The car drove for about twenty minutes and entered the main gate of Lin Yi Machinery Factory. When Lin Yi Machinery was first established, it was located in the eastern suburbs of Linhe City. Over the past few decades, especially in the last ten years, the urban area of Linhe City has expanded rapidly, and now Lin Yi Machinery is already included within the built-up area.

As the saying goes, “A starved camel is still bigger than a horse.” Although Lin Yi Machinery has suffered severe losses for several consecutive years and can’t even pay its employees’ wages in full, the factory grounds still look extremely impressive. The perimeter wall is built of thick red bricks, with the upper half hollowed out, and a small tiled roof on top, somewhat imitating the style of Jiangnan gardens. The factory gate is a full seventy or eighty meters wide, fitted with an electric fence gate, apparently made of stainless steel, gleaming and imposing.

After entering the gate, a wide tree-lined avenue appeared ahead, with more than a dozen buildings on both sides. From the signs at the entrances, it was clear that these buildings belonged to different departments, with the factory headquarters building looking the most luxurious of all.

When Franklin Turner saw the sign for the factory headquarters office building, the car in front had already driven past the entrance without any intention of stopping. Presumably, Grace Grant had consulted with Henry Sullivan and decided not to stop there.

“We’ll go to the guesthouse first to settle Director Sullivan and you in,” David Brooks explained to Franklin Turner. “The factory has already arranged housing for you. Director Sullivan will have a large three-bedroom apartment, and you’ll have a large two-bedroom one, both with two bathrooms. Is that okay with you?”

“No problem, no problem,” Franklin Turner quickly shook his head.

“Because we received the notice from the ministry rather late, the apartments for you were just vacated and haven’t been fully repainted yet. The furniture has already been ordered, but the specific styles will be decided after you arrive, so you’ll have to put up with staying at the guesthouse for a few days,” David Brooks added.

Franklin Turner almost blurted out that such arrangements weren’t necessary—especially since Lin Yi Machinery was already suffering heavy losses, spending money to repaint apartments and buy new furniture seemed like a waste.

But as the words reached his lips, he swallowed them back. These arrangements were made for Henry Sullivan; he, Franklin Turner, was just benefiting incidentally. If anyone was to refuse, it should be Henry Sullivan, not him—he had no right to say so.

The car turned two corners and stopped in front of a small building. The building wasn’t tall, only three stories, and seemed to have a bit of European style. Evergreen camphor trees surrounded the building, and there were two flower beds at the entrance, with seasonal chrysanthemums blooming brilliantly.

“This is our factory’s small guesthouse, specially used to receive higher-level leaders.”

David Brooks introduced it to Franklin Turner, then jumped out of the car, opened the door, and respectfully invited Franklin Turner to get out.

Chapter 9: No Matter How Hard Things Get, Leaders Must Not Suffer

Lin Yi Machinery has two guesthouses. One is for receiving ordinary visitors, such as staff from sister units coming to learn, or client companies coming for a visit—they can be accommodated in that guesthouse.

Sometimes, if an employee’s family has guests and there’s no room at home, they can also pay to stay at that guesthouse. The conditions there aren’t too bad either: four beds to a room, ceiling fans, and better than most ordinary inns in town.

The other guesthouse is this so-called small guesthouse. Its predecessor was the Soviet experts’ building constructed in the 1950s. After the Soviet experts left, it was converted into the small guesthouse. The small guesthouse does not operate for the public; it is managed directly by the factory office and is used exclusively for receiving distinguished guests, including higher-level leaders or leaders from sister units of the same rank.

Also, in the 1980s, when Lin Yi Machinery introduced Japanese CNC machine tool manufacturing technology, the Japanese side sent several technicians to provide guidance, and they also stayed in the small guesthouse.

The conditions in the small guesthouse are far superior to those in the large guesthouse. Every room has a living room and a bathroom, as well as air conditioning, color TV, refrigerator, and other amenities. The beds are high-end Simmons mattresses, and the floors are carpeted, making footsteps silent.

The rooms in the small guesthouse are divided into different grades. Besides differences in size, some facilities also reflect the distinction. For example, the room arranged for Henry Sullivan has a genuine leather sofa in the living room, while the room for Franklin Turner only has a fabric sofa.

The reason for distinguishing between different grades is not that the guesthouse lacks funds and can’t provide leather sofas for every room, but because each time leaders of different ranks are received, the room assignments must reflect the differences. Otherwise, if a division chief’s room is the same as a bureau chief’s, the division chief would naturally be delighted, but how would the bureau chief feel?

Before Grace Grant and the others went to pick up Henry Sullivan and Franklin Turner, they had already notified the small guesthouse. Upon seeing Henry Sullivan and his party arrive, the entire staff of the small guesthouse bustled about in a frenzy. The director, Paul Chambers, personally led the way with the keys, guided Henry Sullivan to the assigned room, opened the door, and respectfully invited Henry Sullivan inside.

The room had already been cleaned until it was spotless, the thermos was filled with freshly boiled water, and washed fruit was arranged on the coffee table. As soon as Henry Sullivan entered, Paul Chambers darted to the coffee table, picked up the air conditioner remote, and then froze.

Should he turn on the cooling or the heating? He had just checked the weather forecast—the temperature outside was 24 degrees. Would the leader feel hot or cold?

“Director Sullivan, what do you think? Are these conditions satisfactory?”