dkrc Chapter 67, Ninth Sister!
Chapter 67, Ninth Sister!
Zhang Wenkui rubbed his backside on the floor, two tufts of hair sticking up on his head, and said in a mournful voice, "Third Uncle, how did I end up under the bed?"
Zhang Chengfei pretended not to notice his nephew's disdain and feigned innocence: "Maybe you were sleeping in a bad position and accidentally fell off."
"Oh." Zhang Wenkui scratched his head. "I always fall off the bed at home, I didn't expect to fall off even more in the city."
"This silly child..." Zhang Chengfei sighed, "It's past six o'clock, hurry up and get up to make breakfast."
Zhang Wenkui slowly got up, and then heard Zhang Chengfei ordering food.
"Boil two eggs, make rice porridge, and take two large pickled radishes from the jar your grandma brought last time, one for each of you."
Zhang Wenkui obediently cooked the rice, and after it was done, he placed two eggs in front of Zhang Chengfei.
Zhang Chengfei raised an eyebrow: "Why are you giving them all to me?"
Zhang Wenkui: "Before I came, my parents told me that my third uncle had been in poor health since childhood, and asked me to take care of him..."
"I'm not weak." A man can't say no, so Zhang Chengfei immediately retorted.
Zhang Wenkui flexed his muscles and said, "Third Uncle, you're far inferior to me."
Ah, this... Zhang Chengfei looked at his own physique. Actually, he was not weak, nor was he thin.
Zhang Wenkui, having toiled in the fields for so long, had a physique similar to Heiwa in the TV series, the one who made Tian Xiao'e's mouth dry...
As an elder, Zhang Chengfei did not want to be overshadowed by his nephew, so he made a decision: to train!
After breakfast, Zhang Chengfei left two yuan for Zhang Wenkui to wander around Beijing and buy whatever he wanted, while he went to work.
Inside the control room, everyone was filled with high spirits.
Although Old Ma wasn't good at manual labor, he still carried a wrench and tried to encourage everyone in a serious manner: "Comrades, roll up your sleeves and get to work! The electric heating cup will be put into production soon, and if this mini-tiller is also successfully launched, then we will have made a great contribution."
Mini-tillers—those are things neither Russia nor the United States have!! If they could build one, that would truly make the US and Russia superpowers!
People in those vibrant years especially couldn't bear to hear such words; they would immediately become as energetic as if they'd been injected with adrenaline and throw themselves into their intense work.
Zhang Chengfei worked non-stop for two hours, and during his break, he even carried two bricks to practice his skills.
Xiao Ke saw this and, ever the chatterbox, asked him what he was doing.
Upon learning that Zhang Chengfei planned to improve his physical fitness, Xiao Ke grinned mischievously.
"You want to improve your physical fitness? It's simple! Just ask Tong Yan! I've heard that Tong Yan is a martial arts champion in public schools. She's a master of all kinds of grappling techniques, including Bajiquan and Tai Chi."
Zhang Chengfei squinted at him and asked, "How come I didn't know you, Brother Ke, were so familiar with the security personnel?"
Xiao Ke scoffed, "We're all comrades-in-arms, what's with all this talk about being familiar? Hey, do you guys know why Tong Yan didn't go to the police station, but instead came to work in the security department of our machinery factory?"
"Why?" Da Liu asked.
"Because her father, her eldest brother, third brother, fourth brother, fifth brother, and Brother Liu all work in our factory and steel rolling mill."
Zhang Chengfei exclaimed in shock: "Good heavens, six older brothers?"
Xiao Ke held up her index finger and thumb, making a gun shape: "Wrong, not six, it's eight. She's the ninth child, with eight older brothers."
She told everyone that Tong Yan's original name was not Tong Yan, but De Bao.
"Tong Debao, later everyone said that the name was not suitable, so it was changed."
Zhang Chengfei thought to himself that other families usually have a bunch of girls, and only name their son this way when they finally have a boy. It's inappropriate for her, a girl, to be named Debao.
Calling her Ninth Sister would be more appropriate.
but,
"If any of her eight brothers-in-law were to marry her, and the couple were to quarrel, the eight brothers-in-law would beat their brother-in-law so badly he'd have diarrhea. They'd be considered clean if they didn't." He clicked his tongue in amazement.
Xiao Ke smiled and said, "Oh, you're already thinking about getting beaten up later... You kid, you still say you have no feelings for Tong Yan?"
"Go to hell! I told you, all I care about right now is work," Zhang Chengfei said with a laugh.
The two of them were working on their tasks, but they didn't stop bickering.
"We're at work. If you want to chat, go outside. Don't keep everyone from getting to work!" Suddenly, Nie Lan's voice came.
The two turned their heads in surprise, only to see Nie Lan lower her head and tighten the screws with a blank expression.
Xiao Ke was speechless for a moment, then leaned close to Zhang Chengfei's ear and asked, "Wait, who upset her?"
Zhang Chengfei shrugged: "I don't know."
……
Since the trial production of the mini-tiller began, the R&D team has been extremely busy every day.
Lao Tai said he was too busy with work and told Zhang Chengfei to rest well after get off work, and that learning German could be put on hold for the time being.
While the German language project can be put on hold, the electric kettle project has already started and cannot be delayed in the slightest.
Although Lao Feng had given prior permission for Zhang Chengfei not to work in the workshop, he was, after all, the deputy director in charge of technology, so he still had to go to the workshop every few days.
As the start date drew closer, the workshop had recruited enough workers, and the production line was gradually getting ready.
The factory's point is that it's already early winter, and although it's not too cold in Beijing yet, it's already below freezing in Russia.
"We must produce the first batch of electric kettles before it completely cools down over there... Once the first batch makes a name for itself and becomes an instant hit, everything else will fall into place." These are Lao Feng's exact words.
November 17th was the date set to start construction.
The day before, Zhang Chengfei took Zhang Wenkui, who had passed the temporary worker interview, to the dormitory.
The latter had stayed in the courtyard for a few days and was genuinely reluctant to leave. Before departing, he looked towards the central courtyard and asked, "Third Uncle, isn't Yushui home today?"
Zhang Chengfei: "Yushui went to school and won't be back until tonight."
"If Yushui comes back, tell her that Wenkui went to work and can only come back to see her on the weekend. I'll treat her to dinner then."
Zhang Chengfei raised an eyebrow and laughed: "You rascal, you wouldn't even give your own wife a bite to eat, but you'd give food to He Yushui?"
Zhang Wenkui blushed and muttered under his breath, "That's different."
"How come it's different?" Zhang Chengfei pressed.
"Rain is too thin...giving her some food rations is still possible..." The little guy's face turned red, even the roots of his ears. He tried to cover it up, "I don't have any feelings for her, I just think she's really too thin. Those little arms and legs look like they could be broken with a single twist."
Zhang Chengfei thought to himself, "He Yushui has a city household registration. After graduating from high school, he'll work in a state-owned textile factory. You really don't need to worry about him."
After seeing Zhang Wenkui off, Zhang Chengfei welcomed Xu Damao, Shazhu, and Liu Guangqi.
Although the machinery factory intended to keep the opening of the electric cup workshop low-key, the news still became widely known due to the recruitment of temporary workers.
Therefore, the news that Zhang Chengfei had become the deputy director of the workshop began to spread quickly.
Xu Damao brought a bottle of strong baijiu, while Sha Zhu and Liu Guangqi each brought snacks to go with it. The three knocked on the door, and Xu Damao, holding up his bottle, grinned nonchalantly, "Director Zhang, how about we have a drink together tonight?"