Reborn in the red age

"Recently, Lemon Company's mainland subsidiaries collectively held an annual meeting. The atmosphere was very warm. Not only were all the programs performed by company leaders including Li Qingfeng, but the lucky draw session also became the focus."

"The lucky draw was full of surprises. The original prize pool was extremely generous, with 800 individual prizes of 2,000 yuan each. In addition, Li Qingfeng also specially set up a "Sunshine Bonus", and all employees can receive 100 US dollars at the end of the year."

"During the lottery process, the interaction between Chairman Li Qingfeng and his wife Hu Jiabao pushed the atmosphere to a climax, and the final lottery amount soared from the original 6.6 million to 10 million."

The news that Lemon Company gave away 10 million yuan in a raffle at its annual meeting somehow got out.

Not only was the news circulated crazily by all major print media, but even many television stations followed up with reports. Lemon Company and Qingfeng Li once again became the center of attention.

Li Qingfeng and his family, who were originally planning to go home for the New Year, suddenly gave up the idea of ​​going home for the New Year after seeing the TV program on the stage.

The packed luggage was returned to its original place, and Li Qingfeng and Hu Jiabao called their families one by one to explain the situation.

After making such a big splash, when he returned home, it was inevitable that certain people would come to his house one by one to ask for money.

Although Li Qingfeng has a lot of money, he is willing to give food and drink to his employees to support their families, but he is not willing to give food and drink to some people to get rich quickly.

I would rather not go home than give others the opportunity to take advantage of me.

Everyone else was fine. When they learned that Li Qingfeng was not coming back, they all expressed their understanding. Only Li Fuqiang was hesitant and wanted Li Qingfeng to come back.

When asked the reason, Li Fuqiang was too embarrassed to say, and finally found out after asking Hong Xingying.

When people in his hometown village learned that Li Qingfeng distributed money to his employees, they thought that he should also distribute money to the villagers who were having a hard time. So they urged the new village chief, Li Fuqiang, to ask Li Qingfeng to come back and distribute the money.

After learning the details, Li Qingfeng was so angry that he laughed. He immediately asked Li Fuqiang to resign from the position of clan leader that was specially established for him and stop interfering in the affairs of the village in the future.

In later generations, Dong Ge gave money to the village because when he was in college, the whole village raised 500 yuan for his tuition and living expenses.

Li Qingfeng had not been in the village before, and had never received any favors from the clan. After he became rich, he donated a lot of money to the village. How could they have the nerve to ask Li Qingfeng to distribute money in the village now?

After hanging up the phone, Li Qingfeng arranged for the company's private plane, and the family flew to Hong Kong to start their New Year vacation.

Just as Li Qingfeng was heading to Hong Kong for his vacation, domestic public opinion regarding Li Qingfeng giving money to his employees began to change.

Many so-called entrepreneurs blasted Li Qingfeng in the media, saying that his actions were maliciously raising the industry's employee welfare standards and disrupting market order.

This practice will cause dissatisfaction among employees of other companies, forcing companies to increase labor costs, thus bringing unnecessary pressure to the entire industry.

Some bosses who have some influence in the manufacturing industry have stood up and openly criticized Li Qingfeng's behavior of giving money to employees, saying that business operations need to consider long-term interests and the overall industry environment.

Li Qingfeng's behavior of giving lavish money to employees shows a disregard for the company's operating rules and is unfair to other bosses who work diligently and carefully run their businesses.

The textile industry is an industry that requires a large amount of labor. Since the reform and opening up, the domestic textile industry has been able to rise rapidly by lowering labor costs to seize domestic and foreign markets.

As soon as this argument came out, it immediately resonated with domestic industries that needed a large amount of labor.

Regardless of the size of their companies, many bosses in the textile and electronics manufacturing industries were not afraid of offending Li Qingfeng and all stood up to condemn Li Qingfeng.

Even many economists have come forward to express their opinions, proudly stating that their country has abundant cheap labor and that they should make full use of this to gain an advantage in international competition.

Suddenly, Li Qingfeng became a rat crossing the street in the domestic business field, and everyone wanted to beat him up.

Li Qingfeng, who was far away overseas, had no idea what was happening in the country. It was not until the end of the Spring Festival holiday, when he returned to Hong Kong, that he learned about the public opinion storm caused by giving money to employees.

