Chapter 2#
Qiming Manufacturing Factory#
Like many others in the factory, Ma Qiangqiang treated the factory director as if he were the sky, believing him to be omnipotent and the go-to person for any issue.
However, the factory director had taken the Supply and Marketing Section on a purchasing trip out of town and wasn’t at the factory. Ma Qiangqiang’s trip was in vain, and he only managed to round up the workers from the First Workshop.
Those who had fought during the tomb-sweeping trip were still detained in the union office writing self-criticisms. At this moment, there weren’t many people moving freely in the yard, just a handful. With faces full of grief, they wheeled out their bicycles.
A female voice came from the shade of a tree diagonally behind them: “Qiangqiang, where are you guys rushing to?”
Ma Qiangqiang turned his head to look, his mouth flattened as he cried out: “Comrade Zhong, my brother he… if we want to see him one last time, we’d better hurry… better hurry…”
Zhong Gu swayed: “I’ll go with you!”
Panicking all the way to the hospital, she blew her nose as she entered the ward. A cry jumped to her lips but was abruptly halted.
The person Ma Qiangqiang said was dying was lying on his stomach, letting a nurse wipe the blood from the back of his neck.
The toilet paper in her hand was still pinching her nose.
Ma Qiangqiang stood on tiptoe and peeked from behind, his eyes widening: “Brother, you’re okay again?”
“What kind of talk is that?” Zhong Gu gave him a smack on the arm. “Xiang Ning is fine.”
Hearing the noise, Chen Ziqing looked towards the door. Several workers were crowded there. The woman leading them was at least 1.75 meters tall, with a square-ish long face and bold features. A pair of thick black braids hung in front of her. She wore a floral shirt with a work jacket over it and carried a bag. She was the “flower” of the Fifth Workshop, a friend the original owner had made in the union, and came from a well-off family.
He took his hand out from under the pillow and waved at her twice.
Zhong Gu’s sorrow vanished. She stuffed the toilet paper into her pocket, walked quickly into the ward, deftly placed her bag on the rusty iron cabinet by the bed, and said to the nurse: “Comrade, you go ahead with your work, I’ll take over.”
The nurse gave her the towel, gave a couple of instructions, and left.
The people at the door came in one after another to show their concern.
“Team leader, how is your body?”
“Little Ma said you… scared us to death, we thought you…”
That worker pulled Ma Qiangqiang, “Little Ma, you say it! Look at what you’ve done, how ominous!”
Ma Qiangqiang was originally dazed, but hearing this, he felt guilty. He slapped his mouth several times and looked cautiously at the person on the bed: “Brother, don’t be mad at me.”
Chen Ziqing smiled: “Okay, I won’t be mad.”
Ma Qiangqiang was dumbfounded. Why did his brother feel different?
Chen Ziqing’s heart skipped a beat. Did I blow my cover? So fast?
It’s okay, don’t be afraid. He calmed down quickly. The marked content didn’t include this point, so it didn’t matter if he was exposed.
The others didn’t notice this trace of fluctuation; they were all discussing the team leader’s injury.
Chen Ziqing turned his neck from one side to the other: “I’m fine, I’ve recovered.”
None of those present believed it.
“How could you be fine? My uncle cracked his head open and vomited too. He even had convulsions, spoke nonsense, and couldn’t be woken up no matter how much we called. My aunt was scared to death.”
“That must be brain damage. What happened later? Did your uncle get better?”
“He got better at first, but later he passed away.”
The ward was silent for a while. Zhong Gu asked with a solemn expression: “Xiang Ning, can you count how many of us are here? Do you still know which factory everyone is from?”
Chen Ziqing comforted them: “I can talk to you all, which means my brain is fine.”
Zhong Gu put the dirty towel into the yellow porcelain basin to wash and scrub, wrung it out, and draped it over the edge of the basin: “With a head injury, you have to lie down. Lie down properly, no moving around.”
Everyone agreed: “Yes, you should lie down.”
“With an injury like the team leader’s, he needs to lie down for at least three months.”
“After three months, we’ll have to see the situation.”
“…”
“What does the factory say? Have they made arrangements?”
“Don’t know. I’ll ask when the factory director comes back.”
“They must make arrangements. If the factory director doesn’t approve, I’ll go find him.”
“I’ll go too.”
“Count me in!”
