Our Rise Era

Chapter 15 When the Wind Rises

sunset.

The clouds on the horizon seemed to be dyed into golden red silk by the sunset, gently draped over the shoulders of the distant mountains.

Zhang Yang met Xu Mingli, the marketing manager of Zheng’s Food Co., Ltd.

Xu Mingli was about fifty years old, slightly plump, and wore a loose suit, the buttons of which were almost completely unbuttoned. When the suit was slightly opened, he stood like a Maitreya Buddha.

From the moment he saw Zhang Yang, he gave Zhang Yang a cigarette with a warm smile and hurriedly instructed the marketing staff to serve tea and water.

However, when Xu Mingli heard that Zhang Yang was not the investor and that Zheng Guodong once again rejected the investor's invitation, his smile gradually froze.

"During this difficult time, our factory will make drastic reforms. I hope you can support my decision for the next reform. After we get through this difficult time, I will not treat you unfairly..."

Zheng Guodong patted Xu Mingli on the shoulder, ready to introduce him to Zhang Yang and what would happen next.

Xu Mingli did not nod, nor did he respond, and he lost his enthusiasm. He suddenly became very silent, sitting alone on a chair in the corner, smoking without saying a word.

Seeing his expression, Zheng Guodong didn't say much. He just took Zhang Yang with a little embarrassment to meet the factory's transportation team to prepare for some subsequent matters.

When he returned to the marketing department again, Zheng Guodong saw Xu Mingli packing up.

"Old Xu, what are you doing?" Zheng Guodong looked at the movements of Xu Mingli's hands and his face gradually turned cold.

"Boss Zheng, we have been working together for ten years. I hope you know that it has not been easy for me these years..."

Xu Mingli blew out a puff of smoke, looked around the not-so-spacious office, and shook his head with a complicated look in his eyes: "Over the years, I have watched [Zheng's Food Co., Ltd.] gradually go downhill under your leadership, and I have also watched my former friends go their separate ways. I thought you would be a little more sober after seeing all this, but now it seems that you can no longer be sober..."

"We can talk..."

"This is my resignation letter. I also don't want to do any follow-up marketing work... Forget it. There is not much work in the market. Almost all the orders in big cities have been cancelled, and all the old customers have been poached. Now there is nothing here except a bunch of useless customer information..."

"You need to apply for resignation one month in advance..."

"You can deduct my bonus if you want, and you can deduct my salary if you want. It's up to you. I don't care about those tens of thousands of dollars..." After Xu Mingli finished packing his things, he lowered his head slightly and didn't look at Zheng Guodong's face.

"..."

Zheng Guodong looked at Xu Mingli's back with a complicated look in his eyes. After a long while, he said, "Someone is trying to recruit you?"

"Someone poached me two years ago. But don't worry, I have been guarding the company during these two years. I have never done anything to betray the company, nor have I leaked any company information..." Xu Mingli paused for a moment while packing his things, and then stared at Zheng Guodong.

"What price did they offer to make you leave the company where you worked for ten years? Am I not good to you?"

"I just don't see any hope..." Xu Mingli shook his head.

"You stay, let's talk..." Zheng Guodong's expression gradually became complicated: "We can talk about everything. We will reform and we can survive!"

"Can we talk about the acquisition?" Xu Mingli, who was holding something, suddenly stopped and looked at Zheng Guodong with a sneer.

"..." Zheng Guodong was silent.

"My departure will make room for the young people..." Xu Mingli glanced at Zhang Yang: "Young people like to make drastic reforms, and we old people don't like to mess around..."

"Are you going alone, or..." Zheng Guodong looked at them.

"I only represent my personal attitude. As for them..." Xu Mingli looked at the employees working in the office in the distance, paused for a moment, and finally replied: "To tell you the truth, everyone here has talked to them..."

Just as Xu Mingli finished speaking, several old employees from several business departments in the distance stood up at the same time.

After looking at each other, their gazes were hesitant at first, then gradually became firm, and they all walked towards Zheng Guodong.

Zheng Guodong frowned and looked at them: "You guys want to leave too?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Zheng, we, we also need to eat. Now all the roads in the big cities are blocked, and we can't survive..."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Zheng..."

“We just want a better life…”

"What does your so-called national backbone have to do with us? Can he allow us to buy a house or a car?"

"Every citizen has a share of responsibility for the fate of a country, but we only want the dignity of ordinary people. Moreover, it's just a pack of instant noodles. It's too much of an exaggeration to elevate it to the national level..."

"..."

Half an hour later.

When the night gradually darkened.

Former colleagues followed Zheng Guodong to say goodbye one by one.

Some chatted for a while, some remained silent, and some advised Zheng Guodong to sober up...

Zheng Guodong remained silent.

