Chapter 110 Where are the people who reap the rewards of telling the truth?

The investigation team arrived at Feiyan Textile Factory by car and was immediately shocked by its desolate appearance and dilapidated entrance. The bamboo entrance, which was added last year, had become sparse and broken after a year of wind and rain.

Wu Guodong exclaimed in shock, "Your factory isn't even finished yet!"

Assistant He, who was put forward to receive guests today, was heartbroken: "So far, the factory has only completed the main factory area and some of the staff facilities in the living area. Leaders, after all, our factory only started construction last year."

Reporter Ma Xiangqian asked, "Since the factory wasn't built, why did you start production?"

Assistant He glanced at him, feeling a bit speechless. This guy was obviously looking for trouble. So he said sarcastically, "This comrade is probably a recent graduate who doesn't understand the actual situation. If this factory waits until all the buildings are completed, it will take several years or even more than ten years."

“In a typical textile factory, after the main building is completed, the machines are moved and tested in preparation for trial production. In the early days when conditions were tough, the female workers produced in the open air before the building was completed, and they would pull up awnings when it rained.”

"If we wait until all the buildings are completed before starting construction, what state do we mean by 'completed'? Does it mean the staff building is completed? Even for a factory with 10,000 employees, the staff building is built slowly year by year."

After being told those things, Reporter Ma felt a little embarrassed, because his question was indeed unprofessional and impractical.

Wu Guodong asked, "Even after the topping-out ceremony, moving the machines into the factory will take a long time to debug, right? There was a textile factory that was just as fast as you, but they had a large factory that sent two hundred elite personnel to debug the machines and help train the employees. What do you have in your factory that can compare to those two hundred elite personnel?"

Assistant He, in a fit of desperation, said: "Because we have a good factory manager. She takes the lead and personally guides the workers to debug the machines. During the installation process, the most important thing is to adjust the machine's process parameters. Our factory manager, Ms. Qin, is very experienced in this area."

"Furthermore, Director Qin used this opportunity to connect with other textile factories inside and outside the province to carry out learning and exchanges, and everyone's skills have been improved."

Wu Guodong asked, "Guo Youcai, do you know how to adjust process parameters?"

Guo Youcai was taken aback: "Of course I understand this principle, and I should be able to adjust it."

“That’s great! This comrade can show everyone his skills. Our factory happens to have a machine that needs precise adjustment of process parameters. This comrade can demonstrate it in front of all the workers.”

Wu Guodong looked at Guo Youcai: "Why don't you go and do it yourself?"

“This…” Guo Youcai broke out in a cold sweat. “I have the theoretical knowledge, but my practical skills are definitely lacking, since I’m not familiar with it yet.”

Assistant He spoke up: "Comrades, you are an investigation team, isn't there a single person who actually understands the machines?"

Assistant He is incredibly reckless. He was so worried about being dismissed that he couldn't sleep. Now that he has accepted that he will be dismissed, he has started to act recklessly and has become sarcastic and mean.

Ptooey! Ptooey!

Didn't Director Qin say that he would speak his mind to the investigation team?

Since he's going to be dismissed anyway, he might as well make a clean-up before leaving. He didn't actually make any mistakes. Right now, the whole society is calling for learning from workers and farmers, going deep into the countryside and factories. If you can't even adjust a machine, what qualifications do you have to conduct an investigation? What qualifications do you have to say you've gone deep into the factory? You should be sent down to work as a factory worker for a few years!

"There are naturally specialized technical personnel to handle this machine-related issue."

Assistant He, oblivious to the situation, said, "In our factory, if the factory manager doesn't understand machines or production technology, the employees will look down on him."

"Our factory director, Ms. Qin, used to be a female worker operating the spinning machine in the fine spinning workshop. Even now, she still holds the best record for the number of yarn breaks per hour."

Reporter Ma asked in shock, "Is this true?"

"Of course it's true. It's precisely because Director Qin has this ability that Master Li and others agreed to go south to support the construction of the factory, which is why our textile factory was able to get approved..."

Wu Guodong and his team went to the production workshop and asked the workers there. When they learned that the investigation team had arrived, everyone stopped their machines and gathered together.

"Our factory is operating normally, there are no problems."

"Director Qin is very capable. On the first day of official operation, the director personally went down to the workshop."

"Director Qin's eyes and hands are too sharp; she can spot substandard products at a glance."

...

Hearing what the people around him were saying, Deputy Team Leader Sun Aihua felt suspicious and whispered to Wu Guodong, "These workers are all speaking in such a uniform way, praising the factory director and others. Were they taught beforehand how to speak?"

Wu Guodong: "That's possible."

"The practice of deception is unacceptable."

Wu Guodong straightened his expression and said to all the workers, "We are here to conduct this investigation from the perspective of the workers' interests. You must not conceal anything. I'm asking you now, before our investigation team came down, did the factory hold a meeting to instruct you on what to say when the investigation team arrives?"

As soon as he finished speaking, all the workers looked at each other in bewilderment.

When reporter Ma Xiangqian saw this scene, his eyes lit up, and he picked up his camera and took several photos.

One of the female workers said, "We held a staff meeting before."

"Director Qin also told us how to talk to the investigation team."

Wu Guodong's expression grew even sterner, and he said sternly, "She taught you to fool the investigation team? This is an absolutely wrong tendency."

"No, Director Qin said in front of everyone that he would say whatever was on his mind to the investigation team and that he would tell the truth!"

"Yes, we must tell the truth!"

Reporter Ma was stunned: "???!!"

“We’re telling the truth. Who made up a lie?”

"Is there anything wrong with the textiles produced in our factory? The people from the clothing factory who came last time said that the quality is excellent."

