Chapter 82: Beyond Cure, No Turning Back

TL: Etude

“Haoyang, isn’t your factory facing some troubles? Maybe Brother Chen can help you out.”

Zhao Changgui didn’t pay much attention to the details and directly pointed at Chen Jianghai while saying:

“What factory?” Chen Jianghai’s interest was piqued.

Liang Haoyang didn’t take Zhao Changgui’s words seriously, thinking it was a joke.

“There’s a kettle factory in the western suburbs of Linghai; I’m the factory manager there.” A bitter expression crossed Liang Haoyang’s face as he spoke.

Chen Jianghai looked at him with a bit of surprise. He hadn’t realized it at first.

But these days, even the leaders in the county town just rode bicycles, and there wasn’t much difference between them and the common folk,

“A kettle factory?”

Chen Jianghai repeated the words and then asked, “What brand?”

“It’s not about the brand, the main product of the factory is this.”

“That should sell quite well, right?”

Chen Jianghai said with a smile, “After all, it’s an essential household item.”

Liang Haoyang sighed, filled with helplessness, “It’s true that kettles are essential household items, but there are so many factories producing them! Take Linghai, for example, apart from my factory, there are two other factories nearby that also make kettles!”

“Indeed, competition in the industry is inevitable.” Chen Jianghai remarked with empathy.

Liang Haoyang agreed, “Exactly, the competition is so fierce that it’s really hard for the factory to keep going!”

Hearing this, an idea suddenly popped into Chen Jianghai’s head.

That was to take over the factory and start making electric kettles!

Most households currently used regular kettles or filled their pots with boiling water from coal stoves. Electric kettles were still a novelty.

Only in some big cities would people use electric kettles.

Moreover, the price of electric kettles was not low, they consumed a lot of electricity, and the average family was reluctant to buy them.

In addition, the technology for electric kettles was not yet perfected, posing certain safety risks.

Due to these reasons, the market share for electric kettles was extremely limited.

But for Chen Jianghai, these problems would not be issues.

The high price, high energy consumption, susceptibility to damage, and safety risks of electric kettles all boiled down to immature technology.

With his knowledge and insights, Chen Jianghai could perfectly avoid these problems and design and manufacture a technologically mature electric kettle, definitely taking the first bite of the electric kettle market.

With this in mind, Chen Jianghai then asked, “Manager Liang, have you ever thought about changing the product line?”

“Change the product?”

Liang Haoyang was startled, then smiled bitterly and shook his head, “That’s not very realistic.”

“Why is it unrealistic?” Chen Jianghai inquired.

“The warehouse is full of unsold kettles, and we can’t even pay the workers’ wages, it’s too late to change products now!”

Liang Haoyang said with a face full of sorrow.

Chen Jianghai then asked further, “Have you considered it before?”

“Yes, I did think about it, but it didn’t work out.” Liang Haoyang nodded slightly, a touch of helplessness in his tone.

Hearing Liang Haoyang say this, Chen Jianghai understood that being a factory manager was not an easy job.

Above them were government leaders pressing down, and below them were a crowd of people watching, making it hard to be in the middle.

The most crucial point was that, as a state-owned enterprise, the manager’s power was largely constrained by the local party secretary, with too many considerations to really take bold actions.

Presumably, Liang Haoyang had also tried to make some changes before, but unfortunately, to no avail.

Subsequently, Chen Jianghai asked about the specific situation of the factory.

Liang Haoyang didn’t think much of it. Finally, having found someone to vent to, once he started talking, he couldn’t stop.

Previously, Liang Haoyang had also talked to Zhao Changgui about these matters.

But after talking for a long time, Zhao Changgui’s responses were nothing but “Hmm,” “Ah,” and “Yes.”

Today, talking to Chen Jianghai, although Chen Jianghai didn’t talk much, every time he asked a question, he was able to accurately capture the information and key points in Liang Haoyang’s words.

The conversation lasted for more than an hour.

The two had begun calling each other “brother,” and their relationship had clearly grown much closer. Having conversed with Chen Jianghai for so long, Liang Haoyang finally felt the negative emotions that had accumulated in his heart dissipate substantially, and his mood had significantly improved.

Now, Liang Haoyang also believed what Zhao Changgui had said before; Chen Jianghai truly had genuine talent and knowledge.

Not to mention other things, just the thoughts on corporate management strategies that Chen Jianghai had shared during their conversation made Liang Haoyang feel immensely inspired.

Chen Jianghai had said little, but Liang Haoyang felt that it was definitely a comprehensive theory that would be very helpful in running a factory.

However, upon further thought, he couldn’t help but sigh.

Chen Jianghai then asked with a slight smile, “Big brother, what are you sighing for?”

“Alas, younger brother, if I had met you earlier, perhaps there might have been hope for this factory, but now, it’s hopeless,” Liang Haoyang said, filled with despondency.

Chen Jianghai, however, laughed and said, “Big brother, have you heard this saying before?”

Liang Haoyang looked at Chen Jianghai with furrowed brows, full of confusion, “What saying?”

Chen Jianghai articulated slowly, “To be placed in a desperate situation and then to fight to live.”

Liang Haoyang, not immediately understanding, asked, “Younger brother, what do you mean by that?”

“The factory in your hands is now like a tree that’s about to wither completely. There’s hardly any chance to save it,” Chen Jianghai continued.

Liang Haoyang nodded in agreement, “Yes, you’re right, it’s indeed terminally ill and beyond cure.”

“But!”

Chen Jianghai’s voice rose slightly, “If all the dead parts of this tree are pruned away, who’s to say it won’t sprout anew!”

Liang Haoyang, looking at Chen Jianghai, saw a glimmer of light in his eyes and asked full of anticipation, “Younger brother, do you have a solution?”

“There is a solution, but I wonder if big brother has the courage for it,” Chen Jianghai said with a smile.

Liang Haoyang moved his stool closer to Chen Jianghai and said earnestly, “Younger brother, I lack everything but courage.”

“Contract system.”

Chen Jianghai said these three words.

Hearing these words, Liang Haoyang’s face changed slightly.

This was clearly beyond his expectations.

Seeing the change in Liang Haoyang’s expression, Chen Jianghai laughed, “What? Did that scare you, big brother?”

“Younger brother, how do you know about this?” Liang Haoyang asked in a low voice.

The contract system was something that Liang Haoyang had only recently learned about.

Generally speaking, most state-owned enterprises were losing money, with very low industrial competitiveness, becoming a huge burden, and dragging back the national economy.

Under such circumstances, the state had also begun to seek transformation.

During the Twelfth Central Comittee of the CCP  in 1984, further deepening of the reform of the enterprise operation system was already proposed.

Among them, the most important was the appropriate separation of ownership and management rights to enhance enterprise vitality.

This was the contract system that state-owned enterprises began to explore initially.

Regrettably, even though this reform mechanism had been proposed many years ago, there were very few who dared to take it on.

There were also those who didn’t believe in curses and took on contracts, but most ended in failure, with dismal outcomes.