Chapter 236 Crossroads
I don’t know how long I slept, but when Xu Qiang got up from the bed again, the sun was already shining on his butt.

"Bang bang bang!"

There was a sudden knock on the door, and Xu Qiang quickly got out of bed and opened the door.

After opening the door, He Yonghong appeared at the door.

"Hurry up, the factory manager and others are waiting for you!"

"Forehead."

This time Xu Qiang suddenly woke up, rushed into the bathroom, wiped his face with cold water, then put on his clothes and went downstairs with He Yonghong.

Ten minutes later, Xu Qiang appeared at the door of the private room of the guesthouse.

When Xu Qiang pushed the door and entered the private room, he was stunned for a moment.

I saw that the place was already full of people.

In addition to the factory director Liu Biao and the three people sent by the department, chief engineer Li Cunzhu, Liu Siying and He Jie were also there.

"Comrade Xu Qiang, come and sit down!"

The first person to greet Xu Qiang was Zhou Guotao, who motioned Xu Qiang to sit next to him. The other two experts from Institute 201 also stood up with smiles on their faces after seeing Xu Qiang.

Seeing this scene, Li Cunzhu, Liu Siying and He Jie were also surprised. They didn't expect Zhou Guotao to be so polite to Xu Qiang.

After all, the three of them didn't know what happened last night. They just thought they were temporarily pulled over to have a meal with the leader. After all, Li Cunzhu was the chief engineer of the factory, while Liu Siying and He Jie had just returned from a business trip to another factory.

"I'm really sorry, I just woke up!" Xu Qiang smoothed his messy hair with his hand and said to everyone.

"It's okay. In fact, we just got here too." Liu Siying said to him with a smile.

"It's just a simple meal, there's no need to be so particular." Liu Biao saw that everyone was present and said with a smile, "By the way, Director Zhou and the two experts have been in our factory for several days. I hope you three will forgive me for my poor hospitality during this period..."

"What are you talking about? I think the environment of your factory is good, whether it is the factory construction or the mental outlook of the workers, they are all very good. Director Liu is a good leader, and I admire him very much." Zhou Guotao said with a smile.

Zhou Guotao has not been idle these days. During the day, he has been wandering around the factory and has visited all the living areas and production workshops. The situation in the factory really makes him very satisfied. It can be said that among the third-tier enterprises he has visited in recent years, this one has very good conditions in all aspects.

The fact that Liu Biao was able to run a third-tier enterprise in a remote area so well made Zhou Guotao respect him more. It was also because of this that he was willing to make an exception and accept the invitation to come over for dinner.

"Our factory can have the current situation, first of all, it is inseparable from the care and support of the superiors, and secondly, our factory also has some outstanding talents, they are the important driving force supporting the development of our factory." Liu Biao smiled slightly, and then said: "For example, Comrade Li Cunzhu, the chief engineer of our factory, was the first to enter the factory with me. Many of the product designs in the factory were developed by him. Li Cunzhu should be the first to bear the credit for the current good situation of the factory."

"Well, Chief Engineer Li is really admirable!" Zhou Guotao said to Li Cunzhu with a smile upon hearing this.

"I also did what I should do." Hearing Liu Biao praising him in front of the head of the ministry's inspection team, Li Cunzhu immediately said with a smile.

"Also, the electronic fuse shielding box developed by Chief Engineer Li this time has also been successfully selected for this year's foreign trade military products exhibition. At the beginning of next month, he may go to BJ to participate in the exhibition as a representative of our factory..." Liu Biao continued.

"Well, very good!" Zhou Guotao nodded, then looked at Xu Qiang and said, "Comrade Xu Qiang, I want to know where you learned chemical engineering knowledge before? Have you gone anywhere for further study?"

Zhou Guotao was obviously more interested in Xu Qiang. He was full of doubts about this young man who was only in his early twenties.

