Chapter 46
While Ye Manzhi was excited about the huge sum of money that had fallen from the sky, the coal furnace factory had already completed the production task of the first batch of products.
"Comrade Xiaoye, what do you think of our coal stoves?"
Ye Manzhi looked at the coal stoves in the room and asked in surprise, "How did you turn all fifty paint cans into coal stoves in just three days?"
"If the yellow mud wasn't difficult to dry in winter, we could make fifty in a day!" The workers were excited.
Since wages are piece-rate, the more you work, the more you earn. The seven workers in the factory do not need any supervision at all and go to get off work and get off work on time from 9 to 5 every day.
Ye Manzhi checked the fifty furnaces one by one and found ten unqualified products.
"We're a state-owned factory, so our product specifications must be consistent. The vents must be the same size, the furnace surface must be smooth, and there must be no visible fingerprints on the yellow mud we fill."
She picked up several unqualified products and looked carefully at the numbers on the bottom of the furnace.
The fingerprints on the yellow mud were left by worker No. 7, and the jagged cuts were made by worker No. 5.
"Uncle Li, Luo Liang, why don't you two work together?" Ye Manzhi suggested. "Uncle Li has a steadier hand, so he'll be in charge of the cutting. Luo Liang will be in charge of filling the furnace. You two can focus on your respective areas of expertise, saving you from having to rework frequently."
The two men had no objection, smiled awkwardly, took back their defective products and went back to work.
Guo Erni asked, "Comrade Xiaoye, we've run out of paint cans. Should we stop production or continue production on credit?"
"We can't stop working. Sister Guo, take the other two people to the scrap yard and order all the paint cans. Don't let them sell them to anyone else."
Uncle Li hesitantly reminded, "Boss, our yard is almost full. If we continue to produce, the workers will have nowhere to set up."
Ye Manzhi said firmly, "Just focus on production. As long as we can ensure the quality of our products, we won't have to worry about sales!"
She boosted morale at the factory, and then returned to the street office with two coal stoves that sold relatively well.
"Director, the honeycomb coal stove has been successfully trial-produced. How do we set the price?"
Mulan asked, "How much does each furnace cost?"
"Taking into account labor costs, transportation costs, and site rental, the average cost of each furnace is less than one yuan. If production can be increased, the cost will be reduced."
Mulan thought for a moment and said, "Honeycomb coal stoves are unplanned commodities. Their price will follow the market. We can follow the price of ordinary coal stoves. Let's set the factory price at RMB 1.6 or RMB 1.7."
Ye Manzhi asked in a low voice, like a thief: "Director, isn't one dollar and seventy cents a bit too low? The factory still has to pay taxes and turn over profits."
"It's not low anymore. The wholesale price has to be marked up by 10%, and the retail price has to be marked up by another 15%. It costs more than two yuan to buy a coal stove from a store, so this price is fine."
Liu Jinbao came over and said, "Xiao Ye, why don't you sell a few of these within our company for 1.7 yuan each? I'll buy two first!"
Ye Manzhi was eager to make a move.
She actually wanted to sell it, the sooner she sold it the sooner she could get her money back.
However, after stealing a glance at Zhang Qinjian who was staring at her hungrily, she sighed and shook her head against her will.
The coal furnace factory is a state-owned factory that only participates in production and does not participate in the commodity circulation link.
That is to say, the products must be handed over to stores for sale and cannot be produced and sold by oneself.
Small factories like theirs, reselling a few products privately, generally wouldn't be pursued by the Industrial and Commercial Bureau. But there's always a chance of a disaster. If someone caught her, the loss would outweigh the gain, so she decided not to take the risk.
Ye Manzhi put on her cotton jacket again, took the two stoves to the supply and marketing cooperative, and sold this new type of honeycomb coal stove to people.
Director Hou of the supply and marketing cooperative was quite straightforward. After hearing her purpose, he left the coal stove without saying a word.
"Comrade Xiaoye, the supply and marketing cooperative has limited space. Please send five stoves here first. After they are sold out, I will call you to deliver more."
