At noon that day, Liu Ziguang suddenly received a call from home, telling him to come back quickly. A distinguished guest was coming to the house. Liu Ziguang immediately drove home, went upstairs and opened the door. He saw a five-year-old sitting on the sofa in the living room.
A middle-aged man of about ten years old, wearing green military trousers and a black jacket, with a vaguely familiar face...
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Dad was sitting aside to accompany the guests. There were ashtrays, cigarette cases, fruit plates and other items on the coffee table. The sound of frying and frying came from the kitchen, and the aroma of the dishes wafted out, making people excited. The dad saw his son
He came back, stood up and said, "Xiaoguang, do you think who is here?"
The guest also stood up. He was quite tall and tall, and his voice sounded like a bell: "This is Xiaoguang. I haven't seen you for many years and you are now an adult, haha."
Liu Ziguang suddenly understood and said, "Are you Uncle Ming?"
"Yes, it's your uncle Ming who has changed his job and came back to our house to see your father first." Mom came out with a plate of dishes and said with a smile.
Liu Ziguang remembered. This uncle's name was Lu Tianming. He was originally from Northeast China and came from a military family. His father was the director of Chenguang Machinery Factory in the 1970s. In the early 1980s, Lu Tianming graduated from high school and entered the Chenguang Factory.
When he was a worker and worked in the same workshop as his father, he had a master-student relationship. Later, Lu Tianming joined the army and it took decades. Unexpectedly, we met again now.
"Hello, Uncle Ming, sit down quickly." Liu Ziguang shook hands with Lu Tianming enthusiastically, asked him to sit down, and took out an unopened soft Chinese from his bag for him to smoke.
"It's a good cigarette, Xiao Guang is doing well." Lu Tianming deftly took a puff of the cigarette and lit it himself.
"No way, just fooling around." Liu Ziguang said modestly.
"How can you get a representative by fooling around? I heard that there are hundreds of people eating with you now. You are promising. You are worthy of being a son of our Chenguang Factory."
Liu Ziguang looked at his father. His father looked proud. It was obvious that the topic just now was about himself.
"Uncle Ming, tell me about you. Which unit have you been assigned to after your transfer?" Liu Ziguang asked.
"I'm going wherever I come from. I joined the army from our factory. I have to return to the factory after I change my job. It has been decided that I will report to Chenguang Machinery Factory tomorrow as the director and secretary of the factory." Lu Tianming smiled.
explain.
Liu Ziguang also smiled politely, but there was a murmur in his heart. Jiangbei City Chenguang Machinery Factory used to be a military factory belonging to the General Logistics Department. Later, the military was transferred to civilian areas and was transferred to the local government. However, the level was still very high, equivalent to deputy director.
Municipal-level units, but this kind of deputy municipal-level factory director is like a candidate in the former Qing capital city, unable to get on the stage at all.
"Ahem, which army did Uncle Ming transfer from? It is said that officers of your level can transfer to government agencies, so why did you choose an enterprise?" Liu Ziguang asked.
Lu Tianming took a puff of cigarette and said with emotion: "The hardest-working soldier, the engineer, can't even climb up after reaching the deputy division level. It's better to go back to the local area and show off his talents. I was born in Chenguang Factory.
I grew up and joined the army in Chenguang Factory. If I don’t come back here, where else can I go?”
"Okay, okay, stop talking and let's eat." My mother put all the dishes on the table and invited the three men to eat. My father also specially took out the Maotai wine that was given to him during the Chinese New Year, and everyone sat together.
As we talked over wine, the more we talked about it, the more we felt sad. The once glorious Chenguang Factory had fallen into this state. A large number of workers were laid off. The factory could only make a living by selling land, equipment, and renting out factory buildings. Although it was not bankrupt yet, it was in dire straits.
Not long ago, the director and secretary of Chenguang Factory was arrested by the procuratorate for embezzling resettlement funds for laid-off workers. As soon as this news came out, people in the factory were even more panicked. Old workers like Liu Ziguang’s father were the most precious people in their lives.
