Chapter 22: Something for Nothing

Upon hearing Xu Yongjin’s words, the conference room of the No. 1 Radio Factory erupted into chaos. The factory was currently drowning in debt and struggling to even pay wages. To learn that the Component Factory was raking in so much money was simply impossible for them to accept.

In Liu Jiande’s mind, a few sentences played on a continuous loop: the No. 1 Radio Factory had provided technical support to the Shangguan Town Component Factory, and the Component Factory had made a massive profit of nine million last month!

Liu Jiande wasn’t entirely sure how much Li Dongling and Zhou Wenyuan were involved in this, but he felt a cold prickle of dread on his scalp. He vaguely sensed that he might have blundered into a catastrophic mess.

"The fact that we could help the Shangguan Town Component Factory overcome its difficulties proves that our technology is absolutely sound. We must resume production as soon as possible and not let Mayor Luo and the city leaders down. Jiande, you have a heavy responsibility; you oversee the production and technical departments..."

Xu Yongjin remained optimistic about the No. 1 Radio Factory. After all, if sending a few technicians could bring the Component Factory back to life and generate nine million in a single month, then surely, they could save themselves with even greater ease. If they just put in a little effort, wouldn't they be pulling in tens of millions a month?

Because of this, although Xu had been somewhat suspicious of Liu earlier, he didn't dwell on it. After all, what kind of company would send away its core, lifeblood-level technicians for free? No sane person could fathom a company driving away its essential technical staff, causing servers to crash and programs to fail, leading to the loss of tens of millions in orders and hundreds of millions in revenue within hours. Was that even something a carbon-based lifeform would do?

Xu Yongjin felt that as long as he steered the No. 1 Radio Factory through this crisis, he could retire in peace, respected and held in high regard.

Liu Jiande returned to his office in a daze, having no recollection of how he got there or what Xu had said. As he snapped out of his panic, he hurriedly called for his subordinates and began to make arrangements. He had to pin the blame entirely on Xu Yiqiao. It was Xu Yiqiao who had driven away Li Dongling and Zhou Wenyuan, it was Xu Yiqiao who had missed out on the satellite dish project, and it was Xu Yiqiao who was responsible for the color television production line failing to go online. None of it had anything to do with him.

Liu Jiande had to expose Xu Yiqiao’s "crimes" to Xu Yongjin before the truth came out. Xu Yiqiao was the culprit who had ruined the factory, while he, Liu Jiande, had merely been deceived!

Meanwhile, on the factory floor, a frantic Xu Yiqiao was tinkering with the delivered equipment alongside the technical staff. He sneezed suddenly. He had been debugging the equipment day and night for several days, but problems on the production line kept emerging. They had barely managed to trial-produce one unit, but it was completely substandard.

The equipment manufacturer had sent technicians to help, but these people were in no hurry. They clocked out right on time, treating this as a business trip with a per diem paid by the Xicheng No. 1 Radio Factory. They were in no rush; in fact, they hoped to drag the repairs out for months. If they couldn't fix it, they would just pack up and leave.

As for the technicians that the No. 1 Radio Factory had sent for training, few were actually from the technical department. Most were from other offices, treating the trip as a paid vacation. By now, they were nowhere to be found.

Xu Yiqiao began to miss the reliability of the "old workhorse" Zhou Wenyuan. When Zhou was around, he didn't need to worry about technical issues. He just had to hand over the burden, and the old workhorse would plow the fields without needing a whip. He never had to worry, and in the end, the credit always went to Xu Yiqiao!

But now that he had driven Zhou away, he had to do all the dirty work himself. Looking at the grease covering his body, Xu Yiqiao grew irritable and glared at another "old workhorse"—Song Yajun, the man who had once criticized Li Dongling for being too young and inexperienced when Li proposed making a mini portable radio.

"Old Song, I don't care what method you use, the production line must be repaired by tomorrow. If production is delayed, you will bear the responsibility. Don't even think about this year's bonus, and forget about your son taking your place in the factory—you’ll be the one walking out the door!"

