Chapter 103
Looking at the deputy factory director across from him, Ye Manzhi asked doubtfully, "Student Shi Lei, are you talking to me as a senior or deputy factory director?"
Shi Lei still wanted to maintain his composure, so he played the emotional card with a smile, "I'm both your senior and the deputy director of the machinery factory. But since I'm in the factory right now, I'll talk to you as the deputy director."
Ye Manzhi nodded and said, "If it's you, my senior brother, I wouldn't be able to discuss the topic of pregnancy with you, an unmarried male classmate."
“…”
"However, since you're speaking to me as the deputy factory director, I'll be honest. Although pregnancy drains a woman's energy, I'm in good health and haven't had any impact on my studies or work. The factory has been operating for half a month, rushing to produce the hardware orders. I secured them from the provincial hardware company before the holiday."
Ye Manzhi lied without any psychological burden.
In fact, it was not her who brought the order to the hardware company, but the fact that the department was able to get this order must have something to do with the factory director and manager training class.
Only Director Miao knows about the order, and he probably won't expose her.
Shi Lei didn't know the details of the order, so he continued, "When you landed that order, you were in good health. However, as your pregnancy progresses, it's bound to consume more of your energy, affecting your work at the factory..."
Ye Manzhi frowned and interrupted, asking bluntly, "Deputy Director Shi, do you want to fire me?"
"Don't get me wrong, we don't intend to fire you. The factory is simply considering your health and wants you to put your work aside for a while so you can focus on your health and studies. Once you've had your child and are through this important period, you can come back."
Before Shi Lei talked to her, he was very confident.
Ye Manzhi was a pregnant woman after all, and it would take her at least a year or two to recover from the pregnancy and childbirth.
While she is away, a junior can serve as the planning section chief.
After the junior class graduates and leaves school, she will return to the factory to take up her position.
This is something that benefits both parties.
Junior students can accumulate work experience and gain more weight for graduation assignments.
Ye Manzhi can also take this opportunity to have a baby and raise it well.
Although Shi Lei had selfish motives, it was also for Ye Manzhi's own good.
However, Ye Manzhi didn't appreciate it at all.
Doesn't she know that working part-time in a machinery factory is very draining on her energy?
If there were any other choice, she wouldn't want to cause trouble for herself with a bulging belly.
But now colleges and universities must implement the Party’s education policy, combine study with productive labor, and all teachers and students in the school must participate in labor.
If Ye Manzhi didn't work as a section chief with a bulging belly, she would have to go to the workshop with a bulging belly.
She can temporarily leave her position as section chief because of her pregnancy, but will the school not allow her to participate in labor just because she is pregnant?
Obviously that's impossible!
Besides, it would be easy for her to hand over her position now, but it would be difficult to take it back.
When the junior class graduated, the factory management was completely reorganized, and the previous administration's authority was rendered useless in the current one. If she couldn't return to her original position, who would she turn to for justice?
Ye Manzhi was in a very good mood at the moment. Even if Shi Lei offered her all the benefits, she would never agree to give up her position as the head of the planning department.
Being persuaded so urgently, she looked at the factory director Ma Hongliang who had been silent the whole time.
"Director, our department's factory is a formal one, right?"
"certainly."
"Which regular factory would let a female employee take a year or two off just because she's pregnant?" Ye Manzhi said, suppressing her temper. "In 1956, the Binjiang Municipal People's Committee promulgated the 'Interim Measures for Protecting Female Employees.' When pregnant or breastfeeding female employees request work, employers should arrange for them to work according to the principle of reassigning them to lighter positions, not heavier ones, and moving them closer, not farther away."
"I used to work in the neighborhood committee, and the factories under the neighborhood committee strictly followed this interim measure. I appreciate Deputy Director Shi's good intentions, but since we're a formal factory, they can't adjust my position or put me on indefinite leave just because I'm pregnant unless I apply for a transfer and there are no mistakes in my work."
“…”
There were four people present. Apart from Shi Lei who led the conversation, the other three were transferred students with certain work experience.
Ye Manzhi's words seemed to be reasonable and well-founded, but the three transferred students knew in their hearts that most companies did not strictly implement the "Interim Measures for Protecting Female Employees".
