Chapter 81
Qin Xiang had just gone to bed at night when someone came outside to call her out to answer the phone.
Sister Wu, who was manning the public telephone nearby, would definitely be unhappy if someone called her at this time in normal times. However, today the news was making a big fuss, and the person who called specifically wanted to see Qin Xiang, so why would she be unhappy? She was also thinking about getting to know Qin Xiang so that she could give her son some advice.
Qin Xiang was helpless, "Did anyone say where the call came from?"
Sister Wu said, "He said his surname is He, and he called from Ningcheng."
Qin Xiang knew who it was the moment she heard this. He Liping realized later, "The surname is He, it sounds familiar."
He Liping had gone back to the store to get a parasol, but after hearing what she heard, she took the things and ran away.
Qin Xiang was at a loss for words. "Isn't the He in Ningcheng your aunt?"
He Liping paused, scratching her head in hindsight. "It really is."
Qin Xiang went over to answer the phone, and the caller was indeed Deputy Factory Director He. "Qin Xiang, congratulations! When I saw the news this afternoon, I didn't believe it was you. But when I saw that familiar store and your face, I knew it couldn't be wrong."
Deputy Factory Director He sighed, "I knew you were a capable person, but I didn't expect you'd be so talented not only in business but also in your studies."
Qin Xiang said modestly, "I am the early bird that flies. After all, I have learned several years more than others."
The two men laughed. Deputy Director He said, "So, if you say so, those who don't pass should be able to pass after a few more years of studying. Aren't there many people who still can't pass after several years of studying?"
Qin Xiang likes to talk to Deputy Director He, and her words are as gentle as spring breeze.
Qin Xiang exchanged a few polite words with her and asked about the factory. Deputy Director He couldn't help but sigh and said with a wry smile, "Let it be. It won't get better anyway."
Upon hearing this, Qin Xiang knew that something might have happened that she didn't know about. Sure enough, Deputy Director He said, "You brought Zhao Ming and Zhao Liang to sign the agreement before. What a great thing! Although it's just one county, the two brothers are doing well and have placed many orders. But the leaders of our factory didn't know how they found out that they were placing orders with other factories and became unhappy. They insisted that I tell them that they should either purchase all the goods from our factory or just quit. How can you threaten a customer who takes goods like this? I tried to persuade them in a nice way, but it was useless. Many people think that Zhao Ming and Zhao Liang should give back to the factory since they make money from our factory, otherwise they would be ungrateful. I had no choice but to shamelessly bring it up. The brothers Zhao Ming and Zhao Liang didn't have the heart to embarrass me, so they went directly to the factory and terminated the order contract with the factory director."
Qin Xiang was so confused after hearing this, "What's going on in your factory director's mind? Is he complaining that your factory's business is too good?"
"Bullshit." Thinking of this, Deputy Director He felt a headache. "Now the factory is relying on some self-employed people who come to the market to maintain it. But we are not the only clothing factory here. They also buy goods from many factories. The factory leaders have suffered losses from Zhao Ming and Zhao Liang and dare not ask for anything. But with these people, the factory's sales department does not take good care of them. I am completely helpless on my own."
This is the drawback of state-owned factories. Even employees in the sales department receive a fixed salary. Since it is a fixed salary, the money earned by sitting in the factory for a day is the same as that earned by running around for a day. At the beginning, we were forced by Deputy Director He to run around for a while. Everyone felt embarrassed and felt that they had to listen to the leader. Later, they were not happy about it. They agreed on the surface, but they didn’t know what they did after running around for a day. In the end, they didn’t even know whether the goods were in the store or not.
Qin Xiang was speechless. "So what about now? Your factory is still half dead?"
"Yes, even worse than before." Deputy Director He was really worried, otherwise he would not have called Qin Xiang. On the one hand, he wanted to congratulate her, but also wanted to see if Qin Xiang had any good ideas.
