Fortunately, the dinner party that evening went smoothly without any further mishaps; everyone ate and drank as usual. Apart from people like Li Xuewu, who are very particular about food and drink and can tell the difference between good and bad food, most people, including Xu Damao, couldn't tell the difference.
As for whether the new factory manager, Huang Xian, could taste the difference, that remains to be seen. Even if he could, he hadn't tasted Sha Zhu's cooking before, so he had no comparison.
During the meal, Yang Zhenhua led the factory leadership team in toasting the various department heads and branch factory workers, and then gave them a brief introduction. When they arrived at Xu Damao's and the machine repair shop's section, Huang Xian still had some reservations.
"Come on, these are the factory directors and deputy factory directors of our branch factories. This is the director of the first branch factory, and this is... this is Xu Damao, the director of the auto repair shop," Yang Zhenhua introduced.
As a deputy division-level cadre, Xu Damao was naturally the last one to be introduced, which also caught the attention of Director Huang.
"Not bad, everyone looks very energetic. By the way, our factory also has machine repair and auto repair, it doesn't seem like we need to set up a separate factory for that." Huang Xian said casually.
As the saying goes, "a new emperor brings a new court," and each leader has his own policy plans. It seems that Huang Xian has objections to the separate establishment of factories by subordinate departments, or perhaps he wants to use this as an opportunity to carry out his own work.
But his question immediately put the room in an awkward silence. The machine repair shop and auto repair shop, as the parties involved, were reluctant to answer, and Yang Zhenhua and Li Xuewu, as the driving forces behind the establishment of the affiliated factory, naturally wouldn't offer any explanation.
"Factory Director, the establishment of this subsidiary factory is a pilot policy for our steel rolling mill by the Ministry. How to handle it in the future depends on the final results."
When no one spoke up, Qiao Erbao, the deputy factory director who had been standing to the side, finally spoke. Ever since he lost the competition with Li Xuewu for the third-in-command position, Qiao Erbao had been severely suppressed. He rarely spoke loudly in the factory and had simply kept a low profile.
Previously, the factory director was semi-retired, and the clerk and the first deputy director were practically inseparable; Li Xuewu, as the deputy director, held no real power. But now the factory director has changed, and the new director is very influential, making him a natural competitor to Li Xuewu. Crucially, this new director clearly has ambitions and is unwilling to be second best.
If he speaks up now while others remain silent, it's tantamount to siding with the opposing side. But thinking about it, Qiao Erbao realized he had no other choice. He could either follow the new factory director and rise to prominence, or continue as the powerless deputy factory director—it couldn't get much worse.
"Director Qiao seems to have hit the nail on the head. We need to see the results of a pilot program. We'll see how it goes in a while. By the way, both directors, I'll visit you in a few days."
Huang Xian was very satisfied with Qiao Erbao's choice of sides.
Seeing that the other leaders remained silent, Xu Damao and the factory director of the machine repair shop nodded in agreement.
Actually, Xu Damao thought that the former director of the machine repair shop was a secretary from the ministry. Maybe Huang Xian had some connection with that secretary, and everything today might be to set up a scene for him.
Huang Xian probably wouldn't even look down on Xu Damao's position as a deputy director-level employee at the auto repair shop. If Huang Xian really wanted to interfere, Xu Damao had his own ways of dealing with it.
Because the top leader was present, the atmosphere of the entire meeting seemed to be very good, and the gathering lasted until very late.
When Xu Damao returned to the courtyard house, it was already completely dark. He had to knock on the door before Yan Fugui opened it.
"Hey, Da Mao, the new factory manager is here today. Didn't you say there wouldn't be a dinner party tonight?" Yan Fugui asked curiously.
“Who said there weren’t any gatherings?” Xu Damao said.
"Shazhu, huh? He came back quite early. When people asked him why he didn't have a special meal prepared for him, he said the leaders were being frugal and there was no group dinner," Yan Fugui said.
"Haha, this silly Zhu is quite interesting. Did you notice anything different about him when he came back today?"
“It’s different. When he came back, he was hiding from people when he talked. I noticed his face looked a little swollen. Could it be…” Yan Fugui gossiped.
"When I went to the third canteen, I saw Sha Zhu like that, but I don't know anything else."
Xu Damao was happy to share his news with Shazhu, adding a bit of joy to the compound.
The next morning, news of Sha Zhu being beaten was everywhere in the compound, and it goes without saying that Yan Fugui would start spreading it sooner or later.
"Xu Damao, are you just spouting nonsense?"
Xu Damao was having breakfast at home when Sha Zhu ran to the door and started cursing.
Xu's father, mother, and Wang Minzhi were all puzzled and looked at Xu Damao. In their memory, their son and Sha Zhu hadn't had any contact for a long time.
"You mean the news about you getting beaten up? I heard that from someone else. Last night, I only said I saw you at the entrance of the third canteen, that's all," Xu Damao said nonchalantly.
"What do you mean by 'not saying anything'? You just wait, I'll make you pay sooner or later." Sha Zhu said this and walked away.
"He won't do anything stupid, will he?" Xu's father asked.
"No. Besides, I didn't say anything out of the blue, so what's there to be afraid of? If he does something stupid, then he'll be in jail."
Upon arriving at the auto repair shop, Xu Damao's first task was to hold a meeting to convey the speech given by the new factory director upon his arrival the previous day.
“Our factory director, Mr. Huang, has just taken office, but he is very interested in our auto repair shop and has made it clear that he will come to our shop to inspect our work soon.”
Xu Damao rephrased Huang Xian's words, and the effect was quite good. Many middle-level managers were excited to hear that the new factory director was coming to their factory.
The fact that the steel rolling mill director came here shows that the leadership values this place, and there may be preferential treatment in terms of benefits in the future.
Only two deputy factory directors knew the truth, but that didn't dampen anyone's enthusiasm.
"Everyone should do their jobs well in the near future, and the factory's hygiene and environment should also be maintained. These tasks will be supervised by the two deputy factory directors."
Furthermore, we must strengthen internal management. All visitors must be registered to prevent internal problems from arising during crucial visits by leaders, which would only make us a laughingstock.
These inexperienced leaders often like to make a fuss about management, or say that the hygiene is bad and the environment is terrible. Xu Damao needs to prepare in advance, otherwise he will be in a very passive position later.
After finishing the internal arrangements, Xu Damao prepared to go to the steel rolling mill to take a look. With a new leader taking office, all the branch factory heads and department heads had to go and report for duty, no matter what.
Even if you go there, the boss might not see you; after all, bosses are very busy. But if you don't even bother to show your face, just sign in with the boss's secretary, the factory manager will remember you later.
Xu Damao didn't want to cause trouble, so he did the same as everyone else. However, he went to Li Xuewu's office first.
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