Chapter 113: Some Are Engaged in a Protracted War

No one had expected what this machine would change.

At this moment, Wei Dong’s thoughts were still quite simple: just make sanitary napkins. He had bought some before at a foreign trade mall in Huhai, but reportedly, very few people ever bought them.

How could precious foreign exchange coupons be spent on such things?

The taboo in people’s minds made everyone ashamed to even mention it, which precisely indicated that the market was completely untapped.

He recalled the price at the time was about five or six mao per piece; factoring in the cost of exchanging coupons through scalpers, it came to about one yuan each, ten yuan per pack. With a monthly salary of just forty yuan, who in society could afford that?

Then it was necessary to lower the price for the benefit of hundreds of millions of women.

This matter was even more important and enduring than cameras.

Resolute, Wei Dong instructed Gou Dan and the others to disassemble, package, and load the machine onto the truck again, taking special care with the three rolls of “sample” raw material.

With his insight and judgment, it was clear the focus was on those raw materials.

As for the dozen or so pieces produced when the machine was first started, they had already been passed around and examined on-site.

Wei Dong only managed to grab one piece. On a whim, he glanced at Sister Shen Sanjie, wanting to ask if she wanted to try it out, but felt that might be too abrupt and crossing a line.

Now, at least, he wasn’t so rigid.

However, leaving was not so easy. Someone on site asked him about the machine: “Where are you from? Which organization?”

At that glance, Cuiyue Shen thought Wei Dong was signaling her. Hearing the word “government” with a somewhat stern tone, she immediately trembled.

Still, she forced herself to stand beside Wei Dong, her expression masked by a face covering.

Wei Dong felt the tension through the contact of her arm and looked at her in puzzlement.

The key was his reply: “I’m a salesperson from Xishan Optical Instrument Factory, but originally from Shangzhou City. This time, I attended the Guangdong Fair representing the office director of the Shangzhou Municipal Committee’s Reform Commission. There, I met foreign merchants discussing building a tissue factory, so I worked on this... Now I’m back, planning to build a factory in Shangzhou.”

Even though he had been back for a year, Wei Dong instinctively treated Jiangzhou as the direct provincial capital of Shangzhou.

But he immediately saw the slight annoyance on everyone’s faces: “Those are all surrounding counties. Can your factory be built in Jiangzhou? We can try to offer you some preferential policies.”

Then he realized that although the Xishan factory was only a few dozen kilometers from Jiangzhou city, that area belonged to Shuchuan Province, and it remained so after becoming a direct municipality.

Shangzhou was now a prefecture-level city operating alongside Jiangzhou, even larger in area, and building a factory there had nothing to do with this place.

He himself was hesitating about which side to choose.

He quickly threw out a probe: “What kind of policies, for example?”

The decisiveness of a city with a separate planning status was different; they promptly listed several:

- Factory land allocation was almost free; although the land belonged to the state, usage rights extended for decades.

- Tax exemptions for the first three to five years, making taxes almost zero.

- Preferential loans with interest rates basically zero, as long as the loans were repaid.

If this imported equipment could also bring in Sino-foreign joint ventures, there would be even more benefits, essentially doubling these policies!

Because Jiangzhou currently had only two or three newly established Sino-foreign joint ventures, all were large state-owned enterprises partnered with overseas investors. There were no private enterprises, let alone wholly foreign-owned ones.

They didn’t say more, but the implication was clear: many gaps urgently needed filling!

To achieve these results, there were many benefits to be had.

The girl in the mask was dumbfounded.

The government they faced was always fierce and ruthless. How could it be so kind and approachable here?

Wei Dong, however, knew these free lunches were fraught with danger, at least judging by the tax exemptions.

So he chose an unexpected angle.

Songhai Yu had once used this tactic: “There was a February document from the province about factory-school cooperation to promote technological reform, right? If this factory is built in Jiangzhou, I hope to receive technical support from Jiangzhou universities and locate the factory nearby. Otherwise, this factory couldn’t just be about one machine. The essence is to learn and digest foreign technology into ours and replicate many machines, which requires technical personnel involvement.”

Previously, at that machinery factory in Shangzhou, wrangling with technicians and engineers to develop vacuum machines, after seeing the Japanese machines copied by Huhai, he realized the direction was completely wrong!

The technical gap was indeed far too wide.

Moreover, the Huhai manufacturers’ approach to copying was to precisely replicate every detail without any deviation, which he didn’t fully endorse.

That method could only achieve a 100% replication, but given the different national conditions and markets, it should be done at 120%, 200%, or even 300% performance.

Only with forty years of simple national pride, combined with the emotional drive given by Zhang Lanzhi, could such bold and fearless ideas arise.

At this time, aside from a few farsighted scientific masters, everyone else bowed to the lead of developed Western countries.

No one dared to casually modify imported advanced equipment settings.

Of course, he didn’t say all this openly, but many present applauded: “Yes, yes, there is such a document!”

“That’s right. This young comrade’s awareness of the subjective initiative in factory-school cooperation is commendable and worth supporting.”

“There’s a meeting in the city tomorrow. Your matter involves the Industrial Bureau, the Light Industry Bureau, the Foreign Trade Company, and also the Education Bureau and Higher Education Committee. It’s perfect to resolve everything together in the city.”

Having had deep contact with Shangzhou leaders, attended meetings in Chengdu for commercial institutions and state factories, and visited factories in Yuezhou and Huhai, Wei Dong really felt a clear impression now.

The coastal areas seemed somewhat better, but provincial capitals and prefecture-level cities inland felt like fixed, inescapable roles—everyone either watched leaders’ attitudes or, like You Qili, had to rebel to gain fame.

