Reborn in 1985, starting from a machine factory

"I'm starting to spin!"

Chen Mo carried the antenna onto the roof and leaned against the ladder.

He glanced furtively at his feet; Zhao Degui, who had been holding the ladder, had already left.

He inexplicably felt his legs go weak and his palms were sweating.

However, he still raised his voice: "Just tell me what the scenes are! Whether they're clear or not, tell me!"

"Okay! Go ahead and turn around!" Aunt Yu Mei's voice rang out from the doorway.

Without further hesitation, Chen Mo gripped the antenna firmly and slowly rotated it.

"How is it now?"

"There are shadows now, but there are still lots of snowflakes!"

"And now?"

"There's no shadow, just snowflakes."

"Hey, stop! There's a station here."

"That's too far, come back a bit."

"Go back a bit, it's too far again!"

"Okay, that's it, don't move it! I'll try a different channel."

Hearing the sound at the door, Chen Mo rarely smiled. He took out a wire from his pocket and tied the bamboo pole to this spot.

Become!

It works!

Just as Chen Mo was about to step down the ladder, he saw Zhao Degui rush out of the room: "Chen Mo, sit at home for a moment, I'll go find our factory manager!"

"Uncle Zhao, don't rush!"

"in a hurry!"

"Yu Mei, cook a few extra dishes for lunch, and keep an eye on Chen Mo so he doesn't get away."

"Get that bottle of wine from under my bed!"

"Uncle Zhao?" Chen Mo asked, full of questions.

"I'll be right back! Yumei, come close the gate!" Zhao Degui grabbed his bicycle and rushed out of the courtyard without looking back.

Chen Mo was left looking completely bewildered.

...

Around noon, the sound of bicycles could be heard outside.

The old woman went to open the door.

Zhao Degui pushed his bicycle into the courtyard: "Yumei, serve the dishes, Chen Mo and I will have a drink."

Chen Mo walked out of the house, and when he looked behind Zhao Degui, his heart sank.

Zhao Degui returned alone, without any sign of the factory director.

Chen Mo forced a smile: "Uncle Zhao, how's it going? The factory manager's busy?"

"Let's not talk about that now. I have two pieces of news to tell you."

"One good, one bad." Zhao Degui tilted his head.

"Let me hear the bad news first!" Chen Mo's eyes were calm.

"You can't hear anything now, good or bad. If you don't have a few drinks with me, you won't hear a single word from me!" Zhao Degui said casually, bringing out two dishes from the kitchen.

Chen Mo promptly lifted the curtain.

These are two dishes to accompany drinks: one is fried peanuts, and the other is cold pork snout salad.

"Sit down, sit down. What are you doing standing by the door?"

Zhao Degui put down the dishes, shouted something, then picked up a bottle of liquor and carefully wiped the dust off it with a towel.

"This is Junchuan brand liquor. It was brought back to me by Old Li's son when he went to work as an educated youth. We'll drink this today."

"Don't open it, Uncle Zhao, I don't drink much!" Chen Mo waved his hand.

"Hey, you little punk, how many snouts does a pig have?" Zhao Degui yanked the cork off the bottle: "Just one!"

"Let me tell you, this snout was left over from when we slaughtered the pig last December. I had Yumei marinate it with Sichuan peppercorns and salt. It only tastes good with this wine."

"Old Zhao, lift the curtain." A voice came from outside the door.

Chen Mo hurriedly got up, lifted the curtain, and the old lady carried a pot of chicken stew with mushrooms into the house.

"Xiao Mo, eat more and have a few drinks with your grandpa."

"Chen Mo, sit down, sit down, try your aunt's cooking." Zhao Degui poured the wine and invited Chen Mo to sit down.

"Auntie, stop cooking, sit down and eat too," Chen Mo said.

"You eat first, there's still a fire in the stove." The old woman walked out of the room.

Zhao Degui picked up his wine glass: "Try this wine."

Chen Mo also picked up his glass and took a small sip. The unique aroma of the grain liquor hit his nose, and a spicy taste went straight from his mouth to his throat.

"Uncle Zhao, this wine is quite good!"

Zhao Degui downed half a cup in one gulp; the spiciness made him squint. "That's right, this liquor is potent!"

