Chapter 102
After returning from the Provincial Department of Industry, He Guangping called his secretary in.
"Did you receive a letter from the provincial university last week?"
"Yes, the provincial university is going to open a specialized class and wants our hardware company to send someone to attend. You said you don't have time..."
He Guangping: "Bring the original here for me to see."
Xiao Wang stood still, glaring at him and saying, "The notice requires a call back within five working days. Failure to reply within that time will be considered as automatic waiver of qualification for further studies. And it's already been seven or eight days."
"It's just a class, why are they so strict? Just call them back and tell them I'll be in class on time."
Xiao Wang followed his instructions and went to the secretary's office to make the call. Not long after, he returned with the following message: "Boss, the provincial university said that this specialized training class is full and they're not accepting applications now."
"Who answered the phone over there?"
"A teacher in the Department of Industrial Economics."
He Guangping tapped the table with his fingers and said nothing more.
He had just attended a study course at the Provincial Party School a few months ago. He studied full-time for three months and fell behind in a lot of work. So when he heard that the Provincial University had opened a special course, he refused without thinking much.
However, he only heard today at a meeting at the Provincial Department of Industry that the special training class was jointly organized by the Provincial University and the Department of Industry, with only 30 places in total, and leaders of several large enterprises in the province were included in the list of students.
The provincial hardware company is not small in scale, but it still lags behind heavy industries such as steel mills, heavy machinery plants, and engine plants.
The training quota is arranged by the Department of Industry. The Provincial Hardware Company belongs to the Light Industry Department, so it did not get the opportunity to study this time.
When he heard the news at the Industry Department, he was not very happy.
We all work in a provincial unit and are usually very friendly to each other. However, because of a specialized training class, we are divided into different levels.
He Guangping thought about it for a while, took out the contact book, found Miao Jigeng's office number on it, grabbed the phone on the table and called the other party.
Director Miao was very polite. When he mentioned the specialized training class, he smiled and said, "This specialized training class is sponsored by our Department of Industrial Economics. It's mainly to respond to the call and help major enterprises achieve management leaps as much as possible. This is the first time that the provincial university has offered a class for enterprise managers. The university party committee and the provincial industry department are very supportive."
He Guangping asked, "Director Miao, are the places for this training class allocated by the Industry Department or by your provincial government?"
"We gave 30 spots to the Provincial Department of Industry and kept 10 for ourselves," Miao Jigeng laughed. "These 10 spots are mainly reserved for our partner companies. The Provincial Hardware Company has been very supportive of our Industrial Economics Department's work over the past two years. We're planning to run a specialized training program for factory directors and managers, so we definitely have to reserve one spot for the hardware company."
He paused for a moment, then changed the subject and said, "However, since you are in important leadership positions, it may be difficult for you to arrange your time, so this study is entirely voluntary. If you don't have time, we will allocate the place to other units."
He Guangping laughed and said, "Improving professional skills is a big deal. No matter how busy you are, you have to squeeze out time to improve yourself. Director Miao, I went on a business trip to the branch office last week and didn't have time to sign up right away. Is it okay to sign up and confirm now?"
There was silence on the other end of the line for two seconds. Miao Jigeng leaned back in his chair, took a sip of tea, and then said slowly, "The department may have already sent letters to other units. I'll go ask around and try to stop it. If it's already been sent out..."
He Guangping retorted, "Then you, Old Miao, should find a way to get it back. Director Miao, we've been friends for many years. Of your ten training places, you have to reserve one for our hardware company, right?"
Miao Jigeng responded readily, smiling and saying, "Okay, I'll take care of it. I'll have someone mail you a formal admission notice tomorrow."
After hanging up the receiver, he paced back and forth in the office with his hands behind his back.
The Department of Industrial Economics deals with finance and economics, so it is impossible to teach behind closed doors. He has always urged the teachers in the department to contact more with the business departments, and everyone should make a few friends in the business departments with whom they can keep in touch frequently.
However, this kind of relationship is not an ordinary friendship. Both parties must benefit in order to continue to develop.
College teachers have some social status but no real power and cannot bring any practical benefits to others.
Especially since the implementation of the Party’s education policy last year, college teachers and students have been going to factories for labor internships, causing trouble to others all day long.
Universities have gradually become the ones that often ask for help from others.
