52: Chapter 52 Factory Manager, I Have a Way to Solve This

Zhou Xiaonan was very unhappy this night.

In the two-bedroom apartment, the two brothers naturally had to sleep in the second bedroom, squeezed into the same bed, sleeping feet-to-feet.

Shen Weiyue didn't care at all about his little cousin's gloom; he just slept soundly and dreamed of that beautiful woman who was still angry at him.

She was elegant and intelligent, trying to act mature but unable to hide her playfulness. Even when she feigned sternness, frowning in anger, she was still so beautiful.

Sigh, it must be 'what one thinks about by day, one dreams of by night.'

Shen Weiyue suddenly felt troubled himself.

How could a wild boar that had eaten fine bran ever be satisfied with coarse bran again?

After such an unforgettable experience, his standards for finding a girlfriend had risen, even higher than when he was a bureau chief in his later life. He feared it would be very difficult to find someone who caught his eye.

Zhao the Fox was stunningly beautiful and certainly caught his eye, but damn it, she had a mouth on her.

Seeing Shen Weiyue looking melancholy, Zhou Xiaonan was so amused he laughed:

"Brother Yue, I have reason to be depressed all night, but why are you frowning first thing in the morning?"

"You don't understand, 'Ruthlessness is not as bitter as being sentimental, a single thread turns into thousands of strands...'"

"Hahaha, have you been watching too much Return of the Condor Heroes? Are you quoting Li Mochou now..."

"See, that's what happens when you're uncultured. I told you to read more, but you insisted on raising pigs. You haven't even heard such classic poetry? When you have the chance, you really should read more to cultivate your mind."

"Read? Read my ass!"

"Rotten wood cannot be carved." Shen Weiyue looked at the QQ message on his phone that still had no reply, and scolded his cousin in annoyance.

He quickly got dressed and washed his face.

Uncle wanted to leave as soon as he finished eating. Zhou Xiaonan, bored, said he would go along, so the three of them had to squeeze onto one Jialing motorcycle and head toward the Cement Factory.

"Xiaonan, you sit in the middle." Shen Weiyue arranged it without a second thought; he didn't want to be sandwiched between two men.

"Screw that, I'm not sitting in the middle, it's too cramped." Zhou Xiaonan shook his head and refused.

"That's for your own safety. As your older brother, letting you sit in the middle is to protect you. If you refuse again, you're just being ungrateful."

"I don't..."

"Why do you two have so much bullshit to say? Get on already! You, little bastard, sit in the middle. Your brother is right, stop whining!"

Zhou Jianmin roared, and Zhou Xiaonan obediently sat down, giving Shen Weiyue a resentful look.

About twenty minutes later, the three arrived at the entrance of the Cement Factory.

Zhou Jianmin said a few words to the guard, and they rode into the factory grounds.

Shen Weiyue felt speechless. Unauthorized personnel could enter the factory area without registration or identification; this Cement Factory had safety hazards right from the entrance.

As they went deeper, workers not wearing hard hats or masks were everywhere; their safety awareness was extremely weak.

"Don't run around, I'm going to go check in first."

Zhou Jianmin parked the bike, gave them a warning, and headed straight toward the blast furnace.

Shen Weiyue didn't just stand around; he started walking around to inspect.

Zhou Xiaonan asked in surprise: "What's so interesting about two big chimneys? I come here often and I'm sick of them. How about we go to an internet cafe later?"

"No rush, let me take a look first." Shen Weiyue was unmoved.

The factory was currently shut down, so the workers didn't stop him from wandering around. Some who knew Zhou Xiaonan even greeted him with a smile.

Before long, Zhou Jianmin came looking for them, and Shen Weiyue said: "Uncle, I'm very curious about the cement production process. Could you take me around to a few more places?"

"No problem, everything is shut down anyway, and the officials in the factory aren't around." Zhou Jianmin hesitated for a moment, then waved his hand and took on the role of a guide.

With him leading the way and being familiar with everyone, they went to many more places. They climbed the blast furnace, entered the testing lab, and even ran into the conference room to look at the pile of documents left on the conference table that hadn't been put away after the inspection.

Damn, the management is really crude.

This is just too savage a way to grow.

Shen Weiyue already had a rough assessment of the Cement Factory's safety management level.

He looked at the rectification list issued by the county's Bureau of Work Safety. The identification of hardware hazards was basically on point; at least the few fatal hazards had been pointed out.

Just as the three were about to leave, they saw a group of people walking over in a rush. One person was a step ahead of the others, with blisters on his lips and a serious expression.

"Oh no, why is Huang Yong back?"

Zhou Jianmin felt guilty, gave Shen Weiyue and the others a look, and then bowed and scraped as he went up to meet them: "Factory Director Huang..."

"Who are you?" Factory Director Huang frowned at him.

"His name is Zhou Jianmin, a kiln worker." Someone behind him quickly interjected, then demanded, "Zhou Jianmin, the furnace is already shut down, what are you doing here? And bringing two strangers with you..."

"Factory Director, Manager Li, this is my son and my nephew. Since it's the holidays, I thought I'd bring them to see the world..." Zhou Jianmin hurriedly explained.

Factory Director Huang was currently annoyed and had no time to listen to this nonsense, so he waved his hand impatiently: "How can you just bring people into a production area? You have no sense of rules. Once your wages for this month are settled, don't come back."

"Ah? Factory Director, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I apologize..."

Zhou Jianmin was horrified. He didn't care about his dignity anymore and desperately begged Factory Director Huang, but the other party didn't even look at him.

The group pushed Zhou Jianmin aside, went straight into the conference room, and closed the door. He stood outside, dumbfounded, at a complete loss.

"Brother Yue, it's all your fault for insisting on looking around. Now look, my dad has been laid off." This was the first time Zhou Xiaonan had faced the cruelty of society, and he couldn't help but complain.

"I'm sorry, Uncle, this is my fault." Shen Weiyue apologized hurriedly.

"Sigh, don't talk about whose fault it is. Actually, I already knew. Even without this, I was already on the layoff list..."

Zhou Jianmin comforted himself. He mustered the courage to knock on the door, but in the end, he couldn't bring himself to do it, so he said dejectedly, "Let's go, sigh."

"Wait a moment." Shen Weiyue stopped them. "I think there's still a turning point."

"What turning point?" Zhou Jianmin asked anxiously.

"I can't say for sure yet, but I have an idea. I need to speak with Factory Director Huang in person; maybe we can solve this problem." Shen Weiyue replied calmly.

"Forget it, brother. You and I are just greenhorns, what the hell kind of solution could you have?" Zhou Xiaonan was so angry he laughed.

Shen Weiyue ignored him and signaled for his Uncle to wait quietly. Then he leaned close to the door and listened. Sure enough, they were discussing the rectification issues inside, and the voices were loud enough to be heard through the door.

He heard Factory Director Huang's voice, exasperated: "Damn it, the equipment needs to be repaired or replaced, but how the hell are we supposed to deal with this damn safety compliance and emergency plan? You tell me, where are we supposed to find experts?"

"Factory Director, there are experts at the provincial level. We contacted one, but the time is too tight, and they want 500,000..."

"500,000 to buy him a coffin? This kind of thing used to cost a few tens of thousands, fuck it!"

"They know we're in a hurry, so they're asking for an exorbitant price..."

While everyone in the conference room was scratching their heads and swearing, they saw the door open. A young man stood there, full of confidence: "Factory Director Huang, I have a way to solve the problem you're talking about."