Feng Yu almost dropped his handphone. What? That leader is coming to visit our Machinery Company? He confirmed this news with Li Mingde again and immediately drove to the airport. On his way, he called Tian Lei to help him apply leave from the school. By the time he reaches Bing City, it was already midnight. Li Mingde had come over to the airport to fetch him. Li Mingde’s eyes were bloodshot. Although Li Mingde was very tired, Feng Yu could tell that he was very excited!
“Old Li, why is this so sudden? You know why is that Leader visiting our company? What does he want to see?”
“I was also informed by the City Government. It seems that this was the Leader’s sudden decision. There are no details. I had asked the night shift workers to clean up the place. Tomorrow, the production will carry on as usual, and we must show the Leader our company’s spirit!”
Stop production because of the Leader’s visit? Only fools will do that! This Leader likes to see his people working hard.
Li Mingde discussed with Feng Yu if they should arrange for Wu Zhigang to put up a show of him making orders in front of the Leader. This was to show the Leader how popular their products were.
Feng Yu thought for a minute and shook his head. Tai Hua Trading was the main distributor for the motorcycles and vehicles. Feng Yu was still thinking of telling the Leader about his difficulties of selling these products. As for the agriculture machines, it had nothing to do with Tai Hua Trading. There was no need to put up a show for the Leader.
Feng Yu still said that they should not have any welcoming ceremony. Only a few management staffs will welcome the leader. Also, don’t roll out the red carpet. The Leader does not like such things.
The company can hang a few banners. But the slogans on the banners must not be those “Work hard to be the first” type of old-school slogans. If we were going to hang banners, then our slogans must be something related to us.
Like “Technology is the number one productivity”, “Breaking the barriers, embrace creativity” and “Keep both feet on the ground and not chase fame; Be fair and honest for a good reputation”.
All these banners should be placed at suitable locations in the factory. Don’t hang outside the factory.
Feng Yu arrived at the Machinery Company. It had been snowing for the past two days, and the courtyard was brightly lit. A few people were clearing the snow. Actually, Feng Yu felt that there was no need to remove the snow. But since they had already cleared almost half the courtyard, it would look weird if they were to stop now.
“Can Manager Fu come tomorrow?”
“Yes. I had informed Manager Fu this afternoon. He said that he will surely be here on time. We will be meeting the ‘Chief Architect.’ Even if Manager Fu is from Hong Kong, he must also feel honored to get to meet this great leader.”
Feng Yu nodded. This was true. The Chief Architect had greater influence and reputation in Hong Kong than the Founding Father.
“Manager Feng, are we going to light firecrackers tomorrow?” Li Mingde asked.
Feng Yu stared at him: “There will be smoke everywhere, and it will be troublesome to clean up. Are all the data and figures ready?”
“We have prepared everything. You can take a look first. I had memorized everything.” Li Mingde pointed to his head.
Although Feng Yu felt that Li Mingde had many shortcomings, Li Mingde could manage the company well and kept everything under his control. Feng Yu was impressed with his ability.
“Good. You should rest early too. If you appear listless and tired in front of the Leader, it will affect our company’s image. Don’t you have a deputy that is on duty?”
“Deputy Manager Zhao went to the Automobile branch factory. He thinks that the Leader will surely visit the automobile factory.”
Feng Yu waved his hand and ask Li Mingde to go rest. Feng Yu will just rest in the office. He still needs to memorize all the company’s information and data/
Early in the morning, Feng Yu’s sleep was disturbed by someone knocking on his door. He looked at his watch, and it was 6 am.
Damn. Even if the Chief Architect was coming, he should not be coming over so early in the morning. No matter what, he will still need to have a meeting at the Provincial Government and then come over in the afternoon.
Feng Yu opened the door, and it was Fu Guangzheng with messy hair.
“Brother Feng, how come you can still sleep?”
