"Come on, Lao Xu, come over here tonight for a game of chess." Yan Fugui, who was sitting at the entrance of the courtyard, warmly invited Xu Fugui as he walked in.

"Hehe, I'll come back later. I'll take the groceries home first."

After finishing his sentence, Xu Fugui picked up a basket of vegetables and walked towards the backyard, humming a little tune. There was no way around it; although he was only 50 years old, one could say his life was complete.

In his youth, he spent his days aimlessly, but unexpectedly, he became a projectionist, and after the founding of the People's Republic of China, he was one of the eight key figures in the government. After marrying in his twenties, he soon had a son.

Originally, this son had perfectly inherited all of his father's flaws: he was good at eating, drinking, gambling, and whoring; but he was terrible at everything else. After feeling that his main son was useless, he and his wife created a secondary son, who turned out to be a daughter, which was quite sweet.

Originally, I thought my son was completely ruined, but after I sent him to the steel rolling mill to work as a projectionist, he seemed to have a cheat code activated. He rose to become the head of the factory and a deputy director-level official in just 4 or 5 years.

This change was unexpected even for Lao Xu. He had originally hoped to keep his son's playful nature under control through work, so he wouldn't cause trouble for others and ultimately ruin himself. Sometimes, after going to bed at night, he would joke with his wife about having another child, who might even become a provincial governor.

As for why Old Xu has come to the Red Star Courtyard, that's because of another happy event: he has a grandson. Yes, Wang Minzhi gave birth, and it's a big, healthy boy.

To take care of Wang Minzhi, Xu's mother moved here, and her daughter Xu Fengling also came, so Xu Fugui naturally followed suit. However, he would run between both homes, buying groceries and such, going wherever he was needed.

Unlike before when he left the courtyard house and was ignored, now that he's back, everyone he meets, from the front yard to the back, greets him politely. He knows that he's gained status because of his son.

He had originally planned to flaunt his father's status as the factory director and give the neighbors in the courtyard a hard time, but after Xu Damao talked to him once, he restrained himself. From that moment on, Xu Damao became the head of the household.

"Old Xu, want to come over for a drink tonight?" Liu Haizhong from across the street called out enthusiastically as soon as we arrived in the backyard.

"Old Liu, which is more tiring, managing or personally wielding a sledgehammer?" Xu Fugui didn't answer Liu Haizhong's polite, catchphrase-like question, but instead asked a question he had wanted to know for a long time.

According to his son, Liu Haizhong is now the deputy director of the parts workshop, assisting the workshop director in management. I heard that to increase his knowledge, he's even dug out his son's Chinese and math books and is studying them every night.

"Haha, Lao Xu, let me tell you, these are two completely different feelings. Swinging a hammer yourself, that's the feeling of having everything under control; but management is about getting others to do things, which is also a skill."

Sometimes when others don't listen or don't understand what I mean, that's genuinely frustrating; but other times when others manage to do something well under my guidance, that's a different feeling altogether—yes, it's called a sense of accomplishment.

Liu Haizhong probably had some genuine feelings to share recently, and since someone asked him about it, he just kept rambling on and on.

Just as the two were talking, Xu Damao returned from outside.

"Old Liu, not bad, you've really made progress lately, you deserve praise."

Xu Damao hadn't expected Liu Haizhong to be such a capable person. At least he was genuinely willing to manage others and dared to offend people. According to their director, Liu Haizhong was the kind of person he didn't want to offend, and he could handle them all without exception.

If anyone is unwilling to accept management or doesn't perform well, Lao Liu will be like Tang Sanzang, watching them every day and nagging them incessantly. In the end, the person has no choice but to obey.

"Really? Da Mao, you can't lie to Second Uncle."

Liu Haizhong, probably to maintain his last shred of dignity, rarely addressed Xu Damao as Factory Director in the compound, still referring to himself as Second Uncle. But once inside the factory, he called him that more naturally than anyone else.

"Absolutely. We reward the advanced and encourage the laggards. By the way, Lao Liu, go to the factory a little earlier tomorrow. A batch of parts is being delivered, so go and receive them."

As Xu Damao spoke, the conversation drifted to work. Recently, the auto repair shop had been doing quite well. Without the constraints of the steel rolling mill, various organizations were willing to send their broken or scrapped vehicles to the repair shop.

Thanks to Huang Shu and his team's diligent study and extensive practical experience with vehicles, their auto repair skills improved rapidly. The number of repair workers also grew from a few to a dozen, and now to over a hundred. The busiest workshop is the truck repair shop, followed by the sidecar repair shop, and finally the car repair shop.

In those days, car repair skills were one thing, but spare parts were another. In order to purchase more and better parts, Xu Damao personally led a team to visit all the relevant factories around Beijing, and indeed found quite a few good ones.

As for the more distant areas, the deputy factory director Zuo Chang'an led the team, with Huang Shu or other workshop directors and deputy directors participating. Because of this, Zuo Chang'an was initially very unhappy.

His displeasure was no problem; Xu Damao immediately sent him to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to learn vehicle repair techniques for soldiers. The round trip took more than a month, and Zuo Chang'an nearly lost his life. From then on, he never outwardly did anything out of line.

During this period, everything at the auto repair shop was on track, so Xu Damao thought about providing some benefits for the employees to see if he could solve some of their housing problems.

Building housing involves many aspects, and Xu Damao had absolutely no clue what to do, so he called the head of the infrastructure section of the logistics department of the main factory over for dinner to inquire about the specific operating procedures.

I must say, having a teacher readily available makes a difference. The moment they opened their mouths, they were spouting practical advice. Finally, after Xu Damao had exchanged toasts, the head of the infrastructure department simply handed him one of his notebooks.

"Director Xu, this is a summary of my years of experience in infrastructure construction. It includes how to follow procedures, how to select materials, and how to contact leaders. Don't worry, with this handbook, you'll be able to get things done much more efficiently."

On his way back, Xu Damao was still thinking about whether it was a bit unfair of him to just take someone else's treasure book like that.