60s: I have a store

Chapter 531 Commendation Conference
The good news of the improved air fryer quickly reached the ears of Director Hu as if it had wings.

At that time, Director Hu was buried in a mountain of documents, busy with various factory affairs.

But when he heard the news, he instantly perked up. The pen in his hand fell on the table with a "pop". He didn't even bother to tidy up the messy desk. He got up in a hurry and hurried towards the research room.

As soon as he stepped into the laboratory, Director Hu's eyes were attracted by the improved air fryer placed in a prominent position.

His focused expression was as if the air fryer in front of him was a one-of-a-kind treasure in the world, and as if he saw the steel plant's bright future. His eyes were wide open, not blinking, and his whole body was frozen in place.

Zhou Yimin was discussing subsequent improvement ideas with his team members when he looked up and saw Director Hu standing at the door.

The corners of his mouth slightly raised, with a hint of smile, he walked forward and called softly: "Director Hu!"

After calling him twice, Director Hu finally came back to his senses from his fascination. He scratched his head awkwardly and said, "Hey, Yimin, what's the matter with you?"

Zhou Yimin half-jokingly said: "No, I think you are too fascinated, and I am afraid that you will be immersed in the joy of this new achievement."

When Director Hu heard this, a blush appeared on his face, and he laughed dryly with embarrassment: "This...this is such a surprise, our factory has finally come up with something big!"

At this time, Li Chongguang also came forward and said to Director Hu with a serious face: "Director Hu, take a look, these improved samples are already very perfect. Please send them to the Ministry of Commerce first. If they are tested there and there are no problems, we can arrange mass production."

Director Hu finally woke up from his dream and nodded quickly, saying, "Sure, sure, I'll go now!"

Just as he finished speaking, he seemed to remember something, turned around, glanced at everyone in the laboratory, and said with concern: "You have all been too hard during this period. So, everyone should take a break for two days, relax, and then come back to work!"

When the researchers present heard this, they immediately cheered.

They were really exhausted these days. Every day before dawn, they rushed to the research room and plunged into work. They were often busy until late at night, when the whole factory fell into a deep sleep, and they left with exhausted bodies.

It is no exaggeration to say that they “get up earlier than chickens and sleep later than dogs.” Now they have two days of rest, which is undoubtedly the best reward for them.

Director Hu encouraged everyone again, then carefully picked up the air fryer samples that embodied the hard work of the scientific research team, as if they were priceless treasures, and quickly walked out of the research room and headed for the Ministry of Commerce.

Everyone in the laboratory began to pack up their belongings, their faces filled with relaxation and joy, preparing to go home and have a good rest.

After Director Hu rushed to the Ministry of Commerce, the staff of the Ministry of Commerce were fully aware of the importance of this batch of samples and did not dare to slack off at all.

They acted quickly, contacted relevant transportation channels as quickly as possible, and sent these air fryer samples abroad, looking forward to getting market feedback as soon as possible.

If the market responds well, the steel mills can immediately go into production and earn valuable foreign exchange for the country.

Time passed day by day, and after a long wait of more than ten days, good news finally came.

Once the improved air fryer was launched in the overseas market, it was like a blockbuster bomb, instantly triggering a heated response.

Foreign consumers have raved about this air fryer with its novel design and excellent performance, and its sales have soared.

After learning of the good news, the staff of the Ministry of Commerce did not dare to delay for a moment and immediately reported this exciting news to their superiors.

When the superior leaders learned about this, they were also very happy.

At present, the country's foreign exchange reserves are tight, and many urgently needed advanced technologies and equipment cannot be introduced due to lack of foreign exchange.

Although foreign countries will not easily sell their most advanced technologies, even those technologies and equipment that are close to being obsolete are priced ridiculously high.

But even so, given the relatively weak domestic industrial level, even introducing these technologies that are not the most cutting-edge can promote industrial development to a certain extent.

Therefore, the superiors attach great importance to matters that can earn foreign exchange, and other matters are put aside.

