Reborn in 78, I made my fortune by working in the mountains, supporting three families on my own.

Holding a thick wad of banknotes, Zhao Lei smiled and asked Director Li.

"Brother Li, did I give you too much this time? Do you need any more tomorrow?"

Zhao Lei wasn't very confident about fishing before, so he didn't make any overly confident statements.

But I never expected to have such a big catch on my first fishing trip. Now I'm a little worried about what to do if Deputy Factory Director Li doesn't want so much.

Factory Director Li laughed and said, "Haha, Brother Zhao Lei. Haven't you heard of Qingfeng Sichuan Pepper Fish?"

As a native of Qingfeng Town, Zhao Lei naturally knew that Qingfeng pepper fish was a local specialty.

It's famous in the surrounding towns and villages, and people from other places always come to try it.

Unfortunately, resources were scarce in those days, and no distinctive culinary essentials became famous far and wide.

"Brother Li, this is a local specialty. Of course I know it."

"That's right, Brother Zhao Lei. The boss of our Jinxiu Textile Factory's canteen is famous for this Qingfeng Sichuan Pepper Fish. Besides supplying the factory staff, he also frequently hosts guests and leaders from out of town. This fish... is always in high demand at our factory."

"Really? Brother Li, then you'll have to try it sometime."

"No problem, Brother Zhao Lei. Let's have lunch at our factory today, it's on me. Don't worry about us not being able to handle the 300-plus jin of fish you bring. Even if you bring 300 jin every day, it's no problem."

Zhao Lei was relieved to receive a satisfactory answer.

Next, Deputy Factory Director Li warmly invited Zhao Lei and the others to have dinner at the factory.

Zhao Lei initially declined politely, but unable to refuse their hospitality, he took Qin Bowen and the other three to lunch at the Jinxiu Textile Factory.

It must be said that Deputy Factory Director Li was very hospitable and specially instructed the canteen owner to cook them a dish of Qingfeng pepper fish.

It has a fresh and fragrant flavor with a numbing sensation. The fish slices are tender and have a numbing taste from the Sichuan peppercorns, making them very delicious.

Since Deputy Factory Director Li was at work, the group chatted happily, but none of them drank alcohol.

During the meal, Zhao Lei also mentioned that he would definitely have a big drinking session with Deputy Factory Director Li when he had some free time. The other party readily agreed, and this agreement was made.

After finishing their meal, Zhao Lei bid farewell to Deputy Factory Director Li and Director Su, then drove the oxcart, and the group began their journey back.

After Qin Bowen had eaten and drunk his fill, he lay back on the cart and asked, "Brother-in-law, are we going fishing again this afternoon?"

Instead of replying to Qin Bowen directly, Zhao Lei took out 180 yuan from his pocket and distributed it among everyone.

"Today, we made a total of 180 yuan. After deducting the 15 yuan rental fee for the fishing boat and nets, we have 165 yuan left. We'll split it among the four of us. Anyone have any ideas?"

This time, Zhao Lei did not propose to split the profits equally, but wanted to hear everyone's thoughts first.

He did this partly out of self-interest.

This time, Zhao Lei discovered a problem.

That means there are too many people involved in fishing!

180 yuan seems like a lot, but if divided equally, each person can only get about 40 yuan.

Although this amount of money seems like a lot, it is at least equivalent to the wages of a worker at Jinxiu Textile Factory for one and a half months.

But for Zhao Lei, it was still too slow.

He plans to build a red brick house, but he's still short over 2000 bricks.

At this rate, won't it take at least half a year to finish?

Moreover, he and Factory Director Li only agreed on a supply relationship for half a month. What about after half a month?

Zhao Lei felt that two people were enough for the fishing business.

Although the four of them contributed less effort, their income was also significantly reduced.

On the other hand, Zhao Lei was making long-term plans.

In preparation for the reform and opening up next year, Zhao Lei gathered Qin Dashan, Qin Bowen, Wang Zongbao, and Qin Changlin to form the most basic money-making team.

But these people, whether from the same village or related by blood, were all very close to him.

The advantage of doing business with relatives and friends is that they can quickly unite as one and work together in the same direction.

However, the drawbacks will also emerge in large numbers during the middle of the startup process!

Having lived two lives, Zhao Lei has seen too many relatives and friends go into business together. In the beginning, everyone suffers together and can get through it together because of their close relationship.

However, when it comes to distributing dividends and profits, conflicts can easily erupt.

After all, talking about feelings hurts money, and talking about money hurts feelings.

In order to prevent such incidents from happening, Zhao Lei must make plans in advance.

He wanted to instill in everyone the idea that business is business and relationships are relationships; they are two separate things.

First, let's be clear about our principles so that we don't end up hurting our feelings over money.

As expected, after Zhao Lei asked how everyone wanted to divide the money, everyone present fell silent.

Qin Bowen was the first to speak: "Brother-in-law, you can divide it however you want, I'll do whatever you say."

Wang Zongbao readily agreed, saying, "Brother Lei, I'll listen to you too."

Both of his younger brothers follow Zhao Lei's lead, so that leaves only Qin Changlin...

Zhao Lei's gaze fell on Qin Changlin: "Uncle Changlin, what's your opinion?"

This was also Qin Changlin's first time fishing with Zhao Lei, and he didn't know how to divide the profits.

In the past, when he led people into the mountains to hunt, whether it was the prey he caught or the prey that someone else caught, the distribution was based on labor, and as the leader, he would also receive a portion of the extra harvest.

But this time it's different.

This fishing trip was led by Zhao Lei, who served as the team leader and the backbone of the operation.

He shamelessly asked to join Zhao Lei's team.

The shrewd and experienced Qin Changlin didn't say much, so he chimed in, "Lei Zi, you're the one who set up this business. You decide how to distribute the profits; I have no objections."

Zhao Lei took 15 yuan out of the 180 yuan he earned from selling fish and put it in his pocket.

"This 15 yuan is the rent paid to Old Zhou, and the remaining 165 yuan is our profit."

Zhao Lei wasn't in a hurry, seeing that the others looked normal.

Then he continued, "Now that we're all working together, there are some things I need to make clear to everyone beforehand. In the past, when we went hunting and fishing together, we didn't have any rules or regulations, and that definitely won't work in the long run."

So I propose that, in principle, since we all contributed today, this 165 yuan should be split equally. However, I was the one who established the fishing and selling business, so in terms of channels and resources, it should also be counted as a separate share. What do you all think?

After Zhao Lei finished speaking, he looked at everyone...

The other three made their own plans.

If it is divided into four equal parts, then each of them will receive at least one part, which is more than 41 yuan.

That's quite a lot; it's equivalent to working for almost two months and earning two months' worth of work points.

Working with Zhao Lei for one day is equivalent to working in the brigade for two months.

Where else can you find such a great deal?

Without Zhao Lei, they wouldn't have been able to earn this much money...