Rebirth: Fan Debiao rises from the Liaobei land

Fan Debiao looked at Gangzi, waiting for him to continue.

Gangzi froze, his face turning bright red, and after a long pause, he managed to stammer, "Brother Biao, I'm... that..."

"Which one?" Fan Debiao stared at him.

Gangzi rubbed her hands together like a young girl, her eyes darting around.

Fan Debiao understood.

"You and Ma Xiaocui are dating?"

Gangzi nodded. "Mm!"

Fan Debiao leaned back, lit a cigarette, took a puff, and said nothing.

Gangzi waited for a long time before finally glancing up at him.

"Brother Biao, I..."

"Alright," Fan Debiao waved his hand, "Stop doing that. I'm asking you, are you serious or just kidding?"

Gangzi quickly said, "I'm serious! Brother Biao, you know what kind of person I am. If I were joking, may I be struck by lightning..."

"Alright, alright," Fan Debiao waved his hand again, "Don't make such solemn oaths all the time."

He took a drag of his cigarette and looked at Gangzi.

"Gangzi, you've been with me for almost a year now, I know what kind of person you are. I don't object to you two dating."

"However," Fan Debiao raised his hand, "I don't recommend that you talk about marriage now."

Gangzi was stunned.

Why?

"Ma Xiaocui will only be nineteen after the New Year," Fan Debiao said. "She's too young; she hasn't even settled down yet. Does she even know what she wants? Does she know what she wants to do in the future?"

Gangzi opened his mouth.

"You two can date for a while," Fan Debiao said. "Date for two or three years, until she's a bit older and figures out what she wants to do with her life. If you two are still so in love by then, I won't stop you."

He looked at Gangzi.

"But remember this one thing."

Gangzi nodded quickly.

"Be careful," Fan Debiao said in a low voice, "Don't let her get pregnant unexpectedly. If you dare to let Xiao Cui get pregnant before marriage, I won't let you off the hook."

Gangzi's face turned red again, and he waved his hands repeatedly: "No, no, Brother Biao, don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

Fan Debiao nodded.

"Alright, let's get down to business. You just said that Commander Ma wants to take over the school, what's that all about?"

Gangzi breathed a sigh of relief and moved forward a little.

"Xiao Cui said that Uncle Ma took care of that old lady before the Lunar New Year, and she passed away on the third day of the Lunar New Year."

Fan Debiao was taken aback: "Gone?"

"Yes, that's all," Gangzi said. "The old lady had no children. Before she passed away, she left the house and 500,000 yuan in savings to Uncle Ma, saying it was to thank him for taking care of her all these years."

Fan Debiao opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything for a long time.

This old man is quite lucky.

"And another thing," Gangzi continued, "Uncle Ma also took on a job before the New Year, a chemotherapy job."

Fan Debiao's heart tightened: "What chemotherapy? Ma Dashuai has cancer?"

"No, no," Gangzi quickly waved his hand, "it's talk therapy, conversation therapy."

What is talk therapy?

Gangzi scratched his head, unable to explain it himself.

"Well... someone hired Uncle Ma to chat with his dad. His dad used to be the deputy director of the Education Bureau. He retired six months ago but still can't get over it. He's always sighing at home. His son couldn't stand it, so he hired Uncle Ma to chat with him and ease his anxiety."

Fan Debiao was stunned.

Only Ma Dashuai could do this job.

"What about the school?"

Gangzi said, "Uncle Ma took in those homeless children and wanted to find a place for them to go to school before the New Year, but he couldn't get it done. Now that he has the old lady's money and knows that Director Gao—the retired one—the two hit it off and asked Uncle Ma to set up a school called 'Dashuai Migrant Workers' Children's School'."

Fan Debiao slapped his forehead.

"Holy shit!"

Gangzi was startled: "What's wrong, Brother Biao?"

Fan Debiao waved his hand without saying a word.

A series of images flashed through his mind—in his past life, he had also been involved in this school, even serving as its executive vice principal. And what happened? The green beans weren't cooked through, but time had truly flown backward.

"Fine," he sighed, "let him do whatever he wants. This guy's stubborn as a mule; he won't turn back until he hits a brick wall."

He looked at Gangzi.

