Chapter 84 The Groundbreaking Ceremony: The Little God of Wealth.
"This one in your house is called Little God of Wealth. Auntie will touch Little God of Wealth."
Qin Xiangxiang was at home recovering from childbirth when Zhong Li from next door came to visit. She especially liked Sui Sui and said that Sui Sui was a little god of wealth, born on the fifth day of the first lunar month.
Qin Xiangxiang: "That's superstition."
“This isn’t superstition; the older generation has their own beliefs about it.” Zhong Li lovingly stroked Xiao Sui Sui’s soft hand. “When you gave birth to her, it was right at dawn. Our ancestors said that dawn is the time to welcome wealth, an auspicious time and day. This little girl will be blessed by the God of Wealth for the rest of her life.”
Qin Xiang thought to herself, "That charlatan sister-in-law next door is here again, spreading superstitious beliefs. But no mother can resist such auspicious words. Yes, yes, my daughter is blessed by the God of Wealth her whole life."
"Auntie, touch the little God of Wealth, touch the little baby God of Wealth."
If it weren't for the wall separating their two houses, Zhong Li would probably want to come to her house every day to touch the "little god of wealth".
“Sister-in-law, I want to touch the little God of Wealth too.”
Qin Xiangxiang laughed: "Go ahead and touch it, but you can't talk about it outside. Let's just say it at home and not be a blabbermouth. These kinds of supernatural things are sensitive outside."
"Sister-in-law, I know."
Qin Xiangxiang said, "It's not that serious. After all, it's just a child. Everyone just wants to celebrate."
Qin Xiangxiang couldn't help but pinch her little girl's cheek and call her "Little God of Wealth Baby".
"Does that mean I relied on my mother for the first half of my life, and now I rely on my daughter for the second half?"
Last year, Qin Xiangxiang was determined to be a "mama's girl," but if her daughter is a little money god, she, Qin Xiangxiang, will become a "female mom" in the future.
May wealth come your way!
"Put Sui Sui down. If you want to hold her, hold her for only a short while. Don't lift any heavy objects this year." As soon as Li Jianzhi got home, he came to hold his daughter and told his wife to hold the child as little as possible, afraid that she would develop back pain. She was a new mother and couldn't handle the strain.
Even while breastfeeding, use a pillow to support the baby so that the mother's back and waist don't get tired.
Qin Xiangxiang was happy to have some peace of mind, as holding a baby is hard work. "You're telling me to hold my daughter less, are you trying to make money off me secretly?"
"Touch the little God of Wealth, and I'll charge you two dollars."
Li Jianzhi chuckled: "How much do you charge for touching the God of Wealth?"
Qin Xiangxiang: "I'm a god of poverty."
Abbreviated as "God of No Money," "Li Jianzhi, it seems that ever since I got pregnant with this child, I've had extra money every month."
"If you're a god of poverty, then I'm a god of poverty too. Our two negatives make a positive."
Qin Xiang finished her postpartum confinement in March. The weather was gradually warming up, and it was the season of spring blossoms. Sui Sui was growing up fair and tender, and her body had almost recovered. After being cooped up in the house for more than a month, even the little troublemaker couldn't stand staying at home anymore.
She contacted the construction company in the county town and began the construction of the factory. She discussed the overall design of the factory with Chen Zhenhua, the person in charge of the project, several times and set a date for the start of construction.
Although the goal is to defeat all demons and monsters, those in the construction industry still can't help but consult the almanac to choose an auspicious day for the groundbreaking ceremony.
Those who work in construction all hope to minimize accidents.
Before construction began, Qin Xiang wanted to find someone to make a factory gate. It was just a simple sign made of bamboo with the factory name written on it. Their textile factory was tentatively named Feiyan Textile Factory.
When Qin Xiangxiang discussed the name with Li Jianzhi, she still thought the name was a bit rustic, "Feiyan Feiyan, it's a bit tacky."
Li Jianzhi: "Although it's a bit tacky, the meaning is very good. The little swallow is wearing a flowery dress, and swallows are birds, so it can be used as a nice brand logo."
"Draw a chubby little bird; it's cute and auspicious."
"Li Jianzhi, your idea is good. We must mark it. Your navy is really insightful."
In those days, branding wasn't valued much. In addition, the campaign that started in 1966 led to a wave of factory name changes. Many well-known old food factories in Shanghai, such as Laodachang and Kaisiling, became Hongwei Food Factory No. 1, Hongwei Food Factory No. 2, etc.
Such names are not easily recognizable; unless you are a local, you simply cannot remember what factory number it is.
Especially in terms of exports, there used to be a domestic brand called Queen Towel, which sold very well abroad and had a good reputation. Now it has been renamed Hongnong Towel and is selling quite well in China. However, after the name change, foreign countries do not recognize the new name. Even though the towels are still the same, foreigners still want to buy Queen Towel.
Because Queen brand towels have long been deeply ingrained in people's minds.
This not only led to a decline in towel sales, but also caused unscrupulous merchants in places like certain islands to discover that they could profit from the name change, resulting in a surge of counterfeit "Queen Brand Towels" appearing on the market, with these counterfeiters taking over the name.
They squandered a good brand and reputation on someone else, ruining the brand's carefully cultivated image.
This was a lesson learned from typical examples after the economy opened up. In her dream, Qin Xiangxiang was preparing to open a textile factory. She had read these experience reports and learned some basic knowledge.
Brand and brand identity are very important!
Other state-owned textile factory directors might not care about these things, but Qin Xiangxiang is a perfectionist. Even if the brand isn't important, she insists on labeling the products from her factory.
We can't use names like "Queen Brand" now, but "Flying Swallow" is quite suitable. We should find someone to design a beautiful swallow pattern so that people will immediately think of Flying Swallow Textile Factory when they see the logo.
