Relationship scholars

  "Good policies bring people together, thousands of villages and millions of households are filled with smiles. No, it doesn't rely on heaven, no, it doesn't rely on gods, just a key to unlock the golden gate, open the golden gate..."

  At noon, the loudspeaker of Hanhua Machinery Factory sounded as usual. First, it played a red song sung by Li Guyi, and then the announcer began to broadcast a notice in Mandarin with a rich accent:

  "Comrades, all cadres and workers of the factory, I have a piece of good news to share with everyone. The Labor Service Company's production of Sleeping Lotus brand electric fans has been put into operation. To express gratitude for the concern and support from all cadres and workers towards the Labor Service Company over the years, we have made a special arrangement: all on-duty employees and retired employees who need Sleeping Lotus brand electric fans can purchase them at cost price of 100 yuan each, with a limit of one unit per person. Those who wish to make a purchase should do so promptly."

  "I'm appalled, let Bi Min write a draft, how did it turn out like this? Can you be any less articulate?" Lin Zhenhua listened to the announcement on the loudspeaker and was truly speechless. No choice, Hanhua Industrial Company really couldn't find a good writer, accountant Bi Min barely counted as someone with some culture, writing a draft that was full of propaganda clichés."

  However, the workers at Hanhua Factory didn't think there was anything wrong with this article. They heard a message from it, that everyone has the right to buy a low-priced Shui Lian brand electric fan. This electric fan is really good-looking and is said to be sold on the market for 248 yuan. If the factory price is 100 yuan, then it's a great bargain.

  Everyone is very assured of the quality of electric fans. The young workers of Hanhua Company reflected that Manager Lin has a very high requirement for quality, and the inspection process is one by one. If there is even a slight problem, it will be returned to the workshop, and the quality issue is directly linked to the salary of production personnel. Everyone is being extremely careful, afraid of making any mistakes. Under such strict control, it's not easy to find an electric fan with defects.

  When there is a cheap grab, no one will let it go. In just one day, more than 500 people registered to buy electric fans at Bimin's place, accounting for over 95% of the total number of factory workers. Some families bought them for their own use, while others wanted to help relatives and friends buy them. At that time, having connections to buy cheap goods was also a kind of capital. The opportunity to purchase an electric fan at cost price was not something anyone would give up.

  This cost price sales policy was a decision made by Lin Zhenhua after consulting with several old men. Hanhua Industrial Company is nominally independent, but it has a close relationship with Hanhua Factory. After the electric fan went into production, acquaintances who came to ask Lin Zhenhua for discounts on electric fans were endless. Chu Hongyang and others, as middle-level cadres of the company, also suffered from harassment.

  In this case, Lin Zhenhua finally announced that the factory would offer a discount to all employees, with each person limited to buying one unit at the ex-factory price of 180 yuan. This policy treats all employees equally, regardless of their relationship or distance from the factory. After purchasing this unit, if there are any further unreasonable demands, then don't even mention it.

  After this policy was introduced, Lin Zhenhua himself set an example by resolutely not giving his relatives and friends a pass. To achieve this, he even asked his father-in-law Yang Chunshan to sing a duet with him.

  According to the script written by Lin Zhenhua, Yang Chunshan chose a time when there were the most people in the company and came to find Lin Zhenhua. He said that a distant uncle of Yang Xin had heard that his nephew's husband had some power and wanted to buy an electric fan at cost price for personal use, and asked if it was possible.

  Lin Zhenhua immediately said it was no problem and called Bi Min to collect 100 yuan from Yang Chunshan and send out an electric fan. As soon as Yang Chunshan left, Lin Zhenhua took out 80 yuan from his own pocket and handed it over to Bi Min, asking her to put the electric fan on account at the ex-factory price.

  This play, under Lin Zhenhua's tacit consent and even hint, was spread through Bi Min's mouth and quickly spread throughout the Hanhua Company. So everyone knew that their manager also strictly followed the rules and regulations. If the manager is like this, what about oneself? People of that era were relatively simple and did not know that there was a conspiracy called "show" in this world.

  Regarding the limited purchase policy, some workers in the factory didn't quite understand at first and thought that since it was their own factory's products, what was there to limit. But after Lin Zhenhua did the math for them, they were convinced. The difference between the cost price and the ex-factory price was 80 yuan, with over 500 workers in the entire factory, each getting one electric fan at cost price, Hanhua Industrial Company alone lost more than 400,000 yuan just on this item.

