Back to 1978

Chapter 199: Uncle is Here

Hearing Ge Baosheng's tone, Xie Hushan asked in confusion: "Company Commander, do you know this research institute?"

Ge Baosheng first walked to a broken iron table next to him, picked up a large bottle of strong tea brewed in a can on the table, unscrewed it and gulped down a few big mouthfuls, then smiled and said to Xie Hushan:

"I don't know where you got this information from, but you found out that their research institute needed steel pipes, so you wanted to go and solicit their business?"

Xie Hushan waited for Ge Baosheng to finish drinking the water, then took out a cigarette and handed it to him, lighting it for him:
"If we don't sell steel pipes, do we sell arms? Besides, you said so. The research institute belongs to the army. I guess the army will not think highly of the elm cannons made by our brigade. If the time comes to rely on elm cannons to defend our country, our Zhongping militia will have a place to use their skills."

"I don't know him, but Lao Zhang knows him. He's a comrade-in-arms. After retiring, he went to Yaoshan and worked in an unknown department. He was in charge of the reserve forces. When we were drinking, there was a person from the research institute there. He heard Lao Zhang bragging about our pipe factory in Zhongping, so he said that if there were any samples, he could send one to the research institute. The research institute needed steel pipes." Ge Baosheng took a puff of his cigarette and wiped the sweat off his face with the towel around his neck:

"Doesn't that sound good?"

Xie Hushan nodded: "My master is good, I won't lend him the car for nothing, he really needs help."

"As a result, we were very happy. We packed up a sample of the three types of products in the factory and I personally delivered it to Lao Zhang. Lao Zhang drove your car to deliver it to the research institute. As a result, within two days, they called and said that the three welded pipes sent by our factory all failed the test. Lao Zhang was very embarrassed. He came back and asked me if I had made a mistake and gave the waste products to them. How come all three products failed? I took him to find Lao Jiang, who was in charge of production. You know Lao Jiang, he is a kind man. After hearing what he heard, he was very angry and kept cursing. He said he would go to the research institute to fight. He said that the three samples we sent were not inferior to the products of the county pipe factory." Ge Baosheng, with a cigarette in his mouth, smiled helplessly and introduced to Xie Hushan:
"We also thought that maybe they were a military unit with high requirements, and they might be making missiles, so we advised Chiang Kai-shek to improve it. Chiang Kai-shek accused them of deliberately making things difficult for us, saying, 'What do you mean by unqualified? You have to tell me where the test failed.' They didn't say which part was unqualified, such as strength, hardness, toughness, etc. They just said, 'The test failed. What research institute dares to act like this to workers?"

"I also think what Lao Jiang said makes sense. If you die, you should die with a clear mind. After that, Lao Zhang went to find them again to ask what was wrong. They still didn't tell him, but Lao Zhang got another piece of news. After hearing it, several people in our pipe factory who knew about it, including Lao Zhang, agreed to stay away from this research institute and not serve them."

Xie Hushan looked at Ge Baosheng and said, "What's the news? You guys are looking forward to fighting, but you are actually dissatisfied with the army?"

"Even if the product is qualified, the institute will only need 32 kilograms of welded pipes every month."

"Mr. Duo?!" Xie Hushan stared at Ge Baosheng.

Ge Baosheng repeated the key information: "Yes, thirty-two kilograms."

"Just do what you need to do. I said that the Bingyang County Pipe Factory is unwilling to serve, so who can serve? This has to be a special order. A separate production line is set aside for him to produce it. It's not enough to pay for coal when the furnace is turned on. 32 kilograms are delivered a month. At this rate, a furnace of steel can be delivered to me until my 80th birthday, with some left over." Xie Hushan shook his head repeatedly after hearing this:

"Thirty-two kilograms of steel pipes are enough for research, renovation of research institutes, and laying of water pipes. I can grit my teeth and start a furnace for 320 kilograms. Thirty-two kilograms is a waste of money. The county pipe factory is owned by the state, and it may be an assignment. Otherwise, if the factory director is in charge, he would never agree. Thirty-two, and there are decimal places. What are you researching?"

