Chapter 27: Follow me and you'll have meat to eat

  Everyone was delighted with the meal. After three rounds of wine, Ning Mo and others also opened up and asked Ge Dongyan about various things about being a soldier and fighting wars. Ge Dongyan had obtained two divine artifacts and was overjoyed in his heart, unknowingly getting a bit drunk, boasting to a group of young workers younger than himself, making his unit sound incredible. However, he was after all an officer of the special forces, although the wine was potent, he still paid attention to keeping secrets where necessary, and some words, except for Qin Hai, others couldn't hear any deeper meaning.

  With a full stomach and satisfied appetite, Ge Dongyan got up and paid the bill, then bid farewell to Qin Hai and others, saying he had to take the night train back to his unit. Both sides left each other with their contact information, and then shook hands goodbye.

  "Fatty, how about we split this 100 yuan? You decide."

  After seeing Ge Dongyan off, Qin Hai and his group continued to ride their bikes back to the factory. On the way, Qin Hai said to Ning Mo:

  He waved his hand and said, "Qin Hai, you're saying this is meaningless. This money was mainly earned by you, so you decide how to split it, we won't argue."

  "Yes, Qin Hai, you're the best at this. From now on, let's go out and make money together, and you can distribute the money we earn." Yu Haitao and Miao Kun chimed in agreement. This scene had shocked them all, even Ge Dongyan was flattering Qin Hai, calling him "Young Master Qin" repeatedly. What else could they possibly show off about in front of Qin Hai?

  Qin Hai Dao said: "You can't say that, we're all brothers, no distinction between us. I have an idea, let's discuss it together."

  "Speak up!" The three of them chorused in unison.

  Qin Hai Dao said: "This 100 yuan, we'll each take 5 yuan, just enough to buy cigarettes for these days. The remaining 80 yuan will be left as our development fund. In the future, we want to make our business bigger, but without money, it's impossible. You can rest assured that I will definitely make this 80 yuan become 800, 8,000."

  "We certainly believe." Ning Mo was the first to speak up, "I agree with Qin Hai's idea, and since we have this extra 80 yuan, let Qin Hai decide how to use it."

  Qin Hai Dao said: "As for managing money, I'm not good at it. If everyone has no objection, I suggest letting Miao Lei take care of it, he's meticulous and won't make mistakes."

  "I've never managed so much money!" Miao Lei hastily declared, "I haven't even seen this much money before."

  "Big Brother lets you be in charge, so you're in charge!" Ning Mo stared at Miao Hui with a glance and said. He remembered the Hong Kong movie he had seen before and thought that the title "Big Brother" was very domineering, so he used it on Qin Hai on a whim.

  "Right, from now on Qin Hai is the big boss. Whatever he says, we'll do." Yu Haitao was also enlightened and felt that using the term "big boss" to refer to Qin Hai was really fitting. Thinking back to when Qin Hai faced off against Ge Dongyan earlier, his calm demeanor was like a mountain crumbling in front of him without being fazed, it was a bit like those big bosses from Hong Kong movies.

  "It seems like I'm younger than all of you, right?" Qin Hai secretly laughed to himself, never thinking that as a prestigious postdoctoral researcher at the Academy of Sciences, he would end up in a factory leading a group of young rascals. He politely said: "I think Ning Mo is the leader, and I'll just be an old... uh, whatever, it doesn't matter anyway."

  Qin Hai originally wanted to be humble and say that being the second-in-command would be enough, but he swallowed his words at the last minute. This title had too many implications and was not beneficial for him.

  "Boss, I'm telling you, who becomes the boss isn't determined by age, but by ability. Nobody in the factory listens to me, not even my own father can scold me and get a response from me, but I listen to you. If you don't become the boss, then who will?" Ningmo didn't catch Qin Hai's underlying meaning, he just continued to advise him according to his own thoughts.

  Yu Haitao and Miao Ke also joined in the teasing, causing passersby on both sides of the road to turn their heads. Qin Hai could only nod repeatedly and said: "Alright alright, let's not discuss this matter anymore, I'll just be the boss then. However, everyone should pay attention, it's fine to joke around normally, but don't do this in front of leaders, or else you'll get me into trouble."

  "Alright, we won't call you that in front of our leader then." The three of them replied in unison.

  Riding forward for a while, Miao Wei thought of something and said: "Boss, I remember that when you're in charge, you have to give a speech. Like when Wei Donglin was the factory director, he gave a speech at the full factory meeting, it's called an inaugural address. Now that you're the boss, shouldn't you also give a speech?"

  "Yeah, let the boss give a speech!" Yu Haitao said with a smile. This kind of thing made them all feel quite amused, and they also had some expectations in their hearts. Such big kids all hope to have some sort of organization, originally they were just playing together but didn't really have a sense of belonging, after choosing Qin Hai as the boss, they suddenly felt like they were organized too, this feeling was really subtle.

  "Alright, I'll make a policy speech. My speech is six words: Follow me, and you'll have meat to eat!"

  Ning Mo and others were slightly stunned, then loudly echoed: "Right, following the boss will have meat to eat!"

  "There's meat to eat!"

