Chapter 12: The Most Afraid of Sudden Silence

Although it felt somewhat absurd, Zhang Zhang Xiaocheng now believed Li Li Dongling's words deeply. After all, the satellite pot had already been made. Zhang Zhang Xiaocheng still held a try-it-out attitude and prepared to go to Pingyang Television Station to talk about it.

The long-silent Component Factory in Shangguan Town had its gate pulled open again. People who came out from inside rode bicycles and notified the original employees of the Component Factory in Shangguan Town to return to work according to the list and address.

A few years ago, this place was also a place that people in the town and the villages below envied. Collecting a salary in a state-owned factory was far stronger than digging things in the fields and relying on God to reward food!

But later, it was getting worse and worse. Starting last year, it officially stopped production. The salaries of those employees were also starting to be owed. Many people even ran to big cities in the south to struggle and work.

Early in the morning, Liu Liu Caiyuan, who lived in Dahe Town, the neighboring town of Shangguan Town, got up, preparing to go to the fields to busy himself with crops. These jobs didn't need him to do them before. His wife and family did them. After all, his monthly salary was enough to top the harvest of several acres of land. His wife didn't want him to go to the fields, fearing he would be tired. But now, without a salary, he had to be an "old ox" and face the yellow earth and back the sky to work.

Liu Liu Caiyuan knew technology, and his welding technology was quite good. But helplessly, now whether it was state-owned or private, everything was lacking, just not lacking people. He searched around Pingyang City, and even temporary workers weren't lacking people, so he could only stay at home and farm.

Just as he finished tidying up his things, someone from the same town knocked on the door. "Liu Caiyuan, someone just came over, saying to notify you to go back to work. The component factory resumed production today!"

"Res

Upon hearing this, a look of joy suddenly appeared on Liu Liu Caiyuan's face, and the farm tools in his hands fell to the ground.

His wife, however, grabbed Liu Liu Caiyuan at this moment, "Why are you going back? They owe you more than a year's wages and haven't paid a single cent. Are you going back to get IOUs?"

"What do you know? Factory Manager Zhang promised us that as long as the factory has orders, he would call us back to work.

The wages owed will definitely be made up by Factory Manager Zhang in the future!"

In the hearts of people like Liu Liu Caiyuan, Zhang Zhang Xiaocheng's prestige was still very high, and they all trusted him.

Although Zhang Zhang Xiaocheng was rough, he was fair in his dealings and had never done anything shady like lining his own pockets or favoring his cronies. When the Shangguan Town Component Factory had no orders, Zhang Zhang Xiaocheng was always begging for orders and borrowing money everywhere. In the end, when he couldn't pay wages, he was the first to stop taking his own salary, prioritizing the payment of wages to workers like Liu Liu Caiyuan when there was money. Only when he was truly at his wit's end did he let them go home.

Riding his bike, Liu Liu Caiyuan rushed toward the component factory. Even if he were to be cheated, he would accept it!

By midday, the entrance to the Shangguan Town Component Factory had become lively. Bicycles coming from all directions had almost filled the empty bicycle shed.

Seeing so many workers called back in just one morning, Li Li Dongling also looked at Zhang Zhang Xiaocheng with a bit of admiration. Being able to get so many people to willingly return to work after not paying wages for more than a year, and knowing full well that they might be working for nothing, Zhang Zhang Xiaocheng really had some ability!

Perhaps this was also the style of this era. In an age that didn't pay much attention to written contracts, promises and trust were the cornerstone of interpersonal relationships. This was also the reason why Zhang Zhang Xiaocheng could call these workers back.

Even the reason why scammers made a fortune in these years had to do with this. Most people hadn't experienced too many tricks and had no sense of precaution. Scammers also exploited this trust relationship to commit large-scale fraud.

It wouldn't work in a few years because there were simply too many scammers. After being cheated a few times, everyone had suffered losses and knew that some people's verbal promises were no different from farting, or even worse—at least a fart makes a sound. In human relationships, social trust could only be maintained by relying on laws and contracts. They only recognize contracts, not people!

Standing in front of the factory building, Zhang Zhang Xiaocheng stood on a platform with his hands on his hips, "The reason I asked everyone to come back this time is because our factory has cooperated with a company to develop a new product that needs everyone to produce!

I, Zhang Zhang Xiaocheng, won't lie to everyone. I can't pay the wages owed to you before right now, and I might not be able to pay the wages for returning to work this time either.

I can only guarantee that as long as the new product is produced and can be sold to make money, I will definitely pay back what is owed to everyone. As long as there is still someone who hasn't received their wages, I, Zhang Zhang Xiaocheng, won't take a single cent of salary!"

"We believe in Factory Manager Zhang!"

Hearing Zhang Zhang Xiaocheng's words, Li Li Dongling saw that not a single person present left. Someone shouted, and everyone started talking. Then there was a round of applause. After the production workshop was opened, everyone went in one after another and walked to their posts.

Zhang Zhang Xiaocheng, a man who had been on the battlefield and had been under immense pressure for the past year or so, had red-rimmed eyes at this moment, but he just tilted his head back as if sand had gotten into his eyes.

The entire Shangguan Town Component Factory began to get busy. Various materials were constantly processed and then moved into the production workshop for assembly and debugging. Li Li Dongling and Zhou Wenyang were responsible for technical training. Doing this work was Zhou Wenyang's specialty, and he was much more adept at it than Li Li Dongling.

