Chapter 220: Hands-on Ability
Zhang Wanhe crept quietly to the meeting room like a thief.
He was afraid that any noise he made would break the students’ silence and waste Li Muzhi’s efforts.
Seeing this, the Guard Captain smiled and said, “Minister Zhang, you don’t need to be so careful. The students are all very quiet now.”
Zhang Wanhe moved to the window outside the meeting room and looked inside.
The students were indeed as quiet as the Guard Captain had said.
Even those troublemakers were quickly calculating and writing on their notebooks, not even lifting their heads, looking like they had no time to cause trouble.
Of course, after watching for a while, Zhang Wanhe felt even more that this was a kind of competition.
Between those troublemakers, they were competing with each other, as if racing to solve more questions.
Seeing this, Zhang Wanhe pulled his head back, extremely pleased: “It seems I really don’t need to worry about them anymore.”
The Guard Captain continued smiling: “Once Factory Director Li trains them all up, you’ll still have to worry.”
“Worry about what?”
“Worry about when they learn Factory Director Li’s real skills and can all take charge independently. Won’t you need more machinery and equipment and raw materials then? As Minister Zhang in charge of logistics, won’t you have to get them?” the Guard Captain said.
“Haha.” Zhang Wanhe lowered his voice and laughed happily: “That’s true, haha, that’s true. It seems no matter what, this Head of Logistics can’t escape a life of worrying.”
Zhang Wanhe did not leave but continued to wait here.
The exam time was two hours, and it was almost up.
Li Muzhi would soon come over, and Zhang Wanhe still wanted to see how Li Muzhi would communicate with these students afterward.
If a few words had tamed the troublemakers, and if they remained very well-behaved during the follow-up exchange.
Then it would mean that he, as Head of Logistics, needed to learn well from Comrade Li Muzhi how to deal with high-level intellectuals.
For soldiers like Li Yunlong who had little education, Brigade Commander Chen of the 386th Brigade could just yell at them.
But high-level intellectuals were different.
Exactly two hours later, Li Muzhi arrived.
“Minister Zhang, are you waiting for me here?” Li Muzhi asked suspiciously.
“No, no.” Zhang Wanhe waved his hands and explained, “I just came to see how you communicate with the students, so I can learn from it in the future.”
“Hehe, Minister Zhang, do you want to come in?” Li Muzhi smiled and asked.
“No need. If the students see my face, their emotions won’t be good. I’d better not disturb you.” Zhang Wanhe quickly waved his hands.
“Alright then.” Li Muzhi said nothing more and pushed the door open to enter.
Seeing Li Muzhi come in, the students immediately put down their pens and eagerly said to him:
“Hehe, Factory Director Li, I solved six questions.”
“Factory Director Li, I solved eight questions.”
“Factory Director Li, I solved nine questions.”
“Factory Director Li, I’m not bragging, if there was enough time, I could solve every question on the entire exam paper.” One troublemaker shouted loudly.
……
Facing the students’ enthusiasm, Li Muzhi pretended to be surprised: “Really? You’re not joking, are you? I made these questions very difficult. Being able to solve even one or two is quite impressive. Could it be that I really underestimated your abilities?”
Li Muzhi’s attitude was very pleasing in the students’ eyes:
“Factory Director Li, we said we wouldn’t let you down, and we definitely won’t.”
“If we could only solve one or two questions, we wouldn’t deserve to be called elites.”
……
“I don’t believe it. I still need to check.” Li Muzhi put on a serious and stern expression. “Write your names on them and hand your answers to me.”
Soon, twenty-eight answers with their respective names were quickly handed to Li Muzhi.
Li Muzhi quickly flipped through them, feigning shock: “Incredible, truly incredible. I really did underestimate your abilities. The least did six questions. The one who did the most actually solved fifteen—way beyond my expectations.”
“The fifteen questions were mine.” A troublemaker immediately said happily, “Factory Director Li, if there was enough time, I could solve the rest for you too.”
“Classmate Liu Fuxing, since you solved the most questions, from now on, you are the Class Leader.” Li Muzhi announced on the spot that he would serve as Class Leader.
Training these students would take time; it couldn’t be achieved in a day or two.
Li Muzhi couldn’t spend most of his time teaching them every day.
So, they still needed to manage themselves.
Li Muzhi would provide them with different learning materials for self-study.
Those high-level talents dug over from the Huangyadong Arsenal would also take time to teach them according to their different levels.
At the same time, these students would go to positions in the arsenal every day to learn relevant practical experience.
For things they didn’t understand, Li Muzhi would periodically answer questions.
Hearing this, Liu Fuxing was thrilled: “Factory Director Li, did I hear that right? Can I really be Class Leader?”
Back when he was in school, teachers had only seen him as a problem student, a misfit, even ordering him to drop out.
As for being a class officer, Liu Fuxing had never been one.
He had always been the one disciplined by the class officers.
He never expected that on his first day at the Border Region Arsenal, he could become Class Leader.
Factory Director Li really had sharp eyes.
