Siheyuan: Starting from 1958

The next day, before dawn, Yan Fugui was awakened by a noise.

As I walked out of the room, I saw my two sons and daughter-in-law moving things out of the house.

A tricycle was parked at the gate of the courtyard, and all the things the two sons had moved out were piled on the tricycle.

Yan Fugui could see that what his two sons had taken away were almost all the family’s clothes, quilts, and the most basic daily necessities.

As for the furniture they bought, they didn't want any of it.

Seeing that his two sons were serious about their relationship with him and that the division of the family property they had mentioned in front of the neighbors yesterday was not a joke, Yan Fugui finally began to panic.

He grabbed the boss Yan Jiecheng's arm and asked anxiously, "Jiecheng..."

"Are you really planning to separate from your parents and not care about your own parents anymore?"

Yan Jiecheng had been deeply hurt by Yan Fugui, so he didn't show any leniency to him and answered directly with a calm expression.

"I already told you yesterday."

"We are just splitting up, not ignoring you..."

"My second brother and I will give you two ten dollars a month for living expenses, a total of twenty dollars."

"Combined with your own salary, it is enough for you to live a comfortable life in Siheyuan without any worries about food and clothing."

"in addition……"

"We're moving a little far this time, settling directly in the south of the city..."

"You don't have to come to us if you don't have anything to do in the future..."

"We will come to see you during the holidays. After all, the second brother and I are your biological sons..."

After saying that, he left the room with the last package, his face full of farewell expression, without the slightest reluctance.

The second son, Yan Jiefang, followed up: "Dad..."

"We are leaving...you have to promise..."

"My elder brother and I promised that we would send you the pension money every month..."

Watching his two sons and the tricycle slowly disappearing at the gate of the yard, the panic expression on Yan Fugui's face was immediately replaced by despair, and he slumped down on the chair next to him.

Compared with Yi Zhonghai, Yan Fugui is most proud of having several sons and daughters.

Unexpectedly, they were forced away by their own calculations.

Although they promised to give him 20 yuan per month for retirement, Yan Fugui was not a fool. From their expressions and words just now, it could be seen that the two of them no longer had any attachment to this family.

This means that apart from the blood relationship and the ten or twenty yuan of pension money every month, there is almost no family affection between the two parties.

Of course, in addition to the loss of family affection and face, Yan Fugui was also particularly distressed about the loss of living expenses his family suffered after the separation.

The two families paid a total of 40 yuan for living expenses. Since the two daughters-in-law and two grandsons did not eat at home, and the two sons only had dinner at home, they could save at least 20 yuan a month.

More importantly, the old couple and the third and fourth children do not need to pay for their meals at home, as all the money is spent on the living expenses contributed by the second and eldest children.

Now that the two sides have separated, the second and eldest sons will no longer pay living expenses to the family. Yan Fugui not only lost his income of twenty yuan, but also has to pay for the support of the third and fourth sons, as well as himself and his wife.

It costs at least twenty dollars a month.

This meant that Yan Fugui directly lost forty yuan every month because of this division.

Not only was it impossible for me to save twenty dollars a month like before, but I also had to spend the pensions my two sons gave me on family living expenses.

It can be said that they lost both the wife and the army, and suffered heavy losses.

…………In the conference room of the steel mill, a meeting about the future of the steel mill is being held in a tense atmosphere.

The deputy director in charge of finance had a frown on his face since he entered the room. As soon as Director Yang sat down, he couldn't help but say, "Director..."

"I can't continue to be the deputy factory director..."

"Recently, our factory's turnover has been declining. As of last month, the profit could not cover the wages of more than 10,000 employees in the factory."

"I took money from one pocket to pay another. By reducing the food standards and welfare benefits of the employees, I finally paid the workers last month's salary."

"If the profit does not increase this month, I will not be able to guarantee the timely payment of workers' wages..."

After hearing this, Director Yang's brows furrowed into a big "川" shape.

If the steel mill has no money to pay the workers' wages, and the matter is reported to the higher authorities, I, as the head of the steel mill, will definitely bear the main responsibility.

He had originally planned to retire peacefully as the director of a steel mill. However, if he were to be punished by his superiors for not being able to pay wages, he might even lose his position as the director of the steel mill.

He immediately turned his attention to the deputy director in charge of sales and asked seriously, "Lao Liu..."

"You are the deputy factory manager in charge of sales. How can you manage the sales department like this?"

Deputy Director Liu shook his head and answered helplessly in the face of Director Yang's slightly dissatisfied look: "Director..."

"To be honest, it's not the fault of those guys in the sales department."

"In the past two years, many private steel mills have opened in Beijing. They process the same parts, but their prices are 20% lower than ours."

“If you are a seller, do you buy cheap or expensive?”

"If it weren't for the orders from several state-owned factories that have been supporting us, the steel mill's monthly sales would have been cut in half."

"It's not just us..."

"Sales of several other steel mills in the city are also declining. Some smaller state-owned factories can no longer pay their employees because they can't get big orders from the government."

“Relatively speaking, we are doing well.”

"If we don't find ways to reduce production costs and lower selling prices, sales will definitely continue to decline in the future."

At this point, Director Yang, who had originally wanted to criticize Deputy Director Liu, had to shut up.

The products of our own steel rolling mill are sold at high prices. If I were a buyer, I would definitely choose the cheaper ones.

Then he turned his attention to Deputy Director Zhou who was in charge of production: "Old Zhou...how come the production costs of those private steel mills are so low? Can we find a way to reduce some costs and also lower the selling price of the products?"

"Otherwise, our products would not be competitive at all compared to those of private steel mills."

Director Zhou has been working in the steel mill since he started as a technician and has been working there for more than 20 years. He can be said to know the production situation in the workshop like the back of his hand.

After thinking for a while, he replied: "Director..."

"Workers in private factories are paid on a piecework basis. The more products a person produces, the more salary he or she will receive each month."

"Many workers even volunteered to work overtime in the factory in order to get more wages."

“It’s hard to imagine that product costs are not low.”

“Our workers all receive fixed wages.”

"If you produce ten products a day, you will get the same salary. If you produce fifteen products a day, you will get the same salary..."

"Do you think anyone would work hard?" (End of this chapter)