Chapter 42 The Factory Manager Invites
"What are you waiting for me for?"

Li Zhiguo went to the table and there was a long line of people waiting behind him, but he didn't shout when he saw someone cutting in line.

Everyone else has resigned, so why are you still causing trouble?

"Bah, shameless!"

Jia Dongxu stood at the back of the line with his wife. He didn't have the courage to cut in line for fear of being beaten.

At this time, the accountant smiled and said, "Your two salaries have been calculated. You two have worked a total of 27 days, and the day you resigned is also counted, so you will have one extra day's salary..."

"Easy to say!"

Li Zhiguo had already calculated this number in advance. He planned to leave after getting the money, and not to be too high-profile.

"Hurry up and leave. Director Yang wants to see you. Please come to his office!"

"What does the factory manager want from me?"

Li Zhiguo was a little confused. Don't mention the position because he is already a street official.

"It's a good thing, go!"

The accountant didn't know how to explain it.

"Okay, it won't delay dinner."

Li Zhiguo held the money in his hand, turned around and said, "I'm sorry, buddy, what's your name? I'll treat you next time when I'm free."

"No, no need to treat!"

The worker Xiao Wang was shocked. Who wouldn’t be afraid of you treating us?

"Okay, I'll leave first."

Li Zhiguo waved to Jia Dongxu who was at the back of the team, and then walked away from the other side. Many workers in the aisle were leaning against the wall counting money, fearing that they would lose money if the amount was wrong.

After seeing the people leave, Jia Dongxu couldn't help but say loudly: "Li Zhiguo is so shameless. He collects wages for his wife. I am different. From now on, my wife will collect my wages."

The workers in the queue only then realized this situation and their expressions suddenly changed.

Are you proud of letting your wife get paid? Isn't that stupid?
Jia Dongxu had no self-awareness at all and finally made everyone envious.

……

Here, Li Zhiguo arrived at the factory director's office. It was his first time here.

I was just an ordinary worker before and had no chance to meet the factory manager directly.

"Tuk-tuk!"

"Director Yang, are you looking for me?"

Seeing that the door was not closed tightly, Li Zhiguo knocked twice and walked in.

"You came at the right time. There is good news."

Yang Tiegang stood up from his seat and led Li Zhiguo to sit on the chair next to him.

"It's like this. After discussion by the higher-ups, it has been decided to put the pencil sharpener you invented into use and to establish a branch pencil sharpener factory.

Director Bi has secured a reward of 100 yuan and a certificate of honor for you.

There is another good thing. Following the instruction of Director Bi, the factory has decided to make an exception for you and you can leave your post but not your job.

In other words, although you are no longer working, you are still an employee of the factory and have a workstation in the workshop. You can go to the car at any time to use tools and make some small inventions.

And we will count your years of service for you. If you take another year and a half off, when you return to the factory, it will be five years, and you can directly take the second-level worker assessment, and the factory will make special arrangements for you.”

After hearing this, Li Zhiguo was completely stunned. Isn't this equivalent to getting both social security and medical insurance?
Seniority is valuable. As long as the steel mill does not go bankrupt, his seniority will be counted and he can receive a pension when he turns 60.

Even if the factory closes down, the next employer must compensate those with seniority!
It just takes a little longer to wait, but it's better than nothing.

But I always feel that this is an attempt to trick him into coming back to work. The reward is still reliable, much better than that on the street, twice as much.

"Director, please convey my gratitude to Director Bi. If my health permits, I will return to work today."

His attitude should be sincere. The working class is glorious, jobs are scarce, and it is also the leader's intention.

"Okay! I'll give you the bonus and certificate right away, and the factory will commend you in a notice later..."

As Director Yang was speaking, the factory loudspeaker sounded.

"Good morning, fellow workers. Now I have a piece of good news to share.

Comrade Li Zhiguo, a first-level fitter in the second workshop of our factory, worked diligently and hard. He used his spare time during the New Year's Day holiday to invent the world's leading pencil sharpener.

After discussion with higher authorities, it has been decided to build a pencil sharpener factory this month and officially start production.

For this, Comrade Li Zhiguo was specially rewarded with 100 yuan, and Director Yang presented him with the bonus and certificate of honor.

Comrade Li Zhiguo did not forget production and construction after retiring due to illness. After research and decision by his superiors, Comrade Li Zhiguo's fitter position and workstation in the steel rolling mill were retained, and he could enter the workshop at any time to continue inventing.

And called on all workers to learn from Comrade Li Zhiguo and wish him a speedy recovery and return to work..."

The broadcast was read three times before it stopped, leaving all the workers in the factory confused.

Jia Dongxu had just reached the stairwell when he felt numb after hearing the broadcast.

