It was already four o'clock in the afternoon when Xing Baohua came out of the factory director's office.

Factory Director Li offered many tempting conditions, but Xing Baohua did not respond on the spot, instead saying he needed to go back and consider it.

As for the terms of the deal with Petermont, Xing Baohua had already explained them. Factory Director Li didn't pay much attention to these details, saying that foreign exchange could be processed through the factory's account, whether in cash or by bank transfer, and Xing Baohua would receive Chinese currency in cash at the bank's exchange rate.

After thinking about it, he agreed to let Director Li use the factory's account, which saved him a lot of trouble.

As for Factory Director Li's suggestion to set up a workshop to produce audio equipment, Xing Baohua disagreed.

Being a workshop director and running the workshop yourself are two different things. The first condition for taking over the workshop made Xing Baohua unwilling: he didn't have control over the finances, and the factory could easily cut him off, leaving him with no recourse.

The second person in charge of personnel matters, although he had a large portion of the personnel authority, was still constrained. Weren't there many unemployed people like him in the factory area? The management became chaotic.

Although the contractor had more power than the workshop director, there was not much difference in those days.

The contract responsibility system was first promoted by the government in 1984, and many enterprises began to try it out. Everyone was figuring things out as they went, and no one had set any clear rules. There were always a bunch of higher-ups interfering. It was incredibly difficult.

The neighboring No. 138 Cave Factory, after being converted into No. 4 Factory, also wanted to implement a contract system in an attempt to revive it.

I got a lot of useful information from chatting with the factory manager today.

Without the contractors designated by the Fourth Factory, they may not be able to fulfill the contracted tasks assigned by their superiors.

Without even asking, Xing Baohua could guess that the conditions for the contract system would be very harsh. Factory No. 4 was now a hot potato; anyone who touched it would be in trouble.

In Director Li's words, since it's already a mess, let it continue to rot; the production line of Factory No. 4 is still in good condition.

Xing Baohua was wondering if he could buy the production line through the machinery factory.

Should we start with the individual investors?

Xing Baohua shook his head. Individual businesses are suitable for selling cigarettes, alcohol, snacks, etc., and with more than seven people, they can become a self-employed group. They only started developing after the full opening up in the 1990s, and individual businesses only gradually developed then.

A privately-run enterprise? Find a village or township to affiliate with. Hire people from the village or town. This would at least solve some of the local labor shortage.

If the US dollars arrive, Xing Baohua will have over 20,000 yuan. That's enough start-up capital, but what about setting up the factory?

How can we get the production line from Factory No. 4 for free?

Before leaving, he said goodbye to Su Ya and told her to come to his place for dinner that evening. Su Ya was a little reluctant to leave, as Liu Juanjuan was still inside, and Su Ya didn't dare to get too close to Xing Baohua.

Back at the shop, Xing Baohua was surprised to find someone waiting for him.

Xu Shuai has brought back the meat and is slicing it with Liu Quan. The slices are a little thick, though. There wasn't enough time; they didn't have time to freeze it and sliced ​​it fresh. Cooking it a little longer will actually make it more chewy.

"You must be Comrade Xing Baohua. Hello, I am Zhao Shanhai, the factory director of Wusi Factory." The visitor introduced himself directly and took the initiative to shake hands with Xing Baohua, who had just entered the room.

"Hello." Xing Baohua shook hands with the other person, surprised that the other person had come, and her eyes showed a hint of wariness.

Xing Baohua was unaware that Director Zhao had barely slept for nearly two days, and had been under immense pressure, resulting in even more hair loss since he already had a small amount.

He heard this morning that a talented person had emerged from the repair department of the machine factory, selling a set of loudspeakers to a foreigner for 30,000 US dollars, and the news had spread far and wide.

Zhao Shanhai found it unbelievable; many people were saying that he had swindled foreigners. But he was thinking about something else entirely.

If Factory No. 4 is to be rebuilt, it needs a product with a broad market. Someone who can manufacture loudspeakers and convincingly sell them to foreigners is a real talent!

I spent the whole morning asking about Xing Baohua, hoping to meet this capable man. If possible, I could bring him to the factory; otherwise, the No. 4 Factory wouldn't be able to survive, or at least not.

To persuade this talented individual to join him, he considered many benefits. Offering money was unrealistic, and besides, he didn't have the funds. The only option was to offer shares, given his contractual system. Under the existing system, a shareholding structure was permissible.

The rest depends on his persuasion. If you can't fool someone, you should at least get the product over there.

Xing Baohua invited Director Zhao to sit down and poured him a glass of water.

He asked, "What do you want from me?"

"That's right, I heard you made a set of speakers and sold them to foreigners," Zhao Shanhai said with a smile.

"Yes! But it's very cheap."

“Thirty thousand US dollars is cheap?” Factory Director Zhao asked in surprise.

"Who told you 30,000? You must have misheard. I sold it for 100 yuan. And that's in national currency." Xing Baohua didn't understand his purpose and just made things up.

"Oh! It seems I misheard. Comrade Xiao Xing, do you know about Factory No. 4?" Zhao Shanhai said.

“Of course I know! I grew up around here, who doesn’t know about Factory No. 138? So what?” Xing Baohua said.

"I'm the newly transferred factory director. To be honest, the situation at the factory is not good. We're short-handed, not to mention we don't have any products to produce. Retired workers and current employees can only rely on a little government subsidies, and life is too difficult for them." Director Zhao began to play the victim card, hoping to gain Xing Baohua's sympathy for Factory No. 4.

Xing Baohua said, "Factory No. 4 is in such dire straits! Oh dear, organizing production is your problem as the factory director, but the workers are struggling financially and have no choice but to turn to the government!"

"This..." Factory Director Zhao was speechless for a moment, feeling that this kid was not playing by the rules.

"Here's the thing, I'd like to invite you to work at Factory No. 4, as a senior engineer. You'll be producing the audio equipment you manufacture." Factory Director Zhao had no choice but to use a high-ranking title to persuade him.

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