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As for food, the workers have seen a significant improvement in their diet recently due to the improved profitability of the steel rolling mill.

Therefore, Xiaoshan decided to start with clothing as a way to provide New Year's benefits this year.

So the first stop in Xiaoshan was the textile factory.

After introducing himself in Xiaoshan, he soon met Xiao Bingyi, the director of the textile factory.

After exchanging pleasantries, Xiao Shan told Xiao Bingyi the purpose of his visit.

Upon hearing that Xiao Shan had come to purchase welfare items for the employees of Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill, Xiao Bingyi couldn't help but say with some envy, "Wow, no wonder it's Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill! Our factory is lucky if we can even get our wages paid on time, let alone welfare!"

"Director Xiao, you can't say that. Our steel rolling mill just happened to be in the right place at the right time!" Xiao Shan quickly reassured him. "Your textile mill isn't bad either. I don't think we need to worry about cloth ration coupons and such!"

"Haha!" Xiao Bingyi chuckled. "Alright, Deputy Factory Director Xiao, I'll take you inside the workshop to see what kind of materials you'd like to purchase!"

Xiao Shan and Xiao Bingyi entered the textile factory workshop, where many female workers were busy around the spinning machines.

"Our textile factory has all the popular fabrics right now!" Xiao Bingyi introduced to Xiao Shan. "But when you're buying for your factory, workwear is definitely the most practical! Deputy Factory Director Xiao, I'm not bragging, but the workwear produced by our textile factory is the strongest and most durable!"

As he spoke, Xiao Bingyi led Xiao Shan to the textile machine and pointed to the female worker who was producing work clothes, saying to Xiao Shan, "Look, the work clothes in our factory are at least twice as fine as those in other factories! The cloth woven this way has the best scratch resistance and abrasion resistance!"

Xiao Shan listened attentively to Xiao Bingyi's explanation.

Many people may not have heard of the name "Labor Cloth".

But if it's denim, most people have probably already heard of it.

Denim is arguably the most commonly used fabric of this era.

At this time, most people were wearing clothes made of denim.

Because denim is not as delicate as other fabrics, it won't easily tear no matter what kind of work you do.

Especially for families with children, clothes made of other fabrics will be tattered in less than two days, but denim will not.

However, because denim fabric is sturdy, it feels rather stiff against the skin.

Therefore, denim is generally used to make jackets and pants, and a soft cotton vest or shirt is worn underneath.

After taking a stroll through the textile factory workshop with Xiao Bingyi, Xiao Shan immediately decided to purchase cotton and denim fabrics.

At the end of the year, the materials are distributed directly to the factory workers so they can take them home to make clothes for themselves or for their families.

Although workers at Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill are issued two sets of work clothes upon entering the factory, the work of frontline workers is arduous, and the two sets of work clothes are often worn out and become unusable.

But they couldn't bear to spend money to buy more from the factory, so they just made do with what they had.

Xiaoshan noticed that many workers were still wearing their work clothes, some of which were worn down to stripes.

Distributing the denim fabric at the end of the year will allow the workers to make their own replacement work clothes.

At that time, most women knew a little about needlework, so it wasn't difficult for them to sew a set of work clothes.

However, Xiao Shan did not immediately make a decision with Xiao Bingyi.

After all, Xiaoshan is not purchasing just one or two bolts of cloth this time, but thousands of bolts. Naturally, it is only worthwhile to negotiate the best price with the textile factory.

Negotiating prices is a highly specialized matter, so it's best to leave it to professionals.

Xiao Bingyi naturally understood this.

After leaving the textile factory, Xiao Shan continued to wander around Beijing.

Now that the factory conditions have improved, the workers are looking forward to what good things the factory will give them at the end of the year!

Xiaoshan certainly couldn't let these workers down!

Chapter 501, Workers Get into a Brawl! (Please Subscribe!)

After wandering around the city twice, Xiao Shan arrived at the entrance of a shoe factory.

A large group of workers were gathered at the entrance of the shoe factory. Judging from their clothes, they did not belong to the same factory and were arguing about something.

Xiao Shan immediately stopped his bicycle out of curiosity and watched the spectacle intently from the side.

Through their argument, Xiao Shan roughly understood what they were arguing about.

