Chapter 140: A Man's Renown Casts as Long a Shadow as a Tree's Foliage

To everyone’s surprise, it was Han Guobin from the Pingjing Steel Institute.

He was the tall, bespectacled, and courteous young man who had originally led the group of seven college students. "I've just finished my graduation procedures," he said respectfully. "When I saw that your various products are about to be launched on the market and learned of your ambition to reshape the entire industry landscape, I chose to enter the workforce independently to follow you. This is also the consensus of several other classmates. He Yuemei and Zhang Lingyun are currently wrapping up their graduation formalities and awaiting your instructions. The other four won't graduate until next year or even the year after, but none of them want to miss out on this battle of a lifetime."

Dong Xueying stood nearby, chiming in, "He arrived just last night. I told him I'd wait for you to return and make the arrangements."

She was simply someone who felt hesitant about making major decisions on her own.

Shen Cuiyue looked eager to speak up, but catching sight of the couple stepping out of the vehicle behind them, along with her two younger brothers signaling her frantically, her attention was instantly diverted elsewhere.

To describe Rang Weidong's reaction as ecstatic would be an understatement; he was simply overjoyed.

Especially since he had recently suffered a slight setback with the Rongdu college students.

During his business trip from Yuezhou to Shanghai, he had already mentioned to Zhang Lanzhi his intention to recruit personnel from among Pingjing's university graduates to be transferred to Shanghai. Finding Yu Songhai had also stemmed from the belief that, having lost his prospects within the administrative system, Yu would be willing to dive into the commercial sea and take charge of a territory.

Right now, what he needed most were individuals who met the requirements in both capability and trustworthiness.

He let out a hearty laugh, reached out, and patted Han Guobin on the shoulder. "You've come at the right time! They can stay put in Pingjing for now; we'll discuss things further once I head over there. Right now, I need you to go straight to Rongdu as the sales company manager and take charge of the mountain of affairs over there."

Han Guobin replied steadily that he would, though a spark of delight flashed in his eyes.

This was truly the chance to plunge right into the fray the moment he hit the battlefield, making him feel as though his body was brimming with boundless energy.

Rang Weidong handed over the baby and casually asked the child's mother, "Have the small snacks arrived?"

Dong Xueying, who had just freed up her hands to get busy, hurriedly gestured. "There are four large bags in the office... The small packaging is still being tested with quite a few issues, but the large outer bags can be vacuum-sealed first and then sterilized at high temperature. We've set aside a few bags for long-term testing, and these four bags were just made yesterday and received from the dock this morning. I have no idea if they'll hold up for more than half a year."

Rang Weidong handed them over to Han Guobin, along with the address of Yu Songhai's liaison office, instructing him to deliver them upon arriving in Rongdu.

He then urged Han to first converse with the twenty or thirty production management personnel. "The core personnel will likely stay at the Jiangzhou Sanitary Napkin Factory, but we should give priority to those willing to head over to Shangzhou to lead the teams. After all, the conditions there are a bit rougher, so we can rotate them every few months with higher subsidies. As for these individuals with strong communication and management skills, they can accompany Guobin to Rongdu to participate in the production management of the Post and Telecommunication Equipment Factory. We must have our people on the ground there... Let me first send these two off, grab train tickets for Guobin and the others along the way, and we can discuss the situation in Rongdu in detail when I get back."

Mainly, seeing the elder Zhang dressed in military uniform, he figured he could make use of the connection.

While Miss Dong knew how to organize and arrange food, lodging, and travel for so many people, Shen Cuiyue had prioritized rushing over to probe the couple for information.

Hearing that their surname was Zhang made her suspicions almost certain.

Observing the couple's expressions as they watched Rang Weidong holding the baby, she couldn't help but chuckle inwardly.

Rang Weidong glanced over and, seeing her expression, knew exactly what she was thinking. "With work so overwhelmingly busy, can't you find something constructive to focus on?"

The mask-wearing girl quickly put on an obedient and submissive look as she pulled her two younger brothers away to retrieve intelligence.

There was hardly anything in the vehicle, so Rang Weidong drove the two of them away directly.

The train station was very close, and the downtown airline ticketing office was right around that area as well.

Yet, during this short drive, the elder Zhang finally spoke up. "Was that your spouse just now?"

Rang Weidong nodded. "Yes, we just started seeing each other. The child is from her previous marriage, but I'm very fond of the little one."

The couple fell silent.

Who knows what they were thinking.

Arriving at the train station first, Rang Weidong pushed his way to the military ticket window to purchase a few train tickets, and the elder Zhang followed suit.