The young men expressed their opinions all at once, each acting quite capable, making the ward noisy.
Zhong Gu frowned with her thick eyebrows: “Alright, alright, Xiang Ning needs to rest quietly. You all go back.”
Someone jeered: “Oho, Comrade Zhong, are you eating from our team leader’s pot now? How come you can make decisions for him?”
“Haven’t you sung ‘Young Friends Meeting Today’? Don’t you know what friends are?” Zhong Gu raised her hand and waved at the air. “Keep your thoughts pure. If you dare talk nonsense again, believe it or not, I’ll slap you so hard you’ll be looking for your teeth all over the floor?”
“Go, go, go.” She shooed the comrades out of the ward. They discussed in the corridor that since they were already there, they would go to the third floor to see Comrade Tang.
Zhong Gu closed the ward door, returned to the bedside, and lowered her voice: “Xiang Ning, how did you get injured? Who harmed you?”
Chen Ziqing said in a muffled voice: “I fell by myself.”
Zhong Gu, who had already decided to avenge him even if she lost her job: “…Can a fall crack your head open?”
Chen Ziqing sighed: “Bad luck, hit a rock.”
Zhong Gu murmured with lingering fear: “That really is a life picked up from the brink.”
Chen Ziqing coughed.
Zhong Gu busied herself checking if the glass window was closed properly. She glanced at the two oxygen tanks placed at the other end of the bed: “They even got those for you.”
“Didn’t use them. I woke up fast. The doctor saw I regained consciousness and left,” Chen Ziqing said.
“Even with great fortune, you can’t withstand torment. Don’t mess around anymore, you must rest and recover.” Zhong Gu handed the yellow porcelain basin to Ma Qiangqiang, telling him to pour out the dirty water. She went to sit on the opposite bed and asked about Chen Ziqing’s physical condition. The two chatted for a while.
Chen Ziqing got tired of lying down and wanted to sit up, but fearing this woman wouldn’t allow it, he urged her to leave: “The doctor said I’m not in life-threatening danger anymore. You and Little Ma should go back to the factory. They’re about to serve food.”
“I’m in no mood to eat,” Zhong Gu said. “Missing one meal won’t starve me to death.”
Chen Ziqing said seriously: “Comrade Zhong Gu, people are iron, rice is steel. Three meals a day is a major event. How can you be so unenthusiastic?”
Two patches of red floated onto Zhong Gu’s face: “I’ll go back right now.” She patted her trousers and stood up. “Anything you want me to bring you?”
Chen Ziqing was just about to shake his head when he heard her say: “Poetry notebook?”
His eyelid twitched. Bad news. The original owner wrote poetry at a designated spot every lunch break.
Seeing his face suddenly turn pale, Zhong Gu panicked and took a big step to throw herself at the bedside: “Xiang Ning, what’s wrong? I’ll go call the doctor immediately!”
“No need to call, I just have a bit of a headache.” Chen Ziqing grabbed her arm. “I’ll sleep for a while.”
Zhong Gu tucked him in like an old mother: “You sleep, you sleep. Sleep more. Being able to sleep means you’ll recover faster.”
Chen Ziqing closed his eyes, his trembling eyelashes revealing his chaotic inner state. He only had four warning chances. Was he going to use one on his very first day in this world? Better not.
The factory’s lunch break was from 11:30 to 1:30. He still had time.
Chen Ziqing sought help from his monitoring system: “System Lu, do I have any special abilities, or medicine that can make wounds heal quickly? Temporarily blocking pain is also fine.”
System: “Host has no inherent skill buffs. Items need to be purchased with points.”
Chen Ziqing quickly said: “Then I’ll buy.”
The next moment his account assets popped up, and he noticed that in front of the string of several zeros for points, there was actually a negative sign.
Chen Ziqing went from joy to sorrow. He suddenly discovered a BUG he had overlooked: “Wait, I’m a newbie. Why is there a failed login, and why do I owe 100,000 points?”
System: “The total architectural values of this world are very similar to another world. The instrument mistakenly sent you to another world, causing the login failure. You were recalled to the transmission center after 15 minutes and re-transmitted here.”
Chen Ziqing half-understood: “Only 15 minutes? What could be done in that time?”
System: “Time flow is different. 1 minute on the instrument is one year in the mission world.”
Chen Ziqing felt it was incredible: “Why don’t I remember anything?”
