Chapter Thirty-Five: The Extroverted Female Student

  "How dare you say that!" Ning Zhongying glared at her son, but in her heart, she felt a warmth and a slight sourness.

  After Ning Zhongying retired to the second line, he was in a bad mood. Every time he saw his son not doing well, he couldn't help but scold him loudly. After scolding, he regretted it a bit and felt that he had been too harsh on his son. However, with his temper, although he regretted it, he would absolutely not apologize to his son.

  One after another, Ning Mo saw Ning Zhongying and was afraid. The relationship between father and son gradually became estranged. Ning Zhongying sometimes wanted to talk to his son and restore their relationship. But every time he had this idea, Ning Mo would inevitably cause some trouble outside, forcing Ning Zhongying to treat him with even more severe scolding.

  Like just now, Ning Zhongying had not seen such a joyful and unrestrained movement in his son for many years. In Ning Zhongying's memory, it was before Ning Mo was ten years old when he let him ride on his neck at the Hongze Zoo to tease the monkeys, that Ning Mo had such an uninhibited nature.

  "Dad, you don't know, Qin Hai's quenching technique is top-notch, it's really impressive!" Ning Mo didn't have as many emotions as Ning Zhong did. He just felt that his father was being very lenient with him today, although the words were still scolding, but more caring than blaming. His thoughts were simple, and when his father gave him a little sunshine, he lit up.

  "...That blacksmith Zhang Lao San, at first was so arrogant, saying Qin Hai this and that... A newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger, but in the end Qin Hai came up with that nitroglycerin solution, quenched the iron chopper head in fire, used it to chop bricks, and nothing happened, leaving Zhang Lao San stunned, he even wanted to become Qin Hai's apprentice..." Ning Mo recounted Qin Hai's overbearing and intimidating performance as if counting his family treasures.

  "Where did you learn this from?" Ning Zhongying interrupted his son's words and turned to ask Qin Hai.

  "Some are from technical school courses, and some I learned by reading books myself. However, what is learned from paper always feels superficial, and ultimately needs to be verified through practice."

  "Dad, Qin Hai said..." Ning was just about to continue telling his father about Qin Hai's request for them to study together, thinking that if he told him this, his father would definitely have a very good impression of Qin Hai.

  "Be quiet, don't interrupt, let Director Ning speak." Qin Hai reminded from the side. As for his situation, Ning Mo's account was already sufficient, and saying more would only easily lead to Ning Zhongying's displeasure. Now it was time to hear what Ning Zhongying had in mind.

  It's strange to say, Ning Zhongying interrupted Ning Mo's words, and Ning Mo didn't feel anything. As soon as Qin Hai reminded him, Ning Mo immediately shut up obediently. In just a few short days, he had actually developed the habit of listening to Qin Hai's words and following his instructions.

  Ning Zhongying also sensed this and felt that he needed to understand Qin Hai's true nature more deeply. If Qin Hai was indeed a promising young man, then Ning Mo could learn from him. On the other hand, if Qin Hai was a treacherous and evil person, then Ning Zhongying would have to think of a way to suppress him, so as not to let him corrupt his own son.

  "You have been working at the factory for several days, what do you think of Qingfeng Agricultural Machinery Factory?" Ning Zhongying asked.

  Qin Hai knew that Ning Zhongying was trying to get a sense of him, and he didn't have anything to hide, so he answered freely: "The factory is quite capable, many cadres and workers are very competent, and there are also some very dedicated employees."

  "What's your view on the direction of the factory's operations?"

  "There is some confusion, but if adjustments are made in time, there won't be any major issues."

  "Have you heard about the factory's plan to switch production to washing machines?"

  "I've heard of it."

  "What's your comment on this?"

  "Nonsense!" Qin Hai said decisively.

  "What nonsense?" Ning Zhongying was taken aback and lost his smile, but his interest in the young man suddenly increased several levels. He remembered that when Wei Baolin asked for his opinion on converting to washing machines, he also said these two words, which made Wei Baolin very embarrassed. Through Wei Baolin's introduction, he knew that Qin Hai was also opposed to converting to washing machines, but he never expected that Qin Hai's comment would coincide with his own.

  "Tell me, what's going on?" Ning Zhongying pulled out a cigarette from the pack and lit it for himself. As he put the pack back on the coffee table, he hesitated for a moment before holding up the pack to Qin Hai and asking: "Do you smoke?"

  "Thank you, Director Ning, I won't," Qin Hai replied.

  Ning Mo really wanted to say that he would smoke, but he knew that if he said so, what awaited him wouldn't be a cigarette, but a scolding. Ning Zhongying knew about Ning Mo's smoking, but for Ning Zhongying to give Ning Mo a cigarette, that would have to wait until the sun rises in the west.

  "Tell me, why is switching to washing machines a mess?" Ning Zhongying took a deep drag on his cigarette and asked Qin Hai again.