The implementation depends entirely on the attitude of the company's leaders.
When Ye Manzhi was recruiting workers for the coal furnace factory, he recruited men and women in a 50/50 ratio, and the March 8th Convenience Service Station was staffed entirely by women.
However, when most factories allocated recruitment quotas to the street offices, they explicitly requested that only male workers be recruited.
Female workers have pregnancy and breastfeeding periods, and the factory needs to take appropriate care of them. After recruiting female workers, increasing the staffing quota is not in line with economic accounting principles.
Therefore, the "Interim Measures for Protecting Female Employees" were actually implemented in a perfunctory manner.
Ma Hongliang worked in the county industrial bureau in his hometown for four years and is very familiar with this situation.
But knowing it in your heart is one thing, and speaking it out loud is another.
Ye Manzhi has already clearly mentioned the implementation of the "Interim Measures for the Protection of Female Employees". Of course, he cannot openly oppose it and cite examples of companies that do not implement the "Interim Measures".
Ma Hongliang previously thought that Ye Manzhi was just a freshman and a pregnant woman with limited energy, so when Shi Lei proposed to replace the person in the Planning Department, he reserved his opinion.
If a junior student came instead, he would have a higher level of knowledge and could also gain favors from his classmates.
However, looking at Ye Manzhi's appearance, it is obvious that he is not an ordinary freshman, and it doesn't seem like he will give up easily.
Ma Hongliang had just been transferred by the Provincial Planning Commission and didn't want to cause any more trouble because of his classmate's affairs, so he said with a smile, "Although our factory is only newly established, it is indeed a formal factory and will strictly implement the 'Interim Measures for the Protection of Female Employees.' If classmate Ye Manzhi feels that she can still handle it, then she can take on the position of head of the planning department..."
Shi Lei frowned and was about to say something, but Ye Manzhi interrupted, "When the factory asked me to be the section chief, I was already pregnant. I went out in the middle of winter to solicit business for the factory with my belly bulging. If Deputy Director Shi felt that a pregnant woman was not suitable for the position of section chief, why didn't he object then? Now that Director Ma and Huang Zhiqiang have been transferred to other units, you suddenly saying that I am not suitable is bound to make people think too much."
Chen Ying's expression remained grim. She said to Ye Manzhi, "If you're able to handle it now, then continue to be the planning section chief. If you feel unwell, don't force yourself. We're a formal factory, and we'll take special care of female employees during their 'fourth period'. You should rest now."
The so-called four periods refer to menstruation, pregnancy, delivery and lactation.
Since Chen Ying and Ma Hongliang both let her continue to be the section chief, Ye Manzhi no longer entangled with the incomprehensible Shi Lei.
After saying hello to the three people, he turned and left the machinery factory.
*
She acted calm in front of outsiders, but after returning home, she scolded Shi Lei in front of her parents.
Ye Shouxin put down his hoe and said, "What they said is not entirely wrong. You are pregnant now, and the baby in your belly is the most important thing. Put your work aside for now."
"No, I'm going to hold on to this position of section chief to the death! I won't give them my position! I'm going to piss them off!" Ye Manzhi sat on a small stool and ate an apple. "Even though being a section chief still requires labor, it's less strenuous. Our department-run factory has almost no labor costs. From the leaders to the workers, they're all students. They combine labor and study, and they don't even need to pay wages. By the time the third-year class graduates, the machinery factory will no longer be the small workshop it is today. By then, the positions of factory director and deputy director will surely be even more sought-after. If I don't act in advance, how can I become factory director?"
Chang Yue'e came back from the chicken coop in the backyard and laughed at what she said, "You're almost losing your position as section chief, and you still want to be factory director?"
"Of course I'm going to fight for the position of factory director! I didn't care about the position in the department-run factory, but you see how they're vying for my position like black-eyed chickens, which shows that there are some benefits to working in this factory. I haven't even sat in a big government office yet, and I also want to work in the Provincial Planning Commission and the Provincial Industry Department!"
"Stop your big talk!" Ye Shouxin straightened the soil and said, "I've already tilled this patch of land. Don't move around at home. When the weather warms up a bit, I'll sow the rapeseed."