In the cafeteria kitchen, Sha Zhu was holding a basin and almost sprained his waist. Is that kid Li Zhiguo so powerful?
In the Publicity Department of the office building, Xu Damao was outside the broadcasting room, with a numb and autistic look on his face.

In the second workshop, Yi Zhonghai was stunned for a moment and then continued working.

Even he couldn't replicate that pencil sharpener, so it was only right to give him a reward, except that the bad boy would be proud again.

"Qin Huairu, I never realized that Li Zhiguo is quite capable. What the hell is that pencil sharpener?"

A female worker came over to ask about it and said with a smile: "When Li Zhiguo returns to work in the workshop, your family will have two working people."

"Qin Huairu, you have good vision. It's a pity that you didn't choose Jia Dongxu, who is a coward.

Let me tell you, he actually let his wife collect his salary on his behalf, is he still a man?"

"There are so many workers in our factory, but Li Zhiguo is the only one who collects wages on behalf of his wife, but Jia Dongxu's family is the only one whose wife collects wages on behalf of her husband."

"Qin Huairu, can you let Li Zhiguo make a pencil sharpener for us to see and learn from."

The workers gathered around Qin Huairu and wanted to see it. If they could make something similar, they would be rich.

Seeing so many requests from co-workers, Qin Huairu had no choice but to say, "Then let my husband make a pencil sharpener later."

High-profile, this is too high-profile!
Li Zhiguo never expected that he would be praised in the notice. Wouldn't this let everyone know that he has both money and a job?

No, this money must be spent. My salary today is thirty-one yuan and fifty-two cents.

Adding the hundred yuan bonus, this amount is just a bit embarrassing. It’s almost enough to buy a sewing machine, and there’s not enough to buy a radio.

When he came out of the factory director's office with a confused look on his face, he quickly calmed down.

If I run out of money in the future, I can still come to the factory to get bonuses, which is no less than what I earn at work.

As for keeping these little inventions for your own use in the future, forget it. There will be plenty of opportunities to make money when the time comes.

As long as they stand in the right place, even a pig can take off.

"Li Zhiguo, you are here. Congratulations. You have made a fortune."

"Look, there's also a certificate of honor. It brings honor to our family."

The workers were so envious that their eyes turned red. It was an honor that they might never get even if they worked in the factory for their entire lives.

"elder brother!"

Qin Huairu shouted, this is her man, let others envy him.

"Well, I came to say hello and I'm going to go back."

He originally wanted to have lunch at the factory, but he didn't want to be too high-profile today and affect his young retirement life.

"Don't worry, Li Zhiguo, your wife has agreed to let you make a pencil sharpener so that we can learn from it." "Make one, the factory has called on us to learn from you."

The workers started to make a fuss, saying that Li Zhiguo had a big happy event today and they couldn't do anything about it.

Qin Huairu also said: "Brother, I agree to everything."

"Sure! It will only take a short while."

Li Zhiguo immediately handed the certificate to his wife, rolled up his sleeves, and found some small parts he needed. When he looked up, he found that he was already surrounded by people and Yi Zhonghai was still standing in front of him.

"Everyone, I'm sorry."

He was not at all nervous and simply made two sets, leaving one for his wife.

The grinding wheel was turning, and he held a piece of steel in each hand and started to grind the blade amidst the flying sparks.

The steel rolling mill has no shortage of scrap steel sheets, both thick and thin.

He took shape each small part in his hands, using a lot of tools, but he finished it in one go without repeated polishing and rarely used tools to measure sizes.

With the experience from last time, this time it was even faster. The workers were so scared that their scalps tingled. This technology was really amazing.

"Hey guys, what are you looking at?"

Jia Dongxu returned to the workshop in a depressed mood, because he had taken half a day off and did not work full time, so he only got 22 yuan and 7 cents.

His wife left him five dollars and took the rest.

He still had three days before his wedding and wanted to save them for a visit to his father-in-law.

I also followed Li Zhiguo's example and brought things home in large and small bags.

"Jia Dongxu, stop messing around, look at Li Zhiguo making a pencil sharpener."

A co-worker reminded them not to disturb everyone's studies, as they might get a reward.

Jia Dongxu's face suddenly turned ugly. Why was Li Zhiguo's affairs mentioned everywhere?

But when I thought of the hundred-dollar reward, I immediately squeezed into the crowd and wanted to learn it too.

But at this time Li Zhiguo had already processed the parts. He then sat on a stool and assembled the two sets of parts together. In a short while, he had made two pencil sharpeners, which looked much more exquisite than last time.

"Okay, one for my wife, and one for you to study.

I won’t do it anymore, so as not to affect the performance of the pencil sharpener factory.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Yi Zhonghai took the pencil sharpener and prepared a pencil. He tried it on the spot and it was just right, without any deviation.

This is simply incredible. Li Zhiguo's judgment of the size is so precise that even he feels inferior to him.

