Chapter 543

mayiwsk

The next morning, Wen Wen Leyu and Pei Pei Wenhui arrived at Zaojunmiao early. Today, they had agreed with Fu Fu Yiruo to go to the mountains in the west to take pictures of the scenery together.

However, Li Ye had things to do and didn't want to go, so Fu Fu Yiruo was a bit unhappy.

"Brother, you're not going to play with us today! What if the three of us girls run into bad guys?"

"Then don't go today. Just go to Haizi and take a few pictures. Can I accompany you to the Western Hills tomorrow instead?"

Li Ye was still very vigilant about "bad guys." People these days hadn't seen "big money," and it wasn't uncommon to see people turn evil for a few hundred thousand. Even Yu Yu Dongfang almost fell for it, so being careful didn't hurt.

Seeing that Li Ye really had things to do, Fu Fu Yiruo stopped pestering him and smiled, saying: "Hehe, it's okay, brother. If not, we'll take a bodyguard with us. Besides, Sister-in-law is also very powerful; dealing with two or three petty thieves is a piece of cake."

Pei Pei Wenhui also nodded repeatedly: "Mm-hmm, Sister Xiaoyu has a gun in hand, she can hold off three bodyguards."

Wen Wen Leyu had practiced bayonet fighting with Li Ye for two years. In Li Ye's eyes, she was barely a beginner, but in the eyes of Fu Fu Yiruo and Pei Pei Wenhui, she was definitely a "heroine," hitting the mark every time, very accurate.

However, Wen Wen Leyu waved her hand and smiled at Li Ye: "You go ahead and do your business; we'll just go to Haizi and look around."

Fu Fu Yiruo immediately shouted exaggeratedly: "Ah! No way! Sister-in-law, have you started following your husband's lead already?"

Pei Pei Wenhui also fanned the flames: "Exactly, exactly, Sister Xiaoyu, we can't live without men..."

Wen Wen Leyu looked at the two mischievous sisters, silently opened her left hand, clenched her right fist, pressed her right fist with her left palm, and then switched hands, making a "crack, crack" sound.

Fu Fu Yiruo and Pei Pei Wenhui immediately stopped smiling and stood at attention obediently.

"Hmph."

Wen Wen Leyu gave a triumphant little snort.

Daring to make fun of me? If I don't punch you twice, I'm afraid you'll forget who the big sister is, right?

Li Ye was going to the Changbei Machinery Company today to discuss some things with Li Li Dayong.

When he drove to the factory gate, he found that it had only been a few months since he last came, and the whole factory had changed completely.

Seven mixed-brick buildings had been built on the east side. Looking at the things drying on the balconies, it was clear that they had already been allocated and people had started living in them.

And next to these seven buildings, the new welfare building had been built to the first floor above ground. If they worked hard, they could top it off before the end of this year.

And in the new factory building of the first phase of expansion to the west of the old factory area, there was also the rumbling sound of machines running, and the second phase of the expansion project was under construction in full swing.

In two years, that small factory that was once half-dead had completely come alive.

It's just that the factory gate was still the same weathered, old-looking one from two years ago, looking as if it was about to go out of business.

On the mainland, when a factory has money, it will definitely build a new gate, otherwise people will think your capital chain has problems.

But I don't know if Li Li Dayong was influenced by Li Ye, or if the Hong Kong-funded manager was a pragmatic person. Anyway, this gate looked a bit shabby, and only the new sign of "Changbei Machinery Company" told visitors they hadn't come to the wrong place.

"Beep, beep."

Li Ye honked the horn and waited for the guard to open the gate.

He remembered that in the past, the gate of Changbei Machinery Company was not closed during the day, and even after getting off work in the afternoon, cars would just honk and be let in.

But a crew-cut head poked out from the guard room at the entrance: "What are you honking for? Come over and register."

Li Ye was stunned, got out of the car, and walked toward the guard room at the entrance with a smile.

It seems that since the Hong Kong side took charge of the work, management has become stricter and stricter.

"What's your name? Who are you looking for?"

"My name is Li Ye, I'm looking for Li Li Dayong."

"Looking for Li Li Dayong?" The crew-cut man glanced at Li Ye and said vigilantly: "Who are you to Technician Li? What do you want with him?"

Li Ye smiled: "I'm his classmate, looking to discuss some technical matters with him."

The crew-cut man looked at Li Ye again, then picked up the phone and actually dialed the factory's extension to verify.

Li Li Dayong wasn't on the other end of the phone. After notifying him, the crew-cut man said to Li Ye: "You have to wait a while. According to the regulations, everyone visiting the technical department must wait for the technician to come out and pick them up personally."

"Oh, okay, that's good."

Li Ye really thought it was good. This visitor management system already had a bit of the flavor of decades later.

And just as Li Ye was waiting, two people came out of the factory. One was the former factory director Wang Qinshan, and the other was a short man in a Zhongshan suit.

The two were arguing as they walked. The man in the Zhongshan suit said angrily: "Wang Qinshan, I've seen through you. You're just a lackey for the capitalists now, your conscience has been fed to the dogs..."

Wang Qinshan suppressed his anger and said: "I'm telling you, Fang the Second, let's talk about things, don't insult people. If you're not convinced, let's go outside the factory gate and settle it."

"Settle it? Good!"

