The Self-Cultivation of a Reborn Massage Therapist

Chapter 434 Happiness and Unhappiness
"It's reasonable, very reasonable! With such a high price, plus the astronomical reward after the breakthrough, I don't believe those industry leaders won't be envious!"

Another official in charge of technology nodded, but his brow remained furrowed.

"The biggest bottleneck right now is the fully automated system. Trützler's 'T-Complete' suite in Germany integrates production control, quality inspection, and energy management. The technological barriers are extremely high, and the gap is too large. If we want to overtake them, we can't bypass this hurdle."

Just then, the conference room intercom rang. A staff member answered and quickly reported to the leader chairing the meeting:
"Leaders, the Deputy Director of the Emerging Industries Investment Division of the China Development Bank, the Human Resources Director of the National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, and the CEO of DeepQuest... request access to the video conference."

One attendee muttered to himself, "One phone call, and three such important figures are here?"

The staff member looked up, his expression somewhat subtle, and added, "Just to report, these three positions... all belong to the same person, Ms. Yu Xiaoning."

The host coughed awkwardly and quickly steered the conversation back on track: "Director Yu, if I understand correctly, the budget that Easy Travel submitted to us before did not include the part that replaced those three major imported systems?"

“That’s right!” Yu Xiaoning nodded affirmatively. “Just ten minutes ago, Deep Search received Mr. Zhao’s first business advance payment.”

The host took a deep breath and tentatively asked, "Would you mind revealing... the scale?"

“Fifty billion.” Yu Xiaoning made no attempt to hide it. “The total budget is estimated at around seven and a half billion, covering the procurement of equipment for intelligent systems and the overall upgrade of the industrial park.”

Her gaze swept across the entire room:
"In contrast to traditional management systems, we will build a digital twin hub for the supply chain, an AI-powered full-inspection quality system, and a zero-carbon energy AI management system. With the cooperation of relevant units, we are confident that we can achieve a leapfrog development within two years!"

Officials were still reveling in the exorbitant budget they had just received, completely oblivious to the shock of the three major systems being factored in, their minds buzzing.

When Yu Xiaoning dropped those words about "an additional investment of 5 billion yuan" and "overtaking in two years," the entire audience remained silent for several seconds before they could process them.

Looking at the still bewildered faces below, the host slammed his hand on the table:
"What are you all standing there for?! Didn't you hear what President Yu said? Move! Immediately! Right now!"

That shout was like pressing a start button, and the conference room instantly erupted! Some were typing on keyboards, some were flipping through contact lists, some were making phone calls to relevant departments... everyone was working like a clockwork toy.

To understand why the meeting room is so solemn at this moment, we must see the current environment clearly: the economy is in a downturn, investment is shrinking, and the real economy is seen as a dangerous path that everyone avoids.

In the midst of this harsh winter, one company is going against the trend, throwing money around as if it doesn't matter!
Even more outrageous is that the main entity of this company... is a massage parlor!

Faced with such an unreasonable sum of money, who among those present would dare not take it seriously?

Most importantly, EasyMoving stated in its contingency plan that as long as the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology dares to approve the guarantee, the first astronomical sum of start-up funds will be immediately transferred to the regulatory account!
The news spread like wildfire. Radio waves exploded in the dead of night, alarming all the leading domestic textile equipment and management system companies and institutions—from cotton tying and spinning to weaving and dyeing, from Supcon's InPlant textile equipment networking system to energy management systems—including Shandong Swan, Zhejiang Rifeng, Jiangsu Hengli, Honghua Digital Technology, Zhejiang Supcon, and Suzhou Antway.

Such a scale and scale are only possible in a country with a complete industrial chain, where such a massive force could be mobilized overnight!

In the early hours of the morning, the conference rooms of several related companies were brightly lit.

The management team was urgently summoned and excitedly circulated the exorbitantly priced contingency plan for a relaxed and slow-paced approach.

But when they flipped to the attached "Supplier Code of Conduct," their excitement instantly turned into a headache.

"A minimum annual base salary of 15? Maximum social insurance and housing fund for all employees? Overtime must be paid at triple the normal rate and employees are mandated to have 8 days off per month?!" A vice president pointed at the clauses, his voice trembling.
"The experienced workers in my factory only earn eight or nine thousand a month, and the new workers are getting double that? How am I supposed to manage the other workers? I might as well just turn this factory into a charity!"

"Exactly! How can we operate if costs double? If all the profits go to the workers, how are we supposed to survive?"

The meeting room erupted in chaos, filled with complaints:

"This isn't business, this is charity!"

"Exactly! These conditions are outrageous; we can't possibly accept them!"

Amidst the chorus of opposition, the previously silent CTO suddenly slammed his hand on the table:
"Let's do the math, shall we? What price did they offer? It's the purchase price for German equipment! And there's an astronomical upgrade bonus coming up! The profit from this deal is more than enough to raise the salaries of everyone in the factory by two levels!"

He had barely finished speaking when the vice president, his eyes darting around, rubbed his hands together and chuckled:
“Director Wang is right, the profit is sufficient. But what I mean is… since the profit is so high, why should we give it all to the workers? I think we need to find a way to communicate with Easy Slow again – we can symbolically raise the compensation a little, but can we negotiate a transition period? For example, in stages over three years?”

"This way, our management and shareholders can retain more profits, increase the stock price, and make it soar. Isn't that more practical than just throwing all the money at the workers?"

Greed is a basic human instinct, but if you can't control it and become the one who sticks out...

"This company? Remove it from the cooperation list immediately. If similar ideas are found again, handle them in the same way, and there's no need for further communication."

"Leading companies? Director Liu, are you joking with me? In a major industrial country with a complete industrial chain, the last thing we lack is so-called 'leading companies.' If any company tries to bargain over something like this..."

"Then, Easy Travel will consider recouping all its investment. We don't need the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's assistance for this project anymore; we'll do it ourselves!"

A new day begins, and the sun rises.

Zhou Yaqin had only slept for a short while when Director Liu, acting as the communication representative, arrived. However, the content of the communication instantly enraged her!

"Reform and opening up? Forty years of reform and opening up for hell! These bastards don't learn anything good, they only learn crooked ways!"

She slammed her hand on the table in anger:
"The United States transitioned from a production-oriented society to a consumer-oriented society seventy years ago! Capitalists back then knew that empty promises wouldn't fool workers; improving wages was the only way to stimulate consumption and create a positive cycle! Don't they understand such a simple principle?!"

"Every day they're shouting about stimulating consumption! But the workers in the hell have no money in their pockets, how are they supposed to consume? Are they going to generate electricity with their love?!"

"They still want to 'symbolicly raise a little'? Do they want to keep wages so low that workers can only survive until the next day, forcing them to work themselves to the bone?"

Director Liu blinked his innocent eyes and sighed softly:
"President Zhou, do you know how happy the leaders were when they heard that the distribution would be completed within three years?"

Zhou Yaqin glared with angry eyes and roared:
"Director Liu, do you know how unhappy Little Hammer will be if he hears that his demands are not being met?"

Director Liu: "..."

(End of this chapter)