Henry Foster stood at the factory gate with his hands behind his back, looking up at the red five-pointed star and the six large, paint-chipped characters above the entrance, a faint bitter smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

He hadn’t expected that, in his previous life, after spending three years in Yanhua City and eventually being kicked from the regional public security office to the Yuyang County Public Security Bureau, this time, after starting over, he would be sent straight back to Yuyang County after less than three months at the prefectural committee office.

And not to the public security bureau, but to the agricultural machinery factory.

As for the situation at the agricultural machinery factory, Henry Foster was all too familiar.

He had spent most of his teenage years—over a decade—at the Yuyang Agricultural Machinery Factory. His mother, Lily Grant, had worked at the factory for more than ten years, only recently transferring to the agricultural bureau for an office job. Henry Foster had previously lived in the staff dormitory building of the Yuyang Agricultural Machinery Factory.

During the planned economy era, the Yuyang Agricultural Machinery Factory had always been very prosperous, with good performance and decent benefits for its cadres and workers. Among the county-run enterprises in the one city and eight counties under Yanhua’s jurisdiction, it was considered large in scale, even holding a full section-level status, directly managed by the county government. That was quite an exception. In the seventies and eighties, enterprise rankings were strictly regulated; without outstanding achievements, it was extremely difficult for a county-run agricultural machinery factory to reach section-level status.

The Yuyang Agricultural Machinery Factory had more than a hundred official employees, with the factory and dormitory areas together occupying a large piece of land.

The factory grounds were fairly well landscaped, but lacking proper maintenance, they appeared somewhat messy and disorganized.

Henry Foster hadn’t brought anything with him—not even a small satchel—just came empty-handed to the personnel office of the agricultural machinery factory. A year ago, Lily Grant had still been the head of the personnel section, and most people in the personnel office were very familiar with Henry Foster.

As soon as Henry Foster appeared in the personnel office, the new section chief, Old King, was greatly surprised. He hurriedly stood up and greeted Henry Foster repeatedly: “Oh my, it’s Henry! What brings you here? Is a leader here to inspect our factory?”

As he spoke, Old King craned his neck to look toward the door, his expression rather nervous.

You see, Henry Foster was now a bona fide cadre in the prefectural committee office. His sudden “grand arrival” at the small agricultural machinery factory naturally made Old King think of a leadership inspection, and it should be a leader from the prefectural committee.

That was a big deal!

Moreover, Henry Foster’s father, William Foster, was now the executive deputy county magistrate, the big boss in charge of the agricultural machinery factory. The second young master of the Fan family was a true “insider”—he must not be slighted.

“Uncle King, haha, there’s no leadership inspection. I’m here to report for duty.”

Henry Foster said with a big smile, not standing on ceremony, and sat right down in the empty chair opposite Section Chief King, taking out a cigarette and offering one to Section Chief King.

Old King was a good-natured man who had worked at the agricultural machinery factory for a dozen or twenty years, diligently and conscientiously, finally earning this “sesame-sized” section chief position. Unfortunately, a few years later, the factory would close down, and Old King would be laid off.

“Report for duty? Report for what?”

Old King took the cigarette, looking puzzled.

“Uncle King, here’s my transfer letter. Starting today, I’m a cadre at our agricultural machinery factory. Please help me with the formalities.”

Henry Foster lit a cigarette, took a puff, and pulled a document from his pocket, handing it to Section Chief King.

“What?”

Section Chief King took the transfer order, his eyes instantly lighting up with little stars.

Miss Johnson, who was busy pouring water for Henry Foster, also looked utterly astonished.

“This… what’s going on? Henry, aren’t you a cadre at the prefectural committee office?”

Section Chief King looked over the transfer order again and again, his face full of disbelief.

This was just too “bizarre”—a cadre from the prefectural committee office actually being transferred to their agricultural machinery factory? In all his years in the personnel office, Old King had never encountered such a thing. Let alone someone like Henry Foster, a “cadre’s child.”

Henry Foster smiled and said, “Cadres from the prefectural committee office can be transferred too, you know.”

“No, no, Henry, this… this isn’t right… Do Magistrate Foster and Secretary Grant know about this?”

Section Chief King asked anxiously.

The so-called Secretary Grant naturally referred to Henry Foster’s mother, Lily Grant, deputy party secretary and trade union chairwoman of the Yuyang County Agricultural Bureau.

Section Chief King didn’t know exactly what had happened, but his experience told him that something had gone wrong—very wrong. Otherwise, the son of Magistrate Foster would never have been sent to the agricultural machinery factory.

“Uncle King, don’t overthink it. It’s just a normal transfer. The prefectural committee leaders personally instructed that young cadres need more grassroots experience.”

“That’s not how you get experience, though. You’re a proper secretary in the prefectural committee office—if you’re to get grassroots experience, it should be at a township or a lower bureau or committee, how could you end up at our enterprise? Henry, you, you didn’t…”

Section Chief King was full of doubt and suspicion, leaving the rest unsaid, but everyone understood.

Could it be that Henry Foster had made some serious mistake?

“Uncle King, it’s a long story. Just help me with the formalities first. We’ll have plenty of time to chat later.”

Henry Foster remained calm and composed, showing not the slightest sign of panic.

“Alright, alright…”