As for why Vice Minister Bai went to the Ministry of Machinery, there are three reasons.
First, he wanted to retrieve the blueprints for modifying the rolling mill, lest things get complicated.
Second: He wants to ask Sun Zhengguo in person why he resigned.
Third: He was looking for trouble with Vice Minister Li, and actually poached his key technical personnel while he was away from home.
The special car arrived at the Ministry of Machinery, and the guards immediately let them through after they showed their credentials at the gate.
When the car stopped at the Ministry of Machinery building, before Secretary Hu could even open the door for his superior, Vice Minister Bai angrily opened the car door himself and walked into the Ministry of Machinery's gate.
In the deputy minister's office on the third floor of the Ministry of Machinery, Deputy Minister Li was holding a report that had just been delivered by the General Office. When he saw the highest-level instructions on it, he was overjoyed.
It seems this is a sure thing. With this person's approval, who would dare to bring up Sun Zhengguo's age or qualifications?
Just as Vice Minister Li was about to arrange for someone to call Sun Zhengguo, the door was pushed open from the outside with a "bang".
When Vice Minister Li looked up, the angry old face was none other than his old comrade-in-arms, Vice Minister Bai.
"Hey! Old Bai, where did you suffer your defeat? Are you taking it out on my door now!"
Upon hearing Vice Minister Li's sarcastic remarks, Vice Minister Bai, of course, did not back down and immediately retorted.
"You bastard Li Datou, don't play dumb with me. You poached my people while I was away, and you still think you're right?"
"What a joke, what do you mean by 'your people'? You've already forced them to resign, and you still have the nerve to bring this up? But then again, this seems to be your usual fine style, Old Ghost Bai. I think you did something similar back in the army."
The mere mention of this topic caused Vice Minister Bai a pang of heartache.
Years ago, he lost a beloved general due to the instigation of a traitor. Now, Vice Minister Li brought up the matter again, which made him feel very uncomfortable.
"I don't care, I'm going to take Sun Zhengguo away today."
"No way! Sun Zhengguo can't take anyone away. See for yourself if you don't believe me."
After Vice Minister Li finished speaking, he handed the report containing the highest instructions directly to Vice Minister Bai.
Vice Minister Bai accepted the report with some skepticism, but when he saw the signature of General Manager Lai at the back, he was stunned.
He recognizes this handwriting! It can't be fake. Now he's in a bind, what should he do?
After much deliberation, and seeing General Manager Lai's signature, Deputy Minister Bai instantly had an idea.
"Hmph! Our rolling mill modification plan has Lai Zong's signature, and Sun Zhengguo is a direct participant. Today I'm going to take him away and make him go back to help modify the rolling mill."
It's just a directive from the highest authority, as if everyone has one. Even Vice Minister Bai is using it as a pretext.
"this…?"
Vice Minister Li was also faced with a dilemma, but then became determined again.
"No, since the person has already joined the Ministry of Machinery, even if you complain to higher authorities, we will still be in the right."
"..."
"..."
After a back-and-forth struggle, neither of them could convince the other.
Finally, seeing that continuing the argument would yield no results, Vice Minister Bai decided to call Sun Zhengguo over first.
The secretary quickly went to inform Sun Zhengguo. When he learned that Vice Minister Bai had arrived, he also quickly brought the modification drawings of the hot rolling mill and went to Vice Minister Li's office.
Once inside the office, Sun Zhengguo, the Vice Minister, was of course familiar with Li, so the remaining person must be Vice Minister Bai.
"Vice Minister Li, Vice Minister Bai, you wanted to see me."
Sun Zhengguo greeted him politely.
Upon seeing the main figure arrive, before Vice Minister Li could even speak, Vice Minister Bai spoke first.
"So you're Sun Zhengguo. You're indeed young, very good. No wonder Professor Wu has taken a liking to you. You have such superb skills at such a young age. How about coming back to the Ministry of Metallurgy with me?"
As the saying goes, one's appearance reflects one's heart. The moment Vice Minister Bai saw Sun Zhengguo, he felt a sense of goodwill. He didn't believe that such a person would disobey orders without cause. He must have found some underhanded tricks by Huang Guangquan.