To break the awkward silence, Rang Weidong casually explained to Mother Zhang, "When we were on our business trip before, young Zhang bought tickets just like this. Otherwise, look at how long the line here stretches."

The magnificent spectacle of thousands or even tens of thousands of people swarming the station plaza at any given moment...

To intellectuals who hadn't stepped out of their mountain hamlet in over twenty years, it was dizzying and disorienting.

Before Mother Zhang could say anything, the elder Zhang returned.

As they got back into the car, Rang Weidong pulled out another letter of introduction bound for Shanghai. "I intentionally left the date blank. Later, when the two of you get to Shanghai, please have young Zhang hold onto it. We'll need to use it frequently for our travels back and forth in the future."

This time, Elder Cheng had given him an entire booklet and even provided an official seal—he could print and stamp them himself without any issue!

Before noon, they drove to the civil aviation ticket office.

Armed with military uniforms, military representative work permits, and letters of introduction, they were indeed able to purchase plane tickets to Shanghai with ease.

The elder Zhang and his wife tried to pay, but Rang Weidong waved his hand. "Young Zhang chose to join our sales company herself, so this can be reimbursed as a business expense. Actually, the two of you can stay in Shanghai for quite a long time if you'd like; regulations aren't as strict anymore, and times are going to get better."

The flight was scheduled for seven in the evening, and he had been wondering whether to drop the two of them off at the factory to rest after lunch.

However, the distribution of work concerning Han Guobin and that massive group of management personnel was truly a race against time.

Yet, just as they returned to the roadside, the elder Zhang remarked, "Earlier I read the guide stating that all airline passengers take the dedicated shuttle right outside this entrance. If we leave now, we can arrive at the airport early and sit down with peace of mind. It's just been way too many years since I last stepped outside, and I feel quite flustered."

Rang Weidong glanced at the two suitcases in the back of the car. "Then I'd better drive you over myself."

The elder Zhang was clearly also making an active effort to adapt to the environment. "These travelers carry their own luggage; I'll manage. I know you're extremely busy over there. Whether considering your importance to the factory or your care and tolerance toward Lanzhi, I want to say thank you to you. I can't afford to waste your precious time."

Rang Weidong smiled. "She's doing fine, our ideals simply differ somewhat. I wish your whole family happiness, and I hope she can do her utmost to handle the work in the Shanghai region well."

In any case, he had no intention of going there anytime soon, nor did he have the time.

Unexpectedly, as he went to the back door, lifted it up, and began moving the luggage, the elder Zhang bent down and got into the car through the side door.

Thinking he was just helping shift the bags, Rang Weidong was caught completely off guard when the elder Zhang flipped up his military tunic, unbuckled his belt, and unholstered a pistol!

"This is my service weapon. I saw a notice earlier advising people not to carry knives or firearms, and I don't want to complicate things or cause trouble at this juncture. Please help me keep it safe."

Looking at the large leather holster and remembering that he himself had a pistol tucked into his own waistband, Rang Weidong mused that he was truly surrounded by gun-toting grandpas.

On second thought, it made sense—bringing it along on a long journey shouldn't be an issue, but if he hadn't checked and they actually restricted or banned firearms on planes, he would have been stuck right at the security checkpoint.

And there were no mobile phones back then to call someone to come retrieve it.

Fine, whatever.

Figuring that Elder Qin seemed to have given him a safe, he might as well just lock it away in Elder Qin's office.

He reached out, took the firearm along with its permit, and nodded in farewell.

He immediately hurried back to dive into the whirlwind of work arrangements.

It was only when he felt the weight of the pistols pressing against both of his lower back regions that he turned around and asked aloud, "Just how many guns did you guys bring out with you anyway?"

"Eight!"

One pistol in each vehicle, plus two extra Type 56 submachine guns usually locked underneath the truck seats!

Good grief, this kind of firepower was enough for an anti-Japanese guerrilla behind enemy lines, let alone a transport team.

One of the security officers, afraid the vice factory director wouldn't believe him, pulled a weapon out from under the seat to demonstrate. Han Guobin, standing nearby, nearly scared out of his wits!

He had studied for an undergraduate degree and turned down assigned government jobs just to end up working in this kind of place?

Rang Weidong quickly offered words of comfort. "It's nothing, nothing at all. They aren't loaded with bullets usually; the security department just keeps them to ensure the safety of the transport teams nationwide..."

Just then, the baby he had just taken over kicked its foot, catching the hem of his shirt and exposing the holster at his waist.

Han Guobin was startled all over again. "Is Jiangzhou and Rongdu really this dangerous?!"

