Chapter 283: Moving into the Agricultural Machinery Factory

Ye Junying was driven back to the Jiedao; this was the last thing Aunt Wang did before leaving.

They were sent out for disaster relief only a few days after being forced back.

How massive was the flood? The entire North China Plain was almost a sea.

It came at the price of 104 counties, (some) villages, 12.7 million houses collapsing, people injured, 5,119 deaths.

Economic loss was 7.2 billion, while the national GDP at the time was only 50 billion.

It can be said the loss was catastrophic.

It was at this moment that Yang Qing arrived at the Agricultural Machinery Factory.

When they first entered, someone was mobilizing workers for disaster relief.

"Comrades, the masses are now in mortal danger; we must uphold the spirit of 'when one side is in trouble, all sides provide support' and go to assist."

"If we go a little earlier, we can save one more person."

The workers were very excited, almost ready to rush out immediately.

The young woman, seeing the good response, began to register volunteers and collect donations of money and goods.

Yang Qing, with a dark line on their face, went up and grabbed the young woman's arm.

"Miss, our Agricultural Machinery Factory cannot go."

The young woman turned and saw a black ball.

"Why can't we go? We were fine just now; don't cause trouble."

The workers, not knowing Yang Qing, saw them causing trouble and shouted angrily.

"Who are you, and what are you doing in our Agricultural Machinery Factory?"

"We're going to fight the flood; what does it have to do with you? No business here, get lost."

Yang Qing did not get angry at being scolded.

They took out ten yuan and placed it in the young woman's hand.

"I am the Factory Director of this Agricultural Machinery Factory. We still have a more arduous task, so we cannot go."

"Comrade, I'm truly sorry."

The young woman looked at Yang Qing with suspicion.

The workers also wore an incredulous look; this dark‑skinned kid is the new Factory Director?

"Is that true? You're the Director and I didn't know?"

Yang Qing quickly produced their appointment letter.

"New, newly arrived."

"I came bearing a mission."

The young woman and a group of workers came over to inspect.

After inspecting, the young woman said, suspiciously.

"What mission do you have that is more important than disaster relief?"

Yang Qing nodded.

"Yes, indeed more important than disaster relief."

"Disaster relief needs tools, right?"

"We can't go empty‑handed; the front line now urgently needs iron spades, and we must speed up production."

After Yang Qing said that, the young woman reluctantly prepared to leave.

"I went back to the Jiedao to check; if you dare to deceive me, be ready for execution."

Yang Qing shouted at the young woman.

"Comrade, my name is Yang Qing; a quick inquiry at the Jiedao would have told you."

The young woman turned back.

"You are Yang Qing? Didn't you go to Honghai?"

Yang Qing straightened their hat.

"I am a Jiedao person, so of course I stay in the Jiedao."

The young woman let out a howl and gave them a thumbs‑up.

"Yang Qing, you're a good example."

Then she addressed the dozens of workers.

"You are saved; listen carefully to Chief Yang's words."

Then she hopped away.

The workers looked at Yang Qing curiously.

"Are you Yang Qing? The guy who turned a Long-term Rental project into a municipal‑owned company?"

Yang Qing didn't expect to be so popular.

"No need for thanks; that's just rumor. The success of the Long-term Rental project is the result of our Jiedao's effort, not my individual merit."

The workers didn't care about their words.

"Chief Yang."

"Chief Yang…"

"Chief Yang, okay?"

"Chief Yang, you must save us; if you don't, we'll go bankrupt."

"Next month's wages are almost out of money to pay."

Yang Qing's head ached from their shouting; they raised a hand to stop them from continuing to clamour.

Now everything we have must be devoted to disaster relief service.

Wages will be paid, but we must complete the task.

The workers, hearing his words, felt reassured.

Ye Junjie has already run off; if they run again, they'll truly be done.

Yang Qing, we'll listen to you.

Whatever you say we should do, we'll do.

Everyone was very enthusiastic.

Yang Qing raised his hand.

Good, then from now on we'll go all out producing iron plows.

Go.

A group of people, having a goal, turned and went to work.

Left behind were seven or eight people who at a glance were not workers.

Yang Qing looked at them.

A middle-aged man stepped forward.

Yang Qing, I'm Ge Hongtao, the team leader of the Lunar July Project.

Yang Qing, what instructions do you have for us?

Ge Hongtao felt a bit afraid; one could say the entire Agricultural Machinery Factory had been dragged down by him.

As for Ye Junjie, the only thing he got right was to tightly focus on technology.

All the money was sunk into this.

Yang Qing did not give them a cold shoulder.

Instead, he asked concernedly.

How is the imitation of the Lunar July Project going?

Seeing that Yang Qing wasn't angry, Ge Hongtao let out a sigh of relief.

When the subject turned to his old trade, he became energized.

We didn't just copy it; we also made improvements.

It's because the improvements were difficult that the expenses exceeded the budget.

And this is a pleasant surprise? One can only say that people nowadays are genuine; unlike decades later, when you spend money they might just hand you a pile of crap, with charlatans everywhere.

Ah, then how are your improvements coming along?

Ge Hongtao said excitedly.

It's nearly done, but we haven't tested it yet. Yang Qing, give us two more months; we'll run a road test, fix any small problems, and then we can consider the product ready for production.

Yang Qing felt delighted again.

You're saying you only need to do the road test?

Ge Hongtao nodded.

Yes, the road test isn't a success yet; many areas still need improvement. Once those are made, we can proceed to mass production.

Yang Qing felt a surge of excitement.

Hurry, take me to see it.

Afterward, Yang Qing went to inspect their finished product, tried it himself, and found it quite good.

The completion level was high.

Over the next few days, he kept test-driving it, with no issues occurring.

This is still just a road test—what nonsense. The real approach is to produce while testing and improving, and get things rolling as quickly as possible.

If we want people to see results, having results will allow us to postpone loan repayments.

Yang Qing let out an excited shout.

Production—start producing right away.

Now flood relief and disaster rescue urgently need tractors.

Using while producing, producing while improving—that's the right path.

Ah? Ah? Ah?...

Several people were stunned—can we produce even semi-finished products?

Yang Qing, this won't do; if defective products are sold, there will be accountability.

Yang Qing gave them a sideways glance.

What responsibility? We're here for disaster relief—whose responsibility are we chasing?

Don't worry about the money; I'll head to the city shortly to resolve the engine and parts production and material issues.

All you need to do is hurry up and produce for me.

After instructing everyone, he took the documents and rushed to the city.

He didn't expect to have stumbled upon a lucky break.

What luck!

Yang Qing didn't know what to say.

We might not make money, but at least the wage problem is solved.

We're contributing to disaster relief; you can't possibly refuse to reimburse our wages, can you?

With public support for disaster relief, delaying the bank loan by a year shouldn't be a problem, right?

Personnel wages are also fine, and the production materials come from the city, so there shouldn't be any problems either.

During the critical period of disaster relief, being able to act is enough—what quality is needed?

The quality issue has also been resolved.

Spending others' money, we perfected our technique; after the disaster relief ended, the Agricultural Machinery Factory was also improved and completed, and we also obtained a perfected production capacity.

Perfect.

At this critical moment, asking for more support—isn't that natural?

How great is that?

Yang Qing felt he simply had tremendous luck.