Chapter 8

Listening to Zhou Wenyang’s muttering, Li Dongling picked up the documents and glanced at them; although this good opportunity to learn at an external factory didn’t involve Huang Niu, the production line had arrived, and Zhou Wenyang might yet be needed to debug it and resolve issues, so Xu Yiqiao had still given him a copy to study thoroughly.

“A 16-inch color TV production line?!”

Li Dongling looked at the documents—it was for a 16-inch color TV production line, not imported from abroad, but purchased secondhand from another TV factory that had phased it out.

Over the past decade, over 180 TV production lines had been imported from abroad, and combined with those developed domestically, the total number of fully or semi-automatic domestic TV production lines likely exceeded two hundred.

Major manufacturers like Changhong now produced TVs with increasingly larger screens; 16-inch lines were no longer used and were gradually being phased out—yet Xicheng Wireless Factory No. 1 had actually taken them on.

Upon first seeing these documents, Li Dongling’s first thought was that something fishy was going on—was the factory director, general manager, or procurement department of Xicheng Wireless Factory No. 1 so bold as to secretly collude with the selling company and take kickbacks? Otherwise, why buy such an obviously outdated line?

But after careful thought, he felt even if there was corruption, they wouldn’t dare be this reckless—wouldn’t they fear ending up in prison eating steamed buns?

“How much did they pay for this line?!” Li Dongling asked Zhou Wenyang.

“Around thirteen million!”

The price was a bit high, but still reasonable—if everything went smoothly, the full line and technology could recoup costs and even turn a profit, provided they could sell the TVs.

“But the factory seems short on cash—they borrowed from the bank and also raised funds from employees, reportedly at interest rates higher than the bank’s. If I hadn’t already sent all my money home, I’d have lent it to the factory for the interest!”

Zhou Wenyang spoke with envy, seemingly regretting he hadn’t lent money to the factory; Li Dongling was stunned—he hadn’t expected people to be this bold now.

Hearing this, Li Dongling had a rough guess as to why Xicheng Wireless Factory No. 1 bought the 16-inch line—it was mainly because they were broke.

Buying this line was purely transitional; they never intended to compete with big-name TV manufacturers. The TVs produced would be sold at mid-to-low-end prices to customers in Pingyang City and surrounding areas, and once they had money, they’d buy a new line.

The plan sounded smart, but whether it would succeed was uncertain—if the TVs didn’t sell and the project collapsed, Li Dongling couldn’t imagine the consequences.

Zhou Wenyang kept muttering, even wanting to approach factory leadership to suggest replacing the TV line with an 18-inch one; Li Dongling shook his head—no matter how much Zhou Wenyang complained, it wouldn’t change Xicheng Wireless Factory No. 1’s decision.

“Dad, when can I get a formal position in the Technical Department? I’ve already told the girl I’m a backbone technician—this entire factory runs on me…”

In Liu Jiande’s office, a twenty-something man dressed in a suit, his leather shoes polished to a shine, his hair slicked back, had his shoes propped up on Liu Jiande’s desk.

Seeing how he dressed, he looked more like the general manager’s son than Liu Jiande himself; Liu Jiande slammed his teacup down hard. “Put your feet down—what would people think?!”

Others feared General Manager Liu Jiande, but Liu Shirong didn’t care—he was Liu Jiande’s only son.

“The staff quota’s been full for ages—you know that. The latest opening only came when a graduate from Jiaotong University joined. Getting into the Technical Department is easy, but getting a formal position? You’ll have to wait for an opportunity!” Liu Jiande said helplessly.

Hearing this, Liu Shirong grew anxious. “Dad, weren’t you just saying you’d get that grad fired in a few days? I’ve already bragged to the girl that I’m a backbone technician!”

Liu Shirong was dating a girl from a publishing house under the Education Bureau—she was a college graduate who loved literature and poetry; he’d barely scraped through middle school and had no clue about such things, so he’d boasted he was a backbone technician and the entire factory depended on him—if he left, the factory would collapse.

“Why not join another department? Sales, Procurement, Logistics—you’d be deputy head within a year or two, and maybe even take over my job someday!”

No way—Zhao Wanrong likes cultured, talented men, not rough, unrefined people!

Watching Liu Shirong, so confident and utterly consumed by this woman, Liu Jiande snapped, “That girl isn’t as simple as you think. Don’t you know your own character? Doesn’t she know it too?”

Liu Jiande couldn’t help but sigh—everyone had their match. Liu Shirong, who had turned his entire family upside down, had clearly been bewitched by Zhao Wanrong—he was completely under her thumb. If she ever entered the Liu family, who knew what chaos she’d bring?

Liu Shirong paid no attention to his father’s words. “I don’t care—I’m telling you now: I won’t marry anyone but Zhao Wanrong!”

