Carrying a Jurassic on me
Chapter 1640 - 781: Lin Xiumei Becomes Factory Director

Chapter 1640: Chapter 781: Lin Xiumei Becomes Factory Director

The Meat Processing Factory in Tanghe County has now undergone a complete transformation. The tall walls on both sides of the main gate, originally built for ostentation, have been torn down and replaced with a row of storefronts. Now, aside from one hall that the factory uses itself, all the others have been rented out.

When older residents in the area talk about it, they can’t help but marvel at how fast society has advanced—it’s almost dizzying. In the past, this place was just a few rural folks coming around to sell vegetables, scattering some produce like radishes and cabbages on tarpaulin sacks on the ground. If someone had a stall, it’d be for selling tofu or bean sprouts. But once the storefronts at the Meat Processing Factory were rented out, the area suddenly became bustling, with vendors competing for prime spots to set up shop.

On the surface, the Meat Processing Factory doesn’t seem to have changed much beyond renovating the old plant. But when you take a closer look at the workers coming in and out, it’s clear that the change has been nothing short of revolutionary.

The workers used to drag themselves home lifelessly after their shifts, but now they’re full of vigor, with a completely different energy compared to before. Some of the older workers even seem like they’ve turned back the clock by decades, looking much younger.

Take Master Xing, for example. When Yan Fei first approached him, he was scowling so darkly it was more painful to watch than crying. He entered the factory full of complaints, grumbling like an embittered old woman. Seeing those idle machines made him feel like two catties of flesh had been carved right off his body. But now, Old Xing’s face beams radiantly, his stomach is round, and dressed in a Zhongshan suit as he strides out, you’d easily mistake him for the boss of some company.

Pang Fa and Chen Liqiang accompanied Yan Fei as they walked around, followed by a group of people, most of whom Yan Fei only recognized vaguely. Leading the group was a chubby man explaining the transformations at the Meat Processing Factory to Yan Fei.

The chubby man was Dang Jianfu, who had worked as a sales section chief at the steel plant. Not long after the Meat Processing Factory came under Yan’s management and reopened after restructuring, he packed up his things and left the steel plant to join the factory.

Although the steel plant is now practically a sinking ship, the position of section chief still carried some authority there. If Dang had stayed, he could’ve scraped together some extra perks. But, as he said himself, watching such a thriving factory decline would stir up guilt, and any money made under such conditions would feel uneasy to spend.

After joining the Meat Processing Factory, Dang Jianfu leveraged his old network of connections and excelled at socializing—a skill far surpassing that of the younger Pang Fa and Chen Liqiang—making him a key contributor to the factory’s success today.

Besides Dang Jianfu, other staff from the steel plant also came aboard. Many workers who had been employed by a factory struggled to adapt once laid off, feeling lost about what they could do outside. Working in a factory was the only thing that gave them a sense of stability.

One particularly amusing case is the current head of the factory’s maintenance team, Cheng Yuncai, who remarkably is an eighth-grade technician. He started working at the steel plant in his early teens and is now just over forty years old. Not only can he repair large industrial machinery, but he can also fix everyday household appliances like TVs and radios. With his technical expertise, he’d easily find work wherever he went.

But all it took was one phone call from Dang Jianfu, and Cheng Yuncai eagerly rushed over. Worried about being unneeded by the factory, he even went out of his way to learn vehicle repairs, from bicycles to the factory’s large trucks, as well as small cars owned by Pang Fa and the others—he took them all under his responsibility.

An eighth-grade technician with over twenty years of experience and in his prime—do you know what that means? These days, if such a worker walked into a factory in the south, even unfamiliar machines would only require two days of testing before he’d handle them easily. Any employer who dared to offer less than ten thousand yuan a month in wages would deserve to have a cup of tea splashed in their face without anyone to back them up.

But Cheng Yuncai couldn’t bring himself to leave. His limited education made him lack confidence and fear being scammed or taken advantage of. Even when urban businesses sent offers for him to repair their machines, he wouldn’t go, claiming he’d lose his way if he left. He simply refused.

Now, when city companies come to fetch him in person, assuring him food, drinks, and transportation after the job, he still looks reluctant. To outsiders, it might seem like he’s playing hard to get. But those who know him understand—he simply prefers to stay close to home, finding peace working at the nearby factory, whether it’s moving from the steel plant to the Meat Processing Factory, as long as it’s close to home, with stable pay delivered on time.

For seasoned workers like Cheng Yuncai, stability is everything. A steady three-hundred-yuan wage feels more reliable than going out somewhere to earn a thousand or eight hundred a day. Of course, his salary now far exceeds three hundred yuan, as the maintenance team no longer serves just the Meat Processing Factory. It now covers equipment for feeding cattle in Sancha River Township, as well as gear for the fertilizer and leather factories.

The golden era of enterprise development is no joke. Ordinary laborers are plentiful, with cheap labor readily available in the countryside. No matter how dirty or tiring the work is, there’s no fear of lacking workers. Then there’s the wave of laid-off employees—diligent and skilled workers in abundance. Unless the job demands higher educational qualifications, there’s little trouble recruiting staff.

And Tanghe County doesn’t just have one steel plant...

In any case, the Meat Processing Factory currently boasts a wealth of talent. Pang Fa feels that his own education level and abilities are insufficient, so he’s been keen to recruit more capable people. Meanwhile, Chen Liqiang believes in respecting talent. Though their opinions differ, their goal is the same: to hire as many talented individuals as possible.

As for Heizi and the others in Sancha River Township, they’re thriving. For general labor, they can find people easily in the township. But when specialized expertise is necessary, they reach out to Pang Fa. The most impressive example was when a designer from the woven bag factory was recruited, prompting that factory’s director to file a complaint at the county office—arguing that his factory hadn’t yet gone under and was even planning to expand operations. But here came the Meat Processing Factory, poaching his technical talent with merciless efficiency!