Qin Huairu also happily took the other one, but immediately lent it to the female workers to sharpen pencils.

"Well, it's alright, I'll leave first!
By the way, Huairu, I'll give you five dollars for food this month. Everyone is watching, so don't accuse me of mistreating my wife."

Li Zhiguo gave the money on the spot and planned to go back to He Daqing to borrow some money to buy a sewing machine. Sooner or later, he would have to get enough money to buy a sewing machine.

"Li Zhiguo doesn't even know how to give more to others. He already got a bonus of 100 yuan."

"It's not easy already. I only gave Qin Huairu three dollars before."

"By the way, Jia Dongxu, your wife gives you a certain amount of food allowance every month. It's all over, so don't eat cold steamed bread anymore."

Some workers brought up Jia Dongxu for comparison again. It was because Jia Dongxu's relationship with Li Zhiguo and Qin Huairu was too complicated. They were also from the same workshop, so it was difficult to avoid them.

"I also took five dollars, and my wife took more than seventeen dollars. I'm not like Li Zhiguo, who spent so much money on his own and was extravagant, and didn't know how to take care of the family at all!"

Jia Dongxu is very proud. He thinks he is better than Li Zhiguo anyway.

The workers shook their heads and said, you might as well learn from Li Zhiguo. At least you can get benefits and live a good life.

No one said anything and let Jia Dongxu brag about it, because they didn't necessarily have much living expenses every month and they had to hand them over when they got home.

"Dongxu, come here and learn how to make a pencil sharpener. Once you can make it, it won't be a problem for you to take exams in the future."

Yi Zhonghai disassembled the pencil sharpener, measured the sizes of its parts and recorded them, in order to teach his apprentice and improve his own skills at the same time.

"Uncle, I don't need it now!"

Jia Dongxu had a bitter face. He couldn't ask him to learn everything from Li Zhiguo. Couldn't he let others learn from him instead?

“You must learn it!”

Yi Zhonghai did not give people a chance to refuse. He took advantage of the fact that today was closed and there was not much work to do so.

"All right!"

Jia Dongxu was at a loss. He wanted to see what Li Zhiguo was capable of, but he was soon dumbfounded. These small parts were too difficult to make.

……

But Li Zhiguo left the steel rolling mill and was thinking about where to find He Daqing. He was busy riding a tricycle every day and sometimes he was nowhere to be seen at night.

But today was his day to borrow money. As soon as he got to the street, he saw He Daqing riding a tricycle from the intersection in front. He was probably going back to the hospital to eat and change shifts.

"Uncle He, what a coincidence!"

"Don't call me uncle, I feel like something bad is going to happen when you open your mouth!"

He Daqing braked the car. Business was good today, Saturday, and he earned a little over one yuan, which brought him one step closer to getting married.

"It's a good thing, of course it's a good thing. I'm going to buy a sewing machine."

Li Zhiguo stepped forward and handed him a cigarette.

He Daqing lit it up immediately and wanted to take a break. Riding a tricycle is free, but it consumes energy.

"Where did you get the money to buy a sewing machine?"

"Oh, I got my salary today, and the factory also gave me a hundred as a reward. You can lend me fifty, that's enough."

He had to spend the money, otherwise he would become the wealthy family in the compound and how could he look around.

"No, how did you get the reward? It's still a hundred?"

He Daqing was confused. You have already resigned.

"You are underestimating me. See? This is a certificate of honor."

Li Zhiguo handed over the certificate. What was written on it was simple, but the most important thing was the mention of a bonus of one hundred yuan.

After He Daqing saw it, he was completely numb.

"No, you have the talent to invent something. You made a pencil sharpener and earned a hundred dollars?"

"Uncle He, I'm very capable. Lend me fifty and I'll pay you back in a few months. You won't be able to get married for a while anyway, and your family fortune will just gather dust."

There is something wrong with what he said. There is not enough space to live in Old He's house. If he wants to get out of being single, he either has to run away with the widow or save money to buy a house.

"I lent you fifty, but I always feel like I'm at a big disadvantage."

He Daqing could still come up with fifty, but he was reluctant to do so.

He had been in the hospital for forty years and had never lent money to anyone, but he made an exception last time when he held a wedding banquet.

"Well, when you hold the wedding banquet, I will help you arrange it. Everyone in the hospital will have to give gifts, no one can escape. Can I borrow this?"

Li Zhiguo immediately grasped the person's weak spot.

He Daqing said a little embarrassedly: "I'm looking for a wife. Even if it's my second marriage, it won't be easy to hold a wedding banquet!"

"What's wrong with a second marriage? True love is priceless!

Yu Shui is still so young, he still needs a stepmother. Sha Zhu is only eighteen, he must want a mother to take care of him!
Besides, Lao Cai also wants to have a sister-in-law at home!"

(End of this chapter)