Chapter 193
The welfare chicken with leaves all over the branches has saved its life because of its name Dahua.
During the entire Spring Festival, it has been clucking around at home, holding its head proudly.
Wu Zhengrong's dislike for Dahua is obvious.
Their family never keeps idle people, idle cats, or idle dogs. Lihua is responsible for catching mice all year round, and Kuihua also has the duty of guarding the house.
But this big flower is a rooster.
It can't lay eggs and is extremely noisy, starting to crow before dawn.
Therefore, Wu Zhengrong and Ye Manzhi always looked for opportunities to stew it.
In order to keep Dahua, Wu Yuzhuo used his connections to help Dahua find a job.
The Zhou family next door also raises chickens, but they are all hens that lay eggs every day to supplement the nutrition of their four children.
"After the spring, Aunt Fangfang wants to hatch a nest of chicks, and she can borrow Dahua to hatch them. Aunt Fangfang said that if the nest is successful, Dahua will be paid two eggs."
After learning of her plan, Ye Manzhi and Wu Zhengrong never mentioned stewing Dahua again.
"We can build another chicken coop at home," said Wu Zhengrong.
"Well, I see Youyan is pretty enthusiastic about feeding Dahua every day. After all, raising a chicken is the same as raising a flock of chickens. We used to raise chickens when we lived in a bungalow. I started feeding the chickens when she was her age."
So, Comrade Wu Yuzhuo got a new job - poultry breeder.
…
After the Spring Festival, both home and work are filled with new atmosphere.
Ye Manzhi let go of the regret of not being able to eat the chicken stewed with mushrooms.
On the first day of work after the holiday, I heard good news - the toy gun production team's trial production was successful!
Toy guns don't require much technical content, as long as they look good.
Kang Jian, who was in charge of the trial production of toys, handed over several iron pistols to Ye Manyi, and considered himself to have successfully completed the task.
Ye Manzhi: “…”
Okay.
After she came to Shuguang Factory, she was still in charge of the business operations.
She should indeed take the lead in finding sales channels for the products.
Shuguang Factory does not have a supply and marketing department, only a supply and transportation department.
As the name suggests, the Supply and Transportation Department is responsible for supplying raw materials and transporting materials.
Due to the special nature of the products, Factory 833 has almost no sales links. Therefore, the people in the original supply and transportation department, and now the supply and marketing department, have no sales experience and have never dealt with the commercial departments of various provinces and cities.
So Ye Manzhi planned to let the Supply and Marketing Department practice with toy guns first.
Comrades from the Supply and Marketing Department will go out and look for orders themselves.
"Director Ye, it's just a toy gun. Our Supply and Marketing Department is guaranteed to have a great start and secure some big orders!"
Cheng Liangcai, the head of the supply and marketing department, was in his thirties and full of vigor and vitality. When he started working at the factory, it was the heyday of Factory 833.
When Gongyunke goes out to purchase, it is the client and never has to look at other people's faces.
Therefore, when Cheng Liangcai spoke, he was as arrogant as Lei Wanyuan.
Ye Manzhi thought that capable people tend to be arrogant, like her own Wu Zhengrong.
Section Chief Cheng seems quite confident and may achieve great results.
"Okay, Chief Cheng, go for it. Try to get a few more big orders and get the ball rolling on our production conversion!"
…
Ye Manzhi confidently handed over the sales work to the Supply and Marketing Department.
After going out for a few more days of investigation, she submitted a feasibility report on the production of air guns to Lei Wanyuan.
"There's no professional air gun factory in our province, so related products are imported from other provinces and cities. The province organizes professional and amateur shooting competitions every year, and people from major government agencies, enterprises, and schools participate in these competitions, so the scale is quite large. Air guns, as sporting goods, have a certain market demand. I just don't know if our factory's existing equipment and technology can achieve this conversion."
Lei Wanyuan read her report once, then went back to read it again.
"This stuff isn't as widely used as bicycles or radios. There are many restrictions on purchasing it, whether for individuals or companies." Lei Wanyuan held up two fingers. "With our factory's production capacity, if we allocated half our employees to produce air rifles, our annual output would be at least this much."
"Twenty thousand?" Ye Manyi asked.
"Hmm," Lei Wanyuan stroked an unlit cigarette, "If we really switch to this, the demand from shooting clubs and mahjong shooting alone won't be enough to absorb so many products."