An unknown amount of time later, Zheng Guodong and Zhang Yang were sitting in the empty marketing office.

Looking at the empty seats and the few young people, Zheng Guodong was a little dazed for a moment.

After an unknown amount of time, he finally picked up his phone and called the Finance Department: "Don't hold back their bonuses and salaries. Just pay them as usual. We won't treat them unfairly..."

The finance person on the other end of the phone seemed a little shocked, but finally agreed.

After finishing these things, Zheng Guodong looked at Zhang Yang with a smile: "Mr. Zhang, I was worried that you and the elders would have conflicts in your ideas, which might cause some trouble, but now it seems that there is no such problem..."

"That's good, that's good, give me a raise..." Zhang Yang nodded, his expression serious. "Can you not be so vulgar at this time?"

"A noble person is going to cause even his own factory to go bankrupt..." Zhang Yang suddenly laughed.

"..."

................................................

When we got back to the grocery store, it was already around ten o'clock in the evening.

Fatty Yuan was very excited and kept telling Zhang Yang that he had sold more than three thousand today and the profit was very high.

The Hammer from [ZY], a vision a hundred years ago, and the German experience that cannot be replicated

"Everyone in the French subway holds a book in their hands, and they still use the [ZY] night light to read during the break time of the tunnel construction..."

"Never stop learning, the story of the French and the [ZY] mining lamp..."

……

The destructive power of these articles was so great that in just one day, almost all the small items in the grocery store were cleared out, and several shelves were left empty.

The road to recovering investment is getting closer and closer.

Fatty Yuan was very happy and told Zhang Yang in detail how he treated each customer.

Zhang Yang listened patiently and seriously corrected some flaws in Fatty Yuan's communication.

After hearing this, Fatty Yuan was not shocked. Instead, he returned to the lounge, reviewed it carefully again, and smiled at himself in the mirror over and over again.

The effort is painful.

However, when this effort was linked to money, and I felt that I seemed to be making progress every day, and was gradually able to support a store and was covered in some glory, the pain gradually turned into excitement.

……

Zhang Yang looked at Fatty Yuan's serious expression, and then looked at the empty shelves.

After a moment, I thought of what happened to Zheng’s Food Co., Ltd. Finally, I lowered my head and silently wrote an article titled "Disappearing Domestic Brands".

After finishing writing, I opened Qgou and contacted editors of Youth Digest, Reader, Yilin, etc.

In the past, Zhang Yang contacted them through email, but after several of his articles were published, the editors added Zhang Yang on QQ, which made it convenient for them to contact them at any time. At the same time, they also symbolically increased Zhang Yang's royalties, from more than 200 yuan to 400 yuan per article.

Not long after Zhang Yang sent this article to the editors...

Zhang Yang soon received a reply.

"The quality this time is a bit low and not suitable for publication in the magazine."

"Teacher [Anonymous], after reading your article, I think you should change it to something like [Introducing Advanced Western Technology, Revitalizing the Brand]... Don't write articles that are not conducive to China's cooperation with overseas markets. They go against the general environment. At the same time, your article is too suggestive and seems to be creating confrontation. If it is convenient, please revise it..."

"..."

Zhang Yang looked at the messages from editors on Qgou, all of which were similar to "Low Content Quality". Zhang Yang narrowed his eyes, and after replying a few simple sentences, Zhang Yang silently posted the article "Disappearing Domestic Brands" on the Internet.

After posting it online, Zhang Yang turned off his computer.

........................

the next day.

Zhang Yang received a call when he walked out of the grocery store.

The call was from a young man.

The young man said that he was the grandson of Old Man Lu and was a senior student who was about to graduate from the China Academy of Fine Arts.

On the phone, he expressed his gratitude to Zhang Yang, and then hinted that he wanted to talk to Zhang Yang.

"You want that writer to help you write an article about animation and introduce your studio?"

"Yes……"

“Are you planning on making animation?”

"We established a studio a long time ago. We plan to make children's animation, but we lack funds. Don't worry, we have no problem with the basic skills. Although we are all young, we have all the staff, from original painting, animation supervision, animation, art setting, art supervision, color designation, coloring, dubbing and other different types of work... Do you have a Q dog? I'll send you a sample film, and you can see if it's suitable?"

"..."

Zhang Yang was stunned after watching a five-minute funny animation sample called "Pope Immortal" sent by the other party.

Somehow, he suddenly thought of an animation from his original world called "Popeye".

Although the picture is a bit rough, and the composition and scenery are a bit sloppy, the plot is indeed able to make people laugh.

"You did all this yourself?"

"Yes, we made it with our own money. This episode cost us 20,000 yuan and took about a week to complete..."

"What do you think if you change the character's clothes into the instant noodles logo and name it "Haikang Instant Noodles"?"

"???"

(End of this chapter)