Chapter 291 "The Echo of Spruce" This Factory Director Qin is a lucky man...
Because it's their own chubby swallow doll, its clothing is much bolder than that of a teddy bear. Besides the one with the red scarf, there's another wearing a little vest and round glasses, plus a little mustache. It's clearly a "scholarly" look, but it's unexpectedly cute.
Seeing this, Qin Xiangxiang said, "Let this chubby swallow wear all the unique clothes in our factory. They're so cute."
She has three daughters, and girls all love dolls. The chubby swallow dolls from their factory can even be "dressed up".
Most of the clothes worn by these "Hug Swallows" were made by Qin Xiangxiang herself. She was very dedicated to making dolls for her own daughter, and she also loved making clothes for her dolls when she was a child.
"It makes me very happy to dress up my dolls in clothes I made myself."
Now that she has three daughters, she has fulfilled her wish to dress them up in various ways. The beautiful dresses that the children wear are all handmade by Qin Xiangxiang.
“We have quite a few little girls in our factory who should like these dress-up dolls. These little clothes are also representative of our factory’s textiles. Wearing them on ‘Hug Swallow’ is also a form of promotion.”
Once the "Hugging Swallow" dolls were made at the factory, Qin Xiangxiang even had them displayed in the "Flying Swallow Splendor" shop. If a foreign customer placed a large order, they would receive a Flying Swallow doll as a gift.
The wool felting contest held at the entrance also awards a swallow doll to the first-place winner.
"Factory manager, someone wants to buy this swallow doll; many people have come to inquire about it!"
"Should we sell 'Hugging Swallow'?"
Qin Xiangxiang: "..."
“Selling our own baby swallows is like selling our own children.”
"Factory manager, should we sell it or not?"
Qin Xiangxiang said, "If there's money to be made, of course we'll sell. Our Feiyan United Textile Factory is now a pilot unit for reform. Any profits exceeding the quota will be retained by our factory. If we make more money, we'll choose a piece of land to build houses!"
Isn't it just selling your children?
Sell!
The swallow family took it all out to sell.
"Director Sun, their Feiyan Textile Factory is selling swallow dolls at the gate! Lots of people are buying them. You can even dress up these chubby dolls."
Sun Xianjin: "Isn't she an OEM manufacturer for Boss Chen? How come she's selling them herself?"
"They were manufacturing a teddy bear doll, but later their factory made their own chubby swallow doll, which they called the factory's little swallow doll."
Sun Xianjin: "Hiss—she can play with this toy in so many ways? Make clothes for the toy?"
"That's right, even that little swallow is wearing a scarf!"
Sun Xianjin felt distressed. If Feiyan Textile Factory continued to develop like this, wouldn't its machinery and equipment soon surpass those of the Tenth Textile Factory? And what about the workers' wages, bonuses, and benefits…
With Qin Xiangxiang around, he'll always have to live in her shadow.
At this time, Chen Qidong was also very conflicted. Feiyan Textile Factory had done too well with his orders. The teddy bears were cute and pleasing. Chen Qidong also liked the "Good News Swallow" in their factory, thinking it had a good meaning.
Chen Qidong first sent a batch of teddy bears to the United States to test the waters, and then purchased a batch of "Good News Swallows" to sell in Hong Kong.
"This is 'Hug Swallow'."
"Let's call it 'Good News Swallow'! Swallows coming to the door means good fortune!"
Qin Xiangxiang brought home a large pile of teddy bears and swallow dolls. Her daughters' beds were covered with toy dolls, and her daughter Suisui particularly liked these stuffed dolls.
Her bed was covered with a whole row of toy dolls.
"Mom, can you make something else? Like a big white goose? Or a little fox! Or a giant panda! Or a snake!"
Qin Xiangxiang: "You like the snake doll too? I don't want this one!"
"Mom, I can make clothes for the snake."
The youngest daughter, Lanlan, also said, "Mom, I can make clothes for the snake too. I can cut up the socks and make snake clothes."
Qin Xiangxiang: "..."
She nudged Li Jianzhi's arm: "Your daughters are all so brave, they're not even afraid of snakes."
“There used to be an old lady who pretended to be lame downstairs in our building. One year, after a typhoon, the floodwaters rose, and the old lady, who was sitting in a wheelchair, was startled by a cobra and jumped up. That’s when everyone realized she was faking her lameness.”
Qin Xiangxiang recounted the past, and then realized that many years had passed.
“It’s been almost ten years, Li Jianzhi.”
Now, we are about to enter the 1980s. Ten years have passed since 1970, and since the dream she once had.
“Yes, it’s been ten years.” Li Jianzhi kissed her cheek. Ten years ago, he was still single. Now he has a wife and children and enjoys ten years of happy family life.
"When I was young, I always felt that time passed very slowly... Later, I felt that a year would pass in the blink of an eye."
Qin Xiangxiang: "After I turned fifteen or sixteen, my body didn't change much. When I was little, I grew taller every year and had to make new clothes every year. Now... I can still wear the clothes I wore when I was seventeen or eighteen."
"Looking in the mirror, it seems like I haven't changed much over the years."
Li Jianzhi smiled slightly: "Who said you haven't changed? You are now the nationally renowned Factory Director Qin."
Qin Xiangxiang sighed with feigned melancholy: "...I don't know how I got through these ten years."
Li Jianzhi: "Looking forward to the next ten years with my wife."
Will your steamed corn bread still be usable in the next ten years?
Li Jianzhi: "??????"
"No—honey, I'm only in my thirties."