System: “Unnecessary erroneous data has been cleared.”
Chen Ziqing: “Then my points…”
System: “Our company held a meeting regarding the transmission error. To show sincerity, the main system personally compensated you with one million points and approved a loan of one hundred thousand for you. You have used it all.”
Chen Ziqing’s head was buzzing. Was it like that? Then what did he do? Did he save the world…
Forget it, it’s all formatted, can’t figure it out even if I think about it.
Chen Ziqing asked the most important thing right now: “Can I get some more points on credit this time?”
System: “No.”
Chen Ziqing was very disappointed. He opened his eyes and saw Ma Qiangqiang sticking his butt out, tidying the foot of his bed. Zhong Gu was not in the ward.
“Little Ma, where is Zhong Gu?”
Ma Qiangqiang didn’t stop his movements: “Comrade Zhong went back to the factory first. She said she was going to your dormitory to get your poetry notebook and a change of clothes. I said I’d get them, but she didn’t let me.”
Chen Ziqing calculated something: “Let her be. You come over during the lunch break and bring my poetry collection and pen from the second drawer.”
Ma Qiangqiang: “Oh!”
.
The person who came to the hospital to deliver things to Chen Ziqing wasn’t Zhong Gu, but a male comrade, a very burly big man with two large lumps of pectoral muscles bulging under his white tank top.
Chen Ziqing confirmed the visitor’s identity through the original owner’s memory.
Zhong Ming, Director Liu’s eldest apprentice, a team leader of another group in the First Workshop, and also Zhong Gu’s older brother. He shared a dormitory with the original owner. Their relationship was originally passable, but now it was very stiff.
This started from when the original owner joined the union and began interacting with Zhong Gu.
When a young male comrade and a female comrade walked together, it was inevitable that people would gossip. The gossip reached Zhong Ming. He sought out the original owner to communicate, hoping the original owner would stay away from Zhong Gu and not have any expectations of becoming his brother-in-law.
The original owner guaranteed with his character that there were no romantic feelings, just colleagues who got along well, but he didn’t deliberately distance himself from Zhong Gu; everything continued as usual.
Zhong Ming felt he was being played. In a fit of anger, he made things clear.
The harsher words were: “You’re not even as tall as my sister, what daydreams are you having!”
The original owner smiled and clarified: “Master Zhong doesn’t know this, right? Male comrades don’t show their height as much as female comrades.”
“I am still a few centimeters taller than Comrade Little Zhong. If Master Zhong doesn’t believe it, I don’t mind standing together with Comrade Little Zhong to compare.”
They parted on bad terms.
The original owner believed that a rough fellow like Zhong Ming didn’t deserve a sister who graduated from high school and parents who were people’s teachers.
Zhong Ming, on the other hand, felt that his sister was suited for a life with someone who was transparent at a glance. He absolutely would not allow the original owner into their family, don’t even think about it.
Both being lower-level leaders, they were ordinary workmates in public, but didn’t speak to each other in private.
Chen Ziqing’s thoughts were disrupted by a burst of pain. Two sets of clothes and a poetry notebook landed by his pillow. The notebook was quite thick, half of it covering his eyes. He reached out to brush the notebook away, lifted his eyelids to look at Zhong Ming, the corners of his eyes red, and his entire eye sockets quickly filled with water.
Zhong Ming paused, avoiding Chen Ziqing’s gaze with a guilty conscience, though his face showed no apology: “My sister asked me to bring these to you.”
“And lunch.”
He took out a towel-wrapped bundle from a cloth bag. With a few movements, he unwrapped the towel, revealing the aluminum lunch box inside.
Chen Ziqing didn’t speculate on how Zhong Gu agreed to let Zhong Ming run the errand for her. His mind was full of the poem he had to write during the lunch break. His gaze fell on Zhong Ming’s busy hands, his eyes empty.
Zhong Ming pried open the thin aluminum lid and threw it onto the cabinet. Inside the lunch box was white porridge mixed with chopped rotten vegetable leaves, three poached eggs, and a small pile of beef.
“See that? This is the special meal my sister asked Master Li to make for you.”
It sounded a bit like he was gritting his teeth.
Chen Ziqing had no appetite: “I’ll eat later.”
“Eat now.” Zhong Ming rolled the towel into a ball and put it into the cloth bag. “I want to go back for a nap. You finish eating quickly.”
