankfully, Dr. Chen was holding chopsticks instead of a bowl, otherwise, things would have been a disaster.

Her voice trembled as she spoke: "You...you...what nonsense are you talking about? Union chairman, my foot!"

Good heavens, are the doors at home securely locked?

If outsiders heard this, they would laugh their heads off!

The union chairman's rank is by no means low.

Wang Xiao was both amused and exasperated: "Mom, what are you afraid of? Our factory's union doesn't have to help workers get their wages."

Chen Yanqiu didn't understand the joke and was still in a daze: "I would never be the chairman of the union."

“I’ve observed that the union in our factory mainly has four tasks. The first is to organize social events and pair up young men and women. The second is to organize parties and galas during holidays. These two tasks are actually handled by the staff, and all the leaders need to do is give their approval.”

Chen Yanqiu muttered under her breath, "Everyone can do it, so why me?"

"Oh dear, Mom, why are you in such a hurry? Let me finish."

Wang Xiao held up one finger, "Another issue is solving the employment problem for the children of employees."

Is this a problem? Definitely not.

To this day, Wang Xiao still needs to recruit people from large companies.

Putting everything else aside, does that resort need staff to operate? Absolutely, it will definitely need several hundred employees.

She will need to recruit workers from many more places later on.

With her there, her mother is absolutely guaranteed to hold onto her position as union chairperson.

"And another thing is employee benefits," Wang Xiao said seriously. "Putting everything else aside, we're both steel plants, but what kind of life does Shougang have, and what kind of life do we at Jiangdong Steel Plant have?"

Good heavens, there's really no comparison. They've built production lines for bread, sausages, biscuits, fried dough twists, ice cream, soda, and all sorts of other food and drinks. We're basically just making popsicles and soda. They also have washing machine, electric fan, and furniture production lines…”

Then Dr. Chen, who has a strong sense of collective honor, couldn't stand hearing people say bad things about the factory. He immediately emphasized, "Hey, that's enough, stop going on and on. We're not the best, but we're not the worst either. Our factory is already pretty good. People should be content with what they have."

Wang Xiao was utterly speechless: "Mom, let me finish. What I'm saying is, there's still a lot of room for improvement in the welfare benefits at our steel plant. For example, Shougang has built a sanatorium in Northeast China where all the workers can take turns resting. Do we have that?"

Wang Tiejun shook his head: "The factory has its own difficulties. Such a big factory, with so many people eating, drinking, and taking care of their basic needs every day, where would we get the money to build a sanatorium?"

"So—" Wang Xiao said seriously, "we need to start from other places and fight for the welfare of our steel plant's employees."

Where? It's simple, it's traveling abroad.

Wang Tiejun was terrified: "No, no, a round trip would take more than half a month. If we play a little longer, the factory shouldn't start operating."

"Airplane, airplane!" Wang Xiao said, both amused and exasperated. "Dad, I have an airplane now. You can go out to play whenever you want."

Let's create a work schedule for the factory and arrange for the veteran workers and outstanding representatives to go on overseas trips, which is essentially a benefit for the factory.

We'll gradually rotate the trips in batches, aiming to give all employees a chance to travel abroad.

I have four flight routes available. You can go whichever you want, and I'll figure out how to arrange it.

Go one day, come back one day, and have five days to relax in between. The factory should be able to schedule that out within a week.

Wang Tiejun and Chen Yanqiu exchanged a glance, suspecting that their daughter had gone mad.

Their factory has tens of thousands of employees!

That'll be a wait time!

Wang Xiao said calmly, "Don't worry, it can be arranged in a year."

Haha, there are plenty of middlemen who want to hire people as manual laborers.

The steel plant workers are organized and disciplined, and they have formal employers in China, making them very suitable candidates.

She said confidently, "Mom, don't worry. I can definitely get these benefits implemented at the factory. With the workers' support, are you worried that the union chairman won't sit still?"

Chen Yanqiu hesitated: "They're doing a good job, why should they be moved?"

"Oh my god, you really don't care about the leaders. How old is the current union chairwoman in the factory? She'll retire in two years. According to our factory's practice, she'll have to step down after the New Year. Isn't that a perfect opportunity for you?"

However, Chen Yanqiu still felt too embarrassed to ask her to do what her husband had done last year, and go with her daughter to the factory director to say that she wanted to be the chairman of the trade union.

Oh my, just thinking about it makes me want to dig a hole and crawl into it.

Wang Xiaozhen never expected that Dr. Chen, who was usually quite generous, would be so hesitant.

Left with no other option, she had to concede: "Well then, the union chairman will be retiring soon, and the next one will definitely need to be recommended. Let her recommend you."

Wang Tiejun asked curiously, "Why would she agree to recommend it?"

The current union chairman isn't a bad person, but he's not exactly a warm-hearted one either.

