My Lord, you need to stand up!

Chapter 314 Is this some kind of trap?
Hongguang Factory was where Weidong truly made his first pot of gold.

Selling cured meat helped Wei Dong solve his urgent problem of surviving and establishing himself in this era.

What truly made him a millionaire quickly was that he acquired a truck and then dared to buy hundreds of cameras to sell exclusively in West Lake.

It was all because the titanium ingots from Hongguang Factory gave Weidong the confidence to act.

But the crossroads might just be where Old Zhao from Hongguang Factory sent a male secretary over, while Old Cheng had Zhang Lanzhi accompany Wei Dong.

Whether intentional or unintentional, this resulted in a world of difference between Hongguang Factory and Xishan Factory.

Wei Dong wanted to always have a deep affection for the Xishan Factory, and he was determined to take good care of it and make sure the people there lived happily, just to prove it to himself.

Who can fully understand the intricate complexities between men and women?

Just like his younger siblings, Wei Dong was surprised to find that it was the quiet and steady Ram who accompanied Shi Tou on his travels.

The usually chattering Zhuoma, on the other hand, goes to the zoo every day with the unmoving Mao'er.

Now, Stone is always in the passenger seat, talking non-stop with his older brother.

Ram sat in the back and quietly folded all the freshly washed and dried outdoor clothes. After folding them, she went to wipe the car interior.

There's never a moment's rest.

But Wei Dong could tell from the rearview mirror that she was listening, especially when Shi Tou mentioned missing the little yellow horse on the plateau, the young lady's eyes would light up.

I'll probably still miss home.

He now has a particular fondness for observing people; this is the price of becoming a superior person—one has to learn to read the expressions and expressions of those around them.

The only thing he failed to learn was how to observe his wife.

Perhaps in Wei Dong's heart, this is the only relative besides his parents with whom he doesn't need to be wary or cautious.

Although I enthusiastically chiseled a couple more times before leaving this morning, I still felt a little lonely and didn't want to leave.

Driven by the passion of the stones, we quickly traversed the mountainous national highway and headed straight for Hongguang Factory.

This area is different from the complex hilly and mountainous region around Xishan Factory, where guerrilla warfare could be carried out.

First, travel downstream along the Yangtze River for about 100 kilometers. There is a prefecture-level city there. Without entering the city, simply follow the riverbank and turn onto a tributary to reach the city.

Shi Tou also mentioned that Wu Shengyun's roots were in this prefecture-level city: "He still went back here to pay respects to his ancestors during the Spring Festival, and went to Beijing on the second day of the Lunar New Year. My third sister said that we should send two people from Xishan Factory to keep an eye on him."

Wei Dong actually didn't want to get involved in too much official business: "I trust people I employ. He's been to Hong Kong before. Sending him to the Beijing office is a test of his abilities. He hasn't made any independent contributions yet, so he certainly won't be satisfied with just being at the level of an office. Wow, so beautiful, let's take some pictures."

Once you turn into the tributary, you'll find yourself surrounded by lush green mountains and clear blue waters, with mountains that are much steeper than those near Xishan Factory.

Ram also curiously peered around to observe her surroundings.

This national highway is like traveling along a beautiful green corridor.

Occasionally, cargo ships can be seen drifting silently across the water.

Wei Dong sighed, "Xishan Factory uses trains to ship goods out, while this place uses ships. In a real war, no one can threaten this place."

Sure enough, after a gallery stretching for fifty or sixty kilometers, a small, secluded dock suddenly appeared on the opposite bank, with an inconspicuous cluster of buildings hidden among the mountains behind it.

Then the national highway only passes by the other side of the river; you have to turn off the side road to the water's edge where there is a ferry to cross the river!
Damn it, even if spies managed to sneak here, or even if imperialists attacked, they couldn't cross the river to attack. Are they going to bring in warships?

Anyway, if it weren't for the detailed directions given over the phone and the hidden roadside signs for this small dock, trucks on the national highway would have just sped past.

The deserted ferry dock even gave Wei Dong the feeling of heading to Liangshan Marsh.

But he must have been instructed to come, so the ferryman immediately and warmly welcomed him for the transfer, and everyone on the ferry praised him for never having seen such a beautiful car.

It's beautiful. The auto repair shop will be fully upgraded to a car repair shop open to the public after this trip back to Jiangzhou. They will use all their skills to fix the deputy director's car.

The left and right rearview mirrors, windows, and front and rear bumpers are fine.

Following the design of the pig-nose bumper that Wei Dong had seen in Hong Kong, thick white steel pipes were welded to the front and rear sides, and a bunch of headlights taken from elsewhere were added on top.

The roof rack has been expanded to cover more areas, and four headlights have been installed at the front.

The entire car body is painted black, which, even if it's not as high-end and refined, actually gives it a matte black effect.

Then, a large "X" logo was painted on the side to indicate that it was the manufacturer of X cameras and sanitary napkins. This suggestion came from Qin Yuye, who said that the car could be included in future advertising campaigns.

Because in the end, four spare 212 off-road Jeep tires were replaced.

The originally cute four-wheel drive van was instantly transformed into a menacing off-road weapon.

Wei Dong himself was very pleased with it.

But now I just feel like you're all just being clever and agreeing with me, and you've all come out. Who's actually driving the boat?
Everyone said they knew it so well they could run back and forth with their eyes closed, so what's wrong with coming out to see what's going on?

It perfectly embodies the fearless nature of state-owned enterprises. The two or three hundred meters of river surface looks like a green ribbon from the road, but actually floating on it is truly terrifying.

Lamu, who was taking a boat ride for the first time, was so nervous that she gripped the stones tightly with both hands. This young man was more promising than Wei Dong. He reached out and put his arm around the young lady behind him, showing both responsibility and tenderness.