Chen Ziqing said: “You go ahead.”
Zhong Ming rudely scooped up Chen Ziqing, threw the pillow behind his back, and then stuffed the warm lunch box into his arms: “My sister told me to watch you eat it.”
Chen Ziqing rolled his eyes. This big guy being favored by Director Liu meant his skills must be quite good, but he was stubborn and straightforward. He couldn’t be provoked; once provoked, he became reckless.
The fight in the mountains today started because a worker from the Fifth Workshop said something bad about Zhong Gu, which angered Zhong Ming, and he acted impulsively.
A conflict between two people turned into a brawl between two workshops.
Chen Ziqing grabbed the aluminum spoon and ate under Zhong Ming’s urging. As soon as he forced down the last mouthful of white porridge, Zhong Ming immediately packed up the things and left without looking back.
After eating such a large box of food, Chen Ziqing thought he would vomit most of it up. Surprisingly, he didn’t feel that way.
Probably there was a newbie shield, and the symptoms were alleviating.
.
As soon as Chen Ziqing waited for Ma Qiangqiang to arrive, he asked him to carry him back to the factory.
“Don’t shout, don’t tell anyone,” Chen Ziqing said quickly. “Carry me to the west factory building. I’ll write a poem there and then return to the hospital.”
Ma Qiangqiang opened his mouth wide in confusion: “Going out again? Does the doctor not allow writing?”
Chen Ziqing looked profound: “Need inspiration.”
Ma Qiangqiang was easily fooled. He took off his work cap, dusted it off, and put it on Chen Ziqing’s head. “Then you wear this to block the wind.”
The two sneaked out of the hospital.
Ma Qiangqiang looked round and small, but his constitution was very good. He carried Chen Ziqing all the way without resting once.
Chen Ziqing had no mind to appreciate the scenery. Upon reaching the destination, he immediately tried to brew poetic feelings.
Ma Qiangqiang squatted not far away, poking ants for fun.
The spring light was just right, the wind gentle. Chen Ziqing bit the end of his pen but had no clue for a long time. The original owner’s love for poetry hadn’t been passed on to him. How could he write poetry?
Time ticked away. Chen Ziqing was sweating anxiously. He simply wrote down Li Bai’s “Quiet Night Thoughts,” one of the few poems he could recite from beginning to end.
It didn’t say it had to be original.
Chen Ziqing closed the poetry collection, capped the pen, and clipped it onto the cover of the collection. Before he could relax, he was discovered and reported to the Security Section.
.
Factory Director’s Office
Chen Ziqing sat on the black leather sofa, observing what was before him: the old-fashioned switches, tables and chairs, desk lamp, telephone, globe, the “Advanced Collective” and “Active Collective” certificates of Qiming Manufacturing Factory pasted on the wall, the work responsibilities and production standards, the newspapers under the glass covering the desk, the black and white group photo of a certain middle school on the desk…
Finally, the man with his back to the large ink wash painting, standing by the desk flipping through documents—Zong Linyu, the current factory director of Qiming Manufacturing Factory.
Very tall. The hem of his light gray shirt was tucked into the waist of his black trousers, his belt fastened neatly. The shirt sleeves were buttoned at the wrists. His lip peak was tight. A very stern and plain person who rarely smiled.
A pair of deep black eyes, eyelashes long and curled enough to hold a toothpick, a straight nose bridge, and very upright contours.
Chen Ziqing looked at the lunch box on the desk: “Director, you haven’t eaten yet?”
“Mn.” The man seemed to have been busy since returning from the purchasing trip and still hadn’t finished. “Little Xiang, I heard from Section Chief Li about you saving someone. The factory will hold a meeting to award you a bonus. Now tell me,”
He put the document aside, “Why weren’t you in the hospital?”
Chen Ziqing swallowed his saliva. The loud shout next to him startled him.
“My brother did it to write poetry!”
Chen Ziqing silently covered his face with his hand. Stop talking.
The man looked at him: “Writing poetry?”
Chen Ziqing put down his hand and sat upright: “Yes, Director.”
The man pulled out his chair, took off his watch, and sat down: “Even so, there was no need to return to the factory.”
In Chen Ziqing’s peripheral vision, Ma Qiangqiang stood up with a swoosh, puffing out his chest, his voice like a bell: “Director, composing poetry requires inspiration. The factory building area is my brother’s creative stage!”
