Chapter 274 The factory manager who could lead them to victory after three visits to the thatched cottage has returned...
Inside the office of the Party Secretary of Feiyan No. 2 Factory, Yu Guoliang clutched his sparse hair, his beard was unshaven, and his eyes were sunken. On the table were two documents that were practically his "catastrophe."
First, there was the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' return order; second, there was a claim letter from an Eastern European trading company.
He dared not open it to take a closer look. Why had things turned out this way? He had won so easily before, reaping the fruits of victory. When he arrived, everything was going so well. How could it have turned into this situation?
His document, "A Report on the Successful Reform of Shangpu Textile Factory," has become the biggest joke at this moment.
Inside the factory, the assembly lines came to a standstill, and the workers were filled with anxiety. Some were even threatening a strike to oust Yu Guoliang, the new Party Secretary known for his poor conduct. Meanwhile, Yu Guoliang's "own people" huddled in their offices, too ashamed to show their faces for fear of being held accountable by the angry workers.
The entire factory was shrouded in shadow.
"Our factory had only had a few good days, and it's been turned into this?"
"I'm going to file a complaint with the Light Industry Bureau!"
"I'm going to write a complaint letter!"
...
In the conference room of the Light Industry Bureau, filled with smoke, the director, sporting two enormous bags under his eyes, slammed his hand heavily on the table towards the leader who had initially recommended Yu Guoliang:
“Look at the talented people you recommended! They’re turning the ‘reform banner’ into a ‘negative example’. They’re making a mess of things, adding chaos to chaos. You can afford to lose face, but I can’t.”
"Now that things have turned out this way, who will take responsibility? Who can clean up this mess?"
...
The group fell silent.
"It still has to be Qin Xiangxiang."
"This is a true talent."
"The reform of Shangpu Textile Factory really couldn't have been done without her."
After the meeting, things have become complicated. When we need Qin Xiangxiang, we make him the joint factory director and ask him to clean up a mess that no one wants to take on. After he's cleaned it up, someone else tries to steal the job... Now we're desperately asking someone else to clean up our mess.
They're not coming back; they said they went to "school."
Moreover, "he has a heavy family burden and needs to recuperate."
What should we do? The situation is urgent and needs to be resolved; we must bring someone back to take charge.
"Even if it takes three visits to the thatched cottage, we must persuade him to come back."
"The workers are dissatisfied now, and it's even made it to the media and newspapers."
"He made a complete fool of himself."
After the meeting, they still had to ask Qin Xiangxiang to go back, so the deputy director led a group of people to East China Textile University, gritting their teeth. When they found Qin Xiangxiang, she was "tasting the food" in the cafeteria kitchen.
Today I'm going to try mixing soybean pulp and shredded radish, deep-frying them, and making a golden "Ruyi Roll".
"Director Qin, what are you doing here? You need to get back to Feiyan No. 2 Factory right away and take charge of the work! You have to save Feiyan No. 2 Factory."
Qin Xiangxiang: "??? That's an exaggeration."
Comrade Xiao Qin was a little confused. It had only been a few days. Before, Feiyan No. 2 Factory was doing very well. It couldn't have fallen to the point where it needed someone to save it. She used to run the textile factory with her own feet. For six or seven years, there were no problems. It was thriving.
This was in 1978, not 1979! It wasn't open to the public yet that year.
In those days, being able to fail at a state-owned textile factory was considered quite an achievement.
However, Yu Guoliang was indeed a talent who overestimated himself. An ordinary textile factory, as long as there are no major problems and no parasites like Liu Manfu, will only suffer losses and have little profit no matter how it is managed.
However, Yu Guoliang had two main concerns: securing an order from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and accepting a foreign trade order. The former was a matter of national pride and could not be used to embarrass the country abroad, while the latter brought higher foreign exchange earnings and thus higher demands. Ordinary textile factories, lacking genuine technical expertise, would never easily dabble in these two hot potatoes.
He came up with two at once, without any experience, just waiting for the experienced master to step in so he could reap the benefits without lifting a finger, which was far too simplistic of his thinking.
Now things are really messed up. They have no skills but insist on taking on a job they can't handle, and they're under immense pressure from both sides—the situation at Shangpu Textile Factory is even worse than it was last year.
"Didn't the Shangpu Textile Factory successfully reform? Does it need anyone to save it? Yu Guoliang even wrote a 'report' before, and he was giving it around everywhere, wasn't he?"
The group from the Light Industry Bureau blushed, and thinking of the report, they all felt ashamed.
“I’m a student now, so I can’t interfere with things at the factory. I should focus on my studies at school and catch up on the courses I’ve missed. Professor Zheng at my school has a lot of opinions about me now, and he even calls me a problem student.”
Even though she knew the factory's problems were thorny, Qin Xiangxiang was reluctant to take on the "mess." She was just a nobody, not someone who would clean up other people's messes. Yu Guoliang should take responsibility for the mess he made.
Anyway, state-owned textile factories won't collapse anytime soon. Even if they're losing money, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse. They'll continue to lose money until the 1990s before they're completely bankrupt. Talking about life and death now is just nonsense.
Qin Xiangxiang was very calm and composed. She decided to take a year off and go back next year. Once she returned, she demolished the wall closest to the residential area and turned it into a row of shops.
