Chapter 336 Pillow Talk: Following orders from superiors, I'm here to whisper sweet nothings in your ear.
"Comrade Li, our military trucks are used in the southwestern border regions and the freezing cold roads in the north, which places extremely high demands on brake pads and the vehicle's suspension system..."
"I heard that these brake pads are made with imported materials and are not sold to the public. But you'll have to help talk to the family members about it. We in the military are indeed facing difficulties."
The logistics minister of the military region hopes to purchase a batch of "Yan Ta brake pads" and help the military modify the structure of its transport trucks... and of course, he also hopes to obtain preferential treatment.
I hope Chief of Staff Yu Li can whisper sweet nothings in his wife's ear.
The military here doesn't really understand the specifics of the "brake pads," since they've heard that the materials are imported and not for sale to outsiders—in fact, Qin Xiangxiang is in a real bind and hasn't even thought of selling them to outsiders yet.
They haven't even loaded it into their own transport fleet yet, and they're already selling it to others?
And it has only just been developed.
The military, however, is already impatient. If these "good things" can be used in the high-altitude border regions, it will greatly improve the border's transportation capacity and save more supplies and lives in critical moments!
What are you talking about?
The commander and political commissar of the Wusongkou Naval Base were both completely bewildered in the deputy chief of staff's office. They exchanged a glance and both saw the shock in each other's eyes.
What has Chief of Staff Li's family gotten up to now?
"How come we've never heard of our naval base?"
"I don't know either."
Li Jianzhi picked up his thermos and took a sip of water: "My wife also told me about this. It started because of their special zone transportation team. As orders increased, the trucks on the road kept breaking down. They found repairing the trucks troublesome, especially the brake pads, which needed to be replaced frequently. So they asked a business school teacher for help."
“The municipal government asked my wife to run a business school and be its principal. The business school teachers she found were quite interesting. One of them used to be from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, majoring in physics and materials. He later resigned and started his own business, selling kitchen knives. My wife recruited him to be a teacher. In addition to this one from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, she also found a former associate professor from Jiaotong University. I never expected that these physics and chemistry professors would come together and actually make quite a name for themselves.”
"These brake pads were invented by this 'knife-selling' professor from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. There's an interesting story about him selling knives: the knives he developed were fifty times more expensive than those on the market, and he went bankrupt because of it."
Li Jianzhi sighed: "These professors produce good stuff, but they also spend money like water."
His words highlighted three things in front of the leaders:
Firstly, these technologies that surpass military technology were not deliberately researched by Qin Xiangxiang; they were simply intended to solve the problem of the special economic zone's transportation team.
Secondly, the technology was developed by several domestic professors, and its origins are clean and do not involve foreign entities.
Thirdly, the kitchen knives are being sold for fifty times the price, so don't even think about getting them for free at cost price!
The key point is the third one. Even though Li Jianzhi himself works for the military, he doesn't want his wife to suffer too much loss by accepting military orders. From a business perspective, she should at least make a little profit.
Upon hearing this, the logistics minister immediately said, "Comrade Li, your Principal Qin is quick-witted and has managed to gather several professors together to accomplish important tasks. She has made a great contribution this time!"
"She's not just running a transport team; she's exploring ways to modernize the logistics of our army!"
This minister was quite the smooth talker, very good at flattery, and the commander next to him immediately followed suit, also wanting a piece of the pie: "Jianzhi, you have a good family member! Not only is their own business doing well, but they are also 'concerned about national defense,' indirectly solving a major problem for our army!"
Li Jianzhi nodded expressionlessly: "I am proud of her."
The minister blinked.
The commander and political commissar stared intently at him.
The Logistics Minister said, "Chief of Staff Li, such good stuff must be expensive, right? I heard it's made from imported raw materials using foreign exchange... Look at you, you're over forty, yet you're still so handsome and dashing!"
"I bet you just whispered something in my ear and got it done. I thank you on behalf of our border guards."
Li Jianzhi almost spat out a mouthful of water, thinking: This is so shameless!
However, this was indeed the right kind of flattery. This certain repressed man not only thought he was exceptionally handsome, but also believed that he was "extremely skilled at whispering sweet nothings in someone's ear."
Back home, Chief of Staff Li, who considered himself highly skilled, gently blew a warm breeze into his wife's ear after she put on her pajamas and climbed into bed.
Qin Xiangxiang covered her ears, asking incredulously, "What are you doing?"
"I'm here on orders from my superiors to whisper sweet nothings in your ear."
Qin Xiangxiang rolled her eyes: "You're crazy."
