The commotion caused by Lu Chuyu's recruitment of veterans was considerable.
At first, the military didn't pay much attention to it, merely remarking, "This overseas Chinese foreign investor does have some foresight."
After all, those who came out of the military were beyond reproach in character, and the skills honed through military service were something ordinary civilians couldn't match. Using veterans for the joint venture factory's security team was a wise choice.
But then, she went on to recruit quite a few disabled veterans, offering them the same wages and benefits as able-bodied workers—no, actually, even better.
This inevitably drew serious attention. The Veterans Affairs Department held a special meeting to discuss the matter. After all, Lu Chuyu held American citizenship—whether she had some hidden agenda needed to be strictly scrutinized.
For this reason, they sent people to privately investigate Lu Chuyu, and the conclusion they ultimately reached was that Lu Chuyu was a good comrade.
For a red businessman who cared about the nation, the military couldn't very well do nothing in return. Especially the leaders of the Nanhu Military District—why go far when there was a good thing right at their doorstep? Nanhu had plenty of fine veterans of their own. If they could deepen cooperation, it would open another path for their veterans.
When Guo Weihua received the notice from his superiors, he only then learned that Lu Chuyu had done such a great deed. He felt his eyes grow a bit hot.
Recently, he had specifically looked through the county records. The Lu family had been benevolent merchants in the old society, even during the feudal era, doing many good deeds. Ms. Lu was truly a worthy descendant of the Lu family—good to the core.
Lu Chuyu naturally wouldn't refuse when comrades from the Military District's Publicity Section wanted to interview her.
These past two days, because the Nanhu Daily had published the food factory's recruitment notice, she was thriving. Lying in bed, her Emotion Points were climbing steadily.
She had originally planned to save up her Emotion Points and wait until next year to purchase the production machines for spicy dried fish, meat sauce, spicy crab, and ham sausages. But at the current rate her Emotion Points were growing, even if she opened the System Mall and exchanged them right now, she wouldn't have to worry about running short later.
The Military District Publicity Section's interview would definitely be published in the newspaper too. Although it was an internal military newspaper, how many soldiers were there in China? That was how many Emotion Points! Lu Chuyu's breathing grew a little rapid.
She truly hadn't expected that planting willows carelessly would yield shade—such a small act of kindness could bring such a great reward.
Liu Changxing and the other two also wore expressions of shared pride. They had all come out of the military and held a special feeling for the armed forces.
Nanhu grew single-crop rice, and the autumn harvest didn't end until late October.
Because the wages and benefits at Master Lu's Food Factory were too generous, even though the factory was built in a remote location—almost reaching the Beiquan Production Brigade—over two thousand people came to take the written exam, and some of them even already had jobs.
With so many people, trouble was bound to happen. To prevent this, even the city sent public security officers to help maintain order at the scene.
Some quick-witted folks steamed buns and griddled flatbreads at home to sell on-site, making a decent amount of money in a single day.
The written exam alone—one session per hour—took three full days to complete.
In the end, over seventeen hundred people passed the written exam.
Guo Ran was someone Lu Chuyu had poached from the city's sugar refinery. At this moment, he was arguing heatedly with Wei Minqiang, who had been sent down by the commune, both of them red in the face.
"Since this is a recruitment, we should select the best candidates. Seventeen hundred people passed the written exam—are we supposed to interview every single one of them? How long would that take? What about work efficiency? We naturally need to raise the bar. There are over six hundred people who scored above 80—that's more than enough to screen from."
Guo Ran let out a cold snort. "Do you have any idea why Boss Lu built the factory here? Why she didn't restrict education level or household registration? Isn't it to give more opportunities to the village youth? How can rural village education compare to that in the towns, let alone the city? Your approach is essentially paying lip service while directly shutting the village youth out.
"Furthermore, the recruitment process is clearly stated in the Nanhu Daily—as long as you pass the written exam, whether you scored 90 or 60, as long as you passed, you're qualified to participate in the interview. Do frontline production workers need high education? And what about the porters? Do city youth have more strength than village youth who work the fields every day?"
"Do you know how long it would take to interview all seventeen hundred people?"
Wei Minqiang felt that Guo Ran was treating a feather as a command arrow—completely disregarding practical realities and work efficiency, refusing to adapt.
He also wondered where on earth Ms. Lu had found this man to be the factory's deputy director. Was he even qualified?
It was complete nonsense.
Although Wei Minqiang was the deputy director, he didn't think much of Director Lu Changgui—he was nothing more than a figurehead. Managing the factory still depended on experienced and capable people like himself. Who could have expected a bolt from the blue like this to come out of nowhere?
"Director Wei, if you think interviewing so many people is too much trouble, you're welcome to go back to the commune and find someone who doesn't find it troublesome. I'll report this matter in full detail to Boss Lu. Don't forget the contract Boss Lu signed with the commune for this joint venture. What, the factory hasn't even started production yet, and you, as the commune's representative, already want to change the hiring process that Boss Lu established?"