Rang Weidong had never carried a gun back when he was a security guard; now he was purely indulging a teenage impulse to show off and act cool, and he was finally starting to realize it was becoming a hassle.

With a long sigh, he pulled Han upstairs into the office. "It's not that Jiangzhou or Rongdu are dangerous. It's just that amidst the economic tide of reform and opening up, the wealth gap has widened abruptly, and people are losing control over their impulses. When we drove from Shangzhou to Jiangzhou, our truck transport was ambushed by gangs of armed robbers along the way. Therefore, ensuring safety is also a detail you must pay attention to in your work."

The college graduate felt even more apprehensive.

Since the manual packaging staff recruited for the sanitary napkin factory were locals from the surrounding area, with only a tiny handful of equipment operators, forklift drivers, and raw material handlers, they were temporarily housed on the upper floor of the school-run factory.

The second floor had already been cleared out to accommodate the spacious and bright finance department, procurement department, sales department, and the factory director's office, though many rooms still remained empty.

It was all still quite crude: two office desks facing each other, a few rattan chairs, wooden filing cabinets, and bamboo sofas that were all old hand-me-downs.

Rang Weidong took a look around. "If the situation in Rongdu wasn't so urgent, you should have accompanied me to Shangzhou to check out our food factory and camera factory. They're still operating in a very primitive and backward handicraft workshop style, yet we can push them across the country purely on the strength of our super-strong sales capabilities... When I get back from Shangzhou this time, I'm definitely going to load up a truck with bamboo sofas and replace every single one of these!"

He was genuinely worried that if he left the baby playing on the sofa, it might just collapse.

Taking a moment to unbuckle the belt at his waist, Han Guobin finally noticed that there were actually two holsters hanging from it!

Even as an experienced security guard, Rang Weidong still possessed a youthful temperament. Looking quite pleased with himself, he removed the magazine, checked the chamber to ensure it was empty, and handed them over. "The military factories we partner with all have militia units and armories; highway bandits aren't a joke either. I'm a legally licensed holder..."

He then poked his head out the window and shouted, "Mao'er! Bring me that atlas!"

Young men were naturally curious about firearms, and Han Guobin eagerly took them, holding and inspecting them with fascination. "You make me feel like a legendary figure. Seeing you sell cameras at the seminar earlier already made us feel like a new world was being opened up—it really felt like playing a game—and now you're even carrying guns!"

Just then, Shen Cuiyue jogged up, carrying the atlas, and she too was startled to see the weapons. "You brought heavy hardware too, and two of them?!"

She had originally dropped off the items and was ready to leave, but feeling a lingering sense of traditional wifely duty, she leaned close to Rang Weidong's ear and whispered, "The elders say it's best not to use this kind of thing, or at least never let people know you have it. Because once someone knows and starts plotting against you, they'll surely go all out to destroy you, just to keep you from turning the tables and taking their life."

With that, she turned around and bolted.

Suddenly, a cold sweat broke out all over Rang Weidong.

Having served as a security guard and dealt extensively with people like Ding Haifeng, he knew that Shen San's remark was absolute, seasoned street wisdom.

He really had let success go to his head.

At least in front of Han Guobin, he had indulged a desire to show off.

That was a terrible mistake.

Whether in terms of working relationships or personal standing, projecting that kind of image was deeply unfavorable.

Scratching his head, he stood up to grab a thermos, poured two cups of tea, and sat back down. Han Guobin could immediately sense that the young man before him had suddenly grown a lot more composed. "Let me walk you through the situation in Rongdu comprehensively. Camera sales are secondary; the key is figuring out how to truly ignite the sales of radio-recorders over the next year or two..."

The college student immediately straightened his posture, gently pushed the pieces of iron back across the desk, and focused entirely on work.

This discussion extended straight through dinner, all the way until the five production management personnel and Han Guobin were driven by Rang Weidong to the train station—and they were still talking shop.

After all, the radio-recorder was originally the product Rang Weidong intended to use as his flagship item for the Panda advertisements.

Furthermore, he had secured shares in the joint venture company through sheer persistence and maneuvering.

That essentially positioned it as the second major advertising explosion point right after sanitary napkins.

If Rang Weidong wanted to put on airs, Han Guobin was the one leading the team specifically sent to clean up that messy situation.

It wasn't until they were at the train station, offering repeated instructions and bidding everyone farewell as they boarded the train, that Dong Xueying—who had returned to the car and was holding the baby—finally found the opportunity to ask, "What's going on with old Yu? You couldn't even explain clearly on the phone. Is it serious?"

It was exceptionally serious!