Chapter 9 Utopian Literature Looking at so many books and some newspapers...
Looking at so many books and some newspapers placed within easy reach, it is obvious that someone reads them frequently.
Guo Weimin turned his back to Li Daohua and whispered to Ouyang Yuan, "Brother, you are not pretending to be a cultured person in the village, are you? You didn't tell me so that I can cover for you.
Then again, you guys are getting married and have returned to the city, so there's no need to pretend like this, right?"
The two are classmates, both at junior high school level, so they know each other very well.
"I'm not that person. I didn't see these. My wife saw them."
"Your wife?" Guo Weimin was even more confused. "Didn't you say that your wife barely graduated from elementary school and can't read a few words?"
"That was in the past. Now my wife is a writer. Do you know the book 'Li Yaomei's Laid-off Life'? My wife wrote it."
Guo Weimin looked at Li Daohua who was teasing his son with something, and then looked at Ouyang Yuan: "You kid...are you kidding me?"
"Is this a joke? Go upstairs and ask around. Everyone knows that my wife is a writer."
Guo Weimin felt a toothache. When he was at home, his father sighed and said that Ouyang Yuan's family was pitiful and that his father no longer recognized them.
If Ouyang Yuan had not found a way to return to Peking, the family would have been bullied and the position of librarian would not have been Ouyang Yuan's turn.
Now it seems that Ouyang Yuan is not pitiful at all. Instead, he is more pitiful as he is still unemployed.
He was transferred back from the countryside thanks to his grandfather's connections. He has been back for more than a year and is still waiting to be assigned a job.
"Hey, tell me, the one your wife wrote about, the self-employed person, is it okay?"
"My wife said it's possible. Are you ready to do it?" Ouyang Yuan had discussed this issue with Li Daohua before.
Guo Weimin said helplessly: "I have been back for such a long time and I am still unemployed. I don't know when I can get a job. My whole family depends on my father for food, and my wife's household registration has not yet been transferred."
The family squeezed into the house allocated by Guo Weimin's father, and it was inconvenient for Guo Weimin to do anything at night.
Although Ouyang Yuan and his wife's house is small, Guo Weimin is envious. After all, it is a separate house, especially since he and his wife don't have any children yet and live alone.
Ouyang Yuan didn't know how to solve this problem: "Why don't we just ask my wife later, she knows more. She has been reading the newspapers to learn about this."
Guo Weimin nodded, thinking about what to say.
At lunch time, Ouyang Yuan and Li Daohua cooked in the corridor, with Ouyang Yuan as the chef.
During the meal, Guo Weimin took the initiative to mention that he had read a novel written by Li Daohua a few days ago, and said that he wanted to put it into practice, but he did not know much about this aspect.
"I can't do the things you wrote about in your novels, and I don't know what else I can do."
Those who can decide to become self-employed now all have a desperate mentality.
The country had just opened up to individual businesses and the market was unclear. It was not like the 1990s when the first wave of people had already explored the path and knew how to make money, so a large number of people rushed into business like dumplings.
"So what kind of work have you done, or what industry do you know more about?"
Guo Weimin smiled bitterly: "Like Xiaoyuan, I went to the countryside after graduating from junior high school and never worked. My father worked in the school's boiler room, so I know a lot about boilers...but my grandfather worked in a steel plant."
Oh, Li Daohua nodded, his father also worked as a non-technical worker.
"So what are you interested in and willing to spend time to learn about?"
"Drive! You know those sedans? I want to be a sedan driver."
Li Daohua understood that the drivers at that time were different from those later. It was still a very prestigious profession, and a driver needed not only to be able to drive, but also to be able to repair cars.
The quality of cars at that time was generally average, and coupled with the bad road conditions, it was very common for cars to break down on the road, and the drivers would need to repair them themselves.
Being a driver not only means having a car to drive and having face, but also means being a representative of a company with a stable position.
Because the cars are registered with the unit and are not completely private cars.
However, being a car driver is not as good as being a truck driver. Many car drivers have to become taxi drivers after their original companies go bankrupt.
Truck drivers will only become more popular after the reform and opening up. As the domestic economy takes off, more trucks are needed to maintain logistics.
“The driver is not a self-employed person.” Li Daohua poured a basin of cold water on him.
In fact, in the 1980s, as long as you worked hard and started your own business, you could make money in many industries. The key was to get started.
Li Yaomei makes her own products, but Guo Weimin wants to start his own business, so the source of her products is a problem.
"You just said that your grandfather works in the steel mill, right?"
"right."
Li Daohua told Guo Weimin that he could use his grandfather's connections to get goods from the steel plant and then come back to produce cooking pans himself.
"Cooking pan..." Guo Weimin felt it was unreliable. Although it was hard to buy a pan nowadays, if he made one himself, the price would not be cheap.
"Then do you want to sell your products abroad and earn foreign exchange?"
