Only Liu Juanjuan was in the archives room, dabbing and drawing on her face with a small mirror.

She didn't even notice Xing Baohua watching from behind her.

After leaving the office building, I walked towards Workshop 1. George and his team were almost finished with their repairs. I said hello first, and then went to their place tonight to sign the contract.

Workshop 1 is still as busy as ever.

When Xing Baohua arrived, he didn't see the female translator. Instead, he saw people from the Foreign Affairs Office accompanying Reiber and several senior engineers and technicians, pointing and explaining around a blueprint.

George and Petermont were sitting on the side drinking coffee, which was quite a treat.

It's obvious that the newly arrived staff at the Foreign Affairs Office will handle some trivial matters well.

"Hi, Xing," the two greeted Xing Baohua as he approached.

"Xing, you haven't been here for days," Petermont complained.

“I’m busy. Making something small.” As she spoke, she took a sketch of a calculator out of her bag and handed it to George. This scene was also noticed by the people from the Foreign Affairs Office.

“Looks pretty good.” George looked at it and handed it to Petermon.

“I think so too,” Xing Baohua nodded and said.

After reviewing the documents, Petermont asked Xing Baohua, "Have you done the cost accounting? How much should we sell it for?"

"It's still in the planning stage. Many components need to be calculated, and we'll have to wait a while to know its actual budget," Xing Baohua said frankly.

“Are we going to sell it, Xing? It looks pretty good, but as far as I know, the Japanese are very knowledgeable about this. Maybe we could sell it to HP. Judging from the configuration in the diagram, it’s quite simple. HP has a dedicated research lab that studies this. Is there anything that particularly appeals to him?” George said.

Xing Baohua shook his head slightly and said, "I won't sell it. I'll have this manufactured domestically. When you return to America, help me check the patents first. I want both the core and the design patents. You can make this your first task upon returning to America. After you've finished checking, write to me."

“Anything else?” George asked again.

"After producing the samples, I will mail them to you and contact several distributors. I want to spread 'Made in China' throughout Europe and America and drive out the Japanese goods," Xing Baohua said with great ambition.

George and Petermont clapped together, with Petermont saying, "Xing, you know what? I love ambitious guys like you, especially when it comes to boosting employee morale. Don't worry, our company will handle all of this for you."

“It’s really good, Xing. You should lower the price, but don’t make it a piece of junk because of the price. We need to build a good reputation, and the Japanese have done a good job in this regard,” Petermont said with concern.

"Don't worry, Made in China is the epitome of high quality and low price." Xing Baohua's voice was a little weak as he spoke. In later times, "high quality and low price" would be a separate thing; if it's high quality, the price might not be good. If it's low price, well...

But this was the 1970s and 80s, a time when things were truly good and inexpensive, and the products produced were top-notch, made with high-quality materials.

Xing Baohua doesn't even need to calculate costs to confidently claim that his prices are cheaper than those of the Japanese. Not to mention goods from the United States.

As long as he doesn't use foreign exchange to import parts and instead uses entirely domestically produced components, Xing Baohua dares to launch a price war. Of course, quality control is also the most crucial aspect; he can't afford to ruin his brand because of poor quality control.

After arranging a time to go to the foreigners' place to sign the contract, Xing Baohua finished giving instructions and went back.

Since I had nothing else to do, I decided to ride my bicycle to Shangguzhuang.

I didn't go empty-handed this time; I got two bottles of liquor and a carton of cigarettes on credit from the factory's supply and marketing cooperative, totaling 18.3 yuan. My total debt is 21.7 yuan, which I will pay back every month when I receive my salary.

It wasn't that he genuinely couldn't come up with the money, but rather that he was following the crowd and everyone was on credit. He used the name of the small shop to incur the debt, and the finance department deducted it when processing the accounts.

This is also a kind of indirect benefit; as long as it's not excessive, everyone turns a blind eye.

Secretary Huang's house in Shangguzhuang is easy to find.

When we arrived at his house, we saw the old man feeding the sheep.

"Secretary Huang, are you feeding the sheep?" Xing Baohua stopped the car, set it up, and took something off the handlebars.

"Oh. You're Xing, Xing..." Secretary Huang seemed to have forgotten his name.

"Xing Baohua, from the Municipal Machinery Factory." As he spoke, he walked up to Secretary Huang, put his things on the ground, and took out a cigarette from his pocket.

Secretary Huang looked at the things on the ground, then looked up at Xing Baohua and asked, "What is this...?"

"Nothing much, just came to see you," Xing Baohua said, handing over a cigarette and quickly lighting it for you.

"What's there to see in an old man like me?" Secretary Huang said, puffing on his cigarette.

"Look at what you're saying. It's only right for a junior to visit an elder," Xing Baohua said.

"You're not looking at me, you're still thinking about the straw rope factory? Have you been to town? What did you say?" Secretary Huang asked, picking up a handful of straw and feeding it to the sheep.