Chapter 169

Upon learning that the list had been announced, Ye Manzhi returned to the military industrial compound that night without delay.

"Brother, when does the factory want you to leave?"

"The first group will leave next week," the third brother said with a smile. "There's nothing for me to worry about at home. I think I'll leave with the main group next week."

The second sister complained, "Why don't you worry about the family? If you leave, what will happen to my wife and children? Our parents are not young anymore..."

The third brother smiled with his huge white teeth. "Haha, you're still here, aren't you? I'm going to the Third Front to support construction. You, big sister, and little sister, come back more often to spend time with mom and dad."

The second sister, her eyes red, punched her brother on the shoulder. "You're such a fool! The mountains are high and the roads are long, yet you just leave without saying anything. I don't know when you'll be back!"

"Second sister, don't blame him." Huang Li pulled her aside and whispered, "If Mantang doesn't go, then our father will have to go."

Factory 656 is a military factory, and the workers and technicians have a particularly high level of ideological awareness.

All the workers in their building signed up to go to the Third Front.

Some even have fathers and sons, mothers and daughters joining together, with several members of the family signing up together.

Factory 656 also has its own production tasks, and it is impossible to put everyone on the third line, so there are conditions when selecting people.

In cases like the Ye family, where both the father and son have signed up, the younger ones are usually sent to the third line, while the older masters are left in the factory.

Ye Manzhi touched his nephew's chubby face and asked worriedly, "Sister-in-law, my third brother is going to the Third Line. What are you going to do with the taxi? Should you go with him or stay at home?"

"Stay home for now. The Third Front is starting from scratch, there's nothing there. Housing and schools all need to be newly built. Let your third brother go ahead and scout the area. Once he's settled in, I'll take Xiang over."

Huang Li has been here for nearly ten years. Although she has integrated into the life of this era, she has not experienced the hardships of the past and often cannot empathize with the enthusiasm and passion of contemporary workers.

When the factory just asked workers to sign up to go to the third front, Ye Mantang came back to discuss it with her.

She disagreed at first.

The working and living conditions in the Third Front were very difficult, and the climate was very different from that in the north. Bringing your family to the Third Front was purely asking for trouble.

However, Ye Mantang was a very pure idealist, especially after he avoided studying in the Soviet Union and became a red engineer, his spirit of dedication was elevated to several levels.

He wrote several petitions every time the factory mobilized people.

However, because she refused to give in, they were all locked in a drawer and could not be handed over.

Ye Mantang was anxious all day long and couldn't wait to go to the front line. He would go home every day to report to her who in the workshop had signed up.

It was not until most of the people in their building had signed up that Huang Li decided to respect Ye Mantang's personal wishes and let him go to the third line if he wanted to, as it would seem too backward if he did not sign up.

Those who signed up to go to the third line in the factory were workers as dedicated as he was.

The Third Front is a remote and mountainous area with long and remote roads, so no one would want to make trouble. In the next few years, Ye Mantang could concentrate on studying technology in the Third Front and work together with his fellow workers on production.

The eldest sister glanced at her sister-in-law, frowned, and asked, "If you go to the Third Front, can they arrange a job for you there?"

Technical workers can display their strengths there, but family members like Huang Li will have to sacrifice their careers if they go to the Third Front.

The Third Front was a defense industry, requiring seclusion and dispersion. It wasn't exactly a desolate mountainous area, but it was close. With no entertainment and no jobs, you couldn't have your family at home all the time, could you?

Her sister-in-law used to be a middle school teacher and she doesn't seem to be without ambition. Will she be able to adapt to the third-tier cities?

"I don't know yet," Huang Li said. "There are postal outlets all over the country. Once they're built, I'd like to apply to transfer to the local post office. I'm just worried that if I go too late, there won't be any vacancies."

Ye Manzhi comforted him, "Haven't you published a lot of comic strips over the years? Even if you can't find work temporarily, you can still draw comic strips at home."

