That evening, Meng Guangming held a celebration banquet at the guesthouse of the No. 1 Machinery Factory.

"Director Li, if you have any good food in the kitchen, just give it to me! I'll pay for it!"

Meng Guangming called the factory director Li Liping over and said with a proud look on his face.

"How can that be possible... This is too much money for you..." Li Liping looked embarrassed, and he said, "Our factory has entertainment expenses, so you don't have to pay..."

It was naturally impossible for Li Liping to allow his superiors to treat him to a meal in his own factory. Besides, their Machinery Factory No. 1 had been performing very well in recent years, with the annual entertainment expenses amounting to over ten thousand yuan, so there was no need for the superiors to pay for it out of their own pockets.

Besides, facing such a senior leader as Meng Guangming, it is impossible for Li Liping to be so ignorant, unless the factory director no longer wants to do his job.

"That won't do!" Meng Guangming's face suddenly turned serious, and he said, "After dinner, I want to see the menu, including all the drinks. Everything must be calculated for me, not a penny less, understand?"

"This one……"

Li Liping had never seen a leader behave like this before, and for a moment, he was at a loss.

"After the project acceptance is completed, I will report to the department. By the way, I will also report on your factory's current production situation..."

"I understand. I'll ask the kitchen staff to calculate the cost of this meal later." Li Liping said quickly after hearing this.

"Yeah." Meng Guangming's expression relaxed after hearing that.

Afterwards, he came to the restaurant of the guesthouse and greeted Xu Qiang with a smile on his face.

At this time, there were more than fifty people in the restaurant, including more than 20 people from Xu Qiang's project, people from the BJ acceptance team, and technical personnel from the manufacturer, sitting at six tables.

Xu Qiang and his two companions were arranged to sit at the leadership table together with Meng Guangming, Chen Zhitao, Li Liping and others.

"Come on, Xiao Xu, sit next to me. Let's have a good drink today." Meng Guangming changed his serious and calm demeanor and warmly invited Xu Qiang to sit next to him.

Seeing Meng Guangming, everyone present, including Liu Siying and He Yonghong, was a little nervous, but Xu Qiang was calm, as if he was just meeting an old friend.

"Director Meng, you are so polite." Xu Qiang said with a smile, "If it were you, we could just have a simple meal. There's no need to make such a big fuss."

"You are now a hero of our Fifth Ministry of Machine Building. This is how we should treat heroes!" Meng Guangming said.

"You're too kind. Actually, our equipment still needs to run for a long time to test its stability. We can't say that all projects are perfect successes yet..." Xu Qiang said.

"You are already a great contributor if you can produce aramid paper!" Meng Guangming interrupted Xu Qiang and continued, "Do you know how much aramid paper our country needs to import every year?"

"how much is it?"

"Last year, our country imported 47 million yuan worth of aramid paper from DuPont in the United States, and it was paid in U.S. dollars!"

"Forehead……"

Hearing Meng Guangming say this, everyone present was shocked.

For ordinary workers in state-owned enterprises like them, becoming a millionaire might be an unattainable dream, so 47 million US dollars is simply an astronomical figure in their eyes!
"We Chinese must have our own backbone! We must also be able to produce what foreign countries can produce, and we must do it better than them!" When he said this, Meng Guangming's tone was a bit proud, and he continued: "This is actually the greatest value of your life in technical work, and this is also the talent the country needs most!"

"Well said!" Upon hearing this, the factory manager Li Liping immediately led the applause.

Immediately, applause broke out from the audience.

Chen Zhitao, deputy director of Institute 201, who was sitting on the other side, seemed a little excited at this moment and gently wiped his eyes with his hands.

"The success of this aramid paper mass production project is of great significance. At least in the future, we will not be strangled by foreigners in this regard! So I think our technical workers should learn from Comrade Xu Qiang and use their youth and talents to build the motherland and develop science and technology. Only in this way can our country become stronger!"

As Meng Guangming spoke, his tone was filled with strong patriotic sentiment, so much so that when he finished speaking, the applause at the scene became even louder.

"Director Meng said it very well!" Li Liping beside him clapped even louder, then looked at Xu Qiang and said with a big smile on his face: "Comrade Xu Qiang, how about you say something too?"

"Yes, yes, yes! Let Comrade Xu Qiang say something!" Meng Guangming also sat down at this time and said to Xu Qiang with a smile on his face. "I am a technician, I get salary and benefits from the state, I just do what I should do." Xu Qiang smiled slightly and continued, "In fact, the reason why the aramid paper mass production project was able to complete the acceptance so quickly and smoothly is that the leaders of the department attach great importance to and support this project. Without the help of everyone present, without the various funds and support provided by the superiors, this project would also be difficult to succeed. So I think the success of this project is the credit of all participants, I am just one of them..."