Qin Xiang asked, "What do your city leaders say?"
"What else can I say? He'll definitely be slamming the table and cursing in meetings. But what good will that do?" Deputy Director He is so consumed by the factory's development that her hair has turned a lot gray in the past few months. But she can't do it alone. Director Feng shares her aspirations for the factory's success, but it's no use. Director Feng is solely responsible for the warehouse, and now she's fretting over where to store the overcrowded goods. She can't help with anything else.
Deputy Director He lowered his posture and asked, "Xiao Qin, I know you are a capable person. Do you think this factory can be saved?"
Qin Xiang understood what Deputy Director He meant, but still spoke the truth. "I've told you the truth before. The path is actually there. Many factories in the south are already practicing it. People in your factory really should go to some private factories in the south to take a look and learn from them."
Deputy Factory Director He smiled bitterly, "They wouldn't go. They just wanted to drink tea and read the newspaper. Then someone sold out all the goods in an instant. They offended me and asked me to speak well of them and get the goods back. I really had to go to the Zhao brothers to get their money back, but their market is so small and they have supply agreements with other factories, so we can't do it here."
Qin Xiang was helpless. "Deputy Director He, if you don't even want to live, it's useless for others to save you. It's like someone who really wants to die. If you force them back, you can save them once, but they'll die the same way next time."
Deputy Director He was speechless. "But I really can't bear to watch it die."
After so many years at Rainbow Garment Factory, she truly had a special feeling for it. But she couldn't understand why the other managers couldn't see this. It was heartbreaking.
Qin Xiang joked, "Deputy Director He, if I open a factory one day, you can be my director."
Deputy Director He was at a loss for words. "Even you're making fun of me." She sighed and said, "But I think you have the ability."
Qin Xiang said seriously, "I'm not kidding." She could feel Deputy Director He's pain, so she said, "Actually, your factory still has another option, but your leaders probably won't agree."
Upon hearing this, Deputy Director He was shocked and said, "Go ahead."
"Public-private partnership. Let private capital be invested and participate in the production and development of the factory. But if that happens, your factory director might lose power, so he probably won't agree."
Qin Xiang's words left Deputy Director He stunned for a long time. Only after he hung up the phone did he sigh, "It's difficult, too difficult."
It is almost impossible. Ning City now has one or two public-private joint ventures, but their Rainbow Garment Factory is in a very difficult situation.
Qin Xiang hung up the phone and went back to rest. Early the next morning, the brother and sister took their luggage and boarded a train heading south.
So several reporters from the provincial capital who wanted to interview Qin Xiang were disappointed again.
At the same time, before dawn, a letter was stuffed into the mailbox at the door of the provincial radio station.
Hao Jingjing got up early in the morning and went to the TV station. She opened the mailbox and saw the letter.
There were big words written on it: Big news about the top scorer in science.
Hao Jingjing's sleepiness, which had been caused by a lack of sleep, instantly disappeared. She looked around and saw that there was no one else around, so she took the letter into the office and opened it first.
The handwriting on it looked a bit soft, obviously the person was not very knowledgeable. Looking at the contents inside, Hao Jingjing was even more shocked.
They all knew that Qin Xiang had taken the college entrance exam two years prior, but they were focusing on promoting her unwavering self-improvement and her ability to balance entrepreneurship and academic pursuits. This was also a point the provincial government requested the television station promote after learning of this.
Since the reform and opening up, economic development has not been smooth. Now that we have a good publicity point, how can we not promote it?
At that time, they contacted the teachers of Qin Xiang's alma mater, Qingshui County No. 1 Middle School, and learned about Qin Xiang's residence and got to know Qin Xiang.
But no one told them that Qin Xiang was a divorced woman.
This made Hao Jingjing frown.
She likes Qin Xiang very much and admires her very much. She only got into the provincial university in the college entrance examination and joined the provincial TV station after graduation, but she has a heart that yearns to be a top student. Qin Xiang's spirit makes her envy and admiration.