  Qin Hai said: "With the improvement of people's living standards, light industrial products, especially household appliances, will inevitably usher in a period of adjustment and development. In this regard, Wei Chang and his team have not misjudged."

  "Hmm." Ning nodded slightly.

  However, it's not just our factory that can see this point. In the past two days, I took some time to go to the reading room and take a look at old newspapers. Within the past three months alone, there were seven newly established color TV factories disclosed in the newspaper, twelve washing machine factories, as well as an unspecified number of refrigerator, motorcycle and other enterprises.

  In addition, it is understood that in our province, apart from the existing washing machine factory in Hongze, four cities including Dingcheng, Cenxian, Liangguan and Tunliu are also planning to build washing machine factories. Some have already introduced production lines from abroad and will soon be put into production. Washing machines are indeed a scarce commodity, but with so many enterprises entering this market at the same time, the impact will inevitably be huge.

  I estimate that within a year, the washing machine market will face oversupply, and small brands or inferior brands will be eliminated. Well-known brands will also have to lower their prices to compete for consumers. Qingfeng Agricultural Machinery Factory has no brand reputation in the consumer goods market and lacks experience in quality control through assembly line production. At this time, blindly entering such competition will inevitably lead to more harm than good."

  Qin Hai took a deep breath and poured out all the problems he had been considering for the past two days, which was much more complete than what he had casually told Wang Xiaochen that day.

  "Is this all your own thinking?" Ning Zhongying was somewhat surprised. Qin Hai's analysis had some points that were still worth discussing, but as an 18-year-old young worker, he was already quite impressive to have considered things to this extent. As for his logical speech and precise wording, they were not yet within Ning Zhongying's scope of attention.

  Qin Hai said: "Some things are my own thoughts, some are what experts say in the newspapers. Since last year, the scale of infrastructure construction has suddenly expanded, leading to a severe shortage of steel, cement and other basic materials. The investment in light industry is too hot, resulting in a shortage of raw materials for various products. Some economic experts have called on newspapers to control the current excessive investment and implement a soft landing.

  "In my opinion, if our factory wants to switch to producing washing machines, the pressure from infrastructure alone would be hard to overcome. Even if we can establish a production line, procurement of various raw materials will also bring us to a dead end."

  "You've thought of everything!" Ning said with a positive tone.

  "Thank you for your praise, Director Ning." Qin Hai replied.

  Ning Zhongying was very satisfied with Qin Hai's performance, a young worker who had vision and took responsibility. After being praised, he didn't become arrogant, this kind of talent, Ning hadn't seen in many years. He turned his head to Ning Jing and said: "Xiao Jing, what are you sitting there stupidly for? Don't even know to pour a glass of water for Xiao Qin."

  Quietly got up, put her mouth close to Ning Zhong's ear and whispered: "Dad, can I go cut a watermelon for Qin Hai to eat?"

  "Go, go." Ning Zhongying smiled and indeed, the talented young man was likable. Even her own little daughter had a good impression of this young man and actually took the initiative to cut watermelon to entertain Qin Hai.

  People in Pingyuan buy dozens of watermelons at a time in the summer and store them under their beds. When they want to eat one, they just roll it out and cut it open. Ningjing pulled Ningmo into the room, and soon Ningmo came out with a big watermelon weighing over 10 kilograms. He took the watermelon to the kitchen, washed it with tap water, then Ningjing personally cut it open and carried it to the living room in a basin.

  "Here, Qin Hai, this one is for you." Ning Jing smiled and picked up a large watermelon, first handing it to Qin Hai, then giving one to Ning Zhongying. She then put two more on a plate and took them to the inner room to give to her mother, Song Yulan. Since she knew that Ning Zhongying and Qin Hai were discussing work matters, Song Yulan had only come out to greet Qin Hai briefly before returning to the inner room to watch her favorite soap opera.

  Qin Haijiao watched with interest as Ning Jing distributed the watermelon in order, and for some reason, a term popped into his mind - "female extroversion".

  Uh, **ah, this girl is only 16 years old, okay**, Qin Hai slapped himself in the heart.

  Jian Ning was enjoying the scenery with Qin Hai, and his mood was very pleasant. He picked a piece of watermelon himself, eating it loudly while saying to Qin Hai: "Qin Hai, eat more, there's still some under the bed, I'll cut another one after you finish."

  "I'm not a cow's stomach..." Qin Hai was speechless. A watermelon over 10 kilograms, how could it be finished by just these few people?

  "Little Qin, you said that Qingfeng Factory's switch to producing washing machines is more harm than good. However, the agricultural tools market is also shrinking now, and our factory's sales of agricultural tools are getting worse and worse. In your opinion, what should Qingfeng Factory do to revive itself?"

  Ning was eating watermelon while chatting with Qin Hai.