Chapter 1310: Hanging Zhou Andong on the Wall

Zhang Chaoming laughed at himself: "I consider myself an elite of the younger generation. Even if I don't have the talent of Chairman Zhou, as long as I work hard, one day, I can stand shoulder to shoulder with him.

Now it seems that I am too naive. Just talking about the acquisition of the Xiangjiang bank

"You shouldn't belittle yourself," Zhang Xuan said, regaining her composure. "I know your capabilities; otherwise, I wouldn't have poached you to come here."

Zhang Chaoming shook his head slightly. "Once you get to Xiangjiang, you'll understand how Chairman Zhou orchestrated this acquisition. You must call me and tell me all about it so I can worship him—I'll hang our boss's photo on the wall, offer incense to him every day, and kowtow."

"Pfft!" Zhang Xuan couldn't help but laugh out loud. "When the time comes, you can offer an extra stick of incense on my behalf."

Zhou Andong had no idea that Zhang Xuan and Zhang Chaoming were planning to hang his photo on the wall.

At this moment, he had already arrived at the furniture factory and then went around to visit each workshop, with Zhou Anbei introducing things on the side.

"We currently have over 1,700 employees. Aside from the 300-plus design staff and 60-plus management personnel, all the frontline workers were recruited from our village and the surrounding villages."

Zhou Andong said, "The reason I had you keep the factory in Tanghezi is, first, because of the requests from the old village chief and the party secretary, and second, this is the goal."

"Because, as we run an enterprise, once we've done well, we must shoulder the social responsibilities we ought to bear. Don't you think that leading the fellow villagers to get rich together is more meaningful than just making money for yourself?"

Zhou Anbei nodded. "I understand."

"It's good that you understand." Zhou Andong patted Xiao Bei on the shoulder. "Once the factories in various places are built, they will also drive a large amount of employment, the local economy will develop, and our country and people will also get better and better."

Speaking of this, Zhou Andong thought of some young people from his previous life who had ulterior motives, or who hadn't experienced this era and had never gone hungry.

They were always cynically criticizing that China's economic development was all bought at the cost of exploiting the cheap labor of the common people.

Whenever he saw such remarks, Zhou Andong wished he could dive into the internet cable, find those brainless people, and give them a good kicking.

They were truly born in a good time; once they were well-fed, they had nothing to complain about.

Is the development of a national economy something that can be summarized so simply?

People are iron, food is steel; people always have to eat.

The prerequisite for national economic development is that the common people must have full stomachs and good days to live.

Take those developed countries in the West, for example—which one of them hasn't experienced the upgrade of labor-intensive industries?

When capitalism developed into the monopoly capitalism stage, the phenomenon of labor exploitation was even more brutal.

In order to increase absolute surplus value, there even appeared phenomena of increasing labor time to 20 hours, as well as sweatshop wage systems like Fordism and Taylorism.

The advanced education, medical care, and social security possessed by Western capitalist countries were not there from birth, nor did they fall from the sky.

Therefore, one must rationally view problems with a developmental perspective. The only constant in this society is change; all things are worth cherishing, even those negative phenomena.

Why should negative phenomena also be cherished? Because when you are complaining about those phenomena, they are quietly changing. When you complain that this society is hindering your progress, society is also quietly developing.

The most painful thing in life is when everything bad around you has turned into something beautiful, but you alone have not changed. So, rather than complaining, it is better to firmly believe that everything will change for the better, turning future regrets into memories.

Zhou Anbei said with a smile, "With the several factories plus the specialty stores, the number of employees at 365 Home will exceed 8,000."

"Good!" Zhou Andong said. "The more workers we employ, the better the enterprise is developing."

Cao Yi looked at the time. "It's noon already; let's find a place to eat."

Jian Qiu said, "Doesn't your factory have a canteen? Let's just go to the canteen to eat."

"Alright!" Zhou Anbei agreed and pointed to a square two-story building to the north. "That's the canteen."

As soon as the four of them entered the canteen, it was full of people.

There were Tanghezi villagers who, upon seeing Zhou Andong, greeted him enthusiastically one after another.

"Dongzi, when did you get back?"

"Dongzi, bring your wife to my place for a drink tonight."

"You guys are here to eat too, right? I still have seats here; sit over this way."

Facing the enthusiasm of the fellow villagers, Zhou Andong also responded warmly.

Some employees from other villages who didn't recognize Zhou Andong all looked over curiously.

"So he is Zhou Andong."

"I've seen his photo in the newspaper; why does he look nothing like the real person?"

"Look at those brothers; they are truly one more impressive than the next."

"..."

Zhou Andong chatted with a few familiar neighbors for a while before coming to sit down beside Jian Qiu.

"Why didn't you go get the food?"

"Xiao Bei and Cao Yi went; they don't need me."

Jian Qiu looked a bit plumper and felt increasingly lazy; whether sitting or lying down, she then couldn't be bothered to get up again.

At this time, Xiao Bei and Cao Yi returned, each carrying two food trays.

Zhou Andong took them and saw that inside there was pork stewed with vermicelli, Chinese cabbage stewed with dried tofu, as well as stir-fried potato slices and stir-fried wood ear mushrooms with eggs.

Moreover, the amount of meat was very large; not to mention the pork stewed with vermicelli, even the Chinese cabbage stewed with dried tofu had plenty of white pork belly slices.

"It's quite sumptuous, and there's plenty of meat. How much does this meal cost for the employees?"

"Eighty cents, eat until you're full," Zhou Anbei said. "The factory is running 24 hours a day now, in two shifts. There's a late-night snack, which is free and even more sumptuous than this. So, many employees like working the night shift."

Zhou Andong nodded with a smile. "Not bad. Once 365 gets on the right track in the future, this lunch money can also be waived."

"That's what I was thinking too," Zhou Anbei said in strong agreement.

Zhou Andong asked, "Where is Wu Cheng?"

Zhou Anbei said, "He's in Xianghe. 365 is going to build a furniture city there, and he's been negotiating with the Xianghe government. I reckon he'll be able to come back around the New Year."

Zhou Andong picked up a piece of pork stewed with vermicelli; the taste was quite good.

"365 is currently in a period of rapid development. If the funds become tight, let me know."

"I will," Zhou Anbei smiled. "I definitely won't be polite."

Cao Yi's eyes were bright; currently, 365 furniture sales were extremely hot.

If they were only investing in building factories in the south, the funds on hand would be no problem.

However, once the Xianghe Furniture City and the investment in Qishi were negotiated, the funds would definitely not be enough.

So, for this period of time, she had been pondering wanting to take out a loan.

Now that she had the words of her brother-in-law, she wasn't worried at all.

Just at this moment, they heard someone shouting.

"Old Village Chief, Party Secretary, why have you come?"