Chapter 166: Invitation
Xie Changning was touched by everyone’s actions.
However, she said nothing, and no one tried to take credit. It was an unspoken understanding between Xie Changning and the workers of the Anong County Machinery Factory.
Wang Changsheng was just leaving the fifth workshop as well.
He turned to a colleague beside him. "Does the director always leave this late?"
"Not always. There’s probably a lot of leftover work from the Autumn Trade Fair," Cheng Jinghao replied. "Otherwise, the director wouldn’t work late. She’s actually against overtime."
In the year they had spent learning from the director, the main thing they had picked up was her opposition to overtime.
Finish what you can during working hours, get it done right away, and then leave on time. Never stay late!
Xie Changning disliked working overtime. If it wasn’t necessary, she absolutely wouldn’t do it.
Of course, working late was normal when she was running experiments. But when she wasn’t, Xie Changning saved her evenings for herself.
Not for work.
Her influence had shaped the work culture of the entire factory.
When she got home, Aunt Wang and Aunt Zhao were overjoyed to see her. They had a simple meal ready but immediately started preparing four more dishes.
"Don’t trouble yourselves. I’m starving. We can have the good stuff tomorrow morning."
So hungry she felt her stomach was caving in, Xie Changning waved her hands. She didn’t want to wait; she wanted to eat right now.
Having no other choice, Aunt Wang went to make Xie Changning some fried rice.
The moment the rice entered her mouth, Xie Changning felt like she had come back to life.
Once she’d eaten her fill, Xie Changning went to see her two babies, who were sitting and playing on the kang.
The babies were sitting on a thick quilt that covered the entire kang. It was clearly brand new, something the two aunts must have recently made.
The aunts had prepared it specifically for them, worried the babies might lose their balance and topple over onto the hard surface.
Xie Changning took note. She didn’t say anything, but decided she would give the two aunts a raise starting next month.
Xie Changning had been gone for nearly a month. When she returned, her babies no longer recognized her.
They just stared at her with blank, dazed eyes, full of confusion and unfamiliarity.
Xie Changning: "..."
’I really can’t be away from the children for too long. If I am, they won’t even recognize their own mother!’
’When are cell phones going to be invented?!’
"’Next time, if conditions allow, I’m bringing both babies with me!’ Xie Changning swore to herself. ’I have money. It’s not that I’m broke, it’s just that there’s nowhere to spend it!’"
’Well, now I’m going to spend it!’
Hearing her say this, the two aunts didn’t protest. "If you can take them, then you should," one of them agreed. "Otherwise, the babies won’t know their own mother."
Aunt Wang and Aunt Zhao figured that by the Autumn Trade Fair in the second half of the year, the babies would be almost a year old and old enough to travel.
It’s a heartbreaking thing for a mother when her own children don’t recognize her.
But what could be done? Their mother was a workaholic.
After spending a little while bonding with the children, Xie Changning had the aunts take them to bed. She had work to do.
Watching Xie Changning disappear into her study, the two aunts exchanged a look and sighed in unison. "That child, Changning," one said, "she works herself too hard."
"With Yihan not at home, the whole family depends on her."
"If her superiors hadn’t allowed her to hire two people to help with the children, they couldn’t imagine how Xie Changning would manage on her own."
Once in her study, Xie Changning didn’t enter her ’space’ right away. First, she sat down to write out some parameters.
Her space had expanded significantly. The workshop, in particular, had upgraded into a Level 1 primary laboratory!
The laboratory could intelligently assemble machinery. Even parts that were impossible to manufacture with current technology could be created and completed in her space’s lab!
It now had an even more advanced function: an experimental ’X-ray Vision’.
All Xie Changning had to do was stand still and silently recite the phrase ’Who’s your daddy?’ to activate the X-ray Vision. She could use it to inspect the various machines in the factory, check for hidden defects, and identify potential avenues for upgrades.
The X-ray Vision would instantly list all the relevant data, providing Xie Changning with the information she needed for upgrades.
And all these advanced functions were the result of the experience points she had ’farmed’ from that foreign steel scrap last year!
Every time she thought about it, Xie Changning wanted to say, "Thank you for nature’s gift!"
By the time it was past ten o’clock at night, Xie Changning was the only one still awake in her study. Aunt Wang and Aunt Zhao had already put the children to bed.
Before going to sleep themselves, they followed their usual routine of leaving some food warming in a pot, in case Xie Changning got hungry after her work.
Inside her study, Xie Changning waited until she heard the two aunts go to bed. Then she stepped out, and using the study door as a gateway, silently chanted, "Who’s your daddy?"
And entered her space.
The space was vastly different from before. Xie Changning had converted much of the grassland into plots for growing rice, vegetables, and fruits.
Next to the plots were pens for animals: chickens, ducks, geese, cows, sheep, and pigs.
When it was time for ’harvest,’ the animals would automatically be converted into food and stored in a warehouse.
The space’s water was supplied by a Spiritual Spring, which was why anyone in Xie Changning’s household who ate the food grown here found it exceptionally delicious and beneficial to their health.
And the workshop, which once had a ’war-torn’ aesthetic, had now transformed into a laboratory with a sleek, modern, high-tech feel.
It was constructed entirely of metal. The interior was vast and filled with models of various machines—all of which could be manufactured at the lab’s current level.
A computer was among them.
The model included detailed data for building a computer. As long as Xie Changning provided all the necessary components, her space could manufacture a prototype for her.
Xie Changning didn’t build the prototype. Producing a machine more advanced than anything from overseas would draw too much attention at this point.
Once her official lab was established, presenting even a set of less-advanced data would be a remarkable achievement in itself.
Xie Changning tore her gaze away from the computer and walked over to a design console, instructing the intelligent system to design chip specifications for her.
They would be needed for computer manufacturing.
After finishing her work, Xie Changning finally left the space, washed up, and went to bed.
「The next day.」
Xie Changning woke up early and reported to the factory.
At eight o’clock, she picked up the phone and called her former mentor in the Capital City, Teacher Qin.
As soon as Teacher Qin answered and heard Xie Changning’s voice, her tone became playfully sarcastic. "Well, well, what kind of wind blew our great important person’s call this way?"
Despite her sarcastic tone, Teacher Qin couldn’t hide her pride.
’Look at that, that’s the student I taught!’
She had wanted her to stay at the university back then, convinced she would do great things in research and development. A pity...
Still, she was doing very well for herself now.
Just look—all the major national newspapers were reporting on Xie Changning’s accomplishments. Whenever she ran into colleagues these days, they were all envious that she had taught such a brilliant protégé.