After leaving the black market, Jiang Shiyue was invited by Director Chen to visit their Aiguo Garment Factory.
The garment factory is not located in a remote area, is not large in scale, and has extremely old facilities and equipment.
The workshop still had old-fashioned foot-operated sewing machines, similar to the ones Jiang Shiyue saw at Wang Ying's sister-in-law's house.
It was supposed to be work time, but no one was working in the workshop. Few people were even at their workstations. Workers were gathered in small groups, some chatting, some knitting, some pasting paper boxes, and even some playing cards.
These workers clearly noticed Director Chen but no one panicked. Some did not move at all, while others waved and said hello before continuing with their own work.
Jiang Shiyue frowned as he watched.
Factory Director Chen explained, "It's not their fault. They used to be the backbone of the factory, but they simply couldn't get paid because they had no work to do. They all had parents to support and children to care for, so if they didn't find a side job, they would starve to death."
"If there's no work, why don't you stop production and give the workers a holiday?"
Director Chen shook his head and said helplessly, "It's not like we haven't thought about it."
He pointed at the idle workers in the workshop and said, "They all have elderly parents and young children to support. How will their families survive if work stops?"
"But if we don't stop working, won't there be no work and no wages?"
Director Chen waved his hand and didn't want to say more. "It's hard to explain in a few words. I'd better take you to the warehouse to have a look!"
What surprised Jiang Shiyue was that the warehouse was actually bigger than the workshop.
"There's nothing we can do about it. The original warehouse was only half the size of a workshop, but with more and more inventory and fewer and fewer orders, we had to free up another workshop to store work clothes."
Jiang Shiyue nodded and said nothing.
Work clothes are neatly arranged into categories: industrial, commercial, service, etc., and the various work clothes are further divided according to the seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter, and are neatly stacked in piles.
Jiang Shiyue picked up a few sets of clothes and looked at them.
As Director Chen said, the clothes produced by their factory are indeed of good quality.
But she was a little puzzled. Even if market demand changed, products of such quality would not be unsalable.
Director Chen took Jiang Shiyue to his office and personally poured her a glass of water. "I'm sorry, I haven't bought tea here for a long time."
Jiang Shiyue shook her head to indicate that she didn't care.
Director Chen's office is so bare that it only has a table, a chair, and an old sofa and coffee table in the reception area.
The fact that he, a factory director, personally went to the black market to sell clothes proved that he was not a pleasure-seeking factory director.
Jiang Shiyue took the teacup and took two sips before speaking, "Director Chen, I won't beat around the bush. I originally thought your work clothes couldn't keep up with market demand, which led to them not selling. But after a tour of the factory, I realized your problem is far more than just outdated work clothes. Your production costs are too high, resulting in a very low cost-performance ratio for your products. This is the main reason for your elimination from the market.
If we want to turn the factory around, we have to replace the equipment first." The second step is to lay off employees.
However, layoffs in state-owned enterprises are not a matter of just a few words. Jiang Shiyue swallowed the words back when they came to his lips.
Director Chen nodded. "We've had several internal meetings and reached the same conclusion. But the problem now is that if we don't sell this batch of goods, we won't have the money to buy equipment."
“Can’t I get a loan?”
"I've thought about it." Director Chen shook his head. "It's not easy."
Before the reform and opening up, deposits and loans were all centralized, and individuals were not eligible for loans. Banks were not independent and were more or less the equivalent of state cashiers.
If an enterprise wants to obtain a loan, it must first have indicators, and if it wants indicators, it must first report its plan to the relevant department.
The relevant departments will then verify whether the company's assets, profits, and other assessments meet the repayment requirements.
Obviously, Aiguo Garment Factory is not a high-quality enterprise.
And even if they are high-quality enterprises, they still have to wait in line for the government to decide whether to grant them loans after the National Development and Reform Commission submits the list.
If the Patriotic Garment Factory had not been able to obtain the loan after going through this tedious process, it would have gone bankrupt long ago.
"Comrade Xiao Jiang, you are now the hope of our Aiguo Garment Factory. As long as you can help us sell our goods, you can ask for anything you want."
Jiang Shiyue was actually unwilling to take over this mess. Selling goods was easy, but the money earned from clearing the inventory would only allow the factory to survive for a longer period of time.
But she has nothing else to do now. She needs to make money and spend time preparing for the college entrance examination.
If I could leave the compound and live in the factory, it would be much more convenient to go in and out of the city.
Jiang Shiyue thought about it and made a few requests.
"First, I know you have designers in your factory. But I have the final say on the changes to the clothing. I have to make them as I say.
Second, I needed a place to live.
Third, I will not go to get off work or leave work on time. Of course, if I have something to do and cannot come, I will tell you in advance.
Fourth, I won’t help out of obligation. If I can modify the workwear and sell it, I want 10% of the total sales.”
"This..." Director Chen hesitated, "Everything else is easy to deal with, but this commission..."
He never thought that Jiang Shiyue would help voluntarily, and he was willing to pay wages. However, he did not expect that Jiang Shiyue's request was not a one-time payment, but a commission based on the transaction amount.
"I insist on this point." Jiang Shiyue was not going to give in.
"I need to hold a meeting with my subordinates about this. Don't underestimate me because I am a factory director. In fact, my power is limited," explained Factory Director Chen.
Jiang Shiyue expressed her understanding and said that she had something to buy for her child and would go out for a walk and come back later.
This was an era when workers were in charge. The appointment and removal of factory directors were decided by workers' vote. Although they seemed to have great power, in fact they relied to a large extent on the support of workers.
…
Jiang Shiyue saw the ticket scalper he met when he first went to the black market near the department store. He bought some food coupons, cloth coupons, etc. for daily necessities from him, and also bought some stationery coupons, spending a total of 23 yuan.
The ticket seller counted the bills and pocketed the money, then suddenly said, "I remember you!"
Jiang Shiyue: “…”
The ticket scalper scratched his head embarrassedly, "You look quite striking, you're a Sasha!"
"Sasha?" Jiang Shiyue asked in confusion.
"Sasha is the dialect here, meaning pretty girl." Afraid Jiang Shiyue would misunderstand, the ticket seller quickly added, "I didn't mean anything else. After all, we only met once. And I don't remember you because you're pretty."
In fact, in addition to being amazed at the first meeting, the ticket scalper was also a little disappointed. Jiang Shiyue was so poor that he couldn't even afford a single ticket. How could he not be disappointed?
"I didn't expect you to be such a big shot!" The ticket scalper gave Jiang Shiyue a thumbs up.
Jiang Shiyue, who was about to turn around and leave, said: "???"
"Why do you say that?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
