"Everyone come in, let's have a meeting!"
Xie Sui was already familiar with Gu Lei's brothers. Besides Ye Feng, there was also Wei Hao, nicknamed "Mouse." He was quite slick, his eyes always darting around, giving an impression of restlessness.
Then there was Liang Yutian, who was honest and straightforward, the most loyal. However, his family's financial situation was poor, and he was at the bottom of their little group.
In Xie Sui's eyes, they were bullying Liang Yutian, but Liang Yutian didn't seem to mind, and Xie Sui wouldn't interfere too much. He just made sure to always include Liang Yutian when offering cigarettes, a gesture for which Liang Yutian was very grateful.
"You've all seen those gifts. They're promotional items. We'll start distributing them with the next batch of goods. The dried fruit will contain zodiac animal cards. Collecting a full set can be exchanged for one yuan, paid on the spot."
"After that, we'll produce jelly. The jelly will be priced the same as the dried fruit, five fen each. Ten empty jelly cups can be exchanged for a marble."
"For our ice cream, I plan to use paper containers. It won't be like the popsicles on the market where you eat them with a stick. Ours will be scooped out to eat. Each box will come with a spoon. There will be no promotion for this; we have a monopoly, so we don't need one."
"Now let's assign tasks. Mouse, you're in charge of marketing and handling relationships with the stores and supply and marketing cooperatives. Liang Yutian, you're in charge of production. Make sure it's clean and hygienic. Anyone who doesn't listen to you, tell them to get lost, and we'll hire new people. Ye Feng, you'll be the accountant. All outgoing and incoming goods, and settlements, will be your responsibility. These are basic accounts, so you should have no problem, right?"
"No problem, Brother Xie. I can do it."
Gu Lei asked, "Then what do I do?"
"You're the general manager. Anything they can't handle, you'll deal with. If you can't handle it, then I'll step in. I believe you can handle it."
Gu Lei grinned. This was good; he was still the boss, in charge of everyone.
"Next is salaries. The agreed-upon base salary of thirty yuan remains unchanged, but the profit sharing will increase based on overall performance. Gu Lei will receive a five percent dividend, and the three of you will each get two percent. We'll increase or decrease it later based on your performance."
"However, there's one thing: business is business, and personal relationships are personal relationships. Anyone who betrays the factory, who sells us out, will face consequences from me, Xie Sui, that you won't want to see."
Xie Sui's gaze suddenly sharpened as he swept across their eyes. The few of them said with awe, "No, Brother Xie, we're not that kind of people."
"It's better to say things clearly upfront. That's all for now. From now on, we'll have a half-hour meeting every day after work to summarize the day's events. Remember everything."
Gu Lei raised his hand and asked, "Brother Xie, the factory my mom works at has morning meetings. Why do we have meetings after work?"
Xie Sui was silent. Could he tell the truth? He didn't want to wake up early. Plus, working overtime for meetings didn't get paid overtime. He said instead, "I'm still living in the village now, so it's inconvenient. Once I move here, we'll have morning meetings, and you'll get up half an hour earlier."
The others all shot Gu Lei a glare and said in unison, "Let's still have meetings in the afternoon. It's settled." Getting up half an hour earlier, wouldn't that be the death of them? The time in the morning was so precious; there wasn't even enough time to poop, and he wanted them to get up half an hour earlier? That was asking for death!
The basic operations of the factory were settled, and a group of young people were eager to begin their performance.
Today was the day for the supply and marketing cooperative to settle accounts. There wasn't much money, as it was just a trial sale. They settled accounts every seven days, selling only a little over a hundred boxes, which amounted to just over a thousand yuan. Xie Sui sent Ye Feng to go. He made hundreds of yuan selling scorpions, so this was a good opportunity to train him.
Ye Feng went off full of ambition but returned dejected, like a small cabbage in autumn, wilted.
Xie Sui was simmering condensed milk. It was simple, really: milk and sugar, simmered into a paste. When it coated the spoon without dripping, it was canned and refrigerated. Adding this to the ice cream would make it sweet but not cloying, improving both its color and taste.
The next step was for him to make sponge cakes, similar to the cream-filled cakes from his previous life. Since making ice cream only used egg yolks, the egg whites couldn't be wasted. They were perfect for making sponge cakes, a product that had been popular for decades and would become another flagship industry for the factory.
"What happened? Did the power go out, or was there a water shortage?"
Ye Feng sighed, "Don't mention it. I waited all morning and didn't even see the accountant, let alone settle the accounts. I wasted a whole morning, I'm so angry."
Xie Sui didn't blame him. As expected, if you wanted money without connections, would they just hand it over to you?
"Take the invoice and go find Yan Xiaoliang. Have him handle it. Offer him a kickback. He can't just take money and not do any work!"
"Yan Xiaoliang? Can that work? I'm a bit scared!" Yan Xiaoliang was not from their circle. Those people were the sons of high-ranking officials. They were just children of workers, and Ye Feng felt inferior to them.
"What the hell are you afraid of? He doesn't have an extra pair of balls. Little Feng, if you can't handle things, you won't last long as an accountant. Go home and drink milk. I, Xie Sui, don't want cowards!"
"Alright, I'll go try!"
Xie Sui tossed him a pack of cigarettes. "When you come back, be a bit more accommodating. Offering cigarettes makes things easier to talk about."
"Thanks, Brother Xie."
Yan Xiaoliang was easy to find; just go to the billiards hall. Ye Feng's courage, which he had mustered, melted away when Yan Xiaoliang gave him a sidelong glance. His backside tensed, his bladder contracted, and he almost lost control.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Brother Xie's accountant, the one who always asks for money."
Yan Xiaoliang raised an eyebrow. "Brother Xie?!"
"Xie Sui, from Chunfeng Food Factory. Brother Yan, have a cigarette!"
Ye Feng trembled as he lit the cigarette, making everyone laugh. Was he here to be funny?
"You mean that kid who invited me to dinner? What money do you want?"
"It's the money from selling goods at the supply and marketing cooperative. Brother Xie said you could keep the kickback. Thank you for your hard work, Brother Yan."
"What kickback? When did I ever take your kickback?"
Yan Xiaoliang suddenly changed his tune, and Ye Feng was on the verge of tears. He hadn't said anything wrong!
"Scram! You're not worthy of talking to my old man. Let your damn Brother Xie come himself. Such a small factory, with so little money, and you still dare to act tough? Do I owe him a favor or something?"
Yan Xiaoliang had thought Xie Sui had a much larger business. As it turned out, after settling the accounts, it was only a little over a thousand yuan. He only got a little over a hundred yuan, and he had to use connections and give gifts, which meant he worked for nothing. He didn't want to cooperate with Xie Sui anymore, so he was holding up the payment. If he wanted money, he would renegotiate the profit sharing. He needed at least fifty percent, otherwise, he wouldn't be able to get anything from the supply and marketing cooperative.
This was why this situation had arisen. He didn't know that Xie Sui was just an appetizer; the real feast hadn't even begun. Some things couldn't be said openly, and Ye Feng was a poor speaker. Yan Xiaoliang threw a tantrum and waited for Xie Sui to come find him.
Seeing Ye Feng return dejected, Xie Sui knew Yan Xiaoliang had changed his mind. He comforted him, "It's okay if you didn't get the money. Brother Xie won't scold you. Think of it as building your courage. I'll handle this."
Ye Feng only felt guilty. Was he useless?