Chapter 105

Wang Xuelin and Zhang Zhengzong were so frightened they fell to the ground, scrambling backward, terrified that Li Mingzhen might stomp on them and leave a crater. Mingzhen stopped in her tracks, looking down on them disdainfully. “Go to the factory tomorrow to settle your wages. After that, you don’t need to come in anymore.”

Wang Xuelin stared at her in fear, his throat clogged, unable to say a single word. Mingzhen gave a cold snort, picked up her recorder, and turned to leave.

As they watched her figure disappear outside the gate, Wang Xuelin collapsed, rubbing his aching ribs and grinding his teeth in fury. “Did Li Mingzhen come back from training at the Shaolin Temple or something? How is she this strong?”

Zhang Zhengzong turned to him, face dark as a scorched pot. “This is all your fault! I was just a few years away from retirement, and now I’ve lost my job. How the hell am I supposed to feed my whole family?”

Thinking about this misfortune, Wang Xuelin scratched at his hair in frustration and glared at Zhang with rage. “I lost my job too!” The more he thought about how he had gone from factory director to this disgraceful end, the angrier he got. He picked up a stone from the ground and hurled it toward the gate. “I spent over half a month planning the perfect setup, and before it even started, that damn girl caught me red-handed! How the hell did she find my place? Was it those two little rats, Sun Yufeng and Liu Shucheng, who sold me out? I’m gonna kill them!”

“Kill who? I wanna kill you!” Zhang Zhengzong staggered to his feet and kicked Wang Xuelin in the chest. “If you hadn’t dragged us to your house today, none of this would’ve happened! You ruined the rest of my damn life!”

Caught off guard, Wang Xuelin took the full brunt of the kick. He jumped up and started brawling with Zhang Zhengzong. “I’m the factory director, and you dare hit me, your deputy? I’m firing you!”

“Factory director, my ass!” Zhang Zhengzong got even angrier at that. “Quit your daydreaming! You’ve already been dismissed!”

As the two wrestled fiercely, Wang Xuelin’s wife came back from cooking for his parents in the neighboring courtyard. She was shocked to see the two of them fighting while the other guests had vanished. Zhang Zhengzong’s nose was bleeding, and a large chunk of Wang Xuelin’s hair had been yanked out, leaving a bald patch. Their clothes were also badly torn.

“Help! They’re fighting! Someone come quick!” Wang Xuelin’s wife screamed as she rushed over to break them up, but she didn’t have the strength and ended up getting hit herself.

It was dinnertime, and many neighbors came to watch the commotion. Someone called the police, and when they arrived, the two men were still fighting. No need to mediate—both were taken to the station for fighting in public.

Though Mingzhen was at college, she had kept a close eye on the whole incident. When she saw the two detained for seven days for brawling, she shook her head with a cold laugh. “Dog-eat-dog.”

Though Wang Xuelin’s crude plan had been immediately exposed, the fact that he could even use it to stir up tensions within the factory showed the hidden risks were real. Factory Director Sun Rende was an outsider brought in with a new team of skilled workers. The old craftsmen were currently motivated because they’d just received back wages, but who knew what could happen once their enthusiasm faded and someone stirred the pot? Better to address it head-on.

The next morning, Mingzhen took a leave from college and went straight to the factory. As soon as she entered the office, she told Office Director Sun Yufeng to call a full staff meeting within half an hour—she had an announcement.

Sun Yufeng agreed, then reported, “Chairman Wang and Deputy Director Zhang didn’t show up today. Should we send someone to check on them?”

“No need.” Mingzhen glanced at him. “Notify the accountant to calculate their final pay and send it to their homes. They don’t need to come to work anymore.”

Sun Yufeng had assumed they were pulling a power play. But this sounded like they’d been fired? Mingzhen caught the shock on his face and smiled faintly. “They tried to incite the workers and cause trouble. I fired them.”

She said it lightly, but to Sun Yufeng it was like a thunderclap. He paled and quickly explained, “Director, I did go to Wang Xuelin’s place yesterday, but I left halfway through. I didn’t hear any of the talk about causing trouble.”

“I know. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be standing here now,” Mingzhen said with a smile. “Now hurry up and call the meeting. I need to head back to college afterward.”

“Yes.” Wiping sweat from his forehead, Sun Yufeng grabbed his notebook and returned to his office, immediately announcing the meeting over the loudspeaker. Still uneasy about the firings, he snuck over to Deputy Director Liu’s office.

Liu Shucheng was reading district documents and laughed when he saw Sun’s sneaky expression. “What’s with the spy act?”

“No time to joke,” Sun whispered. “Did you tell Director Li about last night?”

Liu froze and shook his head. “No. I know Chairman Wang was in a bad state, but we’ve been colleagues for years. I thought I’d talk to him when he sobered up. No need to be factory director—any job can shine with the right attitude.”

