My Lord, you need to stand up!

Chapter 180 I Don’t Want to Be the First to Come

The old leader actually looked into Weidong's basket and asked, "Didn't you bring any wine?"

This is fucking working hours.

Rang Weidong wasn't so eager to buy any right away. "Just give it a try. We're staying at the best foreign-funded hotel in Pingjing right now, with an executive suite costing over 800 yuan a night. Compared to the foreign delicacies they offer, the snacks from Shangzhou are no less impressive."

Sure enough, there was a gap in the packaging bag this time.

The old boss was indeed surprised: "Over 800 yuan for one night? In Pingjing?! Is this a return to capitalism?!"

Didn’t Pingjing himself only appear in the past two years?

That's why Weidong had no doubt about this reaction: "The popular phrase now is, 'Advertising goes up, the red flag goes down,' 'Business goes up, the red flag goes down,' 'Foreign investment goes up, the red flag goes down.' In short, anyone who disagrees with the old ways will cry out in grief, 'The red flag has gone down.'"

The old leader was dark and thin, with a stern look in his eyes. It was obvious that he was out and about a lot.

Now that I don’t smoke, I just break off some five-spice heart and tongue from the opened bag and gently put it to my nose to smell it.

Rang Weidong just casually took it from the freezer and saw that it was a little hard. "It's best to steam this large package in a bowl of boiling water. If you have a microwave... wait, why not?"

As he spoke, he took out a pen and paper from his pocket and wrote it down, and lied to the leader next to him: "I've seen it in a high-end hotel. It's just a box with electricity. You put a dish of winter food in it, turn the knob, and it will be hot in three to five minutes. You can take it out and eat it immediately. There is no fire, it uses the principle of microwave..."

In reality, he didn't understand. "Well, I'll push the Aix Camera Xishan factory to try to produce this. Third-tier factories have advantages in technology and equipment in these areas. This actually formally answers your question: why build a high-end foreign-funded hotel in Pingjing? Because we want to communicate with the world and do business with capitalist merchants, we need a place for them to live. Perhaps if there's no place for them to stay, no foreign merchants will come. It's that simple."

He also reasoned with himself: "Then why should we communicate with the world? For example, foreign countries already have microwave ovens that can cook food in three to five minutes. Why don't we just learn from them, make them better and cheaper, so that everyone can use them, and then sell them to the world, making money and improving people's lives?"

At this point, he recalled a joke he had just heard about West Second Street: "Shangzhou's own story. The sausage casings there were sold to Europe. They had been doing so for nearly a hundred years. However, more than a decade ago, due to the importance of earning foreign exchange, they didn't stop the business. But at the time, some people wondered why the sausage casing packaging still had the Qing Dynasty seal on it, thinking it was simply reactionary. So they changed it to something like "The East is Red." Then, foreigners stopped accepting the goods. They didn't care what the words on the packaging meant. Every time they accepted the goods, they would only check to see if the seal on the product matched the agreed-upon pattern. This is the rule of business. There's no room for impulsive decisions. When we don't have the initiative, we either obey or don't do it at all. Reform and opening up chose to obey first, then master the rules once we've achieved our best."

Unexpectedly, the old boss said: "I know about this matter. Because the delivery cycle of each batch of goods is very long, the second and third batches have been shipped out before this batch arrives. So that time several batches of goods were rejected, causing great losses. Please continue."

Rang Weidong spoke without hesitation, "I'm not saying that foreign business rules are absolutely good, but they're already established and are being followed. If you don't have the ability to start from scratch, then it's best to follow theirs. This high-end hotel is like this. The local officials in Pingjing couldn't accept it at first. Why should the management of hotels on our land be given to foreigners? They know how to run a hotel, so why not learn it? Once you've learned it, we should manage it ourselves."

He continued, "The Olympics are being held in Citigroup, and we don't have a TV satellite, so how can we let people across the country receive the signal? We can only pay to rent a channel, but this time something went wrong..."

The old leader obviously realized at this moment that the news broadcast he saw was delayed every day, as the city did not even have its own TV station at that time.

Weidong spread his hands and said, "Sunshine Daily, a large newspaper headquartered in China, doesn't have any extra channels for obtaining information. That's why we spent money to stay in a foreign-funded hotel because there's a satellite receiver on the roof. Ordinary people and government agencies are not allowed to watch foreign channels at will. Even what we did was suspected of gathering to watch foreign programs. We applied for special permission to supervise and remind each other not to watch things we shouldn't. In the end, didn't Sunshine Daily stay ahead of all its competitors during the entire Olympics?"

The old leader understood and said, "You mean this huge gap can only be filled by reform and opening up?"

Rang Weidong nodded deeply. "We have to change. Speaking of sanitary napkins, don't be offended. Before we started making them, women all over the country had suffered for decades. They were inconvenient, unhygienic, and had many drawbacks. Didn't the government see that there were already good things abroad that we could learn from? And then Pingjing spent a huge amount of money to introduce a fully automatic production line from Japan..."

