Chapter 226 You're not using the readily available resources?: What a spoiled brat
On January 7, just after the Orthodox Christmas, Wang Xiao and Ivanov boarded the plane.
They originally planned to go to Shanghai first to check on the development of the newly purchased land.
But now that we're back in China, it seems like it wouldn't be right not to go home.
Ivanov was quite enthusiastic; he actually liked the atmosphere at the steel mill.
So a large group of more than a dozen people marched back to Jiangzhimen.
Wow, it's packed with people!
Ivanov didn't know if it was because there were naturally more people around since it was almost December, or if it was just psychological, but he felt that there were an unusually large number of people here.
Even in the dead of winter, the sheer number of people making a racket is enough to make anyone walking through it break out in a sweat.
The collapse of the ruble zone indeed brought more foreign trade demand to this large market.
Ivanov sighed as he looked around, trying to see more.
Wang Xiao's gaze was already fixed ahead, where several middle school students were standing, craning their necks to look through something.
She asked curiously, "What are they doing?"
It's noon now, so anything that middle school students in their school uniforms would come to the market to buy must be something they really like.
"Are they glow sticks?" Wang Xiao guessed. "For the Spring Festival activities?"
She didn't inform Chen Yu beforehand about her return, not because she intended to surprise him, but because she mainly wanted to check on the development of the newly acquired land in Shanghai.
But with the big boss already showing up at the airport, if Chen Yu doesn't react at all, she'll have a hard time securing her position at the top.
Let me state this in advance: it's not that Wang Xiao has a problem with her; rather, if that were the case, it would prove that she has too little control over Jiang Zhimen and that she has been sidelined by her subordinates.
Fortunately, Chen Yu is quite capable.
Although she was out on business and couldn't return to Jiangzhimen immediately, she still quickly sent a new assistant to receive President Wang.
The new assistant is a girl who wears glasses, is slightly plump, and has striking features, most notably her two sharp eyebrows, which give her a spirited look.
When she went to the airport to pick someone up, Ivanov winked at Wang Xiao.
Look, new talent has emerged, and Chen Yu is also working hard to introduce newcomers to the boss.
Now that the boss has asked a question, the new assistant quickly explains, "It's a greeting card. This stall wholesales calendars and greeting cards."
Wang Xiao became interested and stepped forward: "What do you sell?"
When the vendors outside the mall saw the huge crowd, they quickly and enthusiastically started to do business: "Boss, look, I have a lot of calendars and greeting cards here, all kinds are available, whatever you want."
Wang Xiao glanced at it twice, and with her discerning eye, she couldn't really see anything particularly outstanding.
She casually flipped through the items and asked the stall owner, "Where did you get all these goods from?"
The stall owner insisted, "These greeting cards are all from Guangdong. Aren't they nice? Very stylish."
Wang Xiao shook his head: "I don't think so. Your calendar is definitely printed locally. You can tell at a glance."
The stall owner laughed heartily: "Boss, you really know your stuff. The calendar is genuine. I'm not bragging, you can't find this many foreigners taking such beautiful photos even in Guangdong. The greeting cards are definitely not; I carefully selected them from Guangdong."
Wang Xiao asked about the prices again, and finally bought one of each item on a whim.
The stall owner suspected she was taking it back as a sample, and was very happy, so he immediately put it in a bag for her.
But back in the car, the ruthless capitalists had already begun plotting to seize the market.
"Greeting cards." Wang Xiao flipped through the small cards in his hand. "Our paper mill can make greeting cards."
Huh? The assistant in the car frantically tried to recall his mental database.
He remembered the paper mill.
Miss Wang said that if they take over the paper mill, they can specialize in making various brand packaging boxes.
Then, the topic shifted to greeting cards.
Wang Xiao continued flipping through the cards in his hand, talking to Ivanov: "Russia is full of artists. If we let them design greeting cards, the variety of greeting cards will be much greater. We printed the greeting cards in Moscow, and we can just use an empty plane to ship them back. There's a huge market for them in China."
What else can be done? With such a high rate of factory shutdowns in Russia, barter trade is simply too difficult to continue. The empty load rate of cargo planes flying from Moscow to Jiangzhimen is too high; business owners all feel it's a huge waste.
Ivanov thought for a moment and felt they could go a step further: "We could hire more people to delve deeper into this area, and the European and American markets aren't out of the question. After all—"
He shrugged. "We are all God's children, so we have a similar aesthetic sense."
Wang Xiao nodded: "OK, then wish us good luck. If we do well, it'll be a big deal."