Fortunately, Wei Dong was asked to light a cigarette so that the driver, who was supposed to dock with his eyes closed, could complete the task while keeping his eyes open.

I quickly drove ashore and saw a long row of various trucks hidden under the awning, but the numbers on them did not belong to Hongguang Factory.

There were armed sentries here checking his Hongguang Factory work permit and they even had to call the factory to confirm.

By the way, this is a dock shared by several third-tier factories, and these are all vehicles from other factories.

Wei Dong sighed, realizing that the huge investment in the third-tier cities had been wasted and left idle.

However, these factories have no idea how they can utilize these assets.

As mentioned in some military movie, the better a sniper conceals himself, the smaller his field of vision becomes.

The result of completely hiding oneself is isolation from the world.

This place is similar to the Xishan factory, with seven or eight factories separated by one or two kilometers to four or five kilometers, each operating independently.

Even from a satellite perspective, it would appear to be just a few scattered natural villages.

But as you walk through it, you'll find that the locations are actually distinguished by a few element numbers. This is clearly a HE industrial base. No wonder the security is so tight!
The level of secrecy is definitely higher than that of the Xishan factory that produces optical instruments.

The prospects for transformation are also more difficult.

Anyway, after passing two extremely vigilant factory gates, Wei Dong finally found Hongguang Factory after five kilometers.

Even more compact and mysterious than the Xishan Factory, and more thoroughly concealed, "Xiaoshan Village" was already being greeted by Director Zhao and his men at the factory gate. Without any prompting, it was estimated that hundreds of people, including their families, had come out to watch the spectacle.

In any case, last year they finally sold 40 tons of titanium ingots, which allowed Weidong to gradually increase the purchase price and eventually return 56,000 yuan of the titanium ingots that were sold for 66,000 yuan to the factory.

He still earned nearly a million, even with tears in his eyes.

He really didn't want to make this money anymore, but he couldn't get rid of this hot potato.

We can't just stand by and watch people starve to death.

So, besides seeing if I could help with some industrial restructuring, I also wanted to clarify things. Otherwise, I'd rather you handle the sales and trading yourselves and I won't get involved.

However, reconciling accounts between the Jiangsu-Zhejiang factory and the Hongguang factory was a bit troublesome, and they hadn't dared to pay taxes along the way.

Even though Wei Dong was already very careful and followed the rules, it's still possible for someone to accumulate their first pot of gold in the early stages of a business in a way that's a bit shady.

They were repeatedly warning him not to leave any more leverage over him.

Factory Director Zhao was clumsy with words, but he was very excited: "They're here! They should have been here a long time ago! A warm welcome! This car is beautiful, really beautiful!"

Aunt Wang, who used to work at the store, also peeked out curiously: "Wow, what a handsome young man and a beautiful young woman! Welcome, welcome!"

As a result, with just a glance from Wei Dong, Shi Tou quickly climbed onto the roof of the car, and Ram helped him move the goods from the net tent and the trunk out.

One hundred bottles of SOD honey, two hundred pairs of jeans, five hundred packs of sanitary napkins, five radio cassette recorders, twenty cameras, and two hundred rolls of film.

Wei Dong was genuinely grateful to the factory that helped him get started.

The welcoming crowd immediately erupted in cheers and commotion, allowing Wei Dongcai to carry his small bag, along with Lao Zhao, who was rubbing his hands vigorously, and several factory leaders, to enter the office building.

The small buildings, all with similar Soviet-style architecture, probably even had blast-proof ratings. Only after brewing tea did we start to lay out the facts and reason: "They're all third-line factories. Others can switch to producing other things, but what can you do? You can't find any other way to replace this kind of specialized work of screening and smelting ore."

They are already quite content with their modest wealth: "Now we make a profit of 40,000 to 50,000 yuan per ton. Ten or twenty tons are enough to keep the whole factory satisfied. The key is to maintain this sales volume. Moreover, with such large price fluctuations, how can we ensure this for the long term? It would be great if the price could stay this way all the time."

This is giving Wei Dong a headache. He can't just say that he used to make almost 50,000 yuan per ton from you, and now he can easily make tens of thousands of yuan every month. He doesn't want to make any more money!
But now we can keenly see the key point: "You used to produce 80 tons a year, but this year you only sold 40 tons. Did you reduce production or are you stockpiling?"

The factory responded matter-of-factly: "We're reducing production. With prices so high, we have over fifty tons of unsold inventory. We'll be taking a break at the end of the year. We really appreciate your sales efforts."

Wei Dong was internally screaming, "I'm willing to forgo some profits and give you guys a little more, and you immediately start backing down? This is the culture!"
That's just how state-owned factories are. Wages are paid according to regulations, and there's not much more or less. Why work more when you can get paid anyway? You're used to the government always covering your expenses, so you just stay lazy.

Haven't you realized that whether these hundreds or thousands of people can live well depends on whether I'm willing to leak profits?

Wei Dong then took out the bag and said, "My advice to everyone is that production cannot be stopped. No matter the selling price, you can sell more when the price is high and make up for it when the price is low. Otherwise, if the production line is abandoned, it is not certain that you can increase production."

The crowd nodded in agreement, but they didn't seem very sincere: "A profit of around 600,000 a year is enough. We can't do much with more income, and money is useless."

They've become so isolated from the world.

Wei Dong was speechless: "Secondly, what about these cooked foods? If it's feasible, remember how good your chickens are? I suggest you set up a factory for these kinds of 'strange flavor' chickens or spicy chickens, so you can have two legs to walk on..."

Just as I was saying this, I suddenly heard a large, dense sound of footsteps outside, and a number of figures in military uniforms walked in with a clatter.

Wei Dong was almost scared to death. Was this a trap to catch me selling titanium ingots?

(End of this chapter)