After Xu Qiang finished speaking, the audience burst into applause. Liu Siying, who was sitting next to him, also looked at Xu Qiang with a brighter look in her eyes.

"Comrade Xu Qiang is really too modest. It is rare for a young person to be neither arrogant nor impetuous." Meng Guangming said approvingly upon hearing this.

"Everyone please sit down. You've been busy all day and you must be hungry. I'm so hungry that I almost don't have the strength to talk." Xu Qiang said to everyone.

"Hahaha!" Meng Guangming laughed out loud when he heard that, then turned to the factory manager Li Liping and said, "Old Li, quickly ask the waiter to serve the food!"

"Okay, I'll go to the kitchen and urge them now." Li Liping said quickly.

In such occasions, even a factory director like Li Liping of a large factory could only play the role of an attendant. After all, he was a leader from BJ, and Li Liping dared not neglect him in the slightest.

Afterwards, the food and wine were quickly served on the table.

It has to be said that the standard of Shanghai Dachang Guesthouse is indeed much higher than that of Factory 9304 where Xu Qiang works.

In the past, the basic configuration of the 9304 Guesthouse was chicken, duck, fish and meat, and the cooking was also very average. But here, the specifications are obviously a level higher, with a variety of seafood delicacies. Not only are the ingredients fresh, but the workmanship is also very delicate. They are truly delicious in color, aroma and taste.

The other wines served were all Wuliangye, which made He Yonghong's eyes light up. He immediately filled the glass of the leader at the same table with wine, but subconsciously placed the remaining half bottle of wine at his feet...

After seeing Meng Guangming put a braised shrimp into Xu Qiang's bowl first, the others picked up their chopsticks and the atmosphere at the scene suddenly became lively.

"Xu Qiang, after you graduate in the future, do you want to return to the original factory or choose your own job?" Meng Guangming asked.

"I will definitely go back to the original factory." Xu Qiang smiled slightly and continued, "No matter what, we should never forget our roots. I was trained by Factory 9304, and I will definitely serve the factory in the future."

Generally speaking, TV universities are organized by enterprises, and employees who attend TV universities will eventually be assigned back to their original factories to work.

However, the country's policies have changed in the past two years. After graduation, electrical engineering students can also choose to find jobs on their own and enter new factories or public institutions.

Liu Siying, who was standing by, heard him say this and looked at him approvingly.

"Yeah, that's good." Meng Guangming nodded and said, "In fact, no matter which factory it is, it's all owned by the state, so you were trained by the state, so even if you choose to work independently in the future, there will be no problem..."

"Director Meng, you're not right to say that..." At this time, Chen Zhitao from the 201st Institute frowned slightly. He obviously saw Meng Guangming's intention, so he said, "Comrade Xu Qiang is a talent cultivated by our military industry department. Our Minister Zhang should attach great importance to him. If he is allowed to engage in the research of civilian machinery, it would be a waste of his talent."

"Haha, Lao Li, I'm just giving him some advice. We are all contributing to the country, so why bother with the restrictions between departments? Besides, our two departments have cooperated more than once or twice. It's not an exaggeration to say that we are brother departments. And I also heard a major news..." Meng Guangming said with a smile.

"what news?"

"It is said that starting from next year, the state will abolish and reorganize our First and Fifth Ministries of Machine Building, and it is very likely that they will jointly establish a new ministry. By then, maybe we will be one family."

"Really?" Chen Zhitao asked in surprise.

"Of course it's true. The State Council has already held a meeting with us and solicited our opinions. In a nutshell, it is to streamline the bureaucracy and reduce departmental establishment. Of course, there will be no changes in your scientific research institutes. The main focus is on the reform of our administrative departments." Meng Guangming said.

"I hope so." Chen Zhitao nodded.

Xu Qiang, who was sitting nearby, did not change his expression at all after hearing their conversation.

Because Xu Qiang had already known that the First and Fifth Ministry of Machine Building would be abolished.

As far as Xu Qiang remembers, it should be in 1982, that is, the next year, the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building Industry was renamed the Ministry of Ordnance Industry, and the First Ministry of Machine Building seemed to be merged with several other ministries to form the Ministry of Machinery Industry.

But whether in the Ministry of Ordnance Industry or the Ministry of Machinery Industry, Xu Qiang has a place to use his talents. After all, the chemical industry involves too many product categories, and they have extremely wide applications in both civilian and military fields.

As for which department Xu Qiang will choose in the future, he can only take it one step at a time. But no matter what, with the chemical technology that is ahead of this era that he has mastered, he can become a hot commodity in any unit or department... (End of this chapter)