"I learned all my chemical knowledge by myself. When I was in junior high school, I especially liked chemistry classes. After I graduated, I often bought some chemistry books from the county library..." Xu Qiang paused and continued, "Since I came to this factory, Director Liu has given me a lot of help. He not only encouraged me to engage in technological research and development, but also provided me with a stage to display my talents. In order to establish a chemical laboratory, I invested more than 100,000 yuan. Later, when I was developing aramid paper, the factory provided me with more than 100,000 yuan. If it weren't for such great support, I would not have been able to develop aramid paper..."

When facing his superiors, Xu Qiang naturally could not forget to flatter his leader. After all, Liu Biao's support for him was indeed great in the beginning. Now that the time has come to ask for credit and reward, he naturally could not forget Liu Biao.

If one wants to get along well in the system, it is very important to consider the interests of others. What's more, he and Liu Biao are in the same boat. Their relationship now is not only that of superiors and subordinates, but also more like that of master and apprentice. Although Xu Qiang has been favored by his superiors this time, he is still clear-headed and he must not forget his roots at the moment.

"Your Director Liu is indeed a very outstanding cadre. I have been walking around the factory these days and have asked many employees. They all speak very highly of your director. No one has said a bad word about him. This is not easy." Zhou Guotao smiled and continued, "There are many good horses, but it is even more difficult to find a good horse trainer. I think Director Liu is the modern-day horse trainer..."

"Director Zhou, you're too kind. I thought this kid was good, so I wanted to train him. But I didn't expect that he would bring me so many surprises. In fact, when it comes down to it, it's Xu Qiang's own ability. I just did what I should do." Liu Biao said quickly.

Hearing the conversation between Xu Qiang, Liu Biao and Zhou Guotao, Li Cunzhu and Liu Siying who were present were somewhat confused. From Zhou Guotao's conversation, it was obvious that he appreciated Xu Qiang. The three were not present last night and did not know what happened yesterday. Logically, Li Cunzhu's project was the only product in the factory selected by the department to participate in the exhibition, so the leaders from the department should value Li Cunzhu more, but at this time, Xu Qiang seemed to be the protagonist.

"Comrade Xu Qiang's technical level is indeed high. Although I don't understand the technology, the two experts who came with me have spoken highly of Comrade Xu Qiang." Zhou Guotao paused and continued, "And the aramid product he developed this time can be said to be a major breakthrough in our domestic chemical technology field. It will play a very big role in promoting our domestic military and aviation industries!"

"Forehead."

Hearing this, Liu Biao and others present were stunned. There was a flash of surprise in Liu Siying's eyes when she looked at Xu Qiang.

No one expected that the superiors would have such a high evaluation of the aramid paper developed by Xu Qiang. In comparison, the signal shielding box of Li Cunzhu's project team seemed to have not caught Zhou Guotao's attention at all.

"Speaking of aramid paper, it was first developed by Americans in the 201s. In the early s, our country also gathered the strength of the whole country to develop it as a national key scientific research project, including our current Minister Zhang of the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building and Deputy Director Chen Zhitao of the st Institute. They are also the backbone members of this project team. Unfortunately, the project lasted for more than two years and took a lot of time and energy, but it failed in the end..." Zhou Guotao pondered for a moment and continued, "So this time Minister Zhang sent me here to confirm whether your factory has really made a breakthrough in this technology. Of course, we were also enlightened yesterday. Comrade Xu Qiang is a real talent and he did not let us down. I believe that if our Minister Zhang knew about this, he would be very happy!"

"I didn't expect Brother Qiang to be so powerful." He Jie couldn't help but say at this time.

"Comrade Xu Qiang, I want to ask you something." At this time, Zhou Guotao said to Xu Qiang.

"what's up?"

"Are you willing to come to work in BJ? Our Institute 201 is the top research institute in the country. If you are willing to come, I guarantee that you will be valued. Moreover, the department will definitely restart the aramid paper project this time, and you will become the person in charge of this project." Zhou Guotao said seriously.

