Chapter 44
Ye Manzhi had never even managed production, let alone running a factory.
Apart from knowing that setting up a factory can create jobs, she knows almost nothing about other aspects, such as corporate taxes and revenue.
She doesn't understand, but Mulan does!
The street office was short of funds, and she had long thought about setting up a factory.
In fact, there are quite a few factories on Guangming Street, but most of the state-owned factories were invested and built by the district.
Corporate profits will be turned over to the district and city levels step by step.
Not only does the subdistrict office not get any profits from these factories, it also has to help the district monitor the factories' production conditions.
Mulan is guarding several mountains of gold all day long, but she can't see or touch them. She can only live on limited financial allocations. Don't even mention how depressed she is.
"Director, there's a lot of idle labor in Guangming Street," Ye Manzhi asked cautiously. "Why doesn't the street open a few more factories?"
Mulan spent a long time organizing his words, and only gave one sentence: "It's a long story."
Zhang Qinjian, who lived next door, blew away the foam from his tea leaves and continued, "The collective enterprises in the street are small, and most of the products they produce are outside the planned track. Without unified purchase, there is no unified sales. Organizing production is not difficult, but finding a market for the products is the difficult part."
Unless you have connections, it is difficult for unplanned products to enter the counter of a store or retail outlet.
The heads of these small factories are mostly street activists, and their class composition is usually poor peasants or workers. It is okay to let them organize production, but you can't expect them to find sales channels.
Ye Manzhi asked eagerly, "Director, can this factory be opened?"
She doesn't care about those difficulties and obstacles.
She just wanted to know if the factory could open.
Mulan stood in front of the honeycomb coal stove and observed it for a while, then turned around and asked, "How much does it cost to produce a stove like this?"
Ye Manzhi said, "If we only produce simple coal stoves, we can use paint cans from scrap yards for the outer metal sheet, and the filling soil can be dug up at will for free. The bigger expense is the inner chamber and the iron frame supporting it."
"Oh, then it costs nothing."
Ye Manyzhi was stunned for a moment. The paint bucket, inner chamber and bracket all cost money, so how could there be no cost?
Mulan said as a matter of course: "We have a mold-making group and a blacksmithing group in our street. Let's borrow some inner chambers and iron frames from them first, and then settle the bill after the products are sold."
"Can I still buy on credit?" Ye Manzhi asked, "Director, where are the blank-making and iron-forging teams?"
"At the Second Residential Committee. When there's no work, the team members do chores at home. When there's work, they just go to each household and say hello."
Ye Manzhi: “…”
The working hours are very flexible.
She asked again: "Director, can the factory be opened?"
This time, Mulan and Zhang Qinjian's answers were surprisingly consistent.
"Yes, it can be opened. Why can't it be opened?"
Anyway, setting up a factory requires almost no capital investment, and if it makes a profit, the profits can be handed over to the street.
As for sales, there is no need to worry for the time being.
Grassroots cadres were the first group to be promoted to use honeycomb coal, and almost every household now uses honeycomb coal.
If we promote stoves among cadres, they will definitely sell well.
Mulan has to buy at least two for his own family.
"Xiao Ye, let Zhao Erhe handle the persuasion work for now. Winter has just arrived, and it's the peak season for coal stove sales. You should start by setting up the factory!"
"Let me run a factory?" Ye Manzhi said in a panic, "I've never run a factory before."
She doesn't even have any factory work experience, how could she run a factory?
"Work experience is all built from scratch. Just go for it and try to start production as soon as possible."
*
After taking on the task of setting up a factory, Ye Manzhi was really nervous for a long time. She didn't expect that the leader would give her such an important task.
However, after half a day, she regained her composure.
Setting up a factory may be considered a big deal in the eyes of ordinary people.
But in the street office, it’s really nothing.
Factories are different from each other.
Some factories have tens of thousands of employees and cover an area comparable to that of a small county town, such as Factory 656.
Some factories have only a single digit number of employees, and alleyways serve as workshops, such as the coal stove factory she is about to open.
After Ye Manzhi calmed down her psychological gap, she went home and announced the news that she was going to set up a factory.
"Laiya, you want to be the factory manager?" Shen Liangmei asked in surprise.
"I'm just taking on the role of factory director temporarily. Once the factory is on track, I'll appoint a proper factory director."
Ye Manzhi didn't dare to brag. After all, she was the only one in the factory and there was really nothing to brag about.
"Is your factory hiring?" Shen Liangmei asked quickly, "Can you let your fourth brother go to work in the factory?"
