Chapter Six: Rejecting Boundless Wealth Outright

"Who doesn’t know that radios are basically obsolete now? Radios are destined to be phased out. If we still produce them, who will buy them in the future?"

“Is this what it means to be a top graduate from Hanxi Jiaotong University?!”

After Li Dongling finished speaking, the conference room erupted into laughter, as if they had heard a joke. Criticism and ridicule filled the air.

“Academic qualifications don’t equal experience. You’re still too young. Students nowadays are nowhere near the level we were back in the day. Each generation just isn’t as good as the last!”

An elderly technician sitting beneath Xu Yiqiao removed his glasses and shook his head with a sigh, exuding an air of world-weariness. Li Dongling remembered his name was Song Yajun, just like Zhou Wenyan, one of the seasoned workhorses in the technical department. He too thought Li Dongling’s words were nonsense.

Li Dongling paid no mind to these remarks. Unlike Zhou Wenyan, he had little emotional attachment to West City Radio Factory and wasn’t going to stubbornly cling to a sinking ship. Since these people wanted West City Radio Factory to compete on price with giants like Changhong in the television market, there was no point in persuading them otherwise.

Televisions were still booming, especially as color TVs replaced black-and-white sets, and sales were strong. But with the strength of West City Radio Factory, competing with giants like Changhong in the television industry was like a dung beetle entering a restroom.

Previously, West City Radio Factory made large household radios. Although fewer users were buying radios now, they still existed and would not disappear in the next ten or even twenty years. The user base alone numbered in the tens of millions!

Household radios may not sell much now, but with limited entertainment options, the primary means of information remained TV, newspapers, and radio broadcasts. Radios were still essential and a major source of entertainment for many.

Launching personal mini radios might not become a huge hit, but selling tens of millions annually domestically was no problem at all. Even if each personal radio sold for just a few dozen yuan, that would be enough for West City Radio Factory to survive and even earn millions. This business could sustain them for years.

If they could pivot to car radios, they could ride the wave of the automotive industry's boom. Going public on the stock market wouldn’t be out of reach for West City Radio Factory.

The automotive market in China was set to explode for decades. Though domestic car sales were currently under a million units, the market for car radios seemed small now but could reach 20 to 30 million vehicles sold per year in the future.

Grasping this opportunity and becoming a leader in the industry would mean that even if they didn’t innovate further into audio equipment, home theater systems, or online audio platforms like Himalaya audio books, they could still survive comfortably for decades. They could rely on patents to barely sustain themselves for another ten years, and half a century might pass this way.

Such great fortune was laid before them, meals served right to their mouth, yet West City Radio Factory refused to accept such charity and insisted on starving themselves to death. If someday the factory collapsed, no one knew if these people would regret today’s decisions.

Xu Yiqiao also suppressed a smile. “The idea is good, but Dongling, maybe you’re still unfamiliar with this industry. You lack experience. Old Zhou, you should take him under your wing. Young people still need to grow.”

“I understand!” Zhou Wenyan immediately stood up in response.

“To be honest, I think your idea has potential. My father has retired and wanders around all day. If we launched a personal portable radio, he’d definitely carry it every day. I’d definitely buy one for him!”

After leaving the meeting room, Zhang Ao leaned close to Li Dongling and said this. Zhang Ao didn’t understand the technical aspects, but he knew which products people would want to use.

Li Dongling felt that Zhang Ao was just wasting time in the technical department; if he went into sales, he might be quite adept.

“But you don’t get the final say!”

Hearing this, Zhang Ao also cursed, “This factory will be driven to ruin by those bastards sooner or later. If I were the factory director, I’d kick out all those freeloaders...”

Li Dongling smiled at Zhang Ao’s harsh words. Zhang Ao even insulted himself, realizing he might have gone too far and dragging himself into the insult, his face flushed with embarrassment.

“You’ll still need your bicycle tomorrow!” Tomorrow was a day off, and Li Dongling planned to visit home.

Zhang Ao seemed somewhat careless but carefree in personality, waving his hand. “Use it as you like, just don’t lose it. That bike was used by my father when he was the director at the supply and marketing cooperative. Just don’t lose it.”

Before returning, Li Dongling stopped by the store and meat shop to buy quite a few things, then went to a bookstore for some books and supplies. His younger sister Li Dongyue was now in her final year of high school, preparing for the college entrance exam next year. Li Dongling wanted to get her some necessities.

