Chapter 167
Ye Manzhi was not 100% confident in her speculation, after all, it was all just her blind guess.
So, when she said those words to Niu Enjiu, she felt like she was waiting for the prize draw for a regular savings account.
Before the answer was officially revealed, tension and anticipation reached a peak.
But Niu Enjiu showed no particular interest. "Director Ye, these two months are the final sprint of the year. The factory is busy completing production targets. The rice paper issue can wait."
The amount of glutinous rice paper used in candy factories is not small. Milk candy, cowhide candy, shrimp cakes, etc., all packaged candies require glutinous rice paper.
However, the cost and selling price of this thing are very low. Even if there is loss, it is not enough to set up a special production workshop for it.
Rice paper is not on the same scale as soda and canned food, and Niu Enjiu doesn't want to be distracted by other businesses during the busiest time of the year.
Seeing he didn't respond, Ye Manzhi guessed he might be looking down on the meager profits from glutinous rice paper, so she said in an excited tone, "Director, our city has never had an edible film factory, and all our glutinous rice paper has been imported from other places. The city leaders are proposing to build a factory right now because the demand for glutinous rice paper is growing!"
"Besides our candy factory, many other businesses use rice paper. Pastries and pharmaceuticals are big consumers. I heard the pharmaceutical factories in our city are also eyeing this edible film factory."
Only those who rush to eat can enjoy the meal. When Niu Enjiu heard that the pharmaceutical company also had its eyes on this edible film factory, he finally felt like chatting.
"Where does the city plan to build the factory? How much will the investment be?"
"I'm not sure. I heard it from people at a provincial meeting." Ye Manzhi said with an embarrassed look. "I don't have any connections in the city, so I don't know who to ask."
If she knew everything, how could she get Lao Niu out of the canning workshop?
Asking Director Niu to go out and build relationships and attend social events can take several days.
Niu Enjiu did not doubt her words. Ye Manzhi was assigned to work in the Provincial Department of Industry after graduating from university. Even if he had connections, they were in the provincial department.
Young cadres like her have shallow roots and may not have much say in the city.
Niu Enjiu nodded and walked around the office a few times with his hands behind his back.
Ye Manzhi continued, "Building a factory requires allocating land and constructing new workshops. If we can take over this business, it will save the city a lot of money. I think we have a good chance of getting the deal. Then we can just ask the city to provide the equipment and technicians. Our factory is in great need of skilled food technicians, so we can apply for a few more hiring quotas this time."
Both expanding the business segment and obtaining more formal indicators are what Director Lao Niu cares about most.
Niu Enjiu finally paid attention to edible film. "I'll take some time to go to the city to find out the details!"
…
With something important to do, Director Lao Niu acted very quickly. That day, he started running with full energy, as if he was wound up.
I no longer went to the canning factory to work as an assistant.
Ye Manzhi was a little happy that she had accurately grasped the pulse of Director Lao Niu. She drank half a catty of liquor with Wu Zhengrong in the evening, which caused her to stay in bed again the next morning.
The first person to get up in their family is Dr. Wu, who gets up at six o'clock every day to exercise for years.
Comrade Wu Yuzhuo gets up early in the summer and occasionally does morning exercises with her father, but after autumn she is no longer willing to get up early.
After being woken up by the wake-up call, she took advantage of the time when her father went out and crawled into her mother's bed with her small pillow.
The mother and daughter took a nap together.
When Ye Manzhi was lying in bed with her chubby daughter in her arms, there was a commotion outside the yard.
The mother and daughter closed their eyes and listened to the noise. Soon they heard someone outside shouting "Extra! Extra!"
Wu Yuzhuo rubbed his eyes and said, "It seems that Uncle Li is here!"
"Why are you here so early today?" Ye Manzhi opened one eye and glanced at the wall clock.
Xiao Li is responsible for delivering letters and newspapers to the family compound.
Usually when they were sent to her home, they had already gone to work or school.
If there is no letter requiring signature, Xiao Li will put the newspaper in the mailbox outside the door.
He came quite early today, it’s not even 7:30 yet!
The mother and daughter huddled in bed, neither of them wanting to go out and take a look.
In the end, the human cub was more curious and she really wanted to know what was going on outside!
He got up from the bed, put on his sweater and pants and ran out.
