Courtyard House: Starting as a mediocre engineer

Leaving aside the future ambition to dominate the world, after finishing this assignment, Zhuang Zhongchen suddenly thought, since he'd already written it, he might as well add an attachment. Since we're going to leverage the advantages of the domestic logistics network, we can't do without one magic weapon—the shipping container!

Without a doubt, the adorable baby dragon was one of the biggest beneficiaries of globalization. Or, to put it another way, it was simply the biggest beneficiary.

To be honest, with a trade surplus of nearly $8000 billion every year, we don't need to worry about those messy things abroad. What's the point of having a British Empire? What's the point of being a beacon of humanity? That's just insane! We can just quietly watch those idiots abroad show off, unaware of how secretly pleased we are!

However, in the process of globalization, there were two great inventions—the container and the Internet.

At this stage, the internet certainly doesn't have the technical capability for this. But we could definitely explore the container technology tree, right? With containers, transportation efficiency could be increased by more than 10% immediately. Furthermore, it could leverage the advantages of domestic labor, significantly increasing domestic foreign trade exports.

This is actually similar to the later industrial Cthulhu. The domestic market of 14 billion people is the foundation, and the domestic logistics system forces involution. Eventually, a few incumbent leaders emerge, and then they wreak havoc on the international stage.

The widespread use of container shipping, in particular, has significantly reduced foreign trade costs, creating numerous "overseas free shipping zones."

Okay! That makes sense. But Zhuang Zhongchen's level is currently too low; he simply can't reach that high level. After all, the container system is an extremely large-scale engineering project that requires national-level approval to implement.

However, being unable to reach it doesn't prevent me from writing a paper, right? So, with a flourish of my pen, I quickly finished writing the paper.

At this point, Zhuang Zhongchen was somewhat dumbfounded. In just the last few days, he had actually written three papers? Had he become a heartless, paper-writing machine?

Regardless of whether it's useful or not, let's submit it to the higher-ups for reference!

……

Amidst unity, tension, seriousness, and liveliness, two months passed quickly, and the cadre training team finally reached graduation time.

Before leaving, the cadre training team had to have a conversation with each trainee. Some of these trainees would be promoted, while others would be transferred to different positions. Therefore, the atmosphere became somewhat uneasy.

However, none of this mattered to Zhuang Zhongchen. He was far too inexperienced; he was still a junior member. There was absolutely no chance of promotion for him. Therefore, he remained quite calm until the moment of their conversation…

"Xiao Zhuang, have a seat. Do you have any comments or suggestions regarding this training?"

"fine."

"You're so young, you're probably not married yet, right? Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Yes. We've decided to get married next year."

"Where are you from?"

"From the district library."

"..."

After a few brief pleasantries, the conversation got down to business: "Xiao Zhuang, you did well in your studies this time. And after the leader read your assignment, he gave you instructions—young people should be bold and decisive; we should give them more responsibilities!"

Zhuang Zhongchen was taken aback, then a hint of surprise crossed his face. Could it be? Had he really met a benefactor? Was he just incredibly lucky?

"Teacher Wu, I will resolutely obey the organization's arrangements."

"That's good. This is the new job I've assigned you." Teacher Wu smiled and handed her a slip of paper.

He took the slip of paper and looked at it closely: "Leading Group for Workers' and Peasants' Production? Technical Advisor?"

"Yes! Your original job will remain unchanged; you'll still go back to the Labor Bureau. This is a part-time job, and you'll need to be a good advisor, especially in the technology field. Understand?"

"Uh... I understand! I guarantee I'll complete the mission!"

"Hehe, that's good!"

"..."

It turned out to be a false alarm; I thought I was going to be promoted to deputy director.

My rank and income haven't changed at all, but I've added a part-time job, so I've suddenly had a lot more work? Isn't that just like being a donkey in a production team? I was thinking of just quitting.

Holy crap! It really is literally "giving some pressure"? That old cadre is really wicked!

However, since things had already come to this, complaining was useless. Zhuang Zhongchen took half a day off and made a trip to the Workers' and Peasants' Production Leading Group.

Several years ago, during a period of hardship, the government formed this Leading Group for Workers' and Peasants' Production by drawing personnel from various departments. This group was tasked with promoting self-help production, technological innovation, and science education. And even now, this temporary department remains in place.

To be fair, the technical advisors here don't have much power; they only have the right to make suggestions, not to actually make decisions.

But it's not a small group either; after all, it's a leading group, and even the smallest member is still a leader. They can supervise the work of various departments and enterprises throughout the city, just like imperial envoys with a sword of authority.

And in recent years, the leading group has made some achievements.

For example, mobilizing all citizens to grow vegetables in their yards, rooftops, and other corners to supplement the insufficient supply of agricultural products has indeed enriched people's vegetable baskets.

For example, they invented a recovery powder made from wheat bran, soybean flour, and sugar. It was specifically for treating edema and hepatitis caused by malnutrition. I heard it was quite effective. Zhuang Zhongchen even took a packet to try it; the taste… well, let's not even go there!

It's not entirely useless. But it always gives off a feeling... well, what else do you want?

However, now that industrial and agricultural production has returned to normal, the previous small-scale operations are no longer suitable. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen efforts, focusing on technological innovation and technology transfer. A special fund has also been allocated.

Simply put, the goal was to increase manpower. One of the trainees, a particularly boastful one, impressed the veteran cadres, and was thus drafted into the workforce.

Zhuang Zhongchen understood what this meant—the higher-ups had already given him a chance. "Let's see what you're made of!"

Never mind all that, I've just gained a new part-time job.

After attending the graduation ceremony, Zhuang Zhongchen returned to the courtyard house with his luggage. But as soon as he opened the door, he saw several letters on the table.

Zhuang Zhongchen opened the letters and skimmed through them. The other letters didn't contain anything particularly important, so he set them aside.

Only two emails remained. One contained a remittance slip. The paper on bulletproof vests had been successfully accepted and would be published in an internal confidential journal. He even received a 34 yuan royalty.

The other letter was a rejection letter. The paper on reactive armor was not accepted. The journal rejected it outright.

Although it was a bit of a disappointment, Zhuang Zhongchen wasn't surprised. One person recording and one person dropping out was quite normal; you couldn't force someone to speak... huh?

Wait a minute! Zhuang Zhongchen suddenly had a question. If this was a rejection letter, then where was the returned manuscript?