In their hearts, Xiao Gao and Xiao Zhao silently lit a candle for the printing factory of Jinning Steel Plant.
If the boss starts doing this, the printing factory will probably only be able to stick to the calendar business, and can forget about making any greeting cards.
Little did he know, Wang Xiao had already mentally condemned the printing factory's useless employees.
With such great resources, how come they can't even expand their greeting card business!
If it were her subordinate, the person in charge could pack up and get ready to leave.
In other words, because printing factories are collective entities with low performance pressure, the factory manager dares to be so carefree and has no sense of crisis whatsoever.
If we have to talk about socialist overgrown children, then in Mr. Wang's opinion, this is what truly qualifies as an overgrown child.
As she walked back to her home near the steel mill, a giant baby appeared in front of her, its mind filled with thoughts of crickets.
To welcome their daughter, Wang Tiejun, deputy director of Jinning Steel Plant, and Chen Yanqiu, chairman of the trade union, took half a day off to stay at home.
As soon as Wang Xiao entered, Comrade Wang Tiejun brought her slippers and fruit, his enthusiasm making Ivanov tremble with embarrassment.
He secretly winked at Wang Xiao. Hehe, something's definitely up.
Wang Xiao rolled her eyes at him, but then her father touched the orange next to her, ate it while waiting for what was to come.
She didn't ask first, but Deputy Factory Director Wang couldn't hold back any longer and had to speak up first: "Um, Xiaoxiao, are you building a market in Shanghai?"
“Yeah.” Wang Xiao spat out the orange seed from his mouth.
Wang Tiejun stared expectantly at his daughter, stammering with anticipation, "How about we get the steel for building the market from the factory?"
"Oh no." Wang Xiao tossed the orange seeds in his hand into the trash can, casually uttering those two words.
Wang Tiejun became anxious: "Why? Xiaoxiao, the goods produced by our steel mill are guaranteed in terms of quality and convenience."
Wang Xiaoqi was puzzled: "Why do you even need to ask? What's the factory price for steel? What's the international price for steel? Why would I buy the more expensive kind?"
Yes, yes, domestic steel prices have indeed fallen, but that's only relative to their peak. Compared to international steel prices, they're still significantly more expensive.
Steel that cost 4,000 yuan per ton in the first half of 1993 has now fallen to 3,000 yuan; however, international steel prices have risen, but have not yet broken through 300 US dollars per ton.
She's stupid; she has too much money to burn, and she's eager to use expensive steel.
Wang Tiejun blinked, trying to promote his own products: "Isn't importing things troublesome? You have to pay taxes."
Wang Xiao chuckled: "Joint ventures can get tax breaks on imported steel. Unless the factory can deliver the goods to me at international steel prices, I definitely can't afford to lose out."
Wang Tiejun is mute, that definitely won't work.
The national reserve price is now 2,900 yuan per ton. If he were to pay Xiaoxiao Steel the international price, the factory workers would tear him apart.
Wang Xiaoqi asked, puzzled, "What's wrong? The factory can't sell its steel?"
Wang Tiejun exclaimed, "Ouch! As soon as the 15 measures were introduced, infrastructure construction in various places came to a standstill. The steel industry depends on construction. If construction doesn't pick up, it's no wonder that the steel industry is in trouble."
"No," Wang Xiao said incredulously. "If they're having a hard time, it's theirs. How could Jinning Steel Plant be having a hard time?"
Wang Tiejun was bewildered: "We're also a steel factory, and we're having a tough time, so of course we're all having a tough time together."
Wang Xiao took a deep breath. It was true; she had never married or had children in either of her lives, so she had no experience raising children.
But at this moment, she finally understood what it felt like to raise a child who was a poor student!
That was so infuriating!
Chen Yanqiu chimed in to her husband, "Yes, Xiaoxiao, you don't know what's going on while you're abroad. All the construction sites have suddenly stopped. Just like back in '89, oh dear, it's really not going to work."
Wang Xiao silently told himself: Don't get angry, don't get angry, getting angry will only make you suffer.
She looked around, stood up, and said to the elderly couple, "Alright, let's go into the study to talk."
People teach their children in the main hall and their wives in bed, but she has to teach her parents in private, to save face for them.
Ivanov immediately and obediently stated, "We'll wait here and won't go out and wander off."
Wang Xiao glared at him and went to the study with her hair standing on end.
Fortunately, Wang Tiejun is now the deputy factory director, and his family was allocated a spacious apartment in the cadre housing. Otherwise, there really wouldn't be a place to talk.
