Chapter 186
Ye Manzhi sat there, looking incredulous.
"Manager Zhao, where did you hear this information? Is it accurate?"
"Haha," Zhao Guilin said with a nonchalant expression, "I went back to the Industry Department yesterday to do some work and heard it from the Personnel Department."
"..." Ye Manzhi asked persistently, "Do you know where our Factory Director Niu will be transferred to?"
"The provincial government wants to establish a food industry company to manage the province's food industry."
"Similar to the Provincial Leather Industry Company?" Ye Manzhi asked.
"That's about right. The Industry Department is looking for a person in charge of this company, and Niu Enjiu from your factory is one of the candidates."
"If you're going to a food industry company, then Director Niu is quite suitable."
Binjiang No. 1 Food Factory is considered the largest food factory in the province. Not only is the factory large in scale, but it also produces and sells a wide variety of food types and specifications.
Niu Enjiu has worked in a food factory for more than ten years and has extensive experience in management and production.
In addition, the implementation of the "Angang Constitution" this year made him the center of attention several times.
Taking all factors into consideration, Director Lao Niu has a good chance of taking up a position in this new company.
I just don't know what his plan is when he suddenly proposed to build houses for his employees.
Since coming to the Party School for further studies, Ye Manzhi has not returned to the food factory. After the two classes in the morning, she packed up and prepared to go back to the factory.
When he walked to the gate of the Party School, he happened to meet Zhou Ruyi standing outside.
"Ruyi, when did you come?"
"I've been here a while, but the Party School doesn't let outsiders in," Zhou Ruyi said, wiping his sweat. "I was thinking of asking someone to come in and look for someone!"
"No need to look for it," Ye Manzhi said after looking at her watch. "Let's go find a place to eat."
The school spirit and tradition of the Provincial Party School is to study hard and run the school frugally, so the food in the Party School cafeteria is quite ordinary, and students have to eat at least three bitter meals a week.
This time, having a reason not to eat in the Party School cafeteria, Ye Manzhi took everyone to a nearby state-owned restaurant and ordered a bowl of vegetable noodles for each person.
"Ruyi, how is the factory doing lately?"
Because there were too many things to do, Zhou Ruyi spent a long time organizing his words before deciding which one to talk about first.
She first reported a good news.
"Yesterday, someone from the Provincial Foreign Trade Bureau called us and said that the banquet dishes have received very good market feedback in the UK. A few days ago, a British customer placed a £15,000 export order for banquet dishes with our food factory through the Provincial Foreign Trade Bureau."
Ye Manzhi clapped her hands in delight, unable to conceal her delight. "I've long known that banquet dishes could find a market in Europe, but I didn't expect it to be so fast! According to estimates, the UK should have received the goods just over a month ago, right? What products do the customers need this time?"
"In addition to the braised pork knuckle, braised pork trotter, and four-happiness meatballs we ordered last time, we've also added lotus-crusted chicken slices," Zhou Ruyi said with a smile. "The British customer told the Provincial Foreign Trade Bureau that they trust Director Ye's vision and asked if our factory has other canned banquet dishes, so we can ship them along with these four products. We'll start with ten boxes of each to test the taste. The customer wants to receive the goods as soon as possible, so we didn't place an order with other domestic canneries this time. Once we have the goods ready, we'll ship directly from Binjiang Port."
The smile on Ye Manzhi's face became brighter and brighter.
At that time, she only left Li Qiong the address and phone number of the provincial Foreign Trade Bureau. It would actually be difficult for the other party to contact other manufacturers individually.
These days, apart from signing orders at the Canton Fair, no factory dares to contact its overseas relations privately.
Therefore, Ye Manzhi did not leave the other party with the contact information of the food factory, but only asked her to place an order with the factory through the Provincial Foreign Trade Bureau.
"Since our customers trust us, we have to live up to that trust. Of the three new dishes we're developing, the chicken supply issue for Kung Pao Chicken hasn't been resolved yet, and the seasoning for Dongpo Pork is still a little off. Let's start by sending out some canned Fish-Fragrant Shredded Pork and see how the customers respond."
Zhou Ruyi said with a worried look on her face, "We've received too many orders for canned meat this year, and the raw pork supply is actually starting to run low."
Ye Manzhi waved his hand and said, "Haha, I've already handed over the job. You can ask Director Niu to solve the pork problem. I won't worry about it for now."
She is studying full-time, so as long as there is no big trouble, she shouldn't have to worry about the work in the factory.
If she controls too much, it will seem like she is afraid to delegate power.