When Li Qingfeng saw the contents of the newspapers collected by He Guangqin, he was furious.

Damn, what the hell? I’m giving money to my employees, what does it have to do with you?
You don't invest in the development of the company, but put every penny the company earns into your own pocket. You have been hanging around in low-end manufacturing, and live on squeezing the surplus value of your employees.

Aren't high-value, high-profit companies like us who are willing to invest in R&D allowed to pay our employees?

"Teacher Li, do you want to publish an article to fight back? We can't let these people slander your reputation in the newspaper." Looking at Li Qingfeng's unsightly face, He Guangqin couldn't help but speak.

"Publish, definitely publish." Li Qingfeng slammed the table, stretched out his right hand and said, "Pen, I'll write this article myself."

"what?"

"What? Hurry up and grab a pen."

“good good”

He Guangqin quickly took out his gold pen from his pocket, opened the cap and handed it over.

After just a brief pause, Qingfeng Li began to write.

The article begins with a positive response to this public opinion: "Employees are the core force of corporate development, and it is the responsibility of the company to give employees generous rewards."

"Cheap labor is not something to be proud of, nor is it a compliment. In my opinion, cheap labor is a standard 'short-term advantage trap' that can be used in the early stages of development, but it should not become a long-term reliance for the economic development of enterprises or even countries."

"If an enterprise simply builds its development foundation on cheap labor, it is like building a tall building on quicksand. It may seem that it can gain a certain market share in the short term by relying on low costs, but in fact it is full of dangers."

"Some economists complacently emphasize the need to make full use of the abundant cheap labor force in the country to gain international competitive advantages. This view, in my opinion, is short-sighted and one-sided."

"With the development of the global economy and the advancement of science and technology, the proportion of labor costs in corporate competitiveness is gradually decreasing. The future competition will be a competition of science and technology, a competition of talent, and a competition of innovation capabilities."

"If we are only satisfied with using cheap labor to participate in international competition, we will always be at the low end of the industrial chain and will never be able to achieve industrial upgrading and transformation."

The three to four thousand word article was completed in one go. Li Qingfeng put down his pen, checked it once, and nodded with satisfaction.

Not bad, not bad. Over the years, my literary attainments have become higher and higher. He Guangqin, who was standing by, had been reading Li Qingfeng's article. When he saw that it was all finished, he stepped forward and flattered him: "Teacher Li, this article is simply deafening. Every word is like a sharp blade, accurately analyzing the common problems of domestic enterprises. You are a well-deserved economist."

"Economist? Forget it. There is no such thing as pure economics in the world. It is enough for me to be a software scholar." Li Qingfeng waved his hand and pretended to be humble to accept He Guangqin's flattery.

He Guangqin continued, "Teacher Li, once this article is published, it will surely cause a stir in the academic and business communities. Why don't we strike while the iron is hot and organize a high-end economic forum to spread your ideas more deeply?"

"Forget it. There are too many small groups in the country, and none of them do anything serious. Let's just be ourselves."

"Okay, then which newspaper or magazine should you publish this article in?"

Li Qingfeng thought for a moment and said, "Science and Technology Daily."

"Okay, I'll arrange it right away"

A day later, Li Qingfeng's article "On Enterprise Development and Employee Value" was published on the front page of Science and Technology Daily, which instantly shocked many knowledgeable people in China.

Li Qingfeng's old friends Mou Qizhong and Lao Ren were the first to stand up and express their support for Li Qingfeng's remarks.

In the next few days, many well-known domestic companies including the Liu brothers' feed group, Midea and Haier, two home appliance companies, expressed their views.

Either by issuing a statement through the company's official channels or by having company executives accept media interviews to express their recognition and appreciation for Li Qingfeng's ideas.

As large domestic companies have come out to support the event, public opinion in the market is no longer tied between the two sides, but is beginning to show a trend of the east wind overwhelming the west wind.

Those bosses who jumped out to accuse Li Qingfeng of disrupting the market order some time ago were overwhelmed by the overwhelming negative information in the newspapers.

Not only was I attacked by the media, but my company also suffered a large number of order cancellations. Many dealers who had already paid deposits would rather not have the deposit and cancel the orders they had already placed.

