Chapter 129: First Meeting with the Big Leader
Chapter 129: First Meeting with the Big Leader
After returning to the steel rolling mill and waiting for the goods to be put into storage, Li Kailang returned to the transport team.
"Xiao Li, today is the last day. Did anything go wrong?" Zhang Jinwu asked.
Every day when cement was brought back, Zhang Jinwu would ask about it.
"It's okay, we only brought back 100 bags of cement today." Li Kailang replied.
"Huh? Wasn't it 250 bags before? Why is it so little today? Did something happen?" Zhang Jinwu frowned and said in a deep voice.
"It's nothing serious. It's just the people from the Second Steel Rolling Mill who are using despicable means."
Li Kailang briefly explained what happened.
Hearing this, Zhang Jinwu was relieved. "Is that so? Since they want to do this, let them do it. It's just a little less cement."
Then he added: "This time you brought back a total of 1100 bags of cement, which is 1500 bags less than the 400 bags you brought back last month."
We also transported 12 tons of extra steel bars, so we lost a lot of money.”
"The cement factory is really calculating! They only used 1000 bags of cement to exchange for so many tons of steel bars."
Based on the previous requirement of only 2 tons of steel bars, the cement plant made a net profit of 46 tons of steel bars.
Among them, 24 tons were from Li Kailang and Zheng Xiang, and the rest belonged to Bai Weiguo.
3 tons of steel bars were given for free in 18 days, plus 4 tons today.
Finally, Zhang Jinwu sighed: "But our factory is in urgent need of cement. There is only one cement factory in the entire city!"
After saying that, Zhang Jinwu looked at Li Kailang and said, "Okay, now that the steel bars have been delivered and the matter is over, you can take a rest and get ready!"
Hearing this, Li Kailang was a little confused. What was he going to do?
"Master, is there any mission?"
"Well, there's a mission out of the city next week. It was originally Xiao Lu's job, but he can't get out now, so I'll give it to you!"
"Really?!" Li Kailang's eyes immediately lit up when he heard there was a mission.
"Master, what is the mission? Can't I know now?" Li Kailang asked anxiously.
Zhang Jinwu waved his hand and said, "Don't worry, this matter has not been confirmed yet."
"The specific mission depends on whether there is a need for it. I just want to say hello to you in advance and make preparations."
"Oh..." Li Kailang's excitement subsided a little.
"Looking at your condition, don't worry. There will be a mission to leave the city next week anyway. You will do it." Zhang Jinwu said.
Hearing this, Li Kailang's mood improved a lot. "By the way, Master, do you have many tasks like this, Senior Brother?"
Looking at Li Kailang's expectant eyes, Zhang Jinwu knew what he was thinking.
"Don't think about it. Xiao Lu doesn't have many missions outside the city. Haven't you seen that your senior brother is missing for a week every month?" Zhang Jinwu reminded.
Hearing this, Li Kailang thought for a while and said, "It seems to be the case!"
Zhang Jinwu understood that Li Kailang wanted to go out of the city for a walk. After all, young people are always curious about unknown things.
However, due to the frequent trips and other reasons, experienced drivers now avoid city areas if possible, let alone long-distance trips.
If they can't avoid it, they would like to let others do it.
After all, they have basically reached the pinnacle of being a driver, earning a stable salary of 54 yuan every month, plus hidden benefits, and living a fulfilling life.
Why do you still have to go out and work so hard? The old drivers who are still doing this have all experienced painful lessons. These are the ones who have been eliminated.
"Okay, prepare the things you need to prepare in the next two days, and dry the quilts in the sun. You will have tasks next week!" Zhang Jinwu reminded.
"By the way, Director Lu's secretary wants to see you. Are you going to go find him now?"
"Master, what does Secretary Hu want to talk to me about?" Li Kailang asked.
"How would I know? Just go find him." Zhang Jinwu said unhappily, "Okay, get out of here!"
"Oh!" Li Kailang responded and went to find Secretary Hu.
"What does Secretary Hu want to talk to me about?" Li Kailang thought as he walked.
"I handed over all the patent matters to them, but there has been no progress for more than half a month. Could it be that they have encountered some difficulties?"
"But what can I, a small worker, do?"
Li Kailang was puzzled, so he didn't think much about it and decided to just ask.
Soon, Li Kailang arrived outside Director Lu’s office.
"Knock knock!" Li Kailang knocked on the door twice.
"Come in!" Li Kailang walked in.
There were only two people inside, one of whom was Director Lu's secretary.
Another middle-aged man with a calm expression.
Li Kailang felt that the other person looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen him.
"Comrade Li Kailang, you are here. The leader has been waiting for you for a long time!" Secretary Hu stood up and greeted Li Kailang when he saw him.
