[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-reborn-starting-from-1993":3,"chapter-reborn-starting-from-1993-reborn-starting-from-1993-chapter-23":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Reborn Starting from 1993",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2357007,4611,"Chapter 23: To Do a Job Well, One Must First Sharpen One","reborn-starting-from-1993-chapter-23",23,"\u003Cp>But Zhang Xiao felt deeply frustrated: “These people with approval slips keep cutting in line—if we keep giving them priority, it’ll mess up the normal satellite dish orders!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Dongling, however, was completely unfazed; whether the equipment factory was state-owned or private, such things were inevitable—when a product became scarce, all sorts of shady figures would emerge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Increase production capacity. The fact that people are still lining up for approval slips means satellite dishes are still rare commodities. Once no one’s asking for approval slips anymore, that’s when the real trouble begins!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Dongling told Zhang Xiao: in another one or two months at most, knockoff and counterfeit satellite dishes would flood the market, and profits would plummet—once the hype faded, these people would stop demanding approval slips altogether.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Xiao sighed, but he knew Li Dongling was right. He’d spent years in the military, where there was no tolerance for corruption, but after his transfer, he’d learned that in society, these kinds of connections and favors were unavoidable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Brother Zhang, do you know any reliable drivers? Recommend one to me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, Zhang Xiao immediately understood: “You want to buy a car?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Currently, the satellite dish project had three shareholders: the Equipment Factory, Pingyang TV Station, and Dongling High-Tech. But the first two were state-owned or public institutions—when dividends came in, Zhang Xiao and the TV station’s leadership could use bonus names to give themselves extra cash, or buy cars under the guise of company purchases for personal use, but they couldn’t just pocket the dividends directly!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for Li Dongling, he didn’t have to worry about such restrictions: once the dividends landed in Dongling High-Tech’s account and taxes were paid, he could use them freely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No problem—I’ll pick a suitable person for you!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Xiao thought for a moment. Li Dongling asking him for a driver wasn’t just about driving—cars were still expensive, but there were plenty of people who could drive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>More often than not, drivers doubled as bodyguards. Security wasn’t great these days—like that Yu boss, who ran a training company, he’d been robbed twice, even right outside his own home. Without a bodyguard, Li Dongling wouldn’t feel safe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Xiao was a military veteran—he had connections. Letting him recommend a suitable bodyguard was perfect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Li Dongling scribbling again in his notebook, Zhang Xiao assumed he was designing a new satellite dish and didn’t dare interrupt, tiptoeing quietly out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Satellite dishes needed upgrades too—beyond boosting signal strength, the main upgrade was replacing materials to cut costs!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With mass production, the cost of the Observing Star satellite dish had kept dropping—both for raw materials and manufacturing. Originally priced at 300 yuan per unit, the cost had fallen to around 180 yuan, leaving a profit of 120 yuan; now the profit had gradually risen to over 140 yuan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the price war comes, Li Dongling estimated the selling price could drop to around 200 yuan—that was the limit. Lower than that, and they’d start losing money.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Dongling was scribbling on paper, but he wasn’t designing a new satellite dish—he was thinking about Dongling High-Tech.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The satellite dish could be Dongling High-Tech’s first project; in the short term, it would provide solid cash flow, but Dongling High-Tech couldn’t rely on just this one project forever.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His pen paused on the paper as Li Dongling contemplated what Dongling High-Tech should do next—or rather, what he himself should do.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Right now, Dongling High-Tech was just an empty shell. Rushing into industries requiring heavy tech investment would likely destroy it completely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“To do a job well, you must first sharpen your tools.” Li Dongling wouldn’t rashly take on gold-swallowing projects—right now, he couldn’t afford them. Just like the countless people’s idol, building that giant tower—it looks glorious, but if it collapses, even the most revered figure will be dragged off his pedestal overnight; the difference between richest man and poorest man is often just a single thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stood up, paced back and forth several times, and remembered the phone call he’d made when dropping Gao Peng off at home—suddenly, a thought struck him: he now had some ideas about Dongling High-Tech’s next step.