Director Zhao, who was in the middle of a meal, heard the provincial director's secretary call for him. He immediately dropped his chopsticks and rushed over to the Provincial Industrial Bureau.
"Wait here for my good news!"
'Finally, it's my turn to go pound on my boss's desk!'
In the office of the Director of the Provincial Industrial Bureau, Director Wang was holding a screw, a hidden excitement in his eyes.
He kept glancing toward the door.
"Has Director Zhao not arrived yet?" Having looked several times without seeing the person he was waiting for, Director Wang couldn't help but call out to the people outside his office.
The person outside shook their head. "Not yet... Oh, Director, Director Zhao is here now!"
Hearing this, Director Wang immediately put down the screw, suppressed the excitement in his eyes and his heart, and adopted a serious expression as he sat back in his chair.
The first thing Director Zhao saw upon entering was Director Wang's stern facade.
A half-full bag of titanium alloy screws sat on Director Wang's desk. The moment Director Zhao saw them, he knew Director Wang was deliberately trying to intimidate him.
"Director, you were looking for me?" Director Zhao walked up to the desk, pulled out the chair opposite, and sat down across from Director Wang, clutching his briefcase.
Director Wang gave a curt nod.
"So, tell me. Who made this bag of screws?" From Director Zhao's comments during yesterday's meeting, Director Wang had already understood.
This bag of screws was connected to the person with a questionable background whom Director Zhao wanted to promote.
Director Zhao didn't answer directly. Instead, he took out the files on Xie Changning that Wang Lisheng had prepared and laid them out before Director Wang. "Perhaps you'd like to look at these two documents first?"
Director Wang frowned at his words.
Director Zhao was quite shrewd. While preparing the night before, he had deliberately highlighted Xie Changning's academic major in bold red pen so it would immediately catch Director Wang's eye.
Director Wang was speechless. 'You sly dog, Xiao Zhao!'
Director Wang shot Director Zhao an exasperated glare before starting with Xie Changning's background information. His expression softened slightly when he read about her marriage to Yue Yihan.
If there had been any issues, she wouldn't have passed the political background check.
This set his worried heart at ease, at least for the moment.
Next, he picked up the other document and began to look through it carefully.
At first, Director Wang scanned the pages quickly, almost dismissively. But when he saw a certain experimental project Xie Changning had participated in upon graduation, his eyes shot wide open.
"This project... She was a part of this?"
Director Zhao saw Director Wang pointing at an experimental project codenamed "J" and nodded slowly. "I had someone look into it. She was a hot commodity at Beijing University. Her advisor was reluctant to let her go."
With a proven track record and now these new titanium alloy screws, even if Director Wang had wanted to refuse, he couldn't bring himself to do it.
'Such talent can't be held back by family background!'
"Ah, Old Zhao," Director Wang sighed. "No wonder you agreed with Wang Lisheng's recommendation. We truly can't let a talent like this slip through our fingers."
If it were him, he wouldn't have let her go either.
"To be honest, sir, the titanium alloy screws were a test I set for her. She told me with great confidence that she had a ninety-nine percent chance of success. I thought she was just boasting..."
Director Zhao recounted his interactions with Xie Changning to Director Wang.
Director Wang laughed heartily. "Excellent. You'll get full credit for this one! I approve Xie Changning's appointment to the Chuncheng Screw Factory. Doesn't the factory only have one vice director? It's the perfect spot for Xie Changning to fill. As for Li Guodong, just let him keep doing his job."
"Excellent! When will the official papers be issued?"
Overjoyed, Director Zhao didn't forget to ask about the official documents.
Director Wang chuckled, feigning exasperation. "Within three days!"
Director Zhao was thrilled. After thanking Director Wang, he moved to gather the documents he had brought.
But Director Wang placed his hand on them. "Leave them here. I still need them to convince the other old-timers."
Director Zhao wasn't bothered that he couldn't take the files back. In fact, Director Wang keeping Xie Changning's records was a good thing for her.
It meant Director Wang was now in their corner!
Director Zhao returned, humming a little tune to himself.
Seeing his jubilant mood, Wang Lisheng turned to Xie Changning. "Sister Changning, that 'foot in the door' of yours is more like a battering ram! You've knocked the gates of the Provincial Industrial Bureau wide open!"
Look at him! It was obvious the provincial bureau had approved Xie Changning as their vice factory director!
The moment Director Zhao walked in, he chuckled and teased Xie Changning, "I guess I can't call you Comrade Xie anymore. It'll have to be Vice Factory Director Xie from now on!"
"Director Zhao, please don't tease me."
"Hey! This is no joke. The official directive will be issued within three days. Ah, Lisheng, from now on Li Guodong and Changning will be your right and left hands. You'd better do a good job!"
At Director Zhao's words, Wang Lisheng immediately snapped into a comical military salute.
"No problem!"
With Xie Changning's position confirmed, the three returned to the Chuncheng Screw Factory. The moment Xie Changning stepped out of the car, she saw Yue Yihan standing at the factory gate, staring anxiously inside.
Hearing the car door open, Yue Yihan turned his head.
And saw Xie Changning standing there.
Her eyes met Yue Yihan's, which were completely bloodshot. Xie Changning asked in surprise, "What happened to you?"
"You didn't come home last night." Yue Yihan's voice was hoarse.
"I had a meeting at the Provincial Industrial Bureau yesterday. Director Zhao wants me to take the position of vice factory director, so I was delayed a day."
Yue Yihan breathed a sigh of relief at Xie Changning's explanation.
Heaven knows what he felt, coming home after an all-night mission only to find she hadn't been back at all.
'He'd thought she found the conditions here too harsh and had gone back to Shanghai...'
"I came to take you home," Yue Yihan said, suppressing the joy welling up inside him.
"Go on home. The appointment isn't for another three days, so get some proper rest."
Seeing that Yue Yihan wasn't in good shape, Wang Lisheng told Xie Changning to go home and rest before returning in three days.
With an R&D talent like Xie Changning, his screw factory would never be short on orders again! Who knows, maybe someday they'd even be getting orders for screws from overseas!
Wang Lisheng beamed at the thought.
Leaving the screw factory, Xie Changning sat on the rack of Yue Yihan's sturdy 28-inch bicycle, and he pedaled them back to their rented courtyard house.
"Were you on a mission last night?"
The moment she got on the bike, she caught the damp, grassy scent clinging to him. His clothes were wrinkled—the same ones he'd been wearing when he left yesterday morning.
"Yeah. I only got back this morning."
Yue Yihan's voice was a bit muffled, but the suppressed joy within it was unmistakable.
'Is he this happy because I'm getting the vice director position?'
On second thought, Xie Changning realized she was pretty happy herself!
Back home, Xie Changning told Yue Yihan to go change, wash up, and get some rest, insisting she would handle everything else.
"Okay," he said. "I'll make you a nice dinner tonight."