She opened the gate, and Uncle Li's shouting drifted in.
"Extra edition! Extra edition! People's Daily Extra edition!"
The door to Zhou Suo's house next door also opened at this time, and Zhou Wu, the eldest son of the Zhou family, ran out and asked, "Uncle Li, what's the special edition?"
Xiao Li was delivering newspapers door to door on his bicycle, and just now he arrived at the doors of two houses.
He waved the newspaper and said, "People's Daily Special Edition! my country's first atomic bomb has been successfully detonated!"
Wu Yuzhuo was a little confused by the news, but Zhou Wu was a middle school student and his father was the deputy director of a research institute, so he was quite sensitive to this kind of news.
He took today's newspaper and immediately ran out to spread the good news with Uncle Li.
Wu Yuzhuo was stunned for two seconds, then followed suit and took the newspaper.
He ran back into the house, holding his slightly loose trousers in one hand and waving a newspaper in the other.
"Mom, People's Daily Extra Edition! my country's first atomic bomb has exploded successfully!"
"real?"
Ye Manzhi quickly got up, took the newspaper and started reading.
The headline on the front page was two lines of bright red characters: "A major achievement in strengthening national defense, a major contribution to safeguarding world peace, my country's first atomic bomb was successfully detonated."
Wu Yuzhuo came up to her, pointed at a word on the newspaper and asked, "Mom, how do you pronounce this word?"
"nuclear."
"What about this?"
"Blackmail."
Wu Yuzhuo stared at the news, reading it word for word: "Xinhua News Agency reported on the 16th: At 3:00 PM on October 16, 1964, my country detonated an atomic bomb, successfully conducting its first nuclear test. This is a major achievement in strengthening our national defense and opposing the U.S. imperialist policy of nuclear blackmail and threats..."
When Wu Zhengrong received the news and hurried into the house, he heard his daughter reading the news from the newspaper in her clear and childish voice.
"Youyan, let me see." Wu Zhengrong stretched out his hand.
The little kid quickly stuffed the newspaper into his hand and asked curiously, "Dad, is this atomic bomb powerful?"
"sharp."
As if feeling that it wasn't enough, Wu Zhengrong added two more words, "Very impressive!"
He quickly glanced at the contents of the newspaper, then smiled and lifted his daughter up with both hands and shook her.
Wu Yuzhuo had a rare opportunity to lift something high, so she shouted excitedly twice and patted her father on the shoulder, saying, "Lift it again!"
Wu Zhengrong happily met his daughter's request, and then asked the mother and daughter to have breakfast. He had to go to the unit for an emergency meeting first.
As outsiders, Ye Manzhi and Wu Yuzhuo could only watch the fun, but more than half of the people in the military academy's family compound were engaged in national defense and scientific research.
Everyone's reaction to this incident far exceeded Ye Manzhi's expectations.
The family compound was in an uproar!
Before they finished their breakfast, the music of "The East is Red" started playing from the loud speaker outside.
The neighborhood committee organized people to beat drums and gongs and dance the yangge. The noisy scene was even more lively than the National Day activities some time ago.
When Ye Manzhi sent her daughter to kindergarten, she heard the sound of firecrackers and cheers all the way.
She had actually seen such a scene before. When the Soviet Union launched an artificial satellite a few years ago, everyone held a celebration.
At that time, she criticized Wu Zhengrong in bed, thinking that his thinking was not progressive, and his reaction to the Soviet Union's launch of artificial satellites was too cold, and he was singing a different tune from everyone!
Wu Zhengrong disagreed. Not only did he sing a different tune, he also told his superiors his true thoughts.
Because of what he said, he was recommended by the organization to study for a doctorate at the Military Academy.
Seven years passed in a flash, and this time it was finally his family's turn to hear good news. Dr. Wu's reaction was completely different from before.
If it weren't for the lack of time, Wu Zhengrong would have wanted to carry his daughter around the compound!
While Ye Manzhi felt happy about the country's growth, he also had to sigh that life's encounters were truly wonderful, and the past seven years seemed to have formed a closed loop.
Such good news made the whole city excited for a whole day. The news was broadcast repeatedly on the radio, and many citizens spontaneously organized celebratory parades.
