Chapter 9: Drunkenness Enlightens the Mind

  "Is he all right?"

  Watching Xiao Dongping leave, Qin Hai anxiously asked Ning Mo and the others.

  "It's okay, Old Xiao can really hold his liquor." Ning Mo said indifferently, "As a supply and sales person, he's always spinning around the wine table. In the past when my dad was in charge, the factory had a lot of business, which week didn't Old Xiao get drunk two or three times? I'm just worried that when he gets home, Mrs. Xiao will see him reeking of alcohol and probably scold him again."

  "Hahaha." Yu Haitao and Miao Kai both burst out laughing, clearly Xiao Dongping's being henpecked was a well-known joke in the factory.

  "By the way, Ning Mo, what's going on with our factory? You guys tell me," Qin Hai said. After this conversation with Xiao Dongping, he found that the situation in Qingfeng Factory was not optimistic, and the internal relationship was also quite complicated, so he had the idea of understanding the situation first.

  Without mentioning how Ning Mo and others introduced Qin Hai to the human relationships in the factory, let's just say that Xiao Dongping left the For The People restaurant and returned home with a deep and shallow foot. As soon as he entered the door, his wife He Yumei smelled the strong smell of wine on him, and her phoenix eyes stood up: "Where did you go drinking again!"

  "In the restaurant for the people." Xiao Dongping threw aside what was in his hand, sat down on a rattan chair and said: "Yumei, bring me a cup of tea."

  "Off to drink again! Are you not reluctant to take the public bus in Hongze, saving money to secretly buy wine and drink it?" He Yumei asked while helping Xiao Dongping pour tea with a thermos. She was a typical sharp-tongued but soft-hearted person, who was both annoyed by her husband's secret drinking habits and pitied his usual craving for liquor. Seeing Xiao Dongping reeking of alcohol and looking exhausted, she naturally couldn't bear to neglect him.

  Xiao Dongping waved his hand and said, "I saved 50 cents, but I didn't go buy wine to drink. The wine today was treated by Ning Changzhang's fat son at the Weimin Restaurant, he was treating a new technical school student who just reported to our factory, I just took advantage of it. Good guy, 6 dishes, 3 meat and 3 vegetarian, the fat son really spent money generously."

  "What kind of vocational school student is he, worth Fatso spending so much money to treat him to a meal?" He Yumei's curiosity was piqued by Xiao Dongping, and upon hearing that her husband had saved up money but didn't use it to buy wine, she felt a little less resentful towards him.

  "I'm not sure where he came from, but this young man is quite capable. Never mind, I'll go to Lao Leng's house and talk to him about the rotary tiller blades..." Xiao Dongping said, getting ready to leave.

  He Yuemei stopped him: "You're reeking of alcohol, what are you doing running to someone's home in the middle of the night?"

  "It is." Xiao Dongping sat down again with a plop and turned his head to shout towards the inner room, "Xiao Jun!"

  Xiao Jun, the son of Xiao Dongping, responded immediately. Xiao Dongping instructed him: "Go to Leng Shu and Xiang Shu's homes and ask them to come here. Tell them I have something to discuss with them."

  "What's the rush? Can't we discuss it tomorrow when we're at work?" asked He Yumei.

  Xiao Dongping said: "A matter of burning eyebrows, once you're on the job, there's no room for discussion. Xiao Jun, hurry up and go."

  Xiao Jun glanced at his mother and saw that she didn't show any signs of objection, so he quickly ran out to find someone.

  After a while, Technical Director Leng Yuming and Production Director Xiang Jiyong arrived at Xiao Dongping's home one after the other. The two of them took one look at Xiao Dongping's face and burst out laughing: "You old Xiao, won't you be drunk again wanting to drag us into conversation? If you're drunk just go sleep, are you afraid of Little He scolding you, dragging us to plead for you?"

  Xiao Dongping, Leng Yuming and Xiang Jiyong were about the same age. In those days, they were three senior generals under the old factory director Ning Zhongying. They cooperated a lot at work and also got along very well in private. Leng and Xiang both knew that Xiao Dongping had a habit of drinking too much and that he would be scolded by his wife after getting drunk, so they often teased him about this.

  He Yumei was no longer surprised by this joke, she poured water for Leng Yuming and Xiang Jiyong, invited them to sit down, then said: "Old Xiao drank the wine of Ning Changzhang's home that fat man today, I heard there is also a technical school student, you ask him."

  "Xiao Mo invites you to drink?" Xiang Ji Yong was somewhat surprised, "What's going on?"

