Courtyard House: Drunk and tipsy, the whole courtyard exposed at the start.

Come to think of it, you make everyday household tools like sheet metal chimneys, brooms, and dustpans every day. If you can make them, other factories can make them too, so you have no competitive advantage whatsoever.

Given that the country is currently tightening its belt to pay off debts in the north, and with continued natural disasters leading to reduced grain production this year, these dispensable factories naturally have to be shut down.

Zhang Dabiao frowned: "Is it that serious? Then what about my job as a purchasing agent...?"

Tian Baocheng also looked helpless: "If they merge, I guess I won't be able to keep this temporary purchasing agent position."

"You'd better complete your formal onboarding before the merger, so that you'll be directly assigned to the purchasing department of the steel rolling mill after the merger."

"You and Director Li have a pretty good relationship, don't you? Back then, with him protecting you, it wasn't a big deal."

Liu Guangqi shook his head: "Da Biao still has to go to school."

"If that doesn't work, Da Biao, you can find one of your Zhang family brothers to fill in for you and take over the regular employee position. You can supply him with goods or have him run errands, and he can pay you a portion of his salary."

"As for whether he will return your workstation in a few years, with Factory Director Li around, you don't need to worry about anyone cheating you."

"And with your intelligence, getting into a vocational school or university shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Zhang Dabiao scoffed, saying that the workstation wasn't a big problem.

The problem is that this factory is small and doesn't have as many problems. But if it were taken back and merged by the steel rolling mill, there would be a lot of trouble with the higher-ups, plus those years when things were in turmoil.

"Also, with this merger, that export-oriented small consumer goods manufacturing plant will have to be merged in as well."

Zhang Dabiao was stunned: "What's wrong? Weren't they making foreign exchange over there? Why can't they do it now?"

Tian Baocheng shook his head and said, "It was pretty good at first. We earned tens of thousands of foreign exchange in the first quarter, but starting from the second quarter, overseas orders plummeted."

"They had just finished setting up their production line when imitations appeared overseas. They were even more sophisticated and durable than ours, and cheaper, so orders from many more countries simply disappeared."

"So the products manufactured in factories are sold in domestic department stores, but why would ordinary people in our own country buy these things?"

"It was completely unsustainable, and that factory lost over 100,000 yuan in total because of setting up the production line."

Zhang Dabiao had guessed this ending, but he didn't expect it to come so quickly.

"Then their factory director was transferred there for nothing? I heard he was originally the deputy director of the steel rolling mill?"

Liu Guangqi chuckled: "They're not that stupid. After he goes there, he'll be promoted one level in his administrative position, and then he can retire honorably in less than a year. His retirement pension is also high."

"As for whether the factory can survive or not, or whether it's profitable or not, that has nothing to do with him."

Zhang Dabiao fell silent. This was the same principle as universities urgently publishing papers and conducting research projects to get promoted to associate professor before retirement; it was all for the sake of retirement pensions.

He shook his head helplessly, thinking it was none of his business.

If you had asked for my opinion earlier, I could have come up with some ideas. Now it's all our own doing.

The three of them were helpless, so they just slumped in the office, smoking and drinking tea.

Tian Baocheng and Liu Guangqi both wanted to do something practical, as is the case with most people of this era. They all wanted to contribute to the country and demonstrate their value.

But Zhang Dabiao only wanted to slack off and preferably not have to work regular hours.

In his later life, he had had enough of being a corporate slave. Now he just wanted a job with high pay, low workload, close to home, no fixed office hours, and ideally, long-term vacations with a salary.

Liu Guangqi scratched his head for a long time before finally saying, "Unless our factory can produce some special product that everyone needs, that is a necessity of life, and that we can produce long-term without fear of others imitating it."

"Otherwise, we really won't have any competitiveness at all."

Tian Baocheng rolled his eyes in annoyance: "We're just a comprehensive utilization plant, to put it bluntly, a waste recycling and transformation plant. We don't even have a technician or engineer."

"And they even invent things?"

"How is that possible?"

Liu Guangqi immediately retorted, "How is it impossible? Didn't Da Biao invent the press-type mixer and the crank-type egg beater before? There's also the press-type mini fan and flashlight, as well as the ordinary stainless steel egg beater."

"It makes me angry just thinking about it. No matter what, Da Biao is one of our factory's employees, isn't he?"

"And what happened? They took it and used it without even asking a question, and our factory didn't get a single drop."

Tian Baocheng nodded repeatedly, but he hadn't even had a sip of soup.

"I heard that their exports are no longer possible, but they are still producing egg beaters, push-button fans, and flashlights, and sales are still decent, enough to support their factory."

"The problem was that we rushed into putting it on the production line."

"By the way, Da Biao, why don't you give me some ideas?"

"If our factory develops some new gadgets and achieves results, we can apply to produce them independently, and maybe then we won't be merged back into the company."

The two looked at Zhang Dabiao, but Zhang Dabiao was also worried.

Another invention or creation?

It also needs to be usable by ordinary people and capable of long-term production. Given the current state of integrated utilization plants, the cost must be even lower...

Isn't this making things difficult for someone?

He instinctively lit another cigarette, but then he ran out of matches.

"Guangqi, is there any fire?"

"No, my wife is about to give birth, so I don't dare to carry cigarettes or lighters with me."

"Brother Baocheng, is there a fire?"

"Mine just ran out too..."

Zhang Dabiao felt around for matches: "Wait a minute, I bought several boxes of matches, where did they all go?"

Suddenly he cursed angrily, "It's all that bastard Yan Jiecheng's fault! He keeps stealing my matches for no reason. Does he eat matches like they're food?"

"A box of matches doesn't cost more than a few cents, yet he insists on taking from others. How can he be so stingy?"

Tian Baocheng chuckled and said, "My matches are often stolen too. It's normal for two or three boxes to be stolen a week."

"Sometimes I'll find two or three boxes of matches in my pocket out of nowhere, and I have no idea where they came from."

Suddenly, Zhang Dabiao had a flash of inspiration and slapped his hip!

"yes!"

"We can make lighters!"

"Disposable lighters!"

"What the heck?"

Liu Guangqi and Tian Baocheng were both dumbfounded. What disposable lighter?

Never heard of it?

And since it's a one-time use item, why would I buy it?

------------

Yan Jiecheng, who was working at the factory, sneezed several times in a row.

One is something people think about; two are things people criticize; three are things people deeply care about.

I hit four in a row?

Do I have a cold?

I must have caught a cold! When I get home from get off work, I'll go to Da Biao's yard, get a piece of ginger, and make a bowl of hot water to drink.

Buying medicine?

Too expensive...