Chapter 300

Facing such a gaze, Zhao Haibo felt a chill all over his body, and even broke out in a cold sweat in such a cold weather.

The reason he was leading the riot was because of the instructions of another factory director. He was just a small propaganda section chief. Such a small factory was not developing well to begin with. If he really lost his job...

"Someone asked me to do this."

Qin Xiang turned around, looked at Director Hai in surprise, and said with a smile, "Then tell me."

Zhao Haibo widened his eyes and said, "Deputy Director Lin told me to do this. I didn't mean to do it..."

Qin Xiang nodded, "I understand."

"Then can you not fire me?" Zhao Haibo asked.

Qin Xiang said bluntly, "Of course not. You're a cadre, and you're willing to drag all the workers down with you for some unknown gain. Have you ever considered what would happen to those workers if I killed every one of you in a rage?"

After she finished speaking, the workers who had not left looked at Zhao Haibo unfriendlyly.

Someone said, "If we can't stay in the factory anymore, Deputy Director Lin will probably find a job for Zhao Haibo. We won't have such a good life."

“It’s disgusting.”

Qin Xiang smiled and said, "I believe that none of you are that kind of person, which is why I said that in the beginning. A comrade like this, who could easily betray the factory for a little profit, I wouldn't dare employ him. Who knows if he'd betray me the next second."

She smiled faintly, insincerely. "I'm sorry, Comrade Zhao Haibo. It's just after the Lunar New Year, so go find a job. You might want to approach Deputy Director Lin, but I'll make it clear with the city during the handover. I'll make the personnel decisions. Originally, I planned to keep everyone in place and give them a two-month probationary period before deciding whether to move on. Now, I can say with certainty that neither Deputy Director Lin nor Comrade Zhao Haibo wants you."

After saying that, Qin Xiang left neatly.

After walking a few steps outside, a man in his fifties came towards me aggressively and said, "What qualifications do you have to give orders in our factory? This factory is not yours yet."

Qin Xiang looked at him with amusement and agreed, "You're right. I'm sorry. Deputy Director Lin can stay for two more days."

This time, Qin Xiang didn't stop. Deputy Director Lin looked at Director Hai and asked, "Director Hai, are you so willing to sell the factory?"

Director Hai knew what he meant. Deputy Director Lin was not young anymore, and he was not young either. He did not want such a thing to happen before he retired. It would be very bad for his reputation, and people might say that he had lost his integrity in his later years.

But compared to these, Director Hai was more afraid that the workers would secretly scold him for not considering the factory and bringing it down step by step.

He wanted to make the factory better, but he didn't have the ability to do so. In that case, he might as well go along with the city's arrangements.

He could see that although this female comrade was young, she was capable. As long as the factory was given an explanation, he would feel at ease.

Then, Director Hai smiled at Deputy Director Lin and said, "What else? Deputy Director Lin, do you have the ability to revive the factory?"

Seeing that Deputy Director Lin was silent, he said, "Since Deputy Director Lin has no other choice, we can only accept the city's arrangement. Perhaps privatization is the best option. Everyone else can continue to work in the factory with a two-month probation period, but Deputy Director Lin and Section Chief Zhao will have to find new jobs."

Deputy Director Lin's face immediately turned awkward. "Director Hai does trust that young man."

Director Hai smiled, "Not bad."

"In that case, there's nothing more to say." After saying that, Deputy Director Lin turned and walked away with a gloomy face.

After Qin Xiang came out of the Fifth Silk Factory, he told He Liping, "You will stay here for the time being to assist Xiaocao with her work. Also, keep an eye on Deputy Director Lin and make sure he doesn't cause any trouble behind the scenes. I will also have the leadership team from the capital come here, and you two will take over the factory together."

After two years of training, Liu Xiaocao no longer needed to ask her if she could do it. She nodded and said, "Okay, I understand. If you're really unsure, I'll call you or talk to Manager Mi."

After arranging this, Qin Xiang and Director Hai went to the city the next day. After speaking with the responsible office, the leader asked for their opinion. They still wanted to form a public-private partnership, with Qin Xiang as a shareholder. Qin Xiang directly refused, and the other party had no choice but to quickly go through the procedures.

Three days later, Qin Xiang's funds were in place, the formalities were completed, and the factory was officially changed to "Yunchang Garment Factory". The municipal government also fulfilled its promise and used the funds to pay the workers' overdue wages in one lump sum.

Before leaving, Qin Xiang gathered everyone together, posted the new factory's employee rules and regulations, and stated the salary and benefits. "We'll have you sign a three-year employment agreement," he said. "But if anyone cheats or performs poorly within those three years, the factory has the right to fire them."

The workers were in an uproar, "Then, that's not a stable job anymore."

Qin Xiang smiled and said, "The moment it was converted to a private enterprise, there was no longer a "iron rice bowl" anymore. Private enterprises emphasize more work, more pay. If you do a lot of work, you get a high salary. If you just want to live a life of idleness and a paycheck, then if you think that way, you should leave as soon as possible and find another suitable job, so that you don't end up getting fired and embarrassed."

Most of the workers in this factory are old workers. There are also a few who have sent their children to take over, and they are still in the apprenticeship period. As people with families, they dare not change jobs easily as long as they are paid, and they are even less likely to be lazy.

After Qin Xiang said this, the workers at their posts had no objections. They were already working in the workshop, so it didn't matter who they worked for.

But it’s different for cadre positions. Some positions exist just to occupy them without doing any work. Qin Xiang needs to make adjustments in such positions.

After speaking to the workers, Qin Xiang looked at the nearly 30 cadres standing nearby and said, "I will make adjustments to the cadre posts of you. If there is any dissatisfaction..."

