Road to Revival

On Friday night, Sun Dunquan, who was at home fiddling with fishing gear, was surprised when Tao Tang arrived without prior notice.

"What? Not welcome? Where is Madam?"

"Hey! I thought you'd be incredibly busy these past few days, with endless meetings during the day and non-stop drinking at night... Yu Tao hasn't even gotten off work yet. Don't fucking change your shoes, why would I need to change shoes in this crappy house?"

Sun Dunquan's wife, Yin Yutao, teaches geography at Hongxing No. 1 Middle School. The three middle schools and seven primary schools in Hongxing were transferred to the Municipal Education Bureau in 2005. However, the couple still live in the factory's housing. These apartment buildings were built in the early 1980s, and the couple bought an 80-square-meter apartment in the mid-1990s at a very low price.

"What are you messing around with?" Tao Tang walked around the entrance hall and saw a bunch of messy things in the middle of the small living room.

"Make yourself a sun umbrella, the old one is broken. Sit down, sit down, I'll make you some tea."

"Fishing on a Sunday? Are there any fish in the Yue River?" Tao Tang handed the paper bag to Sun Dunquan. "Here, this is for you. I guess you don't have any good tea."

"I don't really have Sundays anymore, every day is Sunday. The water quality in the Yue River is much better than before, but I still can't catch any fish. I went to Feiyuan Reservoir... Hey, Tao Tang, you look great, much better than last time I saw you. It's so comfortable at headquarters." Sun Dunquan took the bag, opened it, and saw two cans of tea. "You understand me so well, Tao Tang. Ever since I drank the tea you gave me, my taste has become so discerning, haha."

Tao Tang smiled and said, "Of course, it's more comfortable in government offices than in the lower levels, especially in departments like the Policy Research Office. It gave me the opportunity to recuperate."

"Hey, you shouldn't have come back at all... Wait a moment." Sun Dunquan went to the kitchen to boil water.

Tao Tang looked around. It had been ten years since his last visit. The furnishings were almost unchanged, with books, newspapers, and magazines scattered everywhere, leaving hardly any room to step.

Sun Dunquan quickly returned with two teacups. "Could this really be the legendary Da Hong Pao?"

"I've heard that's true. I don't know if it's true or not; it was a gift from a friend in Fujian."

"Sit down, hmm, this is interesting. Not bad, not bad." Sun Dunquan sniffed the tea leaves intently.

"I'm really sorry, I didn't have time to spend with you two when you went to Binjiang last time. I'll apologize to your wife in person later. What time does she get off work?"

"It's usually seven o'clock. What's there to apologize for? Honestly. She should be thanking you, you've covered all her food, drinks, and entertainment, what more could she want? Outsiders see things more clearly. She's said more than once that if you were in charge at Hongxing, the factory wouldn't be in this mess. Hey, when I heard the news about you the other day, I told her, 'Look at your jinx, it's come true, hasn't it? Hongxing has been rotten to the core for a long time, what good would Tao Tang's arrival do?'"

"Do your best and accept your fate. Oh, have you been studying the history of the Republic of China lately?" Tao Tang picked up a brand-new copy of "A History of Warlords in the Beiyang Period" written by Tao Juyin, a famous journalist from the Republic of China era.

"Don't laugh at me, but I'm writing an online novel set in the education sector during the Republic of China era to make a living by scamming people."

"People actually watch this kind of subject matter?"

"Love. Do you understand? Love is an eternal theme. And the love stories of intellectuals are even more interesting to write about, such as the story of Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin. For this book, I studied Qiong Yao diligently, and my fans all say that I have surpassed my teacher." Sun Dunquan shook his head.

"You can only fool naive girls. By the way, my Xiaohe read your book, and it's really good."

"Let's not talk about my embarrassing past. Would you like to hear what the employees think of the Red Star leadership team?"

"I want to hear it, but I don't want to hear it either." Tao Tang put down the book in his hand.

"After Song Yue's incident, there were sayings about the leadership team: birth, aging, sickness, death, and suffering..."

"Oh?" Tao Tang's interest was piqued. "Tell me about it?"

"The dead, like Song and Yang, brought it upon themselves, so let's not talk about them. The old are Zhou and Jiang; the living are Li, Ma, and Han; the sick are Zhao, Guo, and Luo; and the suffering are Chang, Liu, and Qiu. However, it seems no one expected you to be parachuted in, so this classification is no longer valid."