"How would I know? They must have kept it a secret." Ge Baosheng took a few puffs of his cigarette, extinguished it and put it in his ear: "Nothing else, I'm going to work. Lao Jiang watched all night, and I'll watch during the day."

Xie Hushan smacked his lips as he watched Ge Baosheng's back as he went back to the workshop to work. He had thought that he could still establish a relationship with the army to do some business, and after getting familiar with them he could put a military license plate on his car and get himself the status of a reserve officer or something.

Now it seems that I was just dreaming. How could the county pipe factory let go of this opportunity? They must not have known how difficult it would be to serve them, which is why the leaders of the pipe factory privately complained to the director of the bicycle factory and said that they did not want to serve the research institute.

The big factories in the county can't serve them well, let alone this small factory in Zhongping Brigade. The pipe factories in the county have many workshops, machines and manpower, and they can free up an assembly line, open a furnace specifically according to the requirements of the institute, produce dozens of tons, and then slowly supply the goods.

But our factory cannot do that. That kind of special steel pipe requires experimental furnace opening. It is not possible to guarantee that it meets the requirements with just one furnace. Let alone anything else, if three furnaces fail to meet the requirements, this special steel pipe can only be treated as scrap. Otherwise, no one will want it no matter how hard we sell it to.

One furnace needs at least ten tons as the base, and three furnaces need thirty tons. Then, taking into account the expenses such as labor and electricity, even if it succeeds in the end, how much money must be sold for thirty-two kilograms of steel pipes to earn back the cost of initial trial and error.

He lamented that state-owned factories sometimes did not have freedom, and they had to support themselves even if they were assigned tasks and had to lose money. As soon as he walked out of the workshop, he saw Lao Jiang's wife walking towards the canteen with a small basin of yellow, steaming cornmeal buns.

Seeing that the factory director Xie Hushan rarely showed up, Lao Jiang's wife took the initiative to greet him:

"Hushan, how come you have time to come to the factory today? Do you want some steamed buns? They're still hot and have dried shrimps."

There are reasons why Lao Jiang's wife can make the former factory leader compete with Lao Jiang. First, she is good-looking, second, she likes to be clean, and third, she cooks delicious food. Xie Hushan smelled the fragrance of the steamed buns from a distance, walked towards her, and greeted her:

"Sister-in-law, Lao Jiang is on the night shift. If you make it at this time, will he be able to eat it? Won't the people in the workshop fight over it?"

"It wasn't made by me. It was sent to Lao Jiang by Mrs. Ma from the 15th team. Her husband helps out in the factory during the slack season. He is eager to learn and always asks Lao Jiang about technology. I felt sorry to bother him for nothing, so she brought me a bowl of shrimp skin steamed buns and told Lao Jiang to eat them when he was hungry. Lao Jiang was sleeping, so I left two for him and planned to take them to the cafeteria so that whoever is hungry can have a try." The woman handed a steamed bun to Xie Hushan and then went into the cafeteria.

Xie Hushan held the still hot bun in his hand and fell into deep thought because of what the woman had just said.

Whoever is hungry can eat.

Thirty-two kilograms. He didn't believe that the other party only wanted thirty-two kilograms of welded pipes. He was sure that one day if they figured it out, they would increase the output.

Why do we have to produce the steel pipes ourselves? Don’t the county pipe factory have ready-made ones?
Whoever is hungry can eat. The county pipe factory doesn't care about this meal, but Zhongping cares a lot.

What if we order a batch of goods needed by the research institute from the county pipe factory, store a batch, and then deliver them to the research institute slowly over a long period of time?

If we maintain this relationship, and the research institute becomes successful one day and says it needs 32 tons per month starting next month, should we give priority to the Zhongping Pipe Factory?
Xie Hushan felt that it was very likely. He didn't have the courage to start the furnace experiment himself, but he had the courage to lay eggs by borrowing a chicken, and it was very big.