As a last resort, they published public apologies in newspapers and elaborated on their own company's rectification plans.

He said that in the future he will follow the people-oriented business philosophy, increase workers' wages and improve their working environment.

Qingfeng Li didn't believe a word of what they said.

Most of the domestic enterprises still have the old landlord mentality and treat their employees as tenants. Can you expect a black-hearted landlord to become a philanthropist who treats his tenants well overnight?

This is just one of those things where you have to bow your head in the face of surging public opinion. Just read the content above. Anyone who believes it is a fool.

"Teacher Li, you defeated the enemy with just one article and made those who slandered you apologize in the newspaper. I think you are the only one in the country who can do this."

Li Qingfeng, who had already returned to the Capital Huaxin Building, sat in the boss chair in the office, enjoying He Guangqin's flattery.

After waiting for He Guangqin's flattery to end, Li Qingfeng smiled and waved his hands, saying modestly: "No, I'm still far from it. The ancients once said that those who are good at fighting don't have great achievements. I can even be pointed at and scolded, so how can I have any style?"

"Oh, that's wrong. Those companies have no business dealings with our company, and they won't have any in the future. They have no respect for our Lemon Company, so they speak rudely."

"Look at our domestic software companies, technology companies, or companies that may have business dealings with our subsidiaries. They all support you."

Li Qingfeng understood what He Guangqin meant. What he meant was that Lemon Company was a giant among related companies, and everyone knew that one should not touch a tiger's butt.

But China is a huge country with many industries, and many companies will never have any intersection with Qingfeng Li in their lifetime. Therefore, they dare to make those remarks accusing Qingfeng Li at will.

Li Qingfeng pursed his lips and did not continue talking about this. Instead, he asked which companies that had no dealings with the company before came out to support him this time.

He Guangqin quickly said: "Most of them are technology companies that are willing to invest in research and development. They are giants of domestic home appliance companies. Haier, Midea, and Changhong have never had business dealings with our company before."

"The rest of the companies are mostly start-ups, most of these people are speculative, their support is of little value, I will not list them one by one."

After listening, Qingfeng Li nodded and tapped his fingers on the table.

After a long while, he slowly said: "They stood up to support us this time, we owe them a favor, we need to repay them."

"Our family compound is about to be completed. We can hand over the home appliance business such as air conditioners, washing machines and televisions to Haier, Midea and Changhong. These companies have good reputation and strength in the industry. Handing the business over to them will not only repay favors, but also ensure the quality of home appliances in the family compound," He Guangqin gave his advice.

Qingfeng Li nodded first, then shook his head.

He Guangqin didn't understand what this meant for a moment, but he didn't dare to ask any further questions. He just waited silently for Li Qingfeng to explain.

After a long while, Qingfeng Li finally spoke up: "Guangqin, our company's artificial intelligence project has been under development for a long time. We have accumulated some experience, but we haven't produced any results. Do you think it's possible to combine artificial intelligence with home appliances?"

"Ah? Combining artificial intelligence with home appliances? How can they be combined?" He Guangqin was completely confused when he heard Li Qingfeng's idea. He didn't understand what it meant at all.

Li Qingfeng was not surprised by He Guangqin's reaction. People in the 1990s didn't know anything about artificial intelligence.

Li Qingfeng leaned back on the sofa, looked at He Guangqin, and patiently introduced: "Today's home appliances all rely on manual operation. We can integrate artificial intelligence technology into them to achieve intelligent control of home appliances. For example, we can turn on and off the TV and air conditioner through voice commands."

He Guangqin, who was listening carefully to Li Qingfeng's story, became more and more shocked.

Damn, this is a genius idea.

If this kind of smart home appliance can really be successful, won’t it be sought after by middle-class families all over the world?
The more Li Qingfeng talked, the brighter his eyes became. He felt that this was feasible and that perhaps the concept of smart home appliances could be developed a dozen years in advance.

If smart home appliances are developed these days, even if they only have simple functions, they can cause a sensation around the world.

Perhaps, it can help domestic home appliance companies to surpass others in terms of technology in the 1990s and completely rewrite the pattern of the global home appliance industry. (End of this chapter)