Chapter 53 Printing
"Printing press?"
In the factory director's office, Director Ma had just sat down when he heard Song Yuanchao say that he wanted to borrow the factory's printing press. He was stunned for a moment.
The school-run factory had two printing presses. One was a wax paper and ink printing press. This machine had a very simple structure and relied on wax paper mimeographs and lever push-pull operations on the paper to print . Its principle was similar to that of rubbing characters.
This wax paper ink printing machine is generally used by school teachers to produce test papers. These test papers are ordinary test score papers and do not require very good printing effects. It is fine as long as they can be used properly.
Therefore, the test papers printed by this wax paper ink printer have uneven handwriting, the ink is easy to blur, and your hands will often be stained black when touched. But the key is that it is simple to operate and low cost, and it is used frequently in normal times.
As for the second printing press, it is different. It is an old letterpress printing press, a German product left over from before the liberation.
This machine is made of solid materials, with an overall cast iron and steel structure. There is a large rotating wheel on each side and a pedal underneath. To use it, just step on it, and the iron plate and relief plate coated with ink will start to move, putting the paper in position. As the lever and the connecting shaft move back and forth repeatedly, sheets of paper can be printed out one by one.
The printing results of this letterpress printing machine are excellent, the handwriting is clear and no different from the finished products printed by the printing factory. If you spend some time on the letterpress production, you can also print complex patterns.
However, compared with the wax paper printing press, this letterpress printing press is not used frequently. It is only turned on when necessary and is only used three or four times a year.
Although it is not usually used, necessary maintenance and upkeep are still performed, so even though this letterpress printing machine is nearly forty years old, it still runs well.
"Yes! It's the letterpress printing machine in the factory." Song Yuanchao handed over a cigarette and lit it with a match for Director Ma: "Master, the production task next month is not heavy, and everyone is idle anyway . It just so happens that a friend of mine is planning to print something, and I was thinking that this machine of ours is usually left gathering dust, so why not put it to use?"
"No!" Director Ma rejected it without even thinking: "How can we lend public property to others?"
"Master, please don't be anxious. Listen to my explanation. I didn't say I borrowed it for free." Song Yuanchao was not surprised by Director Ma's attitude. He smiled and said, "My friend mentioned this to me and I answered the same way. How can you use public property for personal purposes? This is against the principle!"
Director Ma nodded, and his serious expression eased a little.
Song Yuanchao continued, "But my friend said something else, and I think it makes sense. Master, let me tell you about it."
Director Ma glanced at Song Yuanchao without comment, smoking a cigarette and waiting for him to continue.
Song Yuanchao said, "My friend said that it's not for free. This machine is just for rent. He will pay the rent and labor costs. The fees can be calculated according to the number of prints. In addition, he wants to print some college entrance examination tutoring and review materials. Our school has these materials. If we can help him organize and compile them and then print them out, the other party is willing to give some compensation in one lump sum."
Following Song Yuanchao's story, Director Ma was slightly moved. Of course, public equipment cannot be given to private individuals for free. Director Ma was fully aware of this. However, if it was not used for free but rented, and labor costs and compensation were paid, it would not be impossible.
In fact, it is not uncommon for outside units to borrow printing presses, including some primary and secondary schools in the district. Because they usually only have ordinary wax paper printing equipment but not more professional letterpress printing machines, they will come to No. 2 Middle School for help to start and use this machine when needed.
However, that was help from a brother unit, so naturally there was no rent or compensation. To put it bluntly, it was just working for nothing.
"Which unit does your friend work for? How much rent does he plan to pay?" Director Ma thought for a moment and asked.
"He is an educated youth who has returned to the city. He and some friends are now planning to take the college entrance examination." Song Yuanchao replied.
"Private!" Director Ma was disappointed when he heard this, and shook his head like a rattle: "It's something that can be discussed between units, but why would a private person do this? Besides, how much can a private person print? This machine can print at least 500 copies at a time, how can he use so many? And he has to pay to rent it? Isn't this nonsense?"
"Yuan Chao, since you mentioned this to the master today, it would be embarrassing for you if the master didn't help you at all. So, tell him to borrow the letterpress printing machine, but you can borrow the wax paper printing machine for two days. It doesn't cost any money. The wax paper, ink, and paper are his costs. Just think of it as a friend helping you."
"Thank you, Master." Song Yuanchao nodded quickly, but then said with embarrassment: "But Master, the wax paper printing effect is too poor. My friend still plans to borrow the letterpress printing machine. He prints a lot of things, 500 copies for sure, maybe thousands of copies."
"So many?" Director Ma was shocked and looked at Song Yuanchao seriously: "Yuanchao, is your friend going to do anything illegal ?"
"Master, what are you thinking?" Song Yuanchao didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Didn't I just say that we should print some formal reference materials for the college entrance examination review? The college entrance examination is coming soon, and many candidates are in need of these things, but have nowhere to get them. Our No. 2 Middle School is a key middle school in Shanghai. Past exam papers and tutoring papers are rare outside, but they are not rare in our school. If we can sort them out and print and bind them into books, it will not only meet the urgent needs of these candidates, but also be used by students in the school..."
Song Yuanchao was a good speaker and he was also Director Ma's apprentice, so he explained the whole matter to Director Ma in detail. He told Director Ma that young people's enthusiasm for college entrance exams was obvious to all, but due to the special period, it was currently difficult to find suitable college entrance exam review materials outside, so these people had a great demand for these materials and there was no worry about sales.
Song Yuanchao's friend planned to cooperate with No. 2 Middle School for this purpose. The other party would provide the money, and No. 2 Middle School would help collect information and then print and bind it into books, so that both parties could get what they needed.
Director Ma was not a college student, and as a military major, he did not have a high degree, but he had been the director of the No. 2 Middle School's factory for so many years, so he knew the importance of knowledge. In addition, he had heard about the college entrance examination, but he had never thought about it. Now that Song Yuanchao had said this, he could not help but be tempted, even though he had not taken it seriously at all.
What Song Yuanchao said was right. The factory doesn't have many production tasks left, and the workers are relatively free. If they can do some other work during this period, it will be a good thing for the factory and the people in the factory to make some extra money and provide some benefits.
However, selling printed materials was something he was not familiar with. The school-run factory had always been engaged in the production of labor protection products, and had never dealt with such things before. Director Ma had no idea what he was doing.
"We don't have to take risks." Seeing that Director Ma was somewhat interested, Song Yuanchao immediately added fuel to the fire: "We can let them handle the sales, and we just need to provide the equipment and manpower. We will pay according to the amount of printing. If this can be done, we can also use this equipment in the future to print other learning materials and sell them on weekdays. This is a good thing for the factory. What do you think, Master?"
"You kid, you have a pretty smart brain, you can think of this." Director Ma laughed when Song Yuanchao said this. Seeing his expression, Song Yuanchao felt relieved, this matter was basically done!
Next, Song Yuanchao and Director Ma discussed how to calculate the rent, the labor costs, the cost of paper, ink, etc. In addition, the other party also asked No. 2 Middle School to assist in collecting previous years' test papers and tutoring materials, etc. How to calculate this?
Finally, the two sides reached an agreement and determined a price. Song Yuanchao happily told Director Ma that he would go back and talk to them today. Director Ma also had to make preparations in advance and report the matter to Principal Zhou. He also had to collect and organize the necessary information from the school, etc.
After leaving the factory director's office, Song Yuanchao was extremely happy. He had actually been planning this matter for some time, and today it finally came to fruition.