When Wu Yuzhuo returned home in the evening, he was more excited than in the morning. It was obvious that he had received communist education from his teachers in kindergarten.
She danced the song "On the Golden Mountain in Beijing" several times, swinging her red silk.
"Baby, can we change the dance?" Ye Manzhi watched it all night and was a little tired of it.
Even Lihua, who was the most supportive, ran away.
Wu Yuzhuo made a request, "Mom, play a song for me, and I can improvise another one!"
Ye Manzhi didn't have much hope for her so-called impromptu dance, but she still took out her pipa and played a song "General's Order" for her.
The melody is sonorous and powerful, full of military spirit, and quite appropriate for today's good news.
The great dancer improvised a folk dance to the accompaniment, but was not satisfied after the first dance and asked for another one.
Ye Manzhi met her request and played another song "Horse Racing".
This song has a faster tempo than the General's Order. Let's dance and let the kid use up his energy so that he can go to bed.
However, she had just played two bars when the sound of erhu came in from outside the window.
"Horse Racing" is originally an erhu solo piece. With the addition of the erhu ensemble, the passionate, unrestrained and magnificent scene suddenly appears.
The great dancer Wu Yuzhuo had no time to dance. He quickly opened the door and ran out to look for the source of the sound.
Ye Manzhi kept moving her hands until she heard her daughter call out "Aunt Fangfang", then she put down the pipa and walked out.
"Sister Zhenfang, was it you who played the erhu just now?" Ye Manzhi asked while standing in his yard.
"Haha, I couldn't help it. Did I bother you?"
"No, I was just trying to soothe the child," Ye Manzhi said with a smile, "My husband Wu Suo is still at work and hasn't come back yet. Today's news about the atomic bomb was so uplifting, so the two of us are entertaining ourselves at home."
"My old Zhou hasn't come back yet! I'm so happy today!"
The two houses were so close, and Liu Zhenfang had actually known for a long time that there was a pipa master next door. However, when the person played the pipa, the doors and windows were always closed, which meant that he didn't want others to know.
Liu Zhenfang knew his limits and would occasionally teach the eldest and second sons to play the erhu, and then he would close the doors and windows.
The atmosphere was good today and the window next door was not closed, so she suddenly felt like exchanging ideas with her colleagues.
The men of both families were not at home, and the children were having a great time, so Ye Manyzhi simply invited them to his yard.
Ask Wu Yuzhuo to take out some fruit snacks to entertain the children.
She played a few songs with Sister Zhenfang and held a small concert.
They started to make a scene, and many neighbors came out to watch the fun.
Zhou Wu, the eldest son of the Zhou family, explained to everyone that in order to celebrate the successful explosion of the first atomic bomb, the mothers of the two families played a few songs together to congratulate the motherland!
Ye Manzhi looked at Zhou Wu with a smile and said to Liu Zhenfang, "Sister-in-law, our Zhou Wu is even better than me!"
"Haha," Liu Zhenfang said modestly, feeling happy, "He's still young, so you can't tell anything right now."
After the song "Horse Racing", the two discussed and played a few revolutionary songs together.
Several children served tea and water to entertain the neighbors nearby. The party was lively until the lights were turned off, and everyone reluctantly dispersed.
*
The explosion of an atomic bomb made the city lively for a long time, and units at all levels organized various celebrations and held various study sessions.
It wasn't until early November that things started to calm down.
The food factory continued the tradition of offering gifts for National Day and also offered a gift for the atomic bomb explosion.
The factory was recently producing canned hawthorns, and when they needed to print labels for the cans, they asked the printing factory to print 50,000 large can labels with the words "Warmly celebrating the successful explosion of my country's first atomic bomb."
This was originally just a small token of appreciation from the food factory employees, but since the whole country was celebrating, they wanted to join in the fun.
However, just two days after the first batch of cans with the new labels left the factory, the Municipal Bureau of Commerce came to negotiate and asked if 150,000 such cans could be produced urgently.
Ye Manzhi is the deputy director of operations, and she is responsible for all cooperation with the Commercial Bureau.
When she heard the other party's request, she shook her head and said, "Chief Chen, we really can't add that much. You know the situation in our factory. We don't have enough canning equipment, and the workers are working overtime to complete the production task! This year's hawthorns are limited, and we stopped canning hawthorns the day before yesterday."
