Chapter 212
A notice broadcast by the Shuguang Factory radio station made the employees restless again.
"Old Chen, are you going to the city to dig an air-raid shelter?"
"Go! I just signed up! But I heard there are a lot of people who signed up, so we might not get a turn."
Digging air-raid shelters was a glorious political task. Those who failed the political review were not even qualified to dig holes. Most of the factory employees signed up actively and enthusiastically.
Of course, in addition to the honor, generous subsidies are also one of the motivations for everyone to sign up.
Digging air-raid shelters is physically demanding work. In addition to the basic monthly salary, selected workers can also receive a subsidy of 25 yuan.
For young workers, it is equivalent to doing one job and earning two salaries.
Moreover, the food at the construction site is very good, and we can eat meat every meal. The factory has even sent out the canteen chef.
Therefore, a lot of young workers signed up.
"This air-raid shelter will take several months to dig. If we can finish it by the end of the year, we'll earn at least a hundred more yuan," Old Chen whispered. "I heard Deputy Director Wang is in charge of selecting people. How about we go to Director Wang's house and take a look?"
"Forget it. Someone went to Director Wang's house last night and didn't even knock on the door."
After a vote by the factory's revolutionary committee, Wang Zaofu was elected as the chief representative of Shuguang Factory's city-level civil air defense engineering command.
The title sounds intimidating, but actually it means leading everyone to do the work.
Ever since the resolution was passed unanimously at the team meeting, Wang Zaofu has been very depressed. After returning home, he locked the doors and windows, keeping out all those who came to give him gifts.
Aunt Wang couldn't quite understand her son's low mood. Seeing his gloomy face, she tried to persuade him, "I see all the young men in the compound are eager to dig air-raid shelters. It's such an honor! They can also earn an extra 25 yuan a month. My monthly salary is only 10 yuan."
"Mom, if you don't understand, don't make things more complicated."
"What don't I understand? Didn't you raise your hand and sign up yourself? Since you've signed up, you should just work hard and show yourself in front of the city leaders!"
Wang Zaofu waved his hands in annoyance, frowned and closed the door.
Out of seven people voting, six raised their hands. It was obvious that he was being targeted!
There is basically no room for regret for a resolution passed collectively.
The matter was settled, and he cast a vote for himself, which at least made things look better.
Zhao Weihong soothed him gently, "Mom's right. You'll be able to show your face to the city leaders when you go to the city. Never mind their reason for voting for you to go to the headquarters. Digging air-raid shelters is an important political task, and you're leading the charge on the front lines. Although you haven't been working at the factory for a while, you're very politically sound. After you return from the city, your position might even be more secure!"
Wang Zaofu's mouth twitched and he forced a smile and nodded.
He understood the general principles, and going to the city to dig an air-raid shelter could be seen as an opportunity to gild himself.
But he has never done such heavy physical work!
The leaders of the command center do not sit in the office. Each unit has a contracted work section. In order to complete the task as soon as possible, the team leader must rush ahead of everyone else.
The Wang family is a large family, and he has many cousins from his uncles' families. Wang Zaofu is considered the youngest and has never done any heavy physical work since he was a child.
Digging an air-raid shelter this time was a challenge of his physical strength and endurance.
He lay in bed for half an hour, then suddenly jumped out of bed, opened the door and shouted, "Mom, go to the market tomorrow and buy some pork elbows so we can improve our meals for the next few days!"
He needs to hurry up and make up for it!
However, Ye Manzhi did not let him stay in the factory for too long.
Digging air-raid shelters is an important political task. Teams from various units have already reported to the city, and Shuguang Factory certainly cannot fall behind.
After the selection of forty workers and a chef was finalized, Ye Manzhi held a lively farewell party to see off the 42 comrades.
Wang Zaofu was going to lead a team to work in the city, so of course he wanted to select young people with good physical fitness.
The list he drew up himself was almost entirely made up of young men in their twenties.
But Ye Manzhi felt that gay men of this age were easily instigated, especially since the list included people like Chen Jiefang and Hu Deqing.