Ye Manzhi has only published one fashion book, which is no longer available in bookstores.

But Wong Tai Sin came from behind and published six or seven comic strips, all of which were children's books similar to "Little Soldier Zhang Ga".

On Wu Yuzhuo's bookshelf in her home are all the picture books published by her third aunt, and she has read every one of them.

I am considered a loyal little reader of my third aunt.

Although the country has reformed publishing royalties in the past few years, the royalties for publishing books are not as high as she earned in the past, but the income from publishing books is still much more than what she can earn from a fixed salary.

Wong Tai Sin has plenty of money, and if there is no suitable job in the third-tier cities, he can still draw picture books.

"Let's let Mantang go and see what's going on first," Huang Li rubbed his son's head. "Qixiang is going to participate in this year's children's speed skating competition. If he can perform well, I'll stay with him in Binjiang for two more years. If he doesn't have the talent, then we can go to the third line to reunite with our family."

Before Huang Li had children, she dreamed of raising a genius child.

But the reality is quite disappointing. Her son's weight has always been high. In recent years, she has enrolled her son in gymnastics classes, table tennis classes, and also let him learn ice skating in an attempt to help him lose weight.

This kid didn't have much talent in the first two sports, but he was pretty good at skating. He learned skating with Qiqiu from the fourth brother's family. The two brothers took classes together, and not only did they lose weight, but they also achieved some results.

The two brothers will participate in the district's children's speed skating competition together next month.

…

After the candidates to support the Third Front were determined, the factory quickly arranged for everyone to set off.

The day we officially left was Sunday. The sky was clear and the snow shone through the clouds.

The whole family went to the train station to see the third brother off. Even though the cheerful song "We Are Walking on the Road" was playing on the station radio, the strong feeling of separation could not be erased.

Because they didn't know the specific situation on the Third Front, all the workers carried their own rations, bedding, and even teacups, thermoses, and washbasins.

The third brother wore a big red flower on his chest and carried a bulging bag on his back. He looked helpless as he comforted the crying children.

My dear son Taxi has cried several times at home, and we had already agreed not to cry when we came to see him off today.

But there is no stopping someone from taking the lead.

Wu Yuzhuo initially thought her third uncle was just on a short business trip, just like her father. But when she heard from Cheche that her third uncle would be working there for several years, Accountant Wu suddenly couldn't suppress her reluctance to leave.

She hugged her third uncle's thigh and cried.

This caused the other children who were seeing them off to cry as well.

Ye Manzhi pulled the heartbroken girl away and changed the subject with a nasal grumble, "Brother, the factory's arrangement was too sudden. Wu Zhengrong hasn't returned from his business trip yet, so I didn't have time to see him."

"Haha, it's okay. I'll write to my brother-in-law and communicate when the time comes." Ye Mantang looked at his wife and children with red eyes, and said with all his heartache, "Laiya, I'm not home. Please help me take care of your sister-in-law and nephew."

Ye Manzhi wiped her tears with her scarf and said with a red nose, "You don't need to tell me specifically. We will definitely take good care of the family. You just need to take care of yourself. Take it easy when you work. You are not a young man in your teens or twenties anymore. Don't exhaust yourself!"

She pulled a few children aside and left the final goodbye time to her third brother and his family of three.

It wasn't until a long whistle rang out from the locomotive and the team leader blew the whistle to signal the workers to board the train and set off that Old Ye, who had remained silent, patted his son on the shoulder and said, "Work hard!"

*

The train heading south not only took away the dedicated workers, but also took away Ye Shouxin's spirit.

The feeling of going to the third front myself and sending my son to the third front is completely different.

Besides, the third son goes to and from the workshop with him every day. He is not only his son, but also his apprentice and work partner.

The sudden disappearance of someone at home and at work took him a long time to recover from the shock.

