Chapter 21 Keep going
Yao Fanghua officially threw herself into her work. She still wanted to make something of herself, so that all her years of learning wouldn't be in vain.
Although she's currently in quality inspection, who says she can't switch to technology later? Besides, the technology department doesn't even have a deputy director to keep things in check right now, so this might be her chance.
In any case, we must first get the quality control department up and running, even better than before. Only then will we have more opportunities.
The quality inspection department transitioned smoothly under Yao Fanghua's leadership, with all tasks proceeding in an orderly manner. Even when Li Lian was on leave and the other two were uncooperative, nothing went wrong.
For difficult-to-determine defects, how to remedy them, and whether minor issues discovered during inspection should be overlooked, Yao Fanghua could quickly provide judgments and decisions, earning the increasing trust of the two quality control foremen in the workshop. They would directly consult and report any problems to Yao Fanghua.
Yao Fanghua essentially did all the work of a quality control manager. Despite this, Yao Fanghua's workload was not at full capacity. As she became more proficient at her work, she still had plenty of free time each day, and her workload was generally only about two hours.
Later, she selected a meticulous female quality inspector from the team to take over the report work. She also had the two team leaders do the work of Zhang Zhihui and his colleagues.
Now, Zhang Zhihui and the others panicked. Yao Fanghua had completely sidelined them, just like they had done with Yao Fanghua before.
Yao Fanghua ignored them and didn't assign them any tasks. She treated them as if they didn't exist.
Yao Fanghua has returned to her old routine of drinking tea and reading in the morning and relaxing with carving in the afternoon.
The designer Bill, who had returned to his country, did indeed write to her, asking Yao Fanghua to let him know if she had any good design ideas. Of course, he would pay her a design fee. He also asked Yao Fanghua to call him whenever she had time to keep in touch. Actually, he wanted Yao Fanghua to be his sculptor, to perfectly bring his designs to life, but unfortunately, Yao Fanghua was far away in another country, making it extremely inconvenient for him.
Design sketches? Those little animal carvings she made? Flower and bird paintings? She has quite a few manuscripts. If a few sheets of paper could sell for a lot of money, it would be a risk-free business. I just wonder which ones Bill likes?
Thinking of Bill's generosity, Yao Fanghua actually called him back.
Upon learning that Bill was not only a jewelry designer but also that his family was in the jewelry business, Yao Fanghua felt that Bill was a glittering gold mine.
Yao Fanghua immediately copied the sunflower in the flowerpot and sketched a sunflower earring on a piece of white paper. She also drew a sunflower pendant. If she could sell these, she would be rich.
Thinking she had to send it anyway, and the postage was rather expensive, Yao Fanghua quickly sketched the roses outside the window, then on a whim, carved a few roses and placed them in the pen holder. Back home, she picked out a few suitable pieces for carving from her old sketches and sent them to Bill along with the one she'd drawn that day. After that, she didn't care anymore; whether Bill paid her or not was entirely up to his conscience. If he didn't pay, there wouldn't be a next time. Besides, she hadn't put much effort into it; it was all based on the actual objects. She still loved carving; carving things, and carving them lifelike, gave her a great sense of accomplishment.
These were all minor incidents, and Yao Fanghua didn't take them to heart.
Two months have passed, and there's still no sign of Zhang Hua and the others returning. Is their learning not going well? Is the principle of a washing machine really that difficult? Yao Fanghua is somewhat puzzled.
Despite being remotely directed by Director Zhao, the technical department still made a major blunder. The design drawings were flawed; the dimensions of the grille and fan blades were unreasonable, with the fan blades being a full two centimeters too large. The factory manager flew into a rage at the production meeting.
The fan factory hasn't innovated in years. Every year they just modify old blueprints or draw a copy of an old one, noting the release date to show that the technical department has produced new blueprints and that they haven't been wasting their time. Even with that, they still make mistakes. It's utterly stupid and hopelessly incompetent. Factory Director Yu couldn't hold back and repeatedly swore during the meeting.
With the peak season fast approaching, this unexpected incident has occurred. Fortunately, there is a considerable amount of inventory in the warehouse, which has now proven to be beneficial, as at least the goods will not go unsold and the company will not be exposed by outsiders.
Finally, everyone in the technical department was fined two months' salary, and the matter was finally settled. Exhausted from yelling, Director Yu lit a cigarette and leaned back wearily in his chair.