If you eat and live with Wang Zaofu for a few months, you will probably become Wang Zaofu's die-hard fan when you return to the factory.
Therefore, the factory revolutionary committee listened to the advice of the trade union and tried to select comrades from families in financial difficulties. The additional subsidy of 25 yuan per month could alleviate everyone's financial pressure.
The forty people finally selected were all men and women in their thirties and forties, with elderly parents and young children to take care of. They usually pursue stability and are not the kind of people who like to cause trouble.
The young workers who were close to Wang Zaofu were all kept in the factory by Ye Manzhi.
It can be considered as isolating the two sides in space.
More than forty comrades wore big red flowers made of crepe paper on their chests.
The factory union art troupe beat drums and gongs and escorted everyone out of the factory gate.
Ye Manzhi shook Wang Zaofu's hand and said earnestly, "Director Wang, thank you for your hard work this time! When you lead us on the assault, please be sure to pay attention to safety and take care of yourselves. When we return triumphantly, the factory will celebrate for you all!"
Wang Zaofu had already adjusted his mood. After making some assurances loudly, he led everyone into the truck compartment with a shovel in his left hand and a hoe in his right hand.
Looking at the two trucks quickly moving away, the members of the factory revolutionary committee all breathed a sigh of relief.
Emma, this troublemaker is finally gone!
The factory can finally have some peace and quiet for a while!
Tian Chunshan looked relaxed. When he returned to the workshop with Ye Manzhi, he mentioned the TV business.
"Although the production line is not yet in place, we need to apply to the Municipal Revolutionary Committee's Production Command for some important parts for assembling televisions, so we can include our materials in the plan in advance."
Ye Manzhi nodded and said, "Whatever we need, you and Director Huang should work out a plan and submit it to the city as soon as possible."
*
After Wang Zaofu left, the air in the factory seemed to become fresher.
Ye Manzhi was in high spirits. After get off work, she went to the grocery store and bought a small cake with cream, preparing to go home and share it with her daughter.
The three of them have been exhausted in the air-raid shelter these days.
Whenever there is a need for work, the disadvantage of having a small population becomes apparent.
The air-raid shelter that Zhou's family next door wants to dig is twice as big as his.
But they have three male comrades. In addition to Zhou Suo, a strong laborer, there are also adult Zhou Wu and middle school student Zhou Mo, who can also wield a hoe.
It took only three or four days to dig such a big pit.
On the other hand, on his side, only Wu Zhengrong could go down and dig the hole, and the progress of the project was even slower than that of the next door.
This kind of project is done by each company separately. Wu Zhengrong's communicator wanted to come to his house to help with the work, but he refused.
The huge workload made primary school student Wu Yuzhuo so tired that he sighed all day long.
Ye Manzhi took the cake home to reward the little laborer.
When she pushed the door open and entered the yard, she found the elementary school student sitting on the edge of the pit and quickly shouted, "You're told not to sit over there! Be careful not to fall in!"
"It's okay, my fourth and fifth uncles are in the pit!" Wu Yuzhuo sat on the big pit and swung his legs, "My fifth uncle can push me out!"
Ye Manzhi walked over quickly and asked in surprise, "Fourth brother, fifth brother, why are you two here?"
As the fourth brother was shoveling dirt, he complained, "My niece called me. How could I not come? I just got off work and came to your house to work. Make me some meat dishes later!"
The fifth brother wiped his sweat and said with a smile, "It is said that she hauls dirt with you guys every night. She has to lie in bed all day to recover, and then continue working at night."
"When there are few people, we have to make the best use of them!" Ye Manzhi fished out two yuan from his pocket and stuffed it into his daughter's hand. "The weather is too hot. Let's go to the cold drink store and buy some popsicles. Then use the thermos to get a pot of iced beer."
Wu Yuzhuo brushed the dust off his shorts, went into the house, picked up an empty thermos, then ran out of the house and stood in the alley.