"This..." Xu Qiang frowned when he heard this.
"Director Zhou, this is not very kind of you. Xu Qiang is the best technician in our factory..." Liu Biao was obviously a little anxious.

"If Xu Qiang goes to work in BJ, I think the department will definitely give your factory some compensation. Moreover, this concerns Xu Qiang's personal future. We should respect his own decision." Zhou Guotao turned to Liu Biao and said.

"Yes, I think Director Zhou is right. Outstanding talents should have a higher stage. With Xu Qiang's ability, I believe he will be able to give full play to his potential in BJ in the future." At this time, Li Cunzhu suddenly interrupted.

"I think... I should finish college before considering this matter." Xu Qiang pondered for a moment, then continued, "Thank you Director Zhou for thinking so highly of me, but the current situation is that I only have a junior high school education. If I work at the 201 Institute at this time, there will definitely be many people who will not accept it, which will be very detrimental to my future work. You can think about it, if I enter the 201 Institute and become the project leader, what will those college students, master's students, and doctoral students think? If it were you, would you feel comfortable and would you fully cooperate with my work?"

"I..." Zhou Guotao never expected Xu Qiang to say that, so much so that he, who was always quick-witted, was speechless.

"So I have to finish college first, and then decide on other things. After all, Shengli Machinery Factory has never treated me unfairly, and I want to make more contributions to them." Xu Qiang paused, then said, "Of course, if the department needs me to cooperate with the aramid paper project, I will do my best to help solve the problem, but as for other things, I can only wait until I graduate from college..."

At this time, Xu Qiang can be said to have reached the first major crossroads in his life after his rebirth.

There were two options before him: stay in the factory or go to BJ for development.

On the surface, the latter path undoubtedly seems to be more promising. No. 201, directly under the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building, has higher salaries, better and more advanced equipment, and a highly respected status. And with his chemical technology, he can more easily obtain high-level honors and rewards.

But from Xu Qiang's current perspective, he must also consider other aspects.

First of all, if he goes to BJ, Xu Qiang will have to give up his current business in Jiangxi, because Jiangxi and BJ are so far apart, and it takes two or three days by train. It is impossible for Xu Qiang to take care of both sides at the same time, so he can only suspend his business.

However, nowadays, Xu Qiang's dye workshop has a daily output value of thousands of yuan, and can make a net profit of tens of thousands of yuan a month! This is not a small amount of money. With this money, Xu Qiang can do a lot of things in the future, including setting up a factory and building his own chemical laboratory.

In addition, in his previous life, Xu Qiang was a senior engineer at the Beijing Chemical Research Institute. He was very familiar with places like research institutes. Even if you have amazing abilities, if you want to move to the next level, you still need to fight for academic qualifications and experience. The open and covert struggles and the degree of internal competition are unimaginable to outsiders.

Besides, Xu Qiang was reborn, and he didn't want to go back to his old ways. He just wanted to rely on his skills and foresight to start his own business in the future. So Zhou Guotao's proposal was not very attractive to him.

But if he refused directly, it would obviously make Zhou Guotao lose face, so he simply proposed to make plans after graduating from university. This way he left himself a way out and at the same time would not offend Zhou Guotao and the factory director Liu Biao.

Sure enough, after hearing what Xu Qiang said, Liu Biao and Zhou Guotao nodded in agreement at the same time.

"In that case, let Xu Qiang finish college first, and then let him decide whether to stay or leave." Liu Biao secretly breathed a sigh of relief at this time, and then said to everyone with a smile: "The dishes are almost served, everyone hurry up and eat."

"Yes, yes! Let's eat together!" Zhou Guotao said with a smile at this time.

At this time, Liu Siying glanced at Xu Qiang, a smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, and after picking up the chopsticks, she first picked up a big chicken leg for He Jie, and then picked up a piece of snow-white fish meat, and gently placed it in Xu Qiang's bowl...

(End of this chapter)