On her way into the study, Wang Xiao kept mentally preparing herself, telling herself that she must stay calm and not lose her temper, after all, they were her parents.
She really did it.
She went into the study and, like a teacher instructing a student, began with an example: "Dad, you know that the Longhua TV Factory sent TVs to the countryside last year, right?"
Wang Tiejun was a little confused, but he still nodded honestly: "I know, their color TVs sell very well."
Wang Xiao felt like she was about to explode. You know the example problem, so why can't you do it?
Longhua TV Factory has already set a good example, and you all just blindly follow suit?
She suppressed her anger: "Then why can't you send houses to the countryside?"
Wang Tiejun couldn't keep up with his daughter's pace at all; what was she talking about?
If their factory made refrigerators or washing machines, then donating appliances to rural areas would make sense. But donating houses to rural areas—what's that all about?
“How are we going to deliver the house?” Wang Tiejun found it absurd to even say it. “Besides, our steel plant doesn’t build houses.”
Chen Yanqiu nodded along, feeling that her daughter's speech was a bit incoherent.
Wang Xiao truly understood the teacher's feelings when he said, "You are the worst class I have ever taught." They were all academic failures with their heads on their necks, just for show!
"The first question is, why can't the houses be sent to the countryside? Why not just organize people to go to the countryside and build houses for the farmers?"
"The second question is, steel mills don't build houses, but what is the most crucial material for construction? Steel bars! Can't steel mills organize teams to go to the countryside and build houses?"
Wang Tiejun blinked hard twice, trying to keep up with his daughter's pace.
However, he failed, and he still felt that this was unreliable.
"Xiaoxiao, building houses is the construction company's job, and if anyone should organize it, it's the construction company. How can our steel plant organize it? Besides, if we build houses for farmers, they'll expect us to build houses for them too."
Wang Xiao looked intently at the old engineer, a strong sense of disappointment welling up inside him.
Why are they all so lacking in ambition?
“Okay, first point, why is the steel plant taking the lead? Because of you, Wang Tiejun, the deputy director of the steel plant, who is my father, Wang Xiao.”
"Secondly, why do the farmers ask you to build houses for them? It's the same reason. You, Comrade Wang Tiejun, are the father of me, Wang Xiao, the owner of the commercial city."
Now, not only was Wang Tiejun confused, but Chen Yanqiu's head was completely muddled.
She subconsciously emphasized, "Xiaoxiao, we haven't used your name to stir up trouble outside. We really haven't taken even a single egg."
Wang Xiao pinched the space between his eyebrows, feeling like he needed to break it down and knead it to explain.
"Anyone with a modicum of sense wouldn't easily give you gifts."
"The suppliers of the commercial city are mostly township enterprises and street factories. They can't imagine what you, as leaders of a large state-owned factory like the steel plant, still need."
“The people at the steel mill know that your daughter is a big boss, and they also know that nothing is easy for you to get your hands on.”
Chen Yanqiu clicked her tongue: "So we've become completely unrelated?"
Wang Xiao sighed: "That's why I can't understand why my dad would say no one cares about him. He's juggling two things at once."
"Let me first explain why the farmers were willing to have the construction team that my dad organized help them build houses."
"Let me put it this way, how many suppliers are there in the trade city? And which supplier wouldn't want to curry favor with me and get more orders? Under these circumstances, you, Deputy Factory Director Wang, my father Wang Xiao, are asking these township enterprise factory directors, 'Oh, we heard your steel mill employees have made money these past two years and want to build houses. We've contacted construction companies, organized steel bars and cement, and don't worry, it's all at factory price. We'll even deliver the service to your door and go to the countryside to build houses for you. Does your factory and its employees need anything else?'"
Wang Xiao vividly imitated the tone of voice, then suddenly switched to a normal speaking voice, "Dad, let me ask you, if you were the factory manager of a township enterprise, would you refuse?"
Only a madman would refuse.
They're eager to find an opportunity to get in touch with Mr. Wang so they can get more cooperation opportunities.
What is a "resource-backed" person?
For example, what does it matter if the daughter of a certain mobile phone CEO has terrible acting skills? There are still plenty of projects that actively seek her out for collaboration.
Do you think people are just after a rich girl who's a lucky star and can bring high profits to their entertainment projects? They're rich, not stupid.
What the project team really values is the daughter's father. They're eager to offer him a stepping stone to build a relationship, even if it's just to become acquainted with him. If there's an opportunity to collaborate in the future, then they've made a profit.
Wang Xiao was truly impressed by her parents.