Song Yajun, who was crawling under the production line checking the wiring and looked filthy, felt his face grow even more bitter at Xu’s words. In the past, the head workhorse of the technical department had shielded him, but with Zhou Wenyuan gone, Song truly realized that Xu Yiqiao was scum. Yet, he didn't dare to curse him. He still hoped for his son to enter the factory and take over his position; if he offended Xu, all those hopes would vanish.

"Hongying, thank you!"

In the tenement building, a haggard-looking Qin Fang accepted the five hundred yuan from Wei Hongying, expressing her gratitude.

"Sister Qin, why are you being so formal with me!" Wei Hongying said casually, biting into a large apple. These apples were distributed by the Component Factory. With profits high, the factory’s benefits had improved—fruit, autumn workwear, and labor protection supplies were all being handed out. Wei even heard that next month, employees who wanted to buy satellite dishes could purchase one at a 40% discount for their families.

It was essentially a gift. The factory price of a satellite dish was over three hundred yuan, so buying one at a 40% discount was a guaranteed profit, whether for personal use or for immediate resale at the factory gate.

Crunching on the apple, Wei looked at the pale Qin Fang. "Sister Qin, how are things at home?"

"They're okay!"

Watching Qin Fang force a smile, Wei Hongying sighed internally. She knew life wasn't easy for her. Wei was a distant relative of Wei Qiang, and after he died in a car accident, she had helped Qin out quite a bit. Though they were kin, Wei couldn't defend Wei Qiang; he had been a drinker and a gambler who fought constantly with Qin, and the accident had happened because he was drinking while on a delivery.

After Wei Qiang died, he left behind a mess. The living expenses and tuition for his younger siblings now fell entirely on Qin Fang. Her own parents were also a burden; her mother was bedridden and required expensive medical care, and her brother was a wastrel who contributed nothing. The weight of it all rested on Qin's shoulders.

"Sister Qin," Wei Hongying finished the apple in a few bites and said, "The No. 1 Radio Factory doesn't know when it will resume production, and we don't know if your chance to take over Wei Qiang’s position will work out. Why not go to the Shangguan Town Component Factory? If you work hard there, you can earn five or six hundred a month!"

Qin Fang’s heart skipped a beat at these words. Then, she heard Wei Hongying whisper mysteriously, "Sister Qin, let me tell you, Brother Li’s word is absolute law at the Component Factory now. I heard the satellite dish project was his idea, and he’s one of the shareholders. If you go, ask Brother Li to arrange a good position for you..."

"Li Dongling?!"

Hearing the name, Qin Fang’s face turned deathly pale.

Wei Hongying looked at her strangely and then realized, "Are you still worried about what happened that day? I think as long as you talk it out and clear the misunderstanding, Brother Li won’t hold it against you!"

"I'll think about it!" Qin Fang shook her head. She wanted to work at the Component Factory, but she was anxious. Although she had changed her mind at the last moment that day, she still felt an involuntary sense of guilt whenever she faced Li Dongling.

"Another stack of slips. How many people have come to demand favors these past few days?"

"Even someone from the Water Bureau has sent word to approve their requests!"

Inside the Component Factory, Zhang Xiaocheng slammed a pile of slips onto the table. These slips either came from the Shangguan Town government office or from various units in the Pingyang municipal government.

Li Dongling picked up a few slips. They all essentially read: "Please coordinate the provision of [X] number of satellite receivers to [Company/Person]." Below the text was the official stamp of the issuing unit.

These requests were made by people with connections who had gone to the Industry and Commerce Bureau, the Tax Bureau, the Finance Bureau, the Judicial Bureau, or even the Fire and Power departments to get these slips. Each slip didn't ask for many—usually five or six hundred—but they added up. Together, they amounted to five or six thousand units. Reselling them would net a profit of two or three hundred thousand.

Li Dongling chuckled as he looked at them. The people behind this were clearly sharp; they just wanted to make a quick buck. Taking advantage of the satellite dish shortage and the desperation of distributors to get goods early, they used these slips to jump the queue and make a killing on the resale.

Furthermore, it would be counterproductive to offend these departments, which could directly supervise or influence the Component Factory, over a few satellite dishes. Zhang Xiaocheng would undoubtedly end up providing the goods.