Ye Manzhi picked up the bowl of noodles and took a sip of the soup, then looked across and asked, "Any other good news?"
"There's one more thing, I don't know if it's good news."
This is good news for Zhou Ruyi, but not necessarily for the factory leaders.
"Director Niu has organized several meetings recently, apparently intending to build houses for the homeless employees."
"Do you have a specific plan?"
“Maybe the workers will pay a portion themselves, and the factory will take another portion.”
Ye Manzhi asked the question in her heart: "What kind of house is this?"
Since the private housing renovation a few years ago, there has been no private housing construction in the city, which is a bourgeois tendency.
Citizens who need housing can either apply for welfare housing from their employer or rent public housing from the street.
Is the method proposed by Director Lao Niu fair or private? How will the property rights of the family compound be defined at that time?
If he has already heard the rumors that he will be reassigned, isn't he afraid of ruining his promotion by acting like this?
Zhou Ruyi said: "The property rights are still publicly owned. The money raised by employees will be considered as future rent. After paying the fund, they will not have to pay rent for a certain number of years."
Ye Manzhi: “…”
It's a pity that he could come up with such an idea.
Although it is a welfare housing provided by the company, it is not free and you still have to pay rent every month, but it is much cheaper than the public rental housing on the street.
Zhou Ruyi continued, "When we're raising funds, everyone pays according to their actual circumstances. The cost per square meter seems to be tentatively set at 25 yuan. For example, if your seniority and rank are only enough for one room, you can pay 400 yuan based on 16 square meters."
Many families in the food factory are dual-income families, and the combined monthly salary of the couple can be around 50 or 60 yuan.
If you can save 20 yuan a month, you can save all the funds in less than two years.
Moreover, the rent for the food factory’s staff quarters is 30 cents per meter, and the monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment is about 5 yuan.
After paying the fundraising money, everyone won’t have to pay rent for six or seven years.
Ye Manzhi asked expressionlessly, "The annual interest rate on bank savings is 7%. If you put 400 yuan in the bank, you can get 28 yuan in interest every year. That's almost a month's salary. Is there really anyone willing to raise money to build a house?"
"Of course I do. I heard that Director Niu has already considered this. He will include the interest in the calculation and waive the rent for everyone for a while longer."
So, when many young couples who don’t own a house heard this news, they were quite tempted.
Even Zhou Ruyi's mother said that if the factory could allocate a house to her, the family would give her some fundraising money. If she missed this opportunity, she didn't know when she would have the next one.
Because she is unmarried and not eligible for a house yet, her mother has already started arranging blind dates for her.
"..." Ye Manzhi paused for a moment and asked, "What are the other factory directors' reactions to Director Niu's proposal?"
"There seems to be no reaction. I haven't heard of any objections. Factory Director Niu went to the city this morning to apply for land."
Ye Manzhi: “…”
I guess the other factory managers haven't heard about Lao Niu's departure yet.
Lao Niu has been the one who has the final say for many years, and everyone has become accustomed to him raising and solving problems.
Since this idea was proposed by Director Lao Niu, let him do it.
Many employees in the factory are waiting for housing allocation. Anyone who jumps out to oppose it will be regarded as the public enemy of the employees.
Anyway, the funding problem will be solved by Director Lao Niu.
Little did people know that Niu Enjiu would most likely leave the food factory before construction of the family compound began.
When the time comes, he can just pat his butt and get a promotion, and he can also earn a good reputation for doing practical things for the employees. The old employees of the food factory will remember his kindness for decades to come.
However, his successor and other deputy factory directors are in trouble.
25 yuan is a very low price. The price of building materials has increased in the past two years, and the cost of building a tube building per square meter is between 38 yuan and 50 yuan.
If calculated based on a construction cost of 25 yuan per square meter, if the employees raise 100,000 yuan, the factory will have to pay more than 200,000 yuan.
The more employees participate in the fundraising, the greater the funding gap in the factory will be.
If all the money is used to build houses, then what about production?
Zhou Ruyi observed Ye Manzhi's expression and asked, "Director, do you need me to tell Director Niu anything?"
From the perspective of employees, it is definitely a good thing for the factory to be able to build a house.
But this may not be the case for the factory leaders, especially Director Ye, who is also the deputy director of operations. She must be under a lot of pressure when the construction site needs money.
Ye Manzhi frowned, thought for a moment, and said, "No need. Just listen to Director Niu."
She somewhat understood Niu Enjiu's approach.
Lao Niu felt that he had worked in the factory for more than ten years, and the family fortune was accumulated under his leadership.
Instead of leaving your property to the person who picks peaches, it is better to provide some benefits to the employees while his words still have an impact.