Section Chief Chen asked, "So what are you producing now?"
"What's being produced now are canned apples in syrup and canned luncheon meat."
"Then you should quickly change the label on the can of syrup apples to one that celebrates the successful atomic bomb explosion!"
Ye Manzhi smiled and said, "The flavors of the cans are the same, and the prices haven't changed. It's just the labels that are different. They can't be so popular, right?"
"Well, it's a big seller. We distributed a thousand cans of hawthorn fruit to the First Department Store, and they sold out in two days," Section Chief Chen explained. "For one thing, the labels really are commemorative. Some people collect special supply labels like stamps. For another, these cans are very popular in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai."
"..." Ye Manzhi hesitated for a long time, frowned and said, "Then I'll try to think of a solution."
In fact, this requirement is easy to meet, it’s just a matter of changing the label.
But if she agreed too easily, the business department would make demands on them every few days.
She handed the task of printing large labels on canned goods to the supply and marketing department, changed into her work clothes, and went to the workshop to follow her.
Recently, the work in the canning workshop has clearly shown signs of slacking off. Everyone seems to have entered a period of burnout and work enthusiasm is generally not high.
Although Ye Manzhi was anxious, he could understand the situation.
Not to mention the workers' burnout, even she, the deputy factory manager in charge of the factory, was exhausted.
We are all mortal, there are not so many iron men and iron girls!
However, the production tasks assigned by the state must be completed by all means.
These days, there are very few factories that fail to complete their tasks. Most of the news reports in newspapers are about XXX factory completing its annual production task six months or several months ahead of schedule.
If the canning workshop fails to complete its task, even if there are objective reasons, it will easily attract attention, and then all the employees in the workshop will be unable to hold their heads up.
"That's easy!" The fourth brother thought his sister's difficulties were nothing. "Take a cue from our pastry workshop. Deputy Director Wang Shihu is such a slogan-monger! He can come up with a new slogan in just two or three days. Our workshop walls are covered in slogans, and everyone's so motivated!"
Ye Manzhi asked: "What slogans do you all have? Tell me a few."
She wanted to copy Director Wang's homework.
"Work hard, strive for excellence, work harder for revolution, and run like Daqing."
"We must always win battles on the production front!"
"Also, three thousand pounds of indicators, six thousand pounds of measures, and twelve thousand pounds of enthusiasm!"
Ye Manzhi: “…”
So awesome!
Fourth Brother urged, "If you modify these slogans and put them in your workshop, they might be useful."
Ye Manzhi went to a pastry workshop to learn from others, wrote down the slogans on the wall one by one, and planned to go back and study them.
However, she was not as creative as Wang Shihu in shouting slogans. After a night of thinking, she could only come up with one: "Seize every minute and use every day as if it were two days."
It sounds dry and not as original as other people's slogans.
She was a little reluctant to repeat others' ideas and use what others had used.
Ye Manzhi glanced at the things on the table. The notebook in her left hand contained slogans for the pastry workshop, and the one in her right hand contained a book written by the Chairman.
Rather than imitating Wang Shihu, it is better to imitate Comrade Chairman.
This year, she responded to the call and learned from Lei Feng, Daqing, and the People's Liberation Army.
The purpose of learning is not to shout slogans, but to set a goal for yourself.
She feels that the canning workshop is still lacking some motivation and goals.
So, when she went to the workshop to apprentice again, she called several workshop directors together.
Let each workshop and team start the selection of this year's advanced individuals, advanced collectives, model workers, and March 8th Red Flag Bearers.
"Director Ye, isn't it too early to start evaluating advanced workers now?" said Director Chen from Workshop 1. "Every year, we have to wait until mid-December to evaluate advanced workers."
"The situation in the canning workshop this year is rather special. We don't have enough equipment and everyone's workload is very intense. We're asking everyone to sign up for the selection in advance so that they have something to look forward to."
Evaluating advanced and model workers is a major event for the working class.
After a busy year, getting a certificate and taking home a teacup, a towel or something is a kind of spiritual comfort.
Adults also have face in front of their own children.
Anyway, if her family's Old Ye and third brother were rated as advanced one year, they would really be happy from New Year's Day to the Chinese New Year.
