That year the flowers bloomed 1981

Chapter 1664: Stars in the Eyes
In the past, when the light vehicle company received leaders for inspection, they would go straight to the No. 1 factory, because only the No. 1 factory could "make their eyes light up".

But now, Ma Zhaoxian has brought Wen Guohua and others to the main factory, because after so many years of catching up, the main factory is almost the same as the branch factory in all aspects.

"Distinguished leaders, this is our old factory of the Light Vehicle Company. At its peak before 1986, it produced a remarkable 20,000 vehicles annually. But now, even 50,000 isn't enough."

After renovating and upgrading the old factory, both our production equipment and efficiency have reached the top level in China, and we are comparable to well-known overseas automobile companies.”

When a person has something in their pocket, they can even boast with confidence. Ma Zhaoxian's words were half true and half false, and he was really patting himself on the back.

It's true that China's light vehicle company is now a top-tier domestic enterprise, but it's definitely not true that it's on par with well-known overseas companies.

Wen Guohua and others were also very interested in Ma Zhaoxian's self-praise and lingered in the production area for a long time, carefully observing the workers' production process.

If this were an organization that deliberately uses "rehearsals" to deal with inspections, they would probably start to get nervous immediately.

Because production has to look like production; you can't just leisurely appear idle, can you? But the busyness that's rehearsed is ultimately fake. No matter how busy the workers pretend to be, it's still fake busyness, and to discerning people, it's impossible to pass it off as real.

If you usually assemble twenty cars in a morning, then the various work processes involve hundreds of steps, all allocated according to the production schedule of twenty cars.

Now, if you were asked to pretend to be extremely busy, you would have to be as busy as you are producing thirty cars. But with hundreds of processes involved, can you improve the overall efficiency?

If you can't do that, then you're just "busy doing nothing," right?

Even the leaders who come to inspect may not need to be experts in production. When it's obvious that the work you're doing is just for show, how can they not see through your little tricks?

Therefore, the "rehearsal-style" way of dealing with inspections is just a performance to cooperate with the leaders. Everyone knows what's going on, and they just turn a blind eye to each other and go through the motions.

However, today's event is destined to be more than just a formality, because among those present are colleagues from other sister units of the Beijing Automotive Group.

These people are all experts; they can tell at a glance whether the bustling scene is fake or not.

In the past, the light vehicle company was just a "younger brother" compared to these brother units, but in recent years it has emerged as a dark horse and developed rapidly, its dazzling brilliance overshadowing these older brothers.

So today, they said they came to observe, but they did have the intention of "nitpicking." They observed carefully for a long time, even nitpicking, but in the end, they were all convinced by their observations.

"It's so precise, so reasonable!"

"How did you manage to do that without any unnecessary production steps?"

You can't argue with that! Others can do what you can't, and you can't even understand it, so what gives you the right to argue?
The production process of the light vehicle company is the result of repeated meticulous analysis and reasonable improvement. Every detail has been coordinated and optimized, and clear standard requirements have been formed.

These seemingly insignificant optimizations are actually meticulous work and one of the core technologies for improving production efficiency.

However, just when these people couldn't find any fault, Director Gao, who had come to visit, exclaimed in surprise, "Why is this section full of women? How can such tiring work be pushed all onto female workers?"

Ma Zhaoxian, Li Ye, and the others were taken aback, not understanding what Director Gao meant.

The section she pointed out was the instrument assembly section for light trucks. The instrument part is one of the lightest parts among all the components of a light truck, so female workers are arranged to participate in this section as much as possible.

It's fair to say that this job isn't exactly "tiring" in this workshop. At most, it's just a bit awkward during installation because the installation area is quite narrow.

So Li Ye politely corrected him, "I can explain this. Because men and women have some natural differences in strength, we take many factors into consideration when arranging workstations. The installation of instruments is relatively more suitable for female employees."

Li Ye's words were already quite subtle. The heaviest car instrument panel weighs only ten or eight kilograms, while other parts of the car weigh tens or even hundreds of kilograms. This was already an arrangement that took care of the female workers.

