"Commander, when are you getting promoted? I’m putting in to be your aide!"

"Me too!"

The soldiers Yue Yihan had brought with him all loved it here and were teasing him.

It was as if becoming his aide meant they could live in Xie Changning’s villa.

Yue Yihan scolded with a laugh, "When we get back, you’re all doing a ten-kilometer weighted run!"

The moment he finished speaking, a chorus of groans erupted. They knew appealing to Yue Yihan was useless, so they turned their pleading eyes to Xie Changning. It was as if they were saying, ’Ma’am, aren’t you going to step in?’

"Alright! Changning prepared a meal for you all today. Make any more trouble and you’re all going back to the base!"

"Yes, sir!"

Everyone quieted down instantly.

That evening, they all sat in the courtyard for dinner. Wang Lisheng, his face flushed from drinking, raised his glass to Yue Yihan. "Brother Yihan, I have to have a drink with you. From now on, I’m on your wife’s side of the family! You’d better not let her suffer any injustices!"

"What happened with the military housing can’t happen again!"

’A wife this good is someone others can only dream of, and his unit? They wouldn’t even approve the housing application!’

Wang Lisheng now had a poor opinion of Yue Yihan’s unit.

Li Guodong also nodded. "The one thing our Chuncheng Screw Factory has is plenty of family housing! Hold your wedding in our residential compound. We have lots of people, so it’ll be a lively affair!"

’If they won’t approve it, we’ll host it ourselves!’

’It’s just a wedding. It’s not like we can’t manage that.’

Xie Changning looked at the two older men, and a warm feeling washed over her. Despite their past unpleasantness, their intentions were genuinely kind.

Seeing that the military wouldn’t approve their wedding plans, the two men were making it clear today that they could hold it at the screw factory.

Xie Changning made a mental note of their kindness.

Yue Yihan raised his glass and stood up. "It’s my fault. I didn’t think things through. My friends, I appreciate your kind offer, but I have to listen to my wife on this. We’ll have it wherever she wants!"

"It’s all up to her!"

With that, the three men clinked their glasses and downed their drinks in one go.

Pleased with his answer, Wang Lisheng and Li Guodong sat down, both turning to look at Xie Changning expectantly.

"Changning, it’s been many years since we had a wedding in the residential compound. Why don’t you two hold yours at the factory’s compound?" Wang Lisheng asked.

He truly hoped Xie Changning would agree to have the wedding at their compound.

He was so enthusiastic that Xie Changning found it hard to refuse. She nodded. "I had originally planned on holding it after moving into the military family housing. Even though that didn’t happen, I’m settled in now, so I’ll follow your suggestion. Let’s have it here!"

’A wedding is a wedding, no matter where it’s held!’

The moment Xie Changning agreed, Wang Lisheng and Li Guodong applauded. "Excellent! Excellent!"

The group drank late into the night before everyone finally went home to rest.

After seeing their guests off, Yue Yihan looked at Xie Changning guiltily. "It’s my fault for being so useless..."

"Don’t say that. Your unit has its rules; there was nothing you could do." Xie Changning didn’t dwell on it. In a way, it was a blessing in disguise; she had ended up in a nicely renovated villa.

’She was in a fantastic mood!’

Seeing that Xie Changning’s mood wasn’t affected, Yue Yihan was finally able to relax completely.

Feeling happy, Xie Changning went to bed early. By the time she woke up the next day, Yue Yihan had already swept the courtyard and left for the base.

She stretched, went downstairs, and washed up.

Then she put on her work uniform and headed to the factory. The maroon suit she wore on her first day hadn’t made an appearance since.

’There was really no need for it, and changing back and forth was a hassle!’

’The work uniform was just more practical.’

"Sister, you’re just in time. There’s a meeting tomorrow about the titanium alloy screws. The higher-ups want you to develop a new type of bearing." As soon as Xie Changning arrived at work, she was pulled into the factory director’s office by Wang Lisheng and Li Guodong.

The two of them informed Xie Changning about the contents of the next day’s meeting.

"The R&D is manageable, but will the higher-ups provide..." Xie Changning rubbed her thumb and forefinger together, asking them, "How much support can we expect from them?"

The two exchanged a look, and Wang Lisheng spoke up.

"From what I hear from Director Zhao, as long as you can pull it off, support won’t be an issue!" For years, other experts had been researching this type of bearing without being able to break past a crucial data point.

Now that they had fresh blood like Xie Changning, the higher-ups wanted to let her have a try.

’There’s strength in numbers. What if she’s the one who succeeds?’

Xie Changning nodded. "Then there’s no problem. I can give it a try."

With Xie Changning’s assurance, the two men felt relieved. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

And so, after the two of them took Xie Changning to meet with Director Zhao, they appeared in a conference room at the Provincial Bureau of Industry the next day.

This time, Xie Changning followed behind Director Zhao as she was led into the conference room.

As soon as she entered, Xie Changning saw that many leaders were already seated, including the brigade commander she had met once before.

When the brigade commander saw Xie Changning, a flicker of surprise crossed his eyes, but he said nothing.

She was seated far from him, so Xie Changning simply gave him a smile as a greeting before taking her seat behind Director Zhao.

Before long, everyone for the meeting had arrived and taken their seats.

"The reason I’ve gathered you all today is to discuss the matter of high-strength bearing steel." Director Wang of the Provincial Bureau of Industry got straight to the point the moment he sat down.

There was no preamble whatsoever.

Xie Changning sat behind Director Zhao, holding a pen, constantly taking notes on what the leaders were saying.

In the middle of the meeting, an expert would offer an opinion, others would discuss it, and then they would explain to Director Wang why there had been no breakthrough for so long.

Xie Changning remained quiet the entire time, like a piece of the furniture. She had no intention of speaking unless called upon. In the end, however, Director Wang’s eyes landed on her.

"And this is...?"

When Director Wang looked at her, he addressed his question to Director Zhao.

After all, she was sitting behind Director Zhao.

Hearing Director Wang’s question, Director Zhao made the introduction. "Director Wang, this is the new Vice Factory Director of our Chuncheng Screw Factory, Comrade Xie Changning. She’s also the one who developed the titanium alloy screws."

Xie Changning stood up and bowed to the surrounding leaders.

It couldn’t be helped. Everyone around her outranked her and was older than her. It was only proper for a junior like her to bow.

"You brought her here because the Chuncheng Screw Factory is interested in developing this bearing?" Director Wang asked Director Zhao, his brow furrowing.

’He felt that a screw factory should focus on developing screws, not bearings.’

The screw factory didn’t have that kind of equipment either.

"To be frank, Vice Factory Director Xie is someone I’m personally mentoring. I brought her along today to let her get some experience! HAHAHAHA!" With Director Zhao’s explanation, everyone understood.

’The position of Vice Factory Director was just a temporary stepping stone for her.’

’In the future, when a suitable post opened up, Director Zhao would move her into it. She wouldn’t be a vice director for long.’

Director Zhao’s move made more than a few people frown.

’They all felt he was putting too much faith in Xie Changning. After all, she was just a young woman in her twenties. A promotion that fast would make it hard for her to earn the respect of her subordinates!’