Courtyard House: Starting as a mediocre engineer

You know what. Zhuang Zhongchen suddenly realized that mastering certain professional skills could be quite useful in life. For example, this acting skill—isn't it... a wolf in sheep's clothing?

Holy crap! This art style is getting weirder and weirder!

The only regret is that there's only one upgrade card, and who knows when I'll be able to buy a new job skill again.

On the day he went to work, Zhuang Zhongchen had just left his house when he was unexpectedly stopped by an old man named Yi Zhonghai.

"Chenzi, I happen to have something to discuss with you, just a few words."

"Hey, grandpa, what's up?"

"Regarding what you mentioned, our factory leaders are very supportive and have told us to cooperate fully. However, our factory director, Mr. Li, has a favor to ask. He asked me to invite you over. How about we discuss this in person sometime?"

"Hmm?" Zhuang Zhongchen was a little puzzled. It was just borrowing a few people and having the old man and the others help out in their spare time, so why was the steel mill making such a fuss?

However, the proper courtesy should still be shown. Zhuang Zhongchen smiled and said, "Uncle, how about another day? I'll go to the bureau to arrange some work first, and then arrive at your steel rolling mill before noon?"

"Okay! We'll wait for you then."

"..."

Around noon, when Zhuang Zhongchen arrived at the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill, he was surprised to find Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong personally greeting him at the factory gate. They were accompanied by several people, with a middle-aged man with a square face in the center.

"Chenzi, let me introduce you. This is our Factory Director, Li Huaide."

"Comrade Xiao Zhuang, it's an honor to meet you!" Li Huaide shook hands warmly. "Please excuse my humble amusement. I'm the deputy factory director, in charge of production and logistics. Welcome to visit and provide guidance. Please come in! Let's talk in the office."

"Hello! Factory Manager Li."

"You're too kind."

Zhuang Zhongchen was curious. So this was Li Huaide, the man with the invincible golden spear, a legendary figure in the original story.

What's a bit strange is that Li Huaide adopted a very humble attitude, seemingly showing no disrespect for Zhuang Zhongchen's age whatsoever, and genuinely treating him as a superior. Whether this was an act or not, his demeanor was certainly flattering.

It's important to understand that the Beijing Iron and Steel General Plant is a vice-ministerial level enterprise. Like the ironmaking plant, steelmaking plant, and steel pipe plant, the rolling mill is a department-level factory. Li Huaide is a deputy department-level cadre. The difference in rank between him and Zhuang Zhongchen is vast. There's really no need for such politeness.

Let's not worry about that for now, we'll just make the best of it.

After arriving at the factory building, we entered Li Huaide's office.

Li Huaide and Zhuang Zhongchen exchanged pleasantries for a while. They both reached the same conclusion—Holy crap! They'd run into a seasoned veteran of officialdom.

After considering for a few seconds, Li Huaide simply cut to the chase and asked, "Xiao Zhuang, I heard from Master Yi and Master Liu that your project is agricultural freight tricycles?"

Since they were all seasoned veterans, Li Huaide abandoned his contempt and stopped wasting time beating around the bush.

In some ways, seasoned veterans are relatively easy to communicate with, as they generally value interests above all else.

The two types of people I fear most are: one is the political animal, who wants to be both a braggart and a virtuous person; the other is the hot-blooded, naive newcomer who only knows how to charge recklessly and has no understanding of the exchange of interests.

Of course, seasoned veterans can exchange benefits, but don't expect to gain too much. So playing your cards openly is more suitable.

Zhuang Zhongchen smiled slightly: "That's true. In the first phase of development, we plan to manufacture several prototype vehicles."

"That's great. Our steel mill will definitely give our full support to such a key project. You can use all the personnel and equipment you need. Once it's officially in production, you can also use our hot-rolled plates!"

"???" Zhuang Zhongchen was slightly puzzled. When did this kind of trivial project become a key project?

Furthermore, the "hot-rolled plates" promised by Li Huaide are definitely a generous gift. The steel mill will then provide a batch of unplanned steel plates.

Unlike the Industrial Age of Cthulhu, later enterprises and factories would compete to sell their products.

However, at this stage, steel products are always in short supply. Apart from the annual planned sales, there is only a tiny amount of unplanned materials.

Without steel, what can be accomplished? Just like without textiles, what are you all supposed to do without clothes? That's why one is the elder brother and the other is the elder sister.

To reiterate—the rules of economic operation are different in this era. At a certain level, money becomes less important, and these basic commodities become hard currency.

To put it bluntly: giving me 10 large yellow croakers is not as good as giving me a permit for 1000 tons of steel or 3000 bolts of cloth. Many things are hard to buy even with money.

Therefore, after his initial surprise, Zhuang Zhongchen continued, following Li Huaide's words, "Director Li, thank you so much for your support. Our project has received care and support from the municipal government and the military. Now, with the help of your steel industry, it's like adding wings to a tiger."

"No need, no need, you're too kind," Li Huaide said with a smile, waving his hand. "Once the research and development is successful, our steel rolling mill will shamelessly offer to build a new tricycle factory!"

Upon hearing this, Zhuang Zhongchen suddenly realized. Holy crap! The steel mill has a huge appetite!

To be fair, Zhuang Zhongchen had begun to admire Li Huaide somewhat. Regardless of the old man's personal character, his insight was undeniable. He knew the three-wheeled vehicle project was a good one, and without hesitation, he seized the opportunity to acquire it.

It's important to understand that good projects are always in high demand, regardless of the era.

Firstly, Li Huaide will be able to control the three-wheeled vehicle resource, which will increase his strength in the future;

Secondly, the new branch factory can provide a number of job openings. If priority is given to the children of the steel rolling mill's employees, it will boost his reputation.

Thirdly, this would be a significant political achievement, and Li Huaide would certainly be eager to advance. At this stage, no one could possibly know what trouble might ensue in the future. To secure Director Yang's position, Li Huaide would definitely need substantial achievements.

Having understood this, Zhuang Zhongchen knew how to handle the situation. He smiled and said, "Director Li, our leadership team is only responsible for overall coordination and needs to integrate the strengths of various departments. As for the final arrangements, that's decided by the leaders. However, I believe that the size of their contributions will certainly be taken into account."

Li Huaide smiled; this was exactly what he wanted to hear: "Xiao Zhuang, of course we'll support you. We'll give you 10 yuan in funding first. If that's not enough, we can approve an additional 20 yuan. To be honest, what we want is control of the factory. As for the contributions from other brother units, you can rest assured. We steelworkers are loyal and straightforward men."

This is the source of the steel giant's confidence. They are confident they can handle everything, including funding, high-level relationships, partnerships with other companies, and other aspects.