"...What is this?"

Winter overcast skies, gusts of cold wind.

Ji Jue stood in front of the sparse and dilapidated factory grounds, still harboring a sliver of hopeful possibility, mustering the courage to ask.

"The factory grounds," the middle-aged man immediately replied.

"What grounds?"

"Factory."

The middle-aged man chuckled warmly, just like a line worker foreman facing the newbie cattle and horses, telling them, welcome to the factory; this is how it is.

Everyone must accept reality; have you finished accepting it?

Once you accept it, let's happily start screwing bolts!

And Ji Jue's expression and demeanor instantly became as indescribable as all the newbie cattle and horses.

No will to live.

"Come, come, come, please come in."

Amidst the screeching sound, he struggled to pull open the iron gate, warmly welcoming Ji Jue into the factory: "Old Liu! Old Liu!! Where have you died? Hurry up, someone's here, quickly boil water..."

"Director Yan... there's no need for this."

Ji Jue coughed: "I'm just here to take a look."

"Absolutely, it's rare for you to visit, come, have some tea, please walk this way."

Middle-aged Yan Jian's smile seemed to bloom like an old chrysanthemum, every crease brimming with joy and anticipation: "Mr. Ji is here, the future is here, Mr. Ji is here, opportunity arises!"

Ten minutes later, the current elite backbone of Coastal Automobile Factory gathered in the drafty office to complete the assembly.

By the coal stove, everyone haggardly fanned the flames, lighting the coal, boiling the water, holding enamel cups or disposable paper cups of tea, held the first reorganization meeting.

They were the newly appointed acting factory director Ji Jue, Coastal Automobile Factory security guard, gatekeeper, caretaker, and old farmer Liu Jinzhu; personnel, finance, and boiler heating manager Wang Haichuan; and the most important head of Coastal Automobile Factory's technical department, equipment department, assembly department, and production management department, Yan Jian.

And at a small side table, a temporary worker, Liu Jinzhu's nephew Liu Xiaobao, was burying his head in elementary school homework.

Sitting on a 'luxurious office chair' full of cracks and peeling, Ji Jue held a disposable teacup, looking at the young unsung potential before him, tears almost streamed down his face.

Feeling like life is over.

Time to restart.

He had thought Coastal Automobile Factory would be bleak, but never expected it to be this bleak.

It'd be simpler to start with just a bowl!

Amongst this plethora of unsung potential, gatekeeper old Liu Jinzhu had heard that by watching the gate one could earn four hundred yuan and get the land inside for free to farm, hence he came for a part-time job, bringing his nephew for a buy-one-get-one deal: one handles the daytime farming, the other handles sleeping at night. Their importance is self-evident, practically indispensable.

Finance and HR head Wang Haichuan, in his sixties, had early-onset dementia, couldn't figure out a calculator, had no clue about anything, was waiting to retire with a pension.

The only somewhat reliable person left was bald, middle-aged Yan Jian, who had come in earlier to guide him.

He's actually a first-class mechanical engineer!

A freaking first-class...!

This forsaken place still has a first-class left?!

Ji Jue looked unbelievingly at the credentials displayed on the middle-aged man's phone screen, dumbfounded: "Why didn't you leave?"

"..."

Yan Jian gave a smile that was barely better than crying.

Do you think I don't want to leave?

The automobile factory has fallen to this pitiful state; those genuinely working don't worry about finding another job, they've long sought other opportunities, those who should have left have left decades ago.

Yan Jian wanted to leave too but he couldn't...

He had taken the signing bonus too eagerly when the factory was being built, signing a contract for fifty years at once, almost binding himself for life.

During better times, he had led everyone passionately, creating all this from scratch. It could be said that even if he wasn't the real parent, he was at least a foster father to Coastal Automobile Factory.

To this day, the only knock-off minivan from Coastal Automobile still circulating in the market was 'developed' under his leadership back then.

Unfortunately, good times didn't last, life got tougher every day, the factory's business sank, and they couldn't even screw bolts anymore. Yet, for various reasons, they pretended to maintain a facade, keeping some personnel and quotas, leading to Yan Jian's increasing responsibilities, until he became the last bolt-screwing caretaker in an empty shell.

Over the years, watching the rise and fall, he received a dead salary without performance bonuses, unable to escape even if he wanted to run. With nothing else, apart from drinking tea and smoking, he resorted to opening an online store as a side hustle out of boredom.

At least he was getting paid, albeit not much, but it was stable, right?

Or perhaps, harboring that faint hope.

Maybe the difficulties were only temporary?

Maybe enduring could bring hope?

Perhaps the pie promised by the leadership could really be tasted? And maybe, the damn leader's entire family might tragically pass tomorrow?

Now, after waiting eagerly, came the notification of upcoming re-operation and the unexpected appearance of the great Ji Jue — claiming not to be excited would be false.