By then, he will have both the money and the reputation, and the mess will be left to his successor to clean up.
After Ye Manzhi figured it out, he quickly ate a few mouthfuls of noodles.
She is now a student at the Party School, so she should concentrate on her studies first and let other factory directors take care of the factory affairs.
*
Ye Manzhi made up his mind to concentrate on improving his theoretical level and not worry about the factory affairs.
Therefore, with no one to stop it, the progress of the food factory’s staff quarters was extremely rapid.
When she finished her third exam at the Party School and was preparing to write her graduation thesis, Lao Niu obtained the land from the city, and the building was a done deal.
Ye Manzhi sighed that Lao Niu was really awesome, then walked out of the library.
It was not yet five o'clock, and she wanted to call Wu Zhengrong so that she could pick up the child from kindergarten today.
However, no one answered the phone in the office and Wu Zhengrong had already arrived at the kindergarten gate.
Seeing another man in green military uniform coming to pick him up, Wu Yuzhuo asked disappointedly, "Dad, why are you here again? Why hasn't my mom come home yet? She spends more time at school than on her business trip!"
"How willing do you think I am to pick you up? I even have to take you back to work overtime."
The father and daughter disliked each other and walked out of the kindergarten with disgust.
On the way to the research institute, I had to pass by the supply and marketing cooperative in the compound. Today, there were several children gathered at the door of the cooperative, two of whom were members of the children's group.
Wu Yuzhuo said something to his father, and running over with his military water bottle on his back to say hello to his friends.
She squeezed into the crowd and saw an aunt sitting at the door of the supply and marketing cooperative with a lunch box full of honey in front of her.
"Ma Xiaolan, what are you doing here?"
"Buy treacle."
Ma Xiaolan handed a penny to the aunt and took a piece of malt sugar from her.
Wu Yuzhuo stood opposite her and saw her stirring the syrup with two bamboo sticks. The amber sugar actually changed color gradually!
"Wow, the color seems to have become a little lighter."
"Yes," Ma Xiaolan stared at the syrup and nodded, "It will become whiter and whiter soon. My sister can stir the syrup into pure white."
"Why does syrup turn white?" Wu Yuzhuo asked.
Ma Xiaolan: “…”
How would she know?
Finding that the children couldn't answer the question either, Wu Yuzhuo, who has written several letters to "100,000 Whys," asked, "What's the point of turning white?"
Ma Xiaolan: “…”
It's useless, just fun!
But being stared at by her friends' eager eyes, it would be embarrassing if she couldn't explain it clearly.
Finally, she gave a reasonable explanation: "When it turns white, the malt sugar tastes better."
Wu Yuzhuo watched in front of the stall for a while and saw that both children had stirred the syrup into white.
She quickly turned around to ask her father to buy some syrup.
Wu Zhengrong was too lazy to ask her why she didn't spend her own pocket money, so he took out two cents from his pocket and handed it to his daughter.
"One cent is too little. You should buy a bigger one."
There is so little maltose, and it turns white after a few stirs. What’s the point?
So, under the envious gazes of his friends, Wu Yuzhuo spent two cents and bought a large portion of malt sugar!
She had never played this before, and she was a little at a loss when she took the bamboo stick in her hand.
Noticing the syrup was about to drip, she quickly handed the bamboo stick to an adult, "Dad, stir it for me!"
Wu Zhengrong: “…”
He hasn't played this either.
He has a good memory, but in his childhood memories, there seems to be no such thing as syrup.
Dr. Wu Da lowered his eyes to look at the children who were stirring the syrup. After observing for a few seconds, he used his brain, which was used to study military computers, to quickly learn how to stir the syrup.
Feeling a little more motivated, he handed the bamboo stick back and said, "Stir it slowly."
Wu Yuzhuo is the kind of child who is very focused on what he is doing. Playing is playing, farming is farming, and studying is studying.
So, out of curiosity about the new toy, after she followed her father back to the unit, she sat obediently in the chair and quietly stirred the syrup.
She wanted to see if what Ma Xiaolan said was true. Could syrup really be stirred into pure white?
However, because fatherly love is so strong today, 2 cents worth of syrup is not as easy to mix as 1 cent worth.
Wu Yuzhuo stirred silently for more than an hour at his father's workplace, until her fingers and wrists were sore, but she still couldn't stir out pure white liquid.
On the way home, she lost her patience and handed the bamboo stick to her father: "Dad, please help me stir it for a while."
Considering that she had been very quiet and well behaved in the office today, Wu Zhengrong helped her stir it quickly a few times.
