Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 320 Xie Xiaolong

Factory Director Yu laughed and said, "Looks like you really have no experience. Mooncakes need to be produced more than half a year in advance. That stuff is slow to make; it's all done by hand with molds. Do the math yourself. How long would it take to produce 20,000 jin? What about 50,000?"

Xiao Wei said, "I really don't understand this. Can't we use machines?" Back then, there were no mooncake forming machines. The processing of mooncakes was all done by hand, with fillings wrapped, molded, and baked. It wasn't until after 2000 that molding machines and eventually fully automatic forming machines gradually appeared on the market.

Factory Manager Yu said, "I also want to use machines, but we don't have any. For things like bread, some steps still require manual labor. When we make food, apart from cookies, there aren't many machines we can use."

After closing the warehouse door, the group returned to the front office. Xiao Wei and Factory Director Yu signed the equipment transfer agreement. Han San arranged for a truck to go around to the back yard to load the equipment. The new equipment was in a disassembled state, and even then, it couldn't fit in a single van. Factory Director Yu then contacted another large van to come over. This would require payment at the normal rate.

In those days, there weren't many private individuals buying large trucks for long-distance transport, but the long-distance freight forwarding business was already booming. This was the early budding of the domestic logistics industry. Some shrewd people would gather their goods, put up eye-catching freight forwarding signs by the roadside, and let passing vehicles pick up some goods on their way back to earn some extra money.

As the equipment was being loaded onto the truck, the person Director Yu had mentioned returned, bringing back a large truck from Fengtian. The truck was loaded with a full load of packaging boxes. Although the packaging boxes looked numerous, they weren't actually that heavy. They were bundled together, and several unloading workers from the factory unloaded the boxes directly into the corridor near the office. Director Yu then called the person who brought the truck into the office.

"Factory Manager, it cost a total of 84,300. Here's the receipt, and here's the remaining money." As soon as he entered the room, he took two envelopes from his pocket, placed them on the table, and pushed them towards Factory Manager Yu. Factory Manager Yu didn't even look at them, casually putting the envelopes into a drawer and saying, "Xiao Long, this is Zhang Wei. Xiao Wei, this is Xie Xiaolong. Xiao Long, Xiao Wei has a food factory in Longcheng. I recommended you to be the factory manager. You two talk it over, and if it's a good fit, you can go. We don't have any idiots around here."

Xie Xiaolong turned to Xiaowei, nodded, and looked Xiaowei up and down a few times before saying, "I'm doing just fine here, so why bother making a fuss? Longcheng isn't exactly close by."

Factory Director Yu said, "If we can get along, then let's leave it at that. Who knows what the future holds? What's the point of staying here with that fixed salary? What will you do after I'm gone? Go work in the workshop?"

Xie Xiaolong thought for a moment and said, "Uncle Yu, let's pool our money. Everyone should chip in. I've asked around, and quite a few retirees are willing to contribute. Everyone trusts you."

Factory Director Yu shook his head and said, "It's not a small amount, over a million. Is that a small sum? Who among us is wealthy? Selling our houses or our blood? That's nonsense. Besides, this matter isn't even settled yet. There are people watching us from above. Forget it."

Xie Xiaolong said, "We have more than 300 people now, and each family can scrape together a few thousand yuan."

Factory Director Yu said, "I can do it, you can do it, everyone in the workshop can do it, right? Four or five thousand, five or six thousand per family, is that a small amount? We borrowed it and scraped it together, but what if the factory goes under? Wouldn't that be even worse than not being able to pay wages? Don't bother, they won't let us make this happen. Some people even want to be factory directors and get rich, haha." The old man laughed a few times with a touch of sadness.

Xiao Wei said, "If you can go there, we will still have a cooperative relationship with Director Yu. If things really turn out as Director Yu said, we can also take in some workers who are struggling financially. That's something we can guarantee."

Factory Director Yu lit a cigarette, threw the cigarette pack on the table for everyone to take, and said, "Go on, make something of yourself. There's no place for you to make a difference here, it's a waste for you to stay here."

Xie Xiaolong silently lit a cigarette and said, "Do you think Xiaoli would agree? She lives all the way here."

Xiao Wei asked, "Are you married?"

Xie Xiaolong said, "The child is already over a year old, and going to school will be a problem in the future."

Factory Director Yu glared at Xie Xiaolong and said, "You good-for-nothing! Does supporting a wife not cost money? Does your child's future schooling not cost money? We'll deal with the future later. A living person isn't going to be killed by urine, is he?"

Xiao Wei said, "There is a place to stay. You can bring your wife and children with you."

Xie Xiaolong scratched his head, a little embarrassed, and glanced at Factory Director Yu, saying, "Can I do this? What if I don't do a good job?"

Factory Manager Yu said, "Production is just this much; the main thing is sales. We're all doing this because of you. Xiaowei, how much will Xiaolong be paid?"

Xiao Wei asked, "How much is he earning here now?"

Factory Director Yu said, "He's not an employee of this factory; I hired him. I pay him about five hundred yuan a month now, but I can't afford to pay him more."

Xiao Wei said, "Then let's keep the salary here for now, five hundred, and I'll give you a commission, 3% of the profit, okay? We'll discuss it again after you've worked for a while, but it's up to you." Back then, there wasn't such a thing as "five social insurances and one housing fund," it was just salary plus bonus.

Factory Director Yu nodded and said, "Okay, Xiaolong, pack your things and go over there. Where else can you earn a thousand yuan these days? If you work hard, you can earn more than a thousand. It's much better. Hehe, if I weren't getting old, I would have gone myself. Would it even be your turn?"

Xiao Wei asked, "Brother Long, is your wife at work now?"

Xie Xiaolong shook his head and said, "No, I'm staying at home. I used to work in a glove factory, but the glove factory has gone out of business. At first, they would pay me a few dozen yuan a month, but since last year, I haven't received a single penny. All the officials have moved away."

In the early 90s, a large number of collective enterprises went bankrupt, and countless small factories closed down. Workers were unemployed and had little recourse but to find ways to survive. At that time, there were many families like Xie Xiaolong's, and some couples even worked in the same factory, making life even more difficult.

Xiao Wei said, "Then let's go together. There's a place to stay, and the conditions are alright. Afterwards, if your sister-in-law wants to work, see what kind she'd like to do. My business is doing well; I own a few restaurants and such."

Xie Xiaolong asked, "How big is your food factory now? What kind of equipment do you have and how many people do you employ?"

Xiao Wei scratched his head and said, "It's not a big business now, just about ten people baking cakes and bread. We only had one small cookie machine before, but we just brought back three sets from here. I'm thinking of adding instant noodles to the menu. Do you think that'll work?"

Xie Xiaolong nodded and said, "If there's a place, that's fine. The market for those things is alright. Let me go over and take a look first. When are you guys going back?" He glanced at Chen Hui, Chen Xiao, and Xiao Hong sitting to the side.

Xiao Wei said, "My place is a two-story building. The first floor is over 600 square meters, and the entire second floor is empty right now."

(End of this chapter)