"I'm sorry! Secretary Hu, I just came back from delivering supplies. I didn't have time to rest before I rushed here non-stop. I hope I didn't delay anything." Li Kailang apologized.
Secretary Hu nodded in understanding. "It's okay. The leaders know about your situation. Since you're here, I'll go and inform them first."
After saying that, he turned and walked into the office.
"Are you Li Kailang?" The middle-aged man looked at Li Kailang with a hint of curiosity in his tone.
"It's me. What's the matter?" Li Kailang asked back.
Li Kailang didn't know who the other person was, so he naturally needed to be careful.
“Nothing, I just didn’t expect that he could become a great inventor at such a young age.” The middle-aged man smiled, with a hint of admiration in his eyes.
This sentence made Li Kailang even more certain that the other party's identity was not simple, so Li Kailang reported it to a few people. Those who knew his identity must have a high status.
"I wonder who you are?" Li Kailang asked cautiously.
"You'll know soon." The young man said calmly, with a hint of deep meaning in his eyes.
At this time, Secretary Hu walked out of the room.
"Comrade Li Kailang, the leader is inside, please go in."
"Okay." Li Kailang responded, took a deep breath, and walked into the room.
Secretary Hu usually referred to Director Lu as just the Director and never used the term "leader". But now that he said this, it was obvious that there was someone inside who had a higher status than him.
Li Kailang pushed the door open and found three people sitting in the room, one sitting in the first seat in the middle, and the other two sitting on both sides.
The two people are Director Lu and Deputy Director Yang.
Li Kailang looked carefully at the center and found that the person sitting in the first seat was actually the big leader who appeared in the TV series.
The identity of the young and middle-aged man was naturally revealed. He was the secretary of the big leader - Secretary Chen.
Li Kailang understood instantly and walked up to the three people as usual.
Director Lu pointed at Li Kailang and introduced him to the senior leader, "Senior leader, this is Comrade Li Kailang!"
Then he said to Li Kailang: "Comrade Li Kailang, this is a big leader."
When the senior leader heard Director Lu’s introduction, his eyes immediately lit up.
Looking at Li Kailang in front of him, he couldn't help but sigh that Li Kailang has such talent at such a young age, and his future is promising!
"Today I finally get to meet the great inventor. He is truly a young and promising man!" the leader exclaimed.
"No, no, you're too kind, boss. I'm not an inventor." Li Kailang immediately said modestly.
"Well, young people should have this humble attitude." The big boss shook his head.
"Comrade Li, you are the inventor of these two inventions, how can you not be an inventor?"
"Boss, I have already handed in my invention, how can I deserve the title of inventor?" Li Kailang quickly declined. Seeing Li Kailang being so understanding, the boss nodded slightly.
"Comrade Li, don't be so modest. Your invention has brought a lot of honor to our factory!" Director Lu echoed.
"Yes! Comrade Li, don't make excuses!" Deputy Director Yang also echoed.
The three of them were talking at the same time, all of them trying to give Li Kailang the title of "inventor".
With this title, Li Kailang has no choice but to come up with an invention!
After some pleasantries, the leader got straight to the point.
"Comrade Li Kailang, your invention is very good. The higher-ups attach great importance to it. They have found a lot of information and are working hard to apply for a patent."
"Thank you for your concern and support. Without you, I would not have the opportunity to showcase my invention." Li Kailang said immediately.
The big boss nodded with satisfaction and said, "I hope you can continue to work hard to make more and better inventions, and strive to make more inventions to earn foreign exchange."
This last sentence is the purpose of the big leader’s visit today.
Before coming to the steel mill, the top leader met with leaders from the Patent Office and the State Council.
Because Li Kailang was under the Ministry of Metallurgy, even if they intercepted the money, the Ministry of Metallurgy should have a share of the foreign exchange earned.
The Ministry of Metallurgy has produced such a talent, so naturally the higher-ups will not forget to give them certain rewards.
The return is foreign exchange, which is undoubtedly an additional fortune for the Ministry of Metallurgy.
And these extra foreign exchange eventually fell into the hands of the top leader, allowing him to purchase the above-mentioned indicator equipment with confidence.
The big boss came this time to meet Li Kailang and encourage him in person to keep working hard.
More importantly, he hoped that Li Kailang could continue to come up with more inventions and earn more foreign exchange for the Ministry of Metallurgy.
This easy way of earning foreign exchange spread like wildfire, allowing the Ministry of Metallurgy to stand out among many departments.
After a few people chatted for a while, the leader stood up and said:
"Okay, now that I've met Comrade Li Kailang, I'll leave. The department still has a lot of documents to deal with."
After saying that, he was about to leave.