It turns out that the shoe factory recently received an order from a coal mine for a batch of cotton oversized shoes for the workers to wear to work.

After the shoes were made, the coal mine was unable to pay the final payment for the shoes because of poor performance in the second half of the year.

You should know that these kinds of cotton-padded oversized shoes were not cheap back then!

These shoes are usually only issued to military personnel.

The coal mine couldn't pay, so they wanted to issue an IOU first.

But the problem is that the shoe factory is also waiting for this final payment to pay the workers' wages!

If they agree to let the coal mine issue IOUs, who will pay the workers' wages?

Therefore, the two sides have argued about this matter many times.

The shoe factory workers were furious and went to the coal mine to cause trouble several times.

They even injured several workers at a coal mine on one recent occasion.

Now, the coal mine workers have come knocking on the door, wanting to get the injured workers back to the factory.

In those days, it was quite common for workers from two factories to fight each other.

A few years ago, when the factory workers got into fights, it was like a war; they'd bring along rifles and artillery.

After some serious bloodshed, they finally learned their lesson and stopped using firearms in combat.

Xiao Shan listened for a long time, and his mind started to wander.

Those cotton oversized shoes were really good stuff!

However, because these shoes are expensive and can only be worn in cold weather, shoe factories generally do not keep too many in stock.

If you want to buy in large quantities, you have to place an order in advance.

Alternatively, you can purchase them from the departments that provide logistics for the military.

If we could give each worker a pair of cotton-padded boots at the end of the year, it would be both presentable and perfectly meet their needs.

After all, winters in Beijing during that era were very cold.

The problem now is that we don't know how many of these cotton-padded shoes the shoe factory has.

If it's too little, it won't be enough for the workers at the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill.

Upon thinking of this, Xiao Shan quickly stepped forward and stopped a worker wearing a shoe factory uniform: "Brother, how many pairs of rubber shoes did you make for their factory?"

The shoe factory worker angrily pointed his index finger at Xiao Shan: "A full nine thousand pairs!"

"If it weren't for the large order size and the fact that they are a major coal mining company, we wouldn't have made the shoes for them after only taking a deposit!"

"Our factory paid for all the raw materials and labor costs for the shoes. Now they can't pay us and they want the shoes for free. How can that be reasonable?"

The worker was clearly furious about the coal mine's actions and kept complaining to Xiao Shan.

"That's definitely not right!" Xiao Shan echoed indignantly. "So what do you plan to do?"

The worker looked at Xiao Shan with a serious expression and said, "What should we do? If they don't pay me, I'll fight them! My whole family depends on me to get paid so they can eat!"

After saying that, the worker was about to go up and fight the coal miners across the street.

Xiao Shan quickly stopped him: "Brother, it's not that serious! There's always a solution to everything, there's no need to be so impulsive!"

Both sides are furious right now, and if someone takes the lead, a real fight is brewing!

Xiao Shan pulled the worker aside: "Brother, I'm from Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill. I'm out today to purchase supplies for the factory! Could you introduce me to one of your factory's leaders? Maybe our factory can get this batch of shoes!"

The workers at that shoe factory immediately changed their attitude towards Xiao Shan when they heard that he worked at Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill.

Nowadays, everyone in Beijing knows that the factories in the metallurgical system are the richest!

If Hongxing Steel Mill is interested in their batch of shoes, it could solve their urgent problem!

"Come with me, I'll take you to our factory leaders!" After thinking it through, the worker immediately stopped fighting and led Xiao Shan into the factory.

At this moment, the coal mine workers were still shouting outside the shoe factory: "Our leader said that it's not that we don't want to pay you, we're just giving you an IOU and delaying it for a few months!"

"Besides, you've already made the shoes. If you don't let us take them away, are you going to let them rot in your factory?"

Hearing the coal mine workers shouting, the worker who was leading the way to Xiaoshan said indignantly, "These bastards, they're just taking advantage of the fact that we've already made the shoes and can't find any other buyers, so they can only make us sign IOUs and delay for a few months!"

"If they delay payment for several months, the higher-ups will step in and settle the debt for them! But the problem is, if they delay for several months, how will our shoe factory workers survive!"

