Chapter 18 Planning an Escape Route
Since she wasn't living in the dormitory, Yao Fanghua decided to buy a bicycle first. She also needed to buy a thermos, a washbasin, and other items for use in the office.
The shopping malls were much quieter after the New Year than before. Yao Fanghua looked at all the women's bicycles but didn't find any she liked. She had looked at the bicycles at the Overseas Chinese Store, and after comparing the two, she felt that the bicycles at the Overseas Chinese Store were nicer, though naturally more expensive.
She was thinking she shouldn't be too flashy, but she was also reluctant to spend the money on bicycles; she really wanted to spend more money on the best ones. In the end, she sighed and decided that it was better to save the money for a house than for bicycles.
Upon learning that Yao Fanghua would continue to live at home, Yao Fangyuan was both happy and worried. She was happy because she would have another opportunity to earn extra money, but worried because she would have to continue sharing the room.
Upon seeing Yao Fanghua's newly bought bicycle, she forgot all her worries and excitedly rode it around the yard. "Sister, can I ride it to visit my classmates this weekend?"
Yao Fanghua: "It's a new bike, I don't lend it out. But since we live under the same roof, you can ride it for two yuan a time."
Upon hearing this, Yao Fangyuan wailed, "I'll take care of cleaning the house this week. Sis, I'll just ride it once, and I'll keep it safe for you." She wanted to ride the bike to show off, since several of her classmates already had bicycles.
"I won't talk about it again this weekend if I don't need to." Yao Fanghua went back to her room and started packing her water glass, tea leaves, books, notebooks, small pieces of wood, broken jade, and carving tools. She hadn't prepared anything today and had just sat there all day. She couldn't just sit there all day tomorrow. Li Lian would knit, and she could read or carve—that wasn't unreasonable, was it? It was just those people who kept coming over. Yao Fanghua frowned. Ignoring them would definitely offend them, but wouldn't chatting with them about their trivial matters be a waste of her time? It would be best to close the door and keep them out.
The next day, Yao Fanghua went to the workshop as usual. This time, she didn't let Li Lian accompany her. With such a big belly, Li Lian would be worried if she watched from the side.
This factory was far inferior to the one the teacher had taken her to visit. After understanding each process thoroughly, she also went to the warehouse. The warehouse was almost full of products that had been sitting unsold for who knows how long.
With so many people employed, management is lax, production is inefficient, and operating costs are only going to increase.
High costs naturally lead to high prices, and with outdated designs, slow sales are to be expected, unless they're sold at a loss. In fact, there are quite a few state-owned enterprises that operate at a loss to create the illusion of booming business.
Yao Fanghua took her pen and notebook back to her office and then asked Li Lian to bring her the quality reports from the past two years.
Seeing this, Sister Li and the other two sisters finally got up and returned to their respective offices.
Li Lian secretly breathed a sigh of relief. This time, Sister Li finally didn't stay behind to talk to her about those upsetting and messy things.
She's often alone in this office, and these older women always crowd around, treating it like their hideout. It's better to knit than to answer their questions. Besides, there's this one woman, Sister Li, who's particularly annoying.
Seeing that everyone had left, Yao Fanghua casually flipped through the reports and put them aside. She then began to read a book by herself.
Seeing this, Li Lian felt relieved, as long as the new leader wasn't too enthusiastic. So after lunch, Li Lian asked for leave.
Yao Fanghua: "Be careful on the road. If you see Director Zhang, I will talk to him."
Yao Fanghua was the only one left in the office. During her lunch break, she closed the office door and fiddled with broken jade. When her eyes and hands got tired, she continued reading.
Sunlight streamed through the window, and the room was quiet.
While Yao Fanghua enjoyed a peaceful and idyllic life, the higher-ups were racking their brains over the transformation. In the latter half of last year, Factory Director Yu, along with several trusted confidants, visited many factories in the south. Compared to refrigerators, washing machines, and televisions, he preferred air conditioners. After all, air conditioners were essentially an upgrade from fans, and making air conditioners symbolized the factory's advancement. If all else failed, electric heaters would do.
Unfortunately, Lao Zhao lacked confidence in air conditioning and always backed out. He had connections at higher levels, making it difficult to change them, so he could only politely suggest seeking expert guidance. In his opinion, for other positions, like personnel, party affairs, labor unions, or even sales, procurement, and production departments, it wouldn't matter if people with connections were put in charge—after all, everyone is human, and human resources are scarce. Everyone's skill level is roughly the same, and anything without technical complexity can be learned quickly; it doesn't matter who's in charge. However, the technical department really needs truly capable and hardworking people. You see, this talent doesn't show in ordinary times, but it shines through in crucial moments.
Take Geng, the purchasing manager, for example. He's quite shrewd. When he first came here, he said he wouldn't do quality inspection or technology work. He was only aiming for purchasing or sales.
Factory Director Yu smoked one cigarette after another, determined to make a name for himself and boost sales, despite the pressure to continue focusing on air conditioners. Unfortunately, both production and technology were in cahoots and refused to support him. If he gambled everything on air conditioners, he feared he'd have to shoulder all the responsibility later, and with no cooperation from technology and production, it wouldn't be easy. Was he really going to switch to producing washing machines? Even if he did, with Lao Zhao's abilities, well, he wasn't sure he could succeed.
We need to let everyone argue for a while longer. The next meeting should be even more heated so everyone will remember who really championed washing machine production. He finally reluctantly agreed to produce washing machines, letting production and technology take the responsibility. If they really have the ability to make it work, he won't take the credit! Everyone's rushing to factories, thinking the salaries and benefits are better, but he prefers government offices and will try to transfer there if the opportunity arises.
After gathering his thoughts, Factory Director Yu closed his eyes to rest. Soon, there was a knock on his office door. First, two deputy factory directors entered, followed by a section chief, then another section chief, and quickly the factory director's office was packed with people, some even bringing their own teacups and stools. It wasn't a formal meeting, but everyone was there just as readily as if it were. No one wanted to be outdone; each person squeezed in as soon as someone entered, afraid of missing any important information.
Time flew by, and Yao Fanghua packed her things to leave work. She felt uneasy about her salary; if things continued like this, she needed to plan ahead and think about her options.
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