When Zhai Jianguo went to Qin Hai to negotiate, Wei Baolin carried a box of tea and knocked on the door of the old factory director Ning Zhongying.

"Who!"

A neutral voice came from inside the room.

"Old factory director, it's me, Xiao Wei." Wei Baolin replied in a gentle voice.

"Xiao Wei?" The people in the room muttered, and then the door opened, and an old man who was more than seven meters tall, with a straight waist and gray hair appeared in front of Wei Baolin.

"Old factory director, I'll come to see you. Someone just gave me a box of good tea, and I remembered that the old factory director liked to drink Biluochun the most, so I brought it to you. Wei Baolin took out the box of tea, handed it to the old man Ning Zhongying, and said with a smile.

"Oh, then thank you." Ning Zhongying nodded slightly, reached out to take the tea, and let Wei Baolin into the living room.

"Old factory director, what have you been busy with lately?" After the guests and hosts sat down separately, Wei Baolin asked about Ning Zhongying's life in a homely tone.

When Ning Zhongying was the factory director, Wei Baolin was his office director, and the relationship between the two was very harmonious at that time. Wei Baolin is quite clever in doing things, he knows Ning Zhongying's preferences and habits well, and he handles all kinds of affairs very much in line with Ning Zhongying's wishes, so he is deeply appreciated by Ning Zhongying.

After the policy of "understanding people in charge" was issued, Ning Zhongying, as an old cadre who was over fifty years old and had no diploma, naturally had to take a back seat. When the county economic committee asked him to nominate a successor, Ning Zhongying did not recommend Wei Baolin, but recommended another deputy factory director. According to Ning Zhongying, Wei Baolin is very competent as the director of the office of the waiter, but it is not suitable to be the director of a factory.

But Wei Baolin himself doesn't think so, he thinks that he has a university degree, and he is good at dancing with long sleeves, and he is a pioneering talent, so why can't he be a factory director? He took advantage of the friendship he had with some officials in the county during the reception to carry out various lobbying activities, and finally got the county to veto Ning Zhongying's recommendation and instead appointed Wei Baolin as the director of the Qingfeng factory.

The director of the county economic committee personally came to the Qingfeng factory to announce Wei Baolin's appointment decision, and at the same time appointed Ning Zhongying as the director of the research office of the Qingfeng factory, and told Ning Zhongying to "help the young comrades and give them a ride". At that meeting, Ning Zhongying changed his domineering attitude in the past, and did not say a word throughout the meeting, and even when the director of the Economic Commission asked him to express his position, he just waved his hand, which made the director of the Economic Commission stunned.

After the director of the Economic Commission and his entourage left, Wei Baolin timidly came to Ning Zhongying and asked the old leader to make demands on him. Ning Zhongying looked at Wei Baolin with a smile, then stretched out his finger and pointed to the sky, then pointed to the ground, said "It's good to do it yourself", and walked away.

Zhai Jianguo, the dog-legged man who followed Wei Baolin, didn't understand the dumb riddle played by Ning Zhongying, so he just grinned and smirked. But Wei Baolin, who has followed Ning Zhongying for many years, changed his face suddenly, and he even had the heart to scold the street.

Pointing to the sky and the earth with his finger is a well-known political joke in those years, talking about the contempt of a certain old commander for a certain "rocket-like" cadre. Whether this paragraph is true or false is impossible to verify, but the meaning of this action, Wei Baolin is very clear, that is, he is saying that he does not know the height of the sky.

Two years have passed since then. Wei Baolin's administration at the Qingfeng plant was not smooth, and the operating performance of the Qingfeng factory deteriorated day by day, attracting a lot of criticism against him. Surprisingly, Ning Zhongying, who was not optimistic about Wei Baolin from the beginning, never expressed his opinion on the operation of the factory, and even when Xiang Jiyong, Xiao Dongping's old subordinates went to his house to complain, he just laughed and did not say anything.

Wei Baolin adopted a strategy of superficial respect and private defense towards Ning Zhongying, every two or three months, he would personally come to the door to greet Ning Zhongying, and every time he would definitely bring some small gifts, just like when he was the director of the office. When Ning Zhongying wanted to use a car or reimburse medical expenses, Wei Baolin gave the greatest support, and asked the administrative department and the financial department to never neglect Ning Zhongying in the slightest.

It is precisely because Wei Baolin has always maintained humility that Ning Zhongying's attitude towards him is relatively friendly, at least in a state of discord between face and heart. Wei Baolin knew that Ning Zhongying had always thought that he was not suitable to be the factory director, and after he became the factory director, he did confirm Ning Zhongying's prediction, so Ning Zhongying was extremely disdainful of him. Wei Baolin didn't expect to win Ning Zhongying's affirmation, he just needed to appease Ning Zhongying and let the other party not dismantle his platform.

