My Lord, you need to stand up!

Chapter 118 The prejudice in people’s hearts is a big mountain
It is easy to imagine how difficult it is to convince an old man whose thinking is deeply ingrained.

But Weidong did it.

The only problem is that he might have used too much force, so he just came here to report and lay the groundwork.

The old leader immediately said to go and see the situation on the scene.

Weidong was a little stunned. All the face-saving projects he had prepared, whether it was the cold storage or the beautiful "high-tech" high-temperature sterilization furnace, were nowhere to be seen.

Seeing him hesitate, the old boss immediately became suspicious: "Why?! Are you worried?"

So they do have rich experience in struggle.

All situations must be under control, and disrupting the rhythm will allow you to uncover the secrets at any time.

Rang Weidong shook his head and stood up: "Everything is being pushed forward. I just came back to Shangzhou yesterday. This is the first batch of test products. Let's go, let's go to the machinery factory or the food factory to take a look."

He immediately took advantage of it, saying, "That's right. Go check it out. I've just signed a long-term pig offal supply agreement with a slaughterhouse. I'll report back to you on how to sell it."

An old man and a young boy walked out of the city compound side by side under the scanning of countless eyes from near and far. Secretaries were running around to inquire about needs and arrange drivers and vehicles.

The old leaders all waved their hands.

Wei Dong was excited because he was talking. "Last time I said that West Lake has 3,000 units per week, Pingjing has 1,000, and Chengdu has 1,000. This business trip was not in vain. I also went to Echang. Now we have 500 units per week, Yuezhou has 500, and Shanghai has 2,000 units. All of them are sold part-time by elite soldiers like college students. In the future, our nationwide sales network will definitely be stronger than anyone else, because the proportion of college students is the highest!"

The old leaders no longer ask about doctrine and right and wrong first, but directly express their concerns: "But college students are the most valuable talents at this time. How can we use them for such things?"

Weidong was surprised. "There are also college students studying sales and economics. Isn't this the best practice?" he asked. "And some students majoring in liberal arts might as well be selling things. Oh, you haven't seen some kids. I say going to college is just a waste of time. It's better to contribute to the national economy early. In short, sales work also requires talent, and the status of business cannot be underestimated."

The old leader thought about it seriously and actually criticized himself: "Yes, my thinking is rigid. Please continue."

So I don’t know how many people are looking at this side from afar with envy.

The secretary and the guard still caught up from a distance.

Unexpectedly, Wei Dong strolled over to the dock and got in his car. "We sell over 8,000 cameras every week, so our sales company bought this car in Jiangzhou. It cost 120,000 yuan and it's imported from Japan. It should be better than the car you're riding in now, or even better than all the cars in Shangzhou. Come up here and hold on..."

The old boss who was pushed into the passenger seat also had the same first reaction: "You're making a lot of money."

Weidong was just waiting. "Let's talk about these trucks first. These are 30,000 small trucks that the country imported from Japan at a cost of precious foreign exchange. They were distributed to various automakers for research, assembly, and sales. Each truck also received a $100 technical fee. Given the tight financial situation, the goal is to encourage each company to quickly reform their technology and improve our auto production. But I heard that things aren't going smoothly. You know better than me how state-owned factories are all working together. In the end, perhaps private automakers will shoulder the heavy burden."

This is a true story that happened forty years later.

The old leader did not refute him, but looked around the car carefully to feel it.

Some leaders of big cities actually dare not assign their Shanghai and provincial-level Red Flag jeeps to mountainous areas with terrible road conditions. They have to stay in the maintenance room all day long and are not as durable as the most common 212 Jeep used by county leaders.

The only thing available here is a Volga sedan, a Russian product, and the difference in workmanship from that of the Japanese is visible to the naked eye.

Even the comparison between a truck and a car.

The clear gear positions of the gearbox alone are enough to beat the crude Russian stuff.

Not to mention the quiet cooling of the air conditioner in summer.

Rang Weidong had already crossed the city and was nearing West Second Street. "Let's go back to what you just said about me making money. In April, I donated all the 300,000 yuan in cash I had collected from selling cameras, bacon, and other goods to the Giant Panda Conservation Base."

As expected, money is the best way to show off.

The old leader must have instantly focused all his gaze, attention, and emotions on this twenty-year-old young man.

So Weidong felt that his donation of 300,000 yuan was absolutely worth it.

Even after many years, you can still pretend to be this cool.

Jin Zhuoqun asked him to arrange for him to have dinner and take photos with so-and-so, so that Weidong would be more willing to spend money on it.

He felt more impressive.

Three hundred thousand cash in 84 was a considerable amount of money for a prefecture-level city.

Donating quietly, what kind of spirit is this?

But what’s more important is that it’s like a character label that makes people respect it.

At least at that moment, Weidong really gave his all.

But the old leader's focus was obviously different: "You participated in the Sunshine Daily's series of reports calling for reform and opening up?"

He would certainly have noticed the reports before and after this incident, which was published in the central newspaper and triggered the debate on reform and opening up.

It reminded Weidong of that midnight snack and the vague figure sitting in the chicken bed.

So he lost his mind for a moment. "Well, isn't it because of our isolation that we're so poor that we even have to accept international donations to save our national treasure, the pandas? If we were rich and developed, wouldn't we be able to stand tall and face the world? Poverty will only make our national treasures emaciated. The same principle applies to the general public, right? I do communicate more with reporters from Sunshine Daily, but I'm more focused on developing the economy—well, doing business well."