After hearing this, Guo Weimin's eyes lit up. This was something he had never dared to imagine. If he could sell the products abroad, he could walk around with ease when he returned home.
From then on, Guo Weimin became the head of the Guo family.
"Can frying pans be sold overseas?" He had heard his grandfather complain many times.
Shougang mainly produces steel. The steel can be sold, but the price is too low. There is no other way. For the sake of foreign exchange, it can only endure the price pressure.
The products they produce themselves don't sell very well.
"Of course an ordinary cooking pan won't work. What we sell must be a premium pan. It's a long story. Go home and ask your grandfather if he can provide the steel. If he can, we can talk about other things."
Without the raw materials, no matter how much you talk, it will be useless.
Guo Weimin was in a hurry. After dinner, he didn't even have time to talk to Ouyang Yuan. He took his wife and children and hurried home. He had to find his grandfather.
His grandfather doesn't live with them. He lives with Shougang. He goes there on the same day and can't come back, so he can stay overnight. It's no problem for them to squeeze in.
When Guo Weimin came to Li Daohua excitedly with the good news, he happened to meet Meng Heping and others who were also there to learn from him.
Meng Heping and his friends are very different from Guo Weimin. They are carrying large and small bags, including their products and gifts for Li Daohua.
When the two groups of people met in front of the staff building, they didn't realize that they were looking for the same person.
There was no room for so many people to stand at Li Daohua's house, so she had to ask Ouyang Yuan to help them find an empty classroom at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications.
"I know that you all read Xiagang Ji and want to learn and improve yourself. Let me make a request first."
"You say."
"It's like this. You just came to Peking, so you may not understand. After my story of being laid off was published, many people felt that what I wrote was fanciful and that it was not reform literature, but utopian literature. So, I hope to use you to prove that what I wrote was reform literature and that it can be realized!"
Meng Heping and his group really didn't know about this. First of all, "The Story of Being Laid Off" had just been published not long ago and was not yet known nationwide.
Various discussions were also confined to Peking, and only recently have they expanded to the surrounding areas of Peking.
But since Li Daohua said this, it means that she will definitely help them with all her strength and will not hide anything. This is exactly what they want.
"This is what we should do. Even if you don't mention it, we will never forget your help."
"Okay, let's wait a moment. I'll ask my husband to invite reporters from the newspapers. When the reporters arrive, we'll start talking about how to carry out the reform in detail."
After that, Li Daohua sat down, and Guo Weimin quickly raised his hand: "I, I have good news. My grandfather said that as long as we can earn foreign exchange, we can take as much steel as possible from the factory. Of course, it costs money, foreign exchange."
"When they're done, it's your turn."
Guo Weimin sat down happily. He heard that the people who could attend the class this time were key personnel of a cotton mill in Sichuan Province, and he was an unemployed worker.
Even if he got the job, he would be a boilerman, far from a backbone. Now we are all sitting here together.
Soon, the Peking Daily, Peking Evening News and Liang Ning all came. They were all old acquaintances. Li Daohua had recently quarreled with people in newspapers in the Daily and Evening News.
"Everyone is here, let's start now. Director Meng, please tell us about the problems in your factory first."
"It's like this..." Meng Heping briefly recounted the problems in their factory. In fact, they were old problems. As for the management of workers, they already knew how to deal with it. What they urgently needed to solve was the market problem.
Especially since the factory failed to meet its annual foreign exchange target, he, as the factory director, felt ashamed.
"In fact, after reading the story of being laid off, our factory also produced some new products based on the content, but we were still unsure..."
Meng Heping placed their products on the desk one by one, and the two reporters took the opportunity to take a photo of the products.
Li Daohua inspected the product and found that there was no problem with it. It could even be said that it was much better than the shoddy products produced by many factories later on.
“In fact, I have always felt that in the foreign market, our factories do not understand the market economy, let alone marketing.
Just like this panda doll you brought out, if you were asked to introduce it to foreign guests at the Spring Fair, how would you introduce it?"
Although he was a little confused, Meng Heping still held the doll, cleared his throat, and pretended to sell to foreign guests, and the translation had to be done by the translator beside him first.
"This is a panda doll produced by our Sichuan Cotton Mill. It can be given to children. Pandas are animals unique to our country. Such special products are of great commemorative significance, of good quality and at a low price. If you want more, the price is negotiable."
These are the statements they made after discussion. If they hadn’t discussed it, it would have been more concise.
Li Daohua, who was at the front, shook his head and said with great sorrow: "Comrades, this is the problem. This speech is completely unable to arouse people's desire to buy. It does not highlight the characteristics and advantages of your products. Your products can be sold, but they cannot become popular."
In the audience, not only Meng Heping and his group, but even the newspaper reporters and Liang Ning were asking with clear eyes and doubt.
Look at these innocent heads, accepting the baptism of the storm!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
