Chapter 545 Asymmetric Equality

At noon, in the canteen of Factory 506.

Because there are many employees who retired early coming here to find new jobs today, the factory has stipulated that all employees, whether they are current employees or retired employees, will be provided with free meals today.

Most of the employees were very happy because the factory was obviously richer and the current employees saw hope. The old employees were about to go to Pengcheng to earn a second salary, which would make their lives more promising.

But there is another group of people who seem a little out of place.

"Hey, the factory is rich now! The winter melon stewed with meat is actually greasy. Hi~ I have worked in the factory for 30 years and I have never seen so much greasy."

"Okay, Lao Zhou, you don't need meal tickets to eat today, so stop saying weird things. There are guests from Hong Kong watching us!"

"Hong Kong capital guests, Hong Kong capital guests, what does it have to do with me? I am a proletarian. I have worked for 30 years, but I am not as good as a newcomer. The newcomer got a car on the same day, which is better than the factory director's car. He has the bad habits of the bourgeoisie."

"Okay, okay, I'll give you another spoonful of meat. Hurry up and shut your mouth. Look, those college students are looking at you."

"Which college students look at me? Which college students look at me?"

“.”

Zhen Rongrong and the others quickly lowered their heads and slurped up the winter melon soup in their rice bowls.

Originally, the factory had invited Zhen Rongrong and others to the canteen to eat stir-fried dishes, but Zhen Rongrong and others felt that being close to the masses would help them better understand the conflicts at the grassroots level, so they refused.

The result was what I saw just now.

Maybe Old Zhou was a troublemaker in the past. Now that everyone else has been selected and he has not been chosen, he must be feeling resentful.

Chen Xiaoling saw that Old Zhou walked away, and then he asked in a low voice: "Do you think this kind of situation will become more and more common in the future?"

Zhen Rongrong asked, "What's happening more and more?"

Chen Xiaoling hesitated for a moment and said, "There are more and more cases where more work means more pay. Some people do more work and earn much more than others. Will there be a middle class like in the West?"

“.”

Several students looked at the workers around them and remained silent for a while.

The topic of income inequality is extremely sensitive in overseas capitalist societies, let alone in the mainland which is just beginning to undergo reforms.

If it were at school, Zhen Rongrong and others would definitely have a heated discussion, but in this environment, it would be very inappropriate.

In the overstaffed state-owned enterprises, skilled workers only account for half at most, and the rest are mostly "disdained" today.

It’s okay for those who have grassroots management experience. Pengcheng Fengyu still needs some managers, but those “celebrity” who were very popular in the past are not even qualified for an interview. They are eliminated after filling out a form.

What is worrying is not the lack of food but the inequality. In the past, these people were either used to eating more and taking more, or used to eating from a big pot. Now, suddenly their income is 100 or 200 yuan less than others. Can they feel balanced?

You should know that Beijing has started to offer welfare housing, which costs only three or four hundred yuan per square meter. What a huge number one or two hundred yuan per month is!

"Yes, some people will definitely get rich first in the future."

No one said anything, but Li Ye said calmly: "In the future, the gap between the rich and the poor will gradually widen. In this process, many contradictions will definitely arise.

And if you are assigned to relevant departments after graduation, you and I may be the ones to resolve these conflicts.”

"Shall we resolve these conflicts?"

Chen Xiaoling and others were subconsciously surprised, but then they realized that this was exactly what everyone had expected.

Think about when we first entered school, which of us young and energetic teenagers did not "take the world as our responsibility"?

But after three years of university life, some people still maintain that innocence, but many people have quietly become realistic and have been infected with the sophistication of society.

"Li Ye, how do you think we can solve this income disparity problem?"

Zhen Rongrong changed the gap between the rich and the poor into income difference, but the essence of the problem has not changed.

Li Ye said in a deep voice: "The amount of income should be directly proportional to the value created by the individual. For example, Engineer Ni, whom we met this morning, do you know how much value he has created in the past six months?"

Everyone shook their heads. Today was the first time they met Master Ni, so how could they possibly know his value?

Li Ye said: "I think it will cost at least tens of millions of dollars, or even more."

"Wow~"

"What are you bragging about, little comrade?"

"That's right. I just heard him talking nonsense, but I didn't expect it to be nonsense."

Li Ye's words not only surprised several classmates, but also alarmed several workers who were eavesdropping nearby.