"Don't even mention thirty, forty, fifty... sixty or seventy years old can use it too." Li Jianzhi was convinced by his wife's lack of confidence in him.
Qin Xiangxiang: "Comrade Li, you are very confident and currently holding firm, which surprises me."
"Qin Xiangxiang, you better explain yourself clearly."
Qin Xiangxiang said, "I used to think you weren't very good in that area, and I was afraid you'd break down in a few years."
"No—what did I do that you didn't like?"
Qin Xiangxiang said, "I had a dream that you were dying. You should use it more often."
Li Jianzhi: "...I'll emphasize again, dreams are the opposite of reality!"
"Let's try it tonight and see if it works. Don't cry."
"Let's use it more often."
In January 1980, the weather was very cold. After spring arrived, Chen Qidong called and said, "Add another 500,000 teddy bears to the order!"
"We've also added 200,000 orders for your 'Good News Swallow' (a type of bird's nest)."
Qin Xiangxiang: "..."
Oh, that's really bad news.
"An order for 500,000 teddy bears?"
"Factory manager, our factory can't handle this much. However, Mr. Chen's OEM orders are good, and all the workers in our factory are benefiting. They are paid by the piece. The female worker surnamed Wu is doing the most work. Before, she could earn two or three hundred yuan more a month. Everyone was so envious."
Qin Xiangxiang said, "Let's cooperate with several neighborhood production groups to complete OEM orders together."
"Boss Chen is really good. He increased the quantity by 500,000, so he probably made a lot of money."
Of course, Feiyan Textile Factory also made a lot of money. The welfare and benefits of the factory workers were improved. Some diligent female workers could earn two or three hundred yuan a month, and many families bought TVs and refrigerators.
In 1979, Shanghai initially had about 500,000 televisions, and after a year, that number is estimated to be close to one million.
A basic black and white television costs 350 yuan, which is affordable for many workers' families.
However, there were very few TV programs at that time, mostly with added advertisements, and occasionally there were TV dramas and movies. There were no TV series at that time, only some very simple cultural programs.
But everyone watched it with great interest.
At this time, Xue Jianjun's "Echoes of Spruce" was published, causing a sensation in the literary world.
"It's so well written. The article contains a lot of philosophical reflections. I've read it many, many times. After reading it, I feel warm inside and I'm no longer confused."
"I like the author's philosophical thinking in the article, and I like the character of Director Qin even more."
"Yes, Director Qin is wonderful! She is a kindred spirit and a mentor. I wish I could meet someone like Director Qin in my life."
"Factory Director Qin? It's Factory Director Qin again?"
"Could this 'Echoes of Spruce' be another short story from the handwritten copy of 'Factory Director Qin'?"
"Get lost. This 'Echoes of Spruce' is full of the author's philosophical thoughts and reflections on life. Don't associate those trashy handwritten stories with this. This is a work of literature! Not an absurd story about having a child with a thousand-year-old female corpse."
"Ah... but this Factory Director Qin seems to be the same 'Factory Director Qin,' they're both the same Factory Director Qin."
"Xue Jianjun, the author of 'Echoes of Spruce,' was once a worker at Feiyan Textile Factory and was even admitted to Peking University. Director Qin was the director of Feiyan Textile Factory!"
"What?"
Qin Xiangxiang held a formally published novel, "Echoes of Spruce," in her hand; it was a gift from worker Xue Jianjun.
Qin Xiangxiang: "...In this book, I am like a wise elder."
After finishing reading "Echoes of Spruce," Li Jianzhi felt a mix of emotions. Xue Jianjun's writing was excellent, full of philosophical reflections and thoughts on life, which easily resonated with readers.
However, the "factory director Qin" who is full of wisdom is completely different from his wife.
"Chen Qidong, you've struck it rich? Did you really make money on that toy bear order?"
"I made a killing, so I placed another 500,000 yuan order."
When Chen Qidong's friend Ge Chunjiang learned that his teddy bear business had made a fortune, he could hardly believe it. He thought, "It seems that Americans really don't discriminate."
Chen Qidong: "I encountered an extraordinary person in this business deal."
"You went to mainland China to find OEM manufacturing? What kind of extraordinary person are you?"
Chen Qidong took a few handwritten copies of the story "Director Qin" that he had brought back and tossed them to Ge Chunjiang.
"This Factory Director Qin is doing OEM work for me. He's a lucky man."
Ge Chunjiang: "Me—this, a thousand-year-old female corpse teaching you weaving skills in a dream, you haven't been fooled, have you?"
"Are novels from mainland China this wild?"
Chen Qidong: "This Factory Director Qin is a lucky man."
"Really?" Ge Chunjiang blinked, muttering to himself. "Is this Factory Director Qin really that capable?"
"I know two idiots, one is you, and the other is Mao Shan. This Mao Shan really thinks he's a Taoist priest from Maoshan, and he's obsessed with making zombie movies. I think he's definitely going to die a horrible death."
In the 1970s, Hong Kong produced several zombie films, each one performing worse at the box office than the last. Audiences simply didn't buy into them. There were all sorts of films, like the Xiangxi corpse-driving movie, and nobody wanted to watch those kinds of horror zombie films.
Over the past decade, several zombie movies have flopped, leaving investors with huge losses!
"I'm friends with Mao Shan, and I gave him some money. I'm prepared to let it go to waste, we're friends, after all. But... is this Factory Director Qin really that amazing?"
"She really saw this thousand-year-old female corpse? Why don't we send Mao Shan to learn from her?"
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