"Has Luo also fallen into this trap?" Tao Tang was taken aback.

There are many rumors.

"Old Sun, tell me something interesting. I know you like studying modern history. In terms of strength, before 1948, for the vast majority of the time, on most battlefields, our Party was at an absolute disadvantage. Tell me, why did the Communists win but the Communists lost?"

"Hey, I only found out during our last long talk that you read even more widely than I do. I won't presume to teach you."

"No, I want to hear your opinion, your honest opinion."

"You really want to hear it?"

"certainly."

"First, our party organization is tightly organized and extends deep into the grassroots. The lowest-ranking cadre in the Kuomintang was the county party secretary, the kind you see on TV wearing a black Zhongshan suit and carrying a briefcase. Below that, you couldn't find any. But our party is different. Wherever there are party members, there is an organization, forming a tight spider web. I believe that since the beginning of time, spanning ancient and modern times, and looking across the East and West, there has never been a party organization that has penetrated deeper into the grassroots and is more tightly organized than our party."

"I completely agree with that. Anything else?"

"After the Yan'an Rectification Movement, the Party achieved a high degree of ideological unity. However, Chiang Kai-shek never unified the Party internally until his victorious retreat to Taiwan. Each faction harbored its own ambitions and sought to preserve its own strength. By 1948, the overall situation was extremely precarious, yet internal power struggles still erupted. How could he not be defeated?"

"Hmm... is there anything else?"

"Discipline is stricter than that of the opponent."

"Anything else?"

"If you really want to know, it's the same old story: ideals and beliefs, and the 'follow me' attitude among cadres..."

"Yes, yes. In my opinion, your last point is especially important."

"Is this your factory management strategy?"

"It's laughable how people talk about strategy all the time! Even a factory like Red Star isn't even a pawn on the national economic chessboard. What right do they have to talk about strategy? Enterprises are profit-driven economic organizations. Whether state-owned or private, there's no fundamental difference. It all comes down to three elements: market, technology, and cost. The market is hidden behind technology and cost. Those with technology compete on technology, while those without can only compete on cost. And behind cost is simply real management, nothing more."

"Is this what they call the Shengdong experience?"

"Believe it or not, Shengdong's employees are willing to work overtime without overtime pay..."

"Shengdong is not Red Star."

"The markets are different, the products are different, and the difficulties are different, but how different can the employees be? Back then, how could the Red Army compare with its opponents in terms of equipment and numbers during the Long March? Yet, the iron torrent stretched for 25,000 li, the military flag never fell, and the morale of the army never wavered. How magnificent! In my opinion, the outcome was decided in 1935."

"Someone with your orthodox thinking is already at the antique level. Brother, I advise you not to work as hard as you did in Shengdong."

"Suffering and joy are two sides of the same coin."

"Are you planning to stay for a long time this time?"

"That's not up to me."

"Then, what about the daughter? Are you going to bring her over?"

"No. Binjiang still has many advantages. It would be a shame not to take advantage of them."

"So, any progress with Fang Lan's sister? That's what Yu Tao cares about most. She says you're too hard-hearted."

"This isn't a matter of being soft-hearted or hard-hearted... the difference is too great... Can we not talk about this? Does our son live at home or board at school?"

"I live on campus. My family's circumstances aren't good, and coincidentally, Yu Tao's classmate from teachers' college is his homeroom teacher. But my bald-headed boy is quite promising; his grades improved by more than twenty places last semester compared to when he entered school."

"Old Sun, you're really lucky, much better off than me. Don't take your good fortune for granted," Tao Tang sighed.

"Of course I'm content. I'm definitely better off than you, except for the salary. Haha, you're right, those who want the best of both worlds are either ignorant or crazy. It's a pity not many people can see through it. By the way, how many classmates have you seen since you came back a few days ago?"

"Only Lü Qi was seen."

"If you had acted sooner, I guarantee Lü Qi's child would be surnamed Tao now. Over the years, she's asked me about you countless times. I'm the one who told her you were back. Sigh, tell me, why are they so good at maintaining their looks? Standing next to my man, they look at least ten years younger! What a pity... Don't you regret it?"

"You regret it. Talk to Lü Qi and tell her to get a divorce," Tao Tang said with a smile.

"I really did say that."

"Speak."