The man in the Zhongshan suit began to roll up his shirt sleeves: "As long as I beat you, you return our factory's steel. If I lose, I won't say a word."

Wang Qinshan also began to roll up his sleeves and said angrily: "What steel of your factory? I've told you eight times, that was allocated to our factory by the higher-ups, it has nothing to do with you."

"You're full of it!"

The man named Fang the Second jumped three feet high: "I've inquired clearly, that batch of steel was originally allocated to our factory,

and it turned out that you, you dog, went and pestered them, treating them to meals and giving gifts, and intercepted our steel..."

Li Ye didn't like Wang Qinshan much, but seeing that the two were about to fight at the gate, he said to the crew-cut man in the guard room: "Why don't you hurry out? If they really start fighting, it'll be good to break it up!"

Wang Qinshan was a demobilized soldier; just looking at his build, he was a size bigger than Fang the Second. If he hit him in the head, it would be troublesome if the man fell down and didn't get up.

But the crew-cut man said disdainfully: "Don't worry! They won't fight. They're both old foxes, just playing with their mouths."

Wang Qinshan and Fang the Second argued louder and louder, their shirt sleeves rolled higher and higher, but until Li Li Dayong came to pick up Li Ye, they really didn't fight.

Li Li Dayong got into Li Ye's car and drove him into the factory. When passing Wang Qinshan, Wang Qinshan looked at Li Ye with a complex expression.

Li Ye asked Li Li Dayong: "What's going on? That Fang the Second said Wang Qinshan snatched their steel?"

Li Li Dayong shook his head and said: "Raw materials are in short supply now, everyone is showing their own abilities. If we don't snatch it, others will... Factory Director Fang's factory can't get that batch of steel."

"Oh, are raw materials already that tight?"

"More than tight, they're simply scarce," Li Li Dayong said helplessly. "The materials we can get within the plan are now less than one-third.

Two-thirds of the gap needs to be supplemented at market prices, changing every day, and often there's no market for them. Even with money, you might not be able to buy things."

"Our products can only rise with the tide, but no matter how high they rise... they can't earn as much as others."

Li Ye knew that the mainland had implemented a dual-track system since last year, determining the sales prices of planned and unplanned commodities based on the market.

Planned commodities are priced by the state, and unplanned commodities are determined by the market.

This approach effectively avoided social unrest and other problems brought about by radical reform, but it also gave birth to a large number of "daoye" (speculators).

"Speculating in steel" and "speculating in gasoline" were the hottest ways to make money in the 80s and 90s. Countless people racked their brains, hoping to get in and make a fortune.

A fortune that leads to financial freedom is no lie.

Taking the 1986 price as an example, according to a survey by the Policy Research Office of the State Administration of Commodity Prices, the state-set price for planned steel was about 700 yuan per ton.

While the unplanned price reached around 1400 yuan, a difference of one time.

And crude oil was even more exaggerated; the planned price was 113 yuan per ton, while the unplanned reached 560 yuan per ton, a difference of 4.95 times.

A profit margin of over 300% couldn't stop the greed of the speculators, even with the threat of the gallows.

This phenomenon was not something Li Ye could change, so facing the somewhat annoyed Li Li Dayong, Li Ye changed the subject.

"Didn't Wang Qinshan always want to transfer away before? Why is he working so hard to help you snatch raw materials now?"

"He'd be a fool to transfer away!" Li Li Dayong curled his lip and said. "Now I don't know how many people want to transfer in, even willing to transfer in at a lower rank. If he doesn't work hard, he'll be replaced by someone with connections."

"Going to another place means starting over. By enduring humiliation here, once he's re-employed... he'll make a fortune."

Li Ye said amusedly: "Then is his hard work effective?"

"Effective."

Li Li Dayong said objectively: "When it comes to business management, Wang Qinshan's concepts are really backward, but when it comes to using connections, arguing with people, and fighting with words, we are simply no match for him.

Several groups have come to cause trouble these days, all snatched by him, and then sent away empty-handed. I really admire him..."

Li Ye smiled and nodded. If you don't light up the "arguing" skill, that chair is really hard to sit on!

"Brother, you're an expert in economics. When do you think we will fully open up the market economy?"

Li Ye shook his head: "No, it will never be fully opened."

Li Li Dayong was startled, then whispered: "Brother, then what should you do?"

Li Ye asked strangely: "What do you mean by what should I do? What do you mean by that?"

Li Li Dayong looked at Li Ye strangely: "Brother, aren't you a die-hard reformer? If it doesn't open up, didn't you take the wrong path?"

"Who said I'm a die-hard... Forget it, you don't understand."

Li Ye said amusedly: "Everything has two sides. The current dual-track system is certainly a bit chaotic, but it also opened a gap for private enterprises. Otherwise, how could they compete with people like Wang Qinshan?"

The 80s and 90s were an era of rapid development of the private economy. Many private enterprises developed through various gaps.

"Then... can we still develop?"

Li Li Dayong was stunned. He was brainwashed by Li Ye all day long, saying that the Great Heavenly Dynasty would return to the peak of the world in the future.

But now, Western free economic thought is regarded as the golden rule by most people. If it's not fully opened, how can we catch up with them?

Li Ye shook his head: "Li Dayong! You're also a college student. Read more Marxist philosophy when you have nothing to do, and you can find the answer in it."

(End of chapter)