Hearing Wei Baolin's greeting, Ning Zhongying leaned on the sofa and smiled slightly, and said, "What can I do as an old man, I am busy with everything, every day is to eat, wait for death, and have nothing else to do." ”

"Hey, how can the old factory director say that." Wei Baolin pretended to be reproachful and said. He scanned the furnishings in the room with his eyes, and saw a Go board on the dining table, on which were black and white chess pieces, so he walked over, looked at it carefully, and then said, "The old factory director is playing music?" Well, this seems to be the game between Ezuhisa and Kobayashi Koichi in the Sino-Japanese Go Tournament, right? Jiang Zhujiu is really a pity. ”

Ning Zhongying didn't answer Wei Baolin's words, but just smiled and said nothing. He knew that the more Wei Baolin did this, the more important things he had to say. Wei Baolin's little tricks are very useful to the county leaders, but in Ning Zhongying's eyes, they are just some small tricks, don't expect to hide it from him.

"By the way, the old factory director, I came to visit the old factory director today to see if there are any inconveniences in the old factory director's life. Second, I would like to ask the old factory director to put forward some valuable opinions on the operation of the Qingfeng plant, so that the factory can use it as a guide when making decisions. Wei Baolin finally got back to the point.

"You know my temper, and you are not in his position, and he is not in politics. Since the county handed over the Qingfeng factory to you, then you can make up your own mind about all the operations, what am I doing with this old man's nonsense? Ning Zhongying said.

Wei Baolin said: "You can't say that, after all, the old factory director is the old leader of Qingfeng Factory, and he knows the situation of Qingfeng Factory best, and the county is also the most emotional. How can the business decisions in the factory be separated from the advice of an old leader like you? ”

Ning Zhongying ignored Wei Baolin, took out a cigarette from the cigarette case on the coffee table next to him, and lit it by himself, without saying a word.

Wei Baolin knew that this was a sign that Ning Zhongying allowed him to speak, if Ning Zhongying really didn't want to listen to the business problems in the factory, he would get up at this time to send off customers, instead of smoking by himself.

"That's right, due to the decreasing number of national planning tasks, the traditional business of our Qingfeng factory continues to shrink, and it is difficult to support our large factory. Some time ago, several of our factory leaders and middle-level cadres went to several cities in China to investigate, and finally found a new product direction for Qingfeng Factory. Wei Baolin said.

Ning Zhongying shook his head and said, "I haven't heard of anything. ”

Just pretend! Wei Baolin muttered to himself. Since he believed that Qin Hai was instructed by Ning Zhongying to slander the prospects of the washing machine market, then Ning Zhongying's statement that he did not know the new business direction of the Qingfeng Factory must be a lie. The matter of switching to washing machines is already known to almost the whole factory, how can Ning Zhongying not know about it?

In fact, Wei Baolin really wronged Ning Zhongying. The matter of switching to washing machines was revealed at a meeting of middle-level cadres only on Monday, and today is Thursday, and only three days have passed. After Ning Zhongying retreated to the second line, he usually stayed at home and did not go out, and the news about the factory was relayed by some cadres and workers who came to visit the factory. In the past few days, no one happened to come to Ning Zhongying's house to chat, so Ning Zhongying really didn't know about the switch to washing machines.

Speaking of which, Ning Zhongying's baby son Ning Mo knew about it, but Ning Mo saw that Ning Zhongying was like a mouse seeing a cat, he couldn't hide, how could he take the initiative to talk to his father about the decision-making in the factory. Besides, what Ning Mo has been thinking about these days is going out to make extra money, whether the factory is switching to washing machines or aircraft carriers, what does it have to do with him?

Ning Zhongying denied that he knew the new business direction of the Qingfeng Factory, and Wei Baolin could only introduce him to him first, whether he believed it or not. Hearing that Wei Baolin's new business was the production of washing machines, Ning Zhongying's face clearly flashed a trace of disdain.

"Old factory director, what do you think of our choice of direction?" Wei Baolin asked.

Ning Zhongying dusted the cigarette in his hand on the ashtray, and then said slowly: "For this direction, I only have two words to evaluate. ”

"What two words?" Wei Baolin asked.

"Nonsense!" Ning Zhongying replied crisply.

"......" Rao is Wei Baolin had already been mentally prepared, and when he heard such a straightforward criticism, his face turned like a pig's liver.

"Old factory director, this direction was chosen by me and Xiao Zhai, as well as several other middle-level cadres." Wei Baolin said aggrievedly.

Ning Zhongying said: "Whether it's nonsense or not, it has nothing to do with the small number of people." You are the head of a factory, you can have the final say on how to run it. However, if you want to ask for my opinion, I have only one sentence: nonsense. ”

"Okay...... Wei Baolin said aggrievedly, "Can the old factory director make it clear, why do you think this decision is nonsense?" ”

"Agricultural machinery and washing machines, except for the word machine, nothing else has anything to do with each other. If the agricultural machinery factory can build a washing machine, will it also be able to build an airplane in the future, and there is also a word that is the same. Ning Zhongying said.