So, the three of them got back on the bus and made their way to the Hongxing Ceramics Factory. Henry Foster and Laura Foster were both locals of Tanzhou and had monthly passes in their pockets, so they didn’t have to pay for the ride. David Clark bought his own ticket, which cost him ten cents. If staying at the guesthouse could really save eighty cents, then David Clark would have saved seventy cents in total. Actually, David Clark didn’t think saving those seventy cents was all that meaningful—coming from the future, he had no concept of such small amounts of money. He just wanted to experience the way people thought back then.

  “Hey, Director Foster, what brings you here?” As soon as the three arrived at the Hongxing Ceramics Factory, the factory director James Harris warmly greeted them, shaking Henry Foster’s hand and asking after him.

  “Old You, I’m here to trouble you,” said Henry Foster. He pointed at David Clark and introduced, “This is Little David, David Clark, a hero of the self-defense counterattack war. I brought Lanlan home to visit family, and on the way we ran into some thugs. Little David bravely fought them off—he’s Lanlan’s lifesaver.”

  “Welcome, welcome.” James Harris quickly came over to shake David Clark’s hand.

  “Little David needs to return to Jiangnan Province. He’s bought a train ticket for tomorrow and has nowhere to stay tonight…” Henry Foster drew out his words.

  “He can stay at our guesthouse,” James Harris responded immediately, picking up on the cue. “I’ll have the staff set up a single room. I’ve always admired heroes the most.”

  “Thank you very much, Director Harris,” David Clark said with a smile. He knew perfectly well that James Harris was doing this entirely as a favor to Henry Foster. Without Henry Foster, even if he were a hero of the self-defense counterattack war—or even a founding father—Old Harris probably wouldn’t know who he was.

  “Director Foster, since you’re here, why not have a simple meal at our canteen?” James Harris suggested smoothly. “We also have some work matters, so this is a good chance to report to you.”

  That was exactly what Henry Foster wanted. Back at the Hongshan Commune, he hadn’t properly hosted David Clark and had always felt a bit guilty about it. This time, bringing David Clark to the Hongxing Ceramics Factory was a way to treat him to a good meal at someone else’s expense. As a division chief in the Light Industry Bureau, when he visited a factory, there was no reason for the factory not to treat him to a meal.

Chapter 004: Technical Difficulties

  “Come, Little David, fill your glass. I’d like to toast the hero,” James Harris said, raising his wine glass to David Clark.

  The simple meal at the Hongxing Ceramics Factory was indeed much more sumptuous than the small restaurant at the Hongshan Commune. The culture of eating and drinking in Chinese society has existed since ancient times, uninterrupted for five thousand years. Back then, officials didn’t dare to take bribes, but eating and drinking a bit was considered perfectly natural—no one could say anything about it. Henry Foster himself wasn’t particularly keen on freeloading at subordinate enterprises; this time, coming to the Hongxing Ceramics Factory for a meal was just to host David Clark. However, for James Harris, the chance to entertain Henry Foster was something he couldn’t wish for more.

  James Harris brought along several mid-level managers from the factory to join Henry Foster and David Clark for the meal. Everyone knew that David Clark was the lifesaver of Henry Foster’s daughter, so they were extra attentive and polite to David Clark—showing respect to him was, in effect, giving face to Henry Foster, and Henry Foster would surely remember it.

  After a few rounds of drinks, Henry Foster asked about the factory’s production situation. He was one of the few business experts in the Light Industry Bureau and was very familiar with the production at the Hongxing Ceramics Factory.

  “Old You, how’s that batch of export porcelain coming along?” Henry Foster asked.

  It would have been better if Henry Foster hadn’t brought it up. As soon as he mentioned the export porcelain, James Harris put down his wine glass with a sigh and a bitter expression. “Sigh, don’t even mention it. Director Foster, I went to the bureau to look for you a couple of days ago, but they said you were on leave visiting family. Actually, if you hadn’t come today, I was planning to go find you tomorrow.”

  “What’s wrong? What happened?” Henry Foster was a bit surprised.

  “This batch of export porcelain has a big problem.”

  “No way,” Henry Foster said. “Old You, you know this is a key provincial project. For this year’s export earnings target, your batch of export porcelain is a major part. What’s the problem? Tell me.”

  “Director Foster, you remember what was written in our contract with the Japanese, right? The porcelain must be pure white, not a single speck of discoloration.”

  “Yes, is there a problem?”

  “That’s exactly it. The samples we fired have a reddish tinge in the base color and don’t meet the standard. Actually, it’s not a particularly obvious red, but you know how picky the Little John are—even a hint of red and they’ll definitely reject it.” James Harris poured out his troubles.

  “Have you found the cause?”

  “We’ve tried. Our factory’s engineers and technicians have worked for half a month and still can’t figure it out. Later, we invited engineers from Dongfeng Ceramics Factory to take a look, but they couldn’t find the problem either. I was just hoping you could help us get a few experts from Beijing to come and take a look.” James Harris said, and Henry Foster could clearly sense his anxiety from his tone.

  “This is a bit tricky,” Henry Foster said. Both Hongxing and Dongfeng factories were key enterprises under the bureau, and their technical strength was among the best in the province’s ceramics factories. If the engineers from both factories couldn’t solve the problem, then it was really serious. Inviting experts from Beijing had been done before, but it was always a huge hassle.