  As they shouted this out, several people felt refreshed and invigorated, their bicycles shooting off like arrows from the streets of Pingyuan to the Dongjiao Industrial Zone.

  Some families are happy and some are worried. While Ning Mo and others were delighted to have found the "old master", in the living room of Wei Baolin, the director of Qingfeng Factory, there was a solemn atmosphere, extremely depressing. Wei Baolin was listening to Jin Pai Dog Leg's report on various news from the factory over the past few days.

  "Wei Changzhang, the situation has been clarified. The rumors about the poor performance of the washing machine market all came from a young man named Qin Hai," said Di Jian Guo.

  For the past two days, rumors about Qingfeng Factory switching to produce washing machines have been circulating wildly within the factory. At the same time, a contrarian view has also been quietly spreading, which is that the washing machine market is about to become saturated, and Qingfeng Factory's entry into this market at this time has lost its first-mover advantage, ultimately leading to a situation where everything will be in disarray.

  This view is based on the judgment of the overall economic situation, ordinary workers can't tell true from false, but more or less produced doubts about the decision to switch production. After in-depth investigation, Zhai Jianguo finally found out that this rumor was first spoken by Wang Xiaochen, and Wang Xiaochen heard it from Qin Hai.

  "Qin Hai?" Wei Baolin, who was half-reclining on a rattan sofa, furrowed his brow and said, "I've never heard of this name before."

  "The problem is right here." Zhai Jianguo said with a mysterious tone, "I've already checked, this Qin Hai just reported to our factory last Sunday, he's a technical school graduate from the Provincial Agricultural Machinery Technical School, and has only been in the factory for 4 days in total."

  "A vocational school student, and he's only been here for four days, what qualifications does he have to comment on the factory's decisions?" Wei Baolin commented discontentedly.

  Duan Jianguo did not answer directly, but continued to say: "There is another situation, Xiang Jiyong and Leng Yuming have been vigorously promoting technological innovation in the workshop these past few days. It's said that they've solved the problem of surfacing welding on the surface of the rotary tiller blades. They've already had Xiao Dongping take the improved blades to look for a supplier."

  "I knew about this, and Xiang Jiyong even quarreled with me over it." Wei Baolin snorted through his nose. The fact that he had a falling out with Xiang Jiyong made him extremely unhappy, but for the time being, he couldn't think of a way to trip Xiang up. Xiang Jiyong's seniority at Qingfeng Factory was much longer than his, and although he was the contractor factory director, he still couldn't deal with lower-level cadres as he pleased.

  Duan Jianguo said: "Wei Changzhang, you only know that Xiang Jiyong and others have made technological innovations. Do you know who proposed this innovation?"

  Wei Baolin exclaimed in surprise: "Isn't it Leng Yueming?"

  Di Jian Guo smiled slightly and said: "It's not Leng Yu Ming."

  "Isn't it Lin Yueming, then who is it?" Wei Baolin asked, in his opinion, those who could carry out technical innovations, apart from Lin Yueming, should be the other engineers and technicians of the Technical Department. This wasn't anything new, but looking at Zhai Jianguo's expression, it seemed like there was something fishy going on, so he had this question.

  Dai Jianguo finally revealed the truth: "This person is also Qin Hai."

  "What did you say? The heap welding that Xiang Jiyong and others are doing is also related to Qin Hai?" Wei Baolin sat up straight, looking at Zhai Jianguo. Both things are related to the same person, which is a problem.

  Duan Jianguo was very satisfied with the surprise he brought to Wei Baolin, and said: "That's right, I've inquired about it. According to Peng Jingen from the casting workshop, the ones who led them in technological innovation were Leng Yuming and Qin Hai, but most of the time Leng Yuming didn't speak, and the one who actually did things was Qin Hai."

  "Are you saying that the key figure in this technological innovation is Qin Hai, rather than Leng Yuming?" Wei Baolin asked.

  Duan Jianguo said: "At least from the situation reflected in the car interval, it is indeed so."

  Wei Baolin furrowed his brow: "What's the story with this Qin Hai?"

  Duan Jianguo said, "I went to the labor department and checked. This Qin Hai is from Jiangshan County, his family is rural and has no background. His academic performance in school was also average, and he didn't show any exceptional talent."

  "How can he possibly replace Leng Yueming in technological innovation?" Wei Baolin asked.

  Duan Jianguo said, "This is the question. Wei Changzhang, think about it, an ordinary technical school student who has just arrived at the factory for a few days, not only criticized the factory's decision to switch to producing washing machines, but also carried out technological innovation, and is said to be trying to revive the inventory of rotary cultivator blades in the warehouse. Isn't this very strange? A technical school student whose level is higher than Leng Yueming, who would believe it if you told them?"

  "What's your judgment?" Wei Baolin said.

  "My judgment is that Qin Hai's various performances are not his own intention, he is just being used by others to disrupt the decision-making in the factory. The person who uses him values his identity, because he is a newcomer and does not understand the situation in the factory, as long as they give him some benefits, he will foolishly serve as a gun for others. What he says and does are all prepared by others to teach him, he is just a puppet."