Chapter 123 Staff Meeting
On the 20th day of the first lunar month, which is February 17th in the Gregorian calendar, the Xiaowan Village Stone Factory will hold a general staff meeting.
This is the first time such a big move has been made since the factory was built.
After Tian Xin and Li Baiwan returned from the quarry, this notice was distributed to each section chief.
That afternoon, the whole factory was in an uproar.
Master Li called Tian Xin and asked if there was anything serious.
"No, just keep calm!" she replied.
"You don't know, everyone here is saying that this job transfer is actually for layoffs. Is this meeting about layoffs?"
"No, don't worry, it's a good thing this time!" Tian Xin comforted.
This is not an empty statement. Good things are indeed going to happen for these employees.
At 9 o'clock in the morning, all the large machines in the factory stopped working and production, the sounds of crushers and blasting from the quarry also disappeared, and all the vehicles were parked neatly in two rows against the wall.
More than a hundred employees in the venue all sat on benches and gathered in the yard.
The podium at the front, made of tables, was covered with red velvet and simply placed with a few teacups. A microphone stand was placed in the middle.
There was a red carpet between the podium and the staff, and there were simple platforms throughout.
After all the staff from each department arrived, the section chiefs took their seats and waited for the factory director to make his speech.
Li Baiwan was late, and the crowd was buzzing with speculation about what the meeting was about. Liu Shengli had taken control of the situation several times before Li Baiwan arrived.
Half an hour later, Li Baiwan arrived in a suit, looking very high-spirited, followed by Zheng Yali.
As soon as he sat down, Liu Shengli took the microphone and said, "Today is the first general meeting of all employees since the establishment of our factory. Everyone has worked hard, so please be quiet for a moment. I have gathered everyone here today because I have a few things to announce. Next, please let the factory director speak."
As soon as he finished speaking, he led the applause, and then the applause from the audience broke out. Li Baiwan stretched out his hand to stop them.
The noise gradually subsided, and Li Baiwan picked up the microphone and said, "Everyone has worked hard during this period. On behalf of our Xiaowan Village Stone Factory, I thank you all. Just now, Section Chief Liu told everyone that he had a few things to announce, which is correct. But he left out a word, the word 'good'. There are several good things to announce to everyone..."
"Good news?" A man said to his neighbor, "What good news is there? How can good news happen to us?"
The person next to him echoed, "Exactly. It's only been a few days since the Lunar New Year? There are job transfers and meetings all over the place. What good can come of this?"
Seeing the clamor rising again, Liu Shengli put the microphone to his lips and said, "Everyone, please be patient. Next, let the factory director speak to everyone."
He handed the microphone over, but Li Baiwan took it but didn't speak immediately.
Everyone below held their breath, staring at Li Baiwan's movements with wide eyes. The yard was so quiet that one could even hear a cat's meow.
Li Baiwan took a black bag from Zheng Yali, tore off the tape layer by layer, took out the contents and placed them on the table in front of him.
The people below, including several section chiefs on the podium, all widened their eyes at the same time, and their expressions changed several times in an instant.
Liu Shengli was surprised at first, but then he quickly adjusted himself to smiling, looking as if he understood everything.
Zhang Guofeng frowned and looked at Li Baiwan, as if thinking about something.
Li Baiwan cleared his throat, picked up the microphone at hand, and the scene became electrifying as soon as he opened his mouth!
He held the microphone in one hand and pointed at something on the table with the other and asked, "What is this?"
The people below laughed and shouted in a chaotic manner: "Money!"
Neatly arranged in front of him was a stack of hundred-dollar bills that had been sorted in advance.
He held the money with his hand and asked again: "Do you want it?"
Nonsense, who wouldn't want this? Who in the world doesn't love money? But if you ask everyone to say it out loud, I guess a lot of people won't say it out loud, because mentioning money is "vulgar"!
So, when he asked this question, obviously fewer people answered, and most of them were grinning, not knowing what the factory director was up to.
"I knew they were going to pay out severance pay. With so much money, there must be a lot of layoffs!" said Worker No. 1.
"That's right! If this money is paid out, this year will be ruined! Oh..." Worker No. 2 sighed, as if he was sure that he was going to be laid off.
"That's not necessarily true," Worker No. 3 came over and said, "I think it might be a good thing! Didn't we get bonuses before the New Year? This factory is so prosperous now, it wouldn't be a bad idea to give us some money."
"Why are you only thinking about good things?" Worker No. 4 retorted, "I'll sell you and give you some money, would you like it?"
"I'm already old, if anyone wants me, I'd like to sell myself for some money!" Worker No. 3 laughed.
Li Baiwan, who was standing above, saw everyone talking, picked up the microphone and said, "Stop guessing! I know everything you're thinking! I'm not going to say this anymore. My long speeches are making everyone sleepy!"
When the people below heard this, they all laughed and said that the factory director had spoken the truth.
He paused, then continued, "We're all gathered here today for one thing: to give out money!"
What? Money?
Is there such a good thing?
The crowd immediately exploded.
"I told you it was a good thing, but you still didn't believe me?" Worker No. 3 instantly became excited.
"Are they really giving out money?" Worker No. 4 questioned.
"Let's listen to what the factory manager says first. There might be some unexpected problems waiting to happen. It's not that easy to give out money!" Worker No. 1 was quite calm.
The section chiefs on the rostrum were all preoccupied with their own thoughts. Wang Jianjun remained silent with a stern face, Zhang Wanguo frowned, and Zhang Guofeng, initially puzzled, seemed to understand after hearing about the money. Only Liu Shengli remained smiling throughout.
Li Baiwan continued, "Everyone has worked very hard this year. The factory's development to this day is entirely due to the hard work of everyone here. I would like to express my gratitude to everyone here!"
He paused for a moment, and several leaders on the rostrum immediately led the applause, and the place suddenly became lively.
Li Baiwan waved his hand, signaling a pause, and continued, "Over the past year, our factory has produced many outstanding employees. I've seen their diligence and hard work, so today I want to first thank these exemplary representatives."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Yuan came over holding a stack of red certificates and stood aside. Zheng Yali took out a list, opened it, took the microphone handed to her by Li Baiwan, and read out the names on it: "Li Chaoyang, Zhang Lin, Ma Chao, Zhang Shuai, Guo Zengmin, Guo Wanshun, Li Shuanmin... Come on, everyone, come up!"
The people whose names were called went up to the stage one by one, and there were 10 people in total. Tian Xin was sitting in a chair at the back. When she heard Zhang Shuai's name, she suddenly looked up at the podium.
Nine people lined up on the podium, the music for the awards ceremony playing over the loudspeaker. Li Baiwan walked up, took the certificates from Zhang Yuan, and passed them out to each person.
After distributing the information, he said, "These are the employees who had the best performance last year and are highly recognized by everyone! Today, I'm here to tell you all the truth. As long as the factory survives, I will continue to employ these people."
He picked up a stack of money and said to the crowd, "Not only should we use it, but we should also reward them. This money is to recognize their contributions to the factory over the past year."
"Here, Li Chaoyang 2000 yuan, Zhang Lin 1500 yuan, Guo Wanshun 2300 yuan..."
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