Although the supply and marketing cooperative is not under the management of the street office, it is a sister unit after all, so Director Hou still needs to maintain good relations with the neighbors.
Anyway, he collected almost all the products from the factories on this street and sold them to the supply and marketing cooperative counter, not even a coal stove was missing.
Ye Manzhi had heard a lot of bad things about the supply and marketing cooperatives and stores from Zhang Qinjian, and thought that it would take a lot of effort to get them to sell coal stoves on her behalf. Unexpectedly, she got the job done without any effort!
She said with surprise, "On behalf of the factory, I would like to thank Director Hou for his support. Whenever you need delivery, please feel free to call the street office."
"Hahaha, no problem, let's support each other in our work."
Ye Manzhi delivered five stoves to the supply and marketing cooperative, then went back to wait for a call with peace of mind.
Not only did she serve as the director of the coal furnace factory, she was also responsible for civil affairs and education.
After two days of busy work at the street office, when she finally had some free time after preparing for the graduation exam of the first literacy class, she suddenly realized something was wrong.
It seems that the supply and marketing cooperative has never called her to ask for delivery!
"Erhe, have you received any calls from the supply and marketing cooperative in the past few days?"
"No, there was only a call about the electricity bill, and Deputy Director Zhang went to pay it."
Ye Manzhi: “…”
What’s the situation at the supply and marketing cooperative?
It’s been nearly three days, and they haven’t even sold five stoves, right?
She complained in her heart and ran to the supply and marketing cooperative again.
This time she didn't look for Director Hou, but stood alone at the door to observe the sales situation inside the supply and marketing cooperative.
The coal stove is quite large and is placed in the open space next to the counter.
However, since their coal stoves are made of paint buckets, they can easily be mistaken for paint if you look past them.
She observed at the door of the supply and marketing cooperative for half an hour, but no one was interested in the coal stove and not a single customer asked for the price.
The sales characteristic of the supply and marketing cooperatives is that the salespersons sell whatever the customers buy.
If customers don’t ask, they won’t actively sell.
Honeycomb coal stove is a new product and looks like paint. If it is not promoted specifically, it is difficult for ordinary customers to notice it.
When she returned home for lunch, she complained about this to Chang Yue'e.
Chang Yue'e said, "If you don't give them benefits, who will promote your products?"
"How can I give you a benefit? Isn't that bribery?"
"Some counter positions are good, some are bad. Why do some products get the best positions?" Chang Yue'e said nonchalantly. "In the past, cloth merchants would give kickbacks to silk shop employees in order to help them sell their products."
Ye Manzhi thought to herself that she didn't give any kickbacks to the salesperson.
But this matter really couldn't be delayed any longer. The workers at the coal stove factory were too enthusiastic about production. In three days, they produced more than 60 coal stoves, and the Li family's yard was already full of them.
If no market is found, the factory will have to temporarily stop production.
When Ye Manzhi returned to work in the afternoon, she took out a small notebook and did some statistics.
"Erhe, how many coal stoves do you want to buy for your family?"
"One is enough. Why buy so many?" Zhao Erhe asked. "How much is each?"
"The retail price at the supply and marketing cooperative is 1.87 yuan. Although the price is the same, people in our unit don't have to go to the supply and marketing cooperative. I'll have the factory deliver the goods directly." Ye Manzhi made a note in her notebook and asked, "Sister Wei, do you need a honeycomb coal stove at home?"
"I'll take two, one for my son's room to keep warm."
The street office can handle a total of 10 honeycomb coal stoves.
Ye Manzhi went to several units including the police station, grain station, health station, and industrial and commercial bureau in the same way.
She visited all the grassroots units that responded to the city's call and were the first to use honeycomb coal.
Including the 10 from the street office, a total of 42 coal stoves were ordered.
She went back to the factory to arrange for people to deliver goods to these units, and then took Guo Erni with her and went to the supply and marketing cooperative again.