"Sure, but didn't Dad say that Fourth Brother should join the Infrastructure Department as a construction worker?"
Shen Liangmei curled her lips and kept silent.
Ye Manzhi sensed something was wrong, put down the scarf she was finishing, looked up and asked, "What's wrong with my fourth brother? He doesn't want to be a construction worker?"
Chang Yue'e sighed and said, "Didn't your fourth brother get caught by the security department for gambling? Although he doesn't have a criminal record with the police, the factory leaders have already announced that those 17 people involved in gambling will never be hired by Factory 656 again."
Because of this, Lao Ye beat Lao Si again yesterday.
Ye Manzhi looked at his fourth brother sympathetically. "If you can't go to 656, you can go to other units. Brother, do you want to come work at our coal furnace factory? We promote the talented regardless of nepotism. I'll reserve a spot for you."
Fourth Brother asked first: "What kind of factory is yours? Is it state-owned or collective?"
"Even state-owned and collective enterprises haven't delayed your salary, so why are you asking so many questions?"
"The collective wages are lower than those in the state-owned enterprises, and there's no labor insurance or public medical care," Fourth Brother complained. "The wages at the collective factory aren't necessarily much better than what I earn now. Instead of working as a factory laborer, I'd rather tinker with my flowers, birds, fish, and insects."
Ye Manzhi was too lazy to pay attention to him. "If you don't want to go, it'll save us a job quota. There are plenty of street residents who want to work in the factory."
Fourth brother looked down on collective enterprises, but his words also reminded Ye Manzhi.
She is still alone now, with no one and no money.
The nature of the enterprise is also unclear.
If the street office invests in and builds a factory, then the factory is owned by the whole people, that is, state-owned.
If residents raise funds to build a factory, then the factory is collective.
The next day at work, she mentioned this matter to Zhang Qinjian, suggesting that the street office pay some money to turn the enterprise into a state-owned enterprise.
Zhang Qinjian did not refuse outright.
He felt that the honeycomb coal stove should be able to make money, and if it was funded by the street office, the profit handed over to the street would be higher.
So, he opened his small treasury and scrimped to approve five dollars for Ye Manyi to build a factory.
Ye Manzhi held the five one-dollar bills in his hand and was stunned for a long time before he came to his senses. "Director, we only have five dollars to build the factory?"
A state-owned factory was built with only five dollars in capital. If you tell others about it, it would be laughable.
"Don't be too demanding when starting from scratch. Try to minimize your investment and maximize your output." Zhang Qinjian calculated her accounts one by one. "The raw materials for coal stoves can basically be bought on credit. In the first month, the only expenses you'll need are factory rent and the cost of transporting the loess. As long as you can sell the coal stoves and recover the funds, the second month will be easy."
This is the valuable experience he summed up after he brought down three collective factories.
Ye Manzhi thought it was still worth listening to.
After accepting the fact that the initial capital was only five yuan, she went to the street industrial and commercial bureau to register and prepared to start recruiting workers.
Although the idea of setting up a factory came from the persuasion work, when the factory organizes recruitment, it cannot only recruit workers with rural household registration.
In this regard, in principle, everyone should be treated equally, regardless of whether they have urban or rural household registration, or whether they are male or female.
So, after discussing with Director Mu, she posted a job recruitment notice outside the street office.
Recruitment Brochure for the State-Owned Guangming Coal Furnace Factory
[Due to the needs of production development and socialist construction, and in order to better serve the people, our factory is now recruiting a group of new employees from the society.]
[Recruitment scope: Guangming Street residents (registered residence is not limited, but must have a fixed residence in Guangming Street).]
[Job type and quota: Industrial production worker (furnace making), 3 men, 3 women.]
[Recruitment conditions: Support the leadership of the Party, love the socialist motherland, abide by laws and regulations, and obey organizational assignments.]
[The applicant's past history is clear and requires a certificate from the original employer or the street (township) where the household is registered.]
[Educational background is not limited (under the same conditions, those with good backgrounds are preferred, and those who provide their own production tools are preferred), age under 45 years old (blacksmiths, hoop ironsmiths, masons, and those with experience in coal stove making can relax the requirements appropriately)]
[Hardworking and healthy, you must undergo a physical examination at the neighborhood health station. If you are found to have a chronic disease six months after joining the factory, you can return to your original unit (not the disease you contracted at the factory).]
[Both male and female workers, married and unmarried, are welcome.]