Zhou Wenyang had no temper. No matter who encountered a problem, he taught them patiently. Even if the same question was asked several times, he didn't get angry. Moreover, he was willing to worry about both big and small matters. The entire workshop was kept in perfect order by Zhou Wenyang. Li Li Dongling was also happy to delegate power, handing over the work in the production workshop to Zhou Wenyang, letting him enjoy the thrill of being a workshop director.

When the cannons roar, gold is worth ten thousand taels. When production of the satellite dishes began, the 150,000 yuan was visibly and constantly decreasing. Even if they didn't have to pay wages to the workers for the time being, they still had to buy aluminum, feeders, motherboards, master control chips, custom packaging boxes, and people had to eat and drink. Even if they didn't pay wages, could they really not feed people?!

On the third day, the first "Guanxing" satellite receiver was sent to the warehouse for packaging after passing the final test. Li Li Dongling, Zhang Zhang Xiaocheng, Zhou Wenyang, and others all ran here.

After the packaging personnel counted the components, they put them together and started packaging. Apart from the dish, the most exquisite part was the set-top box. The box was specially customized. Besides the "Guanxing" brand, there was also a simple logo Li Li Dongling had designed for it: a pattern of a satellite dish similar to a radar exploring for signals under a starry sky. There were also two lines of poetry on the box: "Looking at the sky at dawn and clouds at dusk, enjoying the light clouds by day and watching the stars by night," which explained the origin of the brand name "Guanxing."

In later generations, this packaging wouldn't be considered very exquisite, but in this era that didn't pay much attention to packaging and promotion, even Zhang Zhang Xiaocheng felt that this packaging for Guanxing was high-end. He felt that "high-tech" gadgets should look like this.

Watching the first Guanxing satellite receiver being packed, Zhang Zhang Xiaocheng, who had been so anxious that blisters had started to form on his lips over the past few days, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Pulling Li Li Dongling aside, Zhang Zhang Xiaocheng said to him, "I've asked someone to contact Zheng Zheng Zutai, the director of Pingyang Television Station. He will come here this afternoon!"

The television station thought Zhang Zhang Xiaocheng wanted to buy advertising, which is why they sent someone over.

In this day and age, no company or department was actually having an easy time. Television stations looked glamorous and were the leaders in the media industry, but that depended on which television station it was. The Central Station, provincial stations, and provincial capital stations didn't lack companies buying ads; they could just sit and wait for companies to come to them and collect the money.

But for ordinary municipal stations and county stations below them, it was bleak. It wasn't companies coming to them to buy ads, but the television stations going to these companies and begging them to buy ads.

If Pingyang Television Station knew that Zhang Zhang Xiaocheng was competing with them for business, they probably wouldn't come even if they were beaten to death. They would definitely write a script and have the host blast Zhang Zhang Xiaocheng on television for half an hour.

Li Li Dongling looked behind him, "We can produce sixty satellite dishes every day now. The first batch can produce about seven hundred. If we can reach a cooperation with Pingyang Television Station, we can start selling!"

Whether they lived or died depended on how this first batch of satellite dishes sold. If they could sell them, then naturally everything would be fine. If they couldn't sell them, then Zhang Zhang Xiaocheng might really be forced to climb to the rooftop.

In the afternoon, a jeep that looked like it had weathered many storms stopped at the entrance of the Shangguan Town Component Factory. Zheng Zheng Zutai pushed the door open and stepped down.

This jeep was older than the time Zheng Zheng Zutai had been at the television station. After passing through who knows how many hands, it became the official vehicle for Pingyang Television Station. Usually, it had to be pampered and maintained, and it was only brought out to put on a show when there was an event.

Looking at the component factory in front of him, Zheng Zheng Zutai didn't even know Pingyang had such a factory, and it was actually looking to buy ads on television.

After entering and seeing the busy scene inside, a smile appeared on Zheng Zheng Zutai's face. He felt that this time, he should be able to take back a significant order. The television station hadn't landed any orders for several months, and bonuses hadn't been paid once since the beginning of the year. Even Zheng Zheng Zutai felt that his mouth was lacking some grease.

"Director Zheng, right?" Zhang Zhang Xiaocheng and Li Li Dongling came out to welcome Zheng Zheng Zutai. Zhang Zhang Xiaocheng enthusiastically shook Zheng Zheng Zutai's hand, "Why don't we take a tour of our factory first?"

"That's fine!"

Zheng Zheng Zutai thought for a moment and agreed. Those who come to the television station to buy ads also need to understand the client; money shouldn't be taken for nothing.

Zheng Zheng Zutai walked into the workshop with a smile on his face, following Zhang Zhang Xiaocheng. Seeing the busy figures inside, Zheng Zheng Zutai, amidst Li Li Dongling's strange expression, praised Zhang Zhang Xiaocheng, "I didn't expect your factory's business to be so busy. It's rare to see this in the whole of Pingyang City!"

It wasn't until they reached the testing station and Zheng Zheng Zutai saw the testing personnel checking the set-top boxes, and satellite television channels appearing one after another on the television next to them, that the smile on his face began to freeze. He was silent for a long time, "I still don't know what business you are in?"