Chapter 29: Where Does Your Confidence Come From?

Chen Geng loudly said, "I will now clearly inform everyone that Zhang Xiangyang and Yang Lei will be running business for our third industry office. Their income will entirely depend on commissions. The more business they bring in, the more they earn; the less business they bring in, the less they earn. If they bring in no business, they will not only receive no salary, but also will not be reimbursed for travel, accommodation, or food expenses."

He paused, observing everyone's reactions, and then continued, "Of course, everyone can rest assured that this condition only applies to Yang Lei and Zhang Xiangyang. If others also want to run business, even if they don't bring in any business, their travel, accommodation, and food expenses will still be reimbursed."

Upon hearing Chen Geng's words, everyone fell silent. The looks they gave Zhang Xiangyang and Yang Lei were no longer filled with anger and jealousy, but with sympathy: How could the Chen family be so fond of 'sacrificing their own kin for the greater good'? Chen Geng's father was like this, and so was Chen Geng. Having such a brother meant not only missing out on benefits but also suffering losses... What kind of karma must they have accumulated in their past lives?

Would Chen Geng really let his supportive brothers suffer? Ha...

"Alright, does anyone still have objections to Yang Lei and Zhang Xiangyang joining our third industry office? If you have any objections, please raise your hand!" Here, Chen Geng used a small trick.

This small trick was quite effective. Perhaps some still had objections to Yang Lei and Zhang Xiangyang joining the third industry office, but when Chen Geng explicitly asked for objections, people hesitated, looking around. Seeing that no one raised their hand, they ultimately did not raise their hands either, fearing that Chen Geng would target the first to speak up.

Chen Geng remained calm, feeling no sense of self-satisfaction. In his view, if he couldn't handle such a situation, he shouldn't even talk about ideals. He nodded slightly, "Good, since no one has any objections, let's all give a round of applause to welcome Comrade Yang Lei and Comrade Zhang Xiangyang to our third industry office family!"

"Clap, clap, clap"

The applause was not very enthusiastic, but it was applause nonetheless. Zhang Xiangyang and Yang Lei visibly relaxed, knowing that they had been accepted by the third industry office.

Chen Geng continued, "I know everyone has doubts about whether I can lead everyone to do a good job... more realistically, whether I can lead everyone to make money. After all, I'm just a recent graduate with no work experience. Can I really lead you to make money? Don't deny it; that's what you're all thinking, right?"

Chen Geng's way of speaking was very different from the norm of the era, making people feel as if he was chatting with them personally, which made them feel closer to him. Everyone laughed, "Ha ha..."

However, Chen Geng's words did hit a nerve: Indeed, if he messed things up and then left, he would face no consequences, but they would be the ones to suffer.

"I know that no matter what I say now, you will still have doubts. But my upcoming work requires your full support, so I have arranged some insurance for you!" Turning around, Chen Geng pointed to the military green jeep behind him and loudly said, "Yesterday, I went to the military district and borrowed this 212 jeep from the leadership. What is this jeep for? It has two purposes: one, as our production resource; and two, anyone who supports my work can use this jeep to learn how to drive, and the military district will arrange for you to take the driving test..."

Before Chen Geng could finish, everyone was in an uproar, and their eyes were filled with enthusiasm: Learn to drive? Become a driver?

In this era, a driver's license was like a magic tool for finding a job or a partner! If they learned to drive, they wouldn't worry about finding a good job. To get this opportunity to learn to drive, they would be willing to do anything Chen Geng asked, even clean the toilets.

As for whether Chen Geng could arrange for them to take the driving test, no one thought much about it: If the director could borrow a jeep from the military, arranging a test would be easy.

Chen Geng was very satisfied with everyone's reaction. He pressed his hands down and said, "Anyone can sign up. My requirement is simple: support my work! I guarantee that if everyone supports my work, within three months, your salaries will reach the level of our factory, and you will also receive bonuses. If I can't do it, I will arrange for you to learn to drive..."

"Director, as long as you let me learn to drive, I don't care what you ask me to do, even if it's cleaning the toilets!" someone shouted from the back.

"Ha ha ha..." Everyone laughed.

Chen Geng also laughed, "No need to clean the toilets, we can't take jobs from the sanitation department... But since everyone has no objections, I will officially take up my position."