Ye Manzhi stretched out her hand and said, "I can also do the work of sowing rapeseed. Give me the rapeseed and I will sow it myself. I have also grown vegetables on the street farm."
There is no limit on the amount of food that can be purchased in the city in the past few months, but she still feels uneasy.
After discussing with Wu Zhengrong, I decided to learn from Su Gong next door and grow some vegetables in the yard.
She plans to plant more vegetables that can be dried, especially beans and eggplants.
With a vegetable garden, Chang Yue'e no longer has to go out to buy vegetables every day.
Ye Shouxin waved her hand away. "I don't trust you. I'll plant the seeds myself when the time comes. By the way, when will Zhengrong come back?"
"Just these two days, he's supposed to be back tonight, but I'm not sure about his job."
"Then I'll take your mother back."
Ye Manzhi nodded.
Wu Zhengrong went on a business trip to a neighboring province and was away for about ten days. Chang Yue'e stayed with her during these days.
After she sent her parents out of the yard, she stood alone in the yard and inspected the territory.
Her father had been doing farm work since he was a child. He had turned over almost all the open space in the yard where vegetables could be grown.
The movements were quick and efficient, not even leaving out the empty spaces at the base of the fence and wall.
Ye Manzhi strolled along the fence twice and thought that a circle of sunflowers could be planted at the base of the wall.
There are many sunflowers planted in the yard of the street office. When they grow tall in the summer, they can block the view of outsiders. When the sunflower seeds are ripe, there will be an endless supply of sunflower seeds to eat.
During the two years she worked on the street, her family never bought melon seeds. A handful of them she got from the office every day was enough for her.
The more Ye Manzhi thought about it, the more he felt that planting sunflowers was a good idea. He then went back to the house, grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds, and scattered them into the small pit along the fence.
When Wu Zhengrong came in carrying his luggage, she was concentrating on digging the soil with her feet to bury the sunflower seeds.
She threw a few seeds and fed one to Kuihua. Kuihua was very good at cracking melon seeds. She could spit out the shells after two clicks.
Seeing Wu Zhengrong appear at the door, Kuihua took a break from her busy schedule, spit out the melon seed shells, and barked.
Ye Manzhi looked back and said happily, "You actually came home on time?"
Wu Zhengrong glanced at her muddy cotton shoes and asked, "What are you hiding? You're sneaking around like that."
"We're planting sunflowers!" Ye Manzhi stood up, took his arm and pointed out the surroundings. "From now on, this whole area of our yard will be covered with sunflowers! It will also be difficult for outsiders to see what's going on in our yard through the gaps in the fence."
Wu Zhengrong looked at the sunflower seed shells that the sunflower had spit out and said speechlessly, "Did you roast the sunflower seeds you planted? Can cooked seeds still sprout?"
Ye Manzhi, who was so tired that his waist ached, said: "..."
Wu Zhengrong brought her into the house and, while taking things out of his luggage, he made up a story: "It doesn't matter. The child may need to learn wisdom from you. The dumber you are now, the smarter the child will be."
"Why should I be stupid? You have so much wisdom, why don't you share some of it?" Ye Manzhi glared at him, then picked up a can of military canned food and looked at it. "Why is there no label on it? How can I tell what's inside?"
"They are all canned meat, no need to distinguish them." During the days that Wu Zhengrong was on a business trip, the other party's unit supplied him with a can of canned meat every day.
His schedule was tight this time and he had no time to buy a gift for Ye Lai Ya, so he brought back all these canned meats.
There were eight cans in total, and he didn't eat any of them.
Since Binjiang banned the outflow of live pigs, canned meat has become a scarce commodity. Ye Manzhi was very satisfied with this gift.
She put seven cans into her small warehouse and used the other can as dinner for today, which she shared with Wu Zhengrong.
She felt that the can was full of meat, very solid, and one can was equivalent to two cans on the market.
When I was getting ready for bed that night, I was still thinking about it: "You can go on business trips to this company more often in the future. Their canned meat is delicious."
Wu Zhengrong hummed, put down the book he was reading and said, "The bath water is getting cold. Come out when you're almost done."
"Then throw me the towel."
