Live Stream 1980: Netizens Teach Me How to Make a Rocket by Hand

The live stream chat was flooded with comments, the screen filled with "666".

[Haha! That crisp sound is the voice of aluminum upholding justice!]

[Who just said the streamer was bullying honest people? Step forward! The aluminum scrap he's carrying is enough to make a pot!]

[What the hell? "I'm an older gay man"—the reputation of older gay men is being unfairly damaged! This is clearly a seasoned, habitual offender!]

[Big Cannon's little fangirl: Wow! Am I the only one paying attention to Big Cannon's arm strength? Lifting a grown man with one hand like he's carrying a chick, that's so manly! I love it!]

Lin Xi bent down and picked up a piece of aluminum sheet, running her fingertip along the edge:

"Industrial pure aluminum costs two cents per pound at recycling stations."

He raised his eyelids and glanced at Zhao Laizi, who was suspended in mid-air:

"Master Zhao, this bag of yours might only fetch five cents at most, right?"

"What's wrong with taking some of the government's things?"

Zhao Laizi was still stubbornly insisting, his face flushed and neck red, "I'm doing this to save money for the public..."

"Throw it out."

Lin Xi was too lazy to listen to his nonsense and simply waved her hand.

"Alright!" Sun Erga had long disliked this guy, and he eagerly pulled open the big iron gate.

Wang Dapao waved his arm and said, "Let's go!"

"Whoosh—"

Zhao Laizi, covered in mud, rolled into the snow outside.

"You don't need to come anymore."

Lin Xi stood at the doorway, looking down at the viewer.

"You won't get paid today."

"This is retaliation!"

"I'm going to sue you!" Zhao Laizi shouted, jumping up and down in the snow.

"Bang!"

The heavy iron gate slammed shut, shutting out the curses in the cold wind.

The world is quiet now.

Lin Xi turned around and looked at the six people remaining in the workshop.

There was fear and unease in their eyes.

"One person is missing."

Lin Xi dusted off her hands, her smile sending chills down one's spine:

"In other words, the four cents that would have cost to assemble one unit, which was originally split among seven people, is now split among six of you."

He paused, then held up one finger:

"Everyone will get an extra one and a half points."

The somewhat tense atmosphere instantly underwent a wonderful chemical reaction because of the phrase "one and a half minutes".

fear?

nonexistent.

Instead, there was an undisguised smugness and greed.

They exchanged glances, and no one said a good word about Zhao Laizi again. Instead, they worked even faster than before.

They were afraid that if they were too slow, they would be thrown out and hand over their meager profits to someone else.

This is human nature.

When the benefits are great enough, kindness and compassion become superfluous luxuries.

……

That day, Workshop 5 became the craziest place in the entire base.

Once the assembly line is running smoothly, its efficiency is terrifying.

Twelve units were delivered at noon, and eighteen units were delivered in the evening.

Within a day, the first batch of 30 "Red Star Warm Sunshine" vehicles were sold out, with not even a sample left.

10 PM.

The stove was brightly lit. Sister Liu poured a large pile of banknotes onto the table, her hands trembling.

"We've struck it rich...we've really struck it rich!"

Sun Erga was incoherent, his eyes red-rimmed.

Liu Guihua slammed the order book on the table, exuding an air of grandeur:

"Manager Lin! Let's expand production!"

Several people just asked if they could bring some for relatives in the provincial capital!

"Let's hire a few dozen more people, working in three shifts."

"The machines never stop running, even when people are resting; let's try to sell 10,000 units!"

"Yes! Sell 10,000 units!"

The workers joined in the chant, as if the dream of becoming a "ten-thousand-yuan household" was already within reach.

"Ten thousand units?"

Lin Xi sat in the chair and sneered.

"Are you trying to completely destroy this business?"

A bucket of cold water was poured over his head.

The lively scene instantly cooled down.

Everyone looked at each other, puzzled as to why the God of Wealth had poured cold water on their hopes.

"Listen carefully, I'll only say it once."

Lin Xi extended a finger, her eyes sharp:

"Whether now or in the future, we will only make 1200 units of this product."

"We won't do even one more."

"Why?" Sun Erga asked anxiously, "It's a fool not to make money when you can!"

"Because once it's outside this gate, this thing is just scrap metal."

Lin Xi stood up, walked to the blackboard, and casually drew a circle:

"This thing consumes 0.8 kilowatt-hours of electricity per hour."

"At the base, electricity is free; it's a heating marvel."

"But outside the base, electricity costs 15 cents per kilowatt-hour, so running it all night would cost 1.5 yuan!"

"How much does an average worker earn in a month? Who can afford to burn money like that?"

"This..." Sun Erga was speechless.

He was so focused on making money that he completely forgot about the product's fatal flaw.

"We're exploiting the base."

Lin Xi's voice was frighteningly calm, revealing a clarity that seemed out of place in this era:

"In our base, there are less than two thousand households that have the purchasing power and are willing to spend thirty-eight yuan to buy this thing."

"The market is only so big."

"If you make too much and can't sell it, it's just a pile of scrap metal stuck in your hands."

"And—" Lin Xi squinted, looking at the pitch-black night outside the window,

"If we make too much noise, the power grid load will increase, and those people in the logistics department aren't stupid."

"We have to make all this quick money within a month, and then—"

"Stop production immediately and move on to the next battlefield."

In the live stream chat, the comments were filled with "I understand now".

[This streamer has really shown some insight! Isn't this just a limited-time event?]

Indeed, a space city with 30,000 to 50,000 people has a limited market capacity; any more would be overcapacity.

[Apart from the space city, most other areas have shared electricity meters, so there's no benefit of free electricity.]

[A small investment can be a good source of initial wealth, but it's not ideal for long-term cash cows.]

These words shattered the crowd's fervor, but built a sense of conviction.

This is the pattern.

While they were still focused on their immediate surroundings, Lin Xi had already seen through the entire game's endgame.

Only by following people like this can you get what you want!

"Listen to the manager!" Wang Dapao roared, breaking the silence.

"Once we've taken down these 1200 units, we're out! No lingering!"

"Yes! We'll listen to Manager Lin!"

……

Outside the workshop.

In the shadows.

Zhao Laizi wrapped his tattered cotton-padded coat tighter around himself and stared intently at the window from which the light was shining.

His face was blue from the cold, but his eyes burned with a venomous, ghostly fire.

There's money inside, piles and piles of money!

He was supposed to get a share!

"Well... speculation and profiteering, they even dare to fleece the country..."

He spat out a mouthful of saliva.

This little sun has become a hit; who is most affected?

That must be a department store!

"Want to get rich? Kick me out and eat all the food yourself?" Zhao Laizi turned and disappeared into the snowstorm.

"I'll send you all to jail right now!"