Upon hearing the worker's words, Xiao Shan immediately frowned.

However, Xiao Shan didn't say anything, but followed the workers to an office building inside the shoe factory.

After entering the office building, the worker led Xiao Shan to knock on the door of the first-floor office: "Director Lu, a guy from Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill here said he's taken a liking to the batch of shoes our factory makes for the coal mine. Could you take him to see the factory manager?"

The worker didn't dare take Xiao Shan directly to the factory manager, since he couldn't tell whether Xiao Shan was telling the truth or not.

So he brought Xiao Shan to see the director he knew.

"Red Star Steel Rolling Mill?" Director Lu came out of his office and looked at Xiao Shan with a suspicious expression.

Xiao Shan wore a faint smile, polite yet dignified: "Yes, I'm from the purchasing department of Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill. I'd like to discuss that batch of shoes with your factory manager!"

"I remember the workers at Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill always wore safety shoes. Why are they now wearing these cotton-padded boots?" Director Lu looked at Xiao Shan with a puzzled expression.

"Well, I'm not here to buy protective equipment for the factory, but rather welfare items for the workers to receive during the Chinese New Year!" Xiao Shan explained with a smile. "I heard you have a batch of these cotton-padded boots here, so I came to take a look!"

Chapter 502, Year-End Lucky Draw Bonus! (Please Subscribe!)

Upon hearing Xiao Shan's words, Director Lu's expression immediately became complicated.

This Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill truly lives up to its reputation as the leading steel mill in Beijing!

Even when these brother factories are struggling to make ends meet, the steel rolling mill still has extra money to buy year-end benefits for its workers.

It's true what they say: comparisons are odious!

"In that case, come with me!" Director Lu closed his office door, carefully locked it, and led Xiao Shan upstairs to find the factory manager.

As for the worker who was leading the group, he was naturally waiting downstairs.

He wanted to see if Xiao Shan really wanted to buy the shoes or was just making a fool of himself.

Xiao Shan followed Director Lu upstairs and arrived at the door of the shoe factory director's office.

Director Lu stepped forward and knocked on the door: "Factory Director, it's me, Lao Lu."

"Come in!" A man's voice came from inside the office.

After receiving permission, Director Lu led Xiao Shan inside.

Upon meeting the factory manager, Director Lu recounted what Xiao Shan had just told him.

After listening to Director Lu's words, Qun Zhongding, the factory manager of the shoe factory, pushed up his glasses and looked Xiao Shan up and down: "Young man, can you be the boss of your factory?"

Because Xiao Shan did not disclose his specific position at Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill, Qun Zhongding, seeing that Xiao Shan was relatively young, feared that his word would not carry weight.

"Factory manager, don't worry, I'm the head of the purchasing department at Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill. What I say goes! But can we actually sell this batch of shoes to our steel rolling mill?" Xiao Shan asked with a smile.

The coal mine had already paid a deposit for these shoes. If he wants to intercept them now, he needs to confirm that the coal mine no longer wants them.

Otherwise, it would be seen as offending the coal mine.

Qun Zhongding was surprised to find that Xiao Shan was actually the head of the purchasing department of Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill. He immediately became interested: "If I don't sell to your steel rolling mill, do you expect me to rush to sell to their coal mine?"

"Comrade, if you could take over this batch of shoes, you would be saving our shoe factory's life!"

As Qun Zhongding spoke, the eyes of this grown man reddened: "Our factory is about to go without paying wages. If we can't even pay the workers for the New Year, I really won't have the face to face the workers in the factory!"

Hearing what Qun Zhongding said, Xiao Shan was also somewhat moved.

After looking at the batch of cotton-padded shoes made by Qun Zhongding, Xiao Shan said to Qun Zhongding, "Factory Director Qun, you can send someone to our steel rolling mill's purchasing department tomorrow to sign the agreement."

Upon hearing Xiao Shan's words, Qun Zhongding was naturally extremely grateful.

He personally escorted Xiao Shan to the gate of the shoe factory.

At this time, the coal mine workers were still blocking the entrance to the shoe factory, shouting that they wanted to take back the shoes that their factory had ordered.

Xiao Shan could only shake his head at this.

These coal mine workers really know how to offend people to death!