I can travel back and forth in 1986

Chapter 79 First Meeting

Upon hearing this, Liu Jianguo seemed to be paused, frozen in place for two seconds before turning around and quickly pulling out a chair to gesture for him to sit down.

Old Zhao tactfully withdrew and gently closed the door behind him.

The room fell silent, with only Liu Jianguo's slightly heavy breathing, his gaze fixed on Zhang Beichuan's face.

It seemed as if he was desperately trying to organize his thoughts, or as if he had a lot to say but didn't know where to begin.

They were afraid that if they said the wrong thing, they would scare away their only savior.

Zhang Beichuan's face was calm, but seeing his nervousness broke the silence.

"Director Liu, could you please tell me in detail what the current situation is like at the factory?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Jianguo seemed to have finally found his direction. He hurriedly pulled out a thick stack of documents from the drawer and spread them out on the table in a flustered manner.

"Comrade Zhang, the situation... the situation is like this..."

Zhang Beichuan listened attentively. Dongfeng Injection Molding Plant has 64 employees, and they haven't received their salaries since May.

To date, they owe nearly 40,000 yuan in wages.

The factory's skilled workers are still there, and the six injection molding machines, all of which were added in 81/82, are in normal working order after maintenance.

There are probably still about three thousand unsold plastic basins and buckets in the warehouse. Nobody wants them, and they've just been piling up there.

After Liu Jianguo finished speaking, he stared intently at Zhang Beichuan.

"Comrade Zhang, I know this is a mess. Wages, unsold inventory, no orders... each one is a problem. But the factory has a solid foundation; the factory buildings are ready, and the workers are all skilled. As long as we have orders and some start-up capital, it can get running!"

His tone grew increasingly urgent, as if he wanted to tear his heart out.

"I'm not trying to shirk responsibility; it's just that I, as the factory manager, am incompetent and have led the factory into a mess. Since you're asking around, I assume you must have a solution, right?"

Zhang Beichuan could hear the almost humble plea in his words, as well as the anxiety of having nowhere else to turn.

With nearly 40,000 yuan in back wages, plus the need for equipment maintenance and initial material purchases, it would take at least 50,000 to 60,000 yuan to get the money back.

Right now, he only has about six thousand yuan on hand, which is almost ten times less than his current amount.

This was worse than he had anticipated. Where was he supposed to conjure up so much money in such a short time?

The silence made Liu Jianguo's heart leap into his throat. He dared not urge him, and could only nervously rub his hands together, fine beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.

"Director Liu, if I take over the contract, will the factory's unpaid wages for the workers also be charged to me?"

Liu Jianguo paused, organizing his thoughts and weighing the options.

Dongfeng Injection Molding Plant faces two major challenges: wages and orders, or rather, business direction.

One concerns the present, the other concerns the future.

But if wages aren't paid soon, the workers' families are almost starving, and any further delay will definitely cause problems. They won't agree to continue working for free.

But 40,000 yuan is not a small amount. How many people in the county or city have the capacity to come up with so much money to cover it up?

After returning from Chen Mingyuan's place, he carefully calculated that the remaining inventory in the factory could be sold cheaply in rural areas for five or six thousand yuan.

Since Chen Mingyuan promised to find a way, he should be able to find a way to get some money, but he estimated it wouldn't be much, at most ten thousand yuan.

In other words, the workers' wages are still more than 20,000 yuan short.

Both he and his superiors would be happy for the contractor to pay this money in advance, with the difference being gradually deducted from the profits handed over by the contractor.

But Zhang Beichuan's question clearly indicated that he didn't want to pay the money upfront.

This put Liu Jianguo in a difficult position, leaving him speechless for a long time.

"Comrade Zhang," Liu Jianguo said slowly, his voice heavy with weariness, "Logically speaking, the contracting should not involve holding the previous administration accountable to the current officials, but our factory really can't think of a solution."

"At most, we and our superiors can cover around ten thousand yuan. The rest will probably have to be paid by you."

