Development of productivity started in 1981

Chapter 22 Lighter Project Acceleration

1981年8月6日，农历7月7日
-
Today is Chinese Valentine's Day.

Wang Jiankun got up early, washed, had breakfast, took some clothes, money and a gold belt, and headed towards Fengshan.

Before leaving, he told his father to remember to deliver another 200 sets of glass and springs for table clocks the next day.

I went to Master Quan's house in Fengshan and asked him if he wanted to go to Raozhou today.

Master Quan said he planned to go again tomorrow because they did not have enough clocks in stock and the two shops in Raozhou wanted 40 clocks together.

Wang Jiankun asked Master Quan if he could help him get a letter of introduction so that he could go to Raozhou today.

Master Quan said that there was no need to go and get a license again. He had asked the commune to get several licenses so that he wouldn't have to go and get one every time. He could give one to Wang Jiankun first.

After receiving the letter of introduction, Wang Jiankun prepared to set off.

Master Quan stopped Wang Jiankun and asked, "My dear nephew, can you please buy another 1 sets of the clockwork and glass, or give us 3 sets every 200 days?"

"Okay, my father will come to deliver another 200 sets tomorrow. The previous 600 sets will be paid. You can pay him for another 200 sets tomorrow, just like before. You can pay him every 3 days after the goods are delivered."

"Well, nephew, you go to Raozhou first, and I'll go there tomorrow. We'll meet at the guesthouse over there."

Wang Jiankun said goodbye to Master Quan and walked towards Tsinghua University.

At this time, Wang Jiankun really wanted to have a bicycle, which would not only save energy but also save time.

We arrived at the place where we took the truck last time at Tsinghua University. The Liberation truck waiting there was still the one that Hu Xiyang had taken.

Wang Jiankun said to Hu Xiyang, "Brother Hu, can you spare some time the day after tomorrow? I plan to hire your car to go to Raozhou and Dexing to pick up some goods."

"Whenever you are free, the factory is too busy recently. Please give me a call tomorrow and tell me the time so I can leave."

"Okay, I'll call you tomorrow evening."

This time, Hu Xiyang asked Wang Jiankun to sit in the driver's seat because he didn't bring any luggage.

After Hu Xiyang greeted the passengers for a while, he started the car and set off.

It is much more comfortable to drive with the windows open. The wind blows through the cab, taking away the stuffiness.

On the way, Wang Jiankun asked Hu Xiyang if it was difficult to learn to drive.

Hu Xiyang said that driving is not difficult but repairing a car is difficult. To get a driver's license, you must be able to repair a car. If you cannot repair a car, you will not be issued a license.

Because if the car breaks down on the side of the road and you don’t know how to fix the problem, it may delay things and you don’t know how long it will take to wait for others to come and help.

Wang Jiankun originally planned to let his father learn to drive a truck so that he could make a lot of money by doing transportation.

Otherwise, even if you are in charge of management in the production team, it is not easy to get a lot of money, and all the money you earn will belong to the team.

Now I heard that to learn how to drive you have to learn how to repair a car first, and it takes up to two years, one year as an apprentice and one year as an internship.

It seems that driving a truck is not an option for the time being, but perhaps I can try a tractor and make short distance deliveries of bricks, tiles, wood and furniture.

After arriving at the county town, Wang Jiankun hurried to look for a bus to Dexing. He asked at the ticket office and was told that there was another bus in the morning which would depart in 10 minutes.

After buying the ticket, Wang Jiankun ran to get on the bus, and the bus set off soon.

Most people in the car spoke Wuyuan dialect, chatting about family matters and the news about the distribution of land to households.

Because the neighboring Anhui Province has completed the household contract responsibility system reform.

Wuyuan used to belong to Huizhou Province, and everyone's words and deeds are full of envy for the neighboring province and dissatisfaction with the current situation.

Then they changed the subject and said that some people who returned to the city and had no jobs started setting up stalls, buying goods from Raozhou or other provinces to sell. Some of the new and exotic items were not even available in the supply and marketing cooperatives. These people earned more money every month than those who worked in the government.

Wang Jiankun just listened to their conversation but did not join in. In his mind, he was thinking about what path the production team and himself would take if the lighter project was successful.

This time, Wang Jiankun was not going to Dexing City, but to Dexing Copper Mine,

That’s right, it’s called Dexing Copper Mine, and it can be said to be an independent town.

A series of supporting factories and facilities have been built around the copper mine.

It was almost noon when Wang Jiankun got off the bus at the copper mine. He found a newly renovated restaurant and walked over.

As soon as I arrived at the store, I saw the staff surrounding a foreigner. The foreigner was talking in a jumbled manner, and the staff and the store owner were confused and just listened at a loss.

After listening for a while, Wang Jiankun understood that the foreigner wanted to have a meal here and asked the store owner to bring the menu so that he could order.

Wang Jiankun walked over and said in English: "Hello, do you need any help?"

When people on both sides heard Wang Jiankun speak, they all stared at him, looking at him with disgust.