"Director Hou, you've really ruined me!" Ye Manzhi sat down opposite Director Hou and began to complain, "How come in three days, you haven't even sold five coal stoves?"
Director Hou chuckled, "If the customer doesn't want it, we can't force them to buy. Officer Xiaoye, your factory can't rely solely on me, the supply and marketing cooperative. You have to send the products to other stores to try."
Ye Manzhi said with a straight face, "I trusted our supply and marketing cooperative too much! Now is the peak season for coal stove sales, and I thought the supply and marketing cooperative would have a huge sales volume. I went back and asked the workers to work overtime to rush to make hundreds of coal stoves, but in the end you only sold two in three days."
Director Hou spoke in an official tone: "This is how new products are. We always need to give customers time to accept and understand them."
"Then why don't you ask the salesperson to help us promote it? If coal stoves sell well, the supply and marketing cooperative will also make a lot of money. Didn't you say so yourself? Let's support each other's work."
"Hey, Xiaoye, we're neighbors. If I could spare some time to help you sell your products, I'd definitely do it." Director Hou pointed at the people queuing in front of the counter. "Look at how busy our salespeople are. How could we have the energy to help you promote your new products?"
"If it weren't for the factory's inability to produce and sell its own products, I really wouldn't want to send the goods to your supply and marketing cooperative!" Ye Manzhi took out her small notebook, "Several grassroots units on our street want to collectively purchase coal stoves. I've already received the order, and they need a total of more than 40 units. It depends on whether our supply and marketing cooperative wants this order. If not, then I'll try other stores."
Director Hou was stunned. He thought the other party was here to call him to task, but he didn't expect there was a big order.
"Haha, since there's an order, it must be sent to our supply and marketing cooperative. No other store has such a close relationship with us!"
He felt his trouser pocket and habitually reached for his cigarette case, but when his hand was halfway in, he remembered that Ye Manzhi was a non-smoking lesbian, so he awkwardly retracted his hand.
Ye Manzhi smiled faintly. "Director Hou, our factory will be responsible for delivering this order. The supply and marketing cooperative doesn't have to do anything. They just need to send someone to issue the invoice and collect the payment. Such a good opportunity is hard to come by, right?"
Director Hou was a seasoned veteran. He could tell she was trying to negotiate terms with him, so he said readily, "Comrade Xiaoye, if you have any conditions, please bring them up. We'll work it out."
"Director Hou, consider this order a gift from our factory. We understand that the supply and marketing cooperative is short-staffed," Ye Manzhi said, pushing Guo Erni forward. "This is an employee of our factory. Since you're short-staffed, I'll leave Comrade Guo Erni with you at the supply and marketing cooperative. She can come to the cooperative after get off work every day to promote our coal stoves."
Director Hou looked at Guo Erni in surprise.
The employees of the coal furnace factory are really amazing. They are willing to come out to sell products after get off work?
"Of course, we can't let Comrade Guo Erni work for nothing. For every coal stove she sells, the supply and marketing cooperative and the coal stove factory will each give her a cent as a bonus."
The supply and marketing cooperative makes a profit of 1.7 cents from selling a coal stove. This kind of non-planned commodity does not have a unified national price, and the price and profit are flexible. Director Hou does not care about that penny of profit.
But if the money was earned by outsiders, he would have a hard time explaining it to the sales staff in the supply and marketing cooperative.
Ye Manzhi seemed to have guessed his thoughts and said with a smile, "Director Hou, I've also thought about giving bonuses to salespeople before, but I'm not sure about the internal regulations of our supply and marketing cooperative. I'm afraid I might make a mistake and cause trouble for the salespeople."
"Well, if the salesperson has enthusiastic service and good sales performance, it's permissible for the manufacturer to give him an appropriate bonus."
She brought the matter to the surface, and Director Hou found it difficult to object to giving the salesperson a bonus.
Ye Manzhi clapped his hands and smiled, "That's great, Director Hou. Let's make a deal. No matter if it's a salesperson from the supply and marketing cooperative or an employee from the coal stove factory, as long as they successfully sell a coal stove, our two units will each reward them one cent!"