The taxi was in a similar mental state to him, and both grandfather and grandson were listless all day long.

Before the third brother left, he specially had a drink with the fourth and fifth brothers, which was considered as officially handing over the family to his two younger brothers.

Therefore, Fifth Brother often goes back to the military industrial compound recently, and he does all the work of buying coal and shipping boxes.

Occasionally, I also help pick up and drop off my two little nephews from kindergarten.

Seeing that the taxi driver was in a bad mood, he took his two nephews back to his home and asked the taxi driver to help him look after his daughter who had just turned 100 days old.

The taxi driver's attention was quickly diverted by a baby in a very problematic situation.

"Come on, buddy, are there any more people on the loading and unloading team? What do you think about me driving a forklift?"

After lunch, the fourth brother wandered into his sister's office.

"Forklift drivers are trained by each factory themselves, and they can hardly recruit from outside. It would be great if you could drive a forklift," Ye Manzhi asked. "Don't you mind the strong smell of diesel?"

"Why not?" Fourth Brother frowned in disdain. "I went to see that forklift a few days ago. There's no enclosed space, the diesel smell is less than that of a truck, and you can wear a scarf and mask in winter. I can give it a try first."

Work for half a year first and get a regular job, then see how the situation goes in the summer.

One good thing about driving a forklift is that you only need to drive it within the factory and don’t have to drive it on the road.

If he feels sick, he can get off the car and relax at any time.

Ye Manzhi asked doubtfully, "Why did you suddenly change your mind?"

Her fourth brother is not an ambitious person.

He had no shortage of money, and if his third brother and Old Ye hadn't urged him, he would have spent his whole life gardening and tending plants.

The fourth brother sighed, "After the third brother went to the Third Front, our father seemed to have lost his soul. It seems that the third brother is the only son who has a promising future..."

"Yes, it's the third brother who is the most promising." Ye Manyi told the truth.

"..." Fourth Brother rolled his eyes. "I'll just get a regular job this time to impress Dad! But I can't be like that Bao Xu and just work the night shift. Master Yu is Bao Xu's master, not mine. If he treats me the same way he treats Bao Xu, I'll show him how much vision Lord Ma has!"

The drivers are all trained by experienced people and they recognize their masters in the factory.

Bao Xu learned driving skills from Master Yu, which is equivalent to learning a skill to make a living from someone else. Master Yu is his nominal master.

So, Lao Yu arranged night shifts for him for two months, and he worked the day shift all the time. He didn't even dare to fart.

"Go to the HR department and recommend yourself. There aren't many people in the factory who can drive, and truck drivers don't want to switch to forklift driving. There shouldn't be anyone competing with you right now."

Ye Manzhi is not worried about her fourth brother.

He was often beaten up by Old Ye at home, but he rarely suffered any losses when he was out there.

Master Yu might not be able to control her fourth brother.

Ye Manzhi urged his fourth brother to recommend himself, while he took his notebook and went to the meeting room next door for a meeting.

The factory's award application materials have been submitted.

Ye Manzhi failed to be rated as a provincial advanced model.

Each factory can only recommend one cadre for provincial awards.

According to convention, this spot should be given to Niu Enjiu.

He is the Party Secretary and Factory Director, and all the factory's achievements can be attributed to him.

However, Director Lao Niu was punished for the 2.27 fire, so it would be a waste of his place even if he registered.

Therefore, the candidate recommended by the factory this year is Wang Shihu.

Wang Shihu took the lead in participating in the quality product evaluation this year, and 12 products won the title of "City Excellence".

The technological innovations of several workshops can also be attributed to him as the deputy technical director.

Moreover, the pastry workshop received a temporary production task of 200,000 kilograms of mooncakes issued by the city. The time was tight and the task was heavy. He participated in the front line of production and led everyone to complete the task successfully.

The sum of these several items is a very impressive achievement.

As for Ye Manzhi, when she submitted the application materials, the canning workshop she was responsible for had not yet completed its production task for this year.

