Chapter 160: A Clumsy Cover-Up

Lu Guofu, however, broke into a smile.

He said, “Didn’t Xuezheng and Xueyi say before that they wanted to invent a pot that could cook on its own? That gave Senior Zhou Yimin some inspiration. He’s already designed it, and the steel factory will begin production soon.

And look—this is the reward from the steel factory.”

The woman was dumbfounded, then cried out in surprise.

She was overjoyed. “This is a reward for Xuezheng and Xueyi from the steel factory?”

She never expected it, and her heart swelled with joy. Nothing makes a parent prouder than their children doing well. She was no exception. The fact that the steel factory was rewarding both her sons filled her with obvious excitement.

The brothers Lu Xuezheng and Lu Xueyi exchanged glances, equally thrilled.

It meant all their efforts hadn’t been in vain—they now had something to brag about.

Once they returned to school, they’d be walking tall. Their classmates would definitely look at them with admiration, and even the teachers might start seeing them in a new light.

Lu Guofu handed over the pens, study materials, and notebooks to his sons, encouraging them to study hard.

Then he gave the stack of ration tickets to his wife.

But his wife couldn’t bear to use them! The family wasn’t in desperate need, and she was already thinking of putting them away for safekeeping.

For the moment, the couple subconsciously stopped fussing about their sons nearly burning down the kitchen.

“And another thing—the Factory Director said once Xuezheng and Xueyi graduate, the factory will recruit them directly. So you two better show some backbone, study well, and improve every day.” With that, Lu Guofu quoted the famous slogan of a great leader.

At that moment, Lu Xuezheng and Lu Xueyi were riding high on adrenaline and nodded without hesitation.

Their mother was so moved she trembled all over.

So, her sons wouldn’t need to worry about jobs anymore? If word got out, how many people would envy them? You had to know, other families were pulling every trick in the book—spending money, calling in favors—just for a single job.

“Old Lu, are you serious?”

Lu Guofu rolled his eyes. “Factory Director Hu said it himself—what, you think I made it up? From now on, keep an eye on those boys and make sure they hit the books.”

His wife quickly nodded, deciding she’d be stricter with the boys from now on.

The Lu brothers were still giggling away, totally unaware of how serious things had become.

Meanwhile, Zhou Yimin had given all the money from selling the wild boar to the villagers, telling them to keep it safe and bring it back for the village head. Then, he treated them to a meal in the city.

“Time to go back! Be careful on the road. Wipe those expressions off your faces—act natural. What, you want everyone to know you’re carrying a pile of cash?” Zhou Yimin complained.

Over a thousand yuan was no small amount.

None of the villagers present had ever handled that much money before. They were jumpy, eyeing everyone on the road like they might be robbers.

Wasn’t this basically a classic “hide three hundred taels of silver here” moment?

One of the younger men took a deep breath and gave a bitter laugh. “Uncle Sixteen, we’ve never had this much money before! If we lose it on the way back, the villagers would kill us!”

“Relax. Just act normal. No one knows you’re carrying a fortune. Alright, it’s getting late—head back.” Zhou Yimin didn’t bother wasting more words.

Back at the siheyuan courtyard, Zhou Yimin grabbed some sorghum, potatoes, and other coarse grains, along with a piece of meat, and delivered them to Grandma Xu’s home.

“Yimin, hold on, let Grandma Xu get some money for you.” She started to head to her room to fetch it.

That much food would be enough to feed their household for about a month. Especially the meat—she couldn’t let Zhou Yimin just give that away.

Zhou Yimin waved her off. “Grandma Xu, those two pairs of shoes you made—my grandparents loved them. They asked me to bring this stuff over. If you try to pay, I won’t know how to explain it to them.”

And with that, he turned and left.

Grandma Xu was left deeply touched. She immediately went to start educating her little grandson, saying things like, “When you grow up, remember to be grateful to your Brother Yimin.”

…

At the instant noodle factory, Factory Director Yang received a phone call and was overjoyed.

He immediately summoned Zhao Zhenguo and the rest of the senior staff for a meeting. He announced that the first trial batch of instant noodles had sold like crazy in Hong Kong—the market response was overwhelmingly positive.

Now, the higher-ups had ordered the instant noodle factory to accelerate expansion and recruitment. The current production lines were to be fully converted to instant noodle production, with immediate launch.

Someone in Hong Kong had already placed a large order.

Originally, there were even people who wanted to buy the formula and production tech outright.

But they weren’t about to kill the goose that laid the golden eggs. With Zhou Yimin’s advice, the relevant departments had even started considering applying for international patents.

Everyone could see it—the noodles were sure to be a hit in other noodle-loving countries too.

For China, which was in dire need of foreign exchange, this was a vital opportunity. They had to hold on tight to this revenue source.

Not only that, to increase production, the authorities also planned to set up more instant noodle factories in other provinces, especially in the south, to seize market share.

“Zhenguo, go find Yimin and ask if he has any more good ideas.”

Zhao Zhenguo nodded. “Got it!”

He was excited too.

Although they had done market research on foreign instant noodle sales, there was no guarantee their own product would succeed.

Now, at last, they had their reassurance.

The only pity was that the higher-ups had decided to build more factories, meaning theirs wouldn’t be the only one.

“Director Li, how’s the production line conversion going?” Factory Director Yang asked.

Director Li, who was in charge of the conversions, spoke up immediately: “Testing finishes today. We can start production officially tomorrow. As for the expansion zone, it’ll take at least a month…”

Before he could finish, both Factory Director Yang and the officials sent from above shook their heads in unison. “A month is too long. The construction progress has to speed up—tell the contractor to put more people on it.”

No one knew what the market would look like in a month.

Orders that brought in foreign currency were always a national priority.

“I’ll go talk to them.”

Besides the construction, they also had to secure the production machines. Instant noodle equipment wasn’t precision machinery—domestic manufacturers could easily handle it.

Once the meeting ended, Zhao Zhenguo headed straight for Zhou Yimin’s courtyard, riding in the new car issued to Director Yang.

Since the factory’s status had been elevated, Director Yang now had an official car. After all, once the expansion was complete, the factory would have thousands of workers. A director with a car wasn’t out of place.

Plus, this was a factory earning foreign currency!

When the car pulled up at Courtyard No. 56, people from three or four neighboring compounds came out to see what the fuss was about. Their street didn’t even have many bicycles—let alone a car.

“They’re here for Yimin, aren’t they?”

“Has to be. Courtyard 56—Yimin’s the most accomplished one there. Definitely for him.” The residents of Courtyard 55 chatted among themselves.

Everyone had a feeling: Zhou Yimin was going to be a big deal in the future.

Even now, important leaders were sending cars to pick him up.

The residents of Courtyard 55 were even more stunned. One of the aunties ran straight toward the central courtyard, shouting, “Yimin, Yimin! There’s a leader here to see you!”

(End of Chapter)