Chapter 276. The factory's internal broadcasts became an open secret in this neighborhood. ...

Qin Xiangxiang stood near the herbal tea stall. Her son, Li Xiaopang, hadn't noticed his mother behind him yet. At this moment, she felt a mix of emotions. She used to think that she was the most demanding and enjoyable person in the family, but times had changed.

"I'm constantly shuttling between university and factory (and slacking off in various ways), while you guys are retiring early here?! I don't accept that, hmph!"

While Qin Xiangxiang was still secretly pleased with herself for "slacking off," others had already begun to enjoy themselves in a seemingly respectable manner.

This won't do!

Qin Xiangxiang must be the one in the family who knows how to enjoy life the most, the little drama queen who is best at eating, drinking and having fun.

Given the current situation, she felt she had to make some changes.

Qin Xiang listened intently for a while as this educated youth surnamed Gu told the story of the Three Kingdoms. She found that his Mandarin was above average, but the content he told was indeed very good. The characters were vivid and interesting, and the plot was vivid and colorful.

Why not just go all the way and poach them?

After the crowd dispersed, Little Fatty turned around and saw his mother behind him. He was terrified, but his mother, Qin Xiangxiang, stepped forward and said to Gu Zhiqing:

"I am the general manager of Feiyan United Textile Factory. Would you like to consider working at our factory's broadcasting station? You are very talented. You can broadcast for two or three hours every day to enrich the cultural life of the workers. I think you are very good at telling the story of the Three Kingdoms."

The textile factory operates on three shifts, which is different from the rest time of ordinary people. At this time, most of the radio entertainment programs are concentrated between 6 pm and 10 pm, with 8 pm being the prime time for arts and culture programs.

This means that workers on the night shift from 4 pm to 12 pm will not be able to hear the day's cultural and entertainment programs.

At that time, cultural and artistic programs were also scarce. Apart from radio stations and a few television programs, the rest consisted of performances by song and dance troupes and amateur art troupes in the factory, or movies shown by the factory... But these could not meet the growing cultural and entertainment needs of the working class.

They wanted to recruit this "storyteller" to enrich the workers' cultural life, and at the same time... Qin Xiangxiang also wanted to hear him finish telling the story of the Three Kingdoms so he could comfortably drink tea, eat melon seeds, and listen to the storytelling program in the factory.

Comrade Li Xiaopang is so angry!

"Me? Me, go to the factory radio station?" Gu Zhihuai pointed to himself, somewhat incredulous. In fact, he had tried to get in through the radio station before, but he was rejected in the oral interview. His Mandarin was not very standard, he often confused n and l, and occasionally had problems with nasal sounds.

People even laughed at him, saying his pronunciation wasn't standard and he should go back and practice more, asking why he was doing broadcasting.

Gu Zhihuai blushed as people laughed at him, and he also felt that he was not cut out to be a proper broadcaster. Like other educated youth who returned to the city, he did not pass the college entrance examination, and the educated youth office did not arrange a job for him. He could only set up a herbal tea stall and sell herbal tea and melon seeds in the summer to make a living.

There were many educated youth like them. One of his friends spent the whole summer selling ice cream on his bicycle, but this guy was lucky. At the end of summer, he received a university admission notice.

Gu Zhihuai was not so lucky. He never got into university, and his melon seed and herbal tea business was not good because he was not good at roasting melon seeds and his herbal tea was just so-so. Business was neither good nor bad.

Until one day, while telling stories about the Three Kingdoms to his friends at a herbal tea stall, he attracted a large crowd. The herbal tea and melon seeds sold exceptionally well that day, and Gu Zhihuai began his journey of telling stories and selling melon seeds and herbal tea.

When Gu Zhihuai was working in the countryside, he was fond of teaching others and had excellent speaking skills. People in the countryside praised him for his "standard Mandarin" and "pleasant voice." However, after returning to the big city, he was severely discouraged and told that he had a "special accent."

"Yes, it's you. Come work at the factory's broadcasting station to enrich the workers' entertainment and cultural life. You're suited for arts and culture work."

"I'll do it!"

Gu Zhihuai immediately agreed. He knew that the man in front of him was the rather legendary General Manager Qin. He had heard of Qin Xiangxiang's story. "Qin Xiangxiang, Yu Guoliang, and the 'Report' literature" were very popular among the educated youth.

He almost turned this into a story—but unexpectedly, the real person appeared in front of him and pointed him in the right direction, giving him a legitimate job.

Even a temporary worker in a large state-owned factory has a higher social status than someone who sets up a stall on the roadside.

Although they don't really care about these unemployed young people doing small businesses on the roadside now, they are still walking on the edge of a gray area. They haven't officially settled down, and if the government changes its stance in the future, they might say that it's not compliant... They live in constant fear.

Who would want to "lick blood off a knife's edge" on the roadside if they had a legitimate identity? Even though Gu Zhihuai's herbal tea stall is making a good living now, if Qin Xiang tries to poach him, he's planning to "go ashore."

He was stunned by this sudden "favor" and packed up his stall without saying a word.