She took a deep breath, then shouted, "Buy popsicles! Anyone want some? The minimum order is ten!"
Upon hearing this, little heads popped out of several nearby windows.
Yi Yi asked in a hoarse voice, "Youyan, what kind of popsicles do you want to buy? Can I buy hawthorn popsicles?"
Before Wu Yuzhuo could reply, a boy from the opposite rear window shouted, "Zhou Yi, are you unsophisticated? What's so good about hawthorn popsicles? If you want to buy something, buy a cream popsicle!"
"You're the old-fashioned one!" Yi Yi leaned half of her body out of the window. "Cream popsicles aren't that good. I want wafer ice cream!"
Wu Yuzhuo was still in a hurry to get to the store, so he spoke to maintain order. "Stop arguing! I saw a delivery truck coming to the store this afternoon. They've got wafer ice cream today! Let's have some first. Who wants to buy some?"
The voices of several primary school students immediately responded in the alley, occasionally mixed with one or two adults who followed suit to sign up.
Wu Yuzhuo had a sharp mind. After a few glances, he memorized the number of people who had registered.
After collecting the money for the ice cream, she called two of her friends and went to the cold drink store to buy ice cream.
This kind of wafer ice cream is produced by the popsicle factory where her mother works.
It just appeared in the cold drink shop at the Military Academy this month.
Due to its extremely high price, it caused a sensation in the compound as soon as it was launched on the market.
The cheapest popsicle in the store costs one cent, the mid-priced red bean popsicles, hawthorn popsicles, and sesame paste popsicles cost five cents, and the more expensive cream popsicles cost ten cents.
However, the retail price of this wafer ice cream is 18 cents, and the wholesale price is as high as 16 cents.
Because of its strong milky flavor, rich taste, high price and limited supply, it became a new favorite among primary school students within less than a month of its launch.
The three of them ran into the cold drink store with their equipment. Wu Yuzhuo took out a handful of banknotes and put them on the counter. Under the envious gazes of others, he generously wholesaled 15 wafer ice cream bars.
Yi Yi cooperated tacitly and took out the net bag, put all the ice cream in it, and then Zhou Mo covered it with a quilt and held it tightly in his arms.
The three of them moved in unison, quickly running back to their alley to prevent the ice cream from melting.
Wu Yuzhuo took his five ice creams home and shared them with his fourth uncle, fifth uncle, and his father who jumped into the pit to work as soon as he got home.
She squatted beside and ate ice cream, and did not forget to chat with the adults.
"Fourth Uncle, can I have my brother Ball stay at my house for a few days?"
"I sent him back to his hometown in the countryside to farm the day before yesterday. Otherwise, he'd be running around the compound during the holidays." Ye Mangui took a bite of the ice cream and found it surprisingly delicious. "What do you want from him?"
Wu Yuzhuo ran back to the house and took out a photo from the math book.
"I just received a letter from Che yesterday. He sent me a photo and asked me to take a photo with Lonzo Ball and send it to him. I want to take another photo with Lonzo Ball."
Hearing this, both uncles came over and looked at the photo together.
Uncle Wu laughed and said, "This kid sent you a photo, probably to show off that he's lost weight, right?"
"Of course you did. I remember you and Qiqiu took a photo together and sent it to the Third Front just before the Chinese New Year. It's only been over half a year. How much could you have changed?"
"But my brother Che has changed a lot. He has lost so much weight all of a sudden!" Wu Yuzhuo said depressedly, "He said he is now half a head taller than me!"
Her fifth uncle comforted her, saying, "Your slow growth is inherited from your mother. Your mother was always slow in everything when she was little. She was slow in growing teeth, replacing them, and growing taller. Don't worry, you'll be tall by the time you get to middle school!"
Ye Manzhi: “…”
She doesn't think she's developing late, so it's not her fault that her daughter isn't tall!
*
The air-raid shelter was not completed that night. The next day, the fourth and fifth brothers came directly to their sister's house to work after get off work.
The fourth brother also called his eldest son Maiduo over.
