The novel Turning from a Nobody into an Executive tells the story of an ordinary man from the lowest rung of society who changes his fate through tireless effort and hard work, eventually becoming a corporate executive.
The protagonist, Zhang Wu, is introduced to a beautiful middle school teacher. Her father is a middle school principal. Because their families' social and economic status is so different, her parents oppose their relationship over Zhang Wu's job. They demand that he transfer to a job above ground, but Zhang Wu has no way to arrange such a transfer, and their love is put on hold.
Zhang Wu's life is full of misfortune. His marriage prospects suffer because he cannot get a job above ground, and at work he narrowly escapes a major accident with many casualties. Determined to change his fate, he studies on his own and attends night school, setting his life on a new course. But his blunt nature earns him the leaders' displeasure, and they make life difficult for him in every way. They remove him as district manager and transfer him to work at a small coal mine run by the mine office. Yet wherever he goes, Zhang Wu manages to achieve impressive results. His abilities catch the eye of the group's chief engineer, who promotes him to chief engineer at a new mine. He later becomes the group's deputy general manager for safety, and eventually its chairman.
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