Jiangzhou, this planned separate city, seemed full of vitality because policies were flexible and it was close to special economic zones, eager for new changes, new jobs, and new opportunities.

This was impossible in the more routine provincial capitals and prefecture cities.

Witnessing this special machine alone could stir everyone to create something new.

Just this pragmatic atmosphere made him lean toward Jiangzhou. After scheduling the meeting place for tomorrow and handing out business cards, he set off by car.

Cuiyue Shen climbed into the cab, panting heavily.

After Wei Dong drove the vehicle out of the compound, she slowly spoke: “I’ve never been to the government, but I’ve registered at the police station.”

The driver looked at her: “Hmm, I was locked up for a few months before. I used to tremble whenever I saw white uniforms. It’s better now. Shitou and Mao’er even went with me to meet Shangzhou leaders.”

There was no way to keep in touch over hundreds of kilometers these days. Hearing about the younger brothers, the older sister finally relaxed: “Did they do well?”

Wei Dong then recounted everything from the beginning about those two’s movements, guarding things in the truck bed, and their experiences at the docks and slaughterhouses.

Cuiyue Shen listened with great interest: “Going out with men is definitely different.”

Wei Dong had already driven into the guesthouse compound. “I originally planned to return to Shangzhou overnight, but plans never match changes. This machine will obviously do better in Jiangzhou. Shangzhou already has enough business to conclude. How do you feel about the restaurant these days?”

The street-smart girl replied, “The food street is full of hotpot and Sichuan dishes. This spicy hotpot place is unique, especially the sour soup flavor from your hometown—it’s become a big brand. Many food lovers from other districts come here for it. If you have the money, you should open a branch. You just said you want to open a factory near the university; that’s where the branch should go. Isn’t there always staff available?”

Wei Dong had never considered opening a second spicy hotpot shop, but hearing this, he immediately agreed: “Good. Then you arrange and select the staff. If it’s confirmed tomorrow to open the factory near a university, we’ll move the hotpot shop there too. At least it can serve as the factory cafeteria. Yes, doing this kills two birds with one stone and saves some costs... Manager Qin, thank you for your hard work.”

It was obvious that the young guys from the countryside fell far short even of Wei Dong’s basic skills from his previous life, let alone leading and managing work.

Wei Dong briefly considered asking the manager of this military depot guesthouse to be the factory director.

But then he thought about how uncertain this sanitary napkin factory’s success was, especially since the guesthouse in the city center was lucrative.

No one wanted to give up their iron rice bowl.

This was a huge psychological barrier, difficult to overcome.

So he only handed over the expenses for registering the shoe company to Qin Jianjun, who had come to meet them, and casually asked about the official information of several districts in Jiangzhou, which districts had better universities and enterprises.

This was definitely a level difficult to access from the docks’ fringe, but Qin Jianjun was well versed in it.

This ensured that when Wei Dong went to the city for a work meeting the next day, he would have some understanding of the city’s economic layout.

In his previous life, he never cared about any of this.

Of course, Cuiyue Shen accompanied him, calculating and enduring through the night. There was really no one else by his side who could handle this kind of situation.

Her parents were content selling good spicy hotpot, not needing to get involved.

The dock girl was very good at gauging limits—she made her stance clear but didn’t proactively cozy up or volunteer, preferring to first show her value.

But hearing about going to the government meeting, she instantly panicked. The casual, carefree demeanor she had shown in front of Wei Dong vanished.

Yet she had one trait—she didn’t shirk responsibility.

Since she said she was going, she braved it, head held high.

Seeing this expression, Wei Dong smiled.

He took her to a department store near the military post to buy a suit dress. It was actually similar to the one from eastern Guangdong, but she usually looked casually sloppy, even wearing loose protective work clothing to hide her figure, which was actually quite good.

The dress highlighted Cuiyue Shen’s curves beautifully.

Streetwear was still relatively conservative; many people had never seen such figure-flattering clothing.

Even the sales clerk admired it.

The rising star of Yanmen had trained for years in vain—she certainly hadn’t expected this modern office lady style. Surprised, she changed into it, looked at herself confidently in the mirror, and even gestured to ask if she should keep the face mask on.

Wei Dong thought she was hiding her identity: “Doesn’t matter. Get a new one. Let’s go.”

After all, there was no excitement left.

From ghost to human in an instant.

They couldn’t find black silk stockings, only knee-high socks, which would have to do.

Cuiyue Shen obviously had never worn those before; they squeezed her thighs uncomfortably and kept slipping down while walking through the department store.

She didn’t blush or shy away but directly asked what to do.

Wei Dong had to teach her to ask if they had garter belts for sale.

He was now well-versed in all this, treating it as standard work necessities.

At the shoe counter, he bought a pair.

Back in the car, he put on the yellow-gray suit jacket hanging in the cab: “For occasions like this, you have to dress a little more upscale.”

Cuiyue Shen’s face mask, which had always been worn like a piece of dirty tripe, was now pure white. From her own old long pants, she pulled out a small comb about the size of a business card, with ultra-dense teeth.

In old times, without shampoo, disinfectant, insecticide, or hair wax, people used this to scrape the scalp and lice.

She first tentatively sat down to help Wei Dong tidy his hair, then fixed her own messy hair. She was originally braiding it but stopped when they parked. She quickly loosened it and tied it up as a whole bunch.

Then, together, they gawked at the government parking lot nearby—the towering, magnificent, spectacular grand auditorium!

Their big truck stood among a sea of Huhai brand cars and 212 jeeps, making the working-class vibe even stronger.

Compared to Shangzhou, this place was naturally much more generous.