For Xu Damao, Liu Haizhong's matter was just a trivial matter; what he really cared about was the venue.
Since being surrounded last time, Jiang Changkong has done a lot of work. For example, he spoke individually with some teachers at the school to explain the misunderstanding, and he also went to the Education Section of the Logistics Department to ask for help in coordinating the relationship with the Transportation Section. He even contacted many of his old connections, hoping they could put some pressure on him.
But favors are a rare commodity. Especially when it comes to the same matter, if Jiang Changkong had just made arrangements with his connections and the steel mill ignored him, there aren't many people who would be so stubborn as to try to find someone else at this point.
Furthermore, Vice Principal Liu Weiguo had been instigating some school staff to constantly surround and harass Old Man Jiang, with some even resorting to verbal abuse, causing Jiang Changkong to consider retirement. At this point, it was impossible to tell that this group of people were teachers dedicated to educating and nurturing students; all they knew was that they didn't own a house.
Yan Fugui, who had been closely monitoring the situation, secretly reported the latest battle developments to Xu Damao. Xu Damao felt that the current situation was the most opportune time to unleash his sword, so he went to the elementary school and found Jiang Changkong.
"What are you doing here, kid? Coming to see me make a fool of myself?"
Jiang Changkong was furious when he saw Xu Damao walk into his office.
Previously, he had always felt that the two interacted very well, especially at Yan Fugui's son's wedding, where their cooperation was exceptionally smooth. At that time, he even considered Xu Damao a close friend, a confidant despite their age difference.
However, it is this very long face that has caused him to be cursed at every day, and some people even block his door and curse him.
"Principal Jiang, why don't you make me a cup of tea now that we're old friends?" Xu Damao said indifferently to the other party's attitude.
"You are not worthy to drink my tea." At this moment, Jiang Changkong did not care about the difference in rank; he only wanted to express his resentment.
"Then I'll do it myself."
Xu Damao picked up a clean cup from the table, then walked directly to the bookshelf behind Jiang Changkong, picked up a can of tea, and casually grabbed some.
"That's enough, that's enough, we can't let any more out."
Seeing Xu Damao's self-sufficient and carefree manner, Jiang Changkong was both annoyed and angry; then looking at the tea leaves that had been scratched several times, he felt a pang of heartache. This tea leaf was usually just for show; he himself wouldn't even dare to drink it.
“You’re a university president, you can’t be so stingy,” Xu Damao said.
"Hehe, the principal? He might not be one in a while. Tea is like that, every sip is one less sip, so we have to drink it sparingly."
"Don't rush me. When I move across the street from you, come to my office and I'll get you a pound of tea from Anhui province. It's incredibly fragrant," Xu Damao said.
"What do you mean? You don't want me to leave? If I leave, isn't that the result you want? You'll get that land smoothly, won't you?" Jiang Changkong was a little unsure of Xu Damao's thoughts.
“I can get that land even if you don’t leave. To be honest, I admire you quite a bit, at least you’re willing to work on teaching, it’s just that your methods are flawed.”
"If you don't leave, who knows, one day my child might end up in your hands again, and I'll have to hand him over. Then I'll have to give you a gift." Xu Damao said with a smile.
"You, saying these things won't change the image of you in my mind as someone who will stop at nothing to achieve your goals. I'm leaving soon, and what happens afterward is beyond my control. I don't want to see or hear anything about this school being shut down," Jiang Changkong said, sounding somewhat miserable.
"Are you sure you're leaving?" Xu Damao asked again.
"Confirmed. I'll hand over things here, and then I'll leave completely in a week. From now on, I won't be in the capital anymore, so I guess I'll be completely cut off from this place." Jiang Changkong still felt a little reluctant.
Jiang Changkong kept his word. He resigned from Hongxing Elementary School in less than a week. It is said that he went to Tianjin to become the principal of a middle school, which can be considered as fulfilling his wish to run a middle school.
Jiang Changkong's departure marked the official start of the auto repair shop's move. However, the place was currently a complete mess, requiring thorough cleaning and renovation. And this renovation wouldn't be something Xu Damao could come up with on his own; it would require visiting and learning from different auto repair shops.
Thus, just before the Spring Festival of 1961, the auto repair shop officially began operation. On the day of its opening, all members of the steel rolling mill's leadership team, cadres at the department level and above, and branch plant directors attended the auto repair shop's opening ceremony.
"We hereby appoint Comrade Xu Damao as Secretary and Director of the Auto Repair Shop, and Comrade Gao Yan and Comrade Zuo Chang'an as Deputy Directors of the Auto Repair Shop." At the meeting, Li Xuewu, on behalf of the organization, read out the appointments of the leadership team members. As for the heads of the departments below, they had already been selected by the general factory and would be appointed by the Party Committee of the Auto Repair Shop later.
Then, Yang Zhenhua, on behalf of the steel rolling mill, presented Xu Damao with a plaque, and from that moment on, the auto repair shop officially entered the historical stage.
"You did a great job, kid. From preparation to official operation, it only took a little over four months. I'm going to give you a reward." Yang Zhenhua shook Xu Damao's hand and praised him.
Actually, Xu Damao's speed wasn't considered fast. Since selecting the site, Xu Damao had put a lot of effort into design, changes, and construction, emphasizing slow and meticulous work, which resulted in the opening date being delayed again and again.
But what this person fears most is being compared to others and standing out from the crowd.
Compared to the auto repair shop, the machine repair shop was rather disappointing. After the top leader's secretary became the factory manager, he had no idea how to prepare for the project, nor did he care about the progress. For him, he'd be changing positions in two years, so why bother expending effort to ensure his successors could benefit from it?
So, he just used the title of factory manager of the machine repair shop and the pretext of studying and inspecting outside to host dinners every few days, acting like a leader in front of his brothers and friends.
It wasn't until Xu Damao invited the leaders to the auto repair shop's opening ceremony that Yang Zhenhua began to take the situation seriously. He hadn't initially wanted to get involved, finding it infuriating, but when he learned that the repair shop's location still hadn't been finalized, he couldn't sit still any longer.
He, who rarely showed anger in front of outsiders, unusually criticized his secretary and then directly called the top leader to report everything that had happened. The top leader, not expecting his secretary to behave this way, angrily ordered the steel mill to send her back.
So, none of the leaders are easy to deal with. Take Yang Zhenhua, for example. People can't figure out if he really doesn't care about the machine repair shop or if he deliberately lets his secretary mess around outside, and then only reports to the leader when things get out of hand.
In this way, he didn't offend anyone; on the contrary, he helped his superior, at least preserving the superior's reputation, and regained control of the machine repair shop.
Of course, this delay of at least several months was also a huge loss for the machine repair shop, which is why Yang Zhenhua praised Xu Damao like this today. This kid, without making a sound, managed to run such a large factory in the city.
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