My Lord, you need to stand up!

Chapter 311 Just Right, Not Too Low

Young people's desire for the future and the unknown is an innate and irrepressible urge.

The children of factory workers in the Third Front have a unique characteristic that sets them apart from their peers, especially the locals.

Because the entire group often moves from other places, their eating habits are very different.

Parents often have technical backgrounds and educational levels, and the excellent educational environment of these factories contributes to their strong cultural foundation.

They may have been exposed to arts performances every year since kindergarten, and they may have been influenced by uncles and aunts who play the accordion, piano and violin, so they are more likely to have an artistic flair.

These factory families, having grown up reading about a bigger world outside, have lofty aspirations but are impoverished and lack economic strength. As a result, a particularly large proportion of them are ambitious but lack practical skills and have unrealistic expectations.

Now that we're stuck in this remote mountain valley, things are bound to get messy.

Without experiencing physical abuse, and only staying in the greenhouse of the factory, they either become lazy and idle or energetic and unruly.

Previously, Wei Dong had not had much contact with third-tier factories in Shangzhou, but now he has gained a deeper understanding of them.

Subconsciously, he even had a desire to prove something to someone.

Look at how, in this wave of reform, those who don't blindly follow foreign ideas but work diligently and practically can still create a better life and see a wider world.

I waved and walked toward the basketball court, thinking it would be convenient to say a few words to everyone.

Unexpectedly, just a few hundred meters from the supporting plastic factory, a large number of young people gathered from every path like a confluence of streams, following in a mighty procession.

The basketball court was already packed with young people warming up and playing. The three-tiered cement platform could not be crammed with many people, and most of them could only be densely packed in the court.

The casual conversation made Wei Dong frown slightly; this environment wasn't suitable.

One clever guy suggested, "The auditorium, the movie theater, they use those for big meetings."

With a wave of his hand, Wei Dong moved everyone to the nearby movie theater.

The seats for seven or eight hundred people were instantly packed to capacity, and those who arrived later could only squeeze into the surrounding aisles and doorways.

The area in front of the stage, which was more than half a person high, was also crowded with people.

Someone skillfully pulled up a red curtain to cover the screen, then turned on the stage lights, creating the impression of a leadership meeting. There was even a row of plastic flowers placed in front of the stage.

Even with this technology, I didn't intend to use it for international trade and export. Even the richest man in Hong Kong started with this.

After letting these random thoughts race through Wei Dong's mind, without even grabbing a microphone, he casually opened his mouth, and the echo in the movie theater auditorium, carrying an architectural reverberation, uttered: "Ah..."

It startled him, but the people below didn't laugh; instead, they all looked at him with eager, hopeful eyes.

Wei Dong wanted to lighten things up: "There's a saying... We've all been asked this question since we were little: What are you living for?"

Everyone was a little stunned. The sentence structure seemed familiar, but it didn't seem quite right.

Let Wei Dong take the bait: "When we were young, the most common answer we gave was to strive for the rise of China, to build the Four Modernizations, and so on. That's certainly not wrong. You have to have a lofty ideal. But ideals that are too grand are often not realistic. As a result, most people end up saying, 'I don't know anything about them. I see they're all alive.'"

Everyone was really serious right now. Even when Wei Dong started speaking in a Northeastern accent and delivered his jokes with great expression, no one laughed.

Oh, that's not fun.

After getting Wei Dong to stop digging his toes into the floor, he had to be serious: "The simplest answer is to live for yourself. This is not selfishness, but rather to strive to live a more dignified and fulfilling life without harming others or violating the rules. It's that simple."

The children of factory workers in the Third Front would often have a thoughtful look in their eyes.

This is vastly different from the mainstream view that everyone used to talk about dedication.

Wei Dong saw that Lao Cheng and the others had also come in from behind, but he waved his hand and did not follow the crowd that had parted to the front.

He might as well put it more realistically: "The establishment of the Third Front factories was for the rise of the country and the safety of the country, but the changes of the times no longer require it, at least not for the time being. The efforts of one generation and the youth of two generations have been wasted. Are we confused? Will we not be able to live without funding and government stipends? All the ideals we had before do need to be adjusted, otherwise we will not be able to urge ourselves to strive."

Who would have dared to say that before?

However, the food shortages of the past two years did shatter the faith of many people. Those who couldn't get over it completely lost hope and gave up.

The entire auditorium, probably packed with one or two thousand people, was completely silent.

Let Wei Dong give an example: "But there are always people who want to rush out and see, like Zhang Lanzhi..."

This was the biggest gossip in the factory right now. After going out with the deputy factory director, she suddenly disappeared without a trace, and then her parents also vanished. Since most of the goods in Shanghai were shipped there, no one had heard from her since. It was the biggest scandal in the factory. So the auditorium erupted in a commotion for a moment, then immediately fell silent again, everyone's ears perked up.

Wei Dong was surprisingly calm: "Those who know her well should know that her English is quite good. When we were on a business trip in eastern Guangdong, it was through her English that we managed to negotiate the purchase of an imported machine. Now we have nearly 400 of these imitation sanitary napkin machines in six factories across the country, and the sanitary napkin factory with a weekly output value of nearly 10 million yuan was built up in this way. She did not rest on her laurels, but chose to go to Shanghai to do sales work in order to realize her greater value."