"Okay, it's settled. I hope the coal furnace factory will have a good start soon!"
"Haha, thank you for your kind words," Ye Manzhi turned to Guo Erni and said, "Sister Guo, you can stay here today to help sell coal stoves. I'll accompany Director Hou to settle the payment for those 42 coal stoves."
Guo Erni nodded immediately.
She silently admired cadre Xiao Ye in her heart.
The 2 cents given to the salesperson can be called a bonus or a kickback.
It depends on whether it is done privately or brought to the table.
If it is done privately, the coal stove factory will give the salesperson a 2 cent kickback.
However, after being brought to light by cadre Xiao Ye, not only did the kickbacks become bonuses, but the supply and marketing cooperative also paid out 1 cent.
The key is that everyone can feel at ease with this money!
Guo Erni doesn't think the money is too little. She gets a 2-cent reward for selling a stove. If she sells 5 stoves a day, she can earn 3 yuan in her spare time in a month. She is so content!
However, after Ye Manzhi left the supply and marketing cooperative, she was still worried.
A stove can be used for several years. Once people buy a coal stove, they will not use it again in the short term.
However, the number of residents on Guangming Street who use honeycomb coal is not as many as those who use loose coal.
Based on a daily output of 50 stoves, the honeycomb coal stoves on the street will be saturated in less than a month.
Where will the factory sell the coal stoves then?
The supply and marketing cooperative agreed to sell coal stoves on behalf of the street office out of respect for the street office.
But once you leave Guangming Street, the street office’s reputation will be in jeopardy.
Ye Manzhi felt that it was time to recruit two salesmen to be responsible for supply and marketing. There were so many stores out there, she couldn't rely on herself to run everything, right?
She observed the sales situation of the supply and marketing cooperative in the next few days. Guo Erni and the salesperson worked together to sell about twelve or thirteen coal stoves every day.
The sales speed is far behind the production speed.
It is indeed not enough to rely on just this one supply and marketing cooperative.
"Fifth brother, how's your business going lately?"
"It's okay, but not as good as the business in summer. Hiss, cough cough..." Fifth Brother was called back to the military industrial compound by Chang Yue'e to eat dumplings. A sip of spicy liquor made him hiss and cough.
Chang Yue'e patted her son on the back and complained, "What do you always say during meals?"
"I'm just chatting with my brother," Ye Manzhi continued, "Brother, on your way out to work, could you help sell a few coal stoves for our factory?"
The fourth brother complained: "I think you are really possessed. Why are you always thinking about the coal stove?"
The fifth brother smiled and asked, "How much do you want to sell it for?"
"Sell it at the supply and marketing cooperative's retail price. You'll get a two-cent commission for every one you sell. It would be even better if you could get the drivers in your team to participate as well."
Ye Manzhi felt that the drivers had more advantages than the supply and marketing cooperatives because they could go from street to street and deep into residential areas.
The fifth brother thought for a moment and said, "I can help you sell the stove, but I might not be able to help others. The coal stove is quite heavy, and it weighs heavily on both a tricycle and a horse-drawn carriage. The 2 cents you're giving me is too little."
That's true, there are also long-distance transportation costs.
Ye Manzhi asked, "What do you think of five cents? Our factory will give you another three cents."
You can't blame her for being stingy; she learned it from Zhang Qinjian.
With the five dollars of capital for factory construction, she dared not waste it too much.
The fifth brother was not sure whether five cents was attractive. He made money from everything, so two cents was not too little.
But that may not be the case for others.
"I'll go to the fleet tomorrow and ask for you. If there's anyone willing to do it, I'll bring them to your coal furnace factory."
"Well, you get the goods from the factory and get the invoice from the supply and marketing cooperative."
Speaking of this, Ye Manzhi felt unbalanced again.
She has to worry about production and find sales channels, but the supply and marketing cooperative doesn't have to do anything and is only responsible for issuing invoices.
It's so easy for them to make money!
