As expected of Shen Ruyi, who always takes a practical approach, he thought of asking for money so quickly after getting angry, which is the most practical thing to do. But the two people on the side obviously didn’t think so, and their faces were distorted with confusion.
“What’s wrong? Can they only ask us to support them in the future? But we can’t ask them to give us money now.”
Shen Hui raised his hand and gently brushed his head. “You little brat, all you care about is money, right?”
“What else? If we don’t ask for money now, won’t we lose out when we grow up? Mom and Dad will lose out too. They raised us, but we still have to support that irresponsible person. My mom is losing out too much; we have to ask for money.”
“Let’s not do that.”
Huihua was a gentle person, and when she thought about asking the two for money, she immediately wanted to back out. What if the two used this opportunity to ask one of the three of them to stay? She herself was definitely not willing to follow them, and she was reluctant to part with her elder brother and younger brother.
“Yes, I don’t want their money.” Shen Hui was very stubborn. He was extremely disappointed with his mother and didn’t want to look for her at all.
“Oh, how could you two be so stupid?” Yiyi jumped off the bed anxiously: “When they get old and can’t work anymore and come to us, none of us three can run away. Isn’t it stipulated by law? So we have to ask for money now; otherwise, the three of us will lose money in the future, and so will our parents.”
“Humph, I’ll go far away so they can’t find me. Let’s see how they let me support them.”
Shen Hui’s personality is really similar to Li Xia’s. Li Xia would rather her son do this than what he did, so the mother and son quarreled like that in the previous life. But her son has such a personality. When he heard that he would have to support that person in the future, he immediately wanted to ask him for money. Otherwise, it would be too bad. As for feelings, there is no feeling here except calculation.
“Yes, let’s go far away and take our parents with us.” Huihua is really a caring little girl who never forgets her parents.
Well, since his brother and sister couldn’t be persuaded, Yiyi could only give up his plan. Anyway, his mother said that the problem of lack of money has been solved, so there is no need to look for money for the time being.
In the main room, Shen Haiyang asked with concern what was going on. “We have placed an order for small parts at the factory in Zhongyuan. The equipment and components from the United States will arrive soon. The factory is preparing to recruit workers, and they need to be trained before they can start working.”
“Go for it; I’ll be there for you whether you make a profit or a loss. If there are any more problems, we can just sell the house or the car.”
“no,”
Li Xia was at a loss for words for her husband. He was supporting her by selling his house and car. But it sounded so unimpressive. Why did he start by calculating what he would do if I lost money?
“Don’t worry, I won’t make you poor. Just wait for my good news.”
“Okay, I’ll wait for you to make a lot of money.”
The couple took the sheets, pillowcases, and clothes outside to wash, chatting while washing. Seeing how relaxed they were, the three little ones also happily came out to play in the water.
Qin Mu was cooking in the kitchen. In addition to being responsible for the family’s meals, she also took care of the old man’s daily life. She was also worried that Li Xia’s business would fail; after all, the couple now followed her. Seeing how their family was today, it was estimated that there would be no problem.
“Add two dishes tonight: spinach with nuts and pork with garlic. Let’s celebrate.”
Li Xia paid the balance of the equipment and then waited for the manufacturer to deliver it to China for installation. By this time, the factory building had been completed, and she had kept 20% of the project payment.
“I will definitely settle it next year.”
“No, you’re putting too much pressure on me.”
“I haven’t used the factory yet, so of course I have to put some pressure on it. Otherwise, who would I turn to if something went wrong?”
“How could there be any problem with our city construction project?”
“Mr. Chen, time is the only criterion for verification.”
No matter what, Li Xia withheld a part of the project payment. She didn’t have enough money. A 1.8-meter-tall man was covered with a 1.6-meter-long quilt. If he pulled a little more, he would be embarrassed. She could only try to keep as little as possible so that she could have more money.
It was her first time opening a factory, so she was nervous and under great pressure. It was the first time she felt tired since her rebirth, and she felt heavy all over. She didn’t say a word when she got home. She didn’t hire an engineer, and he could only serve as a consultant. She didn’t have any technicians at all, so she couldn’t run the factory like this.