However, Director Gao pointed to the clothes of several female employees and said, "President Li, I can't agree with you. Many jobs only look easy, but they're not easy at all. Look at them, they're all covered in sweat, and the backs of their work clothes are soaked with sweat."

Sweating profusely? It's already June, who wouldn't be sweating profusely while working? Especially since female workers wear two more layers of clothing than male workers.

However, Li Ye couldn't say such things out loud, because he had already sensed Director Gao's "fighting spirit." If Li Ye confronted him head-on, it would probably trigger some classic counterattacks that he couldn't refute.

Doing housework is more tiring than screwing in screws, taking care of children is harder than entertaining clients, and you can't win an argument even if you earn over ten thousand a month doing laundry and cooking.

Therefore, Li Ye could only say tactfully, "This is indeed due to our inadequate management. This afternoon, we will add cooling equipment to this section to ensure the health and comfort of our employees."

Back in the 80s and 90s, air conditioning wasn't common yet! Adding fans to cool down the workers was already a sign of good behavior from the company's management.

However, Director Gao felt that Li Ye was "fooling" him and immediately said with dissatisfaction: "President Li, using fans to help workers cool down is not a solution that addresses the symptoms but not the root cause."

Since the job assignments are unreasonable, the positions should be adjusted. There are so many suitable positions for women in the workshop, such as piece clerk, warehouse keeper, and safety inspector. Why force them to twist their bodies and crawl under the machines?

Damn it, are you ever going to stop? I might as well just move them all to the office where they can enjoy the air conditioning.

Having witnessed the corrupt practices that would emerge decades later, Li Ye always kept a close eye on ideological education. The female employees at the light vehicle company were not at all so delicate.

But now that we've entered the 1990s, the unhealthy trend of "ladies first" has spread throughout China. Director Gao and his ilk are taking advantage of this trend and are destined to become restless.

Just then, Huang Qi, the section chief of this work section, finished his work and walked straight toward the group of visitors.

"I apologize, leaders. I overheard some of your arguments while I was working. I would like to solemnly declare here that I love my current position and job, and I will resolutely refuse to become a warehouse keeper, piecework clerk, or security inspector."

Huang Qi used to be a worker in the fourth assembly workshop. Later, when the first branch factory was recruiting talents, she was among the first to volunteer for a job because she was the first in the production skills competition, but she did not receive the award for production pacesetter.

A woman like Huang Qi, who has a temper and is skilled, will immediately get angry if you ask her to admit that she is "inferior to men".

Director Gao hadn't expected his good intentions to backfire, so he could only smile at Li Ye and say, "President Li, it seems your workers really support you! They've all stood up for you."

Li Ye was speechless. This Director Gao was clearly putting himself in a difficult position. What did he mean by "the workers' support"? Shouldn't the workers support the country? Could Li Ye represent the country?

It's true that Huang Qi admires Li Ye, but her reluctance to leave her current job isn't entirely because of Li Ye. It's because frontline workers earn much more than warehouse keepers and piece-rate workers. Who would turn down money?

Ma Zhaoxian, quick-witted and tactful, stepped in to smooth things over, saying, "Director Gao, you've misunderstood. How could the workers be standing up for others? It's not that serious, there's nothing wrong here!"

"Hehehehe~"

Director Gao chuckled, but her smile was obviously fake.

Wen Guohua also laughed, and said to Li Ye with a mischievous smile, "President Li, you must take Director Gao's opinion seriously, and don't make the same mistake again."

"Yes, Director Wen, I will definitely keep that in mind."

Li Ye lowered his head and sincerely accepted Wen Guohua's reprimand, or rather, reminder.

Was Li Ye's brother-in-law reminding him to pay attention to "gender equality"?

Bullshit! He was reminding Li Ye to stop arguing with people like Director Gao. He should just say one thing to people's faces and another behind their backs. Why bother arguing with them over words?
She asked you to take care of the female employees, and you just smiled and agreed, right? Do you really think she cares about the workers? She just wants a reason to show her importance. Just show her respect in person and that's it.