"Tell Xiaocui that if she needs any help, she should lend a hand if she can. But—"

He held up one finger.

"Don't throw money into it. His school is unlikely to be properly managed."

Gangzi nodded.

"Understood, Brother Biao."

The next day, Fan Debiao waited at the store for Director Zhao's call.

I waited all day, but nothing happened.

Seeing how restless he was, Awei couldn't help but laugh.

"Are you incubating your eggs here?"

Fan Debiao ignored her.

Awei walked over and sat down next to him.

"Why don't you give them a call and ask?"

Fan Debiao shook his head.

"No way. If they tell us to wait, we'll wait. We can't just rush things."

Avi looked at him.

"So you're just going to sit here and do nothing?"

Fan Debiao lit a cigarette.

Awei reached out and took his cigarette, then stubbed it out.

Smoke less.

Avi stood up and left.

On the morning of the third day, the phone rang.

Fan Debiao grabbed him.

"Feed?"

"De Biao, that's my brother Zhao."

Fan Debiao felt a weight lifted off his shoulders.

"Director Zhao, hello!"

"Mr. Zhang asked me to see you about the broadband issue. Could you come over here and we can talk about it? It'll be 2 PM in my office."

"Okay, okay, I'll be there on time."

After hanging up the phone, Fan Debiao stood up and called Awei over.

"Two o'clock this afternoon, Netcom, come with me."

Avi nodded.

"Call Engineer Wang along too."

2 PM, Netcom Company, Director Zhao's office.

When Director Zhao saw Fan Debiao, he stood up, shook hands with him, and nodded to Awei and Engineer Wang.

"Everyone's here, please have a seat."

Fan Debiao sat down, and Director Zhao took a folder out of the drawer and handed it to him.

"Debiao, since General Manager Zhang has spoken, let's get straight to the point. Here's a draft framework agreement; take a look."

Fan Debiao took it and opened it to read.

Awei came over from the side to watch together.

Director Zhao said, "Broadband service will be rolled out across the province this year. The first batch in Kaiyuan is 3,000 households. If you do a good job, there will be a second and third batch later."

Fan Debiao raised his head.

"Director Zhao, regarding the payment cycle, it's three months..."

Director Zhao nodded.

"That's the rule, it can't be changed. But if you do a good job, you can apply for an advance payment, and get special approval."

He looked at Fan Debiao.

"De Biao, we're not outsiders. Since General Manager Zhang has appointed you, do a good job. Don't let us down."

Fan Debiao nodded.

"Don't worry, Director Zhao, it definitely won't fall off."

Director Zhao smiled.

"Alright, enough talk. Go back and do some research, bring the technical staff over tomorrow, and finalize the details."

The three of them returned and spent half the night reviewing the agreement. The next morning at nine o'clock, Fan Debiao, along with Awei and Engineer Wang, went to Netcom again.

Director Zhao was already waiting in the conference room, with Engineer Li from the technical department sitting next to him.

The two sat down and began to scrutinize each detail one by one.

Holding the agreement, Engineer Wang pointed to one of the clauses: "Director Zhao, this technical requirement might require adjustments to the construction plan based on the line conditions in Kaiyuan."

Engineer Li came over and took a look.

Do you have a concrete plan?

Engineer Wang took out several blueprints from his bag and spread them out.

"This is our design; please take a look."

The two of them got together and started studying it.

Over here, Awei is discussing business terms with Director Zhao.

"Director Zhao, could the quality assurance deposit rate be reduced to 5%? You know best how well our base stations performed last year."

Director Zhao thought about it.

"5%... Okay, I'll try to get it for you. But the condition is that the construction period must be guaranteed. Three thousand households, three months, can you finish it?"

Awei looked at Fan Debiao.

Fan Debiao took over the conversation.

"Director Zhao, with 3,000 households installed over three months, that's an average of over 30 households per day. A skilled worker can smoothly install six to eight households a day. Those that are a bit more complicated, requiring wiring, can install four to six households a day. A novice, even if slower, can still install two or three households a day."

He paused.

"If we have enough manpower, we can get this job done."

Director Zhao nodded.

"Where are the manpower?"

Fan Debiao said, "They're recruiting right now."

Director Zhao smiled.

"Okay, that's enough."

After two hours of discussion, an agreement was finally reached.

