Chapter 47: Severe Crackdown

  The wine was scattered, the people left, and the days returned to normal. Qi Qiushi and Old Master Lin quickly completed the formalities and negotiated a rent with the county's machinery factory. They were eager to do so because they had not been able to pay wages for half a year. Qi Qiushi also established a cooperative relationship with the county's glass factory to produce frosted glass covers.

  Qiu Shi also brought back several retired backbone personnel from the provincial capital factory, who were supposed to be retired but were actually only in their early fifties and had no choice but to retire early in order to become formal workers. With their addition, plus skilled technicians, production could begin.

  Mr. Lin first gave this miscellaneous army systematic training, with a fully streamlined operation, knowing what to do and how to do it, quality inspection standards, etc., making everyone dizzy. However, Qi Qiu put out the word that "those who don't pass the training can't go on the production line, they can only be auxiliary workers and get the lowest wage." Everyone was treated equally, Mr. Lin had a military background, he was decisive and ruthless, no one dared to play tricks on him.

  After the raw materials and purchased machine tools arrived, their makeshift factory began to operate, and the first batch of pendant lamps produced were personally escorted by Shou Hou to Yangcheng.

  Han Zhiqian took them apart, very delicate. Left ten, and the rest were transported to Japan and the United States.

  Later, Qi Qiu Shi bought all the products that came out one after another at the ex-factory price and sold them to various yamen and backyards of the county committee, thus smoothing out all relationships.

  At the end of August, my aunt took the train to Beijing, and Qi Qiu Shi and my mother saw her off at the school. At that time, after passing the college entrance examination, the state would assign jobs, and the household registration and grain ration relationship would also be transferred to Beijing. Before my aunt left, Secretary Wang sent someone to deliver a 'Hero' brand gold pen.

  A month later, Qi Qiu Shi and his team received an order contract for 500,000 units, to be delivered in batches next May, at a unit price of $70.

  When the news arrived, Qi Qiu Shi and others simply didn't dare to believe it until they saw that the deposit of 1 million US dollars had been received. Everyone was so excited that they couldn't sleep.

  After calming down, Qi Qiushi said anxiously that production must be accelerated, but the raw materials were in short supply. What to do? At this time, there was a shortage of raw materials, and some were also supplied to state-owned factories. Those who were not favored by their parents could only buy at high prices, and it was not certain whether they could buy them. And those who used their family relationships to resell steel and other scarce goods could make hundreds of millions in a year. Alas, people are compared with each other, and goods are compared with each other.

  "Come with me to find Secretary Wang. With this contract, we can get a few more finished products." Lin Laoye and Qi Qiu Shi tidied up and went to the county committee.

  Director Wang warmly received them, not only did he get the county machinery factory up and running again, but also there were no personnel issues, they didn't even have time to thank him. After hearing their intentions, he was extremely excited, as the country was in dire need of foreign exchange, the government strongly supported their enterprise, giving them whatever they needed, including foreign exchange subsidies.

  With government support, they went all out and worked quickly while ensuring quality.

  Qiu Shi is busy, his grandmother's house left him a room, for this batch of orders, he is the whole day in the factory as home.

  Grandma continued to work hard at her steamed bun shop, and the county high school renewed their contract for another two years. Not only did they want her to continue delivering steamed buns, but also baozi (stuffed buns), and the pancake stall was even busier. Since the village started growing "greenhouse vegetables", the livestock industry has also developed, and income has increased. It can be seen that parents are no longer stingy when it comes to their children's meals. As a result, Grandma hired two more workers.

  Dad is still working on road construction, Mom continues and also enrolled in a correspondence course.

  Fang Mo Nan stared at Mo Bei and her new teacher.

  Leonard is now good at everything except letting him demonstrate his playing. When he first heard the little violin, his eyes widened and he dared not believe that this was a four-year-old child's performance. The talent is very good, the musicality is very strong, and the technique needs to be strengthened.

  Leonard looked at Mo Bei seriously and said that the music industry is not lacking in geniuses, but those who truly stand on the top stage are only a handful. Why don't you jump up.