“You are here? After you mention this, I really feel a bit hungry. Then let’s have some breakfast and continue to sleep after that.” Feng Yu rubbed his eyes and yawned.
Fu Guangzheng: “……” Why was Feng Yu so relaxed? Did I come here to ask you for breakfast?
But after breakfast, Feng Yu did not have the chance to go back to sleep. Li Mingde had found out that the private plane had landed in Bing City at 7 am. The City Government had called to ask the Machinery Company to be on standby.
Since Feng Yu could not go back to sleep, he went to the production area. The main factory production area was manufacturing agriculture machinery, and Feng Yu was not familiar with these. He only looked for the supervisor and reminded him that his priority today was safety. There can be absolutely no accidents today!
Even when the workers see the Leader, they should ignore him and carry on with their work. If the workers were too excited to carry on with their duties, then stop the production temporary to prevent any accidents from happening!
The Leader’s mood would be dampened if there were any accidents during his visit. He will not have a good impression of the company and might even think that the managers had ignored the safety of the workers!
At 9.30 am, Li Mingde’s secretary came rushing into Feng Yu’s office and shouted to the people inside: “They are on the way and will arrive in 20 minutes!”
“Li Mingde jumped up from the sofa and said: “Inform the security to be alert and check if the company is clean. Have you informed the branch factory and the rest of the supervisors? Tell them to be ready!”
“I have arranged people to inform them.:” The secretary replied.
“Old Li, why are you so nervous? Sit down.” Feng Yu said calmly, but his hand which was holding the teacup was shaking.
This was the Chief Architect. Feng Yu had only seen him on TV in his previous life. This time, he could finally meet him, and maybe he might even get the chance to shake his hand.
After a while, all of them went to the entrance to welcome the convoy.
They did not wait for too long and saw a car stopping at the entrance. A man alighted from the vehicle and told them to wait for a while. In a few minutes, dozens of vehicles entered the factory area, and one of the vehicles stopped at the entrance of the office building. The driver alighted and opened the rear passenger door. The person who alighted from the vehicle was the Chief Architect.
The other person who alighted from the other side was the Provincial Governor. Two people also alighted from the second car. Feng Yu opened his eyes wide. Iron-fist Zhu was also here?
Oh yes, Iron-fist Zhu should be the Vice-Premier of the State Council and was also in charge of China’s overall production, finance and trade ministries.
Someone started clapping, and Feng Yu also followed.
The Chief Architect stretch out his arm: “You must be the major shareholder of this Machinery Company, Feng Yu, right?”
Feng Yu immediately stretch out both his hands to shake his hand. The Chief Architect had a firm grip. Feng Yu never expect the Chief Architect to know his name!
“Good morning Leader! Please call me Xiao Feng.”
“Hahahaha, Xiao Feng, you have done well. All of you have done well!” The Chief Architect patted Feng Yu’s shoulder. Feng Yu was overjoyed. The Chief Architect had praised him and even patted his shoulder!
“Stop standing here. Let’s go for a walk in your factory. We can talk while walking.”
Li Mingde immediately rushes forward to show the way and show his presence at the same time: “Leader, this way please.”
Translator’s notes: The image of North Korea’s Kim Jong Un visiting the factory came to my mind when I was translating this chapter. I can imagine Feng Yu, Li Mingde and the rest of the managers smiling like idiots while following the Leaders around the factory. Lol. It should look something like the picture in the link below.
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/kim-jong-un-visits-cosmetics-factory-in-special-economic-zone-near-border-with-china
Here is some info about China’s top leaders taken from Wikipedia:
Chairman Mao, Mao Zedong, was also known as the Founding Father of the People’s Republic of China.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mao_Zedong
Deng Xiaoping was also known as the “Chief Architect” as he was the one who was behind China’s reform.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deng_Xiaoping
Zhu Rongji was also known as “Iron-fist Zhu” because of his stand against corruption in the government agencies.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhu_Rongji