Chapter 184

The unveiling ceremony was grand and lively. The county leadership team gathered together, and leaders of the lower communes also came to congratulate. Zhang Baosheng, Zhang Laosi and others were among the invited guests.

But when Captain Zhang saw Zhou Jiani, his eyes flashed with resentment. Zhou Jiani came over with a smile: "Captain!"

Zhang Baosheng snorted, "Jiani, you have to think about your family."

Zhou Jiani smiled and said, "You've settled down. Qianjin Brigade is the root of my career. Even if I forget others, I must never forget my roots." Zhou Jiani fished two new design drawings from her pocket and handed them to Zhang Laosi. "These are the new designs I drew for the Qianjin Knitting Factory. Uncle Si, please take a look."

Zhang Laosi took it with a smile.

They weren't really angry, they just felt a little upset when they heard that Zhou Jiani had gone to Xihe Commune to help Bin County Weaving Factory grab orders.

In fact, the two were very happy. The factory had directly approved several regular worker positions, and several of them were assigned to the Qianjin Brigade, including Zhang Laosi's son.

If we go back two years, this would be something that Zhang Laosi could never have dreamed of.

He is a formal employee of a village-run enterprise. Although he enjoys worker benefits, his household registration is still in the village.

My son is different. He has become a real city resident.

This isn't just smoke coming out of the ancestral grave; it's about to catch fire.

The leader was speaking at the front, but Zhang Baosheng and his group didn't stand in the front, hiding in the crowd. He asked Zhou Jiani, "Why don't you have a job at the factory?"

County Magistrate Wang planned to give her a position in the factory, but Zhou Jiani refused.

The Bin County Weaving Factory was under the management of the County Party Committee's Handicrafts Group. She was the head of the group and had the right to speak and make decisions. It didn't matter much whether she held a position in the factory or not.

If you resign from your position, you will have to take some responsibility. It is better to hand it over to a dedicated person. After the college entrance examination is resumed this year, she will definitely take the college entrance examination route to avoid the need to hand over the work when she leaves.

But she couldn't say that to Captain Zhang. Zhou Jiani said modestly, "I'm too inexperienced and was promoted too quickly. My foundation is unstable. If I take on everything, it's easy to get into trouble. It's better to give the vacant positions to people with greater abilities."

Zhang Baosheng did not quite agree with Zhou Jiani's modesty. He looked at Comrade Xiao Zhou through a thick filter and felt that Comrade Xiao Zhou was very capable and could handle any amount of work; but Comrade Xiao Zhou was worried that if he was promoted too quickly, his foundation would be unstable. Zhang Baosheng nodded in approval of this point. Comrade Xiao Zhou was steady and not at all reckless. He could withstand temptation and his future was definitely limitless.

There was warm applause all around. Zhang Baosheng was busy talking to Comrade Xiao Zhou and didn't pay attention to what the leader said, but he did the right thing by applauding.

The Bin County Weaving Factory's unveiling ceremony was a success with loud drums and gongs and firecrackers. When the factory leaders announced the production plan, Zhai Xiangqiang's mood was not good, because this was the order that Comrade Xiao Zhou had grabbed from Xihe Commune.

The former leader turned around, glanced at Comrade Xiao Zhou in the crowd, and snorted twice.

Just grab it, he will definitely not let go if someone else grabs it. Comrade Xiao Zhou can grab it, but he still needs to find an opportunity to maintain the relationship. Xihe Commune is Comrade Xiao Zhou’s base camp, and he can’t be partial to him in the future.

The Bin County Weaving Factory has launched with great fanfare, and a few orders have been secured to encourage everyone's enthusiasm. The next step will depend on the skills of Factory Director Li.

Li Jingdang has participated in several Canton Fairs in a row and was the main leader. He also personally participated in negotiations. He has an extremely clear understanding of customer preferences. After the unveiling ceremony, he personally returned to the Qianjin Brigade to discuss the classification of export order styles with the Qianjin Brigade and list the styles and quantities that need to be produced in advance.