The crowd erupted again, but this time the whispering lasted for several seconds.

Wei Dong interrupted, saying, "If that's a distant example, then let's talk about something closer. This Suzuki minivan I brought back was attacked and vandalized in Chengdu. Our sales manager was stabbed eight times, and six salespeople were hospitalized. Even the car was damaged like this, but the plastic factory, glass workshop, and auto repair shop were able to find a place to showcase their value. They wanted to use these plastic parts and car glass to strive to become a supplier of parts for domestic minivans, and to use their auto repair technology to establish a repair shop that serves the community. This is about how you can adjust and adapt after adjusting your ideals, because in this world, only people can adapt to change; the world doesn't revolve around you."

This time, there will be applause. The plastic factory, glass workshop, and auto repair shop should still be busy and haven't shown up yet.

But sporadic applause quickly spread, and it seemed that Lao Cheng and his group were leading the applause.

This adaptation process was the most difficult for them, but they did manage to do it over the course of a year.

Therefore, Wei Dong directly came up with a solution: "Xishan Optical Instrument Factory and several supporting factories in the surrounding area will definitely be adjusted. On the basis of ensuring the production target of 120,000 cameras per month, we will gradually reform and adjust the scale. Everyone is already a mature technical worker and an outstanding talent in various positions. So, they will go to the clothing factory, home appliance factory, apparel factory and a series of future factories that are being built in Jiangzhou in batches to become the backbone and lead more people to improve productivity."

"Those who are eloquent, hardworking, willing to travel extensively, and even willing to take on the risks and crises I just mentioned, and who want to see mountains and seas, can also join my sales company. Because the main backbone of the national sales network is currently university students, we still need a large number of sales personnel to spread the reach to the grassroots level."

Unable to contain themselves any longer, voices rang out one after another: "I want to go!"

"Factory manager, take me with you, I want to go into sales!"

"I can endure hardship. I'm from the militia, and I'm not afraid of danger!"

It was indeed through Zhang Lanzhi that Wei Dong discovered that these factory children seemed to fall somewhere between college students and rural children—they had a good education but weren't as pampered or talkative.

This could be considered a way to expand the sales force at the grassroots level.

It would be a waste to use the currently valuable college student sales force to reach only two or three thousand county-level grassroots units.

We need to focus on expanding our sales network at the provincial branch level, and the sales teams should be filled by new, energetic personnel.

Moreover, once college students understand the sales model, a relatively high percentage of them will start their own businesses and sell their own products; they need to have their own team of followers.

Putting all these young people in factories to tighten screws is a waste.

So Wei Dong pointed out a few guys he knew well who played basketball: "Whether you want to work as a key member or team manager in the factory in Jiangzhou, continue working in the factory, or join the sales company, you can register with them yourself. Just write down your name, height, hometown, and other basic information, as well as your strengths and characteristics on a piece of paper. I will conduct open interviews and team assignments on the basketball court the day after tomorrow."

The entire audience immediately cheered and said "Bravo!"

But reluctant to give up such an opportunity, he quickly raised his hand while leaning over the stage: "Tell me again, tell me again what happened to that salesperson who was cut?"

"How do I do sales..."

"What's the difference between the factory in Jiangzhou and ours?"

This is a characteristic of children of factory workers; children from rural areas are less likely to ask questions, while college students often try to figure things out on their own.

The children of factory workers, however, are quite accustomed to obeying and carrying out orders once they actively try to understand why.

Wei Dong thought about it and realized it made sense. It was a rare opportunity to do professional training like this: "Sales work sounds complicated, but it's actually quite simple. But whether you can find business opportunities in that simplicity determines how high you can go, how much salary and bonus you can earn, and how many people know why I came here."

Sure enough, after hearing Rang Weidong's personal account of how he learned from other salesmen that cameras were not selling well, and how he had only gotten in after being rejected by Xiangshan Factory, it was Xishan Factory that intercepted the deal and changed the situation between the two sides, everyone in the auditorium had a look of fervent enthusiasm in their eyes.

In particular, it allowed Wei Dong to openly discuss how to play basketball in colleges to attract sales channels, and how to extend sales from colleges to the wider society.

Everyone had a sudden realization and were eager to get started!
Wei Dong quickly poured cold water on the idea: "Sales means you might be carrying cash and goods. So when you're out and about, you could easily become a target for robbery or even murder. Not to mention the things our crew has encountered while traveling all over the country. I even experienced an attack in the provincial capital of Hebei..."

Everyone immediately fell silent, their mouths agape. Was it really that dangerous?
Wei Dong was also in the mood, vividly describing the scene at the time and recounting the events that took place in Chengdu.

This led to a subconscious avoidance of Chengdu by the sales team for many years afterward.

The lecture continued until lunchtime, and everyone was so engrossed that they didn't want to leave, so Weidong had to say that they would continue in the afternoon.

Everyone cheered and hurried to the cafeteria.

Wei Dong jumped down to greet Lao Cheng and the others, and received a lot of praise: "That's right, this is how you can turn them all into your best soldiers. Come on, let's eat."

But when I got to the door, I saw Dong Xueying and the others standing there smiling, holding their babies.

Wei Dong suddenly felt a little guilty. When did his wife start listening to this?
(End of this chapter)