"Yes, my family is all wearing the Dacron fabric that we produce ourselves, and we're so happy."

"Our factory director Qin is really amazing; she can even give lectures to key personnel from other factories."

...

The workers started discussing amongst themselves, leaving Wu Guodong and the others completely bewildered. What? They were telling the truth??

Wu Guodong asked doubtfully, "Are you telling the truth? Didn't anyone teach you to praise Factory Director Qin in front of the investigation team?"

"If there is any, it must be said; this is a serious issue."

Upon hearing his words, a female worker from Hongqiling Commune in the crowd retorted indignantly, "You members of the investigation team are too wicked! Is your purpose not to investigate the true situation in our factory, but to force us to speak ill of Director Qin and the factory?"

"Discarding a used tool after it has served its purpose—that's utterly shameless!"

"Aren't you just like Yuan Shikai?"

"They see someone else's factory is built and come here to reap the benefits, they're shameless!"

"What's wrong with bullying women? I'd rather not be a worker oppressed by darkness! I'll go home and grab a hoe!"

"Yes! That's it!"

After the female worker finished speaking, the crowd became agitated. After so many days of discussion, many people knew that when Director Qin was heavily pregnant, he went to discuss the land acquisition and inspect the factory site. He watched the factory being built step by step. Later, when the machines had problems during debugging, it was Director Qin who found a way to solve them. Before the factory was built, he appointed someone as the temporary factory manager. After it was built, he said that the person was not qualified enough. This is too heartless!

Many workers couldn't stand it.

Faced with such an agitated scene, the investigation team was stunned. Wu Guodong quickly said, "We are here to investigate the true situation of the factory."

"We're just stating the facts, so why are you constantly pressuring us to speak ill of the factory and about Director Qin?"

Is there a problem with our factory?

"There's clearly nothing wrong with this batch of cotton fabric. We've inspected it twice, and the people at the clothing factory also said the quality is excellent. Why are you nitpicking? What's the problem?"

"The cotton fabric is of very good quality; it's all thanks to everyone's hard work."

Wu Guodong: "Everyone, please be quiet. Our investigation team is here because we are puzzled as to why the factory was built so quickly and started construction so fast. It is illogical that the textile quality is guaranteed to be so good under such a fast construction speed. We suspect that it is fraudulent."

"Why was it built so fast? I think you leaders who don't even eat grains should step down!" The female worker who had just spoken had reddened her eyes. "You have clothes to wear but you can't imagine the suffering of us who have no clothes to wear. You city people have cloth coupons, what do we country people have?"

"The textile factory was chosen to be built in our commune. All the commune members were looking forward to the early completion of the textile factory so that the children could wear new clothes."

"We're not greedy; we're happy if we can find some defective factory goods to wear."

"Many commune members would come to help after finishing their farm work. Director Qin advised them not to come, but none of them listened. Even the children came to move stones, just because they wanted to wear a new piece of clothing."

...

"Later, when the factory building was completed and the machines were being debugged, problems arose. The textile students who came from the school didn't know anything, they only knew how to talk about theory. When they actually went to debug a machine, they were dumbfounded. After a long time, they found that the machine was broken."

“We saw it with our own eyes; it was Factory Director Qin who personally went to adjust the machine.”

"We have overcome so many problems in the past."

When the female worker pointed out that the students taught at textile schools these days knew absolutely nothing, Guo Youcai's face stiffened, as if he had been slapped in the face without his knowledge.

“So many problems existed in the past because of irregularities. This is an excellent teaching director from the Textile University. If he were to become the factory manager, he would lead everyone to build a better factory.” Wu Guodong pointed to Guo Youcai beside him and introduced him to all the workers.

"Pah! Many of the students they trained knew nothing when they first came here. All they knew was to talk big. Are they going to let them come here as factory managers who know nothing?"

Upon seeing this, Ma took numerous photos and made notes in his notebook, knowing that if this were reported, it would be a major news story.

"Comrade, are you a reporter? You must report the truth. These people are deliberately looking for trouble. They're just here to reap the benefits. They see that the factory is doing well, so they deliberately come to find fault. Don't you want people to live?"

"We've just started to have hope for the future, and Director Qin is our good director!"

"If these people are deliberately slandering me, then I will definitely fight them to the death."

"This investigation team is really corrupt!!"

Reporter Ma quickly replied, "Don't worry, don't worry, I will definitely report the facts."

The investigation team members panicked at this point, especially Wu Guodong. "Don't worry, we didn't intentionally incite the workers to speak ill of the factory manager. We just want to investigate the facts."

“We told you the truth, but you didn’t believe us. If you don’t believe us, you can ask the people in the nearby communes.”

"Okay, okay, I feel very ashamed now."

Qin Xiangxiang asked Assistant He to lead the investigation team to visit and investigate the factory. She herself did not show up, because she was afraid that if she was there, the workers would not dare to tell the truth or point out her shortcomings and flaws to her face.

After calculating the time precisely, she reappeared, publicly admitted her mistake, and resigned, thus honorably leaving her job.

"Hello, fellow members of the investigation team. I am Qin Xiangxiang, the current director of Feiyan Factory. I know that I was not qualified enough to become the director back then."

"If I am no longer able to serve as the factory director in the future, I hope that the new factory director can give the factory a better future."

Wu Guodong, Sun Aihua, and others came forward to shake hands with Qin Xiangxiang. "No, no, no, Director Qin, you are too modest."

“If you are not a qualified and good factory manager, then no one is a good factory manager. You are truly a heroine.”

"The future of Feiyan Textile Factory still depends on you, Director Qin. No one else can do it."

Qin Xiangxiang: "??????"

Where are the people picking peaches?