These leaders exaggerate the smallest things into something as if "the sky is falling."
I'm not eating this pot.
Moreover, she had just started reforming the canteen and hadn't had enough fun yet, so why was she dragged back to the factory and treated like a ping-pong ball?
"I'm not going back. Don't try to fool me. How could a perfectly good factory suddenly collapse like this?"
“I run a textile factory with my feet and I still haven’t made such a big mistake.”
Despite the Light Industry Bureau's earnest attempts to persuade him, Qin Xiangxiang, like a lazy bum, kept making excuses. The group came to the school for three consecutive days, making the whole school aware of the situation.
Furthermore, the students also learned about the report written by Yu Guoliang: "Experience Report on the Successful Reform of Shangpu Textile Factory".
"Shameless! Shameless! This is truly the most shameless person I have ever seen!"
"Our student Qin is really wronged. As everyone knows, she was so busy with the reform of Shangpu Textile Factory in the first half of the year that she couldn't come to school to teach. She also has four children. As a result, as soon as she arrived, she took all the credit for herself."
...
Professor Zheng, who originally had a problem with Qin Xiangxiang, also received the report from his classmate. After reading it, he was filled with emotion and felt that he had let down Qin Xiangxiang, whom he had once considered a "problem student".
"Is the problem with the students? No, it's with certain 'people'."
The delegation from the Light Industry Bureau came for several days in a row, each time adopting a more humble attitude. Finally, even the principal stepped in as an intermediary: "Student Qin, you still need to go back to take charge of the work. You are bringing honor to the country and the school..."
Qin Xiangxiang was so annoyed that she realized her comfortable life of being a "giant baby" at school was over and she had to go back to the textile factory.
Yu Guoliang is so useless. When will she be able to enjoy a white-collar salary and dividends?
"Alright, I'll go back, but I have a few conditions."
"I need to find a few students from the school to help out." Qin Xiangxiang naturally approached the principal to "poach" talent from within the school.
Although her first cabinet members all had exceptional talents, their overall educational level was not high, and the factory needed some elite talents who had received higher education.
Find students to do the work and help share the burden.
This will also prevent Professor Zheng from always calling her a "problem student." Hmph, she'll bring out a few more "problem students" who don't come to school.
"Okay, the school has agreed, which is a good thing for the students! It's a valuable experience!"
When Qin Xiangxiang, accompanied by three students from East China Textile University and Li, pulled up in a car at the entrance of Feiyan No. 2 Factory, it was like a ray of light piercing through the dark clouds. The workers suddenly found their pillar of support and spontaneously organized themselves to welcome the factory director.
"The pickles and other items that were previously available in the cafeteria have all been restored to service."
The entire textile factory cheered. They knew that the factory manager who cared about them and could lead them to victory had returned!
Instead of holding a mobilization and criticism meeting, Qin Xiangxiang went straight to solving the problems. First, she assigned tasks related to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' orders, specifying how to modify them.
In addition, this batch of orders from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also had a problem with mold.
"Feiyan No. 2 Factory is not good at preventing mold and moisture."
Qin Xiangxiang used to work in a textile factory on an island. Every year, they had to deal with typhoons and import goods from overseas. The factory's high-end textiles were designed to be moisture-proof and mildew-proof. However, Shangpu Textile Factory did not have this concept before, and Yu Guoliang did not pay attention to it either, which caused some uniforms to get damp.
"The humidity in the warehouse is too high. Improve the moisture-proofing measures and use desiccant..." Qin Xiangxiang had experience in this area and made the arrangements one by one.
The warehouse of Shangpu Textile Factory was too old and the dampness problem needed to be solved. Qin Xiangxiang asked people to open all the doors and windows for ventilation, and then used some scrap iron barrels and electric furnace wires to make a batch of simple dryers to remove moisture and dry the inside and outside. He also took various moisture-proof and mildew-proof measures.
After resolving the issue with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' order, we received a foreign trade order from Eastern Europe for a batch of jacquard fabrics with extremely complex processes. The parameters of the jacquard machine in the factory were not set correctly, and the resulting pattern was not good. The pattern requested by the other party was unfamiliar to the factory workers and was too complicated.
Qin Xiangxiang suggested that "Yin Pingping" should go and discuss with the people from the Eastern European foreign trade company. Feiyan Factory No. 1 had done a lot of foreign trade and had some understanding of the preferences of people in different regions. If they could negotiate to change the pattern, maybe the other side would like it more.
"Factory manager, they've agreed to change the design; they prefer ours..."
...
Soon, both problems were resolved, leaving the students from East China Textile University completely bewildered.
They thought that Feiyan No. 2 Factory was at a critical juncture of life and death. Otherwise, why would the leaders of the Light Industry Bureau beg so humbly? And why would Qin ask the students at the school for help, in order to work together to turn the tide?
Everyone was prepared to work day and night, but in the end, this student Qin handled it in no time.
What were those students doing standing there?
Should we applaud?
"Qin is truly amazing, she's practically a guiding light in my life." Zeng Min looked at Qin Xiangxiang with sparkling eyes. This woman in front of her, damn it, is just too charming!
She's most charming, especially when she's working.
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