My 1978 Hotel

“Before, we had few carpenters, and everyone was too busy working to teach. Now it’s much better. With so many master carpenters here, you can learn skills if you just pay a little attention.”

"That's right. Now that they've come to work in our brigade, they're bound to teach the young guys in our team something."

Goodness, they all changed their tune so quickly. Wu Tong and the others muttered to themselves, "Just now they were all so eager to jump up and object, but now, if you don't hire anyone, they probably won't even bother."

"Cousin, did you teach me this sales pitch?"

Tian Hao nudged Li Feng and asked in a low voice, but Li Feng waved his hand. "What rhetoric? Just telling the truth."

"cut."

Wu Tong scoffed, "There's a lot of deception in that."

"What, is that sentence wrong?"

Li Feng was quite pleased with himself; people these days are relatively simple-minded, and he was easily fooled with just a few words.

"With so many carpenters coming in, it'll be hard to keep the furniture factory's situation a secret." Wu Tong looked at Li Feng, who paused for a moment. "That's true, but it's only a matter of time. Unless you don't want to develop, and you're afraid of everything, what's the point of talking about development?"

“We’re already doing well. With the reform and opening up, we’re feeling our way across the river. Now we know where the stones are, where the eddies are, and where the silt is. If we’re still afraid of this and that, then we shouldn’t do anything.”

"My cousin is absolutely right."

Dong Qing, Wu Yu, and Cheng Cheng all agreed, and even Wu Tong, who had recently been fond of arguing with Li Feng, nodded in agreement. "Okay, this time I admit you're right."

"However, we still need to keep some details about the furniture factory to ourselves."

Li Feng said with a smile, "We need to play it safe, at least for the time being. We can't fully reveal our strength yet. Showing a little bit to demonstrate our power is enough."

"Whatever you say makes sense."

"Hahaha."

Li Feng was quite smug. "There's nothing I can do about it, even though I'm known as a great writer."

"Of course, there's also the reason why the second brother and his family are involved."

The entire furniture factory was basically run by Gao Jiu and Gao Cheng. Gao Cheng was the technical advisor, while Gao Jiu was responsible for daily management. It could be said that Li Feng's words carried no less weight than those of Han Fuguo and the others.

"Wait a minute, I still need to go to Uncle Fuguo's house. You guys go back first."

"understood."

The meeting went fairly well. There was little resistance to hiring, and those with young family members were especially supportive. As for the cooperation with the steel mill, it wasn't discussed much at the meeting.

"The carpenter will be here in about three days. Everyone should go back and prepare. This is a rare opportunity to learn a skill properly, as it's a lifelong commitment." Han Futian said a few words to everyone, instructing them that if anyone wanted to learn a skill, they should put in some effort later, preferably by asking privately or finding an apprentice.

These brigades definitely won't interfere; it's their own children's affairs that their parents should decide.

"Alright, that's enough for today."

Han Futian said, “Everyone should go back and discuss this carefully. Don’t blame me for not warning you beforehand if I hear any gossip when they come. I won’t give you any face then.”

"Don't worry, Fuguo, this is a good thing, everyone knows what's good for them."

"Yes, Uncle Fuguo, we know what's good for us."

"That's fine, let's all go."

After the meeting, each family gathered together, carrying stools, to discuss how to find a good tutor for their child. If they had connections, they would definitely use them, asking relatives and friends. They knew people from the surrounding villages, so it was easy to find one.

It's hard to say what would happen if the brigade were further away. Everyone was discussing it. Meanwhile, Han Fuguo called Li Feng, Han Futian, Han Fuqiang, and the Gao brothers, Gao Jiu and Gao Cheng, to have a small meeting.

"Uncle Fu Guo".

Li Feng sat down, took a sip of tea, and began to speak of his little scheme. "Our furniture factory has now hired so many outside workers; I'm afraid our order volume secret will be out of reach."

"That's true."

Upon hearing this, Han Fuguo, Han Futian, and the others immediately tensed up, as they hadn't considered this possibility. "Fengzi, what should we do? If this gets leaked, it could cause quite a stir."

"Uncle Tomita, what's our sales figure for this month?"

Li Feng looked at Han Futian. "Has it exceeded 20,000?"

"Including reservations, it's almost 25,000."

Han Futian himself found it unbelievable. This guy had more than 20,000 yuan. When had Hanjiaba ever been so wealthy? Now he had more than 15,000 yuan in cash on hand. He had been very careful these past few days.

"That's still quite a lot."

Li Feng thought for a moment. "Uncle Tomita, how about this: we'll keep the steel mill's accounts separate, and combine the accounts of the power plant, the county, the region, and the communes together. That way, we'll keep a portion hidden and release the majority."

"That's quite a lot, over ten thousand."