Wu Zhengrong got up from the bed, took a towel blanket from the closet, wrapped her upper body, and carried her out of the bathtub.
Ye Manzhi sat on the bed wrapped in a towel, waiting for him to wipe her hair.
Ever since she became pregnant, the bathtub was moved from the bathroom outside into the bedroom.
To prevent her from tripping when getting in and out of the bathtub, she just had to stand there and wait to be carried in and out by Wu Zhengrong.
Wu Xiaogong dried her hair, then went outside to pour water and clean the bathtub.
When they finally got to bed, Wu Xiaogong himself had no complaints, but Ye Manzhi, the one being waited on, sighed first, put her arm around his waist, and said, "Why are you so slow?"
"I'm going slow just to serve you." Wu Zhengrong put his hand on her belly, quietly feeling the movement under his palm.
"You're finally back. I've missed you so much these days!" Seeing the hand on her belly move to her chest, Ye Manzhi hurriedly tried to make amends and complained to Wu Zhengrong about what happened at school again.
"The relationship between the students in your school is quite good."
"What's wrong?"
"That Shi Lei is already the deputy factory director. Removing you, the section chief, wouldn't benefit him in any way. So why is he working so hard?" Wu Zhengrong moved his hand back to his stomach and added, "Even though the factory director and the other deputy director disagreed."
"I'm also wondering. Logically, since he's the deputy factory director, he should be eligible for transfer to another unit. So what's the point of him eyeing my position as section chief? If he's planning this for someone else, then he's a really good person."
How strong must the relationship be for Shi Lei to fight so hard?
Wu Zhengrong paused, pondered for a moment, and then said, "You're a freshman and pregnant, which makes you our weakest link. If I were trying to get a job at the factory, I'd be targeting you. Now that he's got this idea in mind, he won't give in easily. I'm sure he'll cause trouble for you."
Thinking of his wife, who was still pregnant and needed him to carry her to the bath, he worriedly reminded her, "The machinery factory is run by a school. Although the factory director and deputy director are students, the department head and teachers have also established a production management committee. If you have any problems, communicate with the teachers in a timely manner and don't confront them head-on."
Wu Zhengrong didn't try to persuade her to quit. Ye Lai Ya was still thinking about work during her three-day honeymoon holiday. She was extremely career-oriented.
It is obviously unrealistic to ask her to give up her job in the machinery factory.
"If the enemy comes, I'll fight him head-on..."
*
Ye Manzhi didn't take Shi Lei seriously. She went to school and did her homework as usual. She also had to spend two hours every day working at the machinery factory to arrange production planning tasks.
As she interacted more with the third-year students in the factory, she gradually understood Shi Lei's situation.
He was admitted to the university after repeating the college entrance examination for two years, but his grades were very good after he entered the university and he was ranked among the top five in the class.
He seems to be a couple with the study committee member of another class in the same grade.
The school does not encourage students to fall in love, so the two did not make their relationship public, but Ye Manzhi had run into them several times in the library, playground, and cafeteria. The man and woman were often seen together, so it was very likely that they were dating.
And that girl didn't hold any position in the department's factory.
He's not even a clerk in the department.
Ye Manzhi felt that this was probably the truth behind why she was being targeted.
Graduation assignment is a difficult hurdle for campus couples. Once they are assigned to different cities, it is the end of their own lives.
Shi Lei might have wanted to add some weight to his partner so that they could stay in Binjiang together.
Ye Manzhi is a bit sentimental and likes to listen to love stories and watch love movies. When she found out that he might be doing that to help his girlfriend, her aversion to him faded a little.
Although I'm still a little annoyed with him, I won't roll my eyes at him behind his back anymore.
Anyway, the matter has passed, and we just hope everyone can live in peace from now on.
However, for the sake of love, she wanted to keep the peace, but the other party was so obsessed with love that he didn't care about anything else.
Two months after the machinery factory officially started operation, Director Miao finally showed mercy and paid attention to the development of the department's factory.
As the director of the production management committee, he organized a committee meeting.
Listen to the work reports of the factory director, deputy factory director, workshop director, and small cadres from various departments.
The factory management attached great importance to the report and raised it to the level of graduation defense.
Ma Hongliang's report was relatively comprehensive, mainly reporting on the factory's management system, organizational structure, and product production and sales.