She paused. "If you have any dissatisfaction, you don't need to tell me. You can just leave or go to the relevant municipal department. There is a special registration window there to register. If there is any subsequent work, we will arrange it for you."

After she said this, the cadres became even more uneasy. One young man muttered, "Isn't this the behavior of capitalists? They are not allowed to speak."

Qin Xiang raised her eyelids and asked, "What's your position?"

Someone shouted, "He's Deputy Director Lin's son, he works in the logistics department."

Qin Xiang nodded. "You were originally from the logistics department. Then go back and find a job with your dad. I told you to keep your opinions to yourself. I won't accept your rebuttals. If you were really capable, would the factory have ended up like this?"

Lin Zhihong was furious. "You are a capitalist."

Qin Xiang was not angry. "You can go to the city to sue me. My factory has all the necessary procedures and will pay taxes according to the law. Let's see whether the city will side with you or me."

Lin Zhihong snorted, "Just go, who cares?"

As soon as he left, several people looked at him and then at Qin Xiang. Some left, while others stayed.

Qin Xiang looked at the team and said directly, "As I said before, if you work hard, I, Qin Xiang, will not treat anyone unfairly. But if you try to cheat or cause trouble, I will never tolerate it. Don't tell me about the factory in the past. The factory gave me so many conveniences, but in the end, the factory couldn't sell the goods and couldn't pay the workers' wages. As for me, Qin Xiang, we have more than 20 branches in China, and we are still developing other branches. There is a garment factory in the capital, one in Pengcheng, and this is the third. I will open a fourth in a few days."

She paused and said, "I'm not saying this to show off, but to tell you that you just need to work hard and produce well. Once you produce it, I can sell it."

After she finished speaking, someone shouted, "Can we let our children take over the shift in the future?"

Qin Xiang looked at the other person and shook his head. "Of course not. But if your children also have skills, they can come to the factory for assessment. If they pass the assessment, they can join the factory and receive training alongside you. Once they are fully trained, they can become regular workers. If they don't have any special skills, then I'm sorry, the training the factory can provide is limited. This is not a school, and it's certainly not a charity."

After she finished speaking, she gave some inspiring and morale-boosting words, and then asked He Liping to post the rules. Then she read the contract she brought publicly to make sure everyone understood it, and then signed and put their fingerprints on it.

As the boss, I also gave them a welcome gift, five pounds of pork for each person.

When the workers heard that they would be given five pounds of pork as a gift, they were as happy as if it were New Year's Day.

If you think about it carefully, good things have happened one after another during this period. First, the overdue wages were paid, and then five kilograms of pork were given to me. It seems that private enterprises are not bad.

A younger worker whispered, "Uncle Pei, let me tell you, we should just stop making a fuss. I went to this boss's clothing store, the Xianglian store, and asked around. Their waiters said the treatment is very good. This female boss likes to give out money during festivals. Of course, she'll give out some rice, flour, grain, and oil during Chinese New Year and Mid-Autumn Festival, but she loves giving out money more. She even gives bonuses for good work. She also said that the workers at the branch factory in the capital get paid a lot. We make silk clothing, so shouldn't our wages be even better?"

Several old masters gathered around and asked, "Are you serious?"

The young man laughed and said, "Of course, that branch is not far from here. Feel free to ask. I heard there are branches in Haicheng and Hangzhou as well."

Everyone was already somewhat convinced, and several veterans sighed, "We just hope we can live in peace and stability, and not be so worried all day long."

The young man chuckled and said, "That's not possible. Only people like us are still like this. In fact, there are private factories in many places. The wages are better than those in state-owned enterprises. The only thing is that you have to work hard. What people like us lack the most is skills, and we are not afraid of hard work, so changing bosses will not affect us much."

As he said this, he snorted at the cadres, "It will be hard to say for them in the future."

Workers make a living by their skills, while cadres make a living by their brains and diligence.

But if those people in the management positions were really diligent and capable, would the factory be like this now?

The workers all left, and several cadres gathered together to discuss whether to sign the contract.

A short while later, He Liping returned with the contract. "Given the factory's previous poor development, those in management positions can only sign three-month internship contracts. If you don't pass the probationary period, you won't be hired. Also, the probationary salary is relatively low."

When a few people took it and looked at it, they immediately became furious and their blood boiled, even lower than that of the workers in the workshop.

Suddenly dissatisfied, "Isn't this an insult?"

"You're wrong. This isn't an insult. The workers in the workshop are skilled. As soon as a design comes out, a master craftsman will immediately make a pattern and cut it. But what do you, the cadres, know?" He Liping said bluntly. "Are you just drinking tea and reading the newspaper or blaming each other? Our factory director is a practical man. No one can eat for free. To be honest, the probationary salary you are giving us is a subsidy from our boss."

The contract is put down, and it is up to them whether to sign it or not.

It’s just right that these people didn’t sign, so we can reassign them.

However, these cadre positions are not completely without available people.

Qin Xiang asked He Liping and Liu Xiaocao to visit the workers, and she also talked with Director Hai. She had a clear idea in her mind which ones could be trained and then used, and which ones could not be directly dismissed after a while.

After much deliberation, Qin Xiang went to see Director Hai again. Director Hai was only in his fifties and still had a few years before retirement. He didn't know what to do now.

Qin Xiang, through her investigation, concluded that while Director Hai lacked significant abilities, he was a good person. She approached Director Hai and asked, "Director Hai, could you please become the director of the logistics department at the factory?"

Director Hai was stunned. "You want me to work in the factory?"

Qin Xiang smiled and nodded. "Yes, but the position of Director of Logistics Department can't be compared with that of Factory Director. If you have a better choice, just ignore what I said."

Some people are like this, face is more important than anything else.

But Director Hai's eyes turned red after hearing this.

"I do."