Gu Zhiyuan was more composed than Lin Feng, and he also showed a look of surprise.
This condition is very tempting, but it is also very difficult.
Improving or developing new machinery suitable for rice cultivation in Jingzhou Province is no easy task.
"Can all designers participate?" Gu Zhiyuan asked calmly.
Mr. Lin nodded: "Yes! Anyone who is willing can participate!"
Gu Zhiyuan remained silent.
Mr. Lin thought for a moment and said, "This design will definitely be quite challenging for you! But isn't what we do in this industry all about facing challenges head-on and overcoming one difficulty after another? Especially Xiao Gu, I could see from the A03 project that you have a knack for this, and your design concepts far surpass those of others! This is an opportunity, you must seize it!"
"Although this county machinery factory is one of the best in Jingshan County, what does it amount to outside of Jingshan County? Young people, you need to broaden your horizons and have a bigger vision! Don't be confined to this small piece of land. If you have the ability, you should go to a bigger and broader place to showcase it. Don't you agree?"
Lin's father's words were pointed, and he said them while staring into Gu Zhiyuan's eyes.
Gu Zhiyuan pondered for a moment, then nodded solemnly: "Director Lin, I understand!"
Relieved, Lin's father looked at his son, who was still grinning foolishly and hadn't come to his senses yet, and said with utter disdain, "What are you grinning about? With your current skill level, you're only fit to work in our machine factory. Stop daydreaming!"
Lin Feng, having recovered from his father's rebuke, retorted with dissatisfaction, "Although my skills can't compare to the boss's, I'm still young. Can't I go and learn from him? Besides, isn't this skill level what you taught me? If you can only teach me to this level, then your skills aren't much better! Otherwise, why don't you veteran designers do the design?"
These words struck a nerve with Lin's father, who immediately took off his shoe and vowed to kill his unfilial son.
If Gu Zhiyuan hadn't intervened, Lin Feng would probably have gotten a beating during the Chinese New Year!
Fortunately, Lin's mother soon finished cooking and called them to eat, which saved them from the predicament.
At the dinner table, in addition to the dishes prepared by the Lin family, the fresh vegetables from Xu Ningyan's garden were also very popular.
Before the Lunar New Year, everyone stocked up on vegetables, but to keep them fresh for longer, most of them bought cabbage, garlic sprouts, and radishes.
I ate this almost all winter long; who wouldn't get tired of it?
They also want to eat fresh vegetables, but there are none available!
It was a rare sight to see such fresh spinach; tender cilantro that looked so juicy; and crisp celery—everyone's eyes lit up.
For a rare moment, everyone stopped using their chopsticks for the meat and started picking up only the vegetables.
Even Raymond Lam, who usually loves meat, couldn't resist adding two extra bites of spinach.
Lin's mother couldn't help but feel a brief pang of envy for the rural people. No matter how hard life was, they had much more freedom when it came to the vegetables they ate than the city dwellers.
You can grow whatever you want to eat.
Unlike them, they can only eat whatever others sell.
Everyone enjoyed the meal, and even Mr. Lin couldn't help but nod and praise the vegetables for being fresh and delicious.
Seeing that the Lin family liked it, Xu Ningyan naturally wouldn't be stingy: "Since Uncle Lin likes it, we still have some. I almost harvested all the vegetables in my garden this time. Brother Gu and I can't eat much, and it would be a waste to leave it at home! I'll have Lin Hong come home with me to get it tomorrow!"
Given the current relationship between the two families, Lin's mother didn't stand on ceremony.
However, before leaving, he picked out a few pastries and dried fruits and insisted on giving them to Xu Ningyan to take home.
Back home, Gu Zhiyuan started flipping through the books that Xu Ningyan had found at the scrap yard. He continued until midnight, when Xu Ningyan got up to use the bathroom and saw that the light in Gu Zhiyuan's room was still on.
Xu Ningyan overheard a few words while eating at the Lin family's house and knew that Gu Zhiyuan was under a lot of pressure. After all, Lin's father had high hopes for him, and if he didn't make a name for himself, even if Lin's father didn't say anything, Lu Kai's side would definitely gossip.
However, she couldn't help with this, since everyone has their own expertise, and this is not her forte.
At most, she could only improve the food to ensure Gu Zhiyuan didn't suffer from malnutrition; that was the best she could do.
Moreover, she quickly became busy as well.
The department store has already communicated with the Hongxing and Hongqi communes. Both communes are now eager for Xu Ningyan to visit their communes to see what specialty products can be sold at the department store, or sold to other places through the department store.
They called Xu Ningyan almost eight times a day to urge her when she would go to the countryside.
Xu Ningyan simply took his lackeys back to the Unity Brigade, intending to stay in the two communes for a while to conduct a thorough investigation.
The first phase of the deployment naturally took place at the Red Star Commune. The commune had already prepared a dormitory for Xu Ningyan in advance, in case Xu Ningyan didn't have time to go home to rest.
There was also a dedicated staff member who explained the situation to her and showed her around the environment.
Xu Ningyan followed the clerk to several other brigades under the Red Star Commune and was quite shocked.
In those days, even a brigade like the Unity Brigade, which was considered to be in a relatively good condition under the Red Star Commune, still struggled to make ends meet.
Not to mention some remote and underdeveloped brigades.
It's good enough if they can just get enough to eat. For many families, the work points earned in a year aren't even enough to feed the whole family.
Every year, they had to borrow from the brigade to pay off their debts. They would borrow this year, pay it back the following year, and then borrow again. This went on year after year, leaving them in debt to the brigade for grain and money.
Although it's only the beginning of spring, the weather is still cold.
In many families, the whole family only has one cotton-padded jacket and trousers, which is worn by whoever needs to go out.
The rest of the people wore their thickest layers of clothing and stayed huddled in their beds, too afraid to get up.
Xu Ningyan had only seen these scenes described in books before, and seeing them with her own eyes was a shock that words could not describe.
The clerk accompanying Xu Ningyan to the countryside was named Cao Yang. He was quite old. Seeing Xu Ningyan's stunned expression, he smiled wryly and said, "Yanchi Production Brigade is the worst-off brigade in our commune. As you can see, the brigade is located near the mountains, with few paddy fields and no river flowing through it. The grain yield is poor. After paying the grain tax, we still have to eat state relief grain every year—"
Xu Ningyan couldn't help but ask, "So how did they make a living before?"
Cao Yang looked around before whispering, "They used to make a living by hunting and gathering herbs. Now everything in these mountains belongs to the collective, and individual buying and selling is not allowed—"
Xu Ningyan understood: "Then why not send the hunted game and medicinal herbs to the purchasing station in the name of the brigade collective?"
Cao Yang sighed: "It's a long story—"
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