Chapter Twelve: The Sudden Stillness of the Air Instills the Greatest Fear

Although it felt somewhat absurd, Zhang Xiaocheng now believed Li Dongling’s words without a doubt. After all, they had already managed to build the satellite dish. Zhang Xiaocheng still held a hopeful attitude and prepared to negotiate with the Pingyang Television Station.

After a long period of silence, the gates of the Shanggantown Component Factory swung open again. People emerged, riding bicycles and notifying former employees to return to work according to the list and addresses.

A few years ago, this place was still envied by people from the town and surrounding villages. Receiving a salary from a state-owned factory was far better than digging the earth and relying on the heavens for a living.

But things gradually declined. Since last year, the factory officially ceased production, and wages began to be delayed. Many workers even went south to big cities to seek jobs.

Early in the morning, Liu Caiyuan, who lived in the neighboring Dahe Town, woke up to work in the fields. These tasks were previously done by his wife and family. After all, his monthly salary equaled the harvest of several acres, and his wife didn’t want him to toil in the fields, fearing he would exhaust himself. Now, without a salary, he had to work like an ox, facing the soil day and night.

Liu Caiyuan was skilled—his welding was excellent—but unfortunately, both state-owned and private enterprises were saturated with labor. He searched all over Pingyang City; even temporary jobs were scarce. He could only stay home and farm.

Just as he finished tidying his tools, someone from the same town knocked on his door. "Caiyuan, someone just came by to notify you to return to work. The Component Factory has resumed production today!"

"Resumed production?!"

Upon hearing this, a smile immediately spread across Liu Caiyuan’s face, his farming tools dropping to the ground.

At that moment, his wife pulled him back. "Why would you go back? They owe you over a year’s wages and haven’t paid a cent. You’d just be working for IOUs!"

"You don’t understand. Director Zhang promised us that once the factory got orders, we’d be called back. The wages owed will definitely be paid later," Liu Caiyuan insisted.

In the eyes of Liu Caiyuan and others, Zhang Xiaocheng still commanded great respect and trust.

Though rough around the edges, Zhang Xiaocheng was fair and never embezzled or showed favoritism. When the factory had no orders, he begged and borrowed money everywhere just to pay the workers. When salaries couldn’t be paid, he himself gave up his wages first to ensure the workers were paid. Ultimately, when there was no other option, he had to send them home.

Riding his bike, Liu Caiyuan headed toward the factory, determined that if he was cheated, he would accept it.

Within half a day, the area around the factory gate grew lively. Bicycles from all directions filled the once-empty bike shed.

Seeing so many workers called back so quickly, Li Dongling looked at Zhang Xiaocheng with newfound respect. To have so many willing to return to work despite more than a year without pay and the risk of working for nothing—Zhang truly had some ability!

This was perhaps the style of the era. In a time when formal contracts were less emphasized, promises and trust formed the foundation of human relationships. This was why Zhang could gather the workers back.

Indeed, this trust was what allowed scammers to thrive in those days. Most people had yet to experience deceit enough to be wary. Scammers exploited this trust to swindle extensively.

In a few years, this would change. As people suffered losses repeatedly, they’d realize that some verbal promises were as worthless as empty wind—sometimes even less credible, since at least a fart makes a noise. Human relationships would then rely solely on laws and contracts to maintain social trust—recognizing only contracts, not people.

Standing before the factory, Zhang Xiaocheng stood on a platform, hands on hips. "We’ve called you back because our factory has partnered with a company to develop a new product, and we need you to produce it!

"I won’t deceive you. I can’t pay the wages owed to you now. Nor can I guarantee the wages for this work. But I promise as soon as the product is made and sold for profit, I will pay what I owe. If you haven’t been paid, I won’t take a penny of salary myself!"

"We trust Director Zhang!"

Hearing Zhang’s words, Li Dongling saw that no one left. Someone shouted, and soon everyone was talking and applauding. When the production workshop opened, all went inside and took their posts.

Zhang Xiaocheng, a man who had seen battle and endured great pressure over the past year, had tears welling in his eyes but looked up as if something had gotten into them.

