Chapter 134 Zorro
"Uncle Ma, I..." Li Daqi was about to speak with a smile, but before he could finish his words, Director Ma opposite him glared at him.
"Okay, kid, don't I know you? You are just like Yuan Chao, you have your own ideas, full of twists and turns. Hey... When Yuan Chao was here, he reminded me to pay attention to the decline in orders for labor protection products. At that time, I criticized him a few times, but now it seems that he is right. Prepare for a rainy day. Your uncle Ma is old..."
"Uncle Ma, please don't say that..."
Director Ma waved his hand and sighed, "The great man was right. You young people are the sun at eight or nine o'clock. Compared with you young people, an old man like me cannot help but admit my age. Your uncle Ma's place is indeed not as good as before." As he said that, he pointed to his head.
"I will retire in a few years. Originally, I asked Yuan Chao to take over the factory after running it for the past few years. But now Yuan Chao has gone to Yanjing to study at university. After graduation, he will be a full-fledged state cadre. Letting him return to the factory will delay his future. Your uncle Ma can't do such a thing. Besides, I am his master."
As he spoke, Director Ma glanced at Li Daqi and suddenly laughed: "Daqi, Yuan Chao asked you to come to the factory and it was me that was asked. So we are destined to be together. Yuan Chao may not be able to come back, but luckily you are still here. I have seen your abilities and performance in the past few months. You are a good guy and a very smart talent!"
"If you don't mind an old man like me, you can call me Master from now on, just like Yuan Chao did."
Director Ma's words surprised Li Daqi. Just when Li Daqi was hesitating about how to respond, Director Ma said, "Why? Do you think I'm useless? Do you look down on me?"
"Uncle Ma, what you said... How could I possibly do that!"
"So you agree to this?"
"I agree, of course I agree. Uncle Ma, I am so happy that you said that."
"You still call me Uncle Ma?" Director Ma glared at him.
Li Daqi chuckled, scratched his head, and quickly changed his words, calling Director Ma "Master".
After the master-apprentice relationship was established, Director Ma became much closer to Li Daqi. The master-apprentice relationship now is not the same as it was decades ago. In this era, the master is like one's own father, and the apprentice is no different from one's own children. The master-apprentice relationship can be said to be the most solid relationship in the unit.
"Tell me, you are just like Yuan Chao. If you didn't have any ideas in your mind, you wouldn't come to me directly." Director Ma asked, pointing at Li Daqi with a smile.
"I still can't hide it from you, Master." Li Daqi also laughed and said immediately: "In fact, I discussed this matter with Yuan Chao on the phone. You just mentioned the personnel issue, but the key lies in the equipment. If the factory can spare some funds and buy some more equipment, this problem can be solved. The key depends on whether you agree, Master."
Director Ma thought about it carefully. The equipment for making fake collars is nothing more than sewing machines. A sewing machine costs about 200 yuan. It is not the best, but it is good enough for the factory. Although their factory is not a large state-owned factory, they still have a quota for purchasing sewing machines. The key is to have money.
The two batches of fake collars had a total of 9,500 pieces, and the factory made a profit of 0.3 to 0.7 yuan per piece, which averaged out to about 0.5 yuan per piece. In other words, the two batches of fake collars earned the factory a profit of 4,750 yuan, which is not a small amount.
It would not be a problem to use part of the money to purchase equipment. After careful consideration, Director Ma immediately decided to use 2,000 yuan to purchase ten sewing machines, and at the same time recruit a few temporary workers to increase production by having the old workers bring up the new workers.
"You are also aware of the situation of the fabric. After all, the scrap fabric is not a regular fabric. The quantity is limited and the patterns are uneven. So what Yuan Chao means is whether we can use the relationship with the factory or other channels to specially purchase a batch of regular fabric. In this way, it will be more convenient to make a single style and it will be easier to increase production."
Director Ma nodded. Having worked in a factory for half his life, especially in a factory producing labor protection products, he naturally understood all these things. However, there was one problem: the price of scrap cloth was cheap, and more importantly, it did not require cloth coupons. Once it was changed to length-sized cloth, not only would the cost increase, but the factory would probably not be able to get that much quota.
In this regard, Li Daqi explained that he and Song Yuanchao agreed that the use of scrap cloth would not be stopped, but a batch of suitable good cloth would be made based on the use of scrap cloth. Anyway, the quota is based on quantity and not product. These cloths are specially used to make high-end false collars, which are originally expensive. In this way, the cost problem can be spread out as the quantity increases. If the sales are good, the production of this part can be gradually increased in the future.
In response to this suggestion, Director Ma immediately said that he could give it a try and make a batch first, and then continue if it works. This is also for Director Ma to be cautious. After all, the factory was seriously damaged by the orders for labor protection products some time ago. Although the orders for fake collars have suddenly increased, Director Ma is still a little unsure.
Li Daqi understood Director Ma's idea, so he did not make any further requests. In his opinion, Director Ma's ability to solve the important link of manpower, equipment and fabrics had already met his expectations. In his heart, he also thought similarly to Director Ma. After all, Shanghai was too far away from Yanjing, and Li Daqi could not judge how long Yanjing's current booming situation could last.