At this time, the foreigner said excitedly: "Great, finally there is someone I can communicate with. My name is David Peter, you can call me Peter, what's your name sir?"

"My name is King Jiankun, you can call me King."

"Wang, doesn't it mean King? It's easier to call him King."

"You can call me that, is there anything I can help you with?"

"I just came to this restaurant to eat with my translator. When we were almost there, the translator left in a hurry. I came in and prepared to order, but the owner and waiter here didn't understand anything I said."

"Okay, you want to order, and I'll help you translate."

So Wang Jiankun asked the boss if there was a menu?

The boss said no, we could order from the cupboard, and he also introduced some of the local specialties.

So Wang Jiankun told Peter about the situation. Peter said he had never been to this restaurant and didn't know what was good about it. It was the translator who brought him here.

So Wang Jiankun translated a few dishes according to the store owner's description. Peter ordered diced chicken and beef brisket stewed with radish, as well as mushroom soup and vegetables.

After ordering, we asked Wang Jiankun to eat together.

Wang Jiankun also ordered a braised pork for himself, and then ate at the same table with Peter.

During the meal, Peter talked about his background. He is an American. The wire processing factory here introduced a set of copper wire production equipment from the United States. He is the engineer who came with the equipment and is responsible for equipment debugging here.

I have been here for almost three months and will be returning to the United States in another month.

The equipment has been successfully debugged and has been running stably for a period of time. Next, he will help train employees to operate the equipment.

Wang Jiankun briefly talked about his own situation and said that he came here to buy some aluminum and copper cables.

Peter said that the wire factory where he worked had the two types of wire described by Wang Jiankun, and he could help introduce them to the factory manager.

Wang Jiankun expressed his gratitude, and Peter said that it was God's arrangement that allowed the two old men to meet each other from thousands of miles away and forge friendship.

After the meal, Peter wanted to pay for Wang Jiankun's braised pork, but Wang Jiankun insisted that they each pay for their own and friendship should not be tarnished by money.

Peter liked his character of not taking advantage of others and said he would take him to see the factory manager right away.

When he arrived at the factory gate, he met the translator. When the translator saw Peter, he quickly apologized and asked why he brought this person into the factory.

Peter told Wang Jiankun about what happened during the meal and said he would take Wang Jiankun to see the factory director.

The translator quickly said that it was such a small matter that he could not trouble the factory director, and he could do it for him. In fact, he was afraid that the factory director would know that he had left the important foreign experts in the factory alone, so he planned to solve the problem directly to shut up Peter and Wang Jiankun.

Wang Jiankun's purpose was not to meet the factory director, he just wanted to buy cables. Professional talents like translators still have weight in the factory.

So Wang Jiankun said that it would be fine if the translator could help buy the cables, so there was no need to trouble the factory manager.

So the translator took the two of them to the factory's supply and marketing department. When they arrived at the department, the translator explained their purpose.

The Supply and Marketing Department did not dare to neglect the translator and Peter behind him, and promptly issued the delivery note.

The clerk said that when you want to pick up the goods, you need to go to the Finance Department to pay the money, and then take the receipt and delivery note to the warehouse to pick up the goods.

Wang Jiankun said that he might have to pick up the goods the day after tomorrow, and the truck he found would not be available until the day after tomorrow.

The clerk said that you can come within a month, otherwise the delivery note will be invalid after that time.

During the conversation, I heard some salesmen were talking on the phone about buying zinc, manganese, nickel, tin and other metals.

Wang Jiankun then asked the clerk who was in contact with him for the contact information and address of the manufacturers who provided those metals.

Although the clerk was puzzled, he still wrote down a few addresses for him, saying that these were all large-scale enterprises and they would not accept small orders. If he only wanted to buy a small amount, he could go to the doors of those enterprises and find someone who would sell the raw materials in small quantities.

Wang Jiankun thanked the clerk, the translator and Peter, and then left the cable factory.

He plans to go to these factories today to see if he can buy raw materials, or leave an ordering method and call to order directly in the future and have a truck sent to pick them up.

Wang Jiankun asked as he walked, and then he came across a repair shop that was selling second-hand bicycles.

So I quickly bought one and paid 60 yuan without a receipt. It looked like the parts didn't match well, which meant it was assembled.

Wang Jiankun quickly found a corner where no one was paying attention and used his superpowers to adjust the frisbee, chain and brakes to make them run smoother, but he made the appearance of the frame look tattered to prevent it from being stolen or robbed.

This is called the meat of the bun is not in the folds, or the wealth is not revealed.

It's much faster to ride a bicycle. These factories are actually all nearby, but each one occupies a large area, so it's a bit far to walk.

We first came to a factory that refined metallic zinc. Before we entered the factory, someone came to ask if we were here to buy lead or zinc.

Wang Jiankun was a little wary. Seeing that he didn't say anything, the visitor knew that he was a little too anxious, so he said, "Don't be afraid, my friend. I'm a serious person. My name is Du Weiqiao. I just help the factory sell some goods to earn a living."

