Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 20: Not steaming steamed buns to fight for your reputation

During this period, Zheng Yi's pressure was actually no less than Li Xiaoshi's.

After all, this was his first time to engage in industry and coordinate the overall situation.

For three months, he slept no more than four hours a day on average. He debugged equipment during the day, trained workers at night, and even drew design drawings by himself late at night.

His weight dropped rapidly from 150 kilograms to less than 120 kilograms now. In Wu Wenhao's words, he is as thin as a bamboo pole.

In the factory, everyone carries the same ideal and works hard together in this small factory.

The ridicule, misunderstanding and abuse from the outside world, on the contrary, became their motivation for learning. They worked during the day and studied at night. They regarded the factory as their home and tried their best to please the engineers from Japan, absorbing knowledge like a shriveled sponge.

In just three months, the best of these Chinese workers who started from scratch could already rub ball valves by hand.

The first mold is ejected, the first screw is put in, the nut is unloaded, the first sealing ring is put in, the first steel nail is put in, the first mechanical lever is put in, the first mechanical component is put in, the first three-way water pipe connection is made, the first valve is put in, the first socket is put in, the first switch is made.

More and more inconspicuous little things came off the production line, and every time, all the employees in the factory couldn't help but feel excited and happy.

Every small step of progress can be seen and felt.

During these three months, the workers' skills became increasingly mature, the factory's output became increasingly stable, and even costs were gradually reduced. Zheng Yi's own knowledge system also made obvious and huge progress with these three months of hard work and practice.

The progress was faster than he expected.

He believed that the day when he would establish an industrial system that belonged to the Chinese, at least to the Chinese in Southeast Asia, was not far away.

"Manager Zheng, this is the factory's financial status for last month. Please take a look."

"Hmm, huh? You didn't lose money last month?"

"I didn't lose money, but I made a little profit, about a hundred yuan."

“They turned a profit so quickly?”

Zheng Yi couldn't help but laugh out loud when he heard this, feeling indescribably happy. He would tell Li Xiaoshi the news later, and he would surely be very happy too.

At present, the factory's profit model is just to sell accessories, which are simple things that can be bought in any hardware store on the street in modern society. The customers are mainly Chinese mine owners in Southeast Asia and the British.

He was only in charge of production, while the specific sales were handled personally by Li Xiaoshi.

All things are difficult at the beginning. Although this little profit is just a drop in the bucket compared to the investment cost of more than one million, the so-called profit does not take into account equipment depreciation, initial investment, and even taxes, and only calculates the gross profit of materials, water, electricity, and labor.

But Zheng Yi was still ecstatic. He ran into the workshop quickly with the financial statements and loudly announced the good news to his brothers in person. He also said that after finishing the work tonight, he would treat everyone to drinks and dinner and have fun with everyone.

He felt that all the hard work and humiliation he had endured for so long had finally paid off. A sense of pride in achieving something, even as great as expanding territory, filled his heart, giving him the illusion that he was full of strength.

A huge sense of excitement hit his brain, making him feel dizzy as if he was drunk.

Looking at the crowd below who were also cheering and jumping around, he felt his heart beating faster and his skinny hands clenched into fists unconsciously.

Interestingly, Zheng Yi had done big projects in his previous life. To be precise, relying on the large platform of state-owned enterprises, all the projects he did were big projects.

But in comparison, this factory only had an investment of over one million Malaysian ringgit, and all the equipment added up to less than 300 units. Moreover, the largest piece of equipment was just a small smelting furnace. The sense of accomplishment it brought him from just making a profit was much greater than those huge projects worth hundreds of billions in his previous life.

It's amazing.

Although what is produced here is small, it is the seed of hope.

It can achieve profitability. It seems that the workers' skills have matured. With a stable output of accessories, it seems that we can try to do the production line.

Zheng Yi returned to the office and found several stacks of drawings from his desk. The covers were labeled: tin ore, rubber, canned food, starch, sugar, and wood.

After thinking for a while, Zheng Yi took out the roll with the word "rubber" written on it and told his secretary, "Notify all the technical backbones in the factory to hold a meeting and try to build the first semi-automatic production line designed and produced by ourselves."

(End of this chapter)