"Old Li, it's time to eat."
"You go ahead, I have a sore throat and can't eat."
"You still have to eat. I know the factory's performance isn't good now, but health is the capital of revolution."
"Performance isn't good? There is no performance at all. I am the deputy factory manager in charge of production and sales. Now, most of the workshops work one day and rest two. Workers' wages have been paid only half for several months. If this continues, many families won't be able to afford food!" Factory Manager Li smiled bitterly, feeling guilty as a deputy manager.
"It's Old Zhao. Have you eaten? Come and have a drink with Old Li; he can't sleep at night these days."
"Sister-in-law, not now. I have an urgent matter to discuss with Factory Manager Li." Director Zhao had no mood for drinking.
"Old Zhao, what's the urgent matter? Did something happen at the factory?" Factory Manager Li stood up from the sofa. The factory doesn't operate at night now; he hoped no one had broken in and stolen anything important. They still had military products in the factory.
"Good news, good news. Factory Manager Li, today my nephew brought a big boss..."
After listening to Director Zhao's account, Factory Manager Li lowered his head and thought deeply. An order coming in was good news. Moreover, the required technology was not high; their motor factory was fully capable of producing it.
However, Director Zhao's concern was not unfounded. Using all plastic, wouldn't that be a defective product? It could break with a light drop, not durable at all, and it would ruin the factory's reputation!
But the factory was often shut down, with no orders, no performance, and no wages for the workers, not even full medical expenses.
Every day, workers were clamoring for wages. This week, he had been blocked at his doorstep three times. Each time, he lent his saved wages to them, but this was not a long-term solution.
Now that an order had come, he didn't know whether to accept it.
"Factory Manager Li, I think we should accept it, and we must. If there are no new orders this month, we won't even be able to pay half the wages."
"What about the factory's reputation? We are an old factory with many honors; we can't let people say we produce inferior products!"
"We can negotiate with the boss to use their trademark and just produce. Last time we went to the south for training, many factories did this. Why can't we?"
"You mean contract manufacturing?" Factory Manager Li sighed. They were a state-owned large factory; when did they fall to the point of doing contract manufacturing for private companies?
"Factory Manager Li, this is a last resort. If we keep waiting for orders from above, how long will it take? Last year, we were ordered to produce fans, but in the end, we sold them at a loss. This boss seems reasonable; he didn't even ask about the price and said he wanted ten thousand units. We can earn ten yuan per unit, even five yuan, that's still fifty thousand yuan!"
"Alright, is the boss still at your place? I'll go with you to finalize the order. Keeping the machines idle costs a lot in maintenance; it's better to do contract manufacturing!" Factory Manager Li made the decision with a clenched jaw.
"Old Li, where are you going? You haven't eaten yet." Factory Manager Li's wife called out.
"Not eating, I'm going to Old Zhao's to discuss work!"
Feng Yu looked at the food on the table, somewhat disbelieving. This was the home of a workshop director, and there were only two dishes of vegetables. The only dish with meat was scrambled eggs, which were just made.
If the leaders' homes were like this, how poor must the workers' homes be?
"Aunt, is this what you and Uncle eat now? No meat at all?" Wu Zhigang couldn't bring himself to eat. After starting work at Taihua Company, he was provided with food and accommodation, and every meal had meat. His taste buds had become quite picky.
"Having this is already good. Your uncle and the other leaders lend their money to the workers. If you want meat, even eggs, you can only have them once or twice a month!"
Wu Zhigang didn't know the factory was in such a dire state. He sent sixty to seventy yuan home every month, and his family's life was much better than when he was idle.
They both only ate one bowl of rice and put down their chopsticks, not daring to touch the eggs. They decided to go back and get something to eat.
The door lock rattled, and Director Zhao and a stranger walked in.
"Factory Manager Li is here. Have you eaten?" Director Zhao's wife quickly stood up.
"Mr. Feng, this is our Factory Manager Li. He makes the decisions for the factory now. Let him hear how much you plan to pay per unit." Director Zhao waved to his wife and grabbed Feng Yu's arm.
The factory manager was close to retirement and was always in the hospital on sick leave, not managing the factory at all. Factory Manager Li, as the first deputy manager, was now the actual person in charge.
Feng Yu extended his hand and shook hands with Factory Manager Li: "Factory Manager Li, let's sit down and talk."
Director Zhao's wife quickly served tea, and Wu Zhigang stood behind Feng Yu, looking like a bodyguard.
Factory Manager Li was stunned when he saw Feng Yu. Director Zhao had said Feng Yu was young, but he didn't expect him to be so young, maybe twenty? If he knew Feng Yu hadn't even turned sixteen, he would have been even more surprised.
"Factory Manager Li, Director Zhao has told you my requirements. Except for the necessary motor, everything else can be made of plastic. The motor doesn't need to be so powerful; plastic blades with lower power are fine. Even the outer protective cover can be optional!"
"What? You want to remove the protective cover! If the blades fly out, people will get hurt!" Factory Manager Li was angry. Indeed, a swindler, not even considering safety?
"How can they get hurt? Have you seen a ceiling fan? Why don't they have a protective cover? Besides, our blades are plastic, with a lower speed. Even if you put your finger in while the fan is on, it will only hurt a little. That's my requirement!" Feng Yu explained nonchalantly.
"Put your finger in? That's too slow, will there even be any wind?"
"More wind than a hand fan is enough! Lower power, more energy-saving, isn't that good? At home, who dares to face a strong wind from a fan all the time? This fan only needs one speed, no need to oscillate, just blow at one person continuously!"
"Also, the base can be smaller. A large clip can stand on the ground, be placed on a table, or even on top of a wardrobe, turning it into a ceiling fan that blows down."
Feng Yu explained while gesturing. In the future, such small fans were quite popular, but not now.
Feng Yu's new design stunned both Director Zhao and Factory Manager Li. Fans could be made like this? This really had great potential.
"Everything you said, we can produce. How much will you pay per fan?"
"I calculated the cost to be about ten yuan per unit. I'll give you twenty. For the ones with oscillation and a protective cover, the cost is slightly higher, so I'll give you thirty. If you can produce them, I'll order ten thousand of each type now."
Factory Manager Li and Director Zhao looked at each other and whispered. They could do it. Two types of fans, with plastic materials, would yield at least eight yuan profit per unit. Twenty thousand units would be 160,000 yuan!
"Alright, but we have one condition. These fans cannot be produced under our factory's name. You need to register a new trademark!"
Feng Yu's mouth dropped open. He hadn't even asked for design fees from the motor factory, intending to help the local old state-owned enterprise and revitalize the factory. He didn't expect them to refuse the trademark. Did they not see the potential in these fans? If you don't want it, I'm happy to take it!
"Alright, I'll register the trademark. The name... will be 'Fengyu'!"
PS: While talking, the book dropped from the new book category ranking. Everyone, please help by clicking, recommending, and adding to your collection. Most importantly, make sure to keep "Qingji" behind the fourth place! I'll update three times today to apologize for the late updates the day before and to thank "Qinghai Qingmo" and "Juejia Nengliang" for their support.