The factory director and manager training class mentioned by Ye Manzhi actually gave him a new idea.
The Department of Industrial Economics originally had a similar advanced training class with a ten-month duration, and all the students were cadres at the county and department level or above from industrial departments.
However, this advanced training course is funded by the government and commissioned by the provincial university to teach.
The business department has the final say on when to start classes, what types of students to enroll, and the teaching content.
This time, the class was led by the Provincial University, and leaders from major enterprises were invited, especially those from enterprises that had cooperative relations with the school, to come to the school for further studies, which finally allowed them to stand up straight.
*
While Director Miao was busy building relationships with the business department, Ye Manzhi had already gone home for winter vacation.
Except for the time when she went to visit relatives in the south when she just got married, this was the first time she enjoyed such a long vacation.
Apart from listening to the radio every day, I just eat and drink.
Maybe it was because she was pregnant, she felt that her appetite had increased a lot recently and she was particularly greedy.
I can even dream about food.
She ate popcorn in her dream last night, so this morning she took a small bag of rice and prepared to go out to make a pot of popcorn.
As a result, she walked around two streets with her belly bulging, but still didn't see the popcorn maker who came out every winter.
When she passed by the street office, she went in and asked, "Jin Baoer, why isn't the popcorn vendor on the street setting up his stall?"
Liu Jinbao gave her his seat and said listlessly, "He was away for a few days last month. But when the commune opened the canteen, he went to the kitchen to cook. I guess he didn't have time to make popcorn."
Guangming Street ultimately could not escape the fate of establishing a commune, and this month it officially responded to the call and established a people's commune.
In order to free more women from tedious housework, the commune set up a large canteen in every neighborhood committee.
Anyway, the food purchase restrictions have been lifted and people can eat as much as they want without any restrictions. Residents are willing to spend some money and bring their families to the canteen for meals.
Master Liu, who pops popcorn every winter, did not set up a stall this year. He was called up by the neighborhood committee to cook big pot dishes in the canteen.
"I dreamed about eating popcorn last night." Ye Manzhi sighed regretfully, put on his hat and scarf again, and called to Liu Jinbao, "Jinbaoer, please see me off."
"You're not about to give birth, why do you need someone to send you?"
Liu Jinbao complained, but still sent her out of the yard of the street office.
After they were out of sight, Ye Manzhi asked, "What's wrong with you? The last time I saw you, you looked half dead. Where did your previous enthusiasm go?"
"Hey, now that I have nothing to strive for, how can I strive for progress?"
Liu Jinbao now understands Zhuang Ting who was transferred from the street to the factory.
Before going to college, Ye Manzhi recommended him to the organization to be the deputy director of the street.
He was rewarded for his meritorious service by being injured in capturing a spy, and his work performance in the first six months was also remarkable, so there is a high probability that he will be promoted.
After Ye Manzhi left, the position of deputy director remained vacant for two months. He thought the organization might still evaluate him, so he worked very hard during that period and was always at the forefront of everything.
As a result, at the beginning of last month, a deputy director was suddenly parachuted into the Guangming Subdistrict Office.
A female cadre in her forties, she had previously served as the women's director in other streets.
This time, the director and deputy director are all in place, and they have all been appointed recently. There will be no more cadre adjustments in a short period of time.
Liu Jinbao's expectations were dashed and he saw no hope of promotion. Lately, he has been like a deflated ball, unable to muster the energy to do anything.
Ye Manzhi glared at him and asked, "Are you going to be half-dead like this forever?"
"What else?"
"I've noticed you're a bit too utilitarian. You tried your best to become a regular cadre, and later a deputy director. But once the benefits are gone, you immediately slack off. If your superiors knew about this, who would be willing to promote you in the future?" Ye Manzhi advised, "Cheer up!"
Liu Jinbao tilted his head to look at her, eyes full of envy, and said, "If I had a high school diploma, I'd be taking the college entrance exam like you. Who would still be stuck in the neighborhood office?"
"It's a people's commune now." Ye Manzhi corrected.
"It's the same old story, just a different bottle."
"How can it be the same? Last July, the district wanted to make Guangming Street a pilot commune, but Old Zhang wasn't very willing," Ye Manzhi asked in a low voice. "Do you know why?"
"Why?"
