The production line was smoothly set up, with the sound of roaring machines, a vat of fish bones and fish liver was poured into the huge sealed tank, pressed, atomized, crystallized. When the Roche technician announced that the crystallization test met the production standards, a thunderous applause broke out in the factory.
“Our local government must do a good job in enterprise service. Serve the people and contribute to economic development.” Qiu Zhengye said loudly.
“Our officers and staff should be disciplined and work hard. Don’t step in when you shouldn’t, and don’t shirk when you do something.” Speaking of this, he glanced at a group of officials from the southern part of the country with a warning in his gaze.
The officials were silent, and some of those who had thoughts that they shouldn’t have had, also put away their foolish thoughts.
Roche’s first pharmaceutical factory was announced to be completed in Qinghe Town in the Shenzhen region of Guangdong Province, which meant that Roche entered the Chinese market 10 years earlier than in Li Zheng’s previous life.
The sound of firecrackers at the completion ceremony let the whole town know about the completion of the factory. Some families with unemployed young people at home felt their minds open.
The Qinghe Town Guest House was a notoriously idle job, and those who could enter this place had connections.
“isn’t the Vice Captain of the production team the brother-in-law of accountant Xu? I heard that his boat was detained?” When Lu Zheng came in, he heard the murmur of the aunt at the front desk, and his steps slowed down subconsciously.
“It was a week ago, yet you’re just finding out. He was caught with a false report of the harvest. When Li Qiang died, Yang Sheng talked about the interests of the production team and the masses every day for the sake of Li’s boat. Now, he has hit himself in the face. False reporting of the harvest and handing less over to the production team has only been done once or twice.”
“Wang Aijuan said that he doesn’t care about losing his position as the production team’s vice captain. She said he’ll go to the Shenzhen factory to become a leader!”
“Shenzhen factory? That isn’t easy. Our family also wanted to help our nephew to get a position. But after a few months of trying, we didn’t hear a sound, before hearing the sound of firecrackers, we didn’t even know it had been completed.”
“In the end, it’s a foreigner’s factory. We Chinese don’t have any say.”
There were echoes of agreement all around.
“Li Zheng, you’re back.” Someone looked up and saw Li Zheng, “Are you hungry? Auntie will get you something from the kitchen.”
Li Zheng smiled and thanked her.
Watching Li Zheng’s back disappear at the stairway, a middle-aged woman couldn’t help but speak up, “If the Li boy asks for it, it shouldn’t be hard to get one spot in Shenzhen Factory.”
After Li Zheng returned to his room, he asked the legal staff accompanying Roche to draw up a gift agreement.
When he left Qinghe Town last time, he left a lease agreement for the Zheng family, but now it seemed that he wasn’t going to return to Qinghe Town, the lease didn’t make much sense anymore.
After Li Qiang died, most of his things were taken care of by the Zheng family, it was time to return this favor.
Li Zheng took the proposed gift agreement and left.
It was already one o’clock in the afternoon, but when Li Zheng got there, the Zheng family were still eating.
When Zheng Xiaojun saw Li Zheng, he stood up happily, “Ah Zheng, you’re here. Come, come, we’ve saved you dinner!” He trotted to the kitchen to get the dishes.
“I told my mom yesterday that you were coming today, and she insisted on waiting for you to eat together. My dad and I were too hungry.” Zheng Xiaojun said with a smile, making Mother Zheng glare at him.
Father Zheng was also there.
Father Zheng had the typical image of a fisherman. He wasn’t tall, his skin had been blown by the sea breeze for years, he looked a bit dark, and had thick eyebrows and big eyes, his smile was very wide.
He took a cloth and wiped the stool next to him, “Xiao Zheng, sit!”
Li Zheng politely thanked him and sat down on the stool.
Father Zheng and his wife looked at Li Zheng with a somewhat complicated gaze, although Mother Zheng had long felt that the boy would be successful, it was obvious that Li Zheng’s level of success had exceeded their imagination.
“Good! Good boy! If your father was ……” Father Zheng’s voice turned solemn.
Mother Zheng served the rice and placed it in front of Li Zheng, “Eat, eat, eat.” She glared at her husband, secretly blaming him for mentioning that on such an occasion.
Father Zheng shook his head and drank a glass of white wine.
After the meal, Father Zheng had to go deal with the production team’s affairs, and as soon as he went out, Zheng Xiaojun became lively.
“Li Zheng, do you know about Yang Sheng?” He sat next to Li Zheng, “If Wang Aiguo didn’t have connected, Yang Sheng would have lost his spot as the vice captain. I heard that he’s going to be a leader of Shenzhen Factory, I hope it isn’t true!”
Zheng Xiaojun looked nervously at Li Zheng, Father Zheng and Yang Sheng both worked in the production team, a captain and vice captain, the town people would inevitably compare the two families. So even without the Li family, the relationship between the two families was still very delicate.
For example, Zheng Xiaojun wasn’t willing to see Yang Sheng have a better development.
Li Zheng’s eyes narrowed slightly, “Yang Sheng? There is no place for him in Roche’s Pharmaceutical Factory.” He said this without a trace of hesitation, today’s Li Zheng definitely had the courage.
Even if Yang Sheng has already become the leader of the factory, with Li Zheng’s current influence on Roche, a word could remove him, not to mention, Yang Sheng hadn’t been hired yet.