The most important thing is that he cannot do this by himself, as his reputation has already been ruined. The most suitable candidate is Lao Yang, who is now in cahoots with the Hong Kong businessmen. Lao Yang is now a popular figure in the eyes of the commune and the county. Two days ago, when Cheng Yunfei took away the procedures for the boxing training team, he brought back an order for 30,000 calendars for the offset printing factory and told Lao Yang to hurry up and purchase the machines, as there will be more to come.

As long as they could make money, the county and the commune were very tolerant of Lao Yang and the offset printing factory.

"Uncle..." Xie Hushan left the pipe factory and walked to the offset printing factory while holding his steamed bun.

When he arrived at Lao Yang's office, Lao Yang was not there. His secretary was helping Lao Yang sort out a pile of alternative calendar photos on the desk.

"Thank you, Director." The secretary heard the door open, looked up and saw Xie Hushan walk in, and greeted him with a smile.

This secretary is a relative of a certain leader in the county. He is not ugly and is well-dressed. After the leader greeted Lao Yang, he directly arranged for him to be the factory director's secretary.

Because Lao Yang is a part-time worker, and his full-time job is the secretary of the Youth League Committee of the commune, this part-time factory director's secretary has more autonomy than other full-time cadres' secretaries, after all, he can pretend to be an imperial envoy. Her pursuit is not just to be a secretary. It is said that the ultimate goal of this girl is to find an opportunity to go to Hong Kong Island through this factory jointly run with Hong Kong businessmen, and finally stay in the company in Hong Kong Island.

The county asked him to arrange someone to come and work as a secretary and receive a salary. Before that, Yang Liming had asked Xie Hushan and Han Laogou for their opinions. Han Laogou was not satisfied because he hated it most when people took advantage of Zhongping through the back door, especially when they took advantage of Zhongping.

But Xie Hushan's words made Han Laogou change his mind. Xie Hushan said it very bluntly: if you keep him as a hostage, and if the leader dares to seize Zhongping's business in the future, you will sell him to the Hong Kong Island Nightclub to pay off Zhongping's debt.

Han Laogou felt that what Xie Hushan said was very rude, so he decided not to say it again next time and just do as he said this time.

I wonder if this girl who dreams of going to Hong Kong Island all day long would regret being forced by her relatives to work in the offset printing factory in Zhongping to get a salary if she knew the inner thoughts of Xie Hushan, who was wearing shabby clothes and eating steamed buns.

"Where's Lao Yang, Secretary Bai?" Xie Hushan wiped the vegetable stuffing from the corner of his mouth with his hand, walked to the table and lowered his head to look at the pile of photos.

Most of them are Chinese beauties dressed fashionably, and some are photos of foreign landscapes and some rare animals.

"I just took a few photos to the workshop. They said that the finished product does not look like the photos. It may be a problem of color temperature. I will help you notify Secretary Yang after I finish cleaning up." Secretary Bai was a little disgusted. She was afraid that Xie Hushan's oily hands would dirty the photos, so she quickly put away the photos and said with a perfunctory smile.

Xie Hushan quickly refused: "I dare not trouble you. No need to inform him specially. When he comes back later, tell him that if he is free in the evening, he can come to my house for dinner. His wife wrote to me and asked me to tell him something."

"..." Secretary Bai watched speechlessly as Xie Hushan swaggered out of the office, leaving behind only the fishy smell of dried shrimps.

When Xie Hushan returned to the headquarters of the third team, the open space in front of the Yaowang Temple was still full of people.

The bicycles had been distributed long ago, and only thirty-six of them were distributed. The remaining four were left at the team headquarters as team property. When the team committee members went out to attend meetings, give notices, etc., they no longer had to ride their own bicycles.

At this time, the only people left in the open space were one person running behind, holding the rear rack, and one person pedaling shakily in front, learning to ride a bicycle.

After eating the steamed bun, Xie Hushan felt a little thirsty. He took a large pot of hot water poured by the women's team leader Liu Fenglian, sat on the steps to drink the water, and watched the people from the third team fiddling with their bicycles with smiles on their faces.