The Qianjin Brigade has already started pre-production based on previous orders. Li Jingdang asked for four styles, and the rest were new styles designed by Team Leader Zhou. He watched the samples come out and sent them out personally. He made a phone call to inform them to pick up the goods, and then came back to concentrate on the production in the factory.

With a dedicated leader like Li Jingdang around, no one in the factory dared to be careless, and all the cadres were on high alert, fearing that they would fail.

County Magistrate Wang came several times and gave great recognition to Li Jingdang's work. He felt that it was not in vain that he had gone through so much trouble to protect him. He would give up the title of secretary once Li Jingdang had laid a solid foundation.

While keeping an eye on production, Li Jingdang also followed the progress of the Canton Fair and asked Director Meng, who was temporarily assigned to a business trip as the head of the sales department, to report every day.

Director Meng had no experience attending the Canton Fair. He was completely bewildered when he arrived, and it took him a week to adjust to the pace. Fortunately, he was a fast learner, and once he got used to it, he began actively securing orders for the factory. When he called back to report on his work, his voice became increasingly professional.

Li Jingdang gave a few more suggestions based on his own experience, and Director Meng's confidence increased, and he was able to better integrate into the work rhythm of Bai Haoyang and others.

The factory is now on the right track. Although orders are not as well-ordered as those of the previous Qianjin Knitting Factory, which can be scheduled until the end of the year, at least the factory has enough inventory and is not worried about not being able to sell the goods.

The factory's management system was also established, and with professional sales staff, they began to take samples out to conduct domestic business.

Zhou Jiani was finally able to sit in the office seriously for a few days, handle some daily work, read some books, do some exercises, and received the second letter from Qiu Zeming, which also contained a stack of tickets.

Comrade Xiao Qiu still picked out some things to mention in the letter, and also mentioned the things she sent, praising everything. Zhou Jiani laughed out loud.

There was a knock on the door. Zhou Jiani quickly put the letter away and said, "Come in!"

Qian Hai came in: "Boss, yesterday's transaction record."

Zhou Jiani asked Qian Hai to keep an eye on the orders completed at the Canton Fair so that he could grasp the general direction.

"Let me see." Zhou Jiani took it. Qian Hai noticed that the water in the leader's teacup was finished, so he picked up the thermos to refill it, closed the door quietly and went out.

Zhou Jiani looked at the completed order and couldn't stop smiling.

Bai Haoyang called here twice to talk about the pressure he felt.

He grew rapidly after becoming the factory director. This was his first time to take on a big responsibility at the Canton Fair. He was on high alert to achieve some results and was working hard to negotiate orders, fearing that he would fail in his mission.

In addition to his own efforts, domestic woven products have gradually become famous abroad. Coupled with the foundation of old customers, the number of orders signed this time is surprisingly gratifying, not worse than the previous one. The previous one was Li Jingdang's highlight moment, with a higher number of orders than the previous ones.

At the factory, Li Jingdang was very happy to get the transaction records of the past few days. He first called the Qianjin Brigade to communicate about production. After hanging up the phone, he took the leaders of the production department into the workshop. He even squatted down and helped organize the materials with skillful techniques.

The leaders of the production department are under tremendous pressure. Even when they are busy, they find some work for themselves and are determined not to let themselves be idle.

At noon, Zhou Jiani returned to the dormitory to have lunch with her grandmother. The old lady had already packed her small bag. She would be staying here for quite a while. Comrade Zhou Wanli was going to come and pick her up tomorrow.

Jiang Xinfeng also missed home. In addition, the busiest period for her granddaughter had passed, so she planned to go back to the provincial capital to live for a while. At worst, she could come back in winter, so that Nini wouldn't have to come back to the dormitory after a day of work to find herself with no access to even a cup of hot water.