Even if it was completed, it was just barely completed. The results were not particularly outstanding and he was not as competitive as Wang Shihu.

Ye Manzhi comforted herself in her heart that she was still young. If she won a provincial award now, what room would she have for improvement in the future?

She can calm down and continue working hard.

Besides, if there are no provincial awards, there are still municipal ones!

Because Niu Enjiu and Chen Qian were both punished for the February 27 fire, when Binjiang City selected model cadres, only she, Jiang Wenming, and Wang Shihu, three deputy factory directors, submitted application materials.

Ye Manzhi estimated the time in his mind. There were still ten days until New Year's Day, and the award results should be announced in the next few days.

Sure enough, at today's team meeting, after Niu Enjiu arranged the final sprint work for this year, he mentioned the city's award results.

"This year, our factory has achieved very gratifying results. One comrade was awarded the 'Glorious Decade' honor, three comrades were awarded the title of advanced individuals, and one workshop and two teams received the advanced collective award."

Niu Enjiu consulted his notebook and read out the workers' achievements. He then added, "The factory's performance is also good..."

Several deputy factory directors were drinking tea calmly, and what they were most concerned about was who would be the city-level model cadre.

Wang Shihu said with a smile: "Everyone has done a good job this year. Although we have experienced some setbacks, overall we have made steady progress."

Several deputy directors of the food factory are in charge of different tasks and contracted workshops. The work content is almost the same, and there is not much difference in the year-end results.

As their levels are similar, it is more reasonable to give the award to Jiang Wenming and Wang Shihu, who have the most experience.

Everyone actually has an idea of ​​who will receive this award.

Wang Shihu is in the limelight this year, while Jiang Wenming won a city award two years ago, so his advantage is not obvious this year. Director Jiang is busy assisting in the workshop and even asked his secretary to write the application materials.

Just when everyone thought that the title of Municipal Model Cadre would most likely go to Wang Shihu, Niu Enjiu led the applause and said, "Here at the factory, Deputy Director Ye Manzhi has been awarded the title of 'Municipal Model Cadre,' and Bi Cuihua from the Finance Department has been awarded the title of Innovator. Both lists have been submitted to the factory office. Let's get the congratulatory announcement out as soon as possible."

Amid the puzzled gazes of the other three deputy factory directors, Ye Manzhi stood up and gestured.

Accepted the applause that was delayed for several seconds.

Jiang Wenming looked at Deputy Director Ye with a reserved smile and felt deeply regretful in his heart.

If he had known that Lian Ye Manzhi could surpass Wang Shihu and get the model title, he should have prepared the award application materials carefully!

Several factory managers were almost recalling in their minds at the same time, what achievements did Factory Manager Ye make this year?

It’s not that they deliberately belittle and suppress young people, but judging from the current results, Ye Manzhi’s work is indeed not particularly outstanding!

If the canning workshop or candy workshop completes the annual production task six months ahead of schedule, or four or five months ahead of schedule, then she deserves the award.

However, the task completion performance of these two workshops is average.

Is it because of the business operations she is in charge of?

If you think about it that way, it is possible.

It is true that she is in charge of the management work, but the production and operation of the factory have always been inseparable from Niu Enjiu.

After the difficult period was over, the supply of raw materials resumed and the food factory's output value increased across the board this year. If Lao Niu had not been held accountable, the probability of him being rated as a provincial advanced unit would still be very high.

Niu Enjiu said to Ye Manzhi, "Director Ye, the city will hold a citywide cadre meeting on December 30th. You will need to receive awards and make speeches at the meeting. You should prepare in advance."

Ye Manzhi smiled and nodded in agreement.

After the meeting, Chen Qian walked out of the door with her. Relying on their good relationship, Chen Qian jokingly said, "Director Ye, congratulations on winning the award. However, this award is quite unexpected."