Air fryers are now very popular abroad, which means that steel mills are expected to earn foreign exchange by exporting products and alleviate the dilemma of insufficient foreign exchange reserves.

Although there are many products that can earn foreign exchange now, the speed of earning foreign exchange is still somewhat disproportionate to the speed of spending foreign exchange.

The superior leaders immediately issued instructions, asking the steel plant to start mass production of air fryers as soon as possible.

Director Hu soon received instructions from his superiors. After hearing the news, he was so excited that he almost jumped up.

He knew in his heart that the success of this air fryer project would undoubtedly be a powerful booster for his future career development.

In order to reward all members of the research laboratory and to boost the morale of employees throughout the factory, Director Hu decided to hold a factory-wide meeting.

The day before the meeting, the news spread quietly to every corner of the steel plant, and the workers' curiosity was completely ignited.

In the steelmaking workshop, the blazing fire illuminated the sweaty faces of the workers. During their breaks, they gathered together to discuss: "Hey, Da Liu, what do you think the factory director wants to do by calling a meeting with everyone?"

The short guy Wang Qiang asked Da Liu who was wiping his sweat next to him in a hoarse voice.

Liu frowned and said thoughtfully, "I think it must be a good thing. Think about it, if it's not something big, how can we call tens of thousands of people from the whole factory together?"

An old master nearby also said, "No matter what it is, as long as there is a meeting, it must be right. Maybe our factory will come up with a big project again!"

In the machine repair shop, young Xiao Zhao was fiddling with the wrench in his hand while discussing with his colleagues: "Maybe we are going to get a raise? Everyone has been working very hard recently."

Another colleague immediately retorted: "I don't think so. If there was a salary increase, it would have been announced on the radio long ago. Why is it so secretive?"

Everyone was talking at once, and no one could predict the content of tomorrow's meeting, but everyone was secretly looking forward to it.

On the day of the conference, the sun shone all over the factory area, and the breeze blew gently, as if conveying the upcoming good news.

The workers set out from their respective posts early and headed towards the designated venue for the conference.

Along the way, groups of people gathered together in twos and threes, forming flowing tides of people.

Some workers walked in a hurry, eager to know the content of the meeting; others took their time, continuing the previous topic with their colleagues.

"Lao Zhang, what do you think will be announced at this time?" A young female worker asked Lao Zhang beside her curiously.

Lao Zhang stroked the stubble on his chin and said with a smile, "I guess, maybe our factory has developed a new product. Haven't you seen that the people in the research lab have been acting mysterious lately and working overtime every day?"

The female worker's eyes lit up: "Really? That's great! If the new product sells well, our factory will surely do well, and maybe we can even give out more benefits!" Soon, the agreed time arrived, and the originally spacious venue was now packed with dense crowds.

The workers gathered in groups of three or five, whispering to each other, their faces full of curiosity and anticipation.

Some people in the crowd stood on tiptoe and stretched their necks, trying to see if there was anything special on the podium.

Some of them gathered together, discussing in low voices the possible good news, with occasional chuckles audible from time to time.

Some anxious workers kept looking for Director Hu, muttering, "Why hasn't the director come yet? I'm so anxious."

Director Hu, wearing a neat work suit and with his hair neatly combed, strode onto the podium with an unconcealable joy on his face.

After he stood still, he scanned the audience, cleared his throat, and picked up the microphone.

In an instant, the originally noisy crowd suddenly quieted down. Everyone held their breath and pricked up their ears, waiting to hear what the factory director would say next.

"Comrades!" Director Hu's voice was loud and powerful, spreading throughout the audience through the loudspeaker. "I know that everyone is full of doubts about today's meeting."

He paused for a moment, his eyes slowly moving among the crowd, and then announced loudly: "But here, I want to tell you all a great piece of news. The researchers in our factory's research laboratory have successfully developed an air fryer, and it is very popular abroad! Now our superiors require us to mass-produce this air fryer!"