  "We've lost 40,000 yuan all of a sudden, Manager Lin is really having a tough time."

  "Everyone in the company is from the factory, so let's not be too greedy, it's just about enough."

  "It's just that people's hearts are not enough to swallow an elephant."

  The workers talked like this and didn't mention buying extra things anymore.

  The problem on the workers' side has been resolved, and now it's up to the leadership. Liang Guangping called Lin Zhenhua into his office, where he praised him for 15 minutes for leading Hanhua Industrial Company in producing new products. Then, Liang Guangping raised a question: There are some important relationship clients in the factory who want to buy some electric fans at cost price; can Hanhua Industrial Company satisfy their request?

  Liang Guangping's request was made on behalf of the factory department. Hanhua Factory cannot directly give gifts to these related households, an electric fan costs over 200 yuan, if it is given directly to the related households, that would be a mistake. However, if the related households purchase from Hanhua Factory at cost price, then it's completely fine, not considered corruption or bribery, and can be openly talked about anywhere. At that time, this practice was very popular, and the phenomenon of opening the back door was widespread in society, and most of them were actually in this situation.

  "That's no problem at all." Lin Zhenhua said with a chuckle, but as soon as he finished speaking, he immediately added a restrictive condition: "As long as the quantity needed by the factory is not that large..."

  Liang Guangping asked with a smile all over his face: "Manager Lin, just give me the bottom line, how many units of cost-priced electric fans can you provide to our factory?"

  Lin Zhenhua asked back: "Director Liang, can I first understand what you mean by 'related households' in the factory? Which departments are they referring to?"

  Li Guangping said: "I'll tell you. Firstly, on the side of Qinghua Hall, the leaders and various departments should consider it?"

  Lin Zhenhua said, "This won't take too much, will it? There are four or five factories under the Light Industry Bureau that produce electric fans. I reckon the leaders in the bureau aren't very interested in electric fans."

  Li Guangping smiled and said, "Manager Lin, this problem lies with you. As soon as your electric fan samples come out, they overshadow those of other factories. In today's era, who doesn't want to buy the best when buying something? With our Shui Lian brand electric fans on display, leaders won't even give a glance at electric fans from other factories."

  "Hmm... alright, I was wrong. My biggest mistake is being too excellent." Lin Zhenhua said with a gloomy face, "How many units can we get from the Lightening Department?"

  "It's probably around a hundred or so, but actually some leaders also help their relatives and friends buy. Don't worry, as leaders, they all have a sense of propriety and won't speak up for those who aren't particularly close to them."

  "Lin Zhenhua nodded in agreement."

  "There are also some other units in the province, such as the Material Hall, Provincial Economic Commission, and Provincial Planning Commission. These may all need 10 or 8 sets, mainly those departments that have contact with us."

  "This will do." Lin Zhenhua nodded. At the very least, units like the Materials Bureau need to be flattered a bit, looking at those township enterprises that are struggling to find ways to get raw materials, and thinking about how he just got the materials for 50,000 fans by moving his mouth, this little flattery is nothing.

  "There's also Fenghua County, the six sets of provincial teams, we should show some respect too? And then there's the Public Security Bureau, Armed Forces Department, Education Bureau, County Middle School, Health Bureau, County Hospital, Power Bureau, Commerce Bureau, Deputy Food Company..."

  "Wait a minute, wait a minute." Lin Zhenhua hastily interrupted Liang Guangping, "Director Liang, what's the relationship between us and the Deputy Food Company?"

  "Of course, it's related." said Liang Guangping, "Xiaolin, during the holidays, can't we just allocate a little more pork and eggs? The deputy food company said that if we give them 10 electric fans at cost price, they will give our factory a quota of 2000 catties of pork this year. That way, each household can get an extra 4 catties of meat."

  "What about the business bureau?"

  "Fabric coupons, and also goods that were originally for export but are now being sold domestically. This year our factory has made some money too, so the year-end bonus will probably be one or two hundred yuan per person. Everyone can buy some fabric to make a new outfit or something, no need to get approval from the commercial bureau?" Liang Guangping explained.

  Lin Zhenhua was speechless with laughter, this is really enough to mess with. This relationship network is indeed too complicated, each unit takes out the benefits it can get and shares them with other units that have benefits. Electric fans are not rare things in Hanhua Machinery Factory, but they become good things when they go to the Food Company. The Food Company approved 2000 kilograms of meat tickets, which is just a matter of waving a big pen, but this can make the entire Hanhua factory's families smell the meat fragrance.

