Chapter 688: Not Attending to Proper Business

The news of the Rolling Mill hiring spread through Si Jiu Cheng like a gust of wind.

It wasn't that the work at the new factory was particularly good, but that there were simply too many young people with no work to do in this day and age.

Without a job, most people had only one way out—going to the countryside to join the production teams.

For a time, all sorts of connections were set in motion.

People passing notes, pulling strings, and wanting to pay money to buy a spot came surging in like a tide.

Even the security guards at the gate of the Red Star Rolling Mill could receive several batches of requests in a single day.

This time, He Yuzhu kept the hiring requirements extremely strict.

Layer upon layer of screening, with each hurdle stricter than the last.

Furthermore, the examiners were not people from the factory, but outsiders he had invited from various places.

In this way, those with real ability could get in easily, while those without it found no connections or background to be of any use.

The test questions were even more devious. They looked like academic questions, yet they had nothing to do with what was in the textbooks.

Those strange reasoning and logic puzzles left many people completely bewildered.

There were also skill tests, which weeded out all the clumsy ones.

The hiring process lasted for half a month, and in the end, over eleven thousand people were recruited.

It could be said that this recruitment drive kept almost all of the most outstanding young people in Si Jiu Cheng at the Rolling Mill.

The children He Yuzhu had trained all passed the exam, and even He Yulu, who was not yet of hiring age, was recruited into the Automobile Factory as an apprentice due to her exceptional skills.

Of course, there was no shortage of gossip behind his back.

After all, those who followed He Yuzhu to learn basically all got into the factory—though it wasn't that He Yuzhu had pulled strings; they had all gotten in by their own merit.

Yan Jiekuang of the Yan family and Liu Guangfu of the Liu family were not admitted.

The Yan family even spread quite a few rumors because of this.

At the factory staff meeting, He Yuzhu spoke first: "A while back when I was away, our factory's cooperation with the Military Factory went very poorly, and in the end, we even lost this client. It's shameful! Without the Military Factory's orders, the Tractor Factory has no work to do either. Fortunately, the leadership has let me return to be the Factory Director again. So, we must continue to build our cars... This time, we are going to build our own cars."

These words reignited everyone's fighting spirit. As his voice fell, the crowd stood up one after another to applaud.

He Yuzhu changed the subject and scanned the crowd: "However, building cars costs a lot of money, and our factory has no money. Whoever among you present can find the funding, I will make them a Deputy Factory Director!"

When everyone heard this, their previous enthusiasm instantly deflated.

They raised their heads one after another—they still remembered that Deputy Factory Director Nie, who had been so full of promises, had arranged for so many children to enter the factory through the back door, but when it really came to needing foreign currency, he had exhausted all his connections and hadn't managed to get a single cent.

Seeing that everyone had lost heart, He Yuzhu said: "Since you can't get the money, then let me find a way. We have to rely on ourselves to earn it."

After hearing this, everyone felt it was somewhat like a fantasy and began whispering to one another.

"My way of making money is different from others. This time, I am going to develop an electronic product, and the prototype has already been made. We are going to rely on this thing to make big money, to earn the money to build cars!" He Yuzhu said with great passion.

As he spoke, he took five palm-sized objects out of his backpack and placed them on the table.

They had light gray plastic shells, with a small red LED dot-matrix screen embedded on the front, and left/right directional keys, a confirm key, and a reset key arranged below; they were very compact.

Deputy Factory Director Sun leaned over, picked up a machine, and looked it over repeatedly: "Factory Director He, what kind of new instrument is this? Can we really earn money just by relying on this thing?"

He shook his head incessantly.

"I call this an Electronic Game Machine, you can also call it 'Tetris'." He Yuzhu explained while calling over a few young people and distributing the machines on the table to them.

He Yuzhu pressed the switch, the screen lit up, and light dots formed long bars and squares, falling down row by row. "These buttons can move left and right, change shapes, and adjust direction... this way you can clear lines..." He Yuzhu instructed the young engineers on how to operate it.

For a time, the meeting room was like an arcade, and the sounds it emitted were exceptionally novel.

In fact, this was the Tetris that He Yuzhu had seen in his previous life, only in this lifetime, it had been developed by him first.

The technical backbone staff couldn't put it down once they started playing, leaving the others with no chance to play.

He Yuzhu turned his head and said to the Secretary: "Go, call He Yulu over."

Before long, He Yulu pushed the door open and entered; seeing He Daqing, she whispered: "Dad."

He Yuzhu nodded at her: "Come, Yulu, show everyone a special skill. I know some of you are unconvinced in your hearts, thinking that I specially recruited my sister into the factory. Today, I will let you witness her ability. Whoever among you can surpass her, I will make them the technical director for this project."

Although the technicians had figured out how to play and had become addicted, they were ultimately inexperienced. The blocks fell faster and faster, their fingers couldn't keep up with the rhythm, and it ended after only a few moments.

"This thing is fun, but I can't hold on for long," a technician said, scratching his head.

He Yulu took the prototype and, without starting from the low level, directly selected the high difficulty.

Her fingers flew, moving so fast they almost left afterimages. The higher the blocks piled up, the faster she moved; every second seemed to be walking on the edge of a limit, and in the end, she actually cleared the level in one go.

The technicians watching from the sidelines were all stunned.

He Daqing stood to the side, his face full of smiles. Previously, he had seen his daughter playing happily and had often secretly tried to play it himself, but after practicing for a long time, he had remained stuck at the low-level stages.

"Fun, isn't it?" He Yuzhu looked around at everyone and asked unhurriedly.

Deputy Factory Director Sun, however, frowned and muttered: "Factory Director He, this thing is interesting. But, if we produce this, will the higher-ups interfere?"

He Yuzhu smiled: "First, this gadget is mainly for export to earn foreign currency; second, once we thoroughly master this technology, it will be much simpler to make electronic watches and calculators in the future."

The technicians understood, but the few Deputy Factory Directors were still somewhat worried.

He Yuzhu smiled and explained: "We have recruited so many people, our main business is still building cars; this thing is just a way to earn money."

"Factory Director He," a technician couldn't help but ask, "when can this product go into production?"

"I have long been prepared. The equipment used to produce typewriters at the Tractor Factory can be used after some modifications. Within half a year, we will have a daily output of two hundred units; in about a year, production capacity will expand to five hundred units per day."

The news of the Rolling Mill's meeting soon reached the Ministry.

Secretary Zhao called at noon: "He Yuzhu, what on earth are you up to? Come to the Ministry immediately and explain clearly!"

He Yuzhu didn't waste any breath; he took ten prototypes and went to the Ministry.

The order from Liu Shi Trading had already been sent over, with an initial order of five thousand units.

Holding the contract in his hand, he naturally felt confident.

As soon as he arrived at the Ministry, He Yuzhu was questioned by the two Bureau Chiefs in charge and Secretary Zhao.

Bureau Chief Sun, who was in charge of industry, got straight to the point: "Factory Director He, you have been in office for a month and recruited so many people, wanting to build cars—we can understand that. However, the car project hasn't even begun, and now you want to make game machines? Isn't this just messing around? I've been in industry for so many years, and I've never heard of this thing."

Looking at the furious Bureau Chief Sun, He Yuzhu explained unhurriedly: "Three leaders, I, He Yuzhu, would not do things I am not certain of. Please look, I have already received the order, and the full payment has already arrived in the account; how could we not produce?"