He paused, his thoughts lingering for days. "Being poor isn't glorious at all; it's shameful and humiliating. That first five-star hotel in Yuezhou costs 680 yuan a night. If I don't stay there, the chef might not even bother with me. How can I learn snack recipes without eating? If a country isn't wealthy, educated and cultured people will go abroad in large numbers. We can't use moral coercion to restrict capable people from suffering, right? That's bullying."

The car stopped at the gate of the food factory.

West Second Street is actually one of Shangzhou's more beautiful streets. Thanks to nearly a century of foreign trade, there are even churches and rows of Western-style buildings here. Although not as dramatic as the one on the concession island where the Swan Hotel is located, it is also in a more dilapidated state.

But it is very rare in such a remote inland city.

But the years have left this place with only oldness and backwardness, which is not even as prosperous as it was nearly a hundred years ago.

It is quite ironic that we still have to rely on the old buildings from that time to support the cityscape.

The old leader sat in the passenger seat, looking at the aging streets. This double-row seat car, which would not be out of date even after 30 years, seemed to have traveled through time and space and stopped here.

When Weidong was not around, Dong Xueying asked someone to clean the car every day and make it look brand new.

Even neighbors and passers-by can't help but look up.

I asked Weidong to help open the passenger door and take over the old leader. Looking back, the contrast was even stronger.

We pushed open the door of the bungalow of the kiln shop together and were surprised to see several technicians from the machinery factory busy measuring dimensions.

Fortunately, fortunately, at least not nothing has changed.

We quickly exchanged a few words about where the large vacuum machine that was assembling parts should be placed, where the small one should be placed, where the high-temperature sterilization oven was, and how the cold storage should be set up.

In fact, these are just discussions between outsiders.

The old leader stood nearby with his hands behind his back, watching. The kiln for firing bricks and jars was still using the century-old method without any changes.

Just like the greasy river next to it, it has been flowing with filth for decades, and the residents are reluctant to come here because of the stink.

He asked Weidong to explain briefly and then introduced himself: "I didn't ask the city for a penny for this. The equipment is still being improved and assembled at the machinery factory. If it was just for the money, I wouldn't stay in Shangzhou to take this job. But since you've given me this task, I'll do my best. For example, during this trip to Yuezhou, I actually participated in the Guangdong Foreign Trade Fair, the largest and most important foreign trade fair in the country. I originally bought a $30,000 machine and was considering where to expand production. But it was intercepted by Jiangzhou when I brought it back. I'm trying to start production as soon as possible."

The old leader's brows furrowed and his eyes became fierce again in an instant.

Weidong was not afraid and made a comparison: "The day before yesterday, I showed them the machine. The day before yesterday, we officially established a workshop at Jiangzhou University. The Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Department and the Materials Research Institute of Jiangzhou University jointly improved and expanded the machine. The Commerce Bureau, Light Industry Bureau and other departments worked together to handle all the procedures, company sites, and even bank loans within a day. I didn't even take care of the rest. Even the fabrics needed involved cotton mills or polyethylene chemical companies. Jiangzhou City assisted in arranging them, and I had to rush back to Shangzhou. Just because I was missing here, we were stagnant. This is the difference between an entire city and one that truly wants reform and opening up."

Sister Li and the technicians were shocked when they recognized their leader.

I couldn't help but feel happy. With such close support from the leader, my own business must be very stable.

In fact, Weidong and his old leader were in a tug-of-war every minute.

To say that a small food factory can bring about earth-shaking changes in such a prefecture-level city is bragging and it won't make any waves.

But what Weidong tried hard to express was that it was as easy as pressing the button on a trading house, and slowly this place withered.

What is being controlled here is not the people, and what is being pressed is not the issues, but the confidence of everyone who is waiting to see the reform and opening up.

It can be as small as a trading company’s store, as large as a factory, an industry, or even businessmen all over the city.

They will quietly move away.

No one wants to be arrested and sent to jail for selling melon seeds.

Even going to Jiangzhou is much better than staying here.

As a port city relying on the Yangtze River, Shangzhou is almost a proportionally smaller version of Jiangzhou.

Even a hundred years ago, Shangzhou was more prosperous.

Now all my “classmates” have become separately planned cities, but here I am still sitting in the last row next to the garbage dump.

What Weidong listed is exactly the best practices that local governments at all levels will use to attract foreign investment, private enterprises, and even foreign tourists in the next 30 to 40 years.

When all departments work together, the flames will burn brighter.

It's just that the sanitary napkin issue happened to touch upon the sense of ownership of half the sky, and it also allowed half the sky from all systems to actively support and participate. This is definitely a special project that is hard to come by in this era.

What allowed Wei Dong to express it this way was how capable the academic team was from top to bottom. They unified their thoughts, understood the situation, and delivered a satisfactory answer.

So the old leader's face was inevitably touched.

But it was not until we signed a special pig offal supply agreement with the slaughterhouse and crossed the river to visit the machinery factory to check out the busy equipment site.

The old leader has already publicly expressed his support and couldn’t be more satisfied.

The purpose of letting Weidong make a circuitous move and display his full strength was to converge on the final sentence: "So the necessity of our reform and opening up is now clear. Can we please release Old You?"

So he was still a little tender and didn't control the heat precisely.

Instead, the old leader saw the core need and chuckled, "Didn't I tell you a long time ago? Now the special task force has been merged into the Reform Commission. You are responsible for this aspect of the work. You can write a report based on the progress of reform and opening up. If it is reasonable, I can approve it."

What the hell!

Rang Weidong must have some basic sensitivity within the unit. This means he is asked to be a guarantor for Lao You and take the responsibility of releasing him.

That guy is really capable of making trouble!
(End of this chapter)