After getting Lu Zheng’s assurance, Zheng Xiaojun became happier, “This kind of person, if he becomes the leader of Shenzhen factory, it’ll be a disgrace to our foreign friends. It wouldn’t be good for our country.” He looked like he was seriously considering the country, which caused Li Zheng to smile.
Mother Zheng, who had finished washing the dishes, heard the conversation between her son and Li Zheng, “Yang Sheng isn’t really capable of getting it, but Wang Aijuan’s brother is the county leader. The leader has a quota, it is considered customary.”
In the eyes of Mother Zheng’s, Wang Aiguo was already at the top, if he spared no effort to help his brother-in-law, it wouldn’t be easy.
“Mom, the Shenzhen Pharmaceutical Factory is a foreigner’s factory, everyone knows that our Chinese officials don’t count. And ……” Zheng Xiaojun looked a little smug, “You mustn’t forget that the Wang family still has a son!”
“Will Wang Aiguo ignore his own son and get a leadership position for his brother-in-law?”
Mother Zheng moved a chair to sit in front of the two, “The Wang family’s boy moves around a lot. He doesn’t like to live in the compound, so he stays in his mother’s guest house every day. Speaking of which, that small He Xiaohe, always followed him around.”
Li Zheng’s movement froze.
“Xiao He followed Wang Chengcai?” His eyes narrowed slightly.
“Wang Chengcai’s father is the leader, his mother is the accountant in the guest house, the waiters who work there all worship the young master, Xiao He was also one of them.”
Then it all made sense, after the Zhou Deqing incident, Li Zheng wanted to find evidence of Yang Kaijian’s murder. During his investigation, he discovered that Yang Kaijian was also in the guest house the day he was framed for stealing David’s cufflinks.
Then he presumed that Yang Kaijian was angry with him for causing him to be expelled from school, so he asked Xiao He to frame him for stealing a foreigner’s belongings. It’s just that he didn’t expect Li Zheng to get David to change his mind, making the set-up unsuccessful, and Xiao He was expelled from the guest house.
Xiao He was fired, so naturally, he went to the culprit, Yang Kaijian, to ask for an explanation, only for them to fight in the woods, filled with rage, Yang Kaijian accidentally k!lled him.
Li Zheng’s speculation was reasonable, but he hadn’t been able to understand something. How did Yang Kaijian persuade Xiao He to frame him, it wasn’t a joking matter, Qiu Zhengye and many of the officials in the Shennan area were there, if it went bad, it would have been over for Xiao He.
And in Li Zheng’s investigation, although Yang Kaijian and Xiao He lived together in Qinghe Town, they had few interactions. If, in the middle, there was Wang Chengcai, then everything suddenly made sense.
Li Zheng’s hands fiddled with the five-star watch, as the metal slid against his wrist, a circle of red marks appeared on it.
“I remember that the Wang family boy’s grades are good, and he is one of the best in the county. He still has a good chance of getting into college.” The topic of conversation among middle-aged women was who’s husband was working well and who’s son was doing well in school.
Accountant Xu’s son had good grades, which was well-known in Qinghe town.
“There are more people who failed the college entrance examination, and college students don’t necessarily have high salaries in Shenzhen factories. The factory director of that cannery isn’t a college student, but his position isn’t as high as the Shenzhen Pharmaceutical Factory’s director.” Zheng Xiaodong said.
His idea, was also the idea of many people in Qinghe Town and even Yantian County.
In the eighties, information was private. Parents in Qinghe Town knew that college entrance exams were important, but they hadn’t experienced them and only had a vague idea of what role they played in one’s fate.
Their eyes restricted their thinking, and their narrow frame was destined to make them unable to see the wide world outside.
“That’s true, what’s in front of you is real.” Mother Zheng nodded in agreement to her son’s words.
Li Zheng opened his mouth, but in the end, he didn’t say anything.
He took out the gift agreement and handed it to Zheng Xiaodong.
“This …… this this.” Zheng Xiaodong looked a bit overwhelmed when he read the contents on it, and he looked at his mother for help.
Mother Zheng also sucked in a breath of cold air, “Xiao Zheng ah, I know you’re successful now, but this boat is just fine for us to rent, we won’t accept this gift.”
Mother Zheng didn’t give Li Zheng a chance to speak, she picked up the agreement and tore it.
“We have our principles of being a human being, although we have been in the town all our lives and haven’t made much progress. But auntie understands the principles of being a human being, for that lease agreement, we took advantage of you.”
Li Zheng was obviously startled, he didn’t expect the Zheng family to have this reaction, he was surprised and at the same time, a trace of respect rose in his heart.
“Auntie, it’s my fault.” He said solemnly.
Mother Zheng smiled and waved her hand, “What are you talking about?”
Li Zheng sat in the Zheng’s family house for a while longer, he didn’t forget to tell them that he’d rarely have the opportunity to return in the future. Mother Zheng sighed while promising Li Zheng to look after Li Qiang’s grave site and take care of the Qingming festival for him.
Li Zheng bowed deeply to Mother Zheng before saying goodbye and leaving.
When he returned to the guest house, the first thing he did was to speak to David about Wang Chengcai.
“There is a man named Wang Chengcai, save a place for him at the Shenzhen Factory.” Li Zheng continued after a pause, “The location shouldn’t be too good.”
The Shenzhen Factory and the college entrance exam, Li Zheng revealed a cold smile, he hoped he wouldn’t regret it later.
ty