Chapter 86

In the exit hall of the train station, Chen Lanjun walked forward with a normal expression among a large group of passengers leaving the station. Zhao Hong followed behind her and glanced at her from time to time.

After checking their tickets, Chen Lanjun stopped at a place with fewer people, and Zhao Hong almost bumped into her.

"Just say whatever you want to say." Chen Lanjun said helplessly. Being stared at like this all the time, she felt like being stared at by a thief.

Zhao Hong laughed and said, "I wanted to ask, but I was afraid you would be angry."

His sister really had an aura here. If she were an ordinary girl, she would blush with shame if she was caught. But when it came to her, the situation was completely reversed, and he was the one who was hesitating here.

Chen Lanjun held her forehead and said, "You can ask me. I'm not angry."

Zhao Hong couldn't wait to ask: "Is that your boyfriend? Is he from the same university? He looks very fashionable and has a good family background. Is he a good person? Will he make you angry?"

As soon as he opened his mouth, he came up with a series of questions, just like picking a bunch of grapes.

"You ask so many questions at once, how should I answer them?" Chen Lanjun said with a smile.

"Oh, I'm just concerned..."

"Okay, I know." Chen Lanjun thought for a moment and said as she walked towards the bus.

"He's... my boyfriend, right? We're just together for now, don't tell my parents. We don't know what will happen in the end, don't make them worry for nothing."

"It's considered..." Zhao Hong pondered for a moment, then said in confusion, "Alan, why do I feel like you're being rude to others?"

Chen Lanjun looked at him with amusement: "You are quite good at finding adjectives. How are my sister and the others?"

"Very good." Zhao Hong's attention was diverted at once. "Ah Feng is in good spirits recently. Xixi is on winter vacation, so she has come over. Grandma and Aunt Jing play with the kids when they have nothing to do. They are very happy. They are just thinking about you. Oh, by the way, when I left, your parents and little sister also came to Pengcheng. They all lived in the room in the eastern suburbs. Ah Feng also rented the room next door. It's very lively."

Zhao Hong added: "Everyone is fine, business over there is good, but they are all thinking about you. Hey, you didn't take the train over there today?"

"The situation has changed a bit. There are urgent matters to be dealt with here," Chen Lanjun said. "I was just about to send a telegram to tell them."

On the way, Chen Lanjun briefly explained the affairs of the Fourth Food Factory.

"If we can make famous products here, we can ship them to Pengcheng for sale, and then ship them to Hong Kong, which will be helpful to the business on both sides."

After listening, Zhao Hong understood: "It is indeed not easy to leave at this critical moment. Ah Feng and the others also understand."

He sighed and said, "It's just hard for you. It's almost the New Year and you're still busy."

It was indeed busy. When Chen Lanjun returned home in the afternoon, she started a meeting with Tong Tong and Pang Xiaopeng to discuss specific changes.

Tong Tong had already gained an overview of the current situation of the Fourth Food Factory overnight, recorded it in a black leather notebook, and reported it to Chen Lanjun item by item.

There are now more than 120 employees in the factory, with three workshops. In addition to the candy workshop that they are familiar with, there is also a workshop that produces biscuits and pastries.

"But the biscuits and cakes we produced before had no special features." Tong Tong said, "They were just very simple plain biscuits, and we made some rice dumplings for the Dragon Boat Festival, some moon cakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival, some rice cakes for the Chinese New Year, and peach cakes for normal times."

Chen Lanjun asked: "What flavors are these cakes?"

Pang Xiaopeng next to him said speechlessly: "It's just white rice dumplings without fillings, eaten with sugar, five-nut mooncakes, and ordinary rice cakes. They're not as delicious as the ones made in my shop."

To put it simply, it's a mixed bag, with no successful products to show off. No wonder it's in such a state.

Chen Lanjun wrote down a few numbers in her notebook and asked, "What was the profit last year?"

"Last year, the average monthly output was 7,500 yuan, and the profit for 12 months was 90,000 yuan."

"That means we will have to pay at least 270,000 next year."

"Yes," Tong Tong and Pang Xiaopeng sighed at the same time, "270,000."

Chen Lanjun wrote down the number in her notebook and said with a smile, "Okay, it's not an unattainable goal."

After explaining the basic situation, Chen Lanjun began to express her own thoughts.

The leaders allowed them to contract for one year to see the effect. During this year, they would "share profits and bear losses on their own", which meant that they had to hand over 270,000 yuan and share the rest.

"I advocate that 50% of the profits be used as bonuses for the workers," Chen Lanjun said, "but the bonuses should not be distributed equally. Whoever does more will get more, and there is no upper limit."

"However, how to divide the profits is a matter for later."

She tapped the table with her fingertips. "The most important thing right now is to launch a flagship product during the Chinese New Year."

Previously, Pang Xiaopeng was responsible for most of the product improvements.

After hearing this, Pang Xiaopeng looked a little embarrassed: "But time is too tight, and this is not a small-scale manual production. If it is a new product that can be mass-produced, it will take time to find raw material suppliers and so on."

Tong Tong also nodded: "Although our production enthusiasm is very good now, other suppliers and the like are still the same. They were slacking off to begin with, and now that the New Year is approaching, I'm afraid it will be even worse."

Chen Lanjun listened to them quietly and said, "That's true, so I think we should still work on the packaging. It's just a different soup but the same substance."

She pulled out a piece of scratch paper, picked up a pen filled with red ink, and scribbled on the paper.

"What do you think of this holiday limited edition package?"

Pang Xiaopeng and Tong Tong came over to take a look. The candy was still the same candy, but the packaging had changed to red, which looked very festive.

There are three big words next to the candy: New Year Candy.

*** ***

As we get closer to New Year's Eve, we can occasionally smell the smell of firecrackers in the air.

In department stores, no matter what counter it is, there are always long queues of people in front of them, waving tickets and money in their hands, fearing that they will not be able to buy the goods they want.

Tingting, who had just started working, was staggered by the crowd and finally squeezed to the candy counter.

She wanted to buy some New Year gifts for her parents after getting her first salary. She also wanted to give some food to her younger cousins ​​who came to visit her. Tingting finally decided to buy two kilograms of candy. Candy tastes sweet and delicious, and it doesn't spoil easily after being stored for a long time, unlike biscuits, which easily become soft in the humid weather in the south. Most importantly, she can give only one piece, which is very convenient economically.

After finally squeezing to the front of the counter, it was her turn. The salesperson, who looked annoyed by the sudden increase in workload, asked in a bad tone, "What do you want?"

"Sugar! Two pounds of sugar!"

The salesperson rolled his eyes: "What kind of candy, hard candy or soft candy?"

Tingting had no experience, so she smiled and said, "Can you tell me what kind of candy it is? This is my first time buying it, so I don't know much."

The salesperson slammed the glass of the counter and said impatiently, "Look at these for yourself, hurry up!"

While being urged, Tingting took a quick glance and her sight was attracted by a touch of red. It was a candy wrapped in bright red candy paper with the words "New Year Candy" specially printed on it.

This seems to be appropriate.

Tingting pointed at the candy and said, "I want this, New Year candy!"