Li Ye smiled and simply raised his voice and said, "Don't be impatient, listen to me for two minutes. After two minutes, you can see if I am talking nonsense."

"In February this year, Hong Kong Wind Language Company made a promise to Engineer Ni's technical development team.

If you can successfully develop a program-controlled switch that can be mass-produced in the mainland within six months, you will pay the commissioned development fee of US$1.5 million, which has now been paid in full. "

“Oh~”

"Oh my god, one and a half million dollars? Is that true?"

"This story doesn't seem to be false. Didn't our factory participate in a key project of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications? It seems to be related to this program-controlled exchange."

"Hey, little brother, what you just said was tens of millions of dollars, which is far from one and a half million, right?"

The worker who just said that Li Ye was bragging raised an objection again.

Li Ye nodded and said, "Yes, one million and a half is the development cost, but do you know how much it cost for Xiamen to introduce a whole set of Fujitsu program-controlled switches two years ago?"

Li Ye paused, then slowly said: "3.033 million US dollars, even this 3.033 million US dollars is not enough to cover the entire city, and it cannot support the "electricity and telephones upstairs and downstairs" that we have always pursued.

How many cities are there in the country? How big is the total demand? How much foreign exchange can Engineer Ni's research results save us? Is it nonsense to say that he created tens of millions of dollars of value? "

“.”

The people around me were silent. Everyone had attended elementary school and could still do addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

Other people in the cafeteria also noticed the abnormality here and asked questions in a low voice.

Soon, the gossip that the new engineer Ni was worth tens of millions began to spread rapidly.

At this point, Engineer Ni’s statement that “just take a car when you get here” is no longer controversial.

[He is worth tens of millions, so what's wrong with him riding in a small car? If you have the ability, you can also create tens of millions of value. ]

"Bang~"

Suddenly, someone in the distance threw a rice bowl and started cursing.

Li Ye and others turned around and saw that it was Old Zhou who had said strange things while getting food.

What he cursed about was nothing more than unfairness, social regression, etc.

Li Ye shook his head and said, "Income inequality is certain in the future, but as long as we can ensure equality of personality, we can solve most of the social conflicts, so this is the answer to your question just now."

"Equality of personality? What does that mean?"

"Everyone is equal," Li Ye said calmly. "Although people have differences in gender, ethnicity, occupation, economic status, and life, they should have the same dignity."

"For example, if I am very rich but I punch you, I will still be punished by law. Even if you are a millionaire, if you curse me, you will be blamed by everyone."

“There are differences in income, but there is no distinction in personality.”

“.”

The surroundings were quiet again, and then soon became lively.

"Hey, little brother, you've been talking for so long, isn't it the same as before? The factory director has a higher position than me, but if he is not right, I will still point at his nose and scold him."

"It's about the same. If someone is capable, then let him make more money. But we are all equal and no one can bully anyone else."

"Yes, yes, it's pretty much the same as before."

The people around suddenly became active again. Even those who had been unwilling to accept the gap between the rich and the poor because of Lao Zhou's instigation gradually regained their mental balance.

You may be rich, but we are still class brothers and everyone is equal.

Zhen Rongrong and others also began to discuss lively how wonderful this society will become in the future.

But Li Ye remained silent.

Perhaps only he knows how difficult it is to maintain this asymmetric equality.

. . . . . . .

In the afternoon, Ni Dashen and Xiao Yu took a car back to Factory 506.

Xiao Yu got out of the car with his head held high. As soon as he saw his arrogant look, he knew that he must have become famous in his previous unit.

Master Ni lowered his head, as if thinking about something, when he suddenly heard someone greeting him.

"Hey, Mr. Ni is back. Do you have any luggage? Do you need help moving it?"

"No, no, I'm not ready to move in yet! Thank you!"

"Okay, okay, just let me know when you're moving! Everyone go help, don't hesitate."

“.”

Master Ni met a lot of people along the way. Although he couldn't remember any of their names, they basically all greeted him happily, as if they were already very familiar with each other.

"Hiss, Xiao Yu, what do you think is going on?"

"What's going on? Why do you care? As long as people welcome us, isn't that enough?"

"Then why are we popular?"

"You ask me, who should I ask?"

“.”

The two science and engineering guys would never have thought that Li Ye’s publicity in the cafeteria had already made their value clear.

Class brothers who can create value are welcome everywhere, right?

(End of this chapter)