She has classes tonight and has to go to class after dinner. She lies on the bed and waits for dinner. Her body is resting, but her mind is still working, thinking about what to do next and how to make the most of the money in her hand.
After thinking it over, she realized that the money was not enough. The equipment will arrive soon. She should recruit workers now, so she would have to pay them next month. There would have to be at least a few hundred workers, and the monthly salary alone would be a considerable amount.
It’s okay; it’s okay; the investment is big, but the return is also big. Once the factory starts operating, the profit will be huge. With hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, she will have a bigger platform to display her talents.
She was very tired and fell asleep while thinking about something. She vaguely heard someone talking, and then someone went out. She wanted to open my eyes but closed them because she was too sleepy. Then she woke up, got out of bed, put on her shoes, and went to see what was going on.
When she went out of the yard, she could vaguely hear voices coming from not far away, so she followed the sound and walked towards the place. When she arrived, she saw a group of children standing by a ditch. Her father-in-law picked up her son from inside, and Huihua and Shen Hui reached out to catch their brother.
“Mom,” Huihua saw her shouting, and she comforted the little guy: “You guys take care of your brother first; I’ll help grandpa up.”
“Okay.”
She helped the old man out of the canal, and both of them were covered with half of their calves in stinky water. The old man, who was so elegant, became embarrassed this time, and it was all her son’s fault. She looked back at her son with a gloomy face, and the little guy quickly explained.
“Mom, it was Xiaopeng who pushed me down, and he ran away. Humph, when I get better, I will seek revenge on him.”
“Okay, can’t you just be a good boy? It’s so nice to watch TV at home with your brother and sister instead of getting into trouble outside every day.”
“Daughter-in-law,” the old man and Shen Haiyang spoke at almost the same speed, neither hurried nor slow, very gently. “Children learn about the world through exploration and play. Yiyi has a cheerful personality, rich imagination, and strong hands-on ability. These are all the child’s strengths. As for any small accidents in the process, I have just told the child to pay attention to safety.”
Li Xia took a deep breath and looked at her father-in-law, feeling sorry for causing him to go down the canal and getting his trouser legs covered in stinky mud. The old man smiled slightly and didn’t care at all.
“I will just go home and wash it.”
Yiyi looked at his mother and grandfather and guessed why his mother was like that. He smiled brightly at his grandfather. “Thank you, Grandpa.”
The old man reached out and rubbed his head. “Let mom take you to the hospital. Be good on the way.”
“Ok, I know.”
“Dad, then you…”
At this time, Qin Mu was passing by while buying groceries. After telling her about the situation, she helped the old man home, and Li Xia took her son to see a doctor. The little guy was held by his mother and kept silent. He also made his mother’s clothes full of stinky mud.
Shen Hui stood up and said, “Mom, wait here for me. I’ll go home and ride the tricycle over.”
“No, you two watch Yi Yi; I’ll ride.”
She couldn’t drive because she was so dirty, so she asked the children to wait here. She went home, changed her pants, and quickly rode the tricycle back. The three children sat on her back, and she rode to the hospital.
The boy was examined in the hospital and found that his joint was dislocated. The doctor moved his hands to reset it. Yiyi screamed in pain and then covered his mouth. Facing his mother’s distressed eyes, he grinned and said it didn’t hurt.
“It doesn’t hurt anymore.”
Li Xia touched the child’s head distressedly and said, “I’ll make you something delicious when I get home.”
When they came out of the clinic, Li Xia was still carrying him on her back, with the two older children in front. He whispered to his mother on her back. “I caused Grandpa to fall into the canal. Mom didn’t want Grandpa to be angry with me, so she scolded me, right?”
“Yes.” She never said these things to her children in her previous life, but in this life she pays great attention to communicating with her children. She should let her children know that she loves them. “You are my biological child, so you don’t have to care about what your mother says about you in front of others. But you must remember what your parents say to you behind your back.”
