In the fiery red era of the heavens, refrigerators are refreshed daily.

Chapter 39. The Stone Falls to the Ground
A hidden and cold thought, like a poisonous vine growing in the shadows, quickly spread and entwined in his heart.

At that moment, he thought of Deputy Factory Director Zhao Guodong!
The factory office secretariat may seem stable, but in reality, the promotion path is as narrow as a single-plank bridge.

While it's true that becoming like Lao Zhou (Old Zhou) earns respect, the ceiling above your head is also clearly visible.

Li Weidong was unwilling to accept this.

He considered himself to have outstanding writing skills and was recognized by the secretariat as a potential "penman." He was quick-witted and had a thorough understanding of the factory's affairs.

The newly arrived deputy factory director, Zhao Guodong, is the most dazzling and only visible ladder of advancement in front of him!

Becoming Deputy Factory Director Zhao's full-time secretary means having access to core confidential information, entering the sight of factory leaders, and potentially becoming the deputy director of the factory office like the other senior secretaries, truly entering the core circle of the cadre ranks.

He was originally full of ambition.

Old Zhou is getting on in years and his ambition is to work in the newspaper; Sister Zhang is enthusiastic, but she mainly handles administrative tasks and her writing skills are far inferior to his.

This position seems to belong to him alone!
He even began to deliberately imitate Zhao Guodong's concise and pragmatic style in several small meetings when writing materials, carefully choosing his words and striving for a similar effect.

But the appearance of Yang Guangming instantly shattered his carefully constructed blueprint.

This young man was tall, handsome, energetic, well-dressed, wore a watch, and spoke with neither arrogance nor servility, handling situations with propriety.

More importantly, he was personally arranged to be brought in by Deputy Factory Director Zhao!

Although Yang Guangming vehemently denied it, Li Weidong was certain that Deputy Factory Director Zhao was likely behind it all!
He happened to overhear a few words of the phone call between Deputy Factory Director Zhao and Han Mingqian outside the door.

This certainty felt like a cold stone, pressing down on him and making it hard for him to breathe!

A strong sense of crisis gripped Li Weidong.

He felt that the position that was within his grasp suddenly became unattainable, as if separated by an invisible layer of glass.

Yang Guangming was like a giant rock that appeared out of nowhere, carrying an undeniable weight, blocking his path as he struggled to climb.

He subconsciously pushed up his glasses, his gaze behind the lenses casting a complex look at Yang Guangming's newly established "battleground"—a brand-new notebook, pen, and manuscript paper.

His eyes were filled with scrutiny, vigilance, and a hint of barely concealed anxiety and... a stinging jealousy.

He gripped the pen tightly, the nib pressing unconsciously against the paper, leaving a small, dark blot of ink, much like his gloomy mood. He was completely unaware of it.

In the office, Yang Guangming was intently flipping through the rules and regulations, the paper making a soft rustling sound; Zhang Yuqin picked up her knitting needles again, the ball of yarn rolling gently on her lap; Lao Zhou was immersed in the world of the newspaper, only making a crisp sound when turning the pages; Li Weidong stared blankly at the ink stain on the manuscript paper.

The air seemed to freeze, with only the faint, unchanging roar of the factory machines outside the window serving as a low reminder of the passage of time.

Three new colleagues—one leisurely, one enthusiastic, and one anxious—each harbor heavy thoughts within this small secretarial team, creating a subtle panorama of office life.

The old-fashioned wall clock slowly climbed to 11:30.

The lunch bell, which was also the prelude to "The East Is Red" playing over the factory's loudspeakers, rang precisely on time, its powerful melody instantly shattering the office's silence. Zhang Yuqin deftly put down her knitting, stood up, and greeted Yang Guangming with her usual enthusiasm:

"Xiao Yang, come on, let's go eat! Your food ration hasn't been transferred yet, and you definitely haven't received your food coupons. You can eat with me for the next couple of days. I have extra food coupons."

As she spoke, she reached for her aluminum lunchbox, which had some small dents on the corners.

Yang Guangming quickly stood up and declined with an apologetic smile: "Thank you, Sister Zhang! Please don't trouble yourself. I've already arranged with my mother that she'll be waiting for me in the cafeteria today, the first day, so we can have lunch together."

"Oh my, your mother is at our factory too?" Zhang Yuqin was a little surprised, then smiled knowingly, "Okay, okay, it's nice to eat with Mom, that's thoughtful. You should go quickly, don't keep Mom waiting."

"Okay, Sister Zhang, Master Zhou, Comrade Li, I'll be going now." Yang Guangming politely nodded to his colleagues in the office.

Old Zhou lifted his eyelids from behind the newspaper, his thick glasses flashed, and he mumbled a "hmm" in his throat.

Li Weidong seemed to be startled awake. He raised his head in a fluster, managed a very brief smile, nodded, and then quickly lowered his head again, as if the ink stain on the manuscript paper had suddenly become a problem that urgently needed to be solved, causing him to frown.

Sunlight streamed as he strode down the slightly worn wooden stairs, his leather shoes making a crisp, slightly hollow echo on the polished, slightly loose steps.

As soon as I stepped out of the factory office building, the air, still warm from the workshop, hit me.

He immediately saw his mother, Zhang Xiuying, waiting under the dense shade of the tall sycamore tree at the entrance, standing on tiptoe, craning her neck, and anxiously looking towards the office building.

Her gray-blue overalls were faded from washing and clung tightly to her thin shoulders and back.

Seeing her son's tall figure appear, the anxiety on her face instantly melted away, and a relieved smile bloomed on her face as she jogged over to greet him.

"Mingming! How's it going? Are all the paperwork done? What's Director Han like? Are his colleagues easy to get along with? Has anyone given you a hard time?"

Zhang Xiuying bombarded her son with questions, her eyes scanning his face and body like searchlights. Her rough hands gripped his arm, as if she wanted to dissect and understand everything that had happened to him that morning.

Every wrinkle on her face was filled with concern!

Seeing the fine beads of sweat on his mother's forehead and the undisguised worry in her eyes, Yang Guangming felt a warmth in his heart. He patiently and thoroughly answered her questions, his voice steady:
"Mom, don't worry. All the formalities are done, and we've received our work protective equipment." He gestured, "Here you go, soap, gloves, notebooks, and pens. The factory badges have been issued too."

He gently patted the brand-new aluminum badge clipped to his left breast pocket; the metal reflected a faint glimmer in the sunlight.

"Director Han is a very nice person, very kind and meticulous, and he explains things very clearly. He's just a colleague..."

He paused, thinking of the three very different people in the office. "Sister Zhang is quite enthusiastic, Master Zhou is a veteran and doesn't talk much, and Comrade Li... seems to work quite diligently."

He chose the safest and most reliable description.

Listening to her son's clear and calm narration, and looking at the heavy badge on his chest symbolizing his status as a "public servant," Zhang Xiuying's smile grew wider and brighter, finally turning into a long sigh, as if a thousand-pound burden had been lifted from her shoulders.
"Thank goodness it's done! Thank goodness it's done! A huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders!"

(End of this chapter)