Ye Manzhi jokingly replied, "I was quite surprised too. Maybe it's because I wrote my application materials well."

Not only did she not delete any pages of her 30-page material, she even added an extra page.

When the thick stack of documents was handed to Director Ding of the factory office, he was truly shocked.

*

Ye Manzhi actually knew why he won the award.

Therefore, the speech she prepared was also prepared in that direction.

The day before attending the cadre meeting, Ye Manzhi went to Director Niu's office and said with a smile, "Director, our factory has been awarded the title of Advanced Collective. Can you go and receive the award tomorrow?"

Niu Enjiu, who hadn't harvested any crops this year, shook his head and said, "I have to go to work that day, so I won't go. You can just take the certificate back on behalf of the factory."

Ye Manzhi wanted Director Lao Niu to attend her speech, so she flattered him, saying, "A voyage on the sea depends on the helmsman. Director, you have made an indelible contribution to our being recognized as an advanced collective. Although we were criticized for the February 27 fire, we learned from our mistakes and are stronger than ever. This advanced collective recognition is a testament to our superiors! Director, you should go and collect the certificate in person. You can also learn from the advanced experiences of other units at the conference."

Niu Enjiu glanced at tomorrow's work schedule, hesitated for a moment and said, "Then let's learn from other people's advanced experience."

He worked hard for a year but didn't get anything, so he felt a little unwilling.

It’s a consolation to be able to receive a collective award.

…

The city-wide cadre meeting was held in the auditorium of the Municipal People's Committee.

Those attending the meeting were award-winning individuals and unit representatives.

This was not Ye Manzhi's first time attending a meeting in the auditorium.

She came here in her first year of work, but that time she came to receive the "Second Class Model" collective award on behalf of Guangming Sub-district Office.

This time, I was awarded the title of "Model Cadre" in my personal capacity, and the pride and satisfaction in my heart are completely incomparable to before.

Director Xiaoye muttered to herself that all these years of work were not in vain, as she finally won an award!

In addition to Ye Manzhi, Bi Cuihua, an innovative expert from the Finance Department, will also be speaking on stage today.

It was the first time that Accountant Bi spoke in front of so many leaders and cadres. He was so nervous that his hands and feet were cold and his palms were full of sweat.

After the advanced collective awards were presented, representatives of innovative experts and model cadres took the stage to speak.

Several cadres from heavy industrial enterprises took turns to come on stage to share their advanced experiences. When the announcer called out the name of "Binjiang No. 1 Food Factory", Bi Cuihua took a deep breath nervously.

When she heard the words "Comrade Ye Manzhi" at the end, she breathed a sigh of relief, like a death row prisoner who heard that the police had fired the wrong shot. However, before she could completely relax, the breath slowly rose again.

Ye Manzhi patted her clenched fists, took a deep breath with her, picked up the props and walked up to the podium.

The bright lights on the stage were blinding, and it took her a few seconds to adjust before she looked up at the auditorium of thousands of people.

The place was packed with the best comrades in the city.

There are also many provincial and municipal leaders and newspaper reporters in the front row.

Ye Manzhi calmed her intense heartbeat and introduced herself into the microphone.

Then, with a fairly natural smile, he said, "When they learned that I had been awarded the title of municipal model cadre, many comrades expressed surprise, just as they were surprised when they heard that Binjiang No. 1 Food Factory had won the Advanced Collective Award."

"Many of our sister units who just came on stage to receive their awards completed their annual production targets ahead of schedule. Some did so four months early, and a few exceptionally well-performing units even finished six months early. Meanwhile, the fastest workshop at our Binjiang No. 1 Food Factory only finished three months early. By city standards, this achievement isn't particularly outstanding. Yet, the awards committee awarded the Advanced Collective Award to Binjiang No. 1 Food Factory and the Model Cadre Award to me..."

After being reminded by her, those who had not noticed these problems before could not help but become confused.

