Chapter 234: Won’t Turn Back Until Hitting A Dead End
Whether it’s from the Foreign Trade Bureau or the District Government, even Lu Qiaoge from
All three now have a common goal, so there is no nonsense or empty talk.
The venue issue is easy to solve, raw materials don’t need to be worried about, as for funds, an advance payment will arrive in a few days.
What is needed now is people.
And they can’t be novices, they must be experienced master craftsmen.
This requires total mobilization from top to bottom.
Su Hongmei: “I have twenty-seven master craftsmen here, who were previously from our Jiangcheng Handicraft Factory. Because the factory couldn’t pay salaries, they merged with the shoe factory. They had all trained apprentices before and have straw weaving experience. After I took responsibility for this area, I went to find them one by one. Most have retired, but they haven’t lost their craftsmanship. Because there was no dedicated venue, it was handed over to the Residents’ Committee for management. The first batch of straw hats all passed inspection.”
Lu Qiaoge knew about this; these people were all skilled artisans, very capable.
Director Zhou nodded and said to Lu Qiaoge: “Currently, master craftsmen are not a problem, and there are ready-made factory buildings. Being able to concentrate them for unified management will also make it easier to control quality. Our cooperation is actually very simple.”
Lu Qiaoge was easy to talk to and gave most of the orders to Director Zhou and Elder Sister Su.
A temporary team was also established.
The office was in the small meeting room of the Foreign Trade Section, until the goods were delivered on schedule and all payments were received.
Lu Qiaoge was naturally also a team member.
But she mainly took care of her own responsibilities.
After Lu Qiaoge returned, Old Hu went to handle recruitment for the handicraft factory and factory construction.
The handicraft group was temporarily untouched; the seven people cooperated very well, with a bit of an assembly line feel.
But expansion was inevitable.
This time, they would prioritize internally first, with the main requirement being skilled workers who knew straw weaving.
Old Hu secured a quota of twenty people.
At first, many people went to the Lu Family to ask Meng Xia, but upon hearing there would be an on-site exam, they all left disappointed.
There were no strict age limits, after all, young artisans were rare.
Except for the apprentices of those old artisans.
The Neighborhood Committee acted quickly: notice on the same day, on-site exam the next day.
Thirty-nine passed.
Among them, twenty-six were under forty.
The older ones had excellent craftsmanship, which they absolutely had to take on; how to arrange them was up to Lu Qiaoge not to worry about.
With two directors from the Neighborhood Committee there, Lu Qiaoge went to the Archives Bureau to help with confidence, mainly to find clues.
A few days passed in the blink of an eye.
Lu Qiaoge found information about Hongxing Lake; there used to be a dock there, similar to the initial guess.
Then there was the old gold mine, but there was no record of it.
Even the fact that Yuanbao Mountain had a gold mine was not recorded.
As for why it was called Yuanbao Mountain, it was because the mountain peaks resembled a gold ingot.
Now it was late August.
Not only did Lu Qiaoge receive a full month’s salary, but workers from the food factory and handicraft factory also received salaries.
They not only had salaries but also bonuses, and each received an extra pound of meat tickets.
This was to encourage everyone to complete the task early.
The handicraft factory now had twice as many personnel as the food factory.
Then the Comprehensive Office had the Infrastructure Section build a wall in the middle, without a separate main door; they still shared one main door with the food factory, since there was a guard room here.
During the initial period, every factory was the most united and best managed.
At this time, people’s thoughts were very simple: just work hard and don’t let the factory disband.
You know, many factories under the Neighborhood Committee from the fifties and sixties had disbanded.
After receiving salary, Su Hui bought meat, eggs, and fish, and went home early to prepare a table of dishes.
She originally wanted to call Qin Hengzhi, but he was at a meeting and wouldn’t be back until the day after tomorrow.
After eating, Lu Qiaoling took out a handkerchief and a plaid cloth hair clip; these were what she bought for Lu Qiaoge.
Lu Qiaoge didn’t stand on ceremony and accepted them with a beaming smile.
She had these things, but ones bought by her younger sister had different meaning.
Lu Qiaoge said: “Someone asked me what kind of partner you want; they’re preparing to introduce one to you.”
Lu Qiaoling immediately shook her head: “I’m still so young. It’s not too late for me to find a partner after you, Second Sister, get married.”
Then she mysteriously asked Lu Qiaoge: “Second Sister, when are you and Brother Qin getting married?”
This is how it was now; dating immediately involved the issue of marriage.
Even Meng Xia said it would be convenient for her to get married; the house was ready, in the military factory family courtyard in District One.
It was two rows of red brick small buildings, not small in area, with heating inside the rooms, and courtyards front and back.
Lu Qiaoge had also gone there for screening.
Lu Qiaoge felt a bit strange in her heart; she thought for a moment: “We definitely can’t get married this year; next year…”
Next year actually wasn’t a good year for marriage either.
Lu Qiaoling nodded; Second Sister’s mind was so sharp now, whatever decision she made was right.
Remembering something, she said to Lu Qiaoge: “Second Sister, did you know that yesterday afternoon Fan Xiaoyu’s mom and her sister-in-law went to the handicraft factory to find her?”
Lu Qiaoge frowned: “What did they want with her? Have they come to their senses and want to take Fan Xiaoyu back home?”
Lu Qiaoling nodded: “Yes, that’s it. They said a lot of apologetic words, but Fan Xiaoyu was very busy, and Director Hu happened to be there too. Her mom said to tell Fan Xiaoyu not to rent a house outside anymore, but to go home and live; they’ve already cleaned up a room for her.”
The current handicraft group was also a renowned existence in the military factory.
All these people had been converted to formal workers.
Their salaries had also increased.
Just this alone made countless people envious.
Naturally, now Fan Xiaoyu was the technician second only to Chang An; many people knew this.
If Chang An could be factory director, then Fan Xiaoyu would at least be a deputy director.
So now Fan Xiaoyu was no longer that pitiful little thing who had been driven out of the house and couldn’t survive on her own.
Lu Qiaoge asked: “What did Fan Xiaoyu say?”
Lu Qiaoge rarely interfered in others’ thoughts; if she really felt her family was good, no outsider saying anything would help.
They say you don’t turn back until you hit a dead end, but some people won’t turn back even after banging their heads bloody.
No one could do anything about that.
Lu Qiaoling said: “If she keeps hanging out with us and still can’t tell good from bad, then she’s beyond hope.”
“She told her mom that when they drove her to the countryside back then, they said she was a girl, a money-losing good, that everything in the Fan Family had nothing to do with her. She had done housework since childhood and even went to the countryside for them; she didn’t owe them anything and wouldn’t go back to live, to avoid them asking her for rent later when she couldn’t afford it…”
“Fan Xiaoyu’s sister-in-law started cursing, but luckily Director Hu came and drove them away.”
Lu Qiaoling was now in Lu Qiaoge’s bedroom; she was lying on the kang petting the cat while talking to Lu Qiaoge. When she got to this point, she lowered her voice and whispered: “Compared to Fan Xiaoyu’s sister-in-law, our big sister-in-law is really extremely good.”
Lu Qiaoge thought to herself that it was because Meng Xia didn’t prefer sons over daughters.
Lu Qiaoling continued: “She treats us like real younger sisters, and I will treat her well too. Once I save a bit more money, I’ll buy a bicycle, and then I can take her to work.”
Lu Qiaoge quickly stopped her.
The bikes now were all 28-inch heavy-duty ones; Su Hui wasn’t showing much yet, but in a few months…