Moreover, their factory is located on the island, which gives them a natural advantage in overseas transportation, making them suitable for foreign trade. Even though the original purpose of building the factory was only to supply military cloth, Qin Xiang wanted foreign exchange.
Her advantage over other textile factory managers is that she knows what textiles are currently preferred abroad.
The current problem in China's textile industry is that domestic supply cannot meet demand. There is a severe shortage of cloth ration coupons, and people are so poor in food and clothing that they are eager to buy any kind of cloth produced. Even the worst cloth can be sold. It's like the emperor's daughter not having to worry about getting married.
Therefore, quality isn't a major focus domestically. Furthermore, production and sales are completely separated; factories only care about production, and trading companies only care about selling. How well they sell? Who knows? What do foreign countries need? I don't really understand.
There's no demand survey available now, so even if you know the demand, there's nothing you can do. It's like knowing someone wants to buy Queen brand towels, but you can't change the name back.
Qin Xiangxiang had decided in advance that she wanted to make some foreign exchange, so she chose a clever brand name. Flying Swallow is considered simple and down-to-earth in China, and the bird logo is also pleasing overseas.
Qin thought to herself, "I need to find a few more master painters to design the brand logo for me."
"Sigh, being a factory manager is so hard." But her stubborn personality, which she's had since childhood, makes her unable to tolerate mediocrity and ugliness. She can't stand settling for less. If she's going to make a logo, she has to carefully select the one that looks the best and that she likes the most.
She was willing to go through all that trouble for a long time.
“My wife has worked hard.” Li Jianzhi hugged her to comfort her, while also approving and encouraging her efforts. “We can’t make the name special now, so let’s focus on the logo. We can take our time to choose a bird design. We still have a year.”
"Think about it, branding and logos are very important."
Once the factory's opening date was set, a group of people carried over a simple gate sign. It was a bamboo gate with a red ribbon hanging on it and a couplet written in red calligraphy on red paper, which read "Feiyan Textile Factory".
The groundbreaking ceremony was simple: a group of people dug the foundation and took photos. Qin Xiangxiang, as the temporary factory director, was also among those digging the foundation.
Li Jinling held her niece Sui Sui and watched the commotion from the side.
After Qin Xiangxiang and Chen Zhenhua finished taking photos for the groundbreaking ceremony, she brought her daughter over and let her little hands touch the tools such as hoes and spades next to her. Chen Zhenhua frowned and said, "Director Qin, what are you doing? Why bring your child to the groundbreaking ceremony? This child is so young, she can't come to the construction site."
Li Jinling said from the side, "Chief Engineer Chen, my niece was born on the fifth day of the first lunar month, and at dawn."
"The child is still young and can't be separated from his mother."
Chen Zhenhua paused for a moment, then seemed to understand something, coughed, and said, "Let the child touch it; it's good for him to touch it."
Chief Engineer Chen, who had just checked the almanac before leaving home this morning, suddenly felt an itch to touch this adorable little girl, but was too embarrassed to do so.
Chen Zhenhua: "I'll send someone to gather some firewood."
Erpang's daughter drooled as she touched the firewood. Qin Xiangxiang wiped her hands. The little girl touched the couplets on the door, various tools, and a pile of firewood that Chen Zhenhua had someone collect.
Of course, many of them weren't touched by her own hands, but rather dropped on by her drool.
Qin Xiangxiang said, "I originally wanted the child to touch the door frame for good luck."
Chen Zhenhua: "Touching firewood is good, touching firewood makes you smart! Firewood means talent."
As he spoke, Chen Zhenhua took away a pile of firewood. Several construction workers on the other side came to him asking for firewood, which surprised Qin Xiangxiang.
It seems that Zhong Li is not alone in welcoming the God of Wealth on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year.
Firewood, firewood! May wealth come your way!
After a simple groundbreaking ceremony, the construction workers began digging the foundation. Before building the main factory building, they first built rows of rammed earth houses. These rammed earth houses were inexpensive to build, could provide shelter from the wind and rain, and could store building materials. They could serve as temporary housing and temporary building material warehouses for the construction workers, and could also temporarily serve as staff dormitories and canteens in the future.
This was a last resort. The cement and steel they obtained were only enough for the construction of the main factory building. The workers' dormitories and canteens still had to be built with rammed earth and stone.
There's no way around it, we're poor!
Qin couldn't stand it anymore and felt that they still had to build some brick houses, but where would the bricks come from? They didn't have enough money to buy building materials, so they had to live frugally.
The factory is designed with the main gate facing north. Inside, there is a guardhouse, followed by a bulletin board and a list of honors. Further in is the office area, which includes the main factory building, various workshops, other factory offices, union and youth league offices, as well as some necessary technical and power facilities, power distribution rooms, boiler rooms, etc.
Behind the office area is the staff living area, including a staff canteen and dormitory building. Further on is the warehouse area, including finished product warehouses and raw cotton warehouses, etc. When conditions permit in the future, a nursery, clinic, basketball court, and other places will be built behind it to provide staff with recreational and medical care.
Most factories operate on a construction-in-progress basis; once the main factory building is completed, workers can be assembled to begin operations.
As for the other facilities, we'll just have to make do for now.
After the foundations for the rammed earth houses were dug, construction proceeded quickly. Many members of the Hongqiling Commune volunteered to help. They didn't know how to build factory buildings, but they were familiar with rammed earth houses. Some even came to help carry stones to build stone rammed earth houses.
Some children as young as six or seven also helped carry the stones.
A little girl ran up to Qin Xiangxiang and asked, "Pretty sister, once the textile factory is built, will we be able to wear new clothes?"
Qin Xiangxiang felt a pang of sadness as she looked at the little girl's obviously ill-fitting old clothes.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