"Uncle Zhao..." Chen Mo picked up a peanut and put it in his mouth. He had just opened his mouth when Zhao Degui waved his hand to interrupt him.

"What year was your dad born?"

"My dad?" Chen Mo was completely confused.

"Never mind that. I'm about the same age as your dad, so don't call me grandpa, call me uncle."

"They're making me sound old."

"Haha!" Chen Mo laughed out loud, "Uncle Zhao, I've gotten used to calling you that, it's hard to change!"

"It needs to be changed!"

"Uncle Zhao, I saw you came back alone. What did the factory manager say?"

"Oh, so this is the bad news!" Zhao Degui's expression changed slightly as he picked up his wine glass.

"The factory manager and the others mean that, regardless of the quality of the product, the factory is stable now, and they don't dare to make any rash moves."

"If something goes wrong, no one will take responsibility."

Chen Mo nodded gently: "Uncle Zhao, it's alright. That's just how it is now; nothing's easy to do!"

"The factory leaders also have their considerations!"

"What nonsense! They're just used to the government's system and are afraid of breaking the system if they switch to a different one!" Zhao Degui angrily threw the empty wine glass back onto the table.

"It's nothing serious, Uncle Zhao, don't worry about it. We won't take the antenna off; you can keep it!"

"I'll walk through this line this afternoon and see how it looks hanging on the wall."

"No, no, no, you have to take this down right now!" Zhao Degui leaned forward, "I said..."

Suddenly, Zhao Degui stopped talking.

The cotton curtain was lifted, and the old lady walked into the house carrying a plate of scrambled eggs.

"Yu Mei, how many dishes are left?" Zhao Degui asked.

"We're in a rush, so I'll just make these few," the old lady said, putting down the dishes.

"Okay, go watch the fire, but don't let it burn down the kitchen!"

The old woman nodded and walked out of the house.

Seeing the old woman leave, Chen Mo poured Zhao Degui another drink and asked, "Uncle Zhao, is there anything else?"

"This thing is definitely going to make money!" Zhao Degui said decisively, leaning back in his chair.

"The little thing you took from the factory, at most, is worth five yuan."

"Now a 14-inch black and white TV from the BJ brand costs at least 450 yuan, and I heard that a color TV costs more than 1,000 yuan."

"People who can afford to buy a TV should spend more. Let's sell it for twenty yuan. They can watch four or five more channels. Do you think that's reasonable?" Zhao Degui held up two fingers.

"Perfect. As long as there's a factory that can take on this job, even if the market isn't too big, we can make a small profit in Beiyang City!" Chen Mo picked up his wine glass and took a sip.

"You know, such good stuff, how come those people at the factory are so blind?" Zhao Degui also raised his glass.

"There's nothing I can do!" Chen Mo shook his head, a hint of helplessness in his eyes.

"Hey, Xiao Mo, aren't you going to hear the good news?" Zhao Degui looked up.

"Sir, please speak."

"There's a factory run by the local government near Renmin Street that's about to go out of business. I heard they've been behind on wages for six months!"

"With a little money, we might be able to take it over!" Zhao Degui's eyes lit up.

"Sir, please stop teasing me. Don't you know my family's situation?"

"Let alone taking over a factory, how many times a year do you think my family can eat this chicken stew with mushrooms?"

"Chen Mo, do you think this antenna will be profitable?"

Yes!

Is the market big?

"It's a huge opportunity; it could compete for a spot in the entire Northeast, or even the whole country!"

"These days, televisions are a hot commodity!"

"That's good news!" Zhao Degui said matter-of-factly.

"Yes, yes, yes, it's good news, Uncle Zhao, let's drink!" Chen Mo raised his glass.

"Don't drink it yet."

Zhao Degui grabbed Chen Mo's hand: "I have two thousand yuan for my funeral expenses. Just say the word, and I'll do it with you!"

"I'll go talk to the factory under the jurisdiction of the subdistrict office."

"Sir? You mean...?"

"Knowing you can make money and not doing it? Wouldn't that be stupid?"

"Do it or not? Just say it!" Zhao Degui withdrew his hand, leaned back, and stared directly at Chen Mo.