He held his head high and walked with a sense of vigor, his energetic appearance looking as if he was wearing a big red flower on his chest.
Ye Manzhi hopes to use the opportunity of selecting advanced and model workers to motivate everyone's work enthusiasm.
"Although we haven't completed our production targets, our canning workshop has performed exceptionally well, and everyone deserves to be nominated for Advanced Workshop. So," Ye Manzhi said to the workshop directors with a smile, "our first goal is to win the factory's only Advanced Workshop Award! This is a recognition of all the employees in the canning workshop. We should also not miss out on Advanced Collectives, Outstanding Teams, Advanced Individuals, Model Workers, March 8th Red Flag Bearers, and so on. We should apply for all that we can."
Several workshop directors looked at each other and decided that using awards as incentives was indeed a good idea.
"Then let's go back and try again?"
"This isn't just a trial run; we're doing a thorough evaluation," said Ye Manzhi. "Directors, please make a good plan. We have national, provincial, municipal, district, and even factory-level awards, with individual and group awards at each level. Everyone has worked hard all year, and we'll try to ensure everyone has the opportunity to be recognized. Those who are exceptional will apply for national and provincial awards, while those whose conditions are less mature will apply for district and factory awards. In addition to nominations from leaders, we'll also allow workshop workers to recommend nominations and allow workers to nominate themselves."
Several directors agreed in unison, saying that it would be beneficial for them if there were more advanced individuals and groups in the workshop.
This can be considered as one of the director's work achievements.
Ye Manzhi then looked at the director of the canning workshop and said, "Director Chen, I heard that you've been awarded the municipal advanced individual title for nine consecutive years. This year marks the tenth year, and you've also been awarded the provincial advanced individual title several times. When you organize the workers' selection process, don't forget your own award and write up your application carefully."
Chen Guilan's face was bright red as she said, "I've won it for so many years now, why not just apply? When I applied for the award last year, some people complained that I was always the one winning and taking away other people's opportunities."
Ye Manzhi disagreed, "Good is good. The fact that the provincial and municipal governments have consistently selected you means your work has been recognized by their superiors. This is not the time to be modest, Director Chen, just apply for the award. The same goes for other comrades, feel free to apply. I will do my best to secure the award for everyone!"
The deputy factory director has spoken, so why should we be so modest? We must actively apply for the award!
Several people returned to the workshop that day and announced the news of the upcoming awards, which aroused the enthusiasm of all the workers.
Being an advanced worker or a model worker is not as simple as just giving out a certificate or a cup of tea.
This is not only an affirmation of everyone's work, but also the key to progress.
All the small leaders in the workshop have received awards!
The canning workshop immediately regained its vitality because of this news. Those who wanted to apply for the award but were too embarrassed to recommend themselves tacitly recommended each other.
The workshop director’s recommendation list took up two large pages!
…
The award ceremony in the canning workshop caused quite a stir, and other workshops soon heard the news.
Although the factory has not yet issued an award notice, the workshops always keep in line with each other. As long as one workshop starts moving, the other workshops will definitely follow suit.
You have to follow!
If a workshop director falls behind others and does not fight for the rights and interests of his own workshop, he will definitely be scolded by the workers for a whole year!
So, miraculously, before the factory office issued any notice, the award judging work for the entire factory kicked off in such a grand manner!
Niu Enjiu, who was still working on the edible film project outside, had to return to the factory and specially held a team meeting to discuss the award matters.
Jiang Wenming also serves as the deputy secretary of the factory party committee, and he takes the lead in the annual award evaluation work.
He spoke first, saying, "We can take our time with other tasks, but the provincial and municipal governments hold commendation conferences at the end of each year. We must first recommend outstanding collectives and individuals at the provincial and municipal levels."
Wang Shihu cleared his throat and said, "Then let me make a suggestion. This year, we should try to promote a few newcomers. For example, we should not recommend those who have won advanced awards for eight or nine consecutive years. Let's give the newcomers some opportunities."
"Take the pastry workshop for example. This year, two cakes were awarded the title of excellent products at the municipal level. Both cakes were developed and produced by pastry chef Wang Aimin. Isn't such a comrade worthy of being recommended as a provincial or even municipal advanced product?"
They are a light industry unit, and will only be given one place for provincial advanced collective and individual awards, and only two or three at the municipal level.