The four strong laborers were extremely efficient. With Ye Manzhi and Wu Yuzhuo acting as hands-off managers, they completed the air-raid shelter in one night.
Wu Yuzhuo was curious about what it felt like to live in an air-raid shelter. After the cement dried completely, she wanted to take her parents to sleep in the air-raid shelter.
Wu Zhengrong lived in an air-raid shelter in his early years and had no interest in this thing at all.
He satisfied his daughter's curiosity, but had no intention of joining.
"The air-raid shelter is too small. I won't squeeze in with you." Wu Zhengrong pulled Ye Lai Ya, who was eager to try, away and said, "You can sleep with Yi Yi."
Wu Yuzhuo went next door to discuss with Yi Yi, and the two girls hit it off immediately.
It is difficult to go from extravagance to frugality, so I will sleep in the small air-raid shelter at Youyan’s house tonight, and then go to Yiyi’s house to sleep in the big one tomorrow night!
The adults in both families thought that two nights of sleep would be enough for them.
However, after sleeping there for two nights, the two girls felt unsatisfied, so they contacted other female classmates and spent half a month sleeping in more than ten newly built air-raid shelters in the compound.
In addition to bedding and pillows, people gradually brought radios from each household into the air-raid shelter.
Several little girls listen to the radio, chat and sleep together, and there is something new every day.
Ye Manzhi and Wu Zhengrong: "::::::"
The city's unified civil air defense project lasted for several months, and every day there were people wielding hoes and carrying shoulder poles in the compound.
Despite the turmoil outside, Ye Manzhi spent a very peaceful time.
Wang Zaofu only returns to the factory once or twice a month, and spends the rest of his time working at the command center.
Apart from daily production and ideological and political mobilization, Ye Manzhi has almost nothing to worry about.
She is ready to go, just waiting for the production line to be in place so that she can get to work!
The Fourth Ministry of Machine Building has already given us confirmation that the black-and-white TV production line will be delivered by the end of the year.
However, one day in late October, Tian Chunshan hurried into her office.
Before she could ask, Tian Chunshan spoke quickly, "Director, I got the price list for TV parts back from the Municipal Revolutionary Committee yesterday, and I don't think it's right!"
"What's going on? Speak slowly!"
Ye Manzhi poured a cup of warm water and handed it to him.
Tian Chunshan pushed a stack of information over, tried his best to control his pounding heartbeat, and told them about his findings.
"All the parts the Planning Office plans to purchase are significantly higher than our expected quote," he noted. "If we purchase supplies based on this quote, for example, a 14-inch black-and-white TV, the cost price will be at least 530 yuan! And according to Tianjin Factory 712, their factory price for a 14-inch TV is only 395 yuan. Our costs are even higher than their factory price, so how can we sell them?"
If this continues, Shuguang Factory will lose money on every unit it sells, and the higher the output, the greater the loss!
Ye Manzhi looked through the quotation sheet and felt a little flustered.
Producing televisions is a money-losing business, and she had been mentally prepared for this several years ago.
But why do manufacturers still compete to launch TV projects even though they know they will lose money?
Because televisions have the function of propaganda and mobilization and have certain political significance, they are products approved by the state to operate at a loss.
In other words, if an enterprise suffers losses, it will be subsidized by the state.
With the development of the electronics industry, the cost of producing televisions has been decreasing year by year.
Ten years ago, the cost of producing a television set at Factory 712 was around 1,000 yuan, but the retail price was only over 400 yuan.
This year, the cost price of televisions produced by Factory 712 has been controlled within 400 yuan.
Factory 712 is a military factory. While producing civilian televisions, it also has production tasks for the military, so their output has always been low, with no more than 10,000 televisions produced each year.
According to Director Pan's analysis, if Shuguang Factory can increase its production, it can completely control the cost of each unit to within 360 yuan, with small profits but quick turnover. With special subsidies from the state, it will only take two to three years to earn back the cost of purchasing the production line.
But……
Ye Manzhi stared at the quotation sheet in front of him.