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But as always, Dongling High-Tech was still just a shell company. Trying to launch a groundbreaking product to compete with established giants was pure fantasy—but every journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Early in the morning, Gao Peng woke up with a headache. He saw he was in his own bed. He didn’t remember anything after passing out, but before that, Li Dongling’s instructions were crystal clear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He jumped out of bed, rushed to the bathroom to wash up, and prepared to get to work on Li Dongling’s tasks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Baishan sat upright on a wooden sofa, reading the newspaper. Seeing Gao Peng, as if his pants were on fire, rushing out again, he snorted, “You come home drunk, wake up, and leave—what do you think this house is?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ve got real business to handle!” Gao Peng changed out of his stinking clothes as he spoke to his father, Gao Baishan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, Gao Baishan’s refined demeanor shattered—he exploded: “What real business? You’re always parading around using my name to swindle people! Don’t you know I’m the laughingstock of the municipal office? Every day, people use my name to hassle other departments and units with nonsense!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This time, I’m actually doing something real—you’ll see. I, Gao Laosan, am the only true man in this family who’ll accomplish something big. The future of the Gao family depends on me!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Baishan’s anger flared—he threw the newspaper at him: “What big thing? Don’t get me into trouble! Don’t make me beg at some neighborhood police station to get you out again—I’ve already wasted my face clean!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If you had half the sense of your two brothers, I’d die in peace!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Peng had two older brothers—he was the third. One, like Gao Baishan, joined the municipal government and was steady and responsible, clearly being groomed as his successor—the one Gao Baishan trusted most.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The second brother was a lawyer, now well-known in Pingyang’s legal circles, with the dream of founding his own law firm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Baishan had no worries about the eldest and second sons—only the third son, Gao Laosan, gave him constant headaches.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t you dare! You’d better take care of your health—I’ll buy you an Audi 100 or a Duke King someday, and I’ll take you for a test drive!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saying that, Gao Peng slipped on his shoes and bolted out the door, leaving Gao Baishan glaring helplessly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Build a new house?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Build a new house? These three tile-roof rooms were built by my own hands—haven’t I raised all three of you yet? Aren’t they enough for you now?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, Li Dongling brought home a lot of appliances: color TV, washing machine, refrigerator, air conditioner, motorcycle—all were moved back. If laying a network cable hadn’t been so inconvenient, he’d have bought a computer for his younger sister, Li Dongyue, to study with.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back then, computers really did open a window to the world for users. Many people saw what lay thousands of miles away through a single computer. Of course, whether what they saw was true or false required personal judgment and thought—as always, since computers appeared, no one knew if the person typing was human or something else—but computers truly broadened people’s horizons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Xiulan and Li Dongyue were touching and staring at the items Li Dongling had brought back. They’d heard some families in the city already owned these things—this was the first time the Li family had them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But when Li Dongling mentioned building a new house for the Li family, the old man, smoking his pipe, slammed the table and glared at him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These tile-roof rooms had been built by Li Zhenlin himself. Back then, anyone who could tear down mud walls and build tile-roof houses was considered capable—and this was Li Zhenlin’s pride. Now, to tear them down and rebuild? He was furious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Dongling, who was rolling tobacco for the old man, looked up at Li Zhenlin’s furious face and just smiled. He’d brought his father many brands of good cigarettes, but Li Zhenlin kept them locked in the cabinet—only when old friends visited did he hand them out, earning compliments that made him proud for days. But daily, he still smoked his own pipe, claiming Li Dongling’s fancy cigarettes weren’t strong enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This house is definitely a good one—back then, who in the whole commune didn’t know about the big tile-roof rooms you built? But…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Dongling glanced at Li Dongshan, who was cleaning fish scales, “Aren’t you about to get married? Where will your future wife live?”\u003C\u002Fp>",1454,"2026-06-21T04:42:08.057Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","b437a7ed267c67023e455fc4be428f9c2ec131d5ea3f36e7b21a0a3689be18d1","reborn-starting-from-1993-chapter-24","reborn-starting-from-1993-chapter-22",989,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Freborn-starting-from-1993-cover.jpg"]