Chapter 72

Lin Qiangsheng walked out of the small shop, drenched in sweat from a hard morning's work. He had been chopping pork all noon, and it was indeed exhausting!

Lin Xiang saw her brother and quickly pulled him back into the shop, scolding, "How could you be so careless! What if you catch a cold?"

Lin Qiangsheng smiled and said, "Don't worry, Sister. It's dry and cold outside; it's not that easy to catch a cold."

Lin Xiang poured some hot water into a basin, wrung out a warm, damp towel, and handed it to him, saying, "Wipe yourself down before you go out."

After returning home, Lin Xiang went to help at Lin Qiangsheng's shop. Because Lin Xiang was more assertive and was Lin Qiangsheng's older sister, she naturally became the leader when Lin Qiangsheng was away, and the girls listened to her.

"Go check outside later; Gu Ming is watching that painting for you," Lin Xiang said.

Lin Qiangsheng handed the towel back to his sister, clapped his hands, and exclaimed, "Oh no! I hope no one has taken that big painting!" This was really uncertain! Such a large painting, so fresh, would look good on the wall or the ceiling.

Lin Qiangsheng quickly ran out to check. He went around to the east wall and saw that the advertisement was still there. A young man was standing by the street, and it was Gu Ming, the nephew of Master Gu and the cousin of Gu Hongliang.

"Gu Ming!" Lin Qiangsheng sighed with relief and called out to the young man.

Gu Ming turned and saw Lin Qiangsheng, his fair face breaking into a smile as he said, "Qiangsheng!"

Lin Qiangsheng walked up to Gu Ming, patted his arm, and said with a smile, "Thanks for watching it!"

Gu Ming pointed at the advertisement and said, "It's a good painting!"

Lin Qiangsheng smiled and said, "I had someone paint it. We need to think of a way to secure it; otherwise, it might get stolen at night."

Gu Ming nodded and said, "We can make a wooden groove on the wall and fit the wooden strips into it."

Lin Qiangsheng turned and looked, nodded, and said, "Alright, let's do that!"

He turned back to Gu Ming and said, "Come on! Let's go to my place for a meal. I'm really hungry after working all noon! You haven't eaten either, right? Perfect, let's go to my place!"

Gu Ming thought for a moment and nodded.

Lin Qiangsheng said goodbye to his sister, put on his coat and hat, and went home with Gu Ming.

After arriving home, Lin Qiangsheng quickly boiled water in the pot, added slices of mutton, and put in seasonings, Sichuan pepper, star anise, scallions, ginger, garlic, and red chili peppers. He smiled at Gu Ming and said, "Let's have some boiled mutton slices."

Gu Ming looked at the mutton in the pot and smiled, saying, "Hmm! I've never had it like this."

Gu Ming was usually a bit introverted and had a somewhat gloomy personality, so he didn't have many friends at the factory. Lin Qiangsheng suggested to his father that Gu Ming was suitable for a position in the security department. Since there were very few people in the factory and few trustworthy ones, the security department was now led by a 50-year-old veteran worker, and Gu Ming was essentially the deputy.

Despite his young age, Gu Ming was indeed suited for the security department! His numb face made everyone uncomfortable.

At the dinner table, Lin Qiangsheng poured a cup of yellow wine for Gu Ming and said, "It's warm; have a cup to ward off the cold."

Gu Ming nodded, took a small sip, and frowned, saying, "It tastes quite strange!"

On the small table, there was a dish of oil-drenched, red, boiled mutton and a plate of peanuts. The two of them ate heartily, and Gu Ming's forehead was sweating, and he kept panting, saying, "It's too spicy! But it's really delicious!"

Lin Qiangsheng smiled and asked Gu Ming, "How is the discipline among the workers in the factory?"

According to the provincial newspaper, 2000 people were supposed to join the car factory, but there weren't that many yet. The Labor Bureau had planned to send people to the factory immediately, but recently, his father had to count the number of unemployed children of factory workers. Some of the educated youth had returned to the city in the past six months, while others were still in the countryside, so the matter was delayed.