“My brother has a heart filled with rain and flowers! He is a poet!”
Chen Ziqing’s hands twitched as he grabbed his trousers. This sudden shame, I’m drunk on it.
“Ring ring ring”
The telephone rang. The man picked up the receiver under Chen Ziqing’s glancing gaze. He leaned against the back of the chair and discussed the morning’s purchasing with the leader on the other end for a moment. When he put down the receiver, he found Chen Ziqing was still glancing at the telephone, as if seeing it for the first time.
The man knocked on the desk twice. When Chen Ziqing shifted his gaze to look over, he said: “Loving to learn is a good thing. Writing poetry can cultivate sentiment and is worthy of praise. However,” the conversation turned, somewhat sternly, “at all times, one must distinguish between primary and secondary.”
Chen Ziqing admitted his mistake with a correct attitude: “What the Director says is true.”
The man asked: “Did you seek the opinion of the medical staff regarding your leaving the hospital?”
Chen Ziqing shook his head.
The man frowned: “I see your complexion is poor, so I won’t give you ideological work. Several workers from your workshop came to tell me your injury is severe and you need to stay in the hospital for three months.”
Chen Ziqing hurriedly said: “It won’t take that long. I can come out even now.”
“I’ll approve it for you first. The specifics depend on your own recovery and what the doctor says.” The man pulled a sheet from a stack of leave slips, lowered his head, unscrewed his fountain pen, wrote the words “Special Approval,” wrote a bit more on a new line, and stamped it with a red seal. “Since you are here, I won’t have someone bring the leave slip to you. Take it.”
“Thank you, Director.” Chen Ziqing took the leave slip and glanced at the neat handwriting. “Then I’ll ask Comrade Little Ma to send me back to the hospital. I won’t disturb the Director’s work.”
“Good.” The man saw them out.
Chen Ziqing walked behind. Ma Qiangqiang pulled his clothes and whispered in his ear: “Brother, not the factory director.”
Not? With Ma Qiangqiang’s hint, Chen Ziqing remembered. Factory Director Zong Linyu had a twin brother named Zong Huaitang, who was a technician in the factory and looked exactly like Zong Linyu.
The difference was that Zong Huaitang’s left leg was a bit lame.
Don’t know how it happened. He was like that when he entered the factory, and no one could ask the reason.
Zong Huaitang would pretend to be his brother to tease people whenever he had the chance.
Chen Ziqing stared at the left foot of the man with his back to him. Every time it lifted and fell, there was a slight unnaturalness. You couldn’t discover it without looking carefully. He went around to the front of the other party and speechlessly changed the address.
“Technician Zong.”
The lines between the man’s eyebrows instantly unfolded. At the same time, his tight lips raised in a smile, like a whale leaping from the bottom of the sea to catch the sunlight, or a leopard breaking free from shackles to catch the wind in the forest, so unrestrained and dazzling.
“What happened? Our always shrewd and wise Team Leader Xiang actually needs someone to remind him.” Zong Huaitang was surprised. “Did your brain really get knocked silly? Writing poetry even like this, can you even hold a pen?”
Chen Ziqing twitched his mouth. He handed over the leave slip: “You wrote this, it’s useless.”
“Isn’t the handwriting all the same? When my brother comes back, I’ll just ask him to write you another one.” Zong Huaitang tore up the leave slip indifferently and turned sideways to let them go.
Ma Qiangqiang wanted to carry Chen Ziqing. Chen Ziqing whispered to wait until they were outside.
Zong Huaitang’s brother’s office was a suite. The desk was inside. While walking towards the outer conference room, Ma Qiangqiang was muttering something, scratching an itch with his hand behind his back, and inadvertently gave Chen Ziqing an elbow.
Chen Ziqing fell to the side. Zong Huaitang extended a hand, visually aiming for his lower back.
A scene so cheesy that even dogs would despise it in idol dramas was about to happen.
There was no slow motion. Apart from closing his eyes with a face like dead ashes, Chen Ziqing didn’t have time to do anything else.
Zong Huaitang subconsciously embraced him.
In that instant, Zong Huaitang sensed his body was stiff, resisting from head to toe, so he loosened his hand.
Remembering the injury on the back of his head, he mercifully embraced him again.
Chen Ziqing: “…”
What is this Zong Huaitang doing? Why a second time?