Chapter 28: Enlightenment "All he knows about is romance and love."
Zhao Yunsheng rode his bike onto the main road of the city and headed west. Lao Gao's house was near the paper mill. In addition to the paper mill, there were also printing factories, enamel factories, wood processing factories, etc.
Wang Ying remembered that later on, only the paper mill remained in this area, but its profitability was not very good. It relied on the toilet paper used in some cities and counties radiating from Beichong to support it.
The previous life's non-staple food factory was later reorganized and split into a cannery, soy sauce factory, bean products factory, and pastry factory. Among them, the cannery has always performed well.
The reason why Wang Ying remembered it so clearly was that in her previous life, after she became prosperous in the south, the leader of the Beichong Investment Promotion Office contacted her and wanted her to return to her hometown to invest. She was thinking of investing in the snack industry at the time, so she learned about the non-staple food industry in her hometown and kept it in mind.
In her past, Beichong's most developed industries were textiles and clothing, and Wang Ying could confidently say she had contributed greatly to this success. Unfortunately, some people thought her contributions were too great and ignored her. Just as the economy was opening up, Wang Ying, eager to venture out, resigned from her job as deputy director of a garment factory and headed south.
In her previous life, the Investment Promotion Office approached Wang Ying, hoping she would invest in a clothing company. After all, she had come south to do clothing business, but Wang Ying refused. The man who had ostracized her back then was now the general manager of Beichong Clothing Company. How could she possibly invest in a clothing company again?
While Wang Ying's thoughts were racing, Zhao Yunsheng arrived at a residential area. His bicycle weaved in and out of alleys before stopping in front of a small courtyard, the gate of which was now open.
"Dad is still here. I saw his bicycle," said Zhao Yunsheng.
Wang Ying got off the bicycle and took a few steps on the spot to stretch his stiff legs.
Zhao Yunsheng rang his bicycle bell, knocked on the open gate, and called out, "Uncle Gao."
Zhao Yunsheng didn't call out Lao Gao, but he called out Yanfen, Lao Gao's daughter-in-law and goddaughter.
"Oh, Yunsheng and Yingzi are here! Come in, come in." Yanfen came forward and said.
Yanfen was wearing a white turtleneck sweater, which she usually wore inside. But now she was not wearing a coat, which made her look slim and her waist seemed particularly thin.
"Sister-in-law." Wang Ying walked in and greeted her.
Zhao Yunsheng pushed his bicycle into the yard. Yanfen followed them and said, "Yunsheng, it's been a while."
Zhao Yunsheng didn't say anything. After parking his bike, he said, "Where are my dad and Uncle Gao?"
"They are talking in the room. Do you have something to talk to them about?" Yanfen asked.
"Okay. Then let's go find them." Zhao Yunsheng said.
"Oh, Yunsheng and Yingzi are here. Come and sit in the main room. I'll make tea." Gao Cheng's wife also came out to greet them.
"Aunt Cai, don't worry. We have something to talk to Uncle Gao and my dad about." Zhao Yunsheng said.
"If you have something to do, go ahead and do it first. Then have some tea." Aunt Cai said.
Zhao Yunsheng and Wang Ying walked into the main room and heard Director Zhao and Deputy Director Gao arguing about something. One of them said yes, and the other said no, and their voices were loud.
Aunt Cai knocked on the door, and Lao Gao inside said impatiently, "No tea, no water, no bother!"
"Who wants to pour you tea? Yunsheng and Yingzi are here and they say they have something to talk to you about!" said Aunt Cai.
"Why are they here?" Director Zhao muttered.
Gao Chenglai opened the door for Zhao Yunsheng and others.
"Uncle Gao." Zhao Yunsheng and Wang Ying greeted him.
Director Zhao tilted his head towards them and said, "Why are you here? Is there something going on at home?"
Zhao Yunsheng said, "Everything is fine at home. Yingzi wants to tell you something."
"Sit down, sit down." Gao Cheng moved a bench for them and placed it across the desk.