Li Dongling’s family home was in a village under Shangguan Town, near the suburbs of Pingyang City. In his previous life, Shangguan Town had already been developed into an urban area, and his ancestral village had been demolished and relocated.

Riding his bicycle, he passed by buildings that had existed in his memory, now appearing before his eyes. Countless thoughts flooded Li Dongling’s mind as he quickened his pace toward home.

“Mom!”

Following his memory, he arrived at a courtyard and saw someone in gray clothes washing laundry by hand at the entrance. He couldn’t help but call out.

Wang Xiulan looked up upon hearing the voice, her face lighting up with joy. “Dongling, you’re back!”

She put down the laundry mid-wash, rose, and opened the wooden gate of the courtyard to let Li Dongling in. She took the pile of items he had bought and scolded him, “Why did you buy so much? What a waste of money. Your father and I don’t even use these!”

“Old man, Dongling’s back and you’re not saying a word!”

Wang Xiulan called out to the old man sitting in the courtyard smoking a dry tobacco pipe. Hearing this, Li Zhenlin glanced at Li Dongling and slammed the pipe bowl heavily on the ground twice. “I’m not blind, I can see just fine!”

Li Dongling had been familiar with Li Zhenlin’s temper since childhood. Clearly, Li Dongshan had come back and told Li Zhenlin that Li Dongling had returned to Pingyang.

“Dad!”

Li Dongling ignored Li Zhenlin’s mood and took out two bottles of good wine and some meat, saying, “Tonight, my elder brother and I will drink with you!”

In his previous life, after the misfortune with An Ruoxue, Li Zhenlin and Wang Xiulan had been worried sick, aging overnight as if several years had been added to their lives, and their backs thoroughly bent. Li Zhenlin was hot-tempered but had devoted his whole life to his three siblings.

“Second brother!”

A clear voice came out as Li Dongyue emerged from the house. With her short hair and black-rimmed glasses, Li Dongyue always appeared serious, but Li Dongling knew how beautiful she looked without her glasses.

Li Dongyue glanced around behind Li Dongling before raising her stern face and asking, “Where’s Sister Xue? Didn’t she come back with you?!”

During holidays, An Ruoxue had come to the Li family several times with Li Dongling. She often bought Li Dongyue clothes and school supplies, tutored her studies, and was Li Dongyue’s staunchest supporter in the family. When Li Dongling and An Ruoxue didn’t get along, Li Dongyue had even flown from Yanjing to Xiyuan City multiple times to persuade them to reconcile.

Li Dongling couldn’t help but pinch her stern face and said, “She’s got things to do, so she didn’t come to Pingyang.”

It was rare for the whole Li family to be together today. Wang Xiulan had prepared a large table of dishes, including a red-braised fish that Li Dongling had brought home, and even slaughtered a laying hen.

“Finally got into university, leaving the provincial capital behind to come back here. Who knows how much hardship you’ll face here in the future!”

During the meal, after brooding all afternoon, Li Zhenlin finally couldn’t hold it in anymore. Taking a bite of meat and a sip of the wine Li Dongling brought, he muttered.

Though it was muttering, Li Dongling heard every word clearly. Wang Xiulan, bustling about and tending a pot of soup on the stove, came back and slapped Li Zhenlin’s arm. “You old man, Dongling barely came back this once, and you’re still grumbling!”

“You don’t understand!”

Li Zhenlin glared at Wang Xiulan, but after decades of marriage, Wang Xiulan knew his temper well and ignored him, leaving Li Zhenlin with no vent for his anger.

“Come, let’s have a drink!”

Li Dongling poured a glass of wine for the father and two brothers. Despite his discontent, Li Zhenlin raised his glass. They clinked their cups. Since Li Dongshan fell ill in the previous life, the Li family had never drunk together like this.

In a building within the government housing compound in Xiyuan City, the phone rang. An Ruoxue, sitting on the sofa nearby, immediately answered.

“Brother’s calling you; the call has been forwarded!”

After connecting the call, An Ruoxue shouted upstairs, then sat back down to read, but her grip on the book tightened involuntarily.

A middle-aged man sitting on another sofa watched this scene, shaking his head slightly.