"The subdistrict office only has a director and a deputy director, so the personnel structure isn't complicated. But after the commune is established, in addition to the secretary and the president, other committee members will also need to be recruited." Ye Manzhi asked him, "Has our commune not appointed other committee members yet?"
"No."
Ye Manzhi chuckled twice and ignored him.
After a while, Liu Jinbao's deflated spirit puffed up again, and he asked repeatedly, "Director Xiao Ye, do you think I can become a committee member?"
"I don't know. You look half dead, and it's a bit tough." Ye Manzhi said pickily, "If I were the leader, I wouldn't choose you."
She has a good relationship with Liu Jinbao and wants him to be stationed in Guangming Street for a long time.
If she was transferred to another unit just because of a disagreement like Zhuang Ting, who would she turn to for help in the future?
Ye Manzhi encouraged Cadre Xiao Liu and asked him to cheer up quickly. Then, Ye Manzhi was sent all the way from the street office to the doorstep of the cheered-up Cadre Xiao Liu.
Knowing that she went out specifically to eat popcorn, Liu Jinbao went to the supply and marketing cooperative at the door and bought two large pieces of rice candy and gave them to Director Ye.
Ye Manzhi took out two sour Guoguang apples and gave them to him as a return gift, and accepted the two pieces of rice candy with peace of mind.
However, perhaps it was a psychological effect. Although she had eaten the rice candy, she dreamed of popcorn again that night.
So at midnight, the sleeping Wu Zhengrong was woken up by his greedy wife.
"What's wrong?" He opened his eyes in the darkness and subconsciously reached out to touch her lower abdomen. "Are you feeling uncomfortable somewhere? Or do you need to go to the bathroom?"
"Wu Zhengrong, I want to eat popcorn!"
"What to eat?" He didn't hear clearly.
"Popcorn!" Ye Manzhi said in a loud voice. "I just had a dream. I dreamed that I was sitting in a bathtub and eating popcorn. I could eat as much as I wanted!"
Wu Zhengrong glanced out the dark window. Ye Lai Ya just wanted to eat some popcorn, not some delicacies from the mountains or the sea. It wasn't an outrageous request.
But it was the middle of the night and he really couldn't make popcorn.
"Are you hungry? How about I make you some milk powder?"
Ye Manzhi originally just wanted to eat some popcorn, but when she heard him mention milk powder, she immediately became unhappy.
"How dare you mention milk powder! I saved six bags of milk powder in the cupboard, and you gave away most of it while I was away!"
She counted the inventory a few days ago and found that there were only two bags of milk powder left.
"The taxi driver is your nephew, not a stranger."
Wu Zhengrong hugged the other person's child and made him cry, so he had to give some compensation.
Ye Manzhi thought cautiously that the four bags of milk powder had most likely gone into the stomachs of her third brother and his wife. Taxi drivers drink breast milk, not formula.
But she couldn't tell this to Wu Zhengrong, so she lay in his arms angrily without saying a word.
Wu Zhengrong thought she was hungry and coaxed her, "How about taking out your box of pastries? So you can fill your stomach first?"
“…”
"How about I cook you some rice noodles?" Wu Zhengrong added, "and maybe some dace with fermented black beans or canned luncheon meat."
Ye Manzhi swallowed his saliva but remained silent.
"Do you want to eat Eight Treasure Rice?" the man continued to coax her. "I see you have a can of Eight Treasure Rice hidden in your cupboard. I'll heat it up for you."
Ye Manzhi thought to herself that when she was away at school, this stinky man had found out all her secrets.
She pinched the bulge on the opposite chest in the dark, and only relaxed her grip when she heard the hissing sound of intake of breath, and rubbed it perfunctorily.
Wu Zhengrong held her hand and fell silent. Seeing that she was getting angrier the more he tried to appease her, he suddenly said, "Eat what you left in the cupboard first. I'll go to the supply and marketing cooperative tomorrow and buy you some new food."
Ye Manzhi thought to himself, this is pretty good.
"Then I want to eat eight-treasure rice and luncheon meat."
Wu Zhengrong nodded, got out of bed and heated up the eight-treasure rice pudding for her.
At around two o'clock in the middle of the night, Ye Manzhi slurped down a can of eight-treasure rice, half a can of luncheon meat, and also took out a box of pastries and ate a few egg yolk slices.
It was almost three o'clock when I finally washed up and lay down on the bed. Before falling asleep, I muttered, "I want to eat popcorn tomorrow."