Zhao Yunsheng and Wang Ying sat down.
"Yingzi, Lao Zhao said that you have a lot of ideas. It was you who reminded him about the exam. Do you have any additional comments? Tell us." Deputy Director Gao spoke in a tone like a subordinate he favored.
Director Zhao also nodded and said to Wang Ying, "What's the matter? Tell me."
They seemed to concede that it was not Zhao Yunsheng who had something to do with them, but Wang Ying.
Wang Ying didn't beat around the bush and said directly, "I went back to my parents' house today, and my dad told me that only families with a quota for transfer to the lower class can take the exam this time. Is this true?"
Director Zhao and Deputy Director Gao exchanged a glance and nodded, saying, "Someone has suggested this."
Wang Ying knew there was still hope when he heard this, so he turned to Director Zhao and said, "Dad, Uncle Gao, what do you think?"
The two leaders looked at each other again, then looked at Wang Ying and said, "Yingzi, if you have any other ideas, just tell me directly."
Wang Ying then reframed what she had said to Zhao Yunsheng and the others at home. Her logic was clear, her thoughts were coherent, and her words were well-organized, earning Director Zhao and Deputy Director Gao nods repeatedly.
After Wang Ying finished speaking, Deputy Director Gao said to Director Zhao, "You have a good daughter-in-law. She is knowledgeable, thoughtful, and energetic."
Zhao Yunsheng watched Wang Ying from the side and felt proud of him.
"Now isn't the time to discuss this," Director Zhao said. "But there's one crucial point in Yingzi's words just now: the starting point of this exam. What we need to do must not violate that starting point."
"But that's also the problem. The original purpose of this exam was to open a backdoor for the relatives of certain leaders!" Deputy Director Gao put his index and middle fingers together, tapped the table and continued, "Now, although Deputy Mayor Sun is taking the lead, such a big issue as Beichong is too big for Deputy Mayor Sun to decide alone."
Zhao Yunsheng then said quietly, "It's easy to open a backdoor for the leader's children, but it's not easy to do the right thing."
Deputy Factory Director Gao smiled and said, "That's the reality. If you do it covertly, some people will turn a blind eye. But if you do it openly, you don't know how many eyes are watching you. If you're not careful, you'll get into trouble."
"It seems that the children of some leaders are idiots and don't even dare to take exams," said Zhao Yunsheng.
"Haha, it's not entirely true. The leader's face is still there." Deputy Director Gao said.
Director Zhao said: "This is no longer a problem from the beginning. It's a disagreement among leaders."
This is also the reason why Wang Ying later wanted to do it on his own. When working in certain public systems, interpersonal relationships and political struggles are more important than anything else.
This exam involves many people and multiple interests.
Wang Ying asked, "So what are the regulations that Vice Mayor Sun has proposed? Who are the people who object? What are their reasons? What opinions cannot be agreed upon? Where are the contradictions?"
Gao Cheng smiled and said to Zhao Yunsheng, "Look, your wife's questions are better than yours."
Director Zhao snorted and said, "All he cares about all day is romance."
Wang Ying felt that Director Zhao's assessment of Zhao Yunsheng was quite pertinent. Zhao Yunsheng, unmoved by the thought, said with a smile, "If everyone cared only about romance, society would be a much better place. Just leave me alone and get back to business."
Director Zhao said, "Deputy Mayor Sun's rules are similar to what you said, except that he requires that the number of people going to the countryside be guaranteed and that national policies not be violated."
Wang Ying said: "If we want to ensure the number of people going to the countryside, we shouldn't set this threshold."
"That's right. Those who opposed it were the ones who wanted to set up the carrot pit before. Now they are in a better position and directly disagree with the exam. The situation has completely turned around." Director Zhao said sarcastically.
"But Deputy Mayor Sun has already spread the word. My dad's factory received the notice today. I was wondering why it happened so quickly," said Wang Ying.