Liu Jiande’s chest ached with rage; he drank several sips of tea to calm down, then after a moment said, “Actually, there is one opportunity.”

“Don’t worry—I’ll get you a formal position and make you a backbone technician in the Technical Department soon.”

After thinking a moment, Liu Jiande waved his hand. “Now get out—before you drive me to death.”

“Dad, can you give me some more money? Wanrong just fell for a trench coat from Hong Kong—she’d look like a movie star in it. I’m short on cash right now!”

Hearing he wanted more money, Liu Jiande flew into a rage. “How much did I give you this month? A thousand yuan isn’t enough? Do you think I run a bank? You’ll bankrupt this family!”

He scolded him, but when Liu Shirong left, he still took the money; Liu Jiande clutched his chest in anguish. “What kind of karma is this?!”

After sitting in his office for a moment, Liu Jiande picked up the phone. “Tell Xu Yiqiao from the Technical Department to come see me.”

The next morning, the Technical Department called everyone together for a meeting; besides Xu Yiqiao, Li Dongling saw several factory leaders present, including Liu Jiande.

“Today we’re honored to have General Manager Liu and several other factory leaders attending our meeting.”

“Let’s give General Manager Liu a warm round of applause.”

Xu Yiqiao clapped first, followed by scattered, half-hearted applause.

“Today I’ve called you here for a great and honorable task: we’ve always been brothers with other wireless factories in Pingyang. When they face difficulties, Xicheng Wireless Factory No. 1 stands ready to support them fully and help solve their problems!”

“The Wireless Components Factory in Shangguan Town was originally built with our help. Now it’s in trouble. Factory leadership has decided to send personnel from our Technical Department to support them. Who volunteers for this honorable yet arduous mission?!”

After Xu Yiqiang spoke, silence fell—no one responded. He stood there, embarrassed.

No one was foolish. Times weren’t like before—going to support Shangguan Town’s Wireless Components Factory meant you might never return. Each position was a fixed slot; once you left, someone else would take your place. Who’d pay your salary? If the factory eventually collapsed, would the supporting technicians be held responsible? All these were serious questions.

Seeing no one step forward, Xu Yiqiao grew angry. “This decision was made unanimously by factory leadership—we must send technicians. If no one volunteers, I’ll start calling names…”

“Sounds great, but why don’t you lead by example, Old Xu?” A woman in the Technical Department fired back first.

“Yeah, Xu Kezhang—you’re the head of the Technical Department. Shouldn’t you be the first to step up for the department’s honor?!”

“If you go, I’ll pack my bags and follow you without hesitation!”

These were seasoned veterans—they knew every trick. They weren’t about to be used as cannon fodder, sold off by Xu Yiqiao to curry favor with factory leadership.

Xu Yiqiao was left speechless—he couldn’t go himself. If he dared say he’d go, his position as department head would be taken the next day.

“I… I’d certainly be willing to go, but who goes must be decided by factory leadership,” Xu Yiqiao said stubbornly, then looked pleadingly at Liu Jiande.

“Cough!”

“Everyone, calm down. I understand your concerns, but this must be done—it’s the directive from the municipal government and Mayor Luo!”

Seeing Xu Yiqiao overwhelmed, Liu Jiande cleared his throat—he wasn’t bluffing; the municipal government really wanted Xicheng Wireless Factory No. 1 to rescue the Shangguan Town Wireless Components Factory.

The Shangguan Town Wireless Components Factory was also state-owned, with two hundred employees, but its bank debt exceeded seven or eight hundred thousand yuan. The factory couldn’t hold on—it needed loans just to pay salaries. The municipal government wanted Xicheng Wireless Factory No. 1 to either merge with the factory or absorb its workers.

How could Xicheng Wireless Factory No. 1 want such a hot potato? It was already barely surviving, packed to capacity—adding hundreds more workers and their mountain of debt would surely drag them down too.

So they’d devised this plan: under the guise of “support,” send technicians to delay the inevitable, and if the Shangguan factory collapsed anyway, they could blame the few technicians sent.

“Don’t worry—those sent for support can return to our factory afterward. Your salary will still be paid by us, plus a three-yuan daily allowance. Upon return, you’ll be a key training candidate!”

Liu Jiande scanned the faces of the Technical Department staff, then paused—his expression brightened.

“Dongling, aren’t you from Shangguan Town? You should speak up first—would you support your hometown?”

Instantly, all eyes turned to Li Dongling.

Li Dongling’s mind raced with thoughts; he stared at them for a moment, then suddenly realized—crisis can sometimes be opportunity!

“I volunteer for technical support!”

Li Dongling stood up and said to Liu Jiande, who blinked in surprise, then began clapping.