Chapter 589: Trial Sale of Electric Heating Blankets

Based on the available funds, we plan to produce three thousand electric heating blankets this time; after roughly calculating and subtracting all raw materials and transportation costs, the cost comes to about three yuan per blanket.

The Guoying Department Store and Friendship Store import carpets and sell them for fifteen yuan each.

But these are domestically produced; after discussions with the Railway department and the relevant price‑control authorities, we decided to sell them for five yuan each.

Compared with the Friendship Store, that's already cheap, but considering the wages of ordinary people here, even five yuan a piece makes many bite their tongues.

For now we'll stick to this price and adjust later according to actual conditions; Lu Ying has no objections.

She now only wants to assemble the electric heating blankets as quickly as possible and then figure out how to sell them.

Anyway, the Railway department's stance is that as long as the capital can be preserved, she'll pass the assessment.

At first, when assembling the blankets, everyone was still unskilled, and Lu Ying became a bit impatient.

Now it's a race against time; assembling after winter passes would be useless.

No matter how urgent it is, the workers still need time to learn, since it involves electrical knowledge.

Two days later, she discovered that among the workers there was a young man in a military cap who assembled at a very fast speed.

Others can only assemble three or five a day, but he could put together nearly a dozen, an efficiency that was simply astonishing.

Lu Ying observed him closely and found that the cap‑wearing youth had a method for assembling the blankets.

So Lu Ying walked over and called him over.

"What's your name?"

The cap‑wearing youth looked up and saw the Factory Director arriving; he had heard that the factory's director was a female comrade and very capable.

"Oh, hello Director, I'm Xie Baichuan."

Lu Ying nodded, recalling that Zhao Bin had mentioned that Lu Cheng insisted on adding one more person at the end, and this was that person.

She had thought it was a brother‑in‑law who bragged about loyalty, insisting on adding such a person, but now she saw that the youth was indeed quite capable.

"I've been watching you for an hour; starting today, you stop assembling…"

Before Lu Ying could finish, Xie Baichuan suddenly panicked: "Ah, why won't you let me work? I haven't been slacking, really haven't, don't fire me…"

Xie Baichuan didn't know the director was observing him secretly; he considered himself always diligent, fearing to lose this hard‑won job, even rushing to the restroom.

Lu Ying waved her hand: "I didn't say I'd fire you; I'm preparing to promote you to Squad Leader, and then you won't have to do the work yourself—just teach everyone your assembly method."

One person can only assemble a limited number of blankets each day, no matter how fast; by passing on the method so everyone learns it, the whole factory's assembly efficiency can be raised.

Hearing Lu Ying's words, Xie Baichuan let out a long sigh of relief and felt happy inside; the director was actually promoting him to Squad Leader.

Although his salary won't change much, it signifies the factory's recognition of him.

Xie Baichuan hurriedly nodded: "Hey, don't worry, Director, I'll definitely teach everyone; I won't hide anything."

That's the attitude Lu Ying wanted; after looking around and not seeing Zhao Bin, she asked the temporary staff transferred from the department store.

The person said: "Director Lu, Zhao Bin was called by your younger brother Lu Cheng to go ice‑skating."

Hearing this, Lu Ying was furious: "Ice‑skating? Things are so busy here, how does he have time to ice‑skate! Call both of them over and tell them I'm waiting at the department store."

After speaking, Lu Ying took the assembled blankets—about dozens—and prepared to take them to the department store for a trial run.

The newly appointed Squad Leader Xie Baichuan was explaining how to assemble more efficiently when he unintentionally overheard the director and another comrade's conversation.

It turned out Lu Cheng was the female director's younger brother, no wonder he helped recruit workers that day.

That deceased Minister Lu, who was the director's father?

Hmm, when there's time, I should properly thank the director.

After all, his father lost his life for the educated youths, leaving the siblings to rely on each other, which is quite pitiful.

Thinking of this, Xie Baichuan resolved to work hard to repay Minister Lu's kindness.

Meanwhile, after Lu Ying returned to the department store, Zhao Bin and younger brother Lu Cheng hadn't come back, so she had someone clear the most conspicuous counter and display the blankets there.

Because it's near the train station, customers stream into the department store continuously.

At first, Lu Ying didn't push sales actively; she just observed customers' reactions.

The blankets were placed in the most eye‑catching spot, so any customer entering could see them at a glance.

After watching for a while, she found many people only glanced briefly and none approached.

This disappointed Lu Ying; to produce this batch of blankets, she had invested half of the store's revenue.

That half was nearly six months of the store's earnings; to cut costs, even the year‑end benefit of giving each person a bicycle had been cancelled.

If no one buys them, not only will future attempts to rely on the Railway department for assessment fail, but the money in the accounts will be lost.

Then she, as the director, would be letting everyone down.

After waiting a bit longer, Lu Ying had to step forward and listen to what customers thought.

"Sir, take a longer look, it won't cost you anything."

The man first gave Lu Ying a look, then turned his gaze to the pile of blankets.

"What's so good about this blanket? You can't wear it, it's so small, even as a sheet it's undersized."

Lu Ying smiled and explained: "Sir, this isn't an ordinary blanket; it's called an electric heating blanket. The weather isn't cold now, right? Just spread this on the bed, lie on it, and you'll stay warm all night."

"An electric heating blanket?"

Lu Ying nodded: "Yes, normally our blankets are cold when we sleep, but with this, you just turn it on beforehand, and by the time we go to bed, the blanket is already warm."

As for the size you mentioned, it's modeled after a person's height, so it fits perfectly when someone lies on it.

While speaking, Lu Ying had someone plug the blanket in; words alone weren't enough, they needed to feel it themselves.

She pushed the switch to high heat, and the labor‑woven blanket warmed up quickly.

Such a thing is so novel that many customers had never even heard of it.

When the blanket heated up, many curious customers gathered around.

After touching it, they found it indeed hot and very suitable for warming.

Someone sighed, "Only in Capital City can a blanket be made to generate heat; other regions don't have that."

Out of curiosity, and also because Lu Ying was pitching it, she described the benefits of the Electric Heating Blanket very comprehensively, so someone wanted to buy one to take home.

"Comrade, how much is one? I want one."

After speaking for so long, with a dry mouth and tongue, it finally wasn't in vain; Lu Ying immediately extended five fingers.

"Five mao a piece? That's not pricey; wrap one for me."

Lu Ying pursed her lips: "It's not, big brother, this is at least an appliance; have you ever seen any appliance bought for five mao? It's five yuan per piece."

Hearing this, the big brother who had been about to buy instantly stepped back a step.

"What? Five yuan a piece? My monthly salary is only a little over thirty yuan, and this thing costs five yuan; you're squeezing money…"

When Lu Cheng rushed over, he saw everyone quarrelling about how expensive it was.