"Factory manager, when can I start work?"

"Tomorrow, the sooner the better, we'll get you started."

Li Xiaopang: "???? Mom, you took him away? I haven't finished listening yet??"

Qin Xiangxiang smiled and said, "Go home and listen to your dad's stories. Your dad has been a naval veteran for over ten years... almost twenty years."

Li Xiaopang: "..."

Qin Xiangxiang returned home with her son as if she had won a battle, while Li Jianzhi sighed at the scene of "mother and daughter killing each other" and "mother and son killing each other".

"Dad, Mom sent someone to work on the factory's broadcasting system, so I can't listen to her anymore. I'll listen to you, a veteran of over ten years in the navy, tell me your stories."

Li Jianzhi: "Your mother, pfft—your mother directly cut off the source of the problem. What should I, an old navy man, tell a story about? I'll tell you about a time when we went to sea and unexpectedly encountered an underwater tomb. This is the tomb of the Queen Mother of the West in the South China Sea."

Li Xiaopang's face lit up: "Dad, you're in the East China Sea."

"Don't worry about the details. Maybe Dad was in the South China Sea in his past life."

...

Qin Xiangxiang listened to her husband teasing their son and thought he was quite good at making things up, "He's getting more and more frivolous as he gets older."

"Li Jianzhi, how about you research a coffee-flavored cake for me, or do you have any cake-flavored coffee?! Hurry! I want something special."

Li Jianzhi: "Yes, why don't we have this? I'll make it for you next time."

Qin Xiangxiang: "???!!"

She thought to herself: You dare to do it, but I wouldn't dare to eat it.

"I'll make you a tiramisu."

Tiramisu requires the use of coffee, so it can be considered a dessert cake with a coffee flavor. The modern version of tiramisu has been invented for less than ten years and has not yet spread worldwide, but it has already become popular in some places.

The emergence of tiramisu is similar to that of cola chicken wings; both originated from accidents. A pastry chef accidentally mixed cheese, eggs, and sugar together, and then added coffee-soaked sponge cake and cocoa powder, creating a new type of dessert cake—tiramisu.

By the early 1980s, this tiramisu dish had been promoted globally through food magazines.

Li Jianzhi: "I'll buy the materials and make it for you tomorrow."

Qin Xiangxiang: "...I have a bad feeling."

However, there was also a bit of anticipation, after all, Li Jianzhi's cooking skills were "unpredictable," he was only so-so at making proper meals, but sometimes he could make strange and unusual things taste exceptionally good.

"Then make a little more so that Little Fatty can eat first."

Li Xiaopang: "???"

The next day, Gu Zhihuai went to work at the Feiyan No. 2 Factory broadcasting station with great enthusiasm, and used his voice to talk about the Three Kingdoms on the radio at noon and in the evening.

"Has our factory added a radio program?"

"After playing songs this afternoon, you went on the radio to tell stories again?"

"The loudspeaker broadcast here isn't working well. Could you listen to it on the radio?"

"The distance here isn't good!"

Feiyan No. 2 Factory also has its own broadcast channel, but it is a low-power community broadcast, similar to a campus broadcast. It has very little coverage, only a few dozen meters, and the power is very low, not even covering the entire factory.

"Many people have expressed a desire to listen to radio programs using a radio. Should we make some improvements?"

The factory's loudspeakers have a wide coverage area, but the storytelling effect is affected by a lot of background noise, so you have to be outdoors to hear it clearly. However, you can listen to the story indoors by using a radio.

Qin Xiangxiang also wanted to listen to storytelling in the office, so he asked Shi Kaibei to improve the transmitter and increase the broadcast signal, preferably to cover the entire factory, so that people in the factory could receive the factory radio station using a radio.

"This also facilitates internal communication within the factory, enabling the issuance of notices and ensuring production, serving as a production support device."

Originally, this was just a factory broadcast with a very small coverage area within the community. However, after Shi Kaibei made modifications, he expanded the coverage area. However, he accidentally overdid it and the technology was too advanced. The broadcast not only covered the entire factory but also reached nearby residential areas.

The people in the factory haven't noticed yet.

Old Zhang is a radio enthusiast in the alley. He often helps his neighbors fix their radios. One day, while helping to repair a radio, he unexpectedly received a strange broadcast.

"That voice... I think I've heard it before? A radio station I've never heard of before... Could it be a spy broadcast?"

"What channel is this? Hmm? Why are they talking about the Three Kingdoms?"

"That's quite an interesting point!"

"...That's it? Is there more tomorrow?"

"This is the factory's public address system for Feiyan Textile Factory—the former Shangpu Textile Factory, which is close to us, no wonder we can receive the broadcast."

"I'm really itching to watch this show again tomorrow, will it continue tomorrow?"

Upon learning that it was an internal broadcast from the textile factory, the residents breathed a sigh of relief, and were even a little surprised and expectant. This was an unexpected delight; could this be a case of being in a good position to benefit from proximity?

So the news spread like wildfire, and the "factory broadcast" of Feiyan No. 2 Factory became an open secret in this neighborhood.