Ye Manzhi said, "The domestic market is indeed small, so I've considered exporting. I heard that shooting was a popular sport in West Germany, with a strong civilian presence. However, after the war, they were banned from producing such products, so they need to source them from abroad. Before the Chinese New Year, I visited Deputy Director Duan of the Provincial Foreign Trade Bureau, and they told me that our province currently has no orders for these products. If we can pass product evaluation before this year's spring Canton Fair, we can put our products on the import and export list and explore sales at the fair."
"When is the Canton Fair held?" Lei Wanyuan has never attended the Canton Fair.
"Mid-April, about two and a half months left."
"It took more than two months to switch to producing air guns, which is a bit tight."
Ye Manzhi whispered, "This is an unplanned product. For the domestic market, if our cost is 50 yuan, then the ex-factory price can be set at 60 yuan at most. But for export, it depends on international market conditions, so the export price could be 80 to 90 yuan."
"Can the profit be so high?" Lei Wanyuan, who had only made 5% profit all year round, was shocked.
"It depends on the international market conditions."
"Even if it's only 80 yuan, the profit is not low."
Lei Wanyuan's requirements are not high. If the profit of each product can reach 30 yuan, 20,000 pieces will be 600,000 yuan, then he will have the capital to switch to the production of bicycles or radios after a year.
Ye Manzhi could sense that Director Lei's eyes were already sparkling. She cautiously suggested, "Let's stick to the principles we established earlier and produce a small number of trial products to see how the market performs."
"Hahaha, I know, I know!"
Lei Wanyuan ran to the office door and shouted, calling Kang Jian, Huang He, and the engineers from the technical department who were at home.
After hearing their plan, Huang He slapped his thigh and said, "It's a pity that Old Yuan went to the Third Front. He had researched this stuff himself before. During the Four Pests Campaign in 1959, he was the one who invented all the guns our factory used to shoot sparrows."
Lei Wanyuan said, "The range of his weapon isn't very good. There are already 100-meter range weapons on the market. Since Shuguang Factory is going to develop one, we should go with the most advanced one. Even if we can't break through 100 meters, we should at least get close to it."
Kang Jian carefully read through Director Ye's report and frowned. "The air gun has similar process characteristics to our previous products. There are no technical issues, and we don't need to add any additional equipment. However, if we were to trial-produce it ourselves, it would take at least three to five months, and it's unlikely we'd be able to participate in this year's Canton Fair."
Upon hearing this, Lei Wanyuan called all the heads of various departments over.
Everyone discussed the possibility of completing the trial production of the air gun in two months.
Due to technical issues, Ye Manzhi could not get a word in and could only sit on the side and listen.
But she heard that this product had hundreds of main parts and components, and required thousands of cutting tools and measuring tools. Several engineers felt that it was impossible to complete the trial production in two months.
Ye Manzhi sat from morning to afternoon and had lunch in the conference room.
Near the end of the workday, Lei Wanyuan made the final decision: "Let's proceed in two steps. First, we'll organize people to design drawings and establish standards. Secondly, we'll contact the Shanghai factory to see if we can collaborate. Let the Shuguang factory use their existing drawings, and we can leverage our technological advantages to help them improve product quality."
He was quite confident when he said this.
The technical level of Factory 833 in the industry is not exaggerated.
If the time at the Canton Fair hadn't been so tight, they could actually have tinkered with the air gun themselves.
*
After setting the goal of trial-producing the air gun, several male factory managers were responsible for developing the air gun, while Ye Manzhi organized people to submit a trademark application to the Industrial and Commercial Bureau.
She was busy for a few days and suddenly remembered that there seemed to be no follow-up on the sales of toy guns.
"Ruyi, how's the supply and marketing department doing? Have you received the order for the toy guns?"
Zhou Ruyi shook her head and said, "I was just about to report this. The supply and marketing department hasn't sold a single toy gun."
"Not a single order? Impossible?"
"Really? The people in the Supply and Marketing Department said that when we took the product to stores and supply and marketing cooperatives, they shook their heads when they heard the factory price. They thought such expensive toy guns were out of reach for most people," Zhou Ruyi said hesitantly. "Now many people are saying these toy guns might be piled up in the warehouse. Our first shot was a dud."
Apart from the orders for hardware parts and auto parts that were brought in by several factory managers through their connections, toy guns were the first real product produced by Shuguang Factory after it switched production.
Many employees are paying attention to the sales of toy guns.
Judging from the information brought back by the Supply and Marketing Department, the market feedback for this product is not very good.