"Don't be so sure, Lü Qi isn't that kind of person. She's quite capable and upright. If she were a little more easygoing, Liu Xiuyun and her ilk wouldn't stand a chance."

"Let's not talk about her, what about the other classmates?"

"Not many from Class 58 of that year stayed at Red Star. Han Ruilin, Bao Xianbing, Liu Lin... are there only a few left? Oh right, there's also Li Suyi, but you probably don't remember her."

"I heard about it. Her family has been having some trouble lately." Tao Tang remembered what Lü Qi had said and hadn't even bothered to inquire about it.

"There's also Cao Wendong, who got into a motorcycle accident while drunk and died. They haven't even found the perpetrator..." Sun Dunquan recalled the rumors about Han Ruilin and Cao Wendong's widow and felt that this topic was not very interesting.

"Cao Wendong? I remember him, the one who fell and broke his nose while cleaning windows. Dead? What a pity." Tao Tang really remembered that classmate who was always smiling, and now he had met such a tragic end.

"It's quite pitiful. When a person dies, it's like a lamp going out; nothing is left."

"What about Xu Deguang? I mean, are his parents alright? Are they both at the factory?"

"Don't even mention it, they're all gone."

"How could that be? They're not that old. He's the eldest son..." Tao Tang estimated the age of Xu Deguang's parents in his mind.

"My father died a long time ago from liver cancer. My mother passed away last year after a fall; she couldn't be saved, probably from a cardiovascular or cerebrovascular problem."

"I remember he had a younger sister?"

"She works at the factory. She's a pitiful person; her husband dumped her because she couldn't have children. She works in the publicity department; her name is Xu Deyu."

"Oh..." Tao Tang recalled Xu Deguang's innocent smile from back then. If it weren't for his impulsive actions while drunk, Deguang's achievements today would probably be no less than his own...

"The most successful one is undoubtedly Tang Yikun. It's said his personal assets have long exceeded 100 million. A billionaire indeed, yet he caused Li Suyi's personal misfortune. I heard the perpetrator was a temporary worker at a demolition company, and has no connection to the Donghu Group, right?"

"I don't know the specifics either... I'm not a police officer, I can only trust the conclusions of the judicial investigation. By the way, Tang Yikun is organizing a class reunion tomorrow night, have you informed everyone?"

"The notice was sent out, but not many people went. Tang Yikun's target for organizing the class reunion is definitely you! That's for sure. There have been rumors that Hongxing is going to relocate, and this land will be the site of Pingquan New City. He's in the real estate business... Tang Yikun, who has become a guest of honor for the powerful and wealthy, would never remember us small fry. Everyone knows the answer. Bao Xianbing and I are card-playing buddies, and Lao Bao made it clear that he wouldn't be going."

"It's just a get-together."

"To be honest, I don't want to go either. Why get angry at others after seeing them come back?"

"Go, you absolutely have to go! He's treating, we're getting a free meal and entertainment, why wouldn't we go? Lü Qi has already agreed, so you should contact everyone you can again. Just say I'm going, I think everyone will go. We're classmates, it's a rare opportunity to get together and have some fun."

"Alright then, I'll listen to you." Sun Dunquan was unaware that he had been used by Tao Tang.

"Get in your car and don't worry about the gas."

Just then, the door opened, and Yin Yutao returned. Seeing Tao Tang, she exclaimed with delight, "Oh, Mr. Tao is here! Last night, Old Sun wanted to visit you, but I said he had just returned and didn't have time to see a bored person like you!"

"Haha, I'm here to freeload. You're not going to kick me out, are you?" Tao Tang stood up with a smile and shook Yin Yutao's outstretched hand.

"Look at what you're saying. I'm afraid our little temple can't accommodate such a great bodhisattva as you. Tell me, what do you want to eat? We don't have delicacies, and we don't know how to cook them, but simple home-cooked meals are fine."

"Home-cooked meals are my favorite. Haha."

"Alright! Have a seat, just a moment, it'll be ready soon. Oh dear, we should at least have a few drinks, right? I'll go buy some snacks to go with them. Old Sun, you really are something, you didn't even call me."

Before Lao Sun could speak, Tao Tang quickly stopped him, "No, I never drink at home. I'm too busy with social engagements to have that kind of interest."

"Then I certainly won't be polite."

"Don't be shy, just cook whatever you usually eat."