[Recruitment Instructions: After being selected based on merit, candidates must obey the organization's assignment. The factory will assign specific work based on production needs and individual preferences, with production needs as the priority.]
After posting the job posting, Ye Manzhi ran back to the office, warmed herself by the stove, and looked out the door to prevent anyone from taking the job posting down.
Less than an hour after the message was posted, residents came in to inquire.
Some of them were not very literate and asked what was posted on the wall, while others were asking about the recruitment situation.
It was the first time for several new people from the street office to watch a factory recruiting workers. As soon as someone came in, they immediately pricked up their ears to listen to the excitement.
Ye Manzhi was the one who applied for the job before. It was her first time to be in charge of recruitment, and her palms were sweating.
Although her recruitment conditions seem quite complicated, there are actually no requirements for applicants.
She didn't even write the real threshold in the job notice.
The top three applicants are all family members of military industrial compounds and fully meet the recruitment requirements. As long as there are no problems with the physical examination, they will be given priority for admission.
But Ye Manzhi did not dare to give in, and only asked the other party to leave his home address and notify him of the admission result separately.
The fourth person to apply for the job was Guo Erni. Her qualifications were similar to the first three. Ye Manzhi treated her the same way as the other people and asked her to leave her specific address and wait for notification.
However, Guo Erni had been looking for a job for a long time without success, and finally came across a job opportunity right at her doorstep that had no restrictions on household registration, education level, or gender. How could she give up so easily!
She has recently summed up her experience, and going home to wait for notification basically means there is no hope.
"Cadre Xiaoye, look at my great physique. I can handle any job, whether it's dirty or tiring. Moreover, I come from a poor peasant family and can even bring my own hammer and scissors to work. Didn't the job posting say that those with good family backgrounds and those who bring their own production tools would be given priority? What else are you dissatisfied with? Why can't you keep me?"
Ye Manzhi imitated Zhang Qinjian's way of saying clichés: "The factory needs to consider everyone's situation comprehensively."
"What aspects should we consider comprehensively?" Guo Erni refused to give up. "Just tell me and I'll try my best."
Ye Manzhi smiled and said, "Okay, I'll tell you about it. Our Guangming Coal Furnace Factory is a newly built factory. Although it is a state-owned unit organized by the neighborhood committee, it is still in the initial stage and many things are not ready. For example, some production tools and production workshops."
Guo Erni asked pointedly, "Comrade Xiaoye, the factory doesn't even have a factory building?"
"It's a new factory, we don't even have workers, let alone a factory building," Ye Manzhi said calmly, pretending to be calm. "We don't need a large space in the initial stage. It would be best to rent a yard from an employee's home. We can pay some rental fees."
She only had five dollars to build the factory, and she couldn't spend all the money on renting the site.
It would be best if the production task could be completed at one of the team members’ homes, like the paper-making or sewing groups.
Guo Erni thought for a moment and asked her for confirmation: "Comrade Xiaoye, if I can find a place for you, will the factory hire me?"
"Yes, you are the second lesbian to sign up."
"Okay, Officer Xiaoye, please sign up for me first, and I'll go find you a venue right away!"
Seeing her nod, Guo Erni pushed open the door and ran out in the snow.
"Where is Guo Erni going to find a place for you?" Liu Jinbao stretched his neck to look outside. "Is her husband about to be released?"
"I heard from the police station that Zhao Guodong has served three months in prison and was released last week."
"No wonder she's anxious. Zhao Guodong has been in a detention center, and I don't know how Factory 656 will deal with him. If they fire him, his house will probably be returned to the factory. Guo Erni has to find both a job and a house. It's not easy!"
"Sister Guo is quite capable," Ye Manzhi said with a smile, "I think she can live a good life even if she leaves the military industrial complex."
Guo Erni went there quickly and came back quickly. In less than three quarters of an hour, she brought back a middle-aged woman wearing a tattered cotton jacket.
"This is Shao Dingxiang. Her husband passed away two years ago. She now lives with her parents-in-law in Yueya Hutong. Cadre Xiaoye, if you can get her and her father-in-law to work in the factory, there's a small hut in his yard that we can let the factory use for free!"
Ye Manzhi smiled warmly, "Sister Shao, please tell me about your family and how old your father-in-law is."
"I'm 38, and my parents-in-law are almost 60. My father-in-law is in good health, and can still do some carpentry work occasionally. My yard is about the same size as the neighborhood office's, and the small house is about half the size of the office. Why don't you come with me to take a look?"
"Alright."
