1970s: My childhood sweetheart ran away, and I turned around and married the wildest chief.

Lu Mingkang's eyes lit up immediately. Although he didn't like Lu Minghui, that didn't stop him from showing off!

With his family factory doing so well, he simply couldn't resist!

"The factory is doing very well. We have so many orders that we can't keep up with them. We're planning to hire another batch of people when we reopen after the New Year!"

Xu Li quickly asked, "Is business so good? How many people work in your factory?"

Lu Minghui's eyes flickered. He had sent people to investigate beforehand and knew some information. Now he also wanted to know Lu Mingkang's answer to see if it matched what he had investigated.

Lu Mingkang replied, "The three factories together employ about three thousand people."

"Three factories?" Xu Li exclaimed in surprise. "Three factories in this small place? And so many people?"

Lu Mingkang nodded. "Strictly speaking, it's actually just two factories. However, because there are many people working nearby, it's convenient for some people who live far away, but it's inconvenient for others. So, to take care of those who live a little further away, we moved one of the factories to another location and recruited workers locally. So, it can be considered three factories by a rough measure."

There are quite a few people in the countryside, but the population density is low. The factory's purpose is to take care of the local people. Apart from the Lu family, which has a relatively large number of employees, the factory generally tries to take care of as many families as possible. This means that when recruiting, the factory will not hire too many people from one family. Even if you have a large family, the factory will only hire one or two people. They will not hire your whole family.

In this way, with more than 3,000 workers gathered, the scope of the reach became much larger. Rural conditions were not good, and very few families owned bicycles. Many people only had the money to buy a bicycle after working in the factory for a period of time.

Upon hearing this reason, Xu Li immediately frowned and disagreed, saying, "How can you plan it like this? Third brother, I have to talk to you about this. The purpose of opening a factory is to make money. It's easier to manage a good factory if it's all together. But if it's separated, many expenses will increase. For example, won't we need more people to manage the warehouse area? We'll also need to increase manpower for transportation and management. Separating it will greatly increase the costs."

"In rural areas, ordinary people can't find jobs. If a factory near their home hires them, they'll be incredibly grateful. In that case, why would they care if the factory is a little far away? Besides, if it's far, they can just ride a bicycle, right?"

Lu Mingkang thought so too, but Qiao Wanqing disagreed. What could he do?

So he explained, "This is my sister-in-law's idea. There are many female workers in our factory, mostly middle-aged women, young wives, and girls. In the countryside, there is a preference for sons over daughters, and few families will invest in these groups. Therefore, only a very small number of female workers can afford bicycles. Most people walk to work because the factory is far away and inconvenient."

Xu Li retorted angrily, "That's their problem. We opened the factory to make money, not to do charity. Just because it's inconvenient for them, we're going to move the factory to a place that's convenient for them? Don't we consider the costs? If they still complain about the inconvenience, are we going to move the factory to their house?"

Lu Mingkang shrugged; he was helpless too!

The factory was invested in by his younger brother and sister-in-law, and they are also responsible for the sales of the products. What can he do?

"I already said, this is my sister-in-law's idea. She owns the factory, so naturally we'll listen to her."

Xu Li, as if she had finally found an advantage, immediately launched an attack on Qiao Wanqing, "Sister-in-law, is this your idea? I have to say something to you. The Lu family runs a factory to make money. You've divided the factory area just because it's inconvenient for the workers to get to work, which has increased costs for no reason. Management, warehouse staff, and transportation all increase costs. And that doesn't even include machinery and such. All of this adds up to how much more money will be spent each year?"

"I heard that many of your elders are business people. Didn't they teach you anything? How could you make such a basic mistake? I also heard that you pay your workers very high wages. Ordinary workers earn more than a hundred yuan a month. You're being too wasteful. What kind of business is this? Nowadays, many legitimate companies in the city only pay fifty or sixty yuan a month. This is the countryside, the factory is right at our doorstep, and they don't look down on us because we have rural household registration. They could pay us thirty or forty yuan a month, and there are plenty of people who would do it."

"We're doing business here, not charity. How much money does the factory have to squander like this?"

I'm just doing charity, so what can you do about it?