"Old Zhao is still not back. It's so hard to learn a skill, and the people he trains are useless." Director Yu mentally gave Director Zhao a resounding "X." He glanced around; some had their heads down, others avoided his gaze, and finally his eyes settled on Yao Fanghua. The young girl had clear eyes, sat upright, and met his gaze neither servile nor arrogant, even giving him a slight smile.
Factory Director Yu flicked his cigarette ash. This young woman had been doing quite well lately, her work was going well, the quality control department hadn't made any mistakes, and everyone under her command was completely obedient. Apparently, Old Zhang was so anxious over there that he got mouth ulcers all over.
"Is Xiao Yao studying mechanical design?"
"Yes, factory manager."
Can you draw blueprints?
"Yes!" Yao Fanghua answered crisply. Director Yu asked if she could draw, not design, indicating low expectations. If she couldn't even handle this, all her studies would be wasted; she'd be an unworthy student, disgracing her teacher's reputation!
Factory Director Yu hesitated for a moment, but he was like a newborn calf unafraid of tigers. He thought this girl would say something modest and decline, but she agreed so readily that he couldn't say what he was going to say. Yu Jun was slightly choked by the smoke.
Whispers rippled through the meeting room as people looked at Yao Fanghua with a mixture of scrutiny, disdain, and judgment, each carrying a distinct meaning.
Factory Director Yu: "Before Director Zhao returns, you will take over the Technical Department. Are you capable of handling it?"
Yao Fanghua: "I will follow the leader's instructions."
They're really young and full of energy. Yu Jun really liked their attitude and their decisiveness. He stubbed out his cigarette and said, "It's settled then."
It's not like Yao Fanghua is being transferred to the technical department; it's just a temporary assignment. He can still make the final decision. As for the future, whether Yao Fanghua stays in quality control or is actually transferred to the technical department if she performs well, that will be discussed later.
After finishing the production meeting in the morning, Yao Fanghua went to the technical department next door in the afternoon.
The technical department has four people: three technicians and one person specifically responsible for organizing and distributing drawings.
Yao Fanghua took the problematic drawing, immediately took a blank drawing and redrawn it. After checking that there were no problems, she signed her name and stamped the technical department's seal in the lower right corner.
Guo Xiaojuan stared blankly at Yao Fanghua drawing. It was too fast, too steady, and too skillful. Not to mention drawing to scale, even a sketch wasn't done this way. It was as if she did it without thinking.
Yao Fanghua called out twice before Guo Xiaojuan snapped out of her reverie, quickly grabbed the blueprints to make copies, and then distributed them.
Aside from drawing, Guo Xiaojuan does all the other odd jobs in the technical department. She cherishes her job and works tirelessly without complaint. Her son has intellectual disabilities, and her husband divorced her. She has to support her family and raise her child. She has to pay her parents to help take care of her son, otherwise her brother and sister-in-law would be unhappy. This job is her support and her emotional anchor; she wouldn't be able to survive without it.
Yao Fanghua glanced around the technical department office. The three seated technicians felt uneasy and instinctively straightened their backs. Yao Fanghua really could draw; they no longer had any way to control her.
It's unclear whether Yao Fanghua truly knows how to draw, or if she's just copying without understanding. After all, in their minds, women can't even understand top-down views, let alone draw them.
But sometimes, even they don't understand. After all, here, as long as you can copy what others do, you can get by. As for those top-down, bottom-up, left-right views, especially sectional views, well, as long as you can get by, that's fine. If you don't understand, just pretend. Asking too many questions will only make you look like an idiot. They're not the department heads who can just draw whatever they're told.
The three men exchanged uneasy glances. Were they really going to let Yao Fanghua run rampant in the technical department? They'd heard that the two next door had been squeezed out and were about to be replaced by the two squad leaders below them. Now they were genuinely hoping that Director Zhao would return soon.
Yao Fanghua smiled slightly. The two people from the quality control department were always nowhere to be seen, but the three technicians were often in the office. Yao Fanghua looked away and went back to the office next door, since she was the only one there.
Ah, if only we could merge the technical and quality control departments, this would be her office all to herself. She could cram the technical and quality control departments next door, and with the two offices so close together, it would be much easier for her to manage them. But the prerequisite is that she has to get rid of both Director Zhao and Director Zhang.
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