Ye Manzhi asked Liu Jinbao to accompany her on the field trip.
The layout of Shao Dingxiang's house is similar to the yard that her fifth brother rented before, both have large yards and small rooms.
After understanding the general situation, Ye Manzhi said to the three Li family members: "Uncle, Auntie, Sister Shao, your yard and house are both very good. I have a plan. Please listen to it and see if it works."
Shao Dingxiang stared at her, picking her fingers and nodding.
"As long as she passed the health center's physical examination, the factory would hire Ms. Shao as a regular worker. But Mr. Li was too old, so he could only work as a temporary worker. During the factory's initial stages, we didn't have a fixed salary; we were paid piecework. When there was work, we worked more, and when there wasn't, we worked less. Our income was related to the amount of work we completed. So there was no difference in salary between regular and temporary workers."
"The rent for a courtyard in Yueya Hutong is around 5 yuan. The factory will temporarily rent your outer courtyard and small house for 2 yuan per month for six months. The rent will be paid in full at the end of the lease. If you continue to rent your courtyard after six months, the rent can be negotiated separately. Is this feasible for you?"
Half a year later, spring arrived and the peak season for coal stove sales had passed.
Whether the coal furnace factory can continue to operate will be revealed at that time.
This courtyard is the Li family's private property. They can get 12 yuan in rent after half a year and can also provide two jobs. There is nothing the Li family would be unwilling to do.
Uncle Li nodded immediately and said, "Leader, I'll do as you say. I'll clean up the yard and the house in a moment!"
Ye Manzhi took a look around Li's house, then went to the resident group leader to learn about his family's situation. After confirming that what the Li family said was correct, he went back to draft the contract and notified the first few residents who applied for the job to go for a physical examination and start work.
The coal furnace factory hired a total of 6 regular workers and 1 temporary worker.
Among them, Guo Erni was particularly capable. She underwent a physical examination on the same day after applying for the job and started working on the same day. After receiving a letter of introduction from Ye Manzhi, she went to a scrap collection station and bought 50 used paint cans.
"A paint bucket is 25 cents, and 50 buckets are 12.5 yuan. I've agreed with the scrap yard staff to give them a 2.5 yuan deposit first, and the remaining 10 yuan will be paid in full at the end of the month."
Ye Manzhi was caught off guard by her high efficiency. He didn't expect that the factory would start operation on the first day.
She now finally understood Director Mu's feelings. She really felt embarrassed to dampen the enthusiasm of a comrade who was particularly motivated at work.
"Well, Sister Guo, please go to the second neighborhood committee's mold-making and iron-making teams," Ye Manzhi handed her the list of items she needed to buy on credit. "I'll go get the master coal stove maker. We'll try to get all the materials ready today and start trial production tomorrow."
Guo Erni finally got a job, and her work enthusiasm was at its highest. After getting the list, she ran away without saying a word.
Ye Manzhi wiped the sweat from her forehead and hurried home to find her fourth brother.
The fourth brother was cleaning the fish tank at home. After hearing her request, he said speechlessly: "I'm not a worker in your factory. Why should I work on the coal stove?"
"If Wu Zhengrong and our father didn't have to go to work, I wouldn't dare bother you, a big Buddha! Go to the factory and give me some advice!"
After she brought back the coal stove made by Wu Zhengrong, Lao Ye and fourth brother also made two by following his example.
Because no insulation material is added to the yellow mud, the insulation effect is not as good as before, but this can greatly reduce production costs.
Now Fourth Brother is the only person she can find who knows how to make a honeycomb coal stove.
The fourth brother put away the fishing net, muttering, "I really owe you", put on his cotton jacket and was about to go out with her.
However, as soon as the two of them reached the entrance of the corridor, the third sister-in-law Huang Li rushed over on a bicycle.
"Ye Manzhi, why are you running around when you're not working on the street?"
"I'm busy running the factory, sister-in-law, what do you want to talk to me about?"
Huang Li glanced at Lao Si, paused, and said, "There's a registered letter for you. Come over and sign for it!"
Ye Manzhi walked to her bicycle and obediently stretched out her hand to wait for the signature, but what Huang Li put into her palm was not a registered letter, but a thin postal withdrawal notice.
She stared at the amount column, and when she saw the number clearly, her heart immediately started pounding.
OMG!
Seven hundred and eighty yuan in total!
She rubbed her eyes and looked at the remittance unit, "Provincial Fine Arts Publishing House".
Is this the payment for her fashion book?
Huang Li saw her standing there in a daze and could understand her feelings very well.