When I entered the house, the syrup had finally turned white.
Noticing the warm yellow light coming through the window, Wu Yuzhuo cheered and opened the door to go into the house.
"Mom, you're back!" She handed over the stirred syrup. "Here, have a bite. Ma Xiaolan said white malt sugar is the best!"
Ye Manzhi declined politely: "Baby, eat it yourself. I've already washed and brushed my teeth."
Looking at how stringy and white the malt sugar is, her daughter must have been stirring it for at least an hour.
She was a little reluctant to eat it.
Wu Yuzhuo didn't feel any disgust from his mother at all, and held the malt sugar in front of his father who had made great efforts.
"Dad, let me give you a bite."
"Eat it yourself." Wu Zhengrong didn't want to eat either.
Comrade Wu Yuzhuo was a little reluctant to eat the fruits of his labor. He stared at the maltose for a while and asked, "Dad, why does maltose turn white?"
Wu Zhengrong didn't explain crystals, density, or refraction to her. Instead, she simply explained, "When you stir maltose, a lot of air is stirred in, forming bubbles. These bubbles are small and dense, which affects the maltose's light transmittance. Haven't you tried snow-soft red bean paste at a state-owned restaurant before? The white coating is actually made from egg white. The transparent egg white is stirred to produce a lot of bubbles, which creates the white coating of snow-soft red bean paste. The principle is similar to stirring molasses."
Wu Yuzhuo remembered the snow-white bean paste that he had only eaten once, and he took a gulp and put the malt sugar in front of him into his mouth.
Ye Manzhi: “…”
She has gained more knowledge that she will never be able to use in her lifetime.
She picked up her schoolbag and said, "You two stay at home. I'm going back to the Party School."
"Go back now?" Wu Zhengrong glanced at the clock. It was already half past seven.
He thought Ye Lai Ya could stay at home today.
"The Party School has curfew. We must be back in the dormitory before 10 p.m. every night. The organizer will call our names," Ye Manzhi said righteously. "Besides, I'm the dormitory head, so I have to set an example!"
She was not of a high rank and was not very old, so she was not able to become a class leader in the theoretical backbone research class.
But the two older sisters in her dormitory were the branch secretary and the study committee member, so the title of dormitory head fell on her.
Wu Zhengrong had no choice but to take his daughter with him and send her to the station to catch the bus.
Wu Yuzhuo chewed maltose and sighed like a little adult, "When will this end?"
*
Ye Manzhi's training period was only two months, so the time actually passed quite quickly.
At the end of October, the Provincial Food Industry Company was established.
Niu Enjiu of Binjiang No. 1 Food Factory was appointed as the Party Secretary by the Provincial Department of Industry.
When the notice was sent to the food factory, the entire factory was in an uproar.
The main reason is that he has been working in the food factory for too long, more than ten years.
No one, whether team members or ordinary employees, expected that Niu Enjiu would be suddenly transferred by his superiors.
When Ye Manzhi rushed back to the factory after receiving the news, Niu Enjiu was sighing pretentiously, "This appointment is indeed too sudden. I had long been prepared to retire from our factory. Who could have imagined that the higher-ups would adjust my work? I still have a lot of work to do in our factory. I really can't bear to leave everyone like this."
The people who were most happy about his departure were Jiang Wenming and Zhu Kehai.
They are both deputy secretaries and deputy factory directors. Now that there are vacancies above them, the deputies can finally move up.
Jiang Wenming shook the hand of Factory Director Lao Niu and sighed, "We've worked together in the factory for over ten years, and now you, the squad leader, are suddenly being transferred. I feel so empty!"
"Who says it's not true? I haven't recovered yet myself. There's still a lot of work to be done in the factory. I actually feel regretful."
Several deputy factory directors spoke one after another and expressed their heartfelt feelings to Factory Director Lao Niu.
When it was Ye Manzhi's turn, she really couldn't say anything touching because she had already seen through Niu Enjiu's little actions.
With such a big mess to clean up, it's a relief that she didn't curse anyone.
But since Niu Enjiu had been promoted, it was only natural for her to congratulate him. She composed herself and said, "Director Niu, you'll be a provincial leader in the future, and the Provincial Food Industry Company is our food factory's direct superior. If there's anything good happening in the province, you've got to keep our food factory in mind!"
"Hahaha, no problem!" Niu Enjiu looked at the others and said, "I'm very confident in handing the factory over to you. When the organization talked to me before, I also recommended a comrade from our team to take over my position. As for the final arrangements, we'll have to wait for the announcement from the provincial department."