"Well, go to sleep."
Ye Manzhi ate and drank enough the night before and slept until noon the next day.
The military academy is also on winter vacation. Wu Zhengrong doesn't have to see his tutor on weekends, so he is busy in the yard now.
The glass in the room was covered with frost, and Ye Manyzhi couldn't see clearly what he was doing.
When she walked into the yard wearing a cotton jacket, she found a black popcorn stove on the open space that had just been cleared of snow.
Seeing this, she immediately became excited.
"Where did you get that stove?"
"I borrowed it from Master Liu from the popcorn vendor. He's now a cook in the cafeteria, so he won't be setting up his stall before the Lunar New Year this year."
Seeing that she woke up, Wu Zhengrong lit the stove and sat in the yard shaking the popcorn machine.
"You really know how to make popcorn?" Ye Manyi asked as he leaned over.
"This is my first time doing this, and I only listened to Master Liu's brief description of the general process. Stand back and wait inside."
Ye Manzhi didn't move. He took the handle and shook it a few times himself.
"When the popcorn pops out later, will it scare Sunflower and the chicks?"
Wu Zhengrong glanced into the doghouse and said, "Take Kuihua inside."
However, even so, when the popcorn machine made a loud bang, his yard was still in chaos.
Sunflower was originally a doorbell, and after being frightened by the loud noise, it rang even more happily.
Neighbors also came out to investigate what was going on.
Before long, a group of children holding bowls and waiting for popcorn gathered at the entrance of Yard No. 16.
Ye Manzhi returned to the house with a bowl of popcorn and lay on the big bed laughing.
Kids these days don’t have many snacks, so popcorn is a common and delicious one.
Every winter, older children bring their younger children to line up at popcorn stands.
Master Liu didn’t set up his stall this year, and I wonder how many children he made cry.
This time, Master Liu left and Master Wu came!
Hahaha.
Ye Manzhi sat on the bed eating popcorn, listening to the noisy chatter outside. She could already imagine how ugly Wu Zhengrong's face was.
Wu Zhengrong made two pots of popcorn in his yard and gave a bowl to each of the children.
After discussing with Master Liu, we sent the machine to the neighborhood committee's convenience service station to prevent the children from crying out of greed, and asked them to send someone to set up a stall outside the compound to do business.
*
In 1959, Ye Manzhi had the New Year’s Eve dinner in the commune canteen.
This year, Wu Zhengrong's father and third uncle did not return to Binjiang. Only Grandpa Wu and Grandma Wu spent the New Year with the two young people.
Ye Manzhi's belly was almost six months old, but Wu Zhengrong didn't allow her to go shopping or prepare the New Year's Eve dinner.
It just so happened that the director of the neighborhood committee came to our house to mobilize everyone and invited all residents to go to the commune canteen to have a New Year’s Eve dinner and spend a reunion Spring Festival.
Wu Zhengrong agreed without hesitation.
The New Year’s Eve dinner organized by the neighborhood committee is similar to a party, and every household has to go on stage to perform a show for everyone.
Ye Manzhi always likes to join in the fun. She wants to sing a song "Ninety-nine Sunny Days" with Wu Zhengrong, but unfortunately Wu Zhengrong can't sing this kind of duet love song.
Regretfully, she could only go on stage alone. As the most artistic member of the family, she sang a song "The Sun Rising on the Prairie" on behalf of the Wu family.
After winning the applause, she also received a big red envelope from Grandma Wu.
"Xiaoye sings well and has a great stage presence. Next time we have an event like this, let Xiaoye represent our family!"
Ye Manzhi felt the thickness of the red envelope and estimated that there were at least ten yuan in it, so he nodded vigorously.
If she could get a big red envelope every time she went on stage, she would want to sing on stage every day.
Before going to bed at night, she was still counting the red envelopes she received that day.
Grandpa Wu and Grandma Wu each gave her 50 yuan as New Year's money, and she won another 10 yuan for performing on behalf of the whole family.
Before Wu Xiaogu left for her in-laws' house, she gave her five yuan as a New Year's gift.
Earn 115 yuan a day!
Seeing her fiddling with the red envelopes with great interest, Wu Zhengrong got out of bed and took out a red envelope from his coat pocket and gave it to her.
"This is your New Year's money."
"Your salary is all in the chest of drawers, where are you going to get the New Year's money for me?"