“Here with me, the greater your ability, the more you’ll be valued.” Li Muzhi gave an affirmative answer.
“Factory Director Li, rest assured, I’ll do a good job.” Liu Fuxing was practically jumping up.
“Factory Director Li, does solving more questions mean greater ability?” Another troublemaker shouted. “Maybe some people are just good at doing questions but average at hands-on work.”
Li Muzhi turned his gaze to Liu Fuxing: “Classmate Liu Fuxing, as Class Leader, your first task is to solve the problem. A classmate has raised an issue—how will you handle it?”
“I can blacksmith, repair bicycles, grow crops—any crop! I know them all!” Liu Fuxing listed them proudly. “When I was at university, I also learned shooting. At 150 meters, I can hit the bullseye. Once, a Japanese invader and a few puppet soldiers went to the village to assault women, and I killed them all with homemade explosives. Everyone here, if any of you thinks your hands-on skills are better than mine, come compare with me. If I lose, no problem—you be Class Leader.”
That Liu Fuxing knew so much was impressive, but the biggest thing was that he could make homemade explosives and had used them to kill several enemies.
This point blocked everyone else’s path.
Most of these students had never even seen blood, let alone killed enemies—how could they compare with Liu Fuxing?
Of course, a troublemaker still shouted: “My hands-on ability means fighting. If you can beat me in a fight, I’ll submit.”
“Hehe.” Liu Fuxing sneered, then chopped his palm like a knife hard onto the table.
Crack!
A crack immediately appeared on the tabletop.
Liu Fuxing continued: “My grandfather taught me iron palm skills. I’m just so-so at it, but are you sure you want to fight me?”
After this, the last voices of doubt fell silent.
With such strong hands-on ability, what was there to compare?
No wonder Factory Director Li had sharp eyes to spot talent.
He immediately picked out the best one to be Class Leader.
Li Muzhi said sternly: “Classmate Liu Fuxing, remember this: our conditions are poor, and any supplies or property are precious. You arbitrarily damaged logistics property—demerit once!”
Hahaha!
The meeting room immediately filled with laughter.
This laughter completely dispelled everyone’s minor resentments about Liu Fuxing becoming Class Leader.
At the same time, everyone gained a new understanding of Factory Director Li before them.
Have ability, and you’ll be valued.
Make a mistake, and you’ll be punished—quite fair.
Facing Li Muzhi’s demerit punishment, Liu Fuxing had no complaints, just some embarrassment: “Factory Director Li, sorry, I was impulsive. Next time, I’ll handle problems rationally.”
“Good.” Li Muzhi nodded, then said: “Do you all know each other?”
Li Muzhi only knew these people had been sent to Zhang Wanhe from various places a few days ago, but he didn’t know if they knew each other.
“We know each other, we know. Minister Zhang made us get acquainted.” Liu Fuxing and the others nodded.
“Since you all know each other, there’s no need to introduce again.” Li Muzhi said, “We’ve selected the Class Leader, but the groups still need to be reassigned. I’ll group you based on your information. Your current task is to follow Minister Zhang to familiarize yourselves with the Border Region Arsenal environment, see our military industry production, and check which part you like—you can start by learning that area first.”
Liu Fuxing scratched his head: “Factory Director Li, can you not have Minister Zhang take us?”
Liu Fuxing’s words quickly got agreement from others.
“Yeah, Factory Director Li, we’re scared when we see Minister Zhang.”
“Factory Director Li, we know you’re busy and don’t have time to take us. Find someone else, that’s fine.”
……
Seeing this from the doorway, Zhang Wanhe hurried in.
Old Zhang’s face was full of smiles: “Classmates, don’t be afraid. I’m not a bad guy—I won’t eat you. Come with me.”
Old Zhang was genuinely happy seeing from outside that Li Muzhi had these students completely subdued.
Of course, the issue of the students fearing him still needed immediate resolution.
However, Old Zhang meant well to clear up the misunderstanding, but as soon as he smiled, the students felt like they were seeing a smiling tiger.
Even some female students stepped back a few paces: “Minister Zhang, maybe keep your face serious. Like this, we’re scared.”
Pfft!
The Guard Captain behind Zhang Wanhe couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
Old Zhang immediately felt awkward, his old face turning red.
Seeing Old Zhang bungle it, Li Muzhi bailed him out: “Forget it, have the Guard Captain take you.”
“Guard Captain, you take them to familiarize with the environment first. When you get to the workshop, have Lao He receive them.” Li Muzhi said to the Guard Captain.
“Okay.” The Guard Captain nodded and said to the students, “Everyone, follow me.”
The students followed the Guard Captain. Zhang Wanhe asked Li Muzhi: “Xiao Li, was my smile really that scary?”
“Yes.” Li Muzhi said very affirmatively.
Think about it: a person who’s usually stern and fierce suddenly grinning widely—who wouldn’t feel uneasy? Especially students.
“Then how do you think I should smile?” Zhang Wanhe humbly asked for advice.
“I think for this period, you shouldn’t smile.”
“…” Zhang Wanhe.