When the workers heard the news, there was silence at first. Everyone was stunned and seemed unable to react for a moment.

They never imagined that the research laboratory, which had just been established not long ago, would quietly accomplish such a big thing.

At the beginning, many people in the factory didn’t quite understand why this research laboratory was set up and felt that it had no effect at all.

Some people even suspect that the people in this research laboratory are the children or relatives of the factory leaders. You should know that the treatment in the research laboratory is not low.

No one knows how many people want to apply to join the factory, but in the end they are all recruited from outside, not selected from within the factory.

After a brief shock, the scene broke out into warm cheers and applause.

The cheers and applause were thunderous and lasted for a long time without stopping.

Some workers waved their hats excitedly and cheered loudly, while others hugged their colleagues excitedly to share the joy.

In the front row of the crowd, several old workers were filled with emotion.

At the back of the crowd, some young workers were full of energy.

"Once this air fryer becomes popular, our factory will definitely get a lot of orders. Maybe even our wages will increase in the future!" a young man said excitedly, his face filled with longing for the future.

His companions also laughed and said, "Of course not. We have to work hard and not fall behind! We can brag to others in the future that we contributed to the development of this air fryer!"

In the corner, several female workers gathered together, discussing excitedly.

"What is this air fryer?" one of them asked.

Another quickly explained: "I heard that the rice cooker is a bit like that. It can fry things deliciously without using oil. It's amazing!"

Director Hu looked at the audience's reaction with satisfaction, and then said, "Now, please invite everyone from the research room to the stage!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Chongguang and the members of the research laboratory walked onto the stage with their heads held high.

They marched in step, their faces filled with pride and joy.

However, Zhou Yimin's expression was slightly embarrassed.

He didn't like being in the spotlight in the first place. If possible, he didn't want to come up, and he mentioned this to Director Hu.

Not surprisingly, Director Hu rejected it.

After all, how could Zhou Yimin, a great contributor, not go on stage to receive the award?
This may be the difference in concepts between him, who comes from later generations, and people of this era.

The workers in the audience saw that Zhou Yimin was the only familiar face among the team in the research laboratory, and they couldn't help but show curious looks.

"Isn't Section Chief Zhou from the Purchasing Department? How come he suddenly became a member of the Research Lab?"

Everyone was talking quietly.

Some thoughtful workers even began to worry. Without Zhou Yimin in the purchasing department, would they be able to purchase as much meat as before?
After all, this concerns everyone's vital interests.

Director Hu looked at the research team standing on the stage with a face full of satisfaction, and said loudly: "In order to thank the comrades in the research room for their hard work, the factory has decided to give them rewards. Comrades Zhou Yimin and Li Chongguang will each be rewarded with an air fryer! The rest of the comrades will each be rewarded with ten yuan and a pound of beef!"

When Chen Guochang in the audience heard about this reward plan, he suddenly felt a strong sense of jealousy.

He muttered to himself, "Oh my god! I have contributed a lot to this project, working overtime every day, and I have done no less work than others. Why did Zhou Yimin get an air fryer, while I only got ten yuan and a pound of beef?"

The more he thought about it, the more unfair it seemed, and his expression grew somewhat gloomy.

However, when other researchers heard about this award, they were filled with gratitude and even felt a little unworthy.

They knew that Zhou Yimin played a crucial role throughout the project. He put in more effort than ordinary people, both in overcoming technical difficulties and in coordinating resources from all parties.

Afterwards, Director Hu personally distributed the reward items to everyone in the research laboratory one by one.

When he handed the air fryer to Zhou Yimin, he held Zhou Yimin's hand tightly and said earnestly: "Yimin, this time thanks to your and everyone's efforts, you have made a great contribution to the factory!"

Zhou Yimin responded with a smile: "Director Hu, this is the result of everyone's joint efforts. I just did what I should do."

After distributing the rewards, Director Hu asked everyone to take a group photo together.

With the sound of the shutter click, the joy and glory of this moment were forever captured in the photo.

(End of this chapter)