"There's no other way. When you're hiring, even if people don't know the details, they'll generally have some idea of ​​what's going on," Li Feng said with a smile. "We can't hide this anymore, so let's not hide it and proactively reveal some of it."

"It can only be this way."

Han Futian sighed helplessly. "Fortunately, we recently shipped out a large batch of goods, and the remaining pre-orders are only around ten thousand."

"Around ten thousand is still too little."

Han Fuguo didn't know what to say. Now even Fu Tian felt that 10,000 yuan was a small amount of money. Before, when Li Feng said 10,000 yuan was a small goal, he didn't take it seriously. He thought that he would be lucky to sell it for a few thousand yuan. But now, good heavens, 10,000 yuan is a small matter.

Before they knew it, everyone's horizons had broadened, and small goals no longer seemed like much. They were now preparing to climb bigger goals. Han Fuguo was still a little hesitant to think about 100,000, but 50,000 seemed to be within reach. After some discussion, it was quite possible that they could reach 50,000 in sales before New Year's Day.

When Han Fuguo did the calculation, he was shocked. Even after deducting wages, timber, fuel costs, and other expenses, there was still a profit of at least 40,000 yuan. That was too much! How many people were there in the entire Hanjiaba area?

At the end of the year, each person gets a couple hundred yuan, so a large family might get two or three thousand yuan, while a small family would still get more than a thousand yuan. That's terrifying. Even if some of it is hidden, the external bills would still amount to twenty or thirty thousand yuan.

Even the commune's Party Secretary Gao and Party Secretary Wu would be shocked if they knew. Han Fuguo looked at Han Futian and Li Feng. "Could the bills be hidden a little more?"

"That might be a bit difficult."

Han Futian sighed helplessly. "The price of a set of modular furniture has already been announced. As an experienced carpenter, I can definitely guess how many can be produced per day with a high degree of accuracy. It's impossible to hide the approximate number once it's calculated." "At most, the steel mill can conceal some of the amount because they had stockpiled stock beforehand."

Han Futian was also helpless; this wasn't something that could be hidden away so easily.

“Yes, Uncle Fuguo, we can’t keep this a secret, so we might as well make part of it public. That way, we can get the commune’s attention and also cooperate better with the steel mill,” Li Feng said with a smile. “If our sales volume is higher, they’ll look at us more favorably, won’t they?”

“That’s true, but when you calculate it, the dividends for each family by the end of the year are over a thousand yuan. That’s too much. I’m afraid even Secretary Gao and Secretary Wu of the commune would be shocked if they knew.” Li Feng laughed when Han Fuguo said this.

"Uncle Fuguo, your worry is completely unnecessary."

Li Feng said with a smile, "If we expand our scale, we will definitely need to buy more equipment, more fuel, and even add one or two generators. In addition, we will definitely need to consider replacing our transportation vehicles."

What should we change the mode of transportation for?

“Another thing is that we should take advantage of the off-season to repair the road to the commune. It would be best to spend some money to hire help from the surrounding production brigades. This way, we can help the surrounding brigades and reduce theft caused by jealousy or hunger,” Li Feng said. “And another thing is that it will also help Secretary Gao and Secretary Wu solve some problems.”

Han Fuguo really hadn't expected this. According to Li Feng's calculations, all the equipment and road repairs would probably cost at least 20,000 to 30,000 yuan. So, each person would only get a hundred or even a few dozen yuan at most.

Although tens of yuan is already a lot, and several hundred yuan for a family, the prospect of two or three thousand yuan made Han Fuguo breathe a sigh of relief. Too much money isn't good either. "Futian, what do you think of what Fengzi said?"

"I think it's feasible."

"We definitely need to buy equipment. We didn't have the money before, but now that we do, we'll definitely buy better ones. Then there's road repair. This is something we've wanted to do for generations, but we haven't been able to. Now that we have the resources, we definitely need to repair it. However, the cost can't just be borne by our brigade; the commune should also contribute something," Han Futian said with a smile. "We'll discuss this with Secretary Gao and Secretary Wu later. It shouldn't be a big problem."

Li Feng slapped his forehead. "Oh, Uncle Futian, you're so thoughtful. I was too naive." If Hanjiaba had paid for the road repairs, although it would have helped Secretary Gao and Secretary Wu solve some problems, the commune wouldn't have contributed much, so Secretary Gao and Secretary Wu wouldn't have gotten any credit.

Sure enough, I hadn't thought things through enough. I might have even helped An Jun gain some credit, get a promotion, and a raise.

"That's settled."

After considering it over, Han Fuguo decided that there was no harm in it and made a decision. After the group discussed it, the matter was settled. As for the opinions of the commune members, those were just opinions. We should believe in the power of the masses, but we should not be too superstitious about their wisdom.