Wang Jiankun said, "My family runs a small factory that makes electrical wires, and we're planning to buy some zinc."

"You want to buy zinc? Your small factory has a small production capacity. This big factory won't accept small orders like yours. But I have the goods. I will accept any order, no matter how small it is."

Combining the words of the cable factory clerk and the man in front of him, Wang Jiankun roughly understood that these people were the partners of the salesmen or the white gloves of powerful people.

They wholesale some from big factories, then resell them and make a profit from the difference.

Wang Jiankun also wanted to solve the problem quickly. This price difference was nothing compared to high-profit products.

So I decided to buy some from this person to try it out, and if his reputation is good, I will increase the purchase quantity.

"I plan to buy 50 kilograms first. If my factory uses it well, I will contact you later."

"Sure, 50 kilograms is fine. Do you want it now?"

"Where is your product? I plan to buy it now and take it back to test it."

"I'll lead the way, and you follow on your bike."

So Wang Jiankun followed him to the warehouse of the factory. It turned out that the place where he stored the goods was separated from the warehouse inside the factory by a door.

Wang Jiankun used his superpowers to check and found that it still contained a lot of lead, which meant that the smelting technology was not very good or these were inferior products.

"Look at the color, it contains a lot of lead. I don't know if the thread I buy will be up to standard."

Du Weiqiao heard him say this and knew that he knew how to distinguish, so he said: "This little bit of lead will not have any effect, you can go back and process it and use it."

"It will cost me money to process it. I'll take it if you can make it cheaper."

"Okay, okay, since you are so knowledgeable, I will sell it to you at a low price."

So Wang Jiankun paid him to pack the two wooden boxes.

Then Wang Jiankun asked him if anyone was selling rare earth ore, and Du Weiqiao asked if it was the kind of ore that foreigners, or should I say Japanese, liked very much.

When Wang Jiankun heard that foreigners, especially Japanese, were coming to buy, he knew he had asked the right person and quickly said, "Yes, do you know where it is? If it's what I want, I'll give you a commission."

"Brother, you are so considerate, but you don't need to pay for the referral. You can just take care of my business when the time comes. I'm always at the gate of this factory."

Then he took Wang Jiankun to another factory, which was a small factory or rather a collectively run one. There were piles of earth and rocks like small hills, and the color was different from that of ordinary soil and rocks.

The gatekeeper saw someone coming, asked what he wanted, let him in, pointed to a small bungalow and said, "Our manager is there, go find him yourself."

Before Wang Jiankun came in, he used his super powers to investigate the composition of the soil and found that it was indeed a rare earth ore, containing cerium and lanthanum, which were needed for flint.

Wang Jiankun and his companion found the manager, who introduced himself as Wen Hongrui and asked Wang Jiankun if he wanted to buy the mine.

Wang Jiankun said he was ready to buy the ore piled there, starting with 5 tons.

Wen Hongrui said that as long as money is paid, there are trucks in the factory within 10 kilometers that can help deliver the goods.

So Wang Jiankun bought 5 tons of ore, loaded it onto a truck and said goodbye to Du Weiqiao.

Wang Jiankun directed the car to go out of the city and came to a fork in the road. There were few people on this side, so he asked the truck to dump the ore on the side of the road.

He told the driver that someone from their factory would come to transport the goods away soon, and the driver left after hearing what he said.

While no one was around, Wang Jiankun separated out more than 4 kilograms of rare earth elements, which he made into 10-kilogram metal ingots, which were covered with a layer of iron shell.

After riding his bicycle and settling down in a single room in the guesthouse, Wang Jiankun made several trips to deliver the goods to the room.

Then he went to the scrap recycling station to buy copper, and bought cotton and kerosene at the supply and marketing cooperative.

I originally planned to make aluminum alloy lighters, but now that I have bought zinc, I will make two types: galvanized iron and brass.

Wang Jiankun used his superpowers to start making lighters. After a while, 100 brass lighters and 100 iron lighters were made.

After manually adding cotton and kerosene, open the lid and the flame will come out.

As long as one is successful, there will be no problem with the others, because this was created by Wang Jiankun using his super powers.

After the production was completed, I went out for dinner and told the waiter that I would not vacate the room tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, and that the goods would be left in the room, and I would come back the day after tomorrow afternoon to pick up my things and check out.

The waiter said it was no problem, but the person was not there and the bill for tomorrow and the day after tomorrow would still have to be paid.

Wang Jiankun said that it was right, and asked him to make sure the door was not opened to others to live in when the time comes.

In the evening, Wang Jiankun calculated the cost and found that if a small stamping machine was used to make the shell parts, the cost would be about 2 yuan each. Taking into account the technically difficult flint and spring, the cost would be about 5 yuan each.

So Wang Jiankun decided to focus on high-end brass products, engraved English on them, and sold them at a wholesale price of 30 yuan each.

The iron shell is mid-range, engraved with Japanese, and costs 20 yuan each.

We will go to Raozhou for trial sales tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)