"Vice Minister Bai is too kind. I'm just an ordinary person and don't deserve your praise."
Hearing that Vice Minister Bai was still not giving up, Vice Minister Li, who was standing to the side, was naturally unhappy and immediately retorted.
"Old Bai, I think you're just asking for trouble. You're poaching people right in front of me, as if I don't exist?"
"Li Datou, you really have no shame. If we're talking about poaching people, you guys were the ones who started it, you can't deny that, right?"
"I'd never admit it. Sun Zhengguo left his job before joining the Ministry of Machinery. Did I ever poach anyone from him?"
"you……."
The two argued back and forth, and the topic of Sun Zhengguo's resignation came up again. Vice Minister Bai was very unwilling, as if it had become a stain on his reputation.
Therefore, Vice Minister Bai decided to clarify the matter first before making any further plans.
"Comrade Zhengguo, you've always done a good job. Can you tell me why you resigned?"
Sun Zhengguo, of course, did not hide anything from Vice Minister Bai. He told him everything about how he had been ostracized, threatened, and exiled since joining the Ministry of Metallurgy.
"Comrade Zhengguo, do you have any evidence for what you just said? This is different from what Huang Guangquan said. He said he wanted you to go to Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill to help out, but you didn't want to go. I don't know who is lying?"
Sun Zhengguo had long been wary of someone like Section Chief Huang, so he immediately took out the letter of introduction for his assignment to Hongqi Steel Plant from his pocket and handed it to Vice Minister Bai.
“Vice Minister Bai, just look at this letter of introduction and you should know who is lying.”
Vice Minister Bai took the letter of introduction, glanced at it, and couldn't help but burst into a tirade of curses.
"That bastard, how dare he do this? He even dares to lie to my face. Does he really think I can't lift a knife?...
But no matter how much he cursed, it couldn't change the fact that Sun Zhengguo had resigned, so Vice Minister Bai could only resort to shameless tactics.
“Li Datou, I admit it was my oversight, but this renovation of the rolling mill is also an urgent task from above, so I have to bring Sun Zhengguo back. Don’t worry, I will definitely give him an explanation.”
Vice Minister Li had actually planned to make such a request, since it was also Sun Zhengguo's original request, so he went along with it.
“We’re all old comrades, I can’t be ungrateful. Here’s what I’ll do: I’ll give you face and temporarily transfer Sun Zhengguo to your Ministry of Metallurgy. Listen carefully, it’s a temporary transfer. Once he completes his transformation task, we also have tasks to do here, and he will definitely have to return to the Ministry of Machinery. You can’t stop him.”
Although Vice Minister Bai was unwilling, he had no choice but to compromise, thinking he could always resort to cheating a few more times in the future.
"Okay, it's settled then. Sun Zhengguo will report to our Ministry of Metallurgy tomorrow. As for Huang Guangquan's matter, I still need to go back and take care of it, so I'll be leaving now."
After the group finished their discussion, Vice Minister Bai left in a hurry. He needed to deal with Huang Guangquan before Sun Zhengguo arrived, as he was determined to deliver on his promise.
If it weren't for this guy, who deceived his superiors, spread rumors, and was jealous of talented people, Sun Zhengguo wouldn't have left, and he wouldn't have needed to beg his old comrade-in-arms like this.
After Vice Minister Bai left, Vice Minister Li took the report with the instructions written on it and handed it to Sun Zhengguo, saying earnestly.
"Comrade Zhengguo, you have a heavy responsibility! Your report has already been approved. Once this mission is completed, you can start preparing for the machine tool upgrade."
Sun Zhengguo understood perfectly well what Vice Minister Li was thinking; he was afraid that he would be abducted again, so he hurriedly made a guarantee.
"Vice Minister Li, rest assured, I will return to the team as soon as I finish this mission. However, I plan to bring Chen Lianshan with me on this mission as well, which may make things go faster. I hope you will approve."
Vice Minister Li didn't even hesitate before agreeing to the request!
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