Indeed, Binjiang No. 1 Food Factory is not particularly fast in completing its production tasks.

Ye Manzhi continued with a smile, "When I learned last week that I had won the award and would be speaking at the conference, I was actually quite nervous. At the time, our factory's canning workshop hadn't even completed its annual production target. What if an attentive comrade discovered something wrong and questioned me on the spot? I would have made a fool of myself in front of all the city's officials!"

Since she could make fun of herself like this, the factory probably had completed its mission, so there was a burst of good-natured laughter and applause from the audience.

"Thank you for your applause. I would like to share some good news with everyone present. Just the day before yesterday, December 28th, we received great news from the canning workshop. We have successfully completed our annual production target of 2,650 tons, bringing a successful conclusion to the work of Binjiang No. 1 Food Factory in 1964!"

"Some of you may still remember a piece of news from the beginning of the year. On February 27th of this year, the night of the Lantern Festival, the 15th day of the first lunar month, an unprecedented fire broke out at our Binjiang No. 1 Food Factory. The flames dyed half the sky red and burned down the largest and most advanced factory building in the factory. This building was our former canning workshop."

Ye Manzhi took out an enlarged photo, showed the front side to everyone.

"This photo was taken by a reporter from the Binjiang Daily in front of the factory ruins on the morning of February 28th." She held the photo up so the audience in the front row could see it more clearly. "From this photo, you can see that the entire factory has been reduced to ashes. At that time, some workshop workers were crying bitterly in front of the rubble."

"As we all know, canned fruit production requires a fresh supply of raw fruit. December to March is the off-season for canned fruit production. When the canning workshop burned down, our annual production target completion rate was less than 10%. However, due to the fire, our factory only had one and a half sets of canning equipment. Although the employees actively participated in the reconstruction of the factory, they were not optimistic about completing the production target."

Ye Manzhi picked up another photo and held it up to show it.

"After I was appointed deputy director of the food factory by my superiors, I held a discussion with the workers at the factory site. This is a group photo we took at the site after the meeting."

"I told everyone at the time that the new canning workshop was built brick by brick by everyone. Each of us is a veteran of the canning workshop, and our names are worthy of being written into the factory annals. We should take a photo together to commemorate the canning workshop's rebirth from the ashes!"

"I had promised everyone back then that we would take another group photo when the workshop officially resumed operations. Unfortunately, I broke my promise!"

"After the factory leaders managed to gather two sets of canning equipment, workers in two workshops quietly resumed work."

Ye Manzhi held up two more photos. Knowing that most people couldn't see the content clearly, she explained, "These are scenes of workers producing luncheon meat and canned cherries in syrup."

"At that time, and until the end of the year, the canning workshop only had three and a half sets of canning equipment. We completed the annual production target with these three and a half sets! Some comrades may not understand the difficulty of this task, but I'll give you a few numbers to make it more clear."

"In 1963, our canning workshop had 12 sets of canning equipment and completed a production task of 2,100 tons."

"In 1964, our superiors gave our factory a production target of 2,650 tons of canned goods, but we only had three and a half sets of equipment! Our canning workshop, a total of 637 employees, used these three and a half sets of equipment to complete the arduous production task on the fourth to last day of the year!"

Thinking of the difficulties of the past few months, Ye Manzhi's voice was a little choked.

She calmed herself down for a few seconds before continuing, "Perhaps many of you will be confused. With such a huge gap between the past and the present, and this year's tasks even more arduous than last year's, how did we accomplish this? Was there any data falsification? Is the product quality up to standard?"

"I'm happy to tell you that, except for the last batch of products this year, which has not yet been inspected, all the canned goods produced by our factory have passed the quality inspections of the commercial department and the China National Food Import and Export Corporation!"

"So, how did the canning workshop accomplish such a difficult task under limited conditions? I would like to recommend the Anshan Iron and Steel Constitution to everyone!"