Guo Ran couldn't be bothered to waste more words with Wei Minqiang. The man clearly couldn't tell who was in charge.
He had come from a state-owned factory himself—he knew exactly what Wei Minqiang was thinking. There were always people who liked to jump out and make their presence known on decisions that had already been made, just to show off their authority.
The question was whether this was Wei Minqiang's personal idea, or whether the commune was also testing Boss Lu's bottom line.
Guo Ran's words left Wei Minqiang choking on his response, his face unable to maintain its composure.
But after a moment's thought—surely Ms. Lu wouldn't care about such a trivial matter—he let out a cold "hmph," mimicking Guo Ran's earlier tone. "I still insist on merit-based selection. We should raise the threshold for written exam scores."
When Lu Chuyu learned of this, her brows furrowed slightly. The concerns that occurred to Guo Ran had naturally occurred to her as well.
This was actually a trivial matter. Guo Ran was her person, and it was only right that he defended her sole authority in the food factory. Wei Minqiang's starting point wasn't entirely without merit, but his attempt to make decisions on his own was something Lu Chuyu could not tolerate.
Moreover, she had her reputation to consider. Since the hiring process had been published in the newspaper, to suddenly raise the passing score just because too many people had passed would make her look capricious.
The most important thing in business was integrity. At the end of the day, this was due to her lack of practical experience—she hadn't thought things through thoroughly enough.
"You did well. I'll discuss this personally with Secretary Guo. The interviews will be your responsibility—good work." Praise should be given where praise was due.
"Don't worry, Boss. I know what to do."
Lu Chuyu nodded, signaling Guo Ran to get back to work.
Wei Minqiang had originally planned to return to the commune and put in a bad word about Guo Ran with Secretary Guo. You have Ms. Lu backing you, Guo Ran, but I have the commune as my support.
Who would have thought he'd be thoroughly chewed out by Secretary Guo instead?
"You're the deputy factory director. I'm not saying you can't have ideas—you can have ideas—but the first thing you should do is report upward, not act on your own. If it weren't for Guo Ran stopping you, you would have caused a major problem today, do you understand that?!"
"Secretary Guo, my starting point was for the good of the factory. Workers with higher cultural literacy learn things faster too."
Wei Minqiang admitted to himself that he'd had a bit of a selfish motive—wanting to get one over on Guo Ran.
But as God was his witness, he genuinely wanted the food factory to succeed. Only if the food factory did well could he do well.
"Ms. Lu just got off the phone with me. She's extremely displeased with what you did today. You nearly damaged her personal credibility and violated the joint venture's founding contract. If Guo Ran hadn't stopped you and you'd actually raised the written exam passing score on your own, Ms. Lu might have directly withdrawn her investment—and the reason for withdrawal would have been our breach of contract. Do you understand?"
Guo Weihua sighed, feeling a headache coming on, and spoke earnestly: "Minqiang, your starting point was indeed for the factory's benefit, but the food factory's hiring process was already published in the Nanhu Daily. Raising the written exam passing threshold at the last minute would make Ms. Lu lose credibility with the public. The most important thing in business is integrity.
Most importantly, if you don't explain your reasons to Ms. Lu in advance and try to bypass her to change her decision, that's equivalent to the commune breaching the contract—it's written in black and white. Ms. Lu holds sole decision-making authority. Your actions today might well appear to Ms. Lu as the commune testing her, which could easily cause misunderstandings.
This is the only time. If a similar problem occurs again, don't blame me for replacing you without regard for our past relationship."
Wei Minqiang pressed his lips together and nodded.
He had indeed harbored a bit of selfish intent, but he hadn't expected Ms. Lu to react so strongly.
Still, being made a puppet factory director—he felt somewhat resentful about that. But given his current circumstances, the food factory was already his best option.
Alas, when you're under someone else's roof, you have to lower your head.
With Guo Ran taking full charge of the interview process, things proceeded in an orderly fashion and concluded a week later.
This was his first task as deputy factory director, so naturally he had to do his utmost to complete it well and demonstrate his personal capability.
The list of those who passed the interviews was posted on the bulletin board to the left of the food factory's main gate. Naturally, some people were dissatisfied and wanted an explanation—something Guo Ran had anticipated.
"Our Master Lu Food Factory doesn't only produce Master Lu instant noodles. Everyone can look ahead—that empty lot over there will soon have new factory buildings. There will be a second round of hiring then, and candidates will be recruited directly from those who passed the written exam. There will be more opportunities in the future."
Guo Ran's grand promise naturally made those who were dissatisfied and wanted to cause a scene reconsider. If they made a fuss today, they might feel a momentary sense of satisfaction, but it would mean forever losing the chance to become workers at the food factory.
No one was a fool; everyone knew which choice to make.
Those who passed the interview wore beaming smiles, and some were even so overcome with emotion that they burst into tears.
How could they not be overjoyed? How could they not weep with happiness?
In the rural countryside, if a family could produce a worker, it was equivalent to elevating the family's status.
In the city, how many educated youths who had returned from the countryside were eating at home without work, enduring scornful looks.