"Come, come, come, Mr. Ji, please follow me, oh, be careful, there's a lot of Dust over there."

After a short meeting, Yan Jian proactively offered to guide Ji Jue around his faithful production department, continuously flattering and praising him along the way while subtly probing Ji Jue for his status and background.

Trying to figure out what exactly happened.

Until Ji Jue let out a helpless sigh: "Minister Yan, don't be like this, we're all in the same boat, if things go wrong, we'll have to take the blame together."

Yan Jian was stunned for a moment, then waved his hand, becoming even more enthusiastic: "Mr. Ji, what are you talking about, what our automobile factory lacks is precisely the advanced management and work experience that you and your team bring."

"Sorry, I've never managed before, this is my first time in an automobile factory."

Ji Jue confessed honestly, "I don't have any investments from other automobile factories behind me, let alone any financial backing, even the role of factory director was forced upon me, and I'm just an acting director."

Yan Jian's smile stiffened for a moment, and he coughed: "Then before..."

"Never done it, never seen it, and have no experience."

Ji Jue stated decisively: "If you want to say anything, does working part-time at a car repair shop count? I even repair your model often, it's actually more stable than the original version, except the engine tends to leak oil."

"..."

Yan Jian's expression twitched, still holding onto a sliver of hope: "Then you..."

"Parents died early, took loans to go to school."

Ji Jue extinguished his last bit of wishful thinking: "As for me, I haven't even graduated from university yet, I'm a graduate student. Having connections has nothing to do with me, having billions is only in my dreams.

Look, if you don't believe me, here's my student ID."

Yan Jian was stunned: "Then how come you..."

"Arranged by my teacher, internship."

Ji Jue replied bluntly, raising his hand to point at the giant press covered in dust in the opened workshop: "Could you please tell me what that is for? I've never seen that model, how many tons is it?"

"..."

Silence, a long silence, during which Yan Jian stared at him in a daze, as if the sound of something shattering could be heard.

Uncertain whether it was the shattering of luck or the illusion of hope.

His face gradually turning red, expression twitching, seemingly seething with anger but not knowing at whom to direct it, finally, only silence came out of his mouth.

And then, a helpless, numb sigh.

"Follow me."

He lowered his head, walked ahead with a dispirited gait.

Only the back that had just been straightened, gradually hunched over again.

First the material warehouse, then the production workshop, and then the empty finished goods warehouse.

Lonely rolls of dusty, rusted steel coils, a dozen bundles of tangled cables, seven or eight boxes of screws, two hardened tires, these are the raw material reserves that would make even a mouse weep.

The press covered in dust, the long-stopped conveyor belts, the equipment dismantled and unable to be reassembled, and the immobile gantries and assembly facilities were enough to make anyone with modern industrial knowledge shed a few tears.

It's almost like visiting a corpse at a funeral home.

Or like one that was shattered at a car accident scene and then reluctantly pieced together due to family requests.

Every part seems to be there, but each seems to lack something, nothing quite right, the only similarity being that they're all practically dead.

Transparent!

One can vaguely see that the creators back then had ambition and ideals, all processes were once complete.

From automobile chassis production and assembly, to car frame and sub-frame processing, body stamping, welding, painting, electrophoresis, final assembly... it all makes one feel that this corpse was once quite beautiful.

Moreover, many key pieces of equipment are still here, though some are broken, some scrapped, at least they can be repaired and used, at least they didn't give Ji Jue a barren land to work with.

Can be used, can operate, can be started up.

Though long outdated and worthless, at least they still exist, just like Yan Jian abandoned here, uncared for, unnoticed.

Yan Jian is still considered reliable, responsible.

Even when hope is shattered, he didn't go to pieces.

After all, after holding on for so many years, if he were to go crazy, he would've gone crazy long ago, and if he were to become numb, he would've become numb long ago. It's just another round of disillusionment.

Since the factory was built until now, he's been here for so long, no one understands the tragic situation of the Coast better than he does, thinking of a real overnight turnaround is just a fool's dream.

Over the years, if it weren't for him occasionally maintaining things, even this last batch of equipment and machines would have been scrapped or sold off, nothing would be left.

Abandon hope, accept reality.

Just take it as guiding a newbie around the pit.

Along the way, Ji Jue was poking around in front of his eyes, sometimes climbing up and down, finding everything novel.

Occasionally he would interject to discuss parameters and details, if not for having seen Ji Jue's student ID, Yan Jian would almost think it was a colleague playing a prank.

But his half-understanding demeanor didn't seem at all like an act.

He truly had never seen it before.

But, his smile was just like his own back then.

When touching the machines, discussing the details, his eyes sparkled.

Yan Jian sighed silently, withdrawing his gaze.

Stopped looking.

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