Director Zhao printed out the revised agreement in duplicate.

"De Biao, take a look. If there are no problems, sign it."

Fan Debiao took it and read it from beginning to end. Awei watched it intently from the side.

After reading it, he looked up at Director Zhao.

"Director Zhao, with this agreement signed, our cooperation has taken another step forward."

Director Zhao smiled.

"Debiao, do a good job. General Manager Zhang has high expectations for you."

Fan Debiao nodded, picked up the pen, and signed his name.

Director Zhao also signed the document and stamped it with the official seal of China Netcom.

He handed an agreement to Fan Debiao.

"Congratulations on becoming our annual partner."

Fan Debiao took it and shook his hand.

"Thank you, Director Zhao."

Six o'clock in the evening, Victoria, "Auspicious Purple Qi from the East" private room.

Fan Debiao treated Gangzi, Liu Tiezhu, Engineer Wang, and several key technical personnel to dinner. Awei was also there, sitting next to Fan Debiao.

The dishes were all served, and the wine was poured to the brim. Fan Debiao raised his glass.

"Everyone, the broadband framework agreement has been signed."

Everyone's eyes lit up.

Gangzi slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "Brother Biao, you're awesome!"

Fan Debiao waved his hand.

"Don't get too cocky. Three thousand households, three months of construction time—do the math, how many people do you think that will take?"

Gangzi looked at Engineer Wang.

Engineer Wang put down his chopsticks.

"Based on 30 households per day, a skilled worker can handle 6 to 8 households a day, requiring 4 to 5 people working simultaneously. But we not only have to install the equipment, but also do wiring, debugging, and handle after-sales service. Including shifts, rest days, and unexpected situations, we need at least 20 skilled workers."

He paused.

"If there are many semi-experienced and beginners, then you'll need to be over thirty."

Fan Debiao looked at Gangzi.

"How many people can the construction team spare right now?"

Gangzi thought about it.

"The base station operation cannot be stopped; we can only spare a maximum of ten."

Fan Debiao nodded.

"Ten are not enough."

He looked at Avi.

"What about the training center?"

Awei opened the notebook.

"The new class just started, with about twenty students, all manual laborers. The technical classes haven't started yet."

Fan Debiao frowned.

"These people aren't qualified enough to do broadband work."

He looked at Engineer Wang.

"Engineer Wang, are your apprentices able to work independently?"

Engineer Wang said, "Two of them are alright; they can train beginners. The others still need more practice."

Fan Debiao thought for a moment.

"Have you heard anything from Mr. Wu about hiring?"

Awei said, "Mr. Wu called yesterday and said the job market won't officially open until next Monday. He went to inquire, and there aren't any suitable candidates right now."

Fan Debiao shook his head.

"By the time the job market opens, it'll be too late."

He lit a cigarette and took a puff.

"Awei, tell General Manager Wu not to wait for the job market."

Avi looked at him.

"Then where do we recruit?"

Fan Debiao flicked his cigarette ash.

"Go to university."

Everyone was taken aback.

Fan Debiao said, "It's the 20th of the first lunar month now, and senior students are about to start school. It's the last six months, the internship period. For those who want to find a job, now is the time to make resumes and look for internships."

He looked at Wu Derong's empty seat.

"Have Mr. Wu try to find connections and see if he can get in touch with the career services offices of those universities in Shenyang. We need a batch of students majoring in telecommunications engineering, computer science, and network engineering."

Wang's eyes lit up.

"That's a good idea. Students are quick learners and will do it if they're paid a little."

Fan Debiao nodded.

"Yes. Those who perform well during their internship will be offered a permanent position. They'll be full-time employees after graduation."

He looked at Avi.

"Tell General Manager Wu to expedite this. It would be best if we could get in touch with him by next week."

Awei wrote it down in her notebook.

Gangzi came closer.

"Brother Biao, are you sure you have enough money to hire so many people?"

Fan Debiao looked at him.

"Don't worry about the money. Just get the people here and get the job done. Once the job is done well, the money will come naturally."

Gangzi grinned.

"Okay, I'm relieved to hear that, Brother Biao."

Fan Debiao raised his wine glass.

"Come on, this glass is for everyone. Let's work together and make money together in 2003!"