As for who he recommended, Lao Niu just refused to say.
The provincial company had just been established and was in urgent need of a helmsman, so Niu Enjiu only stayed in the factory for less than ten days.
After handing over the work, I went to take up my new position.
Before the new factory director is officially announced, Jiang Wenming will temporarily serve as the factory director.
After Ye Manzhi submitted her thesis and received her certificate of completion, on her first day back at the food factory, Zhou Ruyi informed her that some employees had already gone to the Finance Department to pay the fundraising money.
"So soon?" Ye Manzhi looked stunned. "The design drawings for the family compound haven't even come out yet, and we don't even know the layout. What are we paying for?"
"Director Niu previously said we'd use the design drawings from the old residential compound, as the layout and size are identical. Everyone knows whether each person can get one or two bedrooms, and some have even visited the old residential compound. So, after the factory's fundraising account was opened, some people started paying into the finance department."
“…”
Ye Manzhi waited a long time before saying, "Tell this news to Director Jiang's secretary and let Director Jiang make the decision. See what he thinks."
What could Jiang Wenming think? He learned the news earlier than Ye Manzhi and had already scolded Niu Enjiu eight hundred times in the office!
There is no fool who can be a factory director. Everyone gradually realized that the collective housing was built on purpose by Lao Niu!
He has been the factory director for so many years, and every time the topic of housing distribution comes up, he always drags his feet.
This time, he was very bold and took the initiative to propose building houses for the employees.
If Lao Niu hadn't heard the news early on, he would have dug a hole for his successor. Jiang Wenming wrote his name upside down!
He is the acting factory director and believes that there is a good chance that he will be promoted to a permanent position, so the fundraising for building a house cannot be delayed. Otherwise, the more funds collected, the bigger the hole the factory will have to fill.
He called together several other deputy factory directors and held a team meeting.
Discuss how to plug the gap in raising funds for building houses.
Chen Qian said, "Let's be honest with the employees. We don't have enough money on hand to build that many houses. The sooner we tell you, the less we have to borrow money from everywhere."
Wang Shihu asked, "If you didn't have that much money, why did you agree to build a house in the first place?"
Chen Qian: “…”
Isn’t this what Director Lao Niu said? He will find a way to get the funds.
The loan I took to purchase the equipment has been almost repaid, so I can apply for a loan from the bank.
He was so confident at the beginning, who would have thought that he would leave before the construction of the house even started!
Zhu Kehai sat aside with his arms folded, looking uneasy. "If we stop it now, the employees will definitely resist. The rumors of building the house have been circulating for so long, and the notices have been posted. How can we go back on our word?"
Wang Shihu glanced at him and asked, "Director Zhu, do you have a way to get the project funds?"
Zhu Kehai: “…”
He could get tens of thousands, but he couldn't get hundreds of thousands.
"What does Director Ye have in mind?" Jiang Wenming called Ye Manzhi's name. "While you were away for further studies, Director Niu proposed that the employees pool their money to build housing. Are you aware of the details?"
Ye Manzhi nodded and said, "I've heard about that, but I have a question. Each apartment requires a minimum fundraising of 400 yuan. Can all the homeless employees come up with such a large sum of money?"
"Every family's situation is different. Some comrades in difficult circumstances certainly can't come up with so much money."
Ye Manzhi asked, "So what are the factory's plans for these employees in need? If they can't come up with money for the time being, will they not solve their housing problems?"
Everyone: “…”
"Our factory has always had housing problems. Even if we successfully build collectively-funded housing this time, it still won't completely solve the problem. The existing problems aren't just about housing; they're also about long-standing inequalities. Most of our factory employees have housing, but the rent varies. Those living in the staff housing complex pay only five or six yuan a month. For the same area, renting public housing on the street costs 8-10 yuan. If everyone paid the same price, it wouldn't be a problem. The key problem isn't the lack of housing, but the inequality."
Chen Qian said, "That's why everyone is asking the factory to build a new housing estate for employees."
"But is there another way?" Ye Manzhi said, "Those employees who truly have no housing can still participate in the fund-raising. Those whose living conditions are decent but whose finances are tight should not participate this time. We can ask the logistics department to calculate the difference per square meter between everyone's current rent and the rent in the family compound. If that doesn't work, we can just give employees a monthly housing allowance."
"For example, some employees should be allocated a 16-square-meter welfare house with a rent of 0.3 yuan per square meter, but the house they are currently renting is 0.5 yuan per square meter. In that case, we can give them a monthly subsidy of 3.2 yuan. Paying a little every month is better than paying hundreds of thousands of yuan at once, right?"
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