For Xu Damao, the attention from high-ranking leaders was good, but not his ultimate goal. In this era, the real reason Xu Damao constantly strives and enhances his abilities is for his family to live peacefully and steadily.
It will be only five years before the great storm begins. By then, all sorts of monsters and demons will emerge, creating an era without order or morality. Even if there are forces from the future, they will not be able to stop the tide of the times.
"Da Mao, if anyone in the city contacts you recently to discuss the adjustment of the management system of auto repair shops, you must be cautious. If you can refuse, then refuse. Never make any promises to them casually."
Li Xuewu briefly recounted the events of the meeting to Xu Damao and also gave him some warnings about what might happen next.
"Don't worry, leader. I know my own limitations. Only within the steel rolling mill system can our factory develop so quickly, and only then can I have a future. If we really went to the district, with so many factories, we would be like a drop of water flowing into a river, disappearing without a trace," Xu Damao replied.
Regardless of his true feelings, Xu Damao's outward loyalty was impeccable. Indeed, because the steel rolling mill had few internal plants, each second-level plant manager had considerable autonomy and room for advancement, including Xu Damao, a deputy division-level plant manager.
However, once they reached the city or district level, they were in charge of hundreds or even thousands of factories. Except for a very few important mines, the main government leaders rarely paid attention to the other enterprises. Moreover, the importance of the working class was paramount in this era, and the treatment in factories was no worse than that in the government.
"Yes, you know that's good. At your age, to reach this position is extremely rare, so the most important thing now is to focus on doing your job well. When the time is right, the organization will naturally not forget you," Li Xuewu said.
He trusted Xu Damao to a certain extent. The young man was young, but clear-headed, had his own opinions on many things, and didn't blindly follow others. Most importantly, Xu Damao wasn't an entirely upright person; he was familiar with and didn't reject many unspoken rules, which suited Li Xuewu's temperament well.
With the competition over, the auto repair shop's commendation ceremony was held accordingly.
In addition to receiving a uniform enamel teacup for the "First Beijing Auto Repair Industry Skills Competition," all participants in this competition received separate rewards from their respective auto repair shops.
The first-place winner will receive a salary increase of one level and an additional industrial voucher; the second-place winner will receive 100 yuan, and the third-place winner will receive 50 yuan. Furthermore, all participants who achieve a top-five ranking will receive bonus points in their year-end performance evaluation.
As for the other administrative personnel involved in organizing and ensuring the activities, they were also given corresponding rewards, which can be described as a win-win situation.
Finally, the auto repair shop treated everyone to a special meal – pork stew with vermicelli. The purchasing department had spent a long time searching for enough pork, but ultimately Xu Damao used his personal storage space to sell a wild boar he had hunted to the repair shop.
On the day we ate meat, everyone felt like it was New Year's Day. This year was the last year of the three-year natural disaster period, but no one had any premonition. They only knew that the past three years had been extremely difficult; let alone meat, it was difficult to even have enough to eat. So, many people bought a lot of meat, but they only ate one piece themselves, and couldn't bear to eat the rest, putting it in their lunchboxes to take home.
In the evening, people ate meat in the front yard and the back yard of the courtyard house, but not in the middle yard. This made Banggeng very hungry, and he couldn't stop crying.
"Mom, I want to eat meat. Go and tell Shazhu to give me some meat!" Banggeng cried to Qin Huairu.
“You had some pork cracklings in your lunchbox, didn’t you? You’ve already eaten them. Besides, it’s hard to get enough to eat these days, and the factory doesn’t have much meat or vegetables. It’s good enough to have some pork cracklings. It’s a good thing your Uncle Shazhu is here, otherwise you wouldn’t even be able to smell the grease,” Qin Huairu said.
My own child is usually spoiled too much; he always wants all the good food he sees. In fact, he probably eats more meat than anyone else in the compound—more than many adults combined over the years.
"That's different. I just saw chunks of meat in Uncle San's lunchbox; those big, fatty pieces looked so appetizing. I heard they brought them back from the factory. Why didn't you bring any?"
"Mom, did you eat at the factory and not bring us any?" This kid even doubted his own mother for a bite of meat.
“Uncle Jie Cheng and Aunt Yu Li from the Third Uncle’s family don’t work at the same factory as Mom, so they only eat together once every few years. Think about it, the lunchboxes you eat every day are much better than theirs,” Qin Huairu comforted her.
Qin Huairu had heard that the auto repair shop was serving meat today, but she hadn't seen it with her own eyes. If there really were that many large pieces of fatty meat, that would be quite something. These days, not to mention domesticated pigs, even wild boars from the mountains have been hunted to near extinction; there are simply no surplus.
According to Sha Zhu, there are basically no private canteens in the factory now; even if there are, they just stir-fry some vegetables with some oil residue, and there are no other better dishes. As for the regular meals, it's good enough if you can get enough to eat, so how can you dare to have any other thoughts?
"Huai Ru, Bang Geng is right. If you can't manage, hurry up and go check on Yan Fugui's family, or go to Xu Damao's or Liu Haizhong's family in the backyard. They all work at the same factory, so if you go early, they might get you some meat."
"The children in Banggeng haven't had a proper meal of meat in a long time, and it breaks my heart to see it," said Jia Zhangshi.
To match her words, Jia Zhangshi even secretly wiped away non-existent tears from the corner of her eye. She wasn't doing it for the child; she just wanted to eat meat herself.
"Mom, they saved that from lunch, I can't possibly ask them for it," Qin Huairu said, looking troubled.
She knew her mother-in-law better than anyone. Even though everyone was struggling to get enough to eat, Jia Zhangshi had money and could always find something to eat outside, but she only ate it secretly and never brought it home. Even so, whenever there was something good to eat at home, she was always the first to grab it, never thinking of letting her granddaughter have any.
"How do you know they won't let you go if you haven't even gone? Come on, hurry up, or they'll have finished eating," Jia Zhangshi urged.
The three children looked at their mother with hopeful eyes, as if there was nothing their mother couldn't accomplish.
Looking at her child, Qin Huairu could only helplessly pick up her bowl and leave. But once outside, she didn't know where to go. Everyone else had saved the few pieces of meat they hadn't eaten at lunch; even with her thick skin, she knew she couldn't ask them for more.
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