In the end, the factory director still couldn't say anything to Old Lady Xia and the others, so he could only let them go first, out of sight, out of mind.
After the two left, Director Yuan stood by the door and looked over what she had just written in her notebook. Seeing that no one was outside, she said, "Director, aren't you afraid that the leaders of the other factories will laugh at you during the exchange meeting?"
The factory director nodded, closed his eyes and didn't want to talk anymore. He could imagine what those old guys would say then. It was really annoying.
Director Yuan: "And when the local Industrial Bureau and the Planning Commission hold meetings to assign tasks, they might also bring up this matter. If the other factory leaders try to flatter us first, we might leave a very bad impression on them."
The factory director sighed heavily. "That's all we can do. Just like Comrade Lao Xia and the others said, they're not wrong. Our factory simply exposed the problem. Other factories may have had this problem, but they suppressed it for the sake of their reputation. I don't know what their factory leaders are thinking, but at least my factory, including myself, has a clear conscience towards our workers."
Director Yuan: "I have a suggestion and I'd like to talk to you first."
Factory Manager: "You look so embarrassed, you must be trying to embarrass me, right? Tell me, after what happened, there shouldn't be anything that can make me angry anymore."
Director Yuan: "Next time we have a less formal exchange meeting, bring these two along and let them enlighten the leaders of the other factories."
The factory manager suddenly fell off his chair, almost thinking he was hallucinating. Before he could wake up the others, this suggestion woke him up first. "Who do you think we should bring along?"
Director Yuan still had that expression on his face as if he was about to become a monk. "I said bring Comrade Xia Yue'e and Comrade Jiang Wenhua with you."
The factory manager said: "You're crazy! Bringing these two along with you, don't you think our factory is embarrassing enough?"
Director Yuan: "Who's going to make a fool of themselves by then? With those two mouths, they can make even the dead look alive. Just look at what they just said. Can you refute them?"
The factory director was silent for a while, then shook his head firmly.
Director Yuan: "Then, before this, Comrade Fang Yingdi's parents came to the factory to cause trouble. From Comrade Fang's parents' perspective, do you have any way to refute what they said?"
The factory director fell silent again, and he really seemed unable to refute it.
Director Yuan: "Going back further, you saw Comrade Xia's reaction when he reported the case, didn't you?"
The factory manager nodded: "It's really amazing. It almost ruined your future."
Director Yuan: "Going back even further, Comrade Jiang once had a conflict with a fellow worker in the same group and brought it to our office. Do you remember?"
The factory manager's face turned green. That guy's brain was completely different from that of a normal person. What was even more infuriating was that even though everyone knew what he said was fallacious, his logic was self-consistent. People didn't know how to persuade him with normal thinking, and in the end they would be led into a ditch by him.
Director Yuan said confidently, "I think if we bring these two along, no one will say a bad word about our factory at next month's exchange meeting."
The factory director was shamefully moved.
But then he thought, "The people going to the exchange meeting are all factory leaders. How can these two go?"
Director Yuan flipped a page in her notebook. "The director of the women's department of our factory union left because her husband's job was transferred. There's no one to take over for now. I think..."
Before she could finish her words, the factory director rejected her. "Who do you think is more qualified to take on the position of Women's Director? Comrade Xiao Jiang is a man, so he's not really suitable, is he? Comrade Xia is already that old. I think she's almost fifty, and she'll retire in a year or two. How can she take on the position? Women's Director is also responsible for management. If her retirement is extended, I'm afraid she'll tear us apart."
The factory director felt it was inappropriate. He thought that Mrs. Xia had recently acted like someone who wanted to retire early and enjoy a peaceful life, and probably had no desire to climb the ladder. Besides, if she really became the leader, would their factory still have a peaceful life?
There were already quite a few female comrades in their textile factory. When she had nothing to do, she would start checking on everyone one by one. If she found anyone bad, she would go to their house and quarrel with them. Then several nearby factories would suffer.
It’s inappropriate, very inappropriate.
Director Yuan stared at the table in front of the factory director and thought a lot in her mind, but no matter how much she thought, it would be in vain if Comrade Lao Xia did not cooperate.
Seeing that the factory director had refused, but hadn't explicitly refused, and that the main problem still lay with Comrade Xia, Director Yuan decided to help her again, "Factory director, please listen to me first.
1. Even at this age, Comrade Xia's thinking is more advanced than many of us. She may not be without this idea. You can't stop her from wanting to make progress just because of her age. This is too unfair to her and to so many diligent old comrades in our factory.
Second, if you feel that she has not made any significant contributions so far and cannot win the approval of other comrades by taking this position, I think we can hold an election at the quarterly workers' meeting, release the news in advance and let other comrades with ideas compete to see who has the highest support among the workers.
"Third, if Comrade Xia retires, she'll be a retired veteran of our textile factory. The factory union will visit her every holiday. No matter what, everyone knows she's from our factory. Do you really think she'll settle down after retirement? Will she really not cause trouble because of her excessive free time?"
Factory Manager: ...He’s not sure.
"But other leaders may not agree with this kind of thing. I can't make the decision on my own. This is an important position change." The factory director was very distressed.
Director Yuan: "It's okay. I'm just telling you first. This is just a suggestion. Aren't we leaders going to have a meeting this afternoon? Maybe we can bring this up. There's nothing we can do about it. However, I'm also doing this for our factory. I think you, the factory director, have done much better than the other factory directors. You at least treat women as human beings."
Factory Manager: "Your praise seems rather sarcastic."
Director Yuan: "Don't you think some of their leaders are truly disgusting? People's hearts are truly ugly."
Factory Manager: “Who are you talking about?”
Director Yuan: "My wife is a typical example."
Factory Manager: ...It's doomed. This place might have a third divorced lesbian.
"Old Yuan, you should communicate more with your family. Don't condemn everyone so harshly. Your lover might still be saved," the factory director said earnestly. "I think he can still understand. I've talked to him before and I think he's a good person."
Director Yuan: "That's because you're the factory director. When you go see how he treats his subordinates, you'll know what disgusting is."
Factory Manager: “No one is perfect.”
Director Yuan: "Life is short."
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