  Your poison is someone else's elixir, this is indeed a truth.

  "Alright, all these units, how many sets are we estimating?" Lin Zhenhua asked.

  "I've calculated it, 200 units should be enough." Liang Guangping said, and then he lowered his voice, making a gesture of confidentiality: "Xiao Lin, I'm telling you, some things can't be given too much, if you give too much, they lose their value. I'll just tell them that I only have this many quotas in my hands. No matter who comes to ask for it, I'll tell him that I squeezed it out from someone else. This way, they will remember the favor they owe us, do you understand?"

  "I've learned a lot." Lin Zhenhua said sincerely, he had to admit that in terms of relationships, if Liang Guangping was a graduate student, then he, Lin Zhenhua, wasn't even up to second grade level.

  "By this calculation, it's estimated that we'll need around 400 units. Lin, can you ask the company to make some sacrifices?" Liang Guangping asked. He also knew that Hanhua Industrial Company was now dependent on Hanhua Machinery Factory, and what he wanted were these electric fans, which would actually be encroaching on Hanhua Industrial Company's profits. If Lin Zhenhua disagreed, it would also be reasonable.

  Lin Zhenhua nodded and said, "Director Liang, don't worry, our Hanhua Industrial Company will always be a part of Hanhua Machinery Factory. The benefits of the factory are our benefits. Let me make a proposal, we'll count 500 units for the factory, and the excess portion, Director Liang can use it as he sees fit."

  Liang Guangping was overjoyed when he heard this, but he didn't fully accept Lin Zhenhua's kindness. Instead, he offered a suggestion: "Little Lin, since you have such an idea, I can give you a suggestion. Take out 400 units of quota and hand them over to the factory. For the remaining 100 units, write them into IOUs and distribute them to each of the factory leaders. This way, if anyone has any connections or relationships, they can just take one of the IOUs and go."

  "I'll write it all down for you, and then Director Liang can help distribute it. Isn't that fine?" Lin Zhenhua said, his laziness acting up again, thinking that this kind of thing didn't need to be personally taken care of, and letting Liang Guangping handle it would be enough.

  Li Guangping said with a sigh, "Little Lin, why are you so clueless? I'll help you deliver this, but who is the person behind it? Little Lin, you're still young and have a bright future ahead of you. You need to build your own network of relationships. You should personally deliver it to each factory leader's home and take the opportunity to chat with them more. It will be beneficial for you."

  "It turned out to be like this." Lin Zhenhua suddenly enlightened, and when he looked at Liang Guangping again, he felt that this person didn't seem as despicable as he had thought before.

  Lin Zhenhua is not a fool either. In terms of human relationships, he is just relatively lazy, but not incapable of understanding the ways of the world. Over the past year or so, Liang Guangping's attitude towards him has clearly improved, and many times he even shows a somewhat sincere and trusting demeanor. Lin Zhenhua knows that this is because Liang Guangping sees his development potential and is cultivating him as a promising talent.

  Lin Zhenhua remembered hearing a marketing master's lesson in his later years. The master said:

  When you are in a weak position, everyone can be a threat to you. But when you are in a strong position, former enemies will also become your friends. In fact, the best strategy in the world is not to use strategy, but to focus on doing your own things well and making yourself stronger. As long as you get stronger, all your enemies will willingly make friends with you.

  At this time, Lin Zhenhua had at least such strength in Hanhua Factory.

  "Thank you, Director Liang, for your guidance. I'd like to say something too - as a small Lin, I don't have much authority, but when it comes to this electric fan matter, I still have a say. If any of your relatives or friends need an electric fan, Director Liang, just let me know and I'll take care of it. Within 50 units, no problem." Lin Zhenhua patted his chest to guarantee, but perhaps he patted a bit too hard, as he felt a slight pang in his heart - 50 units, that's 80 yuan less per unit, which adds up to 4,000 yuan lost.

  "Haha, this goes without saying, I've always known you're a great guy, Lin. How about it, Lin? Come over to my place for dinner tonight?" Liang Guangping patted Lin Zhenhua's shoulder, showing his affection.

  "Uh, forget it then, Yang Xin is still waiting for me at home." Lin Zhenhua quickly slipped away.

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