"Don't you have no idea how many people are begging to get in touch with you?" She was truly speechless. "Who would refuse such a ready-made opportunity?"
Wang Tiejun deflated, instinctively defending himself: "I... I was just afraid of causing you trouble, I didn't mean to ask for your help."
Wang Xiao chuckled directly, not giving her father any face: "Yeah, so you just cheated your daughter and sold me overpriced steel!"
"Hey, hey, hey," Wang Tiejun stammered, "That, that's not the same thing."
Wang Xiao simply made a gesture to stop the other person from continuing.
She understood Comrade Lao Wang's mindset; to put it bluntly, it was the so-called sacrifice of the small family for the greater good, which also included the mindset of the patriarch within a small family.
My daughter's business is family-run, so it doesn't matter if she suffers a little loss. As long as the steel mill benefits, that's fine.
Wang Xiao said earnestly, "I need to reflect on this matter. Last year, no, it should be the year before, my decision to directly order steel from the factory gave you the wrong impression, making you think that what I did was perfectly reasonable. But you overlooked one thing: what was the price of the steel when I got it? And what is the price now?"
"Another point is that I am the boss, but my company is not just my company. I represent the interests of my partners and everyone in the company."
"I would never harm my company's interests for personal reasons."
"Private enterprises and state-owned enterprises are both enterprises, and there is no principle that one's interests are more important or noble than the other's."
Wang Tiejun's face immediately turned red with rage, so red that he wished he could dig a hole and disappear into it.
Chen Yanqiu felt sorry for her husband, who was so old, making their daughter lose face like this, so she spoke up for him: "Oh, Xiaoxiao, our generation was raised with the education that we treat the factory as our home, and we only think about things related to the factory. We don't consider things comprehensively."
“No.” Wang Xiao shook his head. “Since we’ve already gotten to this point, let me say a few more words. The problems you’ve exposed are actually a common problem in large state-owned factories. That is, your mindset is still stuck in the old planned economy mentality, and you have no concept of a market economy at all.”
"Everyone knows that the steel industry and the construction industry are closely related. Why didn't you turn your attention to rural areas when the country stopped large-scale investment?"
"Because large companies are used to asking their superiors for help at most, ordinary people, especially those in rural areas, can only ask large companies for help if they want to get some supplies."
Wang Tiejun and Chen Yanqiu were speechless for a moment.
That's the absolute truth.
Chen Yidong was able to build a house in the village because his sister and brother-in-law worked at a steel factory and were able to get him some good steel bars.
Wang Xiao sighed: "This kind of thinking will kill you, and it will kill all state-owned factories. Under the planned economy, no one competed with you, and the seller's market was larger than the buyer's market, so it didn't matter to you thinking like that. But now we're talking about a market economy, market-oriented, and if you don't change, you will be eliminated."
"Don't have any illusions that the government can't just ignore such a big factory."
"Why should the government keep bailing out your factories? Your factory is a factory, but other people's factories aren't factories?"
"The Kuznetsk Steel Plant is not as big as the Jinning Steel Plant, nor does it have as many employees. So what? Now that it wants to be sold, no one is willing to take it over."
"Put aside your pride and the mentality that you are your parents' most beloved eldest son, so your parents will take care of you no matter what."
"Don't dream like that! Just because you're a steel mill doesn't mean others can't build steel mills too. Look at how many small steel mills were built across the country last year. What kind of game-changing advantage do your products have over others?"
Indeed, the longer she lived in this era, the more she understood why so many state-owned enterprises went bankrupt at the turn of the new century.
How can they compete in the market if everyone is like this?
"Dad, why is it that I can come up with a solution as soon as you mention the steel mill's predicament?"
"Because I had already thought through all of this in my mind."
“This summer, when the National 15 Measures were introduced, I knew that a large amount of steel was piling up at the ports and no one was picking it up, so I came up with this idea.”
"Moreover, my profit margin will be higher than yours. I can easily acquire the goods that are piling up at the port at a low price because I know better than steel mills how to control costs."
"Why didn't I do it? It wasn't because I found it troublesome, thought the money was too much, or was too lazy to earn it. In fact, I really wanted to earn that money at the time."
That's the absolute truth.
In late July, when they lost $1 billion due to the ruble abolition controversy, she became greedy and wanted to make money.
"I don't do it because I feel it's not right to take food from the steel mill. After all, I'm someone who came from the steel mill."
"If it were someone else, or someone else, would they still have so many concerns?"
How can a steel mill compete with others?