As soon as Ye Manzhi arrived at Shuguang Factory, he brought two jam production lines to the factory, which actually left a very good first impression on the employees.
But it was she who proposed the production of toy guns, and now that they have been produced, they cannot be sold.
This also shook everyone's confidence in her.
Zhou Ruyi had heard several people muttering about Director Ye in the tube-shaped building in the staff housing compound.
After listening to her hesitant introduction of the situation, Ye Manzhi knew that rumors could not say anything nice.
She frowned and thought for a moment, but said nothing.
She left her secretary at the factory to look after the house, and she went out with a toy gun.
She first went to two stores and two larger supply and marketing cooperatives to inspect the toy counters.
Then we took a bus to Guangming Street, went to the Guangming Street Post Office, and found Wong Tai Sin.
In recent years, Huang Li has published a series of comic books and published many articles in newspapers praising the working class and peasant class. He is considered the penman of the post office and was promoted to office director last year.
Seeing Ye Manzhi, she asked in surprise, "Why is Director Ye here? Did your company get off work so early?"
"Haha, I'm here during working hours, so I must be here for work."
Huang Li moved a chair towards her and asked, "What's the matter?"
"Director Huang," Ye Manzhi asked with a smile, "you are considered a best-selling author now, right?"
"..." Huang Li said modestly, "They're not bestsellers, they're just books for children."
"There's such a huge market for children." Ye Manzhi took out a toy gun and placed it on the table. "Director Huang, can you do me a favor?"
Huang Li was startled by it, "Where did you get it? Put it away quickly!"
"Hahaha, this is a toy gun produced by our factory, for children to play with," Ye Manzhi pushed it to her, "Can you draw a comic strip for this toy gun?"
"What kind of comic strip?"
"It's the kind you published before, promoting patriotism. It doesn't need too many illustrations, just one or two short stories. I want to put it in the box, so that when you buy a toy, you get a large comic strip for free. This way, the children can be entertained while also receiving some patriotic education."
Huang Li asked: "Is your product not selling well?"
"Well, the price is a bit high and not very acceptable to consumers."
"How much is it?"
"The factory price is 1.9 yuan, so I guess the store will sell it for more than 2.2 yuan."
Huang Li picked up the toy and shook it. "The quality of your toy gun is pretty good, but it's really too expensive."
She was actually willing to buy a toy for her son that cost just over two yuan.
But her consumption concept is that of the 21st century. Ordinary parents nowadays are generally reluctant to buy such expensive toys for their children.
"Your product is priced so high, even if you add comic strips, it may not be effective."
"Let's give it a try first." Ye Manzhi said, "Sister-in-law, I won't let you work for nothing. The factory will give you a fee when the time comes."
"No need for a writing fee. Just give me two toy guns from your factory. And make sure the comic strip has my signature on it."
"That's fine."
Ye Manzhi discussed the details and precautions of the comic strip with Wong Tai Sin.
As it was getting dark, she did not go back to the factory but stayed at her parents' home for dinner.
The first thing he did when he went to the company the next day was to invite Cheng Liangcai from the Supply and Marketing Department.
Section Chief Cheng no longer had the high spirits he had before. When he saw Ye Manzhi, he started to complain bitterly: "Director Ye, this toy gun is really no good. Our comrades in the supply and marketing department have visited no less than 30 stores and supply and marketing cooperatives, big and small, and not a single one is willing to purchase it."
"Apart from the high price, do they have any other complaints?" Ye Manzhi asked.
"Not really. Our products are made with genuine materials and our technology is top-notch." Cheng Liangcai said dejectedly, "Director Ye, such expensive products, why don't we export them? The domestic market isn't doing well."
When Cheng Liangcai was working in the Transportation Department of Factory 833, he was always the one who gave people a cold shoulder.
This time, in order to get the order for toy guns, he has to please other people every day.
These past ten days have been incredibly difficult.
"What if exporting doesn't work?" Ye Manzhi said, "We've trial-produced three products simultaneously, but because the toy gun is the simplest, it was produced first. The employees are all looking forward to our first success! If neither domestic nor export sales work, then this one won't work at all."
"..." Cheng Liangcai muttered, "That can't be helped. Trial production is a recipe for success and failure. If you want to trial-produce new products in the future, you should research the market first."
He felt that the product could not be sold because, firstly, the price was too high, and secondly, it was a snap decision made by the leaders.
Factory Manager Ye used to work in the food industry and knew nothing about other industries. She thought producing toy guns was simple, so she asked the workshop to trial-produce toy guns.