As soon as he sat down, someone came over and sat down to chat with him.

"Hu Saner, this car must cost a lot of money, right?" someone asked Xie Hushan.

Xie Hushan smiled and said, "Not much, just over a hundred yuan."

"More than a hundred yuan is not a lot of money? The team can't ask you to pay for everyone's spending, right?" the other party said after hearing this.

Chen Damazi also came over and said, "Dare to look for trouble? If anyone dares to cause trouble for Hu Saner, we can't do anything about it. It's our team's money that's being spent. What does it have to do with the big team?"

"This little money is nothing. I plan to give it out next year. Let's give out something truly valuable." Xie Hushan put down the teacup and spoke loudly.

"What will be distributed next year?" Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Xie Hushan.

Xie Hushan said seriously: "I will prepare a TV for each family."

"Wow~Really? Send out TVs?" The crowd suddenly became excited when they heard this.

There are actually a few families in Zhongping Brigade that own televisions. Since the post-earthquake reconstruction in 1976 when electricity and water were provided, they had the first television. Now there are probably a few families that have televisions, all of which are old-fashioned black-and-white ones.

But before, it was basically like a tablet, a showpiece placed on the cabinet for display. It could not receive any signal. When you were lucky, it could serve as a radio, and you could listen to the radio while watching the screen full of snow.

The main reason was that the signal tower of Zhili TV Station was far away in the provincial capital Shimen City, which was much farther away from Yaoshan than Yanjing, and there was no relay in between. The TV had to rely on the analog antenna that was connected to the TV to rotate around to receive the signal from Yanjing TV Station. The signal was sometimes good and sometimes bad, and it was not as popular as the radio.

In the two years of post-earthquake reconstruction, Yaoshan also established a new TV station. With signal relay and broadcasting, each television can receive more channels and the pictures are clearer. As a famous harvest brigade in Bingyang County, everyone has begun to think about adding a TV to their homes.

When everyone heard Xie Hushan say that he would give everyone televisions next year, they became excited.

If Xie Hushan had said this before, everyone might have thought he was joking, but the brand new big iron donkey was right next to them, so Xie Hushan's words made everyone feel that it was not just a joke, but very likely to be true.

Seeing that everyone had stopped their actions and words and were looking at him eagerly, Xie Hushan continued:

"But it also depends on the development of our team. I plan to hold a meeting with everyone after the New Year. I have thought of some side jobs for our team. If it goes well, and everyone cooperates, and everyone works together, then every family will have a TV set next year. If everyone is against it and no one helps, and I am the only one working on it, then it will definitely not be possible. Maybe by the end of the year, I will just have one TV set for my own family."

Chen Damazi at the side quickly spoke up and said, "No! I will definitely cooperate. The bicycles have been issued, so you can cooperate in any way you want, as long as you don't break the law. If you do break the law... you have to be in the right first."

"I plan to start dairy farming next year. The county will support this. After I learn more about farming, I can raise other livestock in the future. I also plan to expand my tofu workshop. Finally, I plan to open a furniture workshop."

Xie Hushan sat on the steps, drinking tea from a teacup, and laughingly talked with the guys who were practicing cycling in the open field about his plans for next year.

"This isn't against the law, is it?" After hearing this, Chen Damazi asked the person next to him with a confused look on his face.

The people around laughed and joked: "What, are you looking forward to breaking the law?"

"No, I was thinking of giving each family a TV. Hu Saner was going to lead our three teams to rob the county town. But when I heard about raising cattle, selling tofu, and making furniture, I thought, what's wrong with that? Let's do it! You are the team leader, you tell everyone to do whatever you want. Whoever refuses to do it, you ask his family to hand over the bicycle!" said Chen Damazi.

A group of people were imagining next year when Daxiu came riding the women's bicycle Xie Hushan gave her:
"Brother, my uncle is here! Grandma told you to go back quickly!"

(End of this chapter)