Courtyard House: Starting in a Ceramics Factory

Chapter 198 Li Feng, somewhat bewildered
At this time, compared to the Jia family, the Liu family was also discussing Li Feng's affairs.

At this moment, Liu Haizhong was sitting in the middle of the house, and he looked at his second aunt not far away.

"I never expected that he would actually know a high-ranking leader."

"I underestimated him, but this also proves that what I said last time was right, Li Feng has become a cadre."

When Liu Guangtian heard his father's words, he felt even worse. Last time, he didn't believe that Li Feng would become a cadre, but now even he had to believe it.

After all, Li Feng had taken a photo with a high-ranking leader and was surrounded by so many military officers. Although Liu Guangtian hadn't seen the photo himself, his father said that the other two old men in the courtyard had.

This forced him to believe that Li Feng had become a cadre.

At this moment, he couldn't help but feel lost and dejected.

He felt that he was not much different from Li Feng, and they were about the same age, so why was he doing worse than Li Feng?
He's become a cadre, while I haven't even managed to get a temporary job. So he couldn't help but wonder, is this really fate? Then he thought about it again and realized it was unlikely.

Then he couldn't help but think, if Li Feng could find a job, there's no reason why I couldn't. If I did find a job, I might end up like Li Feng and become a cadre.

When Liu Guangtian thought of this, he decided to travel around in the next few days to see if there were any factories hiring. As for Liu Haizhong, his thoughts were different from Liu Guangtian's.

Liu Haizhong knew that jobs were hard to find these days, so he could only ask for help through connections.

Otherwise, it would be very difficult to find a job.

So recently, Liu Haizhong has been asking around for help to find a job for Liu Guangtian.

At this moment, Aunt Er said to Liu Haizhong.

"Now that Li Feng has become a cadre and knows high-ranking officials, why doesn't he say anything?"

"There's definitely something wrong here."

Liu Haizhong shook his head and said to his second aunt.

"I don't know if there's a problem."

"But in the future, we definitely need to be more polite to him."

"He might know the leaders of the neighborhood committee, the street office, or the police station."

"If anything important happens in our hospital in the future, we might need to ask him for help."

"After all, he's one of the people in the institute, don't you think?"

After hearing what Liu Haizhong said, the second aunt nodded in agreement.

"You're right."

"I really need to be more polite to him when I see him in the future."

After the incident involving sending the photos, almost everyone in the institute knew that Li Feng had become a cadre and even knew a high-ranking leader.

Around eight o'clock, Li Feng rode his bicycle back to the entrance of the courtyard house.

The reason he came home so late today was because Master Deng was teaching him how to revise the drawings.

The sketch he made with light ink lacked that certain feel, so Master Deng started teaching Li Feng how to revise it to give it that antique look.

Traditional Chinese painting is different from modern painting.

The "flavor" that is desired in Buddhist and Taoist figures in traditional Chinese paintings.

If it doesn't capture that essence, no matter how realistic your drawing is, it's useless.

Therefore, the way Li Feng paints Buddhist and Taoist figures is different from the modern figures he painted before. So there is still a big difference between the two. Before, Li Feng was learning ancient ladies from Master Lin.

It's just that Li Feng hasn't learned about Buddhist and Taoist figures yet. If Li Feng continues to learn from Master Lin, it's only a matter of time before he learns to this level, since Master Lin has always painted this kind of subject matter.

Later, after Li Feng went to Master Deng's place, he didn't encounter this kind of subject matter again.

Normally, if it were a painting of the Eighteen Arhats, this subject matter would definitely be painted by a master painter specializing in pastel colors. However, this time the Eighteen Arhats are to be painted using the new color technique, so it can only be entrusted to the new color group.

Otherwise, Li Feng wouldn't have had the chance to draw this.

This time, drawing the Eighteen Arhats was also a great opportunity for Li Feng to expand his skills.

After completing this porcelain painting of the Eighteen Arhats, Li Feng's understanding of Buddhist and Taoist figures will become more thorough.

This is also beneficial for Li Feng.

After listening to Master Deng's lecture, Li Feng benefited greatly.

Finally, a little after 7 p.m., Master Deng finished explaining all of this to Li Feng and then made some modifications to Li Feng's ink draft.

