Chapter 60

Lin Qiangsheng returned to the city and immediately started to merge the small warehouse next to the fabric store. He planned to renovate the warehouse and use it to sell watches. He had already negotiated with the owner, who was also an old employee of the car factory, and the process went smoothly without any difficulties.

Lin Qiangsheng stood at the warehouse door and smiled at Zou Shu, saying, "Shu, you said you would introduce a few classmates to me. When are they coming?"

Zou Shu watched a few part-time workers painting the walls and replied, "If you want them to come, they can come right away. I've already told them that my classmates are looking for jobs."

Now, more and more young people were returning to the city, but the job opportunities were limited. The older generation wouldn't step down, so how could the younger generation move up? Moreover, there were still siblings who hadn't gone to the countryside. Originally, a job was meant to be shared among siblings, but now the ones who had returned from the countryside were all grown up and wanted to find jobs to reclaim what they had lost. This situation caused dissatisfaction within families and put family relationships to the test!

Lin Qiangsheng nodded and went back to the store, asking Zou Shu, who had followed him, "How many people? We can only hire six people!"

In a classic work, "seven up, eight down" was a fixed boundary. Hiring more than eight people made one a capitalist, who "exploited the surplus value of workers."

"There are more than ten!" Zou Shu said.

"So many! Why don't they come over! We can only hire six people, which makes seven including you! We can't exceed seven. How many girls are there?"

Zou Shu thought for a moment and said, "There are seven girls."

Lin Qiangsheng shook his head and said, "We can only hire six people. If I hire more than eight, I'll be considered a capitalist! Being a capitalist is not good! I don't want to be criticized by the classics!"

Zou Shu asked, "What classics?"

Lin Qiangsheng pointed upwards, and Zou Shu nodded, seemingly understanding.

After a while, Zou Shu hesitated and asked Lin Qiangsheng, "Qiangsheng, you promised me that after working here for a while, you would help me get a job in the factory. When can I start working in the factory?"

Lin Qiangsheng patted his forehead and asked in a feigned surprise, "Why do you want to go to the factory! Isn't selling fabric here good? I pay you 45 yuan a month, and you can get any tickets you want! Why do you want to go to the factory? Your sister, Zou Xue, doesn't even earn as much as you! She only gets 36 yuan a month in the factory!"

Zou Shu shook her head and said, "The factory is still better. You promised me that after working here for a while, you would introduce me to the factory. Can you talk to your father about it?"

Lin Qiangsheng scratched his head and asked, "Isn't working here better than in the factory? You earn more and have more freedom!"

Zou Shu still shook her head and said, "The factory is better, it's a stable job! Working here always makes me anxious!"

Seeing Zou Shu's expression, Lin Qiangsheng was afraid she wouldn't stay much longer and finally nodded and sighed, "You go and introduce people. As long as they come, you can enter the factory!"

Zou Shu immediately smiled happily and said, "Okay, I'll call them right now!"

"Wait, go tomorrow morning. It's almost 3 o'clock, and it will be dark soon. Why run around now!" Lin Qiangsheng said, annoyed.

"Okay!" Zou Shu nodded heavily and then said to Lin Qiangsheng, "Thank you, Qiangsheng!"

At dinner, Lin Qiangsheng specially served his father a bowl of rice and placed it in front of him, saying, "Dad, have your meal!"

Lin Xiangrong glanced at his son and asked with a smile, "What's up? What are you planning in the factory again?"

Lately, Lin Qiangsheng had indeed put a lot of thought into the car factory, but it was all about how to use the resources of the car factory to make money for himself!

For example, during the production process in the car factory, various metal parts and leather scraps were collected.

Lin Qiangsheng's image in the factory was like that of a miser, a scavenger. For example, he had people pick up discarded leather scraps and thread ends and throw them into designated boxes for use as watch straps.

If these things were not collected, they would be pocketed by the workers, and over time, they could accumulate enough to solve all the material needs of his watch factory.

Since the watch factory was affiliated with the car factory, he only needed to pay an annual management fee.

Currently, such affiliated small enterprises were increasing. With the return of young people to the city, starting from the end of 1978, about 17 million young people returned to the city. Various enterprises and units had to establish various large and small collective enterprises to solve the livelihood issues of the returning young people. This was the origin of large and small collective enterprises.