Little do people know that this type of toy gun is expensive and priced high, and has no market in the country at all.
Ye Manzhi heard the complaint in his words and thought that this supply and marketing section chief was not very capable but had a lot of resentment.
When she first heard the other party's confident words, she thought he was some supply and marketing genius.
She rolled her eyes inwardly and said solemnly, "Section Chief Cheng, please notify all the comrades in the Supply and Marketing Department. Let's go to Workshop 1 and hold a production, supply and marketing meeting with the comrades in the toy gun production team."
Cheng Liangcai nodded without hope and took the notebook back to the supply and marketing department.
There are more than 30 workers in the supply and marketing department and the toy gun production team.
When Ye Manzhi rushed to the workshop office with a cup of tea, it was already crowded with people sitting or standing inside.
As soon as she entered the door, she smiled and said, "When I was in the food factory, I was involved in the "Two Participations, One Reform, and Three Combinations" campaign, and I went to the workshop almost every day. After coming to our factory, I have been busy all the time. This is my second time in our workshop."
"Then Director Ye, please come often in the future." Workshop director An Lin invited with a smile.
"Okay, I'll have to come to the workshop more often to work with everyone from now on." Ye Manzhi took a sip of hot water and asked, "Has everyone heard about the situation in the Supply and Marketing Department? We're having some trouble selling our toy guns."
Everyone: “…”
It was more than just a little trouble. More than ten days had passed and not a single toy gun had been sold.
Someone in the supply and marketing department shouted, "The price is too high! Can you lower it? Toy guns similar to ours only cost 1.6 yuan in stores, and ours costs 70 or 80 cents more."
The workers in the workshop replied: "Pricing is the factory's business, but the costs are here. If we set the price too low, we will lose money!"
"Then couldn't you use less iron? Why make a toy gun so heavy?"
"Isn't using less iron cutting corners? Our military factories never do such things!"
"Now he has been transferred from the military to the civilian sector..."
"What's wrong with military-to-civilian conversion? We've always maintained the quality. If we can't sell it, it's because your supply and marketing department is incompetent!"
Before the meeting even started, the workshop and the supply and marketing department started arguing.
Ye Manzhi clapped her hands and said, "Alright, alright, let's hurry up and get down to business! Let's all switch gears and think of ourselves as consumers. Do you think a toy gun costing around two dollars and thirty cents is too expensive?"
“It’s a bit expensive.”
"Comrades who are willing to buy please raise your hands."
No one in the office raised their hand.
Ye Manzhi asked, "The price of a toy gun from our factory is about the same as the price of two cans of yellow peaches. Everyone knows that canned yellow peaches are expensive, so why do people still buy them?"
"Isn't that what you eat?" someone answered in a low voice.
"A pound of fresh yellow peaches is only 40 cents, and you can buy three pounds of fresh peaches in a bottle of canned peaches, so why do people still buy canned peaches?"
"We can't eat fresh yellow peaches in the winter," Director An said embarrassedly. "Besides, canned fruit is used as gifts. Who would be willing to buy canned fruit all the time?"
"Haha, that's right," Ye Manzhi laughed. "Canned food is generally recognized as hard currency. Bringing two cans when giving a gift gives both parties face. So, canned food is no longer just cans. It has another layer of value and meaning, right?"
The employees nodded subconsciously.
"Most parents wouldn't buy a toy gun that costs just over two yuan for a child," Ye Manzhi asked. "But if your child joins the Children's Corps and has daily patrol duties, and they say, 'I want a gun for guard duty,' would you be willing to spend the two yuan?"
Fu Xuan, deputy director of the supply and marketing department, said, "Then I might buy it. My child has something important to do!"
"Yes, we might buy it in this situation." The other two also responded.
Ye Manzhi clapped her hands and said, "Look, if it's just a toy, many parents wouldn't spend money to buy it. Toys are for leisure and entertainment, and in the eyes of the public, they're not considered serious business! But once it's given the meaning of 'serious business', the treatment of this toy gun immediately changes."
Everyone: “…”
It seems to be the case.
Two yuan is actually not a lot for urban dual-income families like theirs.
But you can buy food and drinks, but forget about buying toys.
Mainly because I feel it is useless.
As for toys, it doesn’t matter what you play with.
Ye Manzhi continued, "Our Shuguang Factory was once a military factory, responsible for important national defense construction work. Therefore, I believe that even though we have converted from military to civilian use, we should still shoulder certain responsibilities and play a role in providing correct guidance in the education of young people."