After saying that, Liu Jianguo, seeing his increasingly furrowed brows, quickly added.

"Of course, this portion of the money advanced may eventually be deducted from the profits turned over in the following year."

Seeing that Zhang Beichuan's brows relaxed slightly, he continued.

"Besides, given our factory's current situation, if we don't resolve the wage issue, even if you manage to revitalize the factory, the workers will be causing trouble every few days, and the business will be unstable!"

After listening to his rambling words, Zhang Beichuan understood that Liu Jianguo was telling the truth, and he quickly calculated the remaining shortfall in his mind.

"Factory Manager Liu, since the factory and the higher-ups can cover part of the wages, do you think it's possible to persuade everyone to resolve the issue in installments?"

"Installment payment plan?" Liu Jianguo was clearly taken aback. "How exactly will the installment plan be?"

"First, distribute the funds that the factory can raise. Then, I will pay a portion of the remaining wages as living expenses for the month, at a standard of 30 yuan per person, so that the factory can get running again."

He paused, his gaze fixed on Liu Jianguo.

"As you, Director Liu, surely know, Dongfeng Factory must change its business direction to survive. This requires upfront investment, and I can't possibly throw all my money into filling this hole!"

Liu Jianguo was also considering his suggestion, and after thinking it over, it seemed to be the most reliable solution at the moment.

Without Zhang Beichuan as the contractor, the Dongfeng factory's employees would have had to wait even longer to receive their wages, and the factory might even have gone bankrupt.

"This...is difficult, but we can give it a try. We'll need to sit down and discuss the specifics with employee representatives and higher-level management."

After saying that, he pressed on, "I haven't had a chance to ask yet, Comrade Zhang, what exactly are you going to do after you take over?"

The fact that he didn't immediately agree to the installment payment suggestion relieved Zhang Beichuan quite a bit.

If Liu Jianguo had agreed without even thinking, then he would really have to question the decision to take over the Dongfeng factory.

It now seems that Liu Jianguo wasn't just looking for someone to take over the business; he genuinely wanted someone who could revitalize the factory.

Zhang Beichuan took a lighter out of his pocket and handed it over.

"Lighter assembly plant".

"A lighter assembly plant?"

Liu Jianguo was slightly taken aback at first, then looked at the self-igniting device in his hand.

This thing looks familiar, like I've seen it somewhere before?

While he was examining the lighter, Zhang Beichuan briefly explained his thoughts.

"I can get my hands on key components like ignition devices and constant flow valves. The factory produces the corresponding lighter casings and plastic parts. If I have the capability to purchase or manufacture some hardware parts myself later..."

Liu Jianguo's thoughts were quickly drawn to Zhang Beichuan's words.

"So, how much would it cost to assemble a lighter like this?"

"The total cost depends on the cost of mass-producing a lighter body in the factory. Mr. Liu, do you estimate that with the factory's technology, we can produce a certain number of these?"

Liu Jianguo looked at the plastic lighter in his hand over and over, then weighed it in his hand, and made up his mind.

"There's a small mold workshop in the factory. It costs some money to order the molds in the early stages. But I think these things aren't very big. If we really mass-produce them, we should be able to get them for 3 to 5 cents each."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Beichuan felt somewhat disappointed.

Making a lighter body costs 3-5 cents, which is enough to buy a complete lighter in 2026.

Including the cost of other components, the manufacturing cost of a flint lighter is about 6-8 cents, while that of a piezoelectric lighter is close to one dollar.

But then I realized it was a problem with equipment and experience, and I should be able to find a solution later.

Considering that telling the truth directly would cost less than one yuan, which would be too shocking and would frighten Liu Jianguo, Zhang Beichuan said half-truthfully.

"If that's the case, then we should be able to keep the cost of producing lighters around two yuan!"

"How...how much? Around two yuan?" Liu Jianguo stood up abruptly, looking at him with disbelief.