After returning to the steel rolling mill.
As soon as I entered the room, I saw Shen Yuanliang sitting in his office smoking, looking depressed.
Normally, we smoke with the door closed, but today we're smoking with the door wide open.
Fortunately, there weren't many people in the entire technical department, and most of them were busy.
Everyone in group went out to work.
"What's wrong?" Wang Shouren walked in, casually picked up a pack of cigarettes from the table, took one out, lit it, and put it in his pocket.
"Can you change this habit? You can't just take a cigarette from a lighter without asking for one." Shen Yuanliang said to Wang Shouren.
"Heh, you usually don't care about this. What's wrong?" Wang Shouren plopped down on the sofa.
Zhao Wuliang didn't take the sofa with him, which is a good deal for Shen Yuanliang.
Shen Yuanliang's salary isn't low; he could easily afford a whole pack of cigarettes, let alone a single carton... cough cough, a single carton would be a bit of a waste. But a whole pack wouldn't be a problem.
"Your application to become the team leader was rejected."
"Isn't this what we expected?" Wang Shouren said nonchalantly. "Who made the move? Factory Director Yang?"
"Director Yang and Deputy Director Li have both taken action."
"Wow, Li Huaide couldn't hold back anymore? That shouldn't be the case." Wang Shouren was somewhat surprised, but then he realized what was going on and shook his head with a smile.
"why are you laughing?"
"It's probably just a smokescreen. But Master, what's troubling you?"
“What’s the fuss about? You don’t care about your own affairs at all. Originally, this matter was a done deal. I brought it up, and Director Yang agreed. We had a meeting, and it was almost approved. But Li Huaide, along with others, vetoed it.”
Wang Shouren's lips twitched: "Master, are you serious?"
Shen Yuanliang sighed. In truth, he knew perfectly well that Director Yang had no intention of helping him. Or rather, he also wanted to interfere in the technical department.
Originally, the technical department was managed by Zhao Wuliang. To put it bluntly, Zhao Wuliang's rank was equivalent to their next-highest level. Here, even if they condescended to do so, no one dared to have any designs on him. They simply didn't dare to reach out. Now that Shen Yuanliang has taken over, it's different. He's a young man in his thirties who was previously only an eighth-level engineer, a promotion that Zhao Wuliang only made before leaving.
This is nothing. It may be hard to find, but with their methods, we can find one.
Even if there are no worries about the future, wouldn't it still be necessary to test the waters? To test whether this person is on our side.
In Wang Shouren's opinion, Director Yang's methods were rather lacking. He had initially agreed to something, but then went back on his word. Firstly, he was outmaneuvered by Deputy Director Li at the meeting, and secondly, he offended Chief Engineer Shen Yuanliang. In the end, the only benefit he gained was having one of his own people promoted to head of the technical team. It was a losing proposition, and no wonder he had to step down when things got tough—that's how he operated.
That's incredibly naive, and it shows a complete lack of tolerance.
Shen Yuanliang took another deep drag of his cigarette, slowly exhaled, looked out the window, and said, "To be honest, I'm not having a very happy life these days. Group Three is alright; they weren't really in the technical department to begin with, and their issues don't really have much to do with technology. Groups One and Two are getting more and more out of control; hardly anyone is actually doing any real work anymore."
At this point, Shen Yuanliang smiled, somewhat bitterly: "It's all about technology, how can they not understand? Technology is the core competitiveness. Everyone is scrambling to become the team leader, wasting a huge amount of time on it. They simply don't have time to do what the technical staff should be doing. Tell me, shouldn't I have taken this chief engineer position? I did get the job, but in this department, my word doesn't really count."
Wang Shouren was aware of this situation, and it can be said with certainty that it was an inevitable outcome.
"How about this, I'll give you an idea?"
"Speak up if you have something to say, or you can forget about ever getting cigarettes from me again."
"Alright, so that's all the good you have." Wang Shouren didn't keep them in suspense any longer: "I think you should just be open and honest. If you can't catch them, send them away. You only need to catch one group. As for the third group, since you couldn't catch them anyway, send them away. Do the same for the second group, send them all away. You've just come up here, so your position isn't stable yet. Over the years, build up your own team. Let those two fight it out. By then, if you've got the whole first group under control, your position will be secure, right? And it'll be easier, won't it?"
Will this work?
"Go away, guess how old you are, how old are those two? Let's train them first, everyone has to work their way up slowly. Besides, you have to take advantage of this critical moment, otherwise, if those two finish their fight, it won't be so easy for you to hand them over."
"Alright, we'll do it your way!" Shen Yuanliang slapped his thigh and made the decision.
Shen Yuanliang had only made this decision a few days ago when the factory started replacing its staff.
The technical department's second and third groups have both had their personnel replaced.
It is worth mentioning that the leader of the second group went to the logistics department and became the deputy section chief.
The group leader of Group 3 retired early, and his son came to work. The new group leader is a veteran in his forties.
At first glance, Wang Shouren shook his head. It was clear that Group Two belonged to Li Huaide, while Group Three consisted of an early retirement and some unknown transaction. This once again highlighted the limited vision of Director Yang.
Li Huaide, aside from everything else, was directly given the position of deputy section chief.
As for Director Yang, he simply took over the position; regardless of any behind-the-scenes benefits, there was almost nothing publicly acknowledged. How could anyone possibly side with him?
Moreover, both of them seem to have overlooked one thing: engineers need to take exams.
Neither Shen Yuanliang nor the others spoke out about this.
Perhaps, in the eyes of these factory managers, becoming an engineer is just a formality, as long as you have enough achievements. Little do they know that having achievements only means you have a ticket to the exam; things are not that easy.
Shen Yuanliang relaxed as well; the two factory managers had kept their promise. After all, there were only about ten people in each group, and they had to give the chief engineer some face to avoid things getting too tense. A level seven engineer was a scarce resource in this era. It would be difficult to handle if they ended up working at a competitor's factory.
Shen Yuanliang didn't care about these things; he pulled Wang Shouren aside and started doing his research again.
This suited Wang Shouren's taste perfectly. In fact, he had always wanted to do something: research engines. However, now wasn't the time. He wanted to first propose a concept and have Shen Yuanliang observe and gradually delve deeper into it. He had a complete plan for what would happen ten years from now. Shen Yuanliang didn't mind; as long as there was something to research, that was enough, regardless of what it was.
This group in the technology department embarked on a journey of neglecting their duties, acting exactly like an outsourced technology team.
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