kvmb Chapter 17 Goodbye Translation Work
Chapter 17 Goodbye Translation Work
Zhao Yuan, carrying four documents, followed County Magistrate Yang out of the office and downstairs.
"Zhang Hua, let's go to Daguang Commune together."
County Chief Yang said to Zhang Hua.
"Yes, County Chief Yang."
Zhang Hua followed.
County Chief Yang sat in the back seat with Zhao Yuan, while Zhang Hua sat in the passenger seat.
A while later, Tu Chenglong returned with a stack of papers packed in a bag.
"Zhao Yuan, here you go, this is special paper for translation."
Tu Chenglong said.
"Okay, thank you, Director Tu."
Zhao Yuan took the bag that Tu Chenglong handed to him through the car window.
The driver started the car, everyone waved to Tu Chenglong, and the car drove out of the government compound.
The car traveled along the small road leading to Daguang Commune. In those days, the roads were all gravel roads, full of potholes, and the bumpy ride made my buttocks ache.
We chatted along the way and soon arrived at the Honghonghuohuo Fireworks Factory.
Factory director Lu Tiejun and two others were already waiting at the factory gate.
As soon as the car arrived at the factory gate, Lu Tiejun quickly walked up to greet County Chief Yang and followed the car back to the office door. The car stopped, and the three factory directors got out.
Lu Tiejun strode forward and shook hands with County Chief Yang.
"Welcome County Chief Yang to our factory for guidance."
County Chief Yang shook hands with Lu Tiejun and said:
"Tiejun, let me introduce you to two young comrades, both of whom are English translators. This is Zhaoyuan, whose English is quite good. This is Zhang Hua, a graduate of Huzhou University, who was assigned to the county party committee office and is also responsible for translation."
"Welcome, welcome."
Lu Tiejun shook hands with Zhao Yuan and Zhang Hua respectively.
"County Chief Yang, please sit in the conference room for a while. We'll have dinner together later; I've already made the arrangements."
Lu Tiejun continued.
"I'll skip the meal. I'll check on your production and bring Comrade Zhaoyuan back to introduce you. I have to go back to the county right away; I have a meeting this afternoon."
County Chief Yang said.
"Eating doesn't take long, and we can get back to the meeting without delaying the meal. It's a quick drive. It wouldn't be right for us to come to my place and not eat."
Lu Tiejun said with a smile.
"Eating isn't the main thing. Quickly bring out the products you're preparing to export so we can take a look. Have you developed any new products recently?"
County Chief Yang said.
"These have been prepared long ago. We have a new type of fireworks for this month. We'll test it out later and ask for your guidance, leader."
"I don't have time to watch the test launch of the new fireworks today. I'll come back to check after you've completely changed the packaging."
County Chief Yang said.
Everyone went to the conference room on the second floor. The conference table was made up of two square tables joined together, and a document was placed on the table.
Lu Tiejun led County Chief Yang to sit down at the table where the documents were placed.
"Dong dong dong."
There was a knock at the door, and a woman in a light blue top stood there holding six teacups.
"Come in."
Lu Tiejun said.
The woman entered the room, placed a cup of tea in front of County Chief Yang, and then placed a cup of tea in front of everyone else. She then left the meeting room and closed the door behind her.
County Magistrate Yang picked up the documents, glanced at them, and handed them to Zhao Yuan.
"Zhaoyuan, take a look at these products and see if you can help translate them all."
Zhao Yuan took the documents and looked them over. Some were the same as the products from Xiongxiong Fireworks Factory, while others were different.
“Bring the outer packaging over to Zhao Yuan for a look. He translated the US import fireworks standards this morning. You can ask him for guidance on how to modify the outer packaging.”
County Chief Yang said.
"Okay, Liu Jianjun, go and bring over one copy of each of the outer packaging."
Lu Tiejun said to a middle-aged man sitting next to him.
"Okay, I'll go get it."
With that, Liu Jianjun opened the door and walked out of the conference room.
"Zhaoyuan, Zhang Hua, which of you can help us translate?"
Lu Tiejun said.
“Zhaoyuan is from Zhaojia Village in your commune. He’s close to your factory. He’s good at English. Just contact him and wait until he finishes translating four books that Xinhua Bookstore urgently needs to translate before he can translate yours.”
County Chief Yang said.
Soon Liu Jianjun pushed open the door and came in carrying a stack of wrapping paper.
He placed a page for each item in front of County Chief Yang, Zhao Yuan, and Zhang Jun.
Zhao Yuan picked it up and looked at it. There were only a dozen or so kinds, which was really not many. He originally wanted to finish translating it immediately, but since County Chief Yang said so, he couldn't just step forward.
Lu Tiejun then reported on the production situation after the Lunar New Year.
County Chief Yang instructed that attention must be paid to production safety, and that fire prevention and explosion prevention must be strictly observed.
After reporting on our work, we all went to the cafeteria for lunch.
