Chapter 251: Additional Reward

After the commendation ceremony ended, Factory Director Hu specifically asked Zhou Yimin to come to his office.

Zhou Yimin figured it must be something he wanted to reward him with privately—things that obviously couldn’t be handed out in front of everyone.

When he arrived at Director Hu’s office, he knocked on the door.

A voice came from behind it, “Come in.”

Zhou Yimin opened the door and walked inside.

Seeing it was Zhou Yimin, Director Hu greeted him warmly, “Yimin, you’re here.”

Thanks to Zhou Yimin inventing the electric rice cooker, he had gotten a moment in the spotlight—an excellent thing for his own career. With any luck, this could lead to another promotion.

“Director Hu, you asked me to come by. Do you have any instructions?” Zhou Yimin asked.

Director Hu replied, “The rewards you just received were decided by the higher-ups. These, however, are from the factory itself.” He handed over the prepared items.

Zhou Yimin took them and looked them over carefully, then said, “Director Hu, isn’t the factory’s reward a bit too generous?”

There were three job quotas alone, and even coupons for the ‘Three Turns and One Sound’—basically everything one needed for marriage was all taken care of.

Even though he could buy all these things himself without needing the coupons, having them would protect him from scrutiny. With these, he had nothing to worry about.

“For your contributions to the factory, this isn’t too much at all. As long as you keep working hard and invent more things, that’ll be the best way to give back to the factory,” said Director Hu.

Zhou Yimin feigned excitement and said, “Don’t worry, Director Hu. I’ll definitely keep working hard and try to invent even more.”

After a bit more conversation, Zhou Yimin took his leave.

Soon, he still had to ask Section Chief Wang for a truck. The string beans and baby bok choy in the village were ready to harvest again, and it would be better if he drove out to get them himself.

When he returned to the Procurement Section, he went straight to Wang Weimin’s office and knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

Zhou Yimin opened the door and stepped inside. “Section Chief!”

Seeing that it was Zhou Yimin, Wang Weimin knew right away he wanted something and teased, “Well, if it isn’t Team Lead Zhou. What brings you here?”

“Section Chief, aren’t I still one of your guys?” Zhou Yimin said with a smile.

“Right, Section Chief— the bok choy and string beans in Zhoujiazhuang are ready for harvest. I’d like to drive a truck out myself to collect them. I was wondering if Logistics has any available trucks tomorrow?” he added.

Hearing it was something serious, Wang Weimin said, “I’m not entirely sure myself. Let me write you a note, and you can go ask them directly.”

“Alright, thanks for the trouble, Section Chief,” Zhou Yimin quickly said.

Wang Weimin replied, “We’ve known each other long enough, no need to be so polite.”

He didn’t pause in his movements and quickly wrote up a note, which he handed to Zhou Yimin.

After taking it, Zhou Yimin said, “I’ll go check now,” and then headed out.

Seeing this, Wang Weimin could only shake his head helplessly. He really had nothing bad to say about this capable and hardworking subordinate.

Zhou Yimin headed to the Transport Section and saw Team Leader Li lounging on a rocking chair, completely relaxed and comfortable.

“Team Leader Li, enjoying some leisure time?”

Li Feng opened his eyes and quickly stood up when he saw it was Zhou Yimin. “Team Lead Zhou! What brings you here today?”

After all, the commendation ceremony had just ended. Zhou Yimin should’ve been busy, probably getting pulled left and right for networking.

Zhou Yimin smiled, “Team Leader Li, here’s a note from our Section Chief. I was wondering if you have any spare trucks for tomorrow—I need to head back to the village to collect some vegetables.”

Li Feng thought to himself: No wonder he was praised by the entire factory—his mindset was impressive. If it had been him, he’d probably be floating on air right now, not jumping straight back into work.

“There are a few trucks free, but all the drivers are already assigned to tasks.”

Even he had a job tomorrow. After all, trained truck drivers were still in short supply, and training one wasn’t easy.

“As long as there’s a truck, I can drive it myself,” Zhou Yimin said with relief.

He was worried there wouldn’t be any extra trucks, which would mean the vegetables in Zhoujiazhuang would have to wait.

“I almost forgot that Team Lead Zhou knows how to drive a truck,” said Li Feng.

He was getting on in years, and his memory wasn’t as sharp. He had already seen Zhou Yimin drive back when they went to Shangshui Village to collect vegetables, but it had slipped his mind.

“Oh please, you’ve just been too busy, Team Leader Li,” Zhou Yimin said.

Li Feng took the note, didn’t even bother reading it, and led Zhou Yimin to the truck lot. He pointed to two trucks and said, “These two are free tomorrow. Which one do you want?”

Zhou Yimin looked them over and picked the newer-looking one. “I’ll take this one, Team Leader Li.”

“Would it be alright if I took it tonight?”

He didn’t want to get up too early tomorrow just to pick it up from the factory.

“If it were anyone else, probably not—but since it’s you, of course it’s fine,” Li Feng said.

If it had been someone else, that request wouldn’t fly. Trucks were important factory assets and couldn’t afford any accidents. But Zhou Yimin was a factory celebrity and had made real contributions.

“Thanks, Team Leader Li,” said Zhou Yimin.

He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and handed it over.

Li Feng didn’t stand on ceremony, but when he saw they were Da Qianmen, a very good brand, he was surprised—most people wouldn’t even smoke those themselves.

Zhou Yimin drove the truck out of the factory. Though it wasn’t quite quitting time yet, he had a valid reason, so leaving early was no issue.

He drove straight out of the factory without anyone stopping him.

When the guard saw Zhou Yimin in the truck, they didn’t even bother with an inspection—just waved him through.

He had originally planned to go straight back to the siheyuan courtyard, but then remembered how Director Li had helped him a few days ago. He pulled two bags of milk powder out of his storage space to bring over to her.

When he got to the subdistrict office, he saw Director Li just about to leave.

“Auntie Li!” he called out.

Hearing someone call her, Director Li turned around and saw Zhou Yimin in the truck. She was stunned. “Yimin, you can drive a truck too?”

“It’s just driving—what’s the big deal? Auntie Li, where are you headed?” Zhou Yimin asked.

Director Li smiled, “To the processing plant. A batch of goods just arrived, and I’m about to gather some people to help move it.”

Then she paused, suddenly realizing—wasn’t this perfect? With a truck and driver right here, there was no need to call extra hands. Just load and unload, and it would save a ton of manpower.

Zhou Yimin said, “Is that so? I’ll drive a load for you!”

“Alright! That’d be a big help,” Director Li said without hesitation.

(End of Chapter)

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—“Three Turns and One Sound” refers to four prized items in 1950s–70s China: a bicycle, sewing machine, wristwatch, and radio—seen as essentials for marriage and status.