  "If it's just about cultivating sentiment and improving one's own refinement, then I've already taught you in a playful way." He said lightly.

  "No... no... I want to be like them." Mò Běi took out a cassette tape cover, on which was printed a man playing the violin. Although she didn't think they were that great, but her goal was to work hard in their direction.

  Leonard looked at the cassette tape cover she was holding, his eyes flickering, "The path of music is very bitter, just like a Chinese proverb says, 'One minute on stage, ten years of work off stage. Very bitter...very bitter...Sometimes even with hard work, you may not achieve your goal." He seemed to have some feelings, recalling his own experiences, and his expression turned melancholic.

  "For the sake of suffering, I don't feel any pain at all, and it's even joyful." Mo Bei tilted his head, still unable to understand the suffering he was talking about.

  "Hmph... what's the point of talking to you about these things? You won't understand anyway." Reynard sneered. He then spoke seriously, "If I'm going to teach you, you can't cry and complain, or give up halfway through."

  "Hmm" Murong Busily nodded and said.

  "Xiao Bei, tell him you like playing the violin." Fang Mo Nan, sitting on the threshold, swinging his legs, chimed in.

  "It was because it sounded so good. When I first heard Old Man Lin play the violin, the notes dancing on the strings, I was enchanted." Murong said frankly.

  "Mindset determines status, heart determines atmosphere, and vision determines boundaries. Regardless of the art form, it's just a tool for expression. As long as you're in this line of work, insiders can hear your true voice through music, and the emotions you express can't be hidden. Even if you try to deceive, you can only fool outsiders.

  In Chinese Buddhism, there are three levels of enlightenment: first, "seeing mountains as just mountains, seeing water as just water"; second, "seeing mountains as not mountains, seeing water as not water"; third, "seeing mountains as still mountains, seeing water as still water". Returning to simplicity and authenticity, stripping away external decorations, and restoring the original state is the highest level of enlightenment.

  Fang Mennan continued, most people aren't musicians, but they like listening to music because it sounds good. I suggest you take a look at 'Tao Te Ching'. These are things that can only be understood through intuition, not words."

  Reynard bowed his head in contemplation and even borrowed "Tao Te Ching" from Old Man Lin to study, but for now he still needs to learn Chinese well before grasping the profound principles.

  Reynard was a demonic coach when teaching Mubai to play the violin, criticizing him regardless of whether he was a child or not, and sometimes even speaking in English. Mubai was also stubborn, playing over and over again until Reynard's face was no longer dark and his words were no longer sarcastic. Meanwhile, Mubai's hands and arms were nourished by Fangmengnan's spiritual energy every day, massaged.

  At this time, Fang Mo Nan was always coldly ridiculing him on the side, "A person who doesn't dare to demonstrate has the qualifications to say others." He had never given a demonstration when teaching Mo Bei to play the piano. It seems that his heart knot is not shallow, and it's unknown when it can be untied. The two of them always argued with each other, and in order to avoid Mo Bei, they directly used English to "argue", as a result, Mo Bei's English improved rapidly day by day in order to understand what the two were saying, this was an unexpected gain.

  While Renard, in the still of night, always held "Tao Te Ching" to repeatedly read, and actually memorized it. What he didn't understand, he entwined with Old Man Lin to explain in simple language, carefully pondering. A strict teacher produces superior students, Mo Bei's progress was also clearly visible.

  "The violin dare not touch, this demonstration can?" Fang Mo Nan handed over the erhu to him.

  "Huh? What's this?" He curiously touched it all over, being extremely surprised.

  "This is the erhu, our traditional instrument, I play it," Fang Mo Nan sat on a small stool and played a section of Mongolian horse racing music, which was very infectious, cheerful, delicate and smooth.

  Mo Bei arrived with enthusiasm and quickly set up his equipment, accompanied by a violin. The two of them worked together seamlessly, especially at the end when Fang Mo Nan's erhu produced the sound of a horse's neigh.

  Reynard felt as if he were galloping across the vast and beautiful prairie on a spirited horse, mane flowing in the wind.

  "Wow, this is an instrument." Renard said curiously, the timbre was like a human voice, very infectious.