Song Yuanchao, who was in Yanjing, was unaware of what was happening in Shanghai, but he believed that Li Daqi would be able to handle it.
Today is Saturday. Luo Yang went to find Song Yuanchao early in the morning before class, mainly to express his gratitude to him. The business of the store has been very good these days, with a stable daily shipment volume of more than 600 pieces. The shipment volume on Sunday almost doubled, which made Luo Yang full of excitement.
In order to express his gratitude, Luo Yang specially got two internal movie tickets for Song Yuanchao and secretly put the tickets into Song Yuanchao's pocket. Luo Yang also told him mysteriously that these two tickets were hard to get, and he should remember to bring Yan Zi with him.
Song Yuanchao smiled and nodded. After Luo Yang left, he took out the movie ticket and took a look. The ticket was similar to an ordinary movie ticket, but it was stamped with a blue seal with five big words "Internal Observation Ticket". This kind of movie ticket was not something that ordinary people could get. In this era, only special people could watch internal movies, and ordinary people were happier than celebrating a holiday to get a movie ticket like this.
"Yanzi, look at what this is?" After class, Song Yuanchao and Lin Yan met in the cafeteria. They took a walk in the campus for lunch. When they were alone, Song Yuanchao took out the two movie tickets and waved them in front of her.
"An internal movie?" Lin Yan was stunned at first, then she cheered and quickly snatched it, turning it over and over in her hand: "Tomorrow morning's movie? Where did you get this ticket? Internal tickets are hard to get."
"Haha, this kid Luo Yang gave it to me." Song Yuanchao replied with a smile.
"Luo Yang? He gave it to me? Why?" Lin Yan showed a puzzled expression. In her opinion, Song Yuanchao and Luo Yang were not familiar with each other. In fact, they only really knew each other when they met by chance at Lao Mo last time.
How long has it been since then, and Song Yuanchao and Luo Yang have such a good relationship? This seems a bit surprising.
Song Yuanchao smiled and leaned close to Lin Yan and whispered in her ear: "It's nothing, actually. I helped him with a small favor some time ago, so he gave me two tickets today to thank me."
"A little favor?"
"Don't worry, it's really just a small favor." Afraid that Lin Yan would misunderstand, Song Yuanchao told her about Luo Yang's store selling fake collars. Of course, he cut out both himself and Luo Yang, and just said that it was a store opened by Luo Yang's childhood friend, and Luo Yang knew that he had some connections in Shanghai, so he asked him to help find sources of goods. This kind of small matter was a piece of cake for Song Yuanchao, so Song Yuanchao helped him, and Luo Yang gave him two tickets.
After listening to Song Yuanchao's explanation, Lin Yan suddenly realized that there was nothing wrong with this. She was just afraid that Song Yuanchao would do something to make her worry like he did in Shanghai.
As for Song Yuanchao's mention of Luo Yang's childhood friend opening a shop, Lin Yan didn't care. After all, after the National Day, the outside market has gradually opened up. In the past month or so, outside vendors have sprung up like mushrooms after rain, and some private shops have also appeared one after another.
Putting this matter behind her, Lin Yan happily looked at the movie ticket. When she saw the movie title written on the ticket, she frowned slightly: "What movie is this? Zorro? Why is the name so weird?"
"I'm not sure, but we'll know when we go to see it tomorrow. It's an internal movie, so it must be good." Song Yuanchao said with a smile.
That’s right, this internal movie was the famous "Zorro". Song Yuanchao had naturally watched it several times in his previous life. He remembered that the first time he watched it was in 1981 when the unit’s trade union issued movie tickets. At that time, this movie was all the rage, and the handsome and dashing lead actor Alain Delon made countless girls fall in love with it.
Right now, this movie has not been officially released in China. If Song Yuanchao remembers correctly, this movie was dubbed by the Shanghai Film Dubbing Studio this year. Maybe it was just completed and released internally, so there was such an internal movie.
Listening to Song Yuanchao's words, Lin Yan felt that it made sense, and she didn't bother about what the movie was about. She immediately asked Song Yuanchao with great interest whether she should wear clothes to watch a movie tomorrow. Watching an internal movie in this era is no different from watching a drama in later generations. When going out, you must wear the best clothes and dress yourself up beautifully, and Lin Yan is no exception.
The two discussed this matter for a long time and did not return to the teaching building until the afternoon class time. Early the next morning, Song Yuanchao packed himself up and rode his bike to wait near Lin Yan's house. After waiting for about ten minutes, he saw Lin Yan coming from afar.
Lin Yan was dressed particularly beautifully today. It was already a bit cold in Yanjing in the autumn . She wore a half-high-necked white sweater on her upper body and a coffee-colored plaid coat on the outside. The coat was slightly gathered at the waist, showing Lin Yan's exquisite figure.
With her long black hair draped over her shoulders and light makeup on her face, she walked towards Song Yuanchao with a smile on her face, like a person who had walked out of a painting.