  Xiao Dongping told Leng Yuming and Xiang Jiyong about what had just happened with Qin Hai, especially highlighting the unusual aspects. Leng Yuming and Xiang Jiyong looked at each other in dismay, both somewhat disbelieving.

  "Impossible, a vocational school student... when did Old Dragon's students have such great abilities?" Xiang Jiyong muttered to himself. He himself was a graduate of the Agricultural Machinery Technical School, but that was in the 1960s. The current principal of the Agricultural Machinery Technical School, Long Changsheng, was Xiang Jiyong's classmate back then, and he knew better than anyone how capable students from the school were.

  "Lao Xiao, Qin Hai said he has the ability to improve our rotary tiller blade quality above the industry average level. What kind of craftsmanship did he say?" Leng Yuming was concerned about specific technical issues.

  Xiao Dongping shook his head and said, "I'm not a technical expert, what he says about craftsmanship, I don't understand? So I didn't ask him. My views are similar to Lao Xiang's, I think a vocational school student shouldn't be so capable, right?"

  "But you clearly said that his quenching and tempering process can make the 65 manganese steel tools not roll over even when cutting bricks, which I couldn't do." Leng Yuming said.

  Xiao Dongping said: "This is what Miao Lei said, I didn't see it with my own eyes."

  Xiang Jiyong said, "I know Miao Ke, this kid doesn't lie much. Besides, Xiao Mo and the others spent so much money to invite Qin Hai for dinner, it must be because Qin Hai helped them solve their problem, which also proves that this matter is true."

  "You said he has reported, where does he live? I'll go find him now." Leng Yuming was a bit itchy and unbearable, planning to go talk to Qin Hai immediately, to see if he had any high-level moves to improve the quality of the rotary tiller blades.

  Xiao Dongping shook his head and said, "I think it's better to observe first. He just casually mentioned it, and we're taking it so seriously. If we're not careful, we'll end up making fools of ourselves. My idea is that you two should find an opportunity tomorrow to test him out and see if he really has the skills or if he's just bragging. If he does have the skills, then we can listen to his suggestions on how to improve the quality of our blades."

  Xiang Ji Yong pointed at Xiao Dong Ping's nose, laughing: "Old Xiao, you've been doing procurement and sales for so long that you're even suspicious of yourself. You have to test the waters first on such a small matter. However, what you said is right. He's just a new vocational school student. If we appear too eager, it might backfire. I see you're not drunk at all, your thinking is quite clear."

  Xiao Dongping smiled and said: "Old Xiao has always been drunk with a clear mind, otherwise when doing business, wouldn't he be cheated by others?"

  Qin Hai and Ning Mo, among others, drank at the For The People restaurant until 9 pm, licking every plate clean. Only then did they pat their bulging bellies contentedly and head back to the Agricultural Machinery Factory. Upon arriving at the residential area, Ning Mo and the others returned to their respective homes, while Qin Hai relied on his daytime memories to grope his way back to the bachelor building.

  "Have you just finished eating?"

  Upon hearing Qin Hai opening the door, Wang Xiao Chen across from him opened her door and poked her head out to ask him. Catching a whiff of the alcohol on Qin Hai's body, she slightly furrowed her brow and said: "Little Qin, you just graduated, don't learn from Fatzi and his gang how to indulge in drinking and pleasure-seeking, or your salary won't be enough for spending."

  "Thank you, Xiaochen," Qin Hai replied gratefully. Although Wang Xiaochen's reminder was unnecessary for Qin Hai, the concern behind it was sincere. In fact, Qin Hai and Wang Xiaochen had only met briefly that afternoon, but unexpectedly, Wang Xiaochen had been so kind to him.

  "You must also be from the countryside, right? I'm also from the countryside. We country people can't compare to those city people. Their families are all from Qingfeng Factory, and they rely on their parents for everything." Wang Xiaochen said seriously to Qin Hai.

  "Thanks to Xiaochen's advice, today I'm really new here and Ningmo is so enthusiastic, it wouldn't be right for me to refuse. From now on, I won't go out drinking and eating with them." Qin Hai said resolutely.

  Wang Xiaochen nodded in satisfaction and said, "You've come all the way from Hongze, sweating so much. Go wash up in the water room quickly. The water is a bit cold at night, but there's some hot water in my thermos that you can take with you."

  "No need, I'm used to taking cold showers." Qin Hai said, and then he added with a smile: "It seems that I won't be able to call you sister anymore, you really took care of me like a younger brother."

  Wang Xiaochen smiled and said, "Isn't it you who said that distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors, and close neighbors are not as good as those living opposite? You've just arrived, if you lack anything, feel free to ask me, and if there's anything you don't understand, come ask me, don't be polite."