Qiao Wanqing knew, of course, that wages could be reduced. After all, at this time, most rural people relied on farming for a living, and at most, they raised some poultry at home. Being able to work in a factory near their homes, a place where they could earn money by selling their labor, was like a windfall for them. At thirty or forty yuan a month, they could indeed find people.

But Qiao Wanqing just didn't want to do that.

She rose from humble beginnings in her past life and knows all too well how hard life is for ordinary people. In this life, she has benefited from the era's dividends and knows all the opportunities to make money. There is no need for her to exploit the hard-earned money of ordinary people.

In this era, there is less competition in business, and it is much easier to make money. Especially since she started her business early, she has channels and funds, making money is easier for her than for many others. Therefore, she has no intention of betraying her former social class.

Moreover, even though she provided relatively high welfare benefits to her workers, she still made money, and quite a lot of it.

She wasn't that greedy, so she was happy to spend the money, and nobody could stop her, especially Xu Li.

Qiao Wanqing looked up at Xu Li, a half-smile playing on her lips. "I am indeed quite wealthy, I don't lack this at all. I'm even planning to give them a raise after the New Year!"

"You..." Xu Li was furious at her dismissive attitude.

Qiao Wanqing ignored her and glanced at Lu Mingkang indifferently. Lu Mingkang was so frightened that he jumped up and down without Qiao Wanqing having to say anything. "Hey, sister-in-law, are you alright? My sister-in-law's family has been in business for generations. Why should you interfere in their business? Besides, I already said that this factory is owned by my sister-in-law. It's her own factory, and she can do whatever she wants with it. Why are you interfering?"

"I'll tell you the truth since you're my sister-in-law, but you can't act like you own the place and boss people around. This factory isn't yours."

"Honestly, you haven't been home for over ten years and haven't contributed anything to the family. When you finally come back, you're not only fed and pampered, but you're also complaining about the family factory? If you're so capable, why don't you try opening a few factories for the family yourself?"

Lu Mingkang was furious. He did want to show off, but he didn't mean to embarrass Qiao Wanqing!

The woman in front of him was his sister-in-law. Although he didn't like her and didn't have much interaction with Lu Minghui, she was still his father's son. His father was sitting here, and it was the New Year. He just needed to save face. Anyway, they wouldn't be seeing each other often in the future.

When asked, it wasn't a secret, so he told the truth, which was a good opportunity to show off. But since this guy took the opportunity to cause trouble for Qiao Wanqing, he couldn't agree to it.

He owes his current wealthy life to this factory, so he knows all too well who his benefactors are. Besides, after running the factory for the past few years and getting to know Qiao Wanqing, he's realized that this sister-in-law is not someone to be trifled with!

Good grief, he was only a beat slow to react, and she's already upset.

What if she mistakenly thinks that he deliberately told Xu Li these things to make Xu Li cause trouble for her?

Therefore, Lu Mingkang immediately jumped out to refute.

Xu Li was dumbfounded. "How can you talk like that? I'm trying to help you. It's true that she invested in this factory, but it's also part of the Lu family, right? I'm teaching you how to save costs. Lower costs mean higher profits, and everyone can earn more. Wouldn't that benefit you too? How can you..."

"Stop!" Lu Mingkang said angrily. "This factory doesn't belong to the Lu family. It belongs to my brother and sister-in-law. I only got a position and some dividends because I'm brothers with the fourth brother and I stay in our hometown all year round. There are so many people in the Lu family, but the others don't get this treatment. They don't work in the factory."

Xu Li was stunned, then exclaimed in shock, "What did you say? Your family doesn't own any shares in this factory?"

Lu Minghui also became agitated. "Third brother, what do you mean? Isn't this factory our Lu family's? How can we not have shares? Where did all the money go?"

He came back this time to ask for money. He had done his research beforehand and found that his hometown had become increasingly wealthy in recent years, with three very large factories, thousands of workers, and a constant stream of orders. He figured that his family must have accumulated a lot of money over the years.

With his status, he still held some authority in his hometown. He thought that whether it was the Lu family or their relatives, his grandfather and so on, they must have all become rich in the past few years. With such a large factory, they could easily make a fortune just by taking a little profit.