So now, even just the ink drafts already have that feel.

At this moment, Li Feng looked at the courtyard gate in front of him, then pushed the gate open and pushed his bicycle inside. After Li Feng pushed the bicycle inside, he closed the gate again.

When Li Feng pushed his bicycle to his front door, Sha Zhu came out of his house.

When Sha Zhu saw Li Feng, he immediately smiled and moved closer to Li Feng. Then, he asked Li Feng a question with a hint of reproach.

"Brother Li Feng, you're being too formal with me."

"You became a cadre and didn't even tell me. Do you still consider me a brother?"

Li Feng was completely bewildered by what Sha Zhu had said. He hadn't expected Sha Zhu to say such things to him. What was all this about?

So Li Feng immediately asked Sha Zhu with some confusion.

"What kind of cadre?"

"What did you say?".

At this moment, Sha Zhu saw that Li Feng was still hiding the fact that he had become a cadre, so Sha Zhu immediately said to Li Feng.

"You've become a cadre, what's the point of keeping it from us?"

When Li Feng heard Sha Zhu say that he had become a cadre, he couldn't help but feel a little confused. He had become a cadre? How come he didn't know that?
When did I become a cadre?

This made Li Feng feel very strange. At this moment, when Sha Zhu saw Li Feng's puzzled expression, Sha Zhu asked Li Feng a question.

"Didn't you become a cadre?"

Li Feng immediately shook his head at Sha Zhu and said.

"I didn't become a cadre."

"Why are you suddenly saying I've become a cadre?"

At this moment, Li Feng was confused after Sha Zhu told him that he had become a cadre, and he didn't know why Sha Zhu suddenly told him this.

After listening to Li Feng's explanation, Sha Zhu said to Li Feng.

"Wait here for me." After saying this, Sha Zhu immediately turned and went into his room. Then he took out the large framed photo and asked Li Feng.

"This is a photo that a high-ranking leader sent over tonight."

When Li Feng saw the photos that Sha Zhu brought over, he understood what was going on.

This silly Zhu thought he had become a cadre, which is why he said that.

At this point, Li Feng didn't want to explain anymore, because he knew that some things were impossible to explain no matter how he tried.

So Li Feng took the photo from Sha Zhu's hand and then asked Sha Zhu a question.

"Who else knows about this?"

Upon hearing Li Feng's words, Sha Zhu assumed that Li Feng was acknowledging his status as a cadre, so Sha Zhu immediately smiled and explained to Li Feng.

"The three old men in the courtyard, and Qin Huairu from the Jia family."

Got it!
This is no different from the whole hospital knowing. After all, the three old men in the hospital and Qin Huairu know, so the whole hospital will definitely know tomorrow. So Li Feng couldn't help but sigh and say to Sha Zhu.

"Alright, there's nothing else, you can go back now."

"I'll keep this photo. I have to get up and go out tomorrow. I'm quite tired."

After saying these words, Li Feng took the photos home, and then pushed his bicycle back home.

When Sha Zhu saw that Li Feng wanted to go home, he didn't stop him.

After all, it was quite late, and if he stopped him, it would disturb Li Feng's rest, so Sha Zhu naturally let Li Feng go home.

Most importantly, he still has to deal with Wen Hui's family these next two days, so he needs to be well-rested. Once Sha Zhu hands the photos to Li Feng, his mission will be complete.

So Shazhu went back to his room too.

After Li Feng returned to his room, he looked at the photo in front of him and couldn't help but smile bitterly.

He never expected that, because of this photo, the people in the compound would think he was a cadre.

This was something he hadn't expected. Since it had already happened, Li Feng didn't intend to avoid it. After all, some things couldn't be avoided. If they considered him a cadre, then so be it.

Anyway, I won't lose a single piece of my flesh.

Moreover, this way, they won't bother me, which saves me a lot of trouble.

Li Feng was happy to have some free time.

When Li Feng thought of this, he couldn't help but sigh. He lamented that he was not a cadre now, at least not now.

If I want to become a cadre, I should at least wait until I graduate from university and then be assigned to a ceramics factory. Right now, I'm just an ordinary ceramics worker. Although I'm considered a promising ceramics worker in the factory, I'm still a long way from becoming a cadre.