"Take this iron pistol for example. It's meticulously crafted and of exceptional quality. If we simply label it a toy gun, we're undermining it. Rather than calling it a toy gun, I'd rather position it as a 'national defense education model.'"
On July 4, 1955, the State Sports Commission, the General Political Department, and the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League issued a joint directive on developing national defense sports activities among young people. It primarily focused on developing national defense education, organizing young people to learn military knowledge, and mastering basic military skills.
"Aircraft models, ship models, shooting, and swimming are all activities encouraged by higher authorities, and many primary and secondary schools have also introduced national defense education classes. Some schools that don't have the capacity to organize shooting activities actually need these types of national defense education models to demonstrate to their students."
Fu Xuan said, "If we follow this path, we can actually contact the Education Bureau and get these model guns into primary and secondary school classrooms. However, the line between toys and models is too blurred. If people think we are toys, I'm afraid they won't buy them."
"Section Chief Fu is right. So, I recently contacted the famous children's book author Huang Li to draw some comic strips with patriotic significance for our model. In addition, some heroic stories of revolutionary martyrs will be included as storybooks for teachers to teach or children to study on their own."
Cheng Liangcai asked doubtfully, "Will this work?"
"I don't know if it'll work elsewhere, but," Ye Manzhi announced with a smile, "I contacted the people at the Guangzhou Nanfang Building yesterday. They're looking to purchase two hundred of these national defense education models from our Shuguang Factory. Guangzhou is too far away, so some of you may not have heard of the Nanfang Building. It's the largest department store in South China. The people at the Nanfang Building are very interested in these toy guns, which have national defense educational implications, and they've put in a temporary order of two hundred to see how they sell."
Ye Manzhi contacted her elder sister-in-law.
The other party was able to place an order from the factory because, on the one hand, it was to save her face, and on the other hand, they had more confidence in the products of the military factory.
Those large department stores are not afraid of not making money, but they are afraid of not having enough goods.
Putting this toy gun on their counters can also enrich their product range.
Director An asked in surprise, "So, have we got our first order?"
"Yes, and they are sold to other provinces!"
"Great!" An Lin said excitedly, "We've only trial-produced 20 toy guns. Now that we have an order, we can start production this afternoon!"
The workers in the production team applauded and cheered.
"There's no rush for that," Ye Manzhi said with a smile. "Today, we're organizing a meeting with the comrades from our workshop and the supply and marketing department. In addition to discussing issues related to sales, I'd also like to mention some issues in our workshop."
Hearing this, the office gradually became quiet.
"Our previous products were all packed directly into boxes, without individual packaging. Now that we're producing civilian products, we have to consider product packaging," Ye Manzhi suggested. "It would be best to set up a packaging and decoration team as soon as possible to design a package for our 'National Defense Education Model'."
A worker raised his hand and said, "I have an idea. First, we should reveal the toy gun, or draw a pattern on it to let people know what's inside the box. Then, we can write 'Defend the Motherland, Safeguard Peace!' in the largest font possible, just like writing a big-character poster."
"This is great! It's easy to tell that our toy gun is special and serious! It's different from those made by other manufacturers!"
Ye Manzhi brainstormed with everyone and discussed the issue with everyone.
Finally, he concluded, "Let's tentatively call this toy gun a 'National Defense Education Model' and try to secure orders from kindergartens, primary and secondary schools. Since the price is a bit high, we'll initially supply large stores like the Southern Building and the First Department Store, as well as sporting goods stores. Later, if we can lower costs or find alternative raw materials to iron, we'll consider supplying to township supply and marketing cooperatives."
"Director Ye, what if we have export orders?"
"Haha, if there are export orders, then it's still a toy gun. If you want to receive our patriotic education, you have to pay extra!"
Ye Manzhi was laughing and joking with everyone in the office. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Zhou Ruyi pacing anxiously outside the door, so she asked the workshop director to lead everyone to continue the discussion.
She walked out of the office alone and asked, "Ruyi, what's wrong?"
Zhou Ruyi said quickly, "Director, I just received a call from the Industry and Commerce Bureau. The trademark we applied for was rejected!"
"Why?"
"It seems to be related to the air gun."
Ye Manzhi: “…”
Several engineers have already gone to the Shanghai Air Gun Factory for exchanges. If we tell her no now, she will go to the Industrial and Commercial Bureau to make a scene!
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