The entire Shanggantown Component Factory buzzed with activity. Materials were processed and brought into the workshop for assembly and testing. Li Dongling and Zhou Wenyan handled technical training. This was Zhou’s specialty, and he was much more skilled than Li.

Zhou Wenyan had a calm temper. No matter who had questions, he patiently taught them, even if asked repeatedly about the same issue, showing no irritation. He took care of everything, making the workshop orderly. Li Dongling happily delegated the workshop duties to Zhou, letting him enjoy being the workshop supervisor.

With the cannon fired, gold poured in. As production of the satellite dishes began, the 150,000 yuan budget visibly dwindled. Even if wages weren’t paid yet, materials like aluminum, feeders, motherboards, main control chips, and custom packaging still needed to be bought. And food for the workers? Even without wages, they couldn’t be left hungry!

On the third day, the first “StarGazer” satellite receiver passed its final test and was sent to the warehouse for packaging. Li Dongling, Zhang Xiaocheng, Zhou Wenyan, and others gathered there.

The packagers counted the components and began packing. Besides the dish, the most exquisite part was the set-top box. Its box was custom-made, bearing the “StarGazer” brand and a simple logo designed by Li Dongling—a satellite dish resembling a radar exploring signals under the starry sky. On the box were two lines of poetry:

"At dawn watch the daylight, at dusk watch the clouds,
By day admire the gentle clouds, by night observe the stars."

These lines explained the origin of the “StarGazer” name.

By modern standards, the packaging was not particularly refined. But in this era, when packaging and marketing were not emphasized, the “StarGazer” box looked high-end—even Zhang Xiaocheng thought it gave a sense of advanced technology, as if this was truly a high-tech product.

Watching the first receiver packed, Zhang Xiaocheng, whose lips had blistered from anxiety over the past few days, finally exhaled in relief.

Pulling Li Dongling aside, Zhang said, "I’ve asked someone to contact Zheng Zutai, director of Pingyang Television Station. He’ll come here this afternoon."

The television station initially thought Zhang was coming to advertise and sent someone over.

Nowadays, no company or department was really doing well. Television stations seemed prominent as the leaders of the media industry, but it depended on which station. The national, provincial, or provincial capital stations had no shortage of advertisers and could sit back waiting for clients to come and pay.

But ordinary city or county stations were struggling. Instead of companies seeking them out, the stations had to beg companies to advertise.

If Pingyang Television Station knew Zhang Xiaocheng was competing for their business, they wouldn’t have come—even if they had to rant about him on air for half an hour.

Li Dongling glanced back. "We can produce sixty satellite dishes a day. The first batch will be about seven hundred. If we can cooperate with Pingyang Television Station, we can start selling!"

Whether they lived or died depended on how well this first batch sold. If it sold well, all would be well. If not, Zhang Xiaocheng might really be driven to climb to the rooftop in despair.

That afternoon, a weathered jeep pulled up at the factory gate. Zheng Zutai stepped out.

The jeep was older than Zheng’s tenure at the station. After changing hands several times, it became the official vehicle of Pingyang Television Station. Usually, it was carefully maintained and only brought out for important occasions.

Seeing the factory, Zheng was surprised that Pingyang still had such factories that sought advertising.

Inside, witnessing the busy scene, a smile appeared on Zheng’s face. He felt this might finally bring in a substantial contract. The station hadn’t secured a single deal for months. Since the new year began, no bonuses had been given, and even Zheng felt his mouth had gone dry.

"Director Zheng, right?" Zhang Xiaocheng and Li Dongling came out to greet him. Zhang warmly shook his hand. "Why don’t you tour our factory first?"

"Good idea!" Zheng agreed after a moment’s thought. Even advertising clients deserved some understanding; money shouldn’t be taken blindly.

With a broad smile, Zheng followed Zhang into the workshop. Seeing the busy workers, Zheng praised Zhang while noticing Li Dongling’s strange expression: "I didn’t expect your factory to be so busy. It’s rare even in all of Pingyang City!"

Only when they reached the testing station, and Zheng saw the tester checking the set-top boxes while satellite TV channels appeared on the nearby screen, did his smile begin to stiffen. After a moment of silence, he asked, "I still don’t know what business you’re in?"