Chapter 549: Going Against the Grain

The Tiger-Head Benz drove through the Pingyang urban area, which looked like a big construction site. From the time Yao Zhengru took office as the head of Pingyang, the entire Pingyang entered the era of major infrastructure construction.

Yao Zhengru therefore got a nickname, "Yao Man Cheng" (Yao Fills the City). This wasn't a good nickname; it was a mockery of Yao Zhengru digging and tearing down the whole city. It was common to see scenes of passing through construction sections and getting a mouthful of dust, so there were quite a few complaints about Yao Zhengru messing around. The entire Pingyang, from the urban area to the suburbs, towns, and villages, was under road construction.

There was no concept of three-dimensional traffic yet. As one of the three fires Yao Zhengru lit when he took office, the entire Pingyang's road traffic was either repaired or rebuilt. The urban area had brand-new asphalt roads, then national highways connecting the counties below, and finally cement roads in the villages, all of which were under construction now.

There were also a host of landmark buildings including the Oriental Times Mall, Pingyang Hanxi Software Industrial Park, Pingyang Cargo Airport, Pingyang Animal Park, etc., as well as newly built schools, hospitals, parks, etc., which were also appearing in full swing.

In addition, the entry of Pingyang Urban Investment and some real estate companies, building malls, cinemas, hotels, restaurants, new residential communities, etc., in the Pingyang urban area, was also constantly starting construction. Because Pingyang locals now had quite good incomes and consumption power, a huge market was naturally born.

The employment rate in Pingyang now, placed in the entire Hanxi Province, was outstanding. As long as one was physically healthy, finding a job was not to say it was easy, but anyway, on Wuyi Road in the street, there appeared half a street of labor introduction agencies introducing jobs.

Riding a bicycle for another ten minutes or so to the West City District, almost every factory gate here had a recruitment sign. Led by Changling Air Conditioning, local Pingyang companies, whether electrical, textile, clothing factories, fertilizer, steel plants, etc., were also recruiting all year round. A considerable number of these factories were still state-owned factories.

Although it was a bit difficult to get in as a formal worker, the wages of contract workers and temporary workers were no different from formal workers, just that in terms of benefits, including bonuses, housing allocation, and pensions, they couldn't compare to formal workers. But even in the past years, it wasn't that easy to turn into a formal worker after getting in.

There were also steel plants like Pingyang Steel Plant in the past, although the labor intensity was high, the salary was good. In the past, people would break their heads to squeeze in. Li Dongshan was just a temporary worker in the steel plant in the past.

But now, Pingyang locals, especially young people, didn't go to Pingyang Steel Plant anymore because it was too tiring, the rumor was that the working environment was bad and there was damage to the body. Of course, there were few female workers inside, and it wasn't easy to find a wife, which might also be one of the reasons why young people weren't willing to go.

In addition, the wages issued by the steel plant were raised three times this year, that is, three consecutive times to increase wages, but it didn't look conspicuous in Pingyang. Since the beginning of this year, Pingyang Steel Plant actually lacked workers, a scene that had never appeared before.

Pingyang Steel Plant had quite good benefits in the past few years because it was a local snake in Pingyang. There were countless local projects in Pingyang, and the demand for steel bars and cement was huge, so steel bar orders were basically given priority to Pingyang Steel Plant, so it didn't lack orders at all.

Just looking at the revenue, Pingyang Steel Plant doubled several times last year, profits hit a record high, and production capacity was constantly increasing, but there were no local young people willing to go in and work. Even young people with low academic qualifications who ran into the city from the counties and villages below Pingyang didn't take it as their first choice.

After all, if they entered the Dongling Gao Ke Electronic Industrial Park, the salary was higher than Pingyang Steel Plant, and the benefits, treatment, and bonuses were all better than that side. Even the meat eaten in the restaurant was oilier than the steel plant canteen.

Moreover, the Electronic Industrial Park also provided academic improvement and skills training. There were many female workers inside. It was said that they could find an object inside, and even every year, Dongling Gao Ke Electronic Industrial Park would hold matchmaking meetings for male and female staff. Under such conditions, any young person knew where to squeeze first.

Even if they couldn't squeeze into the Dongling Gao Ke Electronic Industrial Park, they would squeeze into the Dongling Gao Ke parts industrial chain companies that opened factories in Pingyang. The treatment inside, even if it couldn't compare to Dongling Gao Ke, was relatively guaranteed, and there were still quite a few people squeezing their heads to get in.

Dongling Gao Ke also had constraints and standard requirements for parts industrial chain companies. In this regard, it was the same as foreign capital, and there were standards for the working environment, salary, and treatment of supply chain manufacturers.

This was naturally privately complained about by quite a few partners, saying Dongling Gao Ke was meddling in other people's business, but correspondingly, Dongling Gao Ke's standard for supply chain manufacturers guaranteed the product quality of parts, and the production personnel of supply chain manufacturers were relatively stable, so it wouldn't happen that people suddenly ran away and cut off supply while working...

Factories with heavy labor represented by Pingyang Steel Plant now had to increase wages to recruit workers, and even ran to other cities to recruit people.

