Wang Shouren couldn't help but laugh out loud: "It seems that my demands on you over the years have made you think that everyone in the outside world is a master?"
"You must understand that in this world, most people can only see immediate benefits, and there are many who are unworthy of their positions. It's already quite remarkable for ordinary people to figure out what they want and what the consequences will be after they get it. There aren't that many truly remarkable people in this world. Even if there were, that would be decades from now."
Humans at this stage have not yet evolved to the level of those in later generations.
Various methods and implicit messages have been used, but the discussion hasn't yet reached that level.
Simply put, people right now are just in the initial stages. It's not as difficult to investigate as you might imagine.
In the following period, Wang Shouren became very busy. He didn't make any demands on the factory workers, but he still paid out large sums of wages every month, making Kui Datou feel the pinch. However, the entire factory remained shut down. Nevertheless, new machines could be seen being transported in from outside every day.
Rumors spread like wildfire throughout the factory.
Some say the new factory manager is planning a major overhaul of the factory.
Some were hopeful, while others were dismissive.
The technical department also started getting busy.
Wang Shouren brought Liu Guangtian over to help, and they were temporarily incorporated into the technical department.
Originally, Section Chief Zhang of the technical department was somewhat unconvinced. But after Liu Guangtian modified the assembly line, he had nothing to say.
Over the years, Liu Guangtian's skills have never declined. He has worked his way up step by step, from an ordinary technician, learning and climbing the ranks to reach his current position. In fact, after 1977, he often traveled with Wang Shouren to assist factories in increasing production. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to improve to the level of an 8th-grade engineer so quickly.
Inside the factory, Kui Datou and Dai Wu were directing people to set up the workshop.
Liu Guangtian watched from the side, holding a notebook in his hand, writing and drawing.
"Hey Lao Dai, there aren't many people coming to that workshop. What are we going to do?" Kui Datou was a bit of a headache.
He was initially somewhat dismissive of being a workshop foreman; he already had quite a few people under him, and he figured he could just stick to his old management style. But once he actually got here, he realized what real difficulty meant.
His previous gang of brothers were like rootless duckweed; in other words, as long as he was willing to pay them, treat them well, and uphold brotherhood, they would follow him. Occasionally, one or two would become dissatisfied, and he would deal with them severely, beating and verbally abusing them, plus the money they paid him was quite generous. So everything went smoothly for him.
But once we got here, nothing could be done.
According to Fatty Yuan, these guys are a bunch of scoundrels. You can't hit them or scold them. If you scold them too harshly, they'll just quit.
“Sigh…” Dai Wu sighed, “Weren’t you brought here by the factory director? Go ask him and see if you can go all out. Before this, in our factory, we basically worked one month and rested for two months. Occasionally there was work to do, but it wasn’t tiring. Getting them to work suddenly is really not easy.”
"How heavy can you be?" Kui Datou said dejectedly.
"That's true..."
Those with permanent positions won't be fired unless they do something reckless. Too many dismissals will lead to accountability from higher-ups. The seasoned veterans all know this; if they unite, it's quite easy for them to stand up to a factory director. However, most factories don't operate that way. For example, at the steel rolling mill, things immediately returned to normal after Director Yang returned.
On one hand, Director Yang had enough influence; on the other hand, the steel rolling mill was very important. If a real conflict broke out, the workers wouldn't fare well. Wang Shouren's situation was different; it was a joint public-private enterprise. These people were taking advantage of this, planning to embezzle salaries without working. As for the arrests of those higher-ups, what did it matter to them? They hadn't benefited from it.
Over time, this has led to the current state of the people at the motorcycle factory.
“We have a total of 263 workers here, but less than half of them really want to work. What are we going to do?” Dai Wu sighed again.
Kui Datou was also worried. He had already made the promise and the workstations were almost set up. If he couldn't do the work when it was time to start, then he would be in big trouble.
Zhang San was a long-time employee of this motorcycle factory, having worked there since before 1966. He was a level-three technician, and since then, he had maintained a leisurely lifestyle. He couldn't help it; there were no more avenues for advancement. Later, although those avenues reopened, he lost his drive and felt he was too old to strive anymore.
Now, he's almost 40. As usual, he spends his time in the factory, chatting and joking around, before packing up and going home.
When I got home, my wife had already prepared dinner and was waiting for me. It was the weekend, and my son was also home.
He breathed a sigh of relief, picked up the food on the table, and began to eat.
While he was eating, he could hear his wife rambling on and on.
"Sigh, I went out today and the price of grain was a bit higher. Everyone says life is better now, but I think it's not as good as it used to be."
The abolition of grain coupons occurred in 1993, but in recent years, the restrictions on grain coupons have become less stringent. Resources have become more abundant. Many factories now pay workers grain coupons as overtime pay, and everyone's lives are indeed getting better day by day. However, this motorcycle factory doesn't offer overtime at all, and as a result, their lives are truly getting worse every day.
"Dad, I heard that a new factory manager has come to your place. Is that true?" the son asked.
"How did you know?" Zhang San asked, somewhat surprised.
"I heard it from my classmates, and I also heard that your factory is about to start production again. Do you think the wages will be increased?"
"Heh, give me a break." Zhang San scoffed. "They're all fixed. How can you adjust them? Besides, I don't even know if he can sell those things."
“That’s hard to say,” the son retorted. “I’ve heard that this factory manager is quite capable.”
"What skills could he possibly have? I have no idea," Zhang San said dismissively.
The son looked at Zhang San in shock: "Dad, you don't know that the machines he brought to the factory are the latest models, do you? They were all brought from our school."
"What the heck?"
Zhang San's son is very promising; he got into a very good school. It's no small feat to be able to get machinery from their school.
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