Chapter 17: You Watch Him from the Bridge, While I Watch You from Upstairs

"Will building the rig be difficult?" Zheng Baohua naturally hoped they could collect the data themselves.

"Even if we can't obtain the data directly, we can derive the pressure values through formulas. I think it’s feasible."

At that, everyone in the meeting room rejoiced, clearly convinced by Lu Jianwei.

The discussion then moved to how to measure the peak pressure. Lu Jianwei proposed an idea and discussed it in detail with the deputy plant manager for technology.

Gu Huaizheng remained seated, keeping a watchful eye on his partner. She possessed a complex aura: otherworldly and ethereal, yet also exuding the poise and efficiency of someone deeply immersed in the world of science and technology. She was confident, meticulous, rational, and quick-witted.

While Gu Huaizheng and Zheng Baohua sat quietly discussing on the side, Fu Tingjun was already sweating profusely. Lu Jianwei alone had outpaced them all, her mental calculations were unmatched, and no one could keep up with her speed.

Finally, a plan was agreed upon. What Lu Jianwei could help with ended there—she could not follow up on the details.

As they left the meeting room together, Gu Huaizheng followed behind her, shielding her from the crowd rushing out. In the empty corridor, his expression visibly softened. "Shall we have lunch together?"

Lu Jianwei declined politely, "No, I have something to do at noon."

She didn't give Gu Huaizheng the chance to insist and instead asked, "How did I do today?"

She wanted praise again!

Gu Huaizheng smiled, "You were amazing!"

She blinked playfully, looking both proud and charming.

[Awarded +1 Praise Point from Gu Huaizheng. Convert to Life Points?]

Yes!

The grid bar gained another barely noticeable sliver of green. Her life points increased by one-thousandth, now at six-thousandths. She could live for about three and a half more months. What wonderful news.

Lu Jianwei was overjoyed. Her bright, moist almond-shaped eyes sparkled, making her look like a pampered kitten, soft and content, in Gu Huaizheng’s eyes.

His hand, acting almost of its own accord, wanted to reach out and ruffle her hair, but he restrained himself with effort.

As soon as Lu Jianwei returned to the office, Qiu Dongyun arrived. "Lu Jianwei, hurry and submit your job transfer application!"

Song Zhaodi’s transfer application had been approved the day before. She was assigned to the workshop; fortunately, the Song family still had some influence—though she was a worker, she got a statistics position in the workshop office.

She happened to be moving her things that day. Upon hearing this, her eyes lit up—finally, Lu Jianwei would be sent to the factory floor as a worker too.

Song Zhaodi lingered, determined not to leave until she had witnessed every bit of the drama. Seeing her rival in trouble was even sweeter than making a fortune herself.

Lu Jianwei was momentarily taken aback, but she didn’t suspect anything amiss. She reasoned that this transfer might not be a bad thing. Her display in the meeting room today was deliberate—she wanted to move closer to the technical field. The original owner’s skills in art and music were now of little use to her, whereas technological innovation could yield quick achievements.

She had never been someone who left her fate in the hands of others. Gu Huaizheng seemed reliable, but after all, they had only known each other for two days. How far he would go for her was anyone’s guess.

Even if he was loyal and steadfast, she couldn’t place all her burdens on his shoulders alone.

Ma Weiming, head of the Publicity Department, was alarmed. "Chief Qiu, this won’t do. We just lost one person, and now another is leaving—how will we manage?"

Qiu Dongyun brushed aside his protest. "Lu just arrived a few days ago—weren’t you getting by with your previous staff?"

This implied that Song Zhaodi hadn’t been contributing much before.

But Song Zhaodi didn’t catch the hint. She saw an opportunity. "Chief Qiu, at least there was one more person with me here before. Which workshop is Comrade Lu being transferred to? If necessary, I think I could stay."

She spoke as if she were making some great sacrifice.

Ma Weiming held his tongue; he’d rather not have Song Zhaodi back—she was useless. Before, he had no choice, but now that she was finally being moved, why would he want her back?

Qiu Dongyun replied, "Who said she’s going to the workshop?"

Song Zhaodi, assuming the obvious, said, "If she’s not going to the workshop, then where? Even if she does, they might not want her."

Qiu Dongyun was at a loss. "She was specifically requested by the deputy technical director for the technical department. She’s going to work as a technician, with a salary at grade 13."

A grade thirteen technician earned fifty-five yuan a month, while Lu Jianwei’s current position paid only twenty-eight yuan. Her salary would more than double.

Meanwhile, Song Zhaodi’s salary dropped by three and a half yuan upon moving to the factory—a comparison more painful than a knife to the heart.

"Why? What qualifies her for the technical department? Lu Jianwei, are you joining just because of your ex-fiancé?"

Lu Jianwei’s almond-shaped eyes were cold. "Song Zhaodi, you’re talking nonsense. Are you suggesting our factory has no personnel system, and management can transfer anyone as they please?"

Qiu Dongyun hadn’t thought that far ahead, but Lu Jianwei’s words made her realize and angered her as well. "Song Zhaodi, if you keep spouting nonsense, don’t blame me for being harsh.

Even if Comrade Lu Jianwei isn’t a foreign-educated graduate, she still has a high school diploma. Every suggestion she made at today’s technical meeting helped us solve problems. If you had her abilities, I’d transfer you to the technical department myself."

When Lu Jianwei returned from overseas, her foreign degree wasn’t recognized by the factory, so her aunt arranged for her to get a high school diploma as a formality.

But anyone who knew Lu Jianwei was aware she had studied abroad.

These words served well to restore Lu Jianwei’s reputation.

Seeing there was no hope of keeping her, Ma Weiming relented. "If Comrade Lu Jianwei must be transferred, so be it. But we have a heavy workload this month and not enough staff. She has to finish the tasks assigned to her first."

Qiu Dongyun rejected this immediately. "No, the technical department has urgent tasks for her. The project representative is pressing hard."

"Publicity work is important too; it concerns ideological tasks. You can’t favor one over the other. Besides, it’s their department that’s requesting her."

Lu Jianwei saw the two leaders about to quarrel, checked the time—already noon—and remembered she needed to go to the Zhu family to retrieve her belongings.

She quickly interjected, "Chief Qiu, Chief Ma, the task assigned to me by the Publicity Department is a profile article. I’ve already drafted it; with a bit of polishing, I can submit it. As long as I’m not assigned any more tasks, I think it’s manageable."

A compromise.

Ma Weiming nodded after a moment’s thought. "Alright, submit what you’ve written, and I won’t assign you anything else."

Qiu Dongyun also relented. "That settles it. It’s lunchtime now. Lu, finish the transfer procedures this afternoon, and report to the technical department tomorrow. Your salary will be calculated from today’s transfer date."

"Thank you, Chief Qiu."

No one asked whether she was willing to transfer—such was the spirit of the era: you were a brick to be moved wherever needed. She happened to want to work in the technical field, so there was no point quibbling over such details.

At noon, as she left the office to fetch her bicycle, Lu Jianwei saw Fu Tingjun riding out of the factory gate. She waited until he was gone before pushing her own bicycle out.

She didn’t notice that, at a window on the second floor, Gu Huaizheng had seen both of them leave, one after the other. His hand gripped the windowsill so tightly that a chunk of solid wood broke off beneath his fingers.