As for moving away from Pingyang?

Pingyang Steel Plant hadn't even thought about it at all. Why could it get so many orders and double its profits? Was its technology really that powerful, or was its product competitiveness that strong?

It didn't exist at all. The only reason was that it was a local steel plant in Pingyang. The steel orders in Pingyang were mainly given to it. Leaving Pingyang, looking at the steel plants in the provincial capital and neighboring cities, it wasn't just one or two that fell down. Pingyang Steel Plant would absolutely not move away!

And even for some disabled personnel with physical defects, the Pingyang municipal government also introduced policies. Companies registered in Pingyang that recruited these people could enjoy tax and subsidy benefits. Therefore, these companies would also recruit personnel with partial physical influence, but the salary provided was lower, but they would give some quotas for recruiting special groups.

With Pingyang's current employment rate and wage level, Pingyang gave birth to a huge consumer market. Where there is demand, there is a market. Pingyang now has countless new things.

Sitting in the car, Li Dongling saw that in less than a few months, the buildings on both sides of the Pingyang street had become a bit strange to him. Skating rinks, karaoke, dance halls, bars, bath centers, arcade game halls, video tape halls, and other regular or irregular entertainment venues had all sprung up on the street like wild grass.

When the car passed the Pingyang city center, the Oriental Times Mall and Oriental Times Square appeared in front of his eyes. According to the Pingyang plan formulated by Yao Zhengru, this was the future center of the Pingyang urban area, and even the office buildings of various departments of the Pingyang municipal government that might be built in the future were also reserved opposite the Oriental Times Square.

The office building of the Pingyang municipal government was still an old building from many years ago. Pingyang Urban Construction had submitted a proposal to the municipal government to build a new municipal government building, but it was rejected by Yao Zhengru.

Yao Zhengru knew the rules. He couldn't take all the benefits. He had to leave some room for operation for his successors. Otherwise, how would the successors show their gratitude to him?

With Pingyang's current situation, it is not difficult to build a municipal government office building and a municipal government family residential area, but if this kind of thing of buying people's hearts is left to his successor, it can allow him to quickly take power. No matter what the latter thinks, he has to show some gratitude to Yao Zhengru and will not change the things Yao Zhengru left behind. Everyone has to save some face.

Li Dongling saw that the main body of the Oriental Times Mall had been completed and was now undergoing external decoration and internal renovation.

Money can make the devil push the mill. The Oriental Times Mall project had never been in arrears with wages, and the project progress was astonishing. If it weren't for the Li family's high regard for project quality, with project quality as a prerequisite, it's hard to say that the project progress could be faster.

According to this speed, by the end of this year, it's hard to say that the Oriental Times Mall could open for a trial business.

However, the supporting projects of the Oriental Times Mall were huge. The mall and square were just a beginning. The subsequent supporting training schools that could study abroad, English and special training, improve college entrance examination scores, office buildings, and mid-to-high-end residential communities were the essence of the Oriental Times Mall and the key to its profit. Relying solely on the mall, it might not necessarily get capital back!

Putting his eyes back on the street, Li Dongling saw some ways. Yao Zhengru clearly put in a lot of effort. It wasn't just road repair. Yao Zhengru also installed underground drainage pipes and reserved space for natural gas and some other pipes.

This kind of vision is rare now, not to mention now, even if it is pushed back ten years later, the drainage of many cities is not very good. Yao Zhengru doing these things is clearly not a decision made by slapping his head.

From entering the urban area all the way to the Li family, Pingyang made Li Dongling feel both familiar and a bit strange. Anyway, it was completely different from the Pingyang in his past life, and even the urban planning and buildings of the Pingyang in his past life didn't have this scale.

It was the Changqing Road where the Dongling Gao Ke headquarters was located that remained as usual. The road here had been completely repaired in the past few years.

In addition, the buildings on both sides of the street were either bought by Dongling Gao Ke or rented by Flying Goose Technology, as well as companies closely related to Dongling Gao Ke such as Dongxin Semiconductor, Oriental Optoelectronics, Hanxi New Materials, BOE, and BYD, as liaison offices for Dongling Gao Ke.

This made Changqing Road the "old scenic spot" of Pingyang now. It is estimated that in the future, people in Pingyang who miss this era of Pingyang can only come to Changqing Road to miss it.

"Welcome new students of Pingyang University to school!"

Li Dongling saw banners welcoming new students of Pingyang University to school on the streets of Pingyang, and Li Dongling's car even brushed past a bus that came from Pingyang Railway Station to pick up new students.

Looking at those curious faces looking outside in the bus, Li Dongling couldn't help but feel a bit dazed.

The current Pingyang University can be called rich and powerful. Sending buses to the railway station to pick up new students for free is just a basic operation.

Under the situation where other universities started to charge fees, Pingyang University high-profilely shouted the slogan of free tuition for all this year, and even provided living expenses for students with excellent grades. This is not only among universities in Hanxi Province, but even looking at a group of universities in the country, it is quite eye-catching. ===== CHAPTER 550 =====