Chapter 63 The Dilemma Ahead

"Two... two million dollars?"

In the office, Director Li's face was full of disbelief as he looked at the telegram in his hand. Finally, he managed to squeeze out these words, and the next moment, he brought the telegram closer, reading it word by word once again.

Seeing Director Li's expression, the excitement on the secretary's face was evident. He lowered his voice and said, "You read it right. I've read it over and over on the way here."

"Yes, it's indeed two million dollars!"

Hearing his secretary's voice, Director Li suddenly looked up at him. His expression gradually changed from stiffness to ecstatic joy, and he almost shouted in a suppressed voice:

"Sent! It's really sent now! With this order, we can meet our foreign exchange earnings target for two years!"

Then laughter akin to an owl's hoot echoed in the office. After all, the total foreign exchange earnings for the whole year in Yuntai City used to be just over a hundred thousand dollars. Who would have thought that now a single order could surpass two years of hard work?

After laughing heartily for a few seconds and almost starting to cough, Director Li remembered something and asked his secretary, "By the way, where did this telegram come from? How did it end up in your hands?"

Under normal circumstances, international telegrams like this would be sent directly to Red Star Machinery Factory by the city's telegraph office, or they would inform someone from the factory to come and collect it. There was no reason for it to end up in the hands of the Industrial Bureau first.

The secretary explained without hesitation, "Well, Director, the telegram was forwarded directly from the Beijing Post Office to us. It was sent directly to the Municipal Party Committee without going through the postal system, and then the Municipal Party Committee forwarded it to our Industrial Bureau."

Director Li suddenly realized this and, after furrowing his brows in thought for a few seconds, his face lit up again with a smile as he said, "Looking at the source of this telegram, one thing is certain."

"The authorities probably know about Wang Ye's matter mentioned in it, but they have tacitly approved it. That's why the telegram didn't go through the postal system but was sent directly to our Municipal Party Committee."

"To some extent, it means we are now under special attention from above!"

"Haha! Anyway, we've struck gold! Quick! Arrange a car for me!"

"I'm going directly to Red Star Machinery Factory!"

After that, Director Li exclaimed excitedly, and the secretary nodded and left in a hurry to prepare the car.

Meanwhile...

Wang Ye and the others were still riding in the bumpy 212 Jeep.

"All right! Drive carefully! Safety first!"

Upon hearing Wang Ye's voice, the "brother-in-law farce" in the car finally came to an end. Then Wang Ye said, "Okay, I have a task for you guys."

"After we get back, select fifty good-looking and eloquent girls from all the employees in our factory. Their ages should range from fifteen to thirty."

"Of course, if we can't find fifty, we can lower the standards a bit. Anyone with good features and a pleasant appearance will do."

"I plan to use them as salespersons. They will be better than dealing with those aunts!"

"We'll have interviews tonight, followed by some basic training!"

Upon hearing this, the young people in the car nodded, and Li Baojun curiously asked, "Brother Ye, what does 'interview' mean?"

Wang Ye was momentarily stunned. It seemed that the term 'interview' hadn't spread widely in this era yet. He cleared his throat and explained, "It means to test someone face-to-face! To see if they're suitable for the job of a salesperson."

"We'll select twenty qualified candidates from the fifty."

As soon as the young people in the car realized this, Wang Ye seemed to remember something. He coughed lightly and then said sternly:

"Furthermore, I want to emphasize one thing to you guys."

"Although this authority is not significant, if any of you dare to mess around."

"For example, if someone doesn't want to date you, and you prevent them from becoming a salesperson, and if I catch wind of it, it won't just be scolding you can expect. You'll regret it for the rest of your life!"

"Because that's thuggish behavior! Do you understand?"

In normal circumstances, Wang Ye was always smiling, but if he got angry, it was definitely a big deal. Instantly, the jovial young people fell silent, and one by one, they responded:

"Yes!"

At the same time, they realized the implications of his words.

Wang Ye had mentioned earlier that although the salespersons would only have a basic salary of fifty cents per day, they would receive a one yuan commission for each fan or washing machine sold. In other words, if they sold twenty or thirty units a day, their daily wages might even exceed what their parents earned in a month at the machinery factory before Wang Ye became the director!

So, this was undoubtedly a lucrative opportunity!

After everyone had solemnly affirmed, Wang Ye continued:

"If we dare to say anything offensive, Brother Ye, you'll directly slap us in the face without a second thought!"

"That's right! We'll be polite!"

The young people in the car echoed, and some even raised their hands and swore.

At four o'clock in the afternoon...

Wang Ye finally returned to the machinery factory in the 212 Jeep.

The others returned to Wang Ye's office together, and the young people whispered to each other and made a list before leaving in a hurry. It seemed like they were going to visit their targets.

A moment later, only Wang Ye was left in the office.

Currently, out of the four projects initially planned for the factory, two of them—the electric fan and washing machine—had been successfully put into production and would undergo market testing tomorrow.

The remaining two projects, the television and refrigerator, were more challenging.

The television required a cathode-ray tube, and the refrigerator required a compressor. As far as Wang Ye remembered, until about 1987 or 1988, many state-owned and military factories in China imported these core components, and domestic production did not begin until then.

For Wang Ye, the design blueprints for these two items were already in his mind, numbering not just hundreds but at least dozens. However, the problem was that the manufacturing technology in the machinery factory was not up to standard!

"This money must be earned. We can't back down because of problems! And we can't just focus on the products; we need to focus on the production line. In the long run, we need to become suppliers of production lines, not just product suppliers. This is a big business for the future."

"But conquering manufacturing technology won't be easy!

"We could either purchase more basic related machining equipment domestically and then gradually improve the level, which, although slow, would be the best in the long run. The overall improvement in machining technology could also be applied to other areas."

"Or we could try to purchase related equipment from abroad and build our own production line, focusing only on products and not on production lines."

"After all, more basic machining equipment is out of reach now. Trying to bypass the embargo is too difficult, and even if we manage to purchase related equipment, there are many problems to overcome, such as a lack of foreign exchange and being blocked by foreign companies. Anyway, we can try to accumulate some foreign exchange now and manage the other problems later. We can deal with them in the future, and we can deal with them now."

"Or perhaps a combination of the two methods? But the problem is, we lack money! I wonder if Kibuct has received the telegram?"

"As for the military side, equipment also needs to be iterated and improved, but it's also a money issue..."

Finally, Wang Ye sighed and glanced at the clock, realizing that more than an hour had passed. He got up and headed towards the factory workshop. This was where the interviews were scheduled to take place.