They spent all their years in Chenguang Factory, where their memories and youth are condensed. Seeing the factory collapse like this, who can’t help but shed tears.
As a member of the generation who grew up in the factory, Lu Tianming has a deep affection for the Chenguang Factory, so he gave up the generous resettlement conditions and actively asked to transfer to the Chenguang Factory. Today, the Chenguang Factory is an abandoned old state-owned enterprise in the city.
No one wants to wade into this muddy water, and it would be best if someone becomes a fool, so Lu Tianming, who is at the deputy division level, naturally becomes the new director and secretary of Chenguang Factory.
After talking about things in the factory for a while, everyone felt a little depressed. My mother changed the topic and said, "Xiao Lu, how old is your child this year? Is he married?"
Lu Tianming said: "Twenty is almost too late. I don't want to give in. I think I won't be able to wait until the day I hold my grandson."
Dad said: "My family is not the same. It is useless to say that people are not married even after they are thirty years old. Young people today are really not as good as we were back then."
Lu Tianming said: "Xiao Guang is a career person. It's better to get married later so as not to be burdened by the family. I am also a young man, otherwise our two families can still be a family of sons and daughters."
After everyone laughed and had a good meal, Lu Tianming suggested going to the factory to have a look. His father was the first to respond. Seeing their interest, Liu Ziguang also happily expressed his willingness to accompany them.
Quan Dang took a walk after dinner. Liu Ziguang and his son walked with Lu Tianming all the way to the gate of Chenguang Machinery Factory. This gate was built in the early 1990s. The mosaics on it have peeled off, revealing the gray cement background inside. On the gate
There are also four faded red papers attached, with the four characters "Happy New Year's Day" written on them.
In the communication room, several men were playing cards. The door was open and no one asked. Anyone could enter. The factory area was overgrown with thatch, the tall workshop was covered with dead vines, the glass was broken, and the door was locked. It looked like a decaying scene.
There are also some workshops that are in full swing of production, but they are all contracted workshops. The Chenguang Factory along the street has been built as facade rooms for rent. Workshops with relatively new equipment have also been contracted out to produce some iron fences, security doors and the like.
Low-level products.
There is even a waste collection department set up in the factory. The garbage is everywhere and the stench is high. Beer bottles, cardboard boxes, plastic sheets and old iron sheets are thrown all over the floor. There are also a bunch of manhole covers thrown there, and there are a few sly people.
The guy is bargaining with the boss of the acquisition department.
Lu Tianming's face became increasingly gloomy and he walked directly towards the factory.
The factory headquarters is in a gray complex building. There are several Jettas and pickup trucks parked in the parking lot downstairs. Lu Tianming put his hands behind his back and pouted at the factory headquarters building: "Let's go and take a look inside."
The corridor of the factory building is very dark, with moldy and peeling walls and an old smell. The corridor has a terrazzo floor. The office doors are all old-fashioned wooden doors with wooden signs nailed on them, such as the Debt Clearance Office, the Resettlement Office, and the Women's Federation.
The Youth League Committee, the Family Planning Office, the Security Department, the Production Department, and the Quality Inspection Department are all in place, but most of the office doors are closed.
Lu Tianming walked to one of the open offices and saw a few men sitting inside, concentrating on operating in front of the computer. He felt a little relieved when he suddenly heard one of them slap his thigh and shout: "Damn it.
, in the time it took to go to the toilet, all the food was stolen!”
Lu Tianming shook his head and went up to the second floor. There were a few retired workers standing at the door of the finance office, seemingly here to reimburse medical expenses or something, but the iron door was closed tightly, and there was a note on it that said "Go to work at three o'clock."
There is no reason to go to work at three o'clock. Lu Tianming went straight over and knocked on the iron door of the financial room. After passing the boss meeting, an old lady came over and opened the door, rubbing her sleepy eyes, and cursed angrily: "
Knock, knock, knock, knock your mother on the head, and she won’t let anyone take a nap.”