Ye Manzhi felt that Director Ma's words were meaningful and quite capable, no wonder he was transferred to the Provincial Planning Commission.
When it was Shi Lei's turn, he also spoke very well. Since he was the deputy factory director in charge of production and his work overlapped with the production planning department, Ye Manzhi also took careful note of the content of his speech.
However, as this person was talking, his tone became wrong.
"Here, I want to criticize the work of the Production Planning Department," Shi Lei said without looking at anyone. "Our factory has been in operation for two months, but the Production Planning Department has not yet completed the annual and quarterly production plans. Apart from the order cards and the weekly temporary production plan, I haven't received the production cycle instruction chart, nor the annual and quarterly product production plan schedule, nor the connection plan schedule between the main parts workshops..."
At this point, he finally glanced at Ye Manzhi and said, "I wonder if it's because Ye Manzhi is just a freshman and doesn't have enough knowledge, or because she's pregnant and can't keep up with the factory's work schedule."
After he finished speaking, the conference room fell silent, and the teachers and students all looked at Ye Manyi.
Director Miao coughed lightly and said, "Since Deputy Director Shi mentioned the issues with the Planning Department, let's address them one by one. Chief Ye, do you have anything to say? You can speak in advance."
Ye Manzhi stood up and said, "All the issues mentioned by Deputy Director Shi are true. These are problems existing in the Production Planning Department."
Everyone: “…”
Why don't you just admit it? Aren't you going to try to make excuses?
Of course Ye Manzhi had to make some excuses.
"But I also hope the factory can face up to the realities of the Production Planning Department. The Production Planning Department is responsible for order management, scheduling annual and quarterly production targets, controlling the pace of production between workshops, and performing accounting and statistics. Currently, only my roommate and I are responsible for the entire factory's planning work. Not to mention that I'm pregnant, even if Director Miao were to take over as the section chief, it would be impossible for us to complete the factory's production plan while also studying."
Director Miao looked at the factory managers and asked, "Why don't you add more staff to the Planning Department?"
Ma Hongliang said: "The school requires students to participate in physical labor as much as possible. The department-run factory should not have too many cadres, so after research, the factory decided to reserve two people for each department."
"The work of other departments has been completed very well, but the progress of the Production Planning Department is too slow," Shi Lei added.
Ye Manzhi chuckled: "The factory just opened and we haven't even seen any payment yet. Apart from our production planning department and the workshops who are busy as hell, can you see any staff from any department coming to the factory to work?"
"We applied too late, and our products weren't included in the national plan. Our machinery factory is a small-batch production enterprise, so we have to accept orders at any time and do complex production preparations. Therefore, annual and quarterly plans are difficult to make."
"Perhaps, as Deputy Director Shi said, I'm a freshman and my knowledge base isn't as deep as a junior. But let's be clear: our department-run factory is a three-in-one base: a place for students to study, work, and conduct research. Since it's a place for learning, we should give everyone time to grow. After all, even those working in the workshop have their struggles, and not everyone is a seasoned production expert who knows everything right from the start."
Teacher Luo nodded in approval. "I agree with what Ye Manzhi just mentioned. The students in our workshop aren't very experienced in production, and the daily scrap rate remains high. Everyone needs time to learn."
"Also, I'd like to make a suggestion to the committee," Ye Manzhi imitated the others' unwavering gaze. "Our factory has teaching tasks, and production arrangements must be integrated with teaching tasks. However, our current situation is that teaching is led by the department, and production is arranged by the factory director and workshop director. This makes overall planning difficult. In particular, the course schedules of our three grades conflict, and occasionally some teachers have to adjust or add classes. The deputy factory director in charge of production cannot receive the latest notification of course adjustments, which often leads to several classes overlapping in the workshop. Therefore, I propose that the department seriously consider the possibility of unified management. The factory director, deputy production director, and workshop director should be concurrently served by the department head or teachers..."
Everyone: “…”
Everyone shifted their attention from Ye Manzhi to the factory director Ma Hongliang and deputy production director Shi Lei.
If the department head or teacher is really allowed to serve as the factory director or deputy factory director, wouldn't they be fired?
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