In the ceramics factory, most workers felt that being a manager was not a good position because workers' wages were much higher than those of managers. If they became managers, they would lose a lot of their wages.

They definitely wouldn't be willing to accept a lower salary.

Although the salaries of managers in ceramic factories are slightly higher than those in ordinary factories, the difference is not significant.

This is because ceramic factories are relatively profitable, so workers who can't get promoted in ceramic factories might try to become managers or do manual labor or odd jobs.

Even so, only a small percentage can become cadres unless you have connections; otherwise, you can only work as a laborer.

Therefore, in ceramic factories, most people are still willing to work as laborers.

Take Zhou Jianjun, for example. At first, his father, Director Zhou, wanted him to do odd jobs in the government office, but Zhou Jianjun was unwilling. Then, Zhou Jianjun insisted on learning pottery throwing. When Director Zhou saw that Zhou Jianjun wanted to learn pottery throwing, he didn't stop him in the end.

After all, the wages for pottery makers are indeed high; if you can make it big, your salary can be higher than that of a director like him.

If you become a senior technician, your salary might be two or three times higher than that of a supervisor.

Therefore, many people are still willing to work in ceramic factories, but it's hard to say about other factories.

For example, ordinary workers in steel mills and chemical plants would definitely want to become cadres if given the opportunity, since cadres earn higher salaries and have better career prospects.

Especially in chemical plants, many ordinary workers work three shifts, and their wages are not as high as those of technicians and managers, so ordinary workers there would definitely prefer to become managers.

After all, it's related to the salary you get.

Moreover, ordinary workers have almost no opportunities for advancement; at most, they might become a team leader if they work there long enough.

But in a ceramics factory, the workers are equivalent to technicians in a chemical plant.

They all have technical skills and can be upgraded. There are first-level and second-level workers, and the wages are also much higher. So, apart from manual laborers, the workers in the ceramics factory can basically be considered as technicians.

They all have upward mobility.

To take Li Feng as an example, he is now a level three painter and earns a salary of 150, 160 or 170 yuan.

Although Li Feng's salary is relatively high for a junior painter, it is not much among intermediate and advanced painters.

Li Feng's salary as a junior painter would be a phenomenal sum in other factories.

Because ordinary factories simply cannot offer such high wages.

Therefore, there is no difference between being a worker and being a manager in a ceramics factory, but there are very obvious differences in other factories.

Li Feng's motivation for attending this university was largely for his future, and if he could become a manager, he could also do something for the factory.

For example, things like promoting reforms in a certain area.

Because many things require administrative personnel to take the lead, such as the factory director and deputy factory director, who are the highest decision-makers in the factory.

However, it's a bit too early for Li Feng to think about these things now. In any case, if he wants to do something, he definitely has to get into university first. If he doesn't get into university, then nothing else matters.

When Li Feng thought of this, he couldn't help but shake his head. Then he focused his attention on the photo. Looking at the photo in front of him, Li Feng realized that this was the main reason why the people in the institute thought he was a cadre.

Because the people taking photos with him were all retired cadres in military uniforms.

Who are the people who can dress like this at this time? Just think about it and you'll know. Moreover, the high-ranking leader standing next to him is wearing a Zhongshan suit. In this era, can anyone who can wear a Zhongshan suit be an ordinary person? Therefore, Li Feng understands what these people are thinking.

Then Li Feng looked at the photo frame in front of him and couldn't help but wonder where he should put it.

After thinking it over, Li Feng decided to place it directly opposite the entrance to his living room. So, he found a nail in his house and nailed the photo to it.

That way, you'll see this photo as soon as you enter.

This also shows that I respect them.

After Li Feng finished doing all this, he checked the time and found that it was almost nine o'clock. So Li Feng then prepared to boil water to wash up.

Tomorrow is Sunday, and I don't have to go to work, so tomorrow is my day off. Therefore, I still need to go to Ding Qiunan's place tomorrow.

See if there's anything I can teach her. If I've taught her enough, then let her study on her own. After all, I also need to prepare for the college entrance exam, since there are only a few months left until then.

(End of this chapter)