He was still a bit proud of this classic example: "It won't work. Fully automated means you put pure imported raw materials in here, and out there comes a packaged finished product. My God, if you import this finished product from abroad, the price is ten yuan a bag, and the equipment I bought is even more expensive than that! Because the raw materials, labor, machinery, every level is exploitative! Capitalism will never miss an opportunity to make a penny. Trying to make it yourself will only cost more!"

The old leader almost crushed the package of cooked food when he heard this: "Imperialism is determined to destroy us!"

Rang Weidong chuckled, "So this production line had to remain idle, occasionally producing special products. The state-owned factory over there was quite anxious, about to be dragged down by loans and idle workers. In the end, we took over this workshop with a debt of 1.2 million, striving to turn a profit."

So all the experience was not in vain. When Weidong had no claws left, he tried to accompany the retired Old Shi to tend to the plants in the flower beds and vegetable gardens behind the compound.

I have accumulated some experience.

At least he wasn't like many other small-time employees who would get so nervous they couldn't speak when they saw their superiors, nor did he have so much anxiety or inner drama. It was just like chatting with a family.

The old leader didn't listen to the report in a serious manner. He was very focused: "Can you do it?"

Weidong chuckled again and leaned closer. "After just ten days of operation, we've already turned a profit. We produce over 20,000 bags a day, employing nearly a hundred people from the surrounding area. The monthly salary is between 80 and 100 yuan. As for the loan installments, they should be repaid without any problem. As long as we can ensure the supply to the Pingjing area, we'll have accomplished our mission of serving the people."

The old leader didn't laugh, but looked at Rang Weidong intently: "So you got the leader's inscription and instructions?"

Rang Weidong shook his head. "No, the Feiyan Sanitary Napkin Factory has had its brand name and inscriptions since its establishment. One of the conditions for us taking over was that we had to use this brand. Otherwise, wouldn't the leadership's efforts and expectations of the people be in vain? The camera photography competition is the only thing that really attracts people. I'm not too keen on it myself. I'd rather go to various government agencies to give out some samples than be an active role model at meetings. So after the Olympics, I left immediately and took a trip to the provincial capital of northern Hebei. Isn't there a reformer who was the first in the country to contract a state-owned factory? Hundreds of visitors and media interviews every day, and there are daily advanced speech conferences. How much can you accomplish with these things?"

The old leader must have a different perspective on things: "But his exemplary role as a leader can inspire more advanced reformers!"

Wei Dong actually said, "Why don't you go and take a look too?"

He didn't treat the other party as the local official at all. The old man laughed dumbly: "You! Hahaha, okay, I'll go and see it when I have the chance."

Rang Weidong nodded. "The Jibei Paper Mill is very popular. After visiting and listening to the lecture, it was past 8 or 9 o'clock. On the way back to the guesthouse, we were surrounded and robbed by four gangsters... Luckily, as the deputy director of business at the Xishan Factory, I was armed..."

When you explain things to your leader, you can be scolded for being long-winded, but you cannot withhold what you should say. Otherwise, you will feel deceived and blinded, otherwise everything will be over.

Rang Weidong even pulled out the Type 77 from his waist, removed the magazine, opened the chamber to confirm there were no bullets, and handed it over: "We killed three people on the spot and captured one. I returned to Jiangzhou the next day after the police station confirmed it."

The old leader seemed to be familiar with this thing. He took it and pulled it a few times quickly: "Is it really dangerous?"

Rang Weidong nodded. "This is the third time I've encountered something similar since you came to offer your condolences and commendation. Ultimately, it's all about poverty. If society were generally prosperous and people had enough to eat and wear, there wouldn't be so many people taking such desperate risks. So, I returned to Shangzhou. Besides wanting to persuade Old You to try his luck in Jiangzhou, I also decided to make the food factory a success so that more people could live a good life. That's the purpose of my report to you."

The reason he came today was because his wife reminded him to be more thoughtful and resolve the matter of You Qili.

I want to express that whether it was because of the Olympic coverage or the daily advertisements, I released You Qili.

In short, since this food factory has invested so much, it must continue. "We're already shipping out several hundred kilograms a day, and we also store another 100 to 200 kilograms a day. We want to confirm whether it can really be kept for such a long time without spoiling or losing its flavor, whether it's refrigerated or not. Once we confirm, we'll sell it nationwide and advertise it on brick-and-mortar platforms."

Unexpectedly, the old leader nodded slowly: "What you are doing is completely different from You Qili. I don't care where he goes, but I hope you can take bigger steps."

Weidong was surprised. "Bigger? I've got a glass shed now. If I can tear down the bungalow out front and build a building this year, that would be great. How much bigger can it get?"

The old leader smiled and pointed out the window: "It's just across the river from your factory. We've designated a reform and development zone for you. You'll be in charge of all the factories in Shangzhou that need restructuring and reform."

"Huh?" This really surprised Weidong.

You sounded so stubborn, why are you suddenly so aggressive now?
There are no such municipal development zones in the whole country now, right?
In the future, let Weidong know that there will definitely be such a step.

It is to allow a small amount of pilot space for reform and opening up across the country.

That is why there are various preferential policies and strong support for development zones.

But now he is really the one who sticks his head out!

(End of this chapter)