What's the deal with the average cost price of 530 yuan per unit?
Tian Chunshan muttered indignantly, "Those people at the Municipal Revolutionary Committee are just messing around! In this price list, many of the parts were purchased from other places. The tuner heads, connectors, and picture tubes were even shipped from Hunan, Hubei, and Sichuan! The shipping costs alone are huge. We have a lot of electronics factories in our province, so why would they have to ship supplies from all over the place?"
Shuguang Factory knew that televisions had to rely on government subsidies, but it still spared no effort to obtain a production line, mainly because the electronics industry had improved in the past two years.
Last year, the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense proposed to "develop the electronics industry on a large scale." The province responded to the call and established dozens of new electronics factories in just one year.
Shuguang Factory conducted relevant research in advance and found that at least half of the components used to assemble televisions can be purchased within the province.
The other half can also be settled in neighboring provinces.
However, according to the quotation list given to them by the Municipal Revolutionary Committee, most of the purchasing locations are in southern provinces and cities. Isn't this going far away instead of near?
Ye Manzhi picked up the stack of information, stood up and said, "Let's go to the city and find out what's going on."
The company's production planning and material allocation are currently under the responsibility of the Planning Office of the Production Command.
It is equivalent to the Municipal Planning Commission in previous years.
They rushed to the Municipal Revolutionary Committee in anger, but after entering the Planning Office, they had to negotiate with them in a friendly manner.
"Director Jia, many of the parts needed to assemble a television can actually be purchased in our province. There's no need to source them from other provinces or cities, right?"
Director Jia said: "If we can solve it within the province, who would want to travel thousands of miles to purchase it? It's not allowed by the conditions!"
Tian Chunshan handed him a cigarette and said with an apologetic smile, "Director Jia, why don't the conditions allow it? Haven't our province built dozens of new electronics factories?"
"Haha, building new electronics factories is great, but you also have to consider where they're built and which department is in charge," Director Jia explained. "Most of these factories are located in the Third Front. Besides their official factory names, some even have military-industrial codes. They have production orders from the Fourth Ministry of Machine Building and the military, while you're producing civilian televisions. There aren't any factories in the province that can take the order right now, so you'll have to transfer units from outside the province."
Ye Manzhi and Tian Chunshan: "::::::"
The two of them argued in the Planning Office for more than half an hour, but Director Jia kept shaking his head, saying that the price on the quotation sheet was the lowest price.
These are scarce materials with high technical content, and the purchase price must be based on the quotation from the factory.
As for the 712 Factory they mentioned, the other party was able to control costs because they were a military factory and it was easier to allocate materials than local state-owned enterprises.
Coming out of the Revolutionary Committee's office building, Tian Chunshan asked, "What should we do?"
Ye Manzhi felt like he had been hit by a club. He sighed and said, "Let's go back and discuss it later."
She returned to the factory to organize a team meeting and explained the current situation to everyone.
Everyone was dumbfounded after hearing this. Kang Jian scratched his head and said, "We've been transferred to Binjiang City. The subsidies for the TV losses have to come from Binjiang's finances. The city is currently working on civil air defense projects, and financial expenditures are flowing in like water. Can the city really give us that much subsidy?"
If their production reaches 10,000 units, they will need subsidies of more than one million yuan per year.
Huang He said: "The city took the initiative to acquire this production line. The leaders are well aware that the TV production line is losing money. But an annual subsidy of 400,000 to 500,000 yuan is reasonable, but over one million is a bit of a stretch."
Ye Manzhi asked several deputy factory managers: "With our current technology, can we produce some of the accessories ourselves?"
Kang Jian explained carefully, "We can make things like deflection coils and connectors ourselves. But for the time being, we can't make the key components, like picture tubes. Shuguang Factory is better at making metal products, but picture tubes are made of glass, and we have no experience in this area."
“…”
The room was silent for a long time, and several men stood at the window smoking.
The caw of crows outside the window added a touch of sadness to the atmosphere.