The watches produced by Lin Qiangsheng were copper-cased, alloy-cased, and semi-steel watches. Semi-steel watches had stainless steel backs and copper cases with a chromium plating. Full-steel watches had cases made of stainless steel (which is hard and durable after processing) and were resistant to acid, alkali, and salt corrosion. Semi-steel watches looked almost the same as full-steel watches when new, but after some use, they would show copper due to friction and sweat, affecting their appearance and beauty. Therefore, full-steel watches were better than semi-steel watches, but semi-steel watches were cheaper. In fact, the terms "semi-steel" and "full-steel" used by the people at the time were actually evaluations of the quality of the watches.

Lin Qiangsheng chuckled and said, "Zou Shu, who helps me sell fabric! You've met her. She's a good girl, very hardworking! Let her into the factory!"

Lin Xiangrong laughed and said, "Why go to the factory? Isn't working for you good enough?"

Lin Qiangsheng rolled his eyes and said, "Where can you find a stable job like in the factory, which makes people feel secure!"

Mother Xu Hongmei asked, "What's wrong, son? Does the girl not want to work for you anymore?"

Lin Qiangsheng nodded and said, "I promised her that after working for me for a while, I would help her get a job in the factory!"

Lin Xiangrong thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "Okay, let her into the factory. Assign her to the mold workshop, where they are short of people."

Lin Qiangsheng was overjoyed, finally able to give Zou Shu an answer. He couldn't go back on his promise!

However, his father Lin Xiangrong then said, "By the way, your fabric store, you should stop it. It's too conspicuous!"

Lin Qiangsheng was indignant and said, "What's too conspicuous? Who reported me? I was planning to hire a few more unemployed young people to contribute to society!"

Mother Xu Hongmei laughed and said, "Son, that's a good point! Your small store is doing well, and many neighbors praise you! Your fabric store has helped them a lot!"

"Xiangrong, I think our son's small store is great. Solving a few employment issues is a big contribution to society! You don't know how chaotic it is outside. There are always young people wandering around the streets, and I don't know where so many young people come from!"

Lin Xiangrong had been in the factory for a long time and was somewhat out of touch with society.

The area around the large factory was like a small society. As long as you didn't go out, you could live your whole life there, and everything could be solved. Therefore, he didn't know the current situation in society.

Hearing this, Lin Xiangrong frowned and asked, "Is that true! How did it get to this point?!"

"The factory now feels short of manpower. I was thinking about reallocating people between workshops. It seems we still need to hire more workers from society to help solve some people's problems!" Lin Xiangrong was not lacking in a sense of social responsibility and felt that he would eventually have to hire people, so he might as well do it sooner.

As the workers in the factory became more skilled, the number of employees, which was less than a thousand, quickly became insufficient for the factory's needs.

According to Lin Xiangrong and the factory secretary Chang Yuanting's estimates, to achieve the goal of producing 2,000 cars per month, the factory needed to hire 1,000 more workers!

Currently, the mold workshop, casting workshop, and machining workshop were all severely short of manpower.

Lin Qiangsheng said, "Dad, why don't you propose to the provincial and municipal leaders to take out another loan to build more factories and add equipment? Our car factory is doing so well, and the leaders should support us!"

Currently, the provincial party secretary, Yang, who was very focused on industry, would definitely provide strong support for industrial construction. If he were to be transferred in a year, it would be uncertain what would happen!

Lin Xiangrong, with less experience in enterprise management, was unsure about loans. He hesitated and said, "But the factory hasn't even paid off the previous loan yet!"

Xu Hongmei said from the side, "I think Qiangsheng is right! Our health bureau has many hospitals and township health centers that are surviving on loans! Although the people can't do without these units, they can't pay off their loans. The car factory is doing well, but it needs some money to develop. If you don't take out a loan, it will only get poorer and poorer, and the rich will struggle to get by!"

Lin Qiangsheng smiled at his mother and said, "Mom, you have great insight!"

Xu Hongmei laughed and said, "I see the situation below. It's getting poorer and poorer, and the poorer it gets, the more help it needs, and it gets even poorer! This is the situation, and it's really worrying!"

Lin Xiangrong patted his wife's hand and comforted her, "The country is in a difficult situation now! It's not easy in any aspect. I think our factory should solve its own problems! Living in debt is not a comfortable life!"