"But little did I expect that my good intentions would turn into a disaster."
"If you want steam, you need a boiler."
Hearing this reminded Wu Changfeng of his own unseen encounter with a boiler.
Old Zhou took a drag of his cigarette and continued:
"Now that we have the boiler, we'll have hot water. I thought to myself, we shouldn't waste this thing."
"Why not just build a public bathhouse? The hot water is just sitting there unused anyway."
"In addition, my workers deal with iron all day long, and they are filthy by the end of the day."
"It can also be considered a benefit for employees."
Wu Changfeng nodded in agreement.
During this period, almost all state-owned and local enterprises on the mainland had their own bathhouses.
These are all standard features.
"We were supposed to be able to take a shower after finishing get off work at 5 p.m., but some workers started going before 4:30 p.m."
"If you're going to take a shower, then take a shower. Why the hell did you have to bring your work clothes with you?"
"It's not only a waste of time, but also a waste of water."
"In order to get a spot to shower, the workers finished work early, and in the end, some people went there as early as 3 o'clock."
"They've all been washed clean, how can we expect them to do any work?"
"I originally wanted to shut it down, but since it's a weekend, it can still be open to residents and we can recoup some of the costs, so I'll keep it."
"But then another problem arose: I still needed to hire people to sell tickets..."
"With more people taking showers, the demand for hot water has also increased. I also need to organize coal dispatch, arrange shift changes, and send mechanics to maintain the pipelines."
"We're stuck in this limbo. Let's stop. The equipment can't be cleaned."
"Keep going, this situation is getting out of control."
Old Zhou asked, "What do you think is the best way to handle this situation so that both sides can have the best of both worlds?"
After listening to this, Wu Changfeng wondered if Old Zhou was getting old.
Can't you even handle something this simple?
Looking at Old Zhou's face, the wrinkles were even deeper. If you do the math, Old Zhou is already 65.
I should have reached retirement age.
He's a bit slow on the uptake.
Wu Changfeng said with a smile, "Old Zhou, haven't you thought about taking a break?"
"Rest? I get enough sleep all day."
Wu Changfeng shook his head: "What I mean is, it's time for you to hand over your shift."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Old Zhou asked, puzzled.
"Actually, this problem is easy to solve. It's just that you're getting old and not decisive enough. It's understandable that you have deep feelings for your workers, but when it's time to take action, you have to be swift and decisive."
Old Zhou didn't understand.
Wu Changfeng continued, "Look, this problem is entirely caused by your lack of decisiveness. Why didn't you just tell the boiler room not to provide hot water before five o'clock?"
"As for opening it up to the public, don't be ridiculous. There are already public bathhouses on the market, and they're quite nicely decorated. Your kind of bathhouse won't last long; the public will find it undesirable."
Old Zhou nodded in sudden realization: "I understand, I understand. I'll issue the order as soon as I get back!"
Wu Changfeng said with concern, "Consider giving the factory to your son. There has to be a handover eventually. Maybe your son can reach a new level."
Old Zhou chuckled: "We'll talk about it later, but today I have more than just this issue. There's something else that's really giving me a headache."
"Oh?" Wu Changfeng stretched out his hand: "Tell me about it."
Do you remember the West-East Gas Pipeline project?
"I remember."
Wu Changfeng got all his money back.
If we do the math, the overall plan should be complete by now, right?
Construction should begin soon.
Old Zhou said, "Thanks to you, I got one of the cooperation projects, which is a two-phase separator for gas stations."
Wu Changfeng knew about this matter, and Lao Zhou also gave him a generous commission.
"Then what?"
Old Zhou continued, "This thing is too advanced. Even if the technology and blueprints were given to me, we wouldn't be able to figure it out in a short time. So I found a university professor, got some funding, and asked him to help lead his students to build one first so we could learn from it."
"I paid the money, but when the deadline came, this professor told me he couldn't do it!"
"Because, the research funding I deposited into the university's account was withdrawn by the college, and he didn't receive the money!"
"No, I received it," Old Zhou denied, then continued, "but only one-tenth of the original!"
"This really angered me. I went to the school to argue with them, but they completely ignored me."
"The Equipment Division keeps urging me to produce the samples, but I can't get them out yet!"
"So, I came here this time to ask you to talk to the Equipment Division and ask for a few more days of extension. I have found another university, and the research and development is almost complete. We will be able to produce a sample soon."
Wu Changfeng said "Oh," and replied, "You can just explain this to the Equipment Division."
Old Zhou sighed: "Let's not talk about such embarrassing things, lest the Equipment Division thinks I'm incompetent."
“Other factories are state-owned, they can just take over and start working, but I have to hire people. Isn’t that a slap in the face? How am I supposed to get work in the future?”
Wu Changfeng understood.
To put it bluntly, two-phase separators are too high-end, and Lao Zhou's own factory has limited technical capabilities.
We have no choice but to hire someone.
But the first time I asked someone to help me, I fell into a huge pit.
To save face, I could only ask myself to speak to the Equipment Division and request a few days' delay.
Wu Changfeng thought for a moment and said, "Okay, no problem. You go back and get your samples ready. I'll handle things here."
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