Some time later, Liang Hao, another deputy director who had been promoted from the workshop, suddenly said, "Why don't we just abandon this production line? It's not ready yet, and the money for the TV station hasn't been allocated yet. We can still cut our losses."
Fortunately, they were careful at the time to prevent the city from going back on its word. They haven't transferred the money to the TV station yet. Everything will have to wait until the production line is in place.
Tian Chunshan said, "If we regret it now, it will be difficult to explain to our superiors. Besides, the difficulties are only temporary. We should take a long-term view. Ten years ago, the cost of a TV was 1,000 yuan. This year, it's around 400 yuan, and in a year or two, it may be even lower. There will be a time when we can turn losses into profits. By then, it will be impossible to buy a production line for 1 million yuan."
Ye Manzhi nodded and said, "I heard that besides Binjiang, more than ten cities across the country have established factories this year to produce televisions. This industry will develop quickly. The difficulties are only temporary. Let's think of a solution."
Having said that, the high prices of accessories purchases are an objective reality.
There is no good solution for the time being.
Ye Manzhi used to look forward to the Fourth Ministry of Machine Building handing over the production line to Shuguang Factory as soon as possible, but now he began to pray secretly that the longer it could be delayed, the better, and that the production line would not arrive too soon.
One day later in starting a business means one day later in losing money.
The factory leadership team was shrouded in dark clouds for several days.
Ye Manzhi has always had the courage and patience to overcome difficulties, but this time when faced with difficulties, she was a little at a loss.
Wu Zhengrong couldn't sleep for several days, which affected his rest.
After she tossed and turned again, waking Wu Zhengrong up, she whispered to the man holding her, "How about I go sleep in the air-raid shelter? I won't bother you again!"
"Why sleep in a bomb shelter..." Wu Zhengrong muttered vaguely, "If you can't sleep, just get out your college physics book. You'll be asleep in two minutes."
Ye Manzhi punched him in the chest with an iron fist, "You still don't forget to mock me at this time, right?"
"It's not a matter of life or death, it's not worth losing sleep over!"
"You don't understand," Ye Manzhi broke free from his embrace and climbed out of bed. "This is a matter of life and death for Shuguang Factory! I'm going to do my physics homework. You go to sleep first."
She came to the study with her clothes on, but of course she wasn't going to do any physics problems.
After wandering around the house for several times and having nothing to do, she found her old work notes in the cabinet.
Looking back at my past work might make me sleepy immediately.
The book she pulled out was her work notes at Binjiang No. 1 Food Factory.
The content on several pages is full of emotional outbursts cursing Niu Enjiu's one-man show and fascism.
After many years, Ye Manzhi couldn't help but curl up the corners of his lips when he recalled the time he spent in the food factory.
She watched with great interest and became more and more excited the more she watched.
After finishing one book, he took out the next one.
This book has relatively little content, and it begins with three big characters "Niu Enjiu".
This was the "biography" she had written specifically for Director Lao Niu in order to understand his temper.
She also discovered that Director Lao Niu was a director who liked to expand his territory. If she wanted to implement the "Angang Constitution" in the factory with peace of mind, she had to get rid of Lao Niu first.
She came up with an idea and suggested that Lao Niu try to get the edible film factory in the city.
Staring at the four words "expand territory", Ye Manzhi was stunned for a long time.
After coming to her senses, she took out a contact book from the drawer.
This contact book is issued uniformly by the city, and it includes the contact information of all major companies in Binjiang.
She started flipping through the pages from the first page, her fingers sliding down along the names, some familiar, some unfamiliar.
Passing over the steel mills, machinery factories, textile mills and other large factories, the fingers slowly moved down, skipping over the glass factory, nail factory, hat factory...
She stared at the factory names one by one, and after flipping through four or five pages, her eyes finally stopped on the first line of the new page - State-owned Binjiang Light Bulb Factory.
Ye Manzhi took out a pencil, drew a wavy line under the factory name, and wrote in the blank space: [Cathode ray tube?]
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