Treating small matters with great care and big matters with small care is a fine tradition passed down in China for many years. This matter, involving tens of thousands of yuan, was settled by a few people. Li Feng received a refund of 1,500 yuan, and he couldn't stop smiling.

Of course, with their salaries and bonuses, Gao Jiu and Gao Cheng could easily earn over a hundred yuan a month or two. They could then exchange that for silver dollars and take it back, making a considerable profit. However, Li Feng would still charge a fee for bringing goods back from here.

This isn't something Li Feng wanted to collect. Since it involves crossing time and space, all items need to be bound to Li Feng. The ticket price is about half; there's no way around it, it's the rule. Gao Jiu and Gao Cheng didn't think it was expensive at all. They could consider the money and items as money they earned working for Li Feng. Even if Li Feng only gave them 5%, it would be reasonable. Giving them half now is incredibly generous.

Back home, Li Feng tallied up his cash: the 10% furniture commission from the system, plus his and Gao Jiu's, Gao Cheng's, and Xiao Ge's work commissions, totaling two to three thousand yuan. He also added the previous manuscript fee of over a thousand yuan and the promotion fee of over a thousand yuan that he had just received.

Li Feng was surprised to find that he already had more than five thousand, almost six thousand in cash. Damn, he might actually become a ten-thousand-yuan household this year. "If I complete this river engineering experience, I'll at least write a novella. It would be even better if I could draw a novella of more than two hundred thousand words."

With publication and publishing, he'll earn at least two thousand, plus a 10% cut of the furniture revenue. Even without promotion fees, he'll still be well over ten thousand. He'll be a ten-thousand-yuan household! This guy could probably become the richest man in the entire Maya Commune, or even the richest man in the county. At least in terms of cash, it's quite possible.

Of course, we cannot rule out some speculators, or those who run small stalls or engage in trading; quite a few of them are making a good living from it.

"Cousin, what good news are you thinking about? You can't stop smiling."

Li Feng recognized Wu Tong's voice immediately; this girl was becoming increasingly disrespectful.

"It's nothing, I just received a little over a thousand yuan in promotion fees."

Li Feng laughed and said, "Sigh, with so much money, I don't know what to do with it. You know, with all this going on, the regional and county subsidies and commune subsidies will be coming in a few days. I'm so busy every day, where would I find the time to spend money?"

"Mr. Li, you're getting a bit too Versailles-like."

Qin Yue laughed and said, "Of course, having too much money is a bit of a hassle. How about this, you lend us some to spend, and when we get back, we'll make ten dollars out of every dollar you give you?"

"Make ten pieces from one?"

Li Feng thought to himself, "How dare this girl say that?" "I only spend a few yuan on a bottle of Moutai, but I can resell it for twenty or thirty thousand."

"Then how much did you say?"

"At least one hundred."

"One hundred it is."

Wu Tong and Qin Yue exchanged a glance. They really didn't care about the money; Li Feng was just joking, but the girl took it seriously. "Alright, how much do you want? Consider it a loan."

"One yuan equals one hundred, we want five hundred."

"Pfft."

Li Feng chuckled. This was too absurd. "Impossible."

"Mr. Li, I'll take one for every thousand, or five hundred."

Li Muchen walked over with a smile.

"You're something else, buddy."

Wu Tong and Qin Yue glared at Li Muchen, but Li Muchen didn't take it seriously. "Actually, a thousand isn't much."

"Then a thousand."

Wu Tong and Qin Yue looked at Li Feng, who frowned slightly and considered for a moment. "Five hundred is too much. How about this, two hundred each? Two hundred is enough for you to buy some small things."

"Two hundred it is."

Two hundred yuan per person? Well, once Tian Hao and the others find out, they'll probably come looking for him too. Li Feng doesn't really feel like he's losing out. Of course, if he went out to buy calligraphy, paintings, antiques, and the like, he'd definitely earn much more.

But he doesn't have the time, and besides, going out now is quite dangerous. Buying things requires receipts and letters of introduction; it's not something you can just do on a whim. Right now, although he's not making a profit, he's not losing much either, and it's very stable—isn't that great?

As for what Li Muchen and the others bought, Li Feng didn't care. Even if they bought furniture, he didn't think it mattered much; solid wood was just a pretty good thing.

"Find some time to buy more things."

But there are too few tickets. You can't just buy things like Moutai whenever you want. These days, even if you have money, you can't necessarily buy things with liquor tickets.

"Never mind, let's sell them and make money first."

As expected, Hua Ziyao and her brother, Tian Hao, and even Cheng Cheng all bought twenty yuan worth of goods. Only Dong Qing and Wu Yu bought ten yuan worth. Two poor college students—how much more could you expect them to spend? (End of Chapter)