"It's fast because we were already preparing for the exam, but the rules have been changed," Gao Cheng said. "Deputy Mayor Su is planning to catch them off guard."
"But they were the ones who wanted to hold the exam first, and now they are opposing it. This doesn't make sense. Doesn't this prove that there was something wrong with their previous approach?" said Wang Ying.
"You're quick-witted," Gao Cheng praised again. "Deputy Mayor Sun also brought this up during the meeting this morning. Now, someone is blocking the exam threshold, not for any reason, but simply to go against Deputy Mayor Sun."
"So, the contradiction has transformed from an issue to a personal conflict." Wang Ying said. She really didn't expect that her instigation would cause so many problems.
Lao Zhao and Lao Gao nodded. This was often the case. At the beginning, they were talking about things, but in the end it became a contest between people.
Wang Ying continued, "However, Deputy Mayor Sun still wants to get things done, otherwise he wouldn't have agreed to this. The factories must have genuine problems, which prompted Deputy Mayor Sun to make this decision. I think we should get back to the facts, to the starting point. Their disapproval isn't simply a sign of jealousy over the factories' success, but a desire to hinder socialist development."
Old Gao and Old Zhao were startled. They hadn't expected this girl to accuse someone. After a long conversation about getting back to the point, she ended up saying just this. However, Wang Ying's entire conversation had indeed given Old Gao and Old Zhao a lot of inspiration.
Deputy Director Gao smiled and said, "Yingzi, do you have any other ideas?"
"What can a young wife like me think? I'm just talking nonsense. It depends on you old leaders." Wang Ying said as if she didn't say that just now.
Deputy Director Gao and Director Zhao both laughed, and Zhao Yunsheng beside them also laughed.
Director Zhao said, "Okay, we got it. We'll have a meeting tomorrow morning to select the leadership team for this exam and give you the final rules. I won't let you down. Uncle Gao and I have something to discuss, so you guys should go back first."
"Then let's go back." Wang Ying stood up and said, feeling much more confident. Zhao Yunsheng also stood up.
Deputy Director Gao stood up to see them off and said with a smile, "Yingzi, don't apply to the food factory anymore. Come to our paper mill. If you apply to the food factory, your father will be so ruthless and might even reject you. Uncle Gao will definitely not reject you."
Director Zhao was anxious: "I will handle my business impartially. As long as she passes the exam, I will definitely not screen her out."
Lao Gao laughed heartily and said to Zhao Yunsheng, "Your wife is good, but you must treat her well. She will definitely be more successful than you in the future."
Zhao Yunsheng said happily: "Don't worry about this, Uncle Gao. I will definitely treat Yingzi the best."
Zhao Yunsheng and Wang Ying left the room, closed the door, and let the two old leaders continue their discussion.
As soon as they came out, Yanfen came to greet them. In just a short while, she had changed her clothes.
"We've finished talking about this, come over and have some tea." Yanfen said with a smile
"Sister-in-law, you are so polite." Wang Ying said.
Aunt Cai brought fruits, mooncakes and peach cakes and invited Wang Ying and others to come and eat.
Wang Ying and his wife sat down, each drank a cup of tea and shared a piece of peach cake.
After they finished their tea, Yanfen said, "Yunsheng, I have some books here. Do you want to take them home and read them?"
"No thanks." Zhao Yunsheng refused and offered to leave.
Because it was a holiday, Aunt Cai didn't keep them. She told them to come and visit next time and asked them to leave. Yanfen saw them out.
Yanfen stood at the door and watched Zhao Yunsheng and Wang Ying disappear into the alley before returning to the house.
Aunt Cai came over and whispered, "You regret it now, don't you? Weifeng entrusted you to him back then, but you didn't want to."
Yanfen's eyes flickered: "Mom, don't say that anymore, he's already married. I'm going to stay with Weifeng forever."
"You are just a fool." Aunt Cai said.
"Yeah. I'm just stupid." Yanfen said blankly, "What are they doing here?"
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