"Boss, since you have come all the way here, why don't you just have a quick meal in our canteen before you leave?" Director Lu warmly persuaded him to stay.
"How can this be possible?" the big boss politely declined.
"Boss, it's almost noon now. It's anyway to go back to eat, so why not eat here first? I've asked the canteen to prepare the food and I'm waiting for you to come over." Director Lu tried to persuade him again.
After some refusals, the big boss finally stayed.
"What you said makes sense, so I won't be polite."
"Leader, I have two bottles of good wine here. How about we take a sip?" Director Lu suggested.
"How can this be possible? Drinking in the middle of the day will affect your work!" the leader refused sternly.
"Okay, I understand! I'll follow the leadership's instructions in everything!" Director Lu said respectfully.
"Xiao Hu, put these two bottles of wine in the boss's car!" Director Lu instructed Secretary Hu.
"Oh, how can this be possible!" The big boss refused, but it was just talk.
Seeing this, Secretary Hu immediately took the two bottles of wine and left without saying hello.
"Xiao Lu, what kind of behavior are you taking? It has such a bad impact! Secretary Chen, why don't you call the person back?" the big boss criticized seriously.
"Boss, don't worry. Everyone here is one of us and we won't tell anyone," Director Lu explained.
He looked around at the people around him and said, "Everyone agrees, isn't that right?"
"Director Lu is right!" Deputy Director Yang was the first to agree, and the others also echoed and laughed.
Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Li Kailang also understood that they were trying to drag him into the water.
But there's nothing to lose, so I'll just play with them.
He laughed out loud and became one with everyone else.
Seeing this, the big boss couldn't help but laugh.
"Boss, the food is ready. We can go eat first." Director Lu suggested.
"Okay, let's go together!" said the leader.
“By the way, Comrade Li Kailang, please come along too. I came here especially to see you.” The big leader asked specifically.
After hearing this, Li Kailang had to go. After all, the big boss gave him face.
Not going would be a lack of respect.
"Okay, leader!" Li Kailang replied.
Everyone stood up and walked towards the small cafeteria, with Li Kailang among them.
They did this today, obviously intending to bring Li Kailang under their own name.
The three of them must know who Li Kailang's subordinate is, but they still did it, obviously having ulterior motives.
Given the personalities of Director Lu and Deputy Director Yang, this was unlikely to be their idea and more likely an instruction from a higher-up leader.
Going to the canteen in such a swagger would definitely attract attention, and Li Kailang would inevitably be seen.
As a result, Li Kailang's position in Li Huaide changed.
No matter how things were handled afterwards, Li Kailang would never be valued by Li Huaide again.
Li Kailang could only transfer to Director Lu's camp, but he was still not reused.
Thinking of this, Li Kailang understood their intention.
"This is not bad. Neither side will be in a good situation, but it won't be difficult for me, so I can naturally have some free time."
Instead of spending all your time dealing with these complex power struggles, it is better to just relax and do your own thing.
What's more, the situation will become serious next year. Instead of spending energy on fighting, it is better to think about how to fill your stomach.
Besides, Master Zhang Jinwu is still here, and Li Kailang cannot avoid Zhang Jinwu if he wants to get promoted. As long as Zhang Jinwu doesn't retire, Li Kailang cannot be promoted.
But the driver's status is there, so he can live a pretty good life even without upgrading.
The most important thing is that Li Kailang only has a junior high school education. It would be difficult for him to transfer to an administrative position without making great contributions.
Thinking further ahead, this isn't a bad idea.
The group came to the small canteen in a mighty procession, and the food was already prepared.
The small canteen was filled with the aroma of food, everything was ready.
The leader looked around and saw that everyone was standing, so he said:
"Don't stand, find a seat and sit down. It's getting late. Let's eat and talk."
After hearing the leader's words, everyone found a seat and sat down.
As an outsider, although Li Kailang was fortunate enough to have dinner with these leaders, he was very clear about his position.
He sat at the very end, silently observing everything around him. It was good this way, as he could eat in peace.
There were four dishes and one soup on the table, a combination of meat and vegetables, with good color, aroma and taste, and it looked very sumptuous.
Li Kailang picked up a piece of braised pork and put it into his mouth, savoring it carefully.
He found that the food tasted really good, but it was far inferior to Sha Zhu's cooking. It was obvious that this meal was not made by Sha Zhu.
If Sha Zhu did it, it would naturally affect the big boss.
After the leader tasted the dish, his face didn't show much expression, but he didn't say anything either.
Everyone ate and chatted, and the topics were light and pleasant.
During the whole process, no one paid special attention to Li Kailang who was sitting at the last seat.
After the meal, Director Lu and Deputy Director Yang saw the leader off.
(End of this chapter)