"Clap, clap, clap..." Everyone spontaneously applauded, showing their appreciation for a leader who was willing to find ways to help them learn to drive.

"Director Lin, you say you can lead us to make money, but what exactly will our third industry office do?" Before the applause had died down, Sun Weihong eagerly called out, "If there's nothing to do for a while, can I start learning to drive?"

Although he had just questioned Chen Geng, Sun Weihong was very interested in the opportunity to learn to drive: If he could learn to drive, he wouldn't worry about finding a good job.

"Don't even think about it!" Chen Geng said bluntly.

Everyone burst into laughter, and Sun Weihong felt a bit embarrassed, shrinking his head.

Seeing everyone's reaction, Chen Geng also laughed, "I know not only Comrade Sun Weihong but everyone is concerned about this: What gives Chen Geng such confidence?" Turning around, he patted the 212 jeep behind him and loudly said, "I will tell you, my confidence comes from this!"

Just this 212 jeep? Looking at the 212 jeep beside Chen Geng, everyone was even more puzzled.

...

"You say you want to invite some of our factory's technicians to help your third industry office?" Liu Qianjin widened his eyes.

"Not help, but provide technical consultation and technical support, which means inviting them to be our technical advisors," Chen Geng corrected him seriously, "The third industry office will pay them a consulting fee of 1.5 yuan per day."

Isn't that the same thing? Liu Qianjin was a bit confused.

However, he wasn't very concerned about this and said straightforwardly, "Sure, but the people in your third industry office are all children of our factory. The people you are inviting are their fathers. Should fathers teach their sons and get paid? How about this: I'll post a notice at the gate to inform everyone, and that's it."

Liu Qianjin's method was certainly the most cost-effective, and Chen Geng believed that if it were done this way, the technicians providing support would have no objections. However, this was not what Chen Geng wanted. Shaking his head, Chen Geng explained to Liu Qianjin, "Director, this technical support is not for a day or two, or even a month or two. If it were just a day or two, it would be fine to ask for free help, but for such a long time, it would be unreasonable to ask for voluntary labor, don't you think? Besides, the technicians are not just guiding their own children or relatives and friends. If it's their own children, of course, there would be no objections, but if it's someone else's children and it's free, wouldn't they feel uncomfortable over time?"

"Hmm... That makes sense." Liu Qianjin had to admit that Chen Geng had a point. He hadn't considered it thoroughly. After all, it was asking people to work for free. If it were teaching their own children, it would be fine, but what about someone else's children? From this perspective, Chen Geng's proposal to pay a 'consulting fee' was the best solution. However, thinking about the money, he felt a bit reluctant, "But if we have to pay a consulting fee, that's not a small amount of money."

"As long as our project goes smoothly, making money won't be a problem," Chen Geng said confidently, "At the very least, the consulting fee won't be an issue, and we won't need the factory to subsidize it."

Chen Geng's mention of making money piqued Liu Qianjin's curiosity, which he couldn't contain, "I hadn't thought about that. Xiao Chen, I've always wanted to ask you, what exactly does your third industry office plan to do?"

Chen Geng's confident demeanor made Liu Qianjin extremely curious: Where does he get such confidence?

Chen Geng honestly said, "We plan to upgrade the 212 jeep, focusing on improving its comfort."

Upgrade?

Improve the comfort of the 212 jeep?

Liu Qianjin had never thought that the 212 jeep could be associated with 'comfort.' The 212 jeep had been 'upgraded' before, but those were official upgrades, such as adding a recoilless gun or converting it into a battlefield ambulance. But an upgrade for comfort? What kind of nonsense is this?

Faced with Liu Qianjin's confusion, Chen Geng had to explain in the simplest terms, "One is to improve the vehicle's sealing to prevent it from leaking air when it's running. At the very least, in winter, the cold wind won't blow into the car while it's on the road. The other is to find a way to make the ride smoother..."

"Can you make the 212 jeep run smoothly without bouncing?" Liu Qianjin's eyes lit up.

If someone else had said this, Liu Qianjin would have laughed in their face. But Chen Geng was not only a student of the automotive engineering department at Huqing University but had also studied at Volkswagen for over a year. Most importantly, he had a good relationship with the German engineers at Volkswagen, which made Liu Qianjin a bit intrigued.