That night, Xu Damao stayed at Li Xuewu's house until very late. Besides discussing the plan, he also shared his own thoughts, which essentially meant wanting to advance his career. Xu Damao didn't specify any particular position, trusting that Li Xuewu would handle the overall arrangements.

After Xu Damao left, Li Xuewu's wife saw the box Xu Damao had left on the table. It looked nice, so she casually opened it.

"Wow!" Inside were several large, golden yellow croakers, neatly arranged.

"What did Da Mao ask you to do that you're so willing to spend?" Li Xuewu's wife, who had seen the world, was also surprised by Xu Da Mao's generosity. Usually, when you ask someone for a favor, a few small coins are enough, but she didn't expect him to go for a large sum.

Normally, thanks to Xu Damao's relationship with his husband Lao Li, simple matters can be resolved with just a word, and these things are unnecessary.

"This kid has really grown. I was originally thinking of letting him work as the factory manager's assistant first, but now it seems I should just give him the job right away," Li Xuewu exclaimed.

He had just seen Xu Damao carrying something and assumed it was nothing more than a few small gold bars. Because of their relationship, and the fact that Xu Damao was the source of the information, Li Xuewu would handle the matter clearly, whether or not something was delivered.

Xu Damao's actions clearly demonstrate that personal relationships are one thing, and business is another. Of course, it can also be seen as a long-term investment by Xu Damao. After this incident, Xu Damao was unlikely to offer any more gifts in this matter, even after his promotion from deputy factory director to factory director.

"When I first saw Xu Damao, I thought he was capable and would be successful in the future. I never expected him to mature to this extent in the past few years."

"Oh, what a pity. If they weren't married, I would have definitely tried to set Li Tong up with him," Li Xuewu's wife muttered.

Previously, he had always regarded Xu Damao as a smart, somewhat capable boy from an ordinary family, treating him politely on the surface but keeping him at arm's length in his heart. At this moment, he felt that Xu Damao was qualified to enter his circle.

If Xu Damao had known, he definitely wouldn't have wanted to enter the circle they thought he belonged to; he only wanted to use the circle's power to achieve his own goals.

A few days later, Li Xuewu knocked on Yang Zhenhua's office with the auto repair shop construction plan prepared by Xu Damao.

"Secretary Yang, since you have some time today, I'd like to report something." Li Xuewu lit a cigarette for the other man.

"Learning martial arts? What's all this about? Why are you making such a big deal out of it? I see you even have written materials there." Yang Zhenhua asked, somewhat puzzled.

Normally, when these factory leaders came to his office to report on their work, everyone was quite casual, and he was happy to cultivate a friendly image. However, being too friendly wasn't a good thing either; after being at the steel rolling mill for so long, he still hadn't mastered the personnel work, so he thought of finding a breakthrough in the machine repair shop.

"Secretary, I have a plan here regarding the construction of a new auto repair shop. Our logistics department has been doing very well with the auto repair business lately, receiving high praise both on and off the premises."

However, as business expanded, we also faced many problems, so I considered whether we could solve them by building a new, separate factory.

As Li Xuewu spoke, he handed the report in his hand to the other party.

When Yang Zhenhua heard the other party mention building a new factory, he almost couldn't contain his anger. His painstakingly prepared plan had been discovered before it even began. And to make matters worse, they were planning to free-ride on his scheme.

Comrade Lao Yang never imagined that people could be so shameless.

Having finally calmed his anger, Yang Zhenhua slowly began to read the report. The report was standard, explaining the necessity of establishing a new factory, but stating that it was not the only way to solve the problem.

But Yang Zhenhua didn't say that, because he knew that Li Xuewu had made the first move by bringing up the idea of ​​setting up a new factory, and his own proposal to establish a new machine repair shop would only be considered copying others' ideas. Moreover, if he rejected Li Xuewu's proposal, he would be directly rejecting the machine repair shop as well.

Otherwise, everyone would say, "You rejected the suggestion of a car repair shop first, so why did you suggest a machine repair shop yourself?"

Yang Zhenhua appeared to be flipping through reports, but in reality, he was pondering how to respond. After a long while, Yang Zhenhua stopped what he was doing; he decided to lay his cards on the table. Otherwise, the longer it dragged on, the more people would try to take advantage of the situation. He needed to act quickly while many people were still caught off guard.

"Learning martial arts is a great idea. It fits the current situation of our factory and can solve practical problems."

Inspired by you, I remembered that the mechanics contacted me before, and I didn't know how to answer them then, but now I know the answer.

The problems the mechanics are facing are similar to those in the auto repair sector: insufficient space and a shortage of personnel. I didn't know how to solve them before, but now they could set up a new mechanic repair shop.

"Learn martial arts, don't you think?"

After Yang Zhenhua finished speaking, he stared at Li Xuewu, waiting for the other party to give an answer.

Li Xuewu thought Yang Zhenhua would struggle, express dissatisfaction, or even refuse outright, but he didn't expect the other party to make a decision so quickly. It seems he had underestimated Old Yang before; those who can become the top leader are indeed no simple characters.

“The clerk is right, I support your decision,” Li Xuewu said firmly.

“Well then, since the problem is so serious, let’s resolve it as soon as possible. Let’s vote on it at the next leadership meeting, and after it’s approved, we’ll report it to the ministry,” Yang Zhenhua said.

The advantage of being in charge is that he can convene a leadership meeting at any time; other leaders can only consult the top leader when they have problems, and wait for the top leader to set a time, which may be immediate or a long time.

Soon, a meeting of factory leaders was convened.

At the meeting, the Political Department presented a report on the establishment of new machine repair and auto repair shops, which surprised the other leaders. Some of them had only just heard rumors about the possible establishment of new machine repair shops and knew nothing about auto repair shops.

After the political department finished reading the plan, it was the leaders' turn to express their opinions.

"I support the Political Department's opinion," Li Xuewu said first. As the deputy in charge of personnel matters, it was reasonable for him to speak first.

“I wasn’t clear about this issue before. Could we postpone it until everyone understands it better before discussing it again?” Director Qiao raised an objection.

Ever since he lost the battle for the third-place position to Li Xuewu, he has been dissatisfied with everything Li Xuewu does. He opposes whatever Li Xuewu supports, and he supports whatever Li Xuewu opposes.

"If there's anything you don't understand, let the Political Department explain it to you right now," Yang Zhenhua suddenly said.

As the top leader, he usually only speaks last. But as the meeting chair, it's perfectly reasonable for him to say that.

Upon hearing Yang Zhenhua's words, the other leaders immediately understood that Old Yang and Old Li were probably in cahoots. Raising objections would be pointless and only offend people; they might as well support him, and perhaps even get a share of the pie in the new factory's personnel matters later.