When she first saw her sister-in-law's withdrawal notice at the post office, she was also shocked.
I originally thought that for a book like that, the maximum I could get in royalties would be four or five hundred yuan.
I didn’t expect that they would receive nearly 800 yuan in one go!
This made her more determined to pursue the publishing route. Nowadays, it is so profitable for writers to publish books!
The purchasing power of 780 yuan nowadays would be almost 100,000 yuan in her era, right?
"Don't just stand there like an idiot! Put the letter away quickly," Huang Li glanced at Lao Si again obscurely, "Put it away, don't lose it!"
Ye Laosi has a history of gambling, which makes him an unstable factor for her. She cannot show her large fortune in front of him.
Ye Manzhi felt dizzy and light-headed. She agreed to everything her third sister-in-law said and followed every instruction.
After putting away the withdrawal slip, she turned around and looked at her fourth brother, and said in a tone that was not quite real: "Brother, let's not have a trial production today. I'm going to the street office. You go back first."
Fourth brother rolled his eyes, muttered, and went back to continue cleaning the fish tank.
Ye Manzhi asked with sparkling eyes, "Sister-in-law, can I go to the post office to withdraw money today?"
"You can withdraw the money, but it's almost time to get off work, and the post office is busy. You'd better find a time when there are fewer people and ask our parents to accompany you to withdraw the money."
Ye Manzhi understood her concerns and quickly agreed.
She put one hand in her pocket, tightly guarding her withdrawal slip, and walked back to the street office with one step deep and one step shallow.
She wanted to call Director Zhou of the publishing house to find out when the book would be officially released, how the royalties were calculated, and why she was given so much.
As a result, when she returned to the unit and just pushed open the wooden door of the office, she saw Director Zhou sitting opposite Director Mu and chatting.
"Xiao Ye is back," Mu Lan said with a smile, "Lao Zhou, if you have anything to say, talk to Xiao Ye alone!"
Zhou Min led Ye Manzhi out of the office and found a corner in the yard that was sheltered from the wind. He whispered, "You should have received the remittance slip from the publishing house in the past two days, right?"
"Received it, just received it this afternoon!"
"Well, I was passing by here after get off work, so I wanted to talk to you about your royalties so you don't have to make another trip to our publishing house." Zhou Min pulled down her scarf and said, "For books that are primarily picture-based, our publishing house doesn't pay royalties per thousand words. Instead, we pay per page. Your book has a total of 100 pages, so the basic royalty fee for the first batch is 780 yuan."
"Also, our publishing house has a print quota. When a book is published, we'll set a quota of 10,000, 20,000, or 30,000 copies, depending on the specific circumstances of the work. Fashion books like yours are a brand new venture for our publishing house, and their distribution will likely be relatively narrow, so we've set a 'quota' for you of 10,000 copies per print run."
"For the first four quotas, each quota will be paid 780 yuan. Starting from the fifth quota, each quota will only be paid 80% of the basic remuneration. After the thirteenth quota, the payment will be 40%. Do you understand what I mean?"
Ye Manzhi blinked and asked, "Director Zhou, you mean that this remuneration isn't paid in full all at once? As the number of copies printed increases, I'll have the chance to receive a second and third installment. For every additional 10,000 copies sold, I'll get an extra 780 yuan, right?"
"Well, it's possible. It depends on the sales of your book."
Ye Manzhi exclaimed in her heart, is she going to get rich?
Just thinking about the possibility of getting several more 780 yuan in the future made her feel a little breathless!
She didn't hear anything Director Zhou said next. After he left, she stood alone in the yard for a long time, her feet numb from standing.
Just as she was about to enter the house, He Shan, a salesperson from the branch, suddenly ran into the yard and called her.
"Officer Xiaoye, I heard you received a large sum of money today?"
Ye Manzhi immediately asked cautiously: "Where did you hear that?"
"Haha, there are no secrets between us banks and the post office," He Shan said with a smile. "Comrade Xiaoye, I fully supported your last bond redemption, didn't I? After you withdraw this money, shouldn't you deposit it in our branch to support our work?"
Ye Manzhi thought to himself, I haven't even received my royalties yet, and you're already thinking about me saving?
He Shan's arrival cleared her mind a lot, and she said with a smile: "Okay, okay, if you don't come to me, I will come to you! Comrade He, you should have heard that our street has just opened a coal furnace factory. Hey, the factory is just starting to build, and it needs money everywhere. I was just about to talk to you about the loan!"
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