  "Try it and see how." Fang Mo Nan handed it to him, "You don't want to pull anything else, this will do anyway." "Practicing what you preach is always better than gesturing for half a day without us reacting."

  "I'm just curious, traditional instruments, just trying." Reynard took the erhu and looked at it for a long time in his hand, then found the pitch. Then he played another horse racing song.

  The master is the master, and the erhu in his hands has a more distinct personality, rich artistic charm and national flavor. Fang Mernan seems to see the intense scene of horse racing on the grassland, it vividly presents the vast beauty of the grassland and the joy of the herdsmen.

  After finishing playing a piece of music by Ravel, the sound lingered on for a long time. He sat there savoring it, "This one, from now on I'll play this."

  "That's mine"

  "You're buying another one, aren't you?" Reynard said with a rogue's grin.

  Renard's current life is carefree, teaching violin at Beihai Primary School during the day, playing the erhu in his free time, eating Chinese cuisine, and arguing with Fang Mernan. Although he sometimes can't understand profound Chinese phrases, loses miserably, and has to look up words in a dictionary, he still enjoys it immensely. His proficiency in Chinese is improving rapidly, especially when it comes to scolding people without using profanity.

  The days are spent leisurely, but there is one thing that is inconvenient - no flush toilet and bathing is not convenient either. If these things are ignored, the days are quite relaxing.

  When Fang Mernan was busy playing the erhu, Grandma was steaming buns, and Old Master Lin was busy with factory affairs, Yan Da began.

  Liang Zi and Shou Hou closed their shop early today, they were in a bad mood. "Hey, you're closing up really early today, it's not even dark yet!" Fang Mo Nan was sitting at the door selling mantou and baozi, Grandma went to deliver mantou, no one was home so Fang Mo Nan took over.

  "What's wrong with you three?" Fang Mo Nan asked, seeing their strange gaze at her.

  "No, today they shot another ten or so people," said Liangzi.

  "Ah, you've been there." Fang Mo Nan asked, looking at their expressions. "Do you know anyone?"

  "There are a few acquaintances, and I even fought with them before," said the fatty. "They just fought and brawled, stole chickens and dogs, never committed murder or arson, yet they were shot dead."

  "Shut up, you fatso! Don't want to live anymore, shouting this on the street." The thin monkey covered his mouth and said in a low voice, glancing around.

  They stood on the steps at the door, still feeling a lingering fear, and looked at Fang Mo Nan's eyes with a different gaze. They had personally experienced that unprecedented turmoil. Memories of various struggle sessions and trial meetings were still fresh. Many people, especially Liang Zi's father, were actually beaten to death in those struggle sessions. Now they were extremely grateful to have gotten out early and followed her; otherwise, they would not have escaped today either. They admired her even more.

  At that time, the main reason for the deterioration of social security was that after the special period ended, a large number of educated youths returned to cities in 77 and 78 years. The city, which had just experienced ten years of turmoil, could not digest such a large labor force at once, so there appeared a term with the characteristics of the time - "unemployed youth". At the age of 18 or 20, without work, idle and lazy, they often did many things that harmed social security. At that time, the procuratorial organs were thoroughly destroyed in the turmoil of the special period and could not handle these matters in a timely manner with complete legal procedures, resulting in a vicious cycle. By 82 and 83 years, social security had become very severe, and the government was forced to adopt the method of "severe crackdown" - strictly cracking down on crime.

  The slogans put forward at the time of the nationwide crackdown were: Those who can be caught must be caught; those who can be sentenced must be sentenced; and those who can be executed must be executed. On the day of the "strike hard" campaign, countless people were arrested across the country, and many local detention centers were overcrowded, with no room to hold anyone else, so temporary places had to be found to detain them.

  Strict crackdowns may be controversial today, but at that time public order was on the verge of losing control, and there was no other way.

  "No wonder there are fewer loafers and hoodlums on the streets," muttered Fang Mengnan.

  "Nan Nan, have you been busy these days? You don't even..." Fatso said exaggeratedly, looking at her as if she were an alien.