Their salaries were put together, so Wu Zhengrong giving her New Year's money was like transferring money from one hand to the other.
It's just a formality.
However, it is still worth praising that this person thought of giving her New Year's money!
Wu Zhengrong slapped the red envelope into her palm, "Royalty."
Upon hearing this, Ye Manzhi's eyes lit up instantly. He hurriedly opened the thin red envelope and took out a remittance slip from it.
She put the remittance slip under the lamp and read the amount written on it - 560 yuan!
Five hundred yuan was no small sum, but she was still puzzled: "Which book is this from? Why is it so little?"
She received over 700 yuan in royalties for publishing a fashion book.
Wu Zhengrong's books have quite a lot of words and are all practical reference books. Why is he only paid such a small amount of royalties for subsequent reprints?
"It seems the remuneration system has just been reformed. This year's remuneration isn't as high as before," Wu Zhengrong said uncertainly. "We'll just take whatever they offer."
"That's right, this money is a pleasant surprise. I thought the books we published were one-time deals, and we only published a fixed amount!"
She contentedly put away the remittance slip and red envelope, waiting to go to the post office with him to withdraw the money after the Spring Festival.
The large increase in family income made Ye Manzhi feel refreshed.
She was in a good mood and her appetite was much better than that of her fourth sister-in-law who was also pregnant.
By the time the second semester started, her belly had noticeably grown bigger.
Bian Queqiao came back from his hometown, and as soon as he saw her, he smiled and sighed, "After two months of not seeing you, you finally look like a pregnant woman."
"Hey, when we were on vacation, I was only four months pregnant, and now I'm six months!"
Bian Queqiao gave her a handful of large red dates he brought from his hometown and whispered, "Have you heard? It seems the two junior brothers have already been assigned."
"That's impossible?" Ye Manzhi asked in surprise, "They still have a year and a half before graduation, how can they decide so early?"
"They are the first graduating class of the Department of Industrial Economics. They performed very well in school, so some companies have already hired them."
"Which two were chosen?"
"Huang Zhiqiang and Ma Hongliang, one was the furnace master of the small blast furnace during steelmaking and also served as the financial director of the department's machinery factory, and the other was the director of our department's machinery factory."
Ye Manzhi frowned and said, "Our department's factory hasn't even started operations yet, and hasn't made any achievements yet. It's impossible that he was chosen just because he became the factory director. I heard that Ma Hongliang has very good grades and is always in the top three in his class."
"Grade is one thing, and being a factory manager is another," Bian Queqiao revealed. "It was his idea to send the third-year students to the internship factory as apprentices. He didn't even go home for the Lunar New Year this year; he was always there watching over the internship factory. And right after the Lunar New Year, our department's machinery factory reopened."
Ye Manzhi sighed: "No wonder he was chosen, he is really a ruthless person!"
"Well, they're in the Provincial Department of Industry, one for the Provincial Planning Commission, and the other for the Provincial Department of Industry. This whole thing has caused a huge uproar in the junior year. They were the first juniors in the school to have their jobs decided."
Hearing the names of these two big yamen, Ye Manzhi could only envy them.
Just sigh with your roommates for a while.
He is the first graduate of the Department of Industrial Economics and has performed very well. It is a blessing in disguise, and others cannot envy him.
She stayed in the dormitory for a while, and after receiving the notice, she organized her classmates to go to the office to collect textbooks and handouts.
She thought the first two days of school would go by smoothly as usual, but not long after she settled in, she was notified to go to the machinery factory for a talk.
If everyone is together, she will be notified directly to attend the meeting.
Using the word "conversation" means that she is the only person in the meeting.
When she strolled to the machinery factory office as required, several people from the factory management were there.
Chen Ying's expression was not very good, and she frowned as she nodded and greeted.
She is in charge of the production planning department, and if there is anything, she should communicate with Ye Manzhi first.
But this time Chen Ying didn't say anything. Another deputy factory director ignored her ugly expression and talked to Ye Manzhi.
"Student Ye Manzhi, I called you here today mainly to discuss your work. You're pregnant now, and our factory is new, so there's a lot to do, and the workload will be very intense. Would you like to put your work in the production planning department aside for now, and return to work after you have the baby and have more energy?"
Ye Manzhi: “…”
Is this an attempt to fire her?
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