She also likes Qin Xiang's taste in product selection very much, and now the clothes she usually wears are all from Qin Xiang's store.
So what if they are divorced? Many years ago, great men said that women hold up half the sky. Why is it that today, in the 1980s, there are still people who look down on women just because they are divorced, and try to erase all their honor because of this little thing?
Hao Jingjing felt that this was a very bad thing and an extremely terrible thing.
She felt that the person who did this must have a big misunderstanding of Qin Xiang, or even harbored deep hostility towards Qin Xiang.
Hao Jingjing didn't know if there would be more letters like this. She put the letter in her pocket and walked out. When she met her colleague, she asked her to help her take an hour off and ran to Qin Xiang's store.
Unfortunately, it’s too early and Xiang Ai hasn’t opened yet.
Instead, the old man next door was fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan at the door. Hao Jingjing asked, "Uncle, when will their store open?"
Uncle Ge glanced at his watch and said, "I guess it'll be around eight or nine, breakfast time."
Hao Jingjing glanced at her watch. It was only eight o'clock, but the shutters were still closed. She glanced at Uncle Ge and asked, "Uncle, do you know about Qin Xiang's divorce?"
Uncle Ge looked her up and down and nodded, "I know."
Hao Jingjing asked anxiously, "Why did she get divorced?"
"You ask me, but who should I ask?" Uncle Ge's tone turned sour. "You're from the provincial radio station, right? I saw you the other day. What's wrong? After digging up other news, you're still not satisfied and want to dig up the private life of the provincial champion?"
As Grandpa Ge spoke, his expression changed, and he looked at Hao Jingjing with hostility. "He doesn't look like a good person. Really? What's wrong with him getting divorced? Should I eat your food or drink your water? You're so bored."
Being scolded by Uncle Ge, Hao Jingjing didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Just as she was about to explain, she saw the shutter door open and Mi Hongjun appeared at the door. "Uncle Ge, what are you arguing about so early in the morning?"
Uncle Ge rolled his eyes at Hao Jingjing and said, "Ask this female comrade who came to ask about Qin Xiang if she is divorced and why."
After saying that, Uncle Ge fanned himself even faster.
Hao Jingjing was helpless as she saw the originally smiling man's face suddenly change and his eyes shot towards her angrily, which made her heart skip a beat, as if the man would punch her in the next second.
Qin Yang took a few steps towards Hao Jingjing. Hao Jingjing stepped back and said anxiously, "Let me explain..."
"What's there to explain?" Mi Hongjun hated it most when people used divorce to attack Qin Xiang. If he hadn't shown up so late and hadn't known Qin Xiang's ex-husband, he would have wanted to beat him up. "If my sister Xiangxiang wants to divorce me, then she can. What has that got to do with you? When you came for the interview, my sister Xiangxiang was clearly anxious to leave, but she still cooperated with your work in a polite manner. And now this is how you repay her. You're still a customer of our store. I didn't expect you to have such character."
Mi Hongjun pointed to where he came from and said, "Get lost! Don't let me see you again! We don't want to do business with you in our store."
In Mi Hongjun's eyes, Qin Xiang was perfect in every way. Qin Xiang's ex-husband was blind to cheat on her. He wanted to shout that it was better to get a divorce.
Someone actually wanted to attack her, no one could stop her.
Looking at Mi Hongjun's angry expression, Hao Jingjing was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. She never expected that the amiable and smiling young man in the past could be so tough at times.
"You're going to get angry later. There's really no need to get angry at me." Hao Jingjing quickly took out the letter from her bag and stuffed it into Mi Hongjun's hand, "Take a look."
Mi Hongjun opened it suspiciously, and when he saw it, his pupils trembled.
Damn it, that shameless guy bullied his sister Qin Xiang.
Hao Jingjing looked at the young man and felt that he was about to transform on the spot.
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