Wang Xiao really wanted to curse: "The steel plant has tens of thousands of employees, so many leaders, and so many people just in the leadership team. What are you discussing in your meetings every day? I could understand if another steel plant didn't think of this, because they have no connection with the commercial city. But our Jinning Steel Plant shouldn't be like this! How many children of steel plant workers are there in the commercial city? If you can't even think of this, I just don't understand what you're thinking every day!"
Wang Tiejun felt ashamed and regretted that he wasn't Tu Xingsun, who could directly teleport underground.
Chen Yanqiu was also embarrassed and felt extremely ashamed.
Even so, Wang Xiao didn't let them off the hook: "You used to be ordinary employees in the factory, only focusing on your duties and not thinking about anything else, which is normal. But now you are leaders. I went to so much trouble to put you in leadership positions, and I don't want the people in the steel plant to curse me, saying that I put incompetent people in positions of power. So, please try to think about issues from a broader perspective in the future."
She added, "Using their daughter to fill the factory's debts—which bastard came up with this terrible idea? People like that are either stupid or malicious; stay as far away from them as possible. Don't tell me they meant well. If they were so kind, why didn't they donate their own money to the factory? Even if they didn't donate 10,000, they could at least donate 100. Did they donate? If they didn't, they're just pure wickedness!"
Wang Tiejun lowered his head further and further, trying to save himself: "Um, I'll go find the factory director right now and tell him about this."
Even though he took the initiative, the teacher explaining the example problems still lacked confidence in the underachiever.
"What are you going to say to the factory manager now? The factory manager of a township enterprise is just a factory manager. The workers in their factory have agricultural household registrations and are still farmers. Their relationship with the factory is different from that of workers in state-owned factories. What if the farmers don't want you to build houses for them?"
Wang Tiejun was stumped by the questions; he genuinely hadn't thought about so many things.
Wang Xiao was too lazy to persuade them any further and gave the answer directly: "The farmers will agree. Because the construction teams organized by the steel mill use building materials at factory price, and large-scale construction and industrialized production can reduce costs. Compared to building houses independently in rural areas, the cost is lower. The building materials come from large factories, so they are cheap and of guaranteed quality. Centralized construction is fast, which just meets the farmers' desire to move into new houses as soon as possible."
Wang Tiejun nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, that makes sense."
Wang Xiao then asked, "What if the factory finds it too troublesome, feels that building a house should be led by the construction company, and is unwilling to be the leader?
Wang Tiejun was speechless again; in fact, this was also his concern.
But in front of his daughter, he felt guilty and dared not say anything.
Wang Xiao continued, answering his own question: "Having readily available resources and not integrating them is foolish. Whoever takes the lead controls the project. In the future, others will be begging you, not the other way around. Is it more comfortable to beg or to be begged?"
As she spoke, she couldn't help but complain, "Seriously, Dad, you'd probably be suitable to be the president of Russia too."
Wang Tiejun was completely dumbfounded.
Wasn't his daughter just making fun of him? How come he's suddenly president?
Wang Xiao said disdainfully, "The Russian president wanted to publish his memoirs but said he didn't know how to organize its distribution. A bookseller took care of everything and even finalized the foreign language version. So now he's become a favorite of the Russian president, who thinks he's very capable."
Wang Tiejun blinked twice and cautiously asked his daughter, "Did his memoir run into problems with publication?"
"No, the issuance went very smoothly."
Wang Tiejun and Chen Yanqiu were both baffled. The issuance went smoothly, and he had done a good job representing others. It was normal for the president to think he was capable.
How come it sounds so ridiculous in Xiaoxiao's mouth?
Wang Xiao wanted to facepalm again: "He's the president of Russia, the president of Russia, one of the world's largest countries, the president of Russia whose name revolves around world news, the president of Russia who killed the Soviet Union. He's a walking news machine, and hundreds of millions of people around the world are curious about him. He'd worry about his memoirs not selling? Is successful publication a sign of ability? Anyone can do that. If he publicly expressed his desire to write a memoir and sought publishers, publishers all over the world would be fighting tooth and nail for it."
The person who was talking about the daughter rolled their eyes. "You guys have the same problem as the Russian president. You don't understand your own value. You clearly have resources, but instead of thinking about consolidating them and taking the lead, you want to push them out. You have no ambition at all."
She thought to herself that this foreshadowed Russia's decline after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
If the sect leader has this kind of mentality, what future can he possibly have?
Wang Tiejun quickly assured him, "No, no, don't worry, Xiaoxiao, Dad will definitely do a good job."
Wang Xiao chuckled twice, nodded reluctantly, and opened the study door.
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