Xu Damao didn't really know much about Ma Dabao, another deputy minister of the armed forces department. From Tong Shuai's and others' descriptions, Ma Dabao was the kind of person who didn't manage things much within the unit, leaving the security department's affairs to the deputy section chief, and was often nowhere to be seen.
Since Xu Damao took office, Ma Dabao has never once come to report on his work. The few times they've met have all been during departmental study sessions. Before each meeting, the general office has to notify Ma Dabao in advance to even be able to reach him. As soon as the meeting ends, Ma Dabao disappears without a trace.
Xu Damao had always thought that the other party was resentful because he had taken his ministerial position, but it seems there were other reasons behind it.
Guo Yongfa and Ma Dabao are both vice ministers, yet Guo is now reminding Xu Damao to be wary of Ma Dabao, which is quite unusual.
"What's wrong with Lao Ma?" Xu Damao asked.
"Hehe, it's not that I don't want to say, but I really don't know how to say it. In short, Lao Ma's social relationships are a bit complicated." Guo Yongfa always seemed to want to say something but then stopped.
"That's normal. Everyone has things they don't want others to know. It's okay, come on, let's continue drinking."
Xu Damao didn't understand why Guo Yongfa brought up Ma Dabao at this particular occasion, but using Xu Damao as a pawn wouldn't be easy. At the very least, Xu Damao needed to see tangible benefits.
But Guo Yongfa was always secretive, acting like he wanted to do something bad but was afraid of being talked about, so Xu Damao simply let the matter drop. Ma Dabao has problems, but does that mean Guo Yongfa doesn't? Haha, these days, it's hard to say.
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The weather was lovely over the weekend, and Xu Damao was at home with his children when his old subordinates came to visit him.
"Old Huang, what brings you here?"
The person who came was Huang Shu, who is now the director of the auto repair workshop at the auto repair shop, a section-level cadre.
Originally, Xu Damao planned to promote the other party to the position of chief engineer when he had more seniority, but things did not go as planned and he was suddenly transferred.
"Factory Director, I've come to see you." After saying that, she handed the gift she was carrying to Xu Yongjun.
Upon seeing the gifts, the children immediately thanked their sister and then led the guests home. Wang Minzhi is usually strict with them, limiting their snacks, so they greatly appreciate having guests.
Because the gifts brought by guests always included candy, and Wang Minzhi didn't strictly control them in front of the guests.
"Sit down, and see if my tea-brewing skills have improved lately. We don't have much to do in the Armed Forces Department right now, so I spend my free time in the office studying tea brewing. Sigh, I've wasted quite a bit of tea leaves." Xu Damao handed a cup of tea to the other person.
"It's been a long time since I've had a drink. Boss, things haven't been going well at the auto repair shop lately. I'm not feeling comfortable working there, and I wanted to have a chat with you about it."
Huang Shu was Xu Damao's confidant. Xu Damao had promoted him from a group leader to a section-level cadre, so Huang Shu trusted Xu Damao a lot.
"Right now, the three factory leaders are fighting every day, and we subordinates suffer as a result. Today this leader says one thing, tomorrow that leader says another. In short, their orders are constantly changing, and we don't know what to do," Huang Shu complained.
The current manager of the auto repair shop, Su Xueqing, was appointed by Yang Zhenhua. He was previously a deputy manager of the second branch factory and knew absolutely nothing about the auto repair industry. However, upon arrival, he immediately demanded that the factory change its production direction, shifting from primarily serving external customers to fully serving the steel rolling mill.
According to him, the auto repair shop belongs to the steel rolling mill and should therefore primarily serve the steel rolling mill. Theoretically, he's correct, but the entire steel rolling mill only has a few vehicles, and they can't possibly break down every day, which leads to a reduction in the auto repair shop's business volume.
The two deputy factory directors finally reached an agreement and directly confronted Su Xueqing, even inciting the departments below to fight against Su Xueqing.
This caused quite a stir. The departments below were all established by Xu Damao, and their benefits were higher than those of the steel rolling mill because they served the entire city. If the business was reduced, it would definitely affect their welfare. So they all followed the deputy director in rebelling against the director, which directly rendered the director powerless.
Not only could she not command the business departments, she couldn't even manage basic office arrangements, because the office director was Li Tong, a troublemaker.
Li Tong already felt somewhat ashamed about Xu Damao's departure, believing it was due to her failure to persuade Li Xuewu. She was even more upset that someone who didn't understand anything had come along, so she started targeting Su Xueqing in every way.
Su Xueqing felt wronged at the auto repair shop, so he went to Yang Zhenhua to complain. Then, Comrade Yang visited the auto repair shop to pay New Year's greetings and personally inspected the shop. He then severely criticized the two deputy directors and later reassigned a deputy director to balance the power structure of the auto repair shop.
What started as a 2-on-1 situation was manageable, but now it's a 2-on-2 brawl, severely impacting the factory's production and operations. Now, skilled workers can't even quietly repair a single vehicle, let alone research new technologies.
"Factory manager, what do you think I should do now?" Huang Shu asked, looking at Xu Damao.
Upon hearing what the other person said, Xu Damao was surprised to learn that the auto repair shop was in such a serious situation. After leaving the repair shop, he deliberately stopped paying attention to its affairs. He even refused when Liu Haizhong tried to talk to him about the situation. After all, he wasn't in a position to concern himself with its affairs.
But after hearing Huang Shu's words today, Xu Damao realized the seriousness of the problem. If things continued like this, the workers would have no motivation to improve their skills, the managers would have no motivation to strengthen management, and the reputation that the auto repair shop had worked so hard to build would soon collapse.
Bankruptcy didn't exist in those days, but year-end bonuses were still related to production efficiency, and even included things like housing allocation.
“Since you’ve come all this way, you must have your own reasons. Tell me first,” Xu Damao said.
"I can't hide it from you anymore. Here's the thing, the auto repair shops in the district are quite familiar with us, and they know I'm a good technician. After seeing our shop's situation, they contacted me and asked if I would like to come over."
They said that all the previous job titles and benefits would be retained, and that I could bring a few close associates with me. "I'm here today to ask for your opinion," Huang Shu said.
Sure enough, someone was trying to poach their staff. The district auto repair shop used to be just a small workshop, but it has grown a bit in recent years. However, it lacks skilled and capable staff, which has hampered its development.
It seems they've been keeping an eye on Hongxing Auto Repair Shop, and only sent someone to contact Huang Shu when they saw the situation wasn't good.
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