Chapter 67: Picking Flaws

The factory director’s office.

Factory Director Liu and Deputy Factory Director Zhang had been waiting. Seeing her arrive, they quickly waved to her with smiles.

“Deputy Director Bai, you’re finally here. Come in and have a seat.” Then he looked at Secretary Zhu, “Little Zhu, did Deputy Director Bai’s entry go smoothly?”

“It’s all done.”

“That’s good. You go ahead and arrange the meeting.”

“Okay.” Secretary Zhu agreed and turned to leave, closing the door.

“Come, come, Old Zhang, let me introduce you. This is Comrade Bai Ruojiao. You have to take good care of her. Comrade Bai is a capable and good comrade.”

Then he said to Bai Ruojiao, “Deputy Director Bai, this is Comrade Zhang Haiqiao, our factory’s deputy director. He will also be in charge of the Commodity Department.”

“Deputy Director Zhang.” Bai Ruojiao greeted with a smile.

Deputy Director Zhang chuckled, “I heard Zhao mention you before. I didn’t expect we would have this connection. You and your husband are both pillars of the future of our country. You are both good talents. If you need anything at work, feel free to come to me.”

Bai Ruojiao was a little confused when she heard him mention Zhao Sihai.

But Zhao Sihai had repaired the machines at the textile factory twice, so it was normal for him to know him.

“Then I’ll ask for your guidance in the future, Deputy Director Zhang.”

“Hehe, alright, don’t be so polite.” Factory Director Liu couldn’t help but interrupt their continued politeness and asked Bai Ruojiao.

“Deputy Director Bai, how is your report going?”

Bai Ruojiao smiled with pursed lips. She knew he would ask.

“It’s done.” She handed him a thick planning document.

Factory Director Liu quickly took it and eagerly flipped through it.

Deputy Director Zhang poured Bai Ruojiao a cup of water and motioned for her to sit down and drink. Then he also leaned over to look.

As they looked, they occasionally made sounds of affirmation, exclamation, surprise, doubt, understanding, or praise: “Hmm,” “Oh,” “Hey?” “Hmm,” “Wow!”

This document was ten times more detailed than the notebook she had written before. Some things that were still a bit vague before were now clear with detailed data analysis and annotations.

“Good!” After reading the planning document, Factory Director Liu slapped his thigh, his face flushed with excitement.

“With this report, I’m absolutely sure we can get it approved. Comrade Bai, you haven’t disappointed me, haha. Little Zhu!”

Secretary Zhu, who had just arrived, responded.

Factory Director Liu handed him the planning document, “Take this and make copies. Everyone will have one at the meeting.”

“Okay.”

He then looked at Bai Ruojiao, “Deputy Director Bai, we’re going to have a small meeting later. We’ll introduce you to everyone and also have a deeper understanding of our Commodity Department. So, you might have to talk about the development plan and goals of the Commodity Department later.”

Bai Ruojiao had anticipated this and was prepared. She immediately smiled, “No problem.”

“Good. I admire your confidence, Deputy Director Bai. Later, you’ll make those guys convinced. Don’t worry. Just say what you think. If anyone challenges you, don’t pay attention. Old Zhang and I will handle it.”

Bai Ruojiao smiled even wider. No matter what the internal power dynamics were in the factory, at least these two direct superiors were on her side, which was enough.

This also meant that there would be less trouble in carrying out work in the future.

The meeting began promptly at ten o’clock.

Bai Ruojiao followed the two leaders. When she arrived, there were already ten to twenty people sitting around the conference table.

Bai Ruojiao walked to the seat with her name on a pink card and sat down.

Everyone’s eyes were focused on her as she entered. Now that her identity was confirmed, their scrutiny and investigation were even more obvious.

Especially when they saw that the deputy director of the Commodity Department was such a young woman, some people who already suspected that she had gotten the job through backdoor connections were even more certain of their thoughts. Their expressions were not good.

Bai Ruojiao just smiled and nodded to those who looked at her.

Factory Director Liu walked to the main seat and sat down. He said a few opening remarks and then introduced Bai Ruojiao.

“You all know Old Zhang, so I won’t introduce him. He will be the director of the Commodity Department. This is Comrade Bai Ruojiao, the deputy director. The Commodity Department will need the cooperation of all departments to carry out its work in the future. I hope everyone can work together and contribute to the factory and the country. Deputy Director Bai, come, say a few words to everyone.”

Bai Ruojiao smiled and stood up. She bowed slightly, “Hello everyone. I’m Bai Ruojiao. I’m very happy to have this honor to work with all of you senior comrades today. We will contribute to the future of our country. In the future, I will live up to your expectations and do my best to create benefits for the country. I also hope that all of you senior comrades will give me guidance in the future.”

“Good!” Factory Director Liu immediately took the lead in clapping.

Some people also clapped with smiles, but a small number of them either clapped halfheartedly or simply sat with grim faces.

Bai Ruojiao glanced around and knew what was going on.

Factory Director Liu ignored them and continued, “I know that everyone has doubts about the establishment of the Commodity Department. I’ve called you all here today to clearly explain why we need to establish this department.”

He then motioned for Secretary Zhu to distribute the planning document.

Everyone looked at the thick stack of planning documents and frowned.

But some immediately flipped through it and then looked surprised.

It wasn’t because of the content, but because this planning document was different from the ones they had seen before. It looked more professional.

“This planning document was independently created by Deputy Director Bai with great effort. If you have any questions, they are basically answered in detail. But today, please let Deputy Director Bai introduce it to us first.” Factory Director Liu finished speaking and clapped again.

Bai Ruojiao stood up and bowed before sitting down. She only opened the table of contents and began to explain one by one: Why establish the Commodity Department? What are the future plans of the Commodity Department? What benefits can the Commodity Department bring to the factory? What are the advantages of the Commodity Department?

After listening to her, some people relaxed their brows and nodded repeatedly, while others still looked unhappy.

Immediately, a middle-aged man asked a question.

“Comrade Bai, I admit that your plan is indeed very good. But no matter how impressive the data is, it’s still just an idea. How can you guarantee that this Commodity Department will really be as you envision? What if it doesn’t work? The factory’s performance has been declining for years. We really don’t have that much money or manpower to mess around anymore.”

Although the other party was speaking to Bai Ruojiao, his gaze was directed at Factory Director Liu.

Factory Director Liu just picked up his teacup and continued drinking.

Bai Ruojiao glanced at the introduction card in front of the man.

Director of the Revolutionary Committee, Zhang Cheng.

It seemed that this man had a lot of opinions about her, or rather, about the Commodity Department.

Before Bai Ruojiao could explain, another person spoke up.

“Comrade Bai, I see that your planning document mentions the current sales situation of Western clothing every year. But there’s one thing you need to understand. The countries you’ve mentioned are all developed countries. Their people’s consumption levels are naturally higher than ours. Their national conditions are also different from ours. With our current national conditions, everyone’s demand for clothing styles is very low. You can’t just supply the foreign market, right? What if foreign countries don’t buy it? Won’t those goods rot in the warehouse?”

Bai Ruojiao looked at the other party’s name card: Deputy Factory Director, Wang Kaiming.