Chapter 74: Wen Jiajia Encounters Someone

There was useful information in the weekly meetings, but also a lot of irrelevant details. This was where exercising subjective initiative came into play.

Wen Jiajia had expected Yibo’s weekly meeting to be held in a large conference room, similar to the one at the pharmaceutical factory.

But to her surprise, it was held in a small room, not even as big as a school classroom.

What was going on? Wen Jiajia felt awkward and uncomfortable as she entered.

For such private meetings, could she really bring an “assistant” to take notes for her?

Apparently, it was possible. The factory director had a secretary, and several department heads had assistants.

If Liang Mu were here, he would probably mutter to Wen Jiajia, “The factory is small, but it sure looks impressive.”

Soon, everyone arrived, and the conference table was full.

Wen Jiajia glanced around the room. She had seen these leaders from a distance in the larger conference room before, but she had been away for a few days and had forgotten what many of them looked like.

She didn’t dare to stare too obviously. After all, many of the leaders had military backgrounds. Although they had retired, they still had a sharp presence.

The factory director was the first to speak.

Wen Jiajia had an impression of this director, Shen Kang. He didn’t speak as much as other leaders. She wondered if he would start rambling after spending more time at the factory.

Director Shen talked about the city’s expectations for their factory and the kind of support they would receive.

“…This year, the number of employees in our medical glass division must exceed 300. But it’s better to have fewer people than too many. The human resources department must keep a close eye on this. Whether it’s external recruitment or internal referral, we cannot allow anyone with questionable character to join and ruin the atmosphere. Especially with internal referrals—some things don’t need to be spelled out, right? Don’t be too greedy, or you’ll end up biting off more than you can chew.”

“Then there’s production. The city requires that by the end of the year, our medical glass production must meet the needs of several hospitals in Linhe City, and it must be consistent. Next year, we aim to serve hospitals across the entire province. It is expected that at least 70% of the hospitals in the province will be using our medical glass products.”

Wen Jiajia noted a few key points, busy with her shorthand, but she couldn’t help thinking sarcastically: No wonder they need to recruit more people. With such large production targets, the current hundred employees in the factory would never manage, no matter how hard they worked.

When it came to production, Director Gao was likely to come under scrutiny.

Sure enough, Director Shen shifted focus to Director Gao, saying, “Production is our top priority, and establishing the R&D office is crucial. Director Gao, what did you gain from this business trip?”

This was his cue to report on his work.

Wen Jiajia had already summarized the results of the business trip. Director Gao flipped through the documents and began, “We recruited a total of 16 students during this business trip, including 6 from Dongda University, 2 from Haida University… and four professors. Two of them previously worked at the Haishi Chemical Plant, and the other two, Professor Yan, worked in a chemical plant in the Northeast for nine years, and Professor Feng worked in a rubber machinery factory for eight years.”

Wen Jiajia silently added that two of these four professors were prominent figures in the field of material research.

For someone of Professor Yan’s level, he would probably be appointed as chief engineer upon arrival.

There were two more researchers, but they were a bit special, and Wen Jiajia wasn’t sure if Director Gao would mention them.

Director Gao hesitated but then said, “It’s uncertain whether the other two will join us. I’ll confirm after the meeting and report back to you.”

Shen Kang frowned slightly but nodded.

With Director Gao’s report concluded, Director Shen turned his attention to the purchasing department, which needed to ensure that the production department had enough raw materials.

Wen Jiajia noticed the assistant to the purchasing director yawning quietly. He was zoning out when his department was called, so he quickly grabbed a pen to start taking notes.

“We’ve secured several supply channels. The main raw material for the glass bottles comes from the eastern province, and the quantity in our warehouse should meet the factory’s ampoule production needs for this year,” the purchasing assistant reported.

Director Shen tapped the table. “What about the molded antibiotic bottles?”

“That… is still under negotiation,” the assistant replied.

“Speed it up. I want results in two weeks. The city tightened its belt to approve our production line, not for us to let it gather dust in the workshop.”

“Understood.”

Next, the focus shifted to logistics. Don’t underestimate logistics—it’s more than just cooking and cleaning. There are countless tasks that fall under their purview.

For instance, when building accommodations, you need to provide shelter for the workers, even if it’s just temporary housing.

As a result, the logistics team was currently the busiest in the factory. The logistics director had visibly lost weight in just a few days.

After everyone had given their reports, the factory manager spoke again.

He announced that the city would provide them with funding to construct a new building, and that they were negotiating for a fleet of vehicles to make transportation easier. They would also be acquiring production lines and some mechanical equipment.

The weekly meeting took nearly an hour.

After the meeting, Wen Jiajia followed Director Gao out of the conference room and headed to the factory director’s office.

Director Gao said, “Just… never mind. Go back first, organize the meeting notes, and give them to me before the end of the day.”

Wen Jiajia smiled and replied, “Okay.”

But she complained inwardly: *I should have gone straight back after the meeting instead of climbing two extra flights of stairs for nothing.*

She knew exactly what Director Gao was going to discuss—those two “uncertain” researchers.

_

In the office, Director Gao spoke to Director Shen. “These two were recommended by Elder Yan and the dean. They’re currently undergoing re-education at a farm in Heilongjiang Province.”

Director Shen, who was about to pick up his water cup, paused when he heard this. “No wonder you didn’t mention them in the meeting.”

“We can only discuss this privately,” Director Gao sighed. “Elder Yan said that both of them had spoken out in defense of a colleague before, and he could vouch for their character… and their ability.”

“Then how did they end up being sent down?”

“It happened during the period when the Soviets were assisting us. The two of them were chosen as deputies.”

Upon hearing this, Director Shen understood.

This wasn’t a unique situation. In the 1950s, many factories had received aid. The bigger the factory, the more aid it received.