To put it bluntly, no matter how much benefit their family brings to the factory, she can't be shortchanged by a single penny. Why would she step forward like this? What benefit would she get?

“Of course there are benefits.” Wang Xiao smiled. “Her nephew from her maternal family still can’t get a permanent position, so I’ll find him another job.”

Speaking of the union chairman's nephew, his situation is also tragic. He's been working for several years, and thanks to his aunt's connections, he should have been able to get a permanent position long ago.

If he has a rural household registration due to historical reasons, he cannot be officially registered.

Later, he enrolled in a correspondence college program and received his diploma this year. However, the correspondence college diploma doesn't solve his household registration problem, and the factory doesn't recognize it, so he's still a temporary worker.

The union chairman had mentioned it to Wang Xiao quite a bit last time. But at that time, the Xiaozhou incident hadn't happened yet, so Wang Xiao didn't respond.

Now that she needs help, she naturally has to provide a ladder to get there.

“I remember her nephew studied accounting. I happen to be short of accounting staff here. Let’s see if he would like to stay in the provincial capital or go to Xiaozhou.”

Chen Yanqiu and Wang Tiejun looked at each other again.

They knew the union chairman's nephew. Because her older brother died young, she treated her nephew almost like a son.

I never expected that my own daughter would think of starting with this person.

"Alright." Wang Xiao ate a piece of chicken, and said, "Hmm, it's cooked well." He assured her in a muffled voice, "Let's eat. After we eat, I'll go talk to the factory director and the union chairman. Don't worry, Mom, I'm just delivering local specialties from Xiaozhou. You don't need to come. Just wait to get promoted."

Hey! She's even figured out how to convince her boss.

It's not that Dr. Chen suddenly became obsessed with officialdom, but rather, the couple wanted to pursue mutual progress, didn't they?

Her father is an official; if her mother is a commoner, she'll lose face.

Fortunately, Comrade Chen Yanqiu is a kind-hearted person who is willing to use all resources to improve the welfare of the factory's employees.

Then let her shine in the union.

Wang Xiao ate heartily. The chicken was delicious, the beef was delicious, and her mother's stir-fried shredded cabbage was also delicious.

It smells delicious.

Wang Tiejun sighed, with a hint of sarcasm, "Oh dear, I never expected that your mother and I would be enjoying the blessings of having a daughter."

Wang Xiao swallowed the food in his mouth and waved his hand casually: "It's nothing, we're all family, no need to be polite."

Hey! So what if I didn't dress up as a second-generation official or have a powerful background?

Why doesn't my sister just help my parents get official positions?

The deputy director of the steel plant is a bureau-level cadre, and the chairman of the trade union is a division-level cadre.

My sister is now a legitimate daughter of a high-ranking official in a major factory.

╯^╰!

————————

Well, there was no extra update because Ah Jin caught the virus, and the whole department caught it one after another.

So wear a mask, a mask is a lifesaver.

Let me tell you, I was a rural resident who changed my household registration to urban in the 1990s.

In August 1992, the Ministry of Public Security issued the "Notice on Implementing the Local Valid Urban Resident Household Registration System." More than ten provinces, including Guangdong, Zhejiang, Shandong, Shanxi, and Hebei, successively began to pilot the "Blue Seal Household Registration System," which stipulated that the local valid urban resident household registration system would be implemented in small towns, special economic zones, economic and technological development zones, and high-tech industrial development zones, and that farmers who moved to cities would be responsible for their own food rations.

Prior to this, passing the entrance exams for vocational schools and universities was basically the only way to obtain urban household registration.

The sanatorium mentioned in the article began construction in 1989 and started trial operation in 1992. At the time mentioned in the article, it had not yet been opened to employees.

Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 2023-11-24 14:55:01 and 2023-11-25 14:24:26!

Thank you to the little angel who threw the landmine: Su 1;

Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Always Forgot Account Password 100 bottles; Fugui'er 84 bottles; Fanfangluoshi, Muhuotongming 50 bottles; Rongrongrong, Tiantianquan de Miaomiao 40 bottles; 20761365, Xiangkanhaowen 30 bottles; lilya, Dada Jintian Pao de?, Xiaomei, Xiaop, Runba Xiaoniu 20 bottles; Mimihuhu de, Affirmation, Ququyantingting, Rouchou Wofafeng, kkmay, Ada, Zhineng Woniu, Ahuanghe Shiba, amy, Naonaomama, Haibian de Xiaoxiaoyu 10 bottles; Tantai Wuchu 6 bottles; Zhimeng, Dada, Siqian, lenfen1235 bottles; 231552663 bottles; Qiushuifeishui 2 bottles; Ahai, Nie Ningning, Eve Yang, Pangpangxiong, Aurora, Ziyi 1 bottle;

Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!