If the quota is given to someone, then others will have no chance.
Previously, the provincial advanced individuals were usually Chen Guilan from the canning workshop and Hu Liupei from the bakery workshop, and other people had no chance to participate in the award.
Although Wang Shihu is not the workshop director, as the deputy factory director in charge of the workshop, he has to stand up and fight for awards for the employees of the workshop.
Ye Manzhi objected explicitly, saying, "Awards must be fair and just. If a comrade can be recognized as an advanced individual for many consecutive years, it must be because he has made achievements recognized by the judging panel. Chen Guilan from the canning workshop has repeatedly improved product formulas, production methods, and efficiency. In the first two years when supplies were at their most scarce, she pioneered the use of yellow sheep meat, wild boar meat, roe deer meat, and other game to can food, doing everything she could to complete the production targets for that year. In addition, she has twice performed heroic deeds. It is very convincing for such a comrade to be recognized as an advanced individual."
"We can't deny someone the right to apply just because they've won so many awards, right? That kind of excuse doesn't make sense."
"We certainly knew Chen Guilan was excellent, and it was the factory's decision to nominate her for the award," said Wang Shihu. "But there are only one or two provincial and municipal awards available. If she keeps winning them year after year, the others won't have any hope at all, which really dampens everyone's enthusiasm."
Chen Qian offered a compromise. "Didn't Director Ye say in the canning workshop that everyone should try their best to win awards, and that no one should apply for duplicate awards? Chen Guilan is a female comrade, so why not apply for her to be the March 8th Red Flag Bearer? Leave the municipal and provincial advanced awards to others."
"Director Chen, the March 8th Red Flag Bearer award is an award established by the Women's Federation for female comrades. It's meant to motivate them. No one says that being a March 8th Red Flag Bearer ineligible for Model Worker or Advanced Person. Chen Guilan's achievements are more than enough to earn her the Advanced Person title, so why shouldn't she apply? The selection is up to the judging panel. If she doesn't get selected after applying, that's fine. However, just because she's a female comrade and can apply for the March 8th Red Flag Bearer award, shouldn't that disqualify her from being an Advanced Person?"
Wang Shihu said, "I don't care about the others, but Wang Aimin from the pastry workshop must be nominated as an advanced worker at the provincial and municipal levels. If one person has held an advanced position for nearly ten years, how can others improve?"
Ye Manzhi curled his lips and said, "You should make progress if you need to. Just because others are advanced, they will stop you from making progress?"
What's the reason for this?
Niu Enjiu coughed lightly and said, "The award judging process has just begun, so we need to maintain good unity internally. Please submit the list first, and then we will allocate the award quota based on the overall situation."
I heard him use the word "distribute".
Ye Manzhi knew that Director Lao Niu also wanted everyone to share the fruit.
If Director Chen is nominated as the March 8th Red Flag Bearer, she will not be nominated as a provincial or municipal advanced individual.
After all, there are more than 2,000 people in the factory, and she can't take all the awards alone.
What's more, it lasted for nearly ten years.
Ye Manzhi frowned and thought for a moment, then said nothing more.
Seeing that she no longer continued to confront them, the other factory managers finally felt relieved.
Every year's awards ceremony is a game of negotiation, and it's not uncommon for leaders to argue until they're red in the face.
Ye Manzhi did not argue with them at the meeting, but she always felt it was a pity not to give the award to Director Chen.
She thought about it for a few days, and then made a special trip to the award committee of the Municipal People's Committee.
This year's awards committee had just begun its official work. Seeing the company leaders arrive, the deputy director of the committee said with a smile, "You guys from the company are here too early. You've already drawn up the list so quickly?"
"Director Sun, the list hasn't been finalized yet, but a special situation arose during the award process, and I'd like to report it to the jury."
"Oh, then you tell me first."
Ye Manzhi organized her words and said with a smile, "There's a comrade in our factory who has been named an advanced individual since the city began its advanced individual awards program. As of last year, she'd been awarded the title for nine consecutive years. If she wins again this year, it would be her tenth year. It just so happens that our city has been awarding these titles for ten years. Director Sun, can we set up a special award this year to give to comrades who have been awarded advanced titles for ten consecutive years? For example, give them a 'Glorious Ten Years Award' or something like that."
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