Sometimes, once certain thoughts come up, it is difficult to suppress them.
The more she thought about it, the more she felt that she was at a disadvantage. When she saw Wu Zhengrong the next day, she repeated it to him.
Wu Zhengrong could only comfort her: "The supply and marketing cooperative is your only sales channel at the moment. Unless you open a store of your own, you will feel you are at a disadvantage no matter who you cooperate with."
"Hey, we don't have the qualifications to operate this business." Ye Manzhi leaned over the table, resting his chin on his hand and asked, "What other ways are there to expand sales? The factory already has a backlog of over a hundred coal stoves."
"Is one hundred a lot?"
"We're small, we can't compare with large factories like 656. One hundred coal furnaces have almost tied up all our working capital."
Wu Zhengrong felt that this girl was giving him a difficult problem.
Selling coal stoves was no longer an area he was familiar with.
Seeing his serious expression, Ye Manyi thought he was thinking about something, so she lay quietly opposite him and stared at him, not daring to disturb him.
After about a quarter of an hour, she couldn't help but ask, "How is it going? Any progress?"
In her heart, Wu Zhengrong is an all-round talent, and it seems that nothing can defeat him.
It shouldn’t be a problem to open up sales channels for coal stoves, right?
So, Comrade Xiao Ye placed Wu Zhengrong on the coal stove and he couldn't get down.
He took a sip of the tea Comrade Xiaoye had poured with a subtle expression. After quickly weighing the pros and cons in his mind, he asked cautiously, "There seems to be a recent report in the newspaper about residents suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning from lighting stoves with doors and windows closed in winter?"
"There was news like this. A few days ago, an elderly man at the First Residential Committee was nearly poisoned. He was found by his son in the middle of the night and was rescued in time."
Wu Zhengrong hummed a sigh of relief and continued, "Compared to ordinary coal stoves, the biggest advantage of the coal stove I make isn't actually that it saves coal, but that it reduces pollution. Common stoves are all ignited from below, burning upwards. When the carbon dioxide produced passes through the loose coal above that hasn't been heated to a red glow, some of it is reduced to carbon monoxide, causing carbon monoxide pollution."
"The honeycomb briquette stoves your factory is producing are ignited from above, burning downwards, and produce much less carbon monoxide than traditional coal stoves. Your factory could do something about this."
Ye Manzhi's eyes sparkled, and she asked with great energy, "Can I submit what you said to the newspaper to promote our honeycomb coal stove?"
"Sure. I met He Wanglan at the last class reunion. She works at the daily newspaper. You can ask her for help if you need anything."
Ye Manzhi stood up excitedly, leaned over the desk, and kissed him twice on the lips.
"Comrade Military Representative, you're amazing! You're a sales genius!"
Wu Zhengrong coughed guiltily and changed the subject, saying, "Put aside the stove sales pitch for now. You've been busy with the coal stove lately, so you need to relax a bit."
Ye Manzhi looked at him and smiled: "Do you want to go out on a date with me?"
"Well, there's a fashion show at the Friendship Palace this weekend. I heard there's also a ballroom dance going on at the same time. If you want to go, we can go together."
Ye Manzhi happily agreed: "Okay, after I learned ballroom dancing, I only danced that one time. If I don't dance again, I'll almost forget it!"
"The invitation was sent by my aunt," Wu Zhengrong reminded me gently. "Not only did she send the invitation, she also specifically asked me to invite you to attend as well. From what I know about her, she probably wouldn't just send an invitation and leave it at that. I suspect she might even try to get my grandmother to come along."
Ye Manzhi's face went blank for a moment, and then he asked nervously, "Are you going to meet your family then?"
"Not necessarily. This is just my guess. If you don't want to go, we can find another opportunity to attend another dance."
"We'll meet sooner or later anyway, so it doesn't hurt to meet," Ye Manzhi said after a moment of inner turmoil, "Will I meet your grandfather?"
"It doesn't matter if he sees you. Just behave the same way in front of him as you did on our blind date. My grandpa is very easy to talk to."
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