Of course, the old lady didn't know that the college entrance examination would be resumed this year. She had made plans for herself and told her granddaughter about her thoughts. Zhou Jiani didn't point it out and said affectionately, "Okay, grandma, I'll take you over in the winter."

The next morning, Zhou Jiani reluctantly sent her grandmother to the station. Comrade Zhou Wanli did not plan to stop. After getting off the bus, he had to wait for two hours for a bus back to the provincial capital. He was on shift today and would be working as usual tomorrow. He would use the time difference in between to pick up his mother.

Zhou Jiani bought fried dough cakes and meat buns from a state-owned restaurant, and also packed some pickled vegetables made by her grandmother in a lunch box so that her father and grandmother could eat them in the car at noon.

Zhou Wanli hadn't seen his daughter for a long time. He asked about her work and finally said, "Your mother and your brother miss you. When can you come home and stay for a few days?"

Zhou Jiani planned to wait until the Canton Fair was over to see the situation. If there was no work that she had to look after, she would take a few days off, go to the capital, and then go home to stay for two days.

But everything is uncertain, so of course I won't tell her father this first, so as not to disappoint Comrade Zhou.

But when talking about her work, Jiang Xinfeng finally opened up and said distressedly: "Nini has been very tired recently. She's been so busy every day that she has lost weight..."

Zhou Wanli looked at his daughter, who had lost a little weight since the Lunar New Year holiday, and nodded in agreement: "Now that the factory is running, it should be a bit easier, right?"

Zhou Jiani nodded: "I'm not the most tired one, everyone is tired. Next is to focus on production..."

The two of them chatted endlessly about work, and the two hours of waiting for the bus passed in a flash. Zhou Jiani helped her grandmother into the car, and before getting off, she quickly lifted up her grandmother's skirt and stuffed a roll of money into Jiang Xinfeng's waistband. She whispered, "There are so many people here, don't take it out. I'm getting off first."

Jiang Xinfeng: ...

She held the roll of money with her hand all the way, and only took it out to count it when she went to the toilet. There was two hundred yuan. Jiang Xinfeng packed the money with a helpless look on her face, and gave it to Yu Huifang after returning home. Yu Huifang refused to take it and asked her mother-in-law to keep it for herself. The old lady put it in her money box, and felt warm in her heart.

With the surge in orders at the Canton Fair, Binxian Weaving Factory, in conjunction with Qianjin Weaving Factory, began to gradually ship out goods. When new production tasks came down, Zhou Jiani also began to go to the factory to help monitor production and control quality.

Li Jingdang laughed and said, "County Magistrate Wang offered you a position at the factory, but you declined. But when things got busy, you couldn't sit still at the office and ended up staying there."

Multiple positions, multiple salaries.

Now Zhou Jiani has to worry about two things while earning one salary.

Zhou Jiani half-jokingly said, "It's too late to regret now."

She could have chosen not to come, but since this was the first project she had focused on after taking office, she hoped it would run smoothly and develop well, so that she would have no regrets when she was admitted to university and left Bin County.

Thinking of the Gaokao, despite her thorough preparation, Zhou Jiani didn't dare to let her guard down. She felt a vague sense of pressure: "I've prepared so well, what if I still don't do well?" That night, she returned to her dorm and took out the book she'd read to the point of frayed edges. She opened the first page again and read through it all from beginning to end...

The busy days passed quickly. It was May and the Canton Fair was coming to an end. Bai Haoyang stayed behind to finish the work. Director Meng, who was sent out from the factory, returned in high spirits and sat down firmly in his office chair with his achievements. Although he took office a month late, no one in the department dared to disobey him because he had achieved results.

The factory was flooded with orders again, and Xihe Commune was also filled with new orders, and they had long forgotten the orders that Zhou Jiani had snatched away.

Zhou Jiani was busy until July, when she found the right time to ask for leave from her unit, threw her packed luggage into the warehouse, and boarded the train to Qi Yang.