Since County Chief Yang had a meeting in the afternoon, everyone had a simple meal. It can be said that at that time, resources were scarce, and even when entertaining the county chief, it was just a meat dish. In Zhao Yuan's time, it was not even as good as a regular home-cooked meal.
After finishing their meal, County Chief Yang hurriedly drove Zhang Hua towards the county seat.
After seeing County Magistrate Yang off, Zhao Yuan prepared to go home.
Zhao Yuan carried a box and a bag of books, intending to first go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy a fountain pen and a bottle of ink. It was only a 5-mile country road from the Honghonghuohuo Fireworks Factory to Zhaojia Village.
"Zhaoyuan, aren't you in a hurry to go back?"
Lu Tiejun said.
"No rush, Director Lu, is there something you need?"
Zhao Yuan said.
"Come sit in my office, let's talk about translation. The county leaders are asking our large factories to prepare for exports. The county hasn't found a suitable translator yet, so all of us fireworks factories are under a lot of pressure."
Lu Tiejun said.
"Sure, what do you want me to translate? If it's just the outer packaging, I can translate it for you very quickly."
Zhao Yuan said.
"That's great, please come to my office. If you can get it done today, I'll print it out as soon as possible."
Lu Tiejun said.
The two then went to the factory manager's office on the second floor.
"Just give me the outer packaging, and I can make the changes directly on it."
Lu Tiejun handed Zhao Yuan a pen and a stack of outer packaging paper.
Zhao Yuan took the things and sat down at the table to start working.
Lu Tiejun brewed two cups of tea, placed one in front of Zhao Yuan, and stood next to Zhao Yuan with his own cup, watching Zhao Yuan translate.
Zhao Yuan quickly translated, adding Chinese and English notes where necessary, and designed the product based on the US imported fireworks standards he had translated at the county committee that morning.
About half an hour later, all of the dozen or so outer packaging labels had been translated.
"I suggest using the effect image of this firework for the background image. I used regular script for all the Chinese characters, and I also wrote out each English character clearly. Director Lu, please check if you can see that everything is clear. If there is anything unclear, I will correct it. After you make the prototype, send it to me for my review, and then we can finalize the design."
Zhao Yuan said.
"I modified the outer packaging of the exported fireworks to meet the standards for imported fireworks in the United States. It has bilingual Chinese and English, danger warnings, instructions for children to use under adult supervision, and clear markings on the outer packaging indicating that it is a flammable and explosive material, to be stored in a cool place, and to keep away from fire. All of these are done in accordance with the standards for imported fireworks in the United States."
Zhao Yuan continued.
Lu Tiejun took the wrapping paper and looked at it one by one. Zhao Yuan's characters were vigorous, clean and neat, each character like a printed product.
"It's great, every word is very clear. Thank you."
Lu Tiejun said.
"From now on, you can help me with translations. Let's talk about cooperation. When we go out to export, we'll definitely need your help a lot. We've been looking for translators everywhere, and the county leaders have been searching for a long time, but they didn't know that such a talented person as you was hidden in our remote and impoverished area."
Lu Tiejun continued.
"Director Lu, you flatter me. I also learned English for a while when I was a child by visiting a relative's house. It was a good start, and I came to like it myself, so I have been studying on my own ever since."
Zhao Yuan followed the same line he had given to Director Yang earlier that day.
Especially since Director Lu lives in his own township, it wouldn't be right to just ask him casually. However, since everyone has finally found a translator, as long as the problem can be solved, they won't care too much about how this person learned it.
"Director Lu, how do you plan to cooperate?"
Zhao Yuan asked.
"Translation therapy will be charged separately, and business negotiations with foreigners will be charged on a daily basis. The exact daily rate will depend on how the county calculates it. Is that acceptable?"
Lu Tiejun said.
"I might not be interested in this kind of collaboration."
Zhao Yuan said.
“Director Lu, I went to Xiongxiong Fireworks Factory yesterday. I just reached a verbal agreement with Director Zheng. I will receive 100 yuan as a one-time payment for translating the materials, which will be paid upon completion. The company will reimburse all travel expenses. When negotiating with foreign businessmen, the factory will set a price and a minimum transaction price. If the transaction is completed within the price range set by you, I will only receive 50 yuan per day for translation. If the price I negotiate exceeds your price, 50% of the excess will be my payment, and I will not need the factory to pay any additional translation fees.”
Zhao Yuan continued.
Anyway, the county is only so big, and there are only a few large fireworks manufacturers. Everyone will find out sooner or later, so it's better to just tell the truth.
"Well, since Director Zheng is willing to cooperate in this way, I am also willing to cooperate in this way."
Lu Tiejun said.
"Director Lu, please provide me with an export price list for all the products. I need one copy for all of them."
Zhao Yuan said.
"Okay, I'll arrange for someone to do it."
Lu Tiejun said.
Zhao Yuan prepared to get up and leave.