But Li Ye was truly helpless; some things are just as bad as being overdone.

Honestly, state-owned enterprises are already the most tolerant places for women, with a very healthy ratio of male to female employees. If you were in a private company, nobody would talk to you about being considerate of women.

For example, decades later, the food delivery industry introduced a rule that was very considerate of female riders—not assigning them large-item deliveries.

But is this really an act of consideration for female riders?

But pull it down!

Don't be fooled by the increasing number of female riders on the street; they are like an ironclad camp with ever-changing soldiers, with one batch replacing another at a rapid pace.

Normally, the attrition rate for female riders is over 40% after one month in the industry, another 40% after the second month, and less than 10%, or even 5%, of female riders can survive for six months after the third month.

Why is this?

Because the algorithms of food delivery apps are derived from data collected from countless male riders who are clear-headed, physically strong, and have a high stress tolerance, the requirements for delivery are set according to the upper limit of these men.

As a woman, if you insist on entering this industry in a "fair and just" manner, you will inevitably find yourself in a difficult situation.

Putting everything else aside, delivering food requires riding electric bikes, and specifically, electric bikes with larger batteries and higher speeds.

So this kind of electric scooter is definitely not the "mini type" that girls like. It's big and heavy, and if you're not a burly Mulan, it would be very difficult to pick it up after falling over.

As for delivering six orders in ten minutes, all of which involve climbing five floors, and being complained about for being one minute late, these are all normal occurrences. If you still have the mindset of "I'm a girl, so I get priority," could you handle it?

Therefore, the "consideration for female riders" policy launched by food delivery platforms is essentially meaningless, because the female riders who can persevere are all tough women who don't care about the size of the order.

Like those tough men, they don't need this kind of understanding and care; they only care about whether they can earn an extra ten yuan for their children today.

After visiting the main factory's production workshop, everyone went to visit the management system of the branch factory. They expressed their envy and admiration for the "fully computerized" management model.

Yi Mingzhao finally found a suitable opportunity and said to Wen Guohua, "Director Wen, I actually think that the most successful achievement of Jingnan Group in recent years is not those few best-selling models, but a kind of ability to turn the rotten into the magical."

Over the past seven years, the light vehicle company has taken over seven external enterprises. After systematic improvements, all of them have turned losses into profits, achieving very gratifying economic benefits.

We are currently preparing to facilitate the second merger between Jingnan Group and Southwest Heavy Truck. We have the capability and confidence to carve out a new niche in the heavy truck industry.

After listening to Yi Mingzhao's report, Wen Guohua nodded repeatedly, then turned and looked at Li Ye with a smile.

"Mr. Li, are you confident?"

Li Ye sighed and said frankly, "We did receive a task plan from head office some time ago, but after several rounds of serious discussions, we felt it would be very difficult."

"Actually, our own heavy truck business is developing very well now. Next, we plan to introduce a Europa passenger car production line."

Merging with a mess like Southwest Heavy Truck right now would be beyond our capabilities, so we hope that another sister company can take on this arduous task.

"."

Quiet, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Everyone around had heard of Li Ye's "straightforwardness and stubbornness," and today they had truly witnessed it firsthand.

Although Li Ye's words sounded "very aggrieved," they were nonetheless a complete rejection of Yi Mingzhao's opinion.

Yi Mingzhao, Li Ye's superior, had just expressed his confidence in taking over Southwest Heavy Truck in front of Wen Guohua, but Li Ye immediately contradicted him. This was not just a matter of trying to sow discord; it was a slap in the face in front of everyone!

Everyone has seen people slam their fists on the table with their boss, but no one has ever seen someone slap their boss in the face in front of their boss's boss.

Yi Mingzhao was stunned, as if he had really been slapped twice, and it took him a long time to come to his senses.

When he came to his senses, not only were his eyes seeing stars, but they were also spitting fire.

(End of this chapter)