"Let me whisper sweet nothings in your ear, blow...whoosh..." The couple played around in bed for a while, and Qin Xiang pinched his cheek, "The older you get, the more indecent you become."
"I'm not old. I'm still handsome and dashing, and I can whisper sweet nothings in your ear."
Qin Xiangxiang: "Why don't you praise yourself for still being useful after all these years, like a steamed bun?"
Li Jianzhi: "...Thank you for your approval, Madam."
"Actually, I am a level 10 expert in this area."
"Shameless!"
...
After a while of commotion, they finally got down to business. When Qin Xiangxiang heard about the "huge military supply order," her heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally died.
She lay on the bed, like a stranded fish, her face serene.
The business school hasn't even started yet, and it looks like they're going to set up an "auto parts company." The technology for this auto parts company comes from the business school's research center, and Qin Xiangxiang will have to be listed as the chairman.
It's not just the military; more and more companies, including foreign transport fleets, are looking to purchase brake pads and inquire about prices. We're sure to have plenty of orders in the future.
"...This business school hasn't even started classes yet, and it's already incubating an auto parts company—who can we complain to about this?"
Their "business school" probably doesn't even need to recruit students; the school and its teachers have already made a fortune.
Li Jianzhi spoke of the times: "You can gradually shift some of your focus to auto parts. In the future, automobiles will be the mainstream..."
This is actually a rather sad thing. Five years from now, in the 1990s, the Shanghai Stock Exchange, which once belonged to the textile industry, will come to an end, and the era of automobiles will follow.
The automobile industry has surpassed the textile industry to become the largest pillar industry in Shanghai.
The 1990s also represented the closure of a large number of textile factories, layoffs of employees, and enterprise transformation.
With so many workers to support, some of them transitioning to the automotive industry is a good way out.
Li Jianzhi vaguely remembered that era of layoffs. Many laid-off female textile workers, like the educated youth who returned to the city, stayed in the textile factory for several years, or even more than ten or twenty years, before finally leaving. Some became bus ticket sellers, and some even shone shoes on the street...
If more jobs can be created, more workers can be employed. Qin Xiangxiang's Feiyan Textile Factory may not be affected, but if other textile factories have problems, she will definitely have to find ways to save them, either through mergers or bankruptcy and layoffs.
Some of them will inevitably be eliminated by the times.
Just as the Shanghai Business School and others were preparing for September's enrollment and establishing the "Yanta Auto Parts Company," on August 26, 1985, the Shanghai Wenhui Daily published an article:
"Failed Professors and Their Midas Touch: Exploring the Commercialization of Technology in Shanghai Business Schools"
A veteran industrial journalist delves into the dramatic personal experiences of Professors Zhu Chonggui and Jiang Guohua.
Prior to this, Zhu Chonggui's "special cutting scissors" had been widely used in some textile and garment industries, printing industries, etc., and he also developed a "special cutting knife".
Zhu Chonggui has identified the right path and has already gone completely off the rails in the field of "special tools".
His "special cutting knife" was adopted by a state-owned glass factory facing bankruptcy as a last resort. It was used to cut glass, and then a miracle happened. The yield rate of special glass soared from 65% to 95%, greatly saving costs and directly bringing the glass factory back to life.
The story of "Jiang Guohua" is even more extensive. He helped various small workshops and rural factories transform their production processes. The most typical example is a screw factory in a remote rural town. After Professor Jiang Guohua and his apprentices carried out low-cost transformations, the screw factory's production efficiency tripled and its pass rate increased significantly.
...
Who could have imagined that at the beginning of the joyous Spring Festival, they were still seen as failed entrepreneurs ridiculed and cautioned by many?
The report details how the two professors went from being experts at top universities to failing entrepreneurs on the street, how they were brought into the business school by "Factory Director Qin," how they came into contact with Aunt Shen, who sells tofu at the business school, and Sister Bai, and how they changed their business attitudes. Finally, it describes how they used their previously "failed" technology to save other small factories and workshops.
"...Teaching professors to 'sell tofu' in the market might be more urgent for the nation in this era than teaching them how to build an atomic bomb. This strange 'business school' in Shanghai might be nurturing the future of our country's economy..."
The news of the "failed professor turning stones into gold" caused a sensation in Shanghai!
Other media outlets followed suit with reports. Xinhua News Agency issued a press release, Shanghai Radio produced a special program, and other media outlets such as the Youth Daily and XX Local Newspaper reprinted and reported on the story in depth.
"Shanghai Business School? What business school is this? I've lived in Shanghai for so many years and I've never heard of any business school."
"...This business school hasn't even started admitting students yet???"
"Wait, this business school hasn't even been officially opened yet???"
"The principal is Factory Director Qin???"
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