If you had any contact with the Soviets, you were at risk of being demoted. Half of the factories across the country experienced this.

These two were probably just unlucky, singled out, or targeted by someone. Given that they had spoken up, their situation might not be too bad. With some help, they could potentially be reinstated.

Director Shen thought for a moment but didn’t make a hasty decision. He simply said, “I’ll look into it, and we can discuss it further after I’m done.”

_

Meanwhile, Wen Jiajia returned to her office and began organizing the meeting notes.

Looking at her cluttered desk, she sighed and decided to tidy up first.

She wasn’t sure when her office would be fully set up—yes, she just realized she had her own office, located in the middle of the corridor next to Director Gao’s office.

It was a single room, divided into two halves.

Each half was over 10 square meters, but she and Liang Mu couldn’t share them due to the need for partitions.

It was actually quite inconvenient sharing an office with her team members, and she didn’t feel comfortable leaving important documents there.

Moreover, with her presence, the others couldn’t relax and acted as if they were in a classroom.

Wen Jiajia sighed, tidied up her desk, sat down, and resumed organizing the meeting content.

She was quite familiar with this kind of task, so she completed it quickly. She even highlighted the more important points, especially those made by the factory director.

It took her half an hour to finish. When she saw Director Zhou returning, she got up and went to her office to hand over the notes.

Director Zhou said, “On Wednesday morning, go to the station to pick him up. Take him to Qingshui Lane first, and then report in.”

Wen Jiajia asked, “Is that for Professor Yan and the others?”

“Yes. They’ll arrive on Wednesday. Several professors and students will be with them. Check if any family members are coming along. If not, offer to help with train tickets or luggage.”

Wen Jiajia nodded. “Okay.”

Afterward, she took a look at her office.

The partitions were almost done, and they were now applying lime powder, entering the finishing stage.

The two rooms had the same layout and similar views, so either one would do.

Wen Jiajia thought about adding a cabinet to her office to have space for all the documents.

One thing she learned after working in the pharmaceutical factory for over a year was that there was a lot of paperwork, and various documents needed to be stored.

Her desk was filling up day by day, with even half of it piled with books. Finding a specific document required moving a bunch of files from the desk cabinet, which was quite troublesome.

But were there any intact cabinets left in the warehouse?

“Maybe I can ask Sister Fatty,” Wen Jiajia thought.

_

That evening, when she got home, dinner was already prepared. Jiajia could smell the aroma of pickled duck even from the doorway.

The two girls were sitting on the door frame, each gnawing on a piece of duck meat. When they heard Jia Jia returning, they hurriedly exclaimed how delicious the pickled duck was and how fragrant the smoked fish was.

Wen Jiajia parked the car and washed her hands. “If it tastes good, eat more. We have to finish it today,” she said. “If we leave it until tomorrow, it’ll go stale.”

Wei Dai came out of the kitchen carrying some dishes, smiling. “We haven’t eaten much yet. We’ve been snacking since we got back from school. We’ve each had three pieces of fish.”

There was a dish of braised duck, a dish of smoked fish, and a plate of stir-fried sweet potato leaves on the table.

Wei Dai brought out four bowls of rice. Wen Jiajia sat down at her seat, picked up her chopsticks, and asked, “Have you eaten?”

“No, we’re waiting for you to come back,” Wei Dai replied.

Wen Jiajia turned to look at the two girls and snorted. “You two are eating without waiting for your aunt to come back?”

Wen Xuan chuckled. “We saved the duck legs and wings for you, Auntie.”

Wen Jiajia rolled her eyes. “There’s food all around your mouth. Stop just eating the vegetables and come have some meat.”

The pickled duck tasted even better after being steamed, and its slightly sweet and salty flavor paired well with rice. Wen Jiajia, not in the mood to find fault, simply ate it with the pickled duck.

Wei Dai preferred eating fish and almost finished the entire plate of smoked fish.

After dinner, while washing the dishes, Wen Jiajia asked the two girls to take a bath. She then lay down on the bamboo rocking chair in the yard to rest.

Wei Dai was busy running around. After washing the dishes, he went to hoe the fields since he needed to start planting some vegetables.

The sky turned from dark blue to black, the moonlight gradually brightened, and stars began to appear one by one.

The evening breeze carried the scent of osmanthus. Wen Jiajia took a deep sniff, slowly exhaled, and felt as if her entire body was permeated with the fragrance of osmanthus.

At this time, the family was busy with the double harvest.

Wen Jiajia said, “Fang Hongjun will return to his hometown before the New Year. Let’s prepare the New Year’s goods earlier this year and ask Hongjun to take them back so we don’t have to go to the post office to send them.”

“Some things can’t be sent by post, like wine and oil,” she continued. “And some things can be sent, but they might spoil if they get delayed.”

Wei Dai was surprised. “Didn’t he just join the factory?”

“Yes, but he said if he doesn’t go back, his mother will come all the way here to kill him,” Wen Jiajia laughed. “Who knows, maybe Sister Hongmian will come to kill him too.”

Wei Dai said, “Then let’s prepare the New Year’s goods early and start saving meat coupons from this month onwards.”

This was a sad topic. There were never enough meat coupons.

When will we be able to eat meat freely?

On Wednesday, Wen Jiajia placed her backpack in the office and rode her bike to pick someone up.

Professor Yan and his colleagues were scheduled to arrive at 9 o’clock, but it was common for trains to be delayed. Wen Jiajia estimated it would be at least 9:30 or 10 o’clock before they arrived.

She bought a fried dough stick and a steamed bun and ate them at the entrance of the train station.

She had gotten up late and missed breakfast.

She broke the steamed bun in half and placed the fried dough stick inside. Traditionally, you should use fried dough cakes, but since they weren’t sold here, a fried dough stick would do.