“I understand. Grandpa is actually very good to me. He treats us like brother Hui.”
“Grandpa is just like dad; both are generous and forgiving people. But our relationship with Grandpa is not at that level yet, so sometimes we still have to be careful. When time goes by and our relationship deepens, we won’t have to worry about any minor frictions.”
“Oh. I will be nice to Grandpa in the future, even better than my biological Grandpa. After a long time, we will be close, just like dad and I.”
What a naughty boy! Li Xia smiled and asked something else. “Are you familiar with the kid who was playing with you?”
“Yeah. His father is paralyzed, and they live with their grandmother.”
Really, it’s so similar to what Shen Hui did before. Li Xia didn’t plan to go to the door to ask for an explanation. The child didn’t play on purpose. The family was so pitiful, she just had to accept the fact that she spent money on the brat.
“Mom,” Shen Hui was about to say that he would carry Yiyi on his back for a while when he suddenly saw his family’s car coming towards them. “Dad is here to pick us up.”
Not far from the hospital, Shen Haiyang drove over. He listened to what the child said on the way but did not criticize him. Yiyi was the most mischievous of the three children. Li Xia said that he seemed to become more stable after entering high school.
“Be careful; luckily, no bones were broken. Choose a safe place when you play.”
“Got it. Dad, where did you go this weekend?”
“There’s something I need to work overtime to solve.”
“oh.”
Children don’t understand adult matters, so they don’t ask any more questions. The brat was locked in the room when he got home and was not allowed to come out. His brother and sister strictly followed their mother’s orders. He was locked up and couldn’t go out. He sighed when he looked at his feet.
“I’ll be more careful next time.”
Knowing what the little boy feared the most, Li Xia immediately controlled his vital point. He could have gotten out of bed in three days, but he was kept in bed for a week. The little boy would learn a lesson much more easily if he was scolded. In the future, he can play around, but he must remember to pay attention to safety. He would act like a spoiled child when he saw his mother, wanting her to spend more time with him.
“Have you memorized all the poems your father taught you?”
“I’ve memorized them all. Mom, can I go out and play tomorrow?”
“Okay.”
“Oh yeah, I’m finally free.”
After being liberated, Li Xia was still busy. Her father and his team were originally going to return home after the project was completed, but when he heard that she was looking for workers, his eldest brother immediately had an idea.
“What are the conditions? How high a level of education is required?”
“Yes, at least you have to graduate from junior high school. And you have to receive training after you come here; otherwise, you won’t be able to take up the job.”
“You have to be younger, right?”
“Brother, do you want to work in the factory?”
“No. I want your nephew to do this.”
Her eldest brother’s eldest son is 20 years old this year and is also working on the construction site. This kid is a hard worker and not a troublemaker. It is not impossible for him to stay in the factory now. He can be competent for the work on the assembly line after training.
“Okay.” Before her brother could finish his joy, she continued, “He can’t mention his relationship with me in the factory. I treat all the workers equally. He should do what he is capable of. I won’t give him any backdoors. I won’t take care of him if he lives in the dormitory.”
“Of course. He is your nephew, so even if he can’t help, he won’t cause you any trouble. Big brother knows that this is the Shen family’s business, so he won’t make things difficult for you.”
“Well, then let Xuedong stay and sign up when the factory starts recruiting.”
“OK.”
“Third brother, you should stay and learn how to drive, and help me with transportation in the future.”
“Isn’t it going to cause you any trouble?”
“No, I also need someone I can rely on to do things around me.”
“Okay, I’ll go and learn, and I’ll work hard for you in the future.”
Finding workers for the assembly line is not a problem, but Li Xia is worried about technicians. The old man signed a cooperation agreement with a foreign manufacturer. In addition to the production line, most of the core parts were also provided by them. They will come to provide technical guidance for the installation.
But they can’t stay for long, and once production starts, technicians are a must. At this time in China, college students and technicians have iron rice bowls that cannot be easily pried away.
“If we recruit technicians, the salary will be three times that of ordinary workers. If they are at the engineer level, the salary will be more than ten times that.”