So if he handles things well this time, he'll definitely be able to get a lot of money from the entire Lu family.

Now the third son is actually saying that the Lu family doesn't have any shares in this factory?

How is that possible?

It's true that Qiao Wanqing invested in the factory, and that's something he found in his investigation. But Qiao Wanqing is, after all, the daughter-in-law of the Lu family, and the factory is located in the Lu family's hometown. It's managed by the third son of the Lu family. How could the Lu family not have any shares?

If the Lu family doesn't have any shares, does that mean the clan elders don't either? Did everyone's profits go to Qiao Wanqing, a daughter-in-law far away in the capital?

How is that possible?

Would those people be so obedient, seeing so much money right in front of them, wouldn't they be tempted?

The couple's strong reaction drew the attention of many people in the living room. Seeing their behavior, some of the smarter people guessed what was going on. They figured that by emphasizing that they were from the Lu family, they were probably relying on being the eldest son of the Lu family to try and get a share of the money.

Ah!

The crowd scoffed, glanced at him, and then turned away, ignoring him completely.

The third brother, Lu Mingkang, raised an eyebrow, also noticing the strangeness between the couple. They didn't get along to begin with, and with the couple acting like this, Lu Mingkang would only secretly laugh at him.

"I've already said, this factory belongs to my sister-in-law. She invested in it, and it has nothing to do with our Lu family. This factory wasn't opened by my parents or grandparents. It's my sister-in-law, Qiao Wanqing. She handled all the funding, connections, raw materials, and sales. I'm just working for her."

"Of course, I'm family! The fourth brother is my own brother, from the same parents! I get a share of the profits."

"What about Mom and Dad? What about Grandpa and Grandma? Don't they have shares? Don't they get dividends?" Lu Minghui asked incredulously.

Lu Mingkang said, "My parents don't have any, but my grandfather does, as do several other grandfathers, including my great-aunt. However, these people make up a very small percentage. It's just that they help out their relatives out of respect for my grandfather. In addition, a few important managers get a small share of the profits, and the rest, the majority, goes to my younger siblings."

"Impossible!" Lu Minghui broke down. "This place is Lu family territory. Without the Lu family maneuvering around, this factory couldn't have run so smoothly. Since it was started with the Lu family's help, if we don't give them a lot of money, wouldn't they cause trouble?"

Xu Li didn't believe it either. "Exactly. This factory is so big, right on our doorstep. The Lu family has so many people. You're saying they'd only give us a little? How much is a little? How could the lion's share possibly be in Qiao Wanqing's hands? If they don't feed these people back home, how can they let your factory operate smoothly?"

Lu Mingkang's lips curled up, his eyes full of sarcasm. "I'm not wrong. Most of the profits from this factory are in my sister-in-law's hands. It's true that there are many people in the Lu family here, but before this factory opened, very few of them had jobs. It was only after the factory opened that they had a place to work."

"Besides, most of the factory workers are women. They mostly work as laborers; there's very little management. They haven't had much education, and they don't have many skills. What else can they do besides work as laborers?"

"My sister-in-law said that those older folks like to put on airs. If we let them become leaders, what would happen? They would empty the whole factory. So, we simply won't give them to anyone."

Before coming to open the factory, Qiao Wanqing knew that the Lu family had many relatives here, and it was impossible to bypass them. If they were all allowed into the factory, they would definitely take advantage of their kinship and act arrogantly. In that case, how could the factory be managed? They might really be able to empty the factory.

So from the very beginning, they simply didn't let them in. Qiao Wanqing kept her word. None of the Lu family members of Lu's father's generation, or those of Lu Mingzhou's generation, were in leadership positions inside.

Of course, to keep these people in check, she needed to offer them some benefits. So, she gave dividends to the elders free of charge. Grandpa Lu's brothers and sisters all received dividends. These old men were quite old and didn't spend much money. They wouldn't go out and mess around like young men when they had money. At their age, they couldn't afford to do anything with money anymore, so in the end, the money basically ended up in the hands of their descendants.

Most of the women in the family go to work, and some even become minor leaders. As for the young and middle-aged men, are they supposed to be idle?