Lu Tianming said seriously: "Who stipulates that you go to work at three o'clock? Don't you know there are so many retired workers outside waiting for reimbursement?"
The old lady glanced at him sideways and asked disdainfully: "Which unit are you from?"
Lu Tianming said: "You don't have an employer, please answer my questions."
The old lady sneered: "I thought I was the new factory director, but it turns out he is an idle old man who squats wherever it is cool. This is a financial center. If you cause trouble again, I will call the security department."
Lu Tianming said nothing more and turned to go downstairs. He met a group of department cadres going upstairs. Their faces were all red from drinking, their clothes were open, and they were carrying chess boxes and teacups. They were probably going up to play chess and rest.
When he came downstairs, Lu Tianming let out a long sigh, looked ugly, and said to Liu's father: "Master, I didn't expect the factory to become like this. Is this still the Chenguang Machinery Factory we had at that time?"
Dad said: "Xiao Lu, the factory has been like this for many years. I can't blame them if they live or die. The factory directors have been replaced one after another. They only know how to make money in their own pockets. Who cares about the lives of the workers?"
It's a pity for the old workers in our factory who have special skills. I heard that senior welders can earn more than 8,000 yuan a month in factories in the south. But in our factory, they can only live on subsistence allowances and relief. What do you think?
What's the matter?"
After hearing these words, Lu Tianming's eyes suddenly lit up and he said, "Our factory can't die! Everything is important now, talents!"
…
The next day, the new director of the factory, Piao Tianwen, did not take any serious actions.
In this way, the department cadres felt relieved and resumed their old life, arriving late and leaving early every day, with too many people to work with. Anyway, that was the situation in the factory. Apart from collecting rent and reimbursing for medical and labor insurance, there really was no other work to do.
Lu Tianming didn't even deal with the old lady in the finance office who dared to contradict him. He was like a very kind and good old man, never touching anyone's interests and just being an idle factory manager who didn't care about anything.
A week later, Lu Tianming came to Liu Ziguang's house again and had a long chat with his master. Until Liu Ziguang came home at ten o'clock in the night, Lu Tianming was still sitting in the living room with an ashtray on the coffee table.
Cigarette butts have piled up like a mountain.
The room was filled with smoke, but the expressions on the faces of the two fathers were very focused. Liu Ziguang joked: "Uncle Ming, are you going to visit the thatched cottage to invite my dad out?"
Lu Tianming smiled and said, "Boy, you guessed it right. Your father has promised me to re-employ me as the workshop director of the first workshop."
Liu Ziguang looked at his father, who nodded extremely seriously.
"Where is the first workshop in our factory? It's all rented out. I even rented one to let Deng Yunfeng produce some simple machinery and equipment. The business is pretty good. By the way, Uncle Ming, aren't you going to
Will all these rented workshops be taken back?" Liu Ziguang asked.
"It's not one-size-fits-all. I've read all those contracts. Some are for normal rental, and some are simply given away for free. A large workshop of thousands of square meters is rented out for only 5,000 yuan a year. This is simply dereliction of duty! In a word
So, from now on, Chenguang Factory will get on the right track. This is a big project, and it is not enough for me alone. It must rely on the concerted efforts of the young and old men in our factory."
Lu Tianming's eyes shone with determination, and his fingers holding the cigarette remained motionless, as if he was immersed in longing for the future.
Immediately he smiled again, stood up and said, "It's getting late. I'll leave first. I'll go to Red Star Company to talk to you about something tomorrow. Don't send me away."
Dad still insisted on sending Lu Tianming out of the community. After he came back, Liu Ziguang asked him: "Dad, it's not enough for you to have worked in class all your life. Do you really want to help Lu Tianming clean up this mess?"
Dad sighed: "These days, there are not many people who can stick to their own beliefs. Let me help them on this one!"