  "She doesn't have the leisure to care about this, with a never-ending pile of homework, you think she's like you, reading books and then sleeping." Liang Zi gave him a look of frustration, wanting him to study more wasn't easy.

  Just then Grandma finished sending off the steamed buns and sent Fang Mo Nan and the others on their way.

  "Alright, no more sentimentality. You two have come at just the right time, I have something to discuss with Xiao Hou." Fang Mo Nan said.

  "I" pointed at the thin monkey with a puzzled face, then looked at Liangzi, who was also confused.

  After they entered the house, Fang Mo Nan asked them to look up at the ceiling. She turned on the switch, "Wow...this is a pendant lamp with a fan. It looks great." The fat man exclaimed, having only heard of it before, and finally saw it this time. He curiously pulled the switch, two strings, one bright and one dark, and the speed of the fan also changed suddenly.

  "This is what Qi Qiu Shi and his team produced." Liang Zi said to him, who was playing with a pleased expression, "Fatty, don't be like a kid, turn off the air conditioner."

  "Yes," Fang Mo Nan said.

  "How much is this ceiling fan?" asked Skinny Monkey, looking up at the ceiling fan.

  "The market price is 288 yuan," Fang Mennai said.

  "It's okay, we see that similar products are not much better than ours, and this one has four-leaf design, with three small exquisite yellow lanterns, which instantly upgrades the grade. It's worth spending a few dozen yuan more, it's better than buying those stupid big black rough ones."

  "What's the cost of this?" Liangzi felt a bit abrupt again, "Never mind, let's not talk about it."

  "There's nothing bad to say, all costs and expenses are included, over 100. We set the ex-factory price at 200 yuan per piece, and the remaining 88 yuan is for sales channels to make a profit."

  "What does this have to do with me?" The thin monkey said. "Wait, you mean for me to sell this."

  Fang Mo Nan nodded, the thin monkey was indeed tempered, and he understood the elegant meaning of the zither. "Now that the store's profits are no longer so high, it's not suitable for you to stay there."

  "This won't last long either." Fang Mo Nan thought that the country would also crack down on speculation and profiteering.

  The thin monkey quickly got into the role, silently calculated in his heart, subtracting transportation costs, storage, and store profits, "Enough to move a considerable number of people."

  In those years, ordinary people even when they were the poorest, would still save money at home and have grain in hand, so they wouldn't be worried. And it's strange, everyone rushed to buy, as if they couldn't afford to miss this opportunity, or else there wouldn't be a store like this after leaving the village. They would spend all their savings to buy something, even if they had to scrape together every penny.

  The sales of various durable consumer goods that do not match the market are very hot, and the traditional three pieces are not to be said. In society, there is a new saying about "three pieces". The definition of this new "three pieces" has never been clear, and it seems that it was electric fans, washing machines, and color TVs in the early days, and later joined refrigerators, air conditioners, audio equipment, motorcycles, etc. Finally, one day, people lost interest in the definition of these "three pieces", because there are already ten or eight electrical appliances at home.

  People have no brand awareness, as long as they can buy somewhere, even if it's a substandard product, they will bring it home and repair it. At that time, men would all do this: when the electrical appliances at home broke down, they would first disassemble them to try to fix them, and only when they really couldn't be repaired would they think of other solutions.

  "Our county is okay in terms of purchasing power, but the surrounding areas are not. It's only possible to get them in big cities like Shanghai and Guangzhou." said Skinny Monkey.

  "Thin monkey went to Shanghai, on the other side of Guangzhou, there are Han Zhiqian and others who helped bring it."

  "Don't worry, I'll definitely handle the sales well." said Skinny Monkey.

  "Shòu hóu, your task is to quickly establish a foothold in Shanghai and set up the Zhōng Téng Industrial Company's Shanghai sales office. In the future, our product sales and after-sales service in Shanghai will be entirely handed over to you." Fang Mònán patted his shoulder and said.

  The thin monkey no longer had its original awkwardness. "After-sales service?" He roughly understood something in his heart, but still couldn't confirm whether it was the same as what he thought in his mind.

  Is it?

  ，！