But Director Li forgot one thing: the factory next door used to serve the military! Would a factory like that be afraid of running out of electricity?
He probably doesn't know that there's a huge air-raid shelter underground.
Inside are two 1100-kilowatt 18-cylinder generators, each weighing over ten tons. Of course, these things are also fuel-guzzling machines and are rarely started.
Just over ten minutes later, the power went out at the No. 4 Factory.
Zhao Shanhai didn't think much of it, assuming it was a planned power outage. Power outages are common these days.
He thought the power outage would only last half a day or a day, so he remembered that there was a generator underground in the factory and asked the two employees who had stayed at the factory to start the generator.
When the factory was evacuated, the generator was not damaged, and the backup fuel was filled to the brim. A total of eighteen tons of diesel fuel in two large tanks.
If both generating units operate at full capacity, the 18 tons of oil will only last for three days.
In fact, generators are for wartime backup. They are generally not started. When they are started, it is only under certain conditions, with the primary goal of saving energy.
Everyone who knew how to run the factory has left, and those who stayed don't know how. We still need to figure out how to get it up and running, since there's no one who understands the business.
We finally managed to get the old Party Secretary to come, and only then did he know how to start the engine. The old Party Secretary left with the words, "Use it sparingly," and then departed.
Zhao Shanhai thought the old Party Secretary was being stingy with the oil. So much oil, it'd last three to five months, wouldn't it?
A set of machines was running, making a lot of noise. After Zhao Shanhai came up from underground, he organized production to continue.
Zhao Shanhai had no other choice but to hire two carpenters and his cousin and his wife from his hometown, making a total of seven people, plus himself and two people from the original factory. With this 10-person factory, production began.
The trumpet-shaped structure was crafted by an old carpenter who paid a high wage of one yuan and fifty cents a day, including food and lodging. Nobody would come if the wage was too low.
This shows the craftsmanship of a veteran artisan. Indeed, the workmanship is exquisite, and the materials used are of high quality.
Another carpenter used an electric planer to cut the materials, while a highly paid veteran carpenter was responsible for assembling the speaker casings. Others were in charge of painting, and so on, all following an assembly line process.
Zhao Shanhai personally took charge of soldering the speaker wires, since he knew a thing or two about it.
Zhao Shanhai is quite excited now. He's invested all his savings and even borrowed two or three hundred yuan from relatives. He's just waiting for his success. The only drawback is the low production volume; he only produces seven or eight a day.
Xing Baohua arrived at the factory director's office.
"Factory manager, did you call me?" Xing Baohua asked as soon as he entered the room.
"Yes, did you know that the No. 4 Factory next door has started production?" Factory Director Li asked.
"I don't know! When did it start production, and what does it produce?"
"trumpet."
Xing Baohua chuckled.
His smile made Director Li realize that it must be related to him, since Zhao Shanhai had contacted him.
Xing Baohua then laughed again, the more he thought about it, the more he wanted to laugh. He said to Factory Director Li, "I really didn't know Zhao Shanhai could produce loudspeakers, not speaker boxes. I just casually fooled him before, and he, he fell for it, hahaha."
"Come on, tell me in detail how you fooled him." Director Li didn't laugh, but waited until Xing Baohua had laughed enough before tapping the table and asking.
So Xing Baohua told Director Li what he had said to Zhao Shanhai that day. Actually, Director Li had also gone there that day, and Xing Baohua would not have been able to get away if it weren't for Director Li.
"You mean this loudspeaker won't last long?" Factory Director Li asked.
“I haven’t seen the product, so I can’t say for sure. Even if he made it exactly as I described, it simply wouldn’t sell. Because I was talking about passive speakers; active speakers are more complex, they at least have an amplifier function inside, otherwise they simply can’t power them,” Xing Baohua explained.
At the same time, Xing Baohua thought to himself, "If there were a Pinduoduo, Zhao Shanhai could have managed to scam a wave of customers and sell some goods. But these days, you have to see the goods in person and listen to them, right? You think you can get a live demonstration with a passive speaker? It'll just be drowned out by any noise on the street."
Factory Director Li didn't speak, but quietly thought, his fingers rhythmically tapping on the table.
"If Zhao Shanhai finds someone knowledgeable and they manage to produce the speakers, how would you respond?" Factory Director Li suddenly asked.
Xing Baohua shook his head and said, "I don't think the market prospects are great. First, most radios and tape recorders have built-in speakers. Unless it's a high-powered speaker for a public square, which is beyond his capabilities. Second, portable music players are becoming more common, and speakers are only needed when external playback is required."
"A Walkman?" This was the first time Director Li had ever heard of such a thing.
Xing Baohua then explained what a portable music player is: people who can afford one aren't short of money for a sound system. But with the price of portable music players, well, will they ever become widespread?
This is why Xing Baohua wasn't considering making speakers for the time being. Even mass-produced speakers don't sell well.
"I understand. Then I'll find someone to get a set of speakers produced by Zhao Shanhai to study. I guess they can't produce many. I just cut off the power to him."
"Ah!" At the same time, Xing Baohua was thinking to himself, "You despicable bastard."
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