A big reward will always attract a brave man. Now this is the only way to recruit technicians. After the product is launched, she plans to set up a research and development department to develop her own products. If she can’t make a complex one, she will make a relatively simple one. The next 20 years will be the golden age of home appliances.
The factory recruited workers, and the general workers required half men and half women, aged between 20 and 35. There was no age requirement for technical jobs, and the conditions were very generous.
There was no movement for the skilled workers, but the general workers were fully recruited in three days. They were notified to come for training in two days, and the training teacher was hired by Li Xia from night school, majoring in mechanical engineering. Anyway, they were both earning extra money, so they were happy to earn an extra job.
“Why don’t you consider working for me?” Li Xia took the opportunity to win people over.
“It’s okay to make extra money, but it’s not okay to give up your stable job.” The man paused and shook his head. “That’s not okay.”
Li Xia was helpless, as they were all reluctant to give up their stable jobs. In the afternoon, she was training workers and saw a familiar figure in the crowd: Fang Zhongchengg’s second brother’s wife.
After a closer look, it was really her. This person should not be unaware of whose factory this was. Why did she come to her factory? Could she be a spy planted by Fang Zhongcheng and his wife?
No matter what, she couldn’t keep the woman in her factory in such a relationship. She immediately called Xiao Liu, the person in charge, and said, “Fire that woman.”
Xiao Liu had been working with Li Xia since she started selling clothes, so she nodded without asking any questions. Fang Laoer’s wife was fired just after she successfully signed up, and she kept asking why.
“Your hands are not up to standard.” Xiao Liu made an excuse.
“My hands are not up to standard. Why are my hands not up to standard?”
“Your little finger is too long, which affects your work on the assembly line.” She waved her hands and said, “Okay, okay, it’s only the first day, and we haven’t lost anything. You can just find another one.”
Xiao Liu left, and she stamped her feet on the ground in anger. Murong Danling asked her to find out about Li Xia’s situation, and she also wanted to make money. The two of them hit it off, but how come she was chased away as soon as she came in?
“It must be Li Xia. She refused to rent the house to us, and now she’s ruining my job.”
Are you sure they want to destroy your job? This job belongs to someone else. They might give it to you, but knowing the relationship between your two families, how can they give it to you? You have bad intentions, but you are blaming others.
“Sister Xia,” Xiao Liu still habitually called her sister, “are the salaries of technical staff really that high?”
“Yes. Why did someone come to sign up?”
“Here comes one. He said he used to work on the assembly line in a state-owned factory.”
“Oh. Let the teacher we hired interview him later, and if he is okay, he can stay.”
R&D needs more high-end talents, but workshop production also needs ordinary technicians. If we can’t recruit high-end ones, it’s okay to recruit a few ordinary ones.
The workers were trained for half a month, during which time four ordinary technicians were recruited. The production line and the first batch of electrical components from the United States also arrived, and the factory immediately began installation in full swing.
The two technicians from the United States did not understand Chinese, so language communication was difficult for a while. It was only after Li Xia hired a translator teacher who trained the workers to act as interpreters that the work went smoothly.
The factory was led by technicians to install the production line, and she became busy day by day. She ran around the factory and other places during the day and went home at night to the backyard to chat with the old man. In fact, she was asking for advice.
The more she listened to the old man, the more she realized how poor she was. Although she had a second life, her knowledge and experience basically came from TV and word of mouth, and she had no idea about the insights and details of the story.
What you learn from books is always superficial. One must practice it oneself to truly understand it.
“We must focus on quality and taxation, and we must not play tricks on them. Quality determines the life or death of a factory, and taxation determines whether a factory has a future.”
“I know that quality is important. If the quality is not up to standard, the company will soon go bankrupt. But as for taxation, many people in this era… I will strictly control the taxation and will not cheat or slack off.”
No matter how much she lost in taxes, she couldn’t think of this loophole, no matter how tight her money was. The old man looked at her with a teachable look, and the father-in-law and daughter-in-law were more like teacher and student together.
