Chapter 273: Special Car Pickup

Zhou Yimin had a good night’s sleep and woke up at dawn. Youthful sleep was a blessing—he had really suffered from insomnia in his previous life.

Early in the morning, after washing up, he walked out of the guesthouse and was suddenly a little stunned. He had no bicycle here—was he supposed to walk to the rice cooker factory?

Last night, he had been dropped off at the guesthouse by car. If he were to walk from the guesthouse to the factory, it would take at least an hour. It looked like he would have to bring it up at the factory later.

Just as he stepped out of the guesthouse, he noticed a car parked off to the side, and there was a man standing beside it—it looked just like the driver who brought him back yesterday.

As soon as the driver saw Zhou Yimin, he rushed forward. “Expert Zhou, I’m Xiao Shang. I’m here to drive you to the factory. During your business trip, I’ll be your dedicated driver.”

Zhou Yimin froze. It was important to know that, in this era, having a dedicated car and driver was a privilege reserved for high-ranking officials.

At this time, a car was more than a mode of transport—it was a symbol of one’s status and position. The type of car assigned to someone was strictly regulated, and you could often guess a person’s administrative rank just by the car brand.

…

The car before him was a Volga sedan.

The Volga was a renowned automobile brand from the Gorky Automobile Plant in the Soviet Union. It had been widely used in socialist countries as an official vehicle and was commonly seen in Eastern Europe, China, and North Korea.

Being assigned a Volga vehicle was a sign of status and rank at the time.

Big Brother’s leaders had great affection for it—the Volga car was considered a symbol and pride of Soviet industry.

Was the rice cooker factory really able to get a Volga?

At this moment, Zhou Yimin was a little skeptical.

It also showed how seriously the factory leadership valued him. Even the guesthouse he had stayed in last night was a sign of it. There were other guesthouses near the factory, but they had still arranged for him to stay somewhere with a better environment.

They even went as far as getting a car to pick him up.

They had really gone the extra mile.

“You’re being too kind,” Zhou Yimin couldn’t help but say.

“It’s only right, it’s only right! Without you, there would be no rice cooker factory for us.”

Thousands of people at the factory owed their jobs to Zhou Yimin.

Driver Xiao Shang opened the back door for Zhou Yimin and let him in before circling around to get in the driver’s seat and setting off for the rice cooker factory.

Zhou Yimin asked, “Comrade, what’s your name?”

He didn’t know how long this business trip would last—only the leadership knew that. Since they would be spending a lot of time together, he couldn’t keep calling him Xiao Shang, right?

The man was even older than him!

“Expert Zhou, my name is Shang Jianguo,” the man replied.

Jianguo (literally “Nation-Building”) was a very common name in this era, though judging by Shang Jianguo’s age, he was probably born before the country was actually founded.

Clearly, his father had high hopes for national progress.

Zhou Yimin suggested, “Since we’ll be working together for a while, how about I call you Brother Jianguo, and you just call me Yimin?”

Being called “Expert Zhou” felt strange to him—after all, in the future, “expert” became a bit of a derogatory term, so he wasn’t very fond of the title either.

“Sure! Then I’ll take the liberty of calling you Yimin,” Shang Jianguo agreed earnestly, seeing that Zhou Yimin was serious about it.

Even though Zhou Yimin was an expert, he himself wasn’t someone to look down on.

Being a car driver wasn’t as rare as being a truck driver, but it was still a skilled position. If a leader took notice of someone like him, he could rise quickly.

Before long, they arrived at the rice cooker factory. As soon as they entered the gates, Factory Director Chen and a group of people were already waiting.

As soon as Zhou Yimin stepped out of the car, Factory Director Chen asked, “Comrade Zhou Yimin, did you rest well last night?”

That guesthouse was the best they could arrange. They couldn’t exactly have Zhou Yimin stay at the factory—he was here to provide guidance, not to clock in for work.

“Very well, thank you for the factory’s care,” Zhou Yimin replied honestly. “Factory Director Chen, feel free to call me by my name.”

Though it still didn’t compare to home, the environment was quite good for the times.

“Great, glad to hear it,” Factory Director Chen breathed a sigh of relief. He had worried Zhou Yimin might not be satisfied with the accommodations and wouldn’t have known what to do.

Being invited to use first names was also a way of building a closer connection.

“We’ll show you around the factory, and then you can let us know where we need improvement.”

Zhou Yimin nodded. “Alright, sorry for the trouble, Factory Director Chen.”

“Not at all.”

One of the workshop directors, clearly very tactful, took the lead to guide them.

The rice cooker factory wasn’t much smaller than a steel plant. The country placed great importance on earning foreign currency, especially for goods like these that had already proven themselves to have a market overseas.

The rice cooker factory had a total of four workshops, and—

At Workshop No. 1, Zhou Yimin carefully observed the surroundings, trying to identify any issues. The workers’ morale was excellent—most of them were thin due to long-term poor nutrition, the opposite of people in the future.

In the future, people’s mental state was lacking, but their meals were rich. As long as you had money, you could eat anything from land or sea. Back now, everything still required ration tickets.

Still, he noticed some issues: materials were scattered all over the place in the workshop. One careless move could lead to an accident. The environment wasn’t great either—there were oil stains all over the floor, and no one was cleaning them up.

If someone wasn’t careful walking on it, they could easily slip and fall.

Factory Director Chen said proudly, “Yimin, what do you think of this workshop?”

These machines were some of the best in the country. Other factories wouldn’t get this kind of treatment.

Most domestic factories still used machines that had been retired from abroad. The most critical ones were passed down in cycles, and by the time they reached smaller factories, who knew how many hands they’d passed through?

Clearly, the state had high hopes for the rice cooker factory. Most of the machines here were quite new, with only a few slightly older ones in key areas.

“Not bad, and the workers are in good spirits,” Zhou Yimin replied.

The workers in Workshop No. 1 were all very curious about Zhou Yimin.

This young man was the expert sent by the higher-ups? He didn’t even look twenty.

“So young… does he actually have real skills?” one worker muttered.

Another chimed in, “He’s obviously more capable than you, or they wouldn’t have sent him. You think the people up top are as useless as you?”

“I heard he’s the one who invented the rice cooker,” an older worker revealed.

(End of Chapter)