It wasn't until more than ten days ago, with the New Year approaching, that the parents started to complain. The director of the Labor Bureau, Guo Bingkun, finally sent people to the factory. In one day, only a few dozen or a dozen young workers arrived.

Gu Ming nodded and said, "It's okay. The new workers don't understand the rules and have caused a lot of trouble. A few days ago, our security department caught a few new young workers who were sleeping in the factory during the day and stealing materials at night."

Lin Qiangsheng nodded and asked, "What happened to those people?"

Gu Ming said, "They were sent back to the Labor Bureau."

Lin Qiangsheng smiled and nodded, saying, "That's about right; they shouldn't be tolerated! Rules are rules."

Gu Ming also nodded.

In the afternoon, Lin Qiangsheng took down the advertisement again and planned to nail some wooden grooves on the wall the next day.

After dinner, Lin Qiangsheng went into his parents' room and asked his father, "Dad, how is the situation in the factory now? I heard someone is eyeing our materials?"

Lin Xiangrong hummed and said, "Who told you that? Don't spread it around! I had those young workers sent back to the Labor Bureau. They can go wherever they want, but our factory can't have such people!"

Lin Qiangsheng nodded and said, "Right, the car factory can't have such people! I guess this will scare the new young workers, right?"

Lin Xiangrong shook his head and sighed, "It's not that easy! Our factory is one person per position, not too many or too few! But this time, so many young workers are coming, where can we place them? When there are too many people, they gather together, and that's no good!" He spread his hands and shook his head.

Perhaps seeing his son listening attentively, Lin Xiangrong continued, "They are still sending people to our factory, with three or four people per position! Where can I place all these people? The more people, the more chaotic the factory becomes!"

Lin Qiangsheng asked his father, "Does the Labor Bureau just send people and not care, or do they assign positions?"

Lin Xiangrong looked at his son and nodded, saying, "They just send people and don't care. It's up to our factory to assign positions. These young workers aren't college students or vocational school graduates; they just come, and the Labor Bureau doesn't care about their positions. They are just passing the burden to our factory!"

Lin Qiangsheng thought for a moment and said to his father, "Dad, I have an idea, but it's not fully formed. Do you think it's feasible?"

Lin Xiangrong looked at his son and said irritably, "What's not fully formed? What are you mature about now? I heard you put up an advertisement at the street corner and got many workers to buy your 'pork watches'!"

Lin Qiangsheng laughed and said, "They're not 'pork watches'; they're pork and watches!"

Lin Xiangrong glared at his son irritably. His mother, Xu Hongmei, and his sister, Lin Xiang, came in after clearing the dishes. Xu Hongmei smiled and asked, "What are you two talking about, so happily?"

Lin Xiangrong pointed at Lin Qiangsheng and mentioned the small shop.

Xu Hongmei nodded and said, "I know about the watches your son is selling. Xiangrong, look at this watch from his factory; it's quite good, isn't it?"

Xu Hongmei extended her wrist to show Lin Xiangrong a women's wristwatch her son had given her. From the outside, it was almost indistinguishable from a Shanghai brand watch.

Lin Xiangrong examined the watch carefully and said to Lin Qiangsheng, "One day, bring the people from the countryside to the factory and go through the procedures. Since it's a affiliated company, the formalities need to be completed. I asked a colleague, and they have similar affiliated companies. We will follow the rules and not fear what others might say!"

Lin Qiangsheng nodded and said, "Alright, the watch factory is gradually getting on track. I'll have the village secretary and the master craftsman from the factory come over to see our car factory and be impressed!"

Xu Hongmei patted her son's head and said, "Son, you're growing up and have your own ideas, but you still need to be careful!"

Lin Qiangsheng looked at his mother's concerned eyes, nodded lightly, and smiled, "Mom, I know! I'll be careful in the future!"

Lin Xiangrong coughed and asked, "Qiangsheng, what did you think of earlier?"

Lin Qiangsheng exclaimed, "Ah! I thought of a way to solve the placement of the young workers!"

Lin Xiangrong asked, "How?"

"Since the Labor Bureau hasn't assigned positions to these young workers, they clearly intend to push them onto the factory, leaving it to the factory to arrange," Lin Qiangsheng said.

Lin Xiang