Sun Yufeng let out a long breath and gulped half a mug of tea. “No need to talk anymore. Director Li said those two wanted to stir up the workers, so she fired them. That’s why she asked me to call the meeting. She’s probably going to announce it.”

“Fired?” Liu was stunned.

After hearing the announcement, the workers washed up and gathered in the auditorium. Once everyone was seated, Mingzhen stepped onto the stage.

“Hello, comrades. I’ve called you here today to inform you that former Union Chairman Wang Xuelin and Deputy Director Zhang Zhengzong were both dismissed last night.”

As soon as she spoke, the hall erupted in murmurs. But Mingzhen ignored them and continued calmly, “I’m very pained by this decision. When I took over the factory, Mayor Xi personally promised that as long as I was in charge, not a single worker would lose their job. But last night, I broke that promise—because those two truly disappointed me.”

She lifted the tape recorder from under the table and hit play. Wang Xuelin’s voice echoed through the hall:

“We can’t let that kid seize power. While he’s out, are you brave enough to help me take over?”

…

“That Sun Rende brought in a bunch of skilled workers. We’ll say he’s replacing the old hands with his people and pushing them out. I bet they’ll be scared.”

…

As each snippet played, the room fell silent. Sun Yufeng and Liu Shucheng exchanged glances, grateful they’d left early the night before. Otherwise, even if they hadn’t participated, they would’ve been dragged into it.

Mingzhen turned off the recorder and spoke sternly. “I went to talk to Chairman Wang about factory matters yesterday, but overheard this instead. Wang Xuelin and Zhang Zhengzong are both veterans of this factory. They let a large state-owned factory fall to the brink of collapse, unable to pay workers. They bear undeniable responsibility.

“Now that I’ve taken over the factory, while Director Sun is out trying to secure business and increase profits so we can pay everyone better, these two didn’t think of helping—they focused only on power grabs. Can we really keep people like that here?”

Thinking back to the days when they could barely scrape together a penny, wives weeping and children crying, the workers rose in righteous anger. “No! Fire them! We can’t let them hold the factory back!”

Zhenzhen waited for everyone to finish shouting before raising her hand and pressing it down to signal them to quiet down. “Although I bought this factory, it also belongs to everyone here. Building up the factory and ensuring that everyone earns more than before is our shared goal. In the recording, Wang Xuelin used the excuse that the new factory director brought in new masters to push out the old craftsmen to stir division among us. I want to state solemnly here: I absolutely will not allow such a thing to happen.

Our factory mainly produces furniture, and our future development goal is set on high-end solid wood furniture. Every craftsman in my eyes is priceless. As long as you all focus on doing your jobs and stop getting involved in messy conflicts, I promise your income will continue to grow, and life will get better and better.

From now on, every team working on fine carved furniture will receive a bonus worth ten percent of the selling price. If we have good profits by the end of the year, there will be additional bonuses.”

Seeing the excited faces of the workers, Zhenzhen dropped another bombshell: “The set of furniture Director Sun took to Shanghai this time has a base price of 1,800 yuan.”

“1,800 yuan? That means the bonus is 180 yuan!” The craftsmen who participated in the furniture redesign were instantly thrilled. “Director Li, are you serious?”

“Yes. Just wait for Director Sun to return and hand out the bonuses,” Zhenzhen replied with a smile, her eyes curved sweetly and adorably.

Though her face still looked a bit youthful, none of the deputy directors and department heads sitting below dared to underestimate her. At such a young age, she could clearly understand the workers’ needs and generously use money to motivate them. That alone put her ahead of them.

With the workers’ morale boosted, Zhenzhen asked Liu Shucheng to manage the factory for the time being and returned to college. After what happened, Liu Shucheng became wholeheartedly loyal to Zhenzhen. He changed his previous lax attitude under Wang Xuelin and started working from dawn to dusk, practically living in the workshop, afraid of falling short of the tasks Li Mingzhen assigned.

A month and a half later at the Canton Fair, Sun Rende used the finely handcrafted rosewood furniture he took as a sample and secured an order for 30 sets at 2,100 yuan per set. When Zhenzhen received the news, she breathed a sigh of relief—she hadn’t misjudged Sun Rende.

High-end furniture was mainly for export, but the domestic panel furniture market couldn’t be ignored either. Once the funds came in, Sun Rende went to Beicha to sign a long-term supply contract for MDF.

{T/N: MDF (Medium-Density Fiberboard) is an engineered wood made from wood fibers, resin, and wax, compressed into smooth, dense panels. It’s affordable, easy to cut, and often used in furniture and cabinets. Not ideal for wet areas unless treated.}

At the time, furniture used by average households in the country was rather monotonous and looked slightly outdated by modern standards. Although Zhenzhen hadn’t studied design, she had lived in the future for over twenty years and had seen countless styles of Chinese and foreign furniture.

Her traditional Chinese painting skills were at a master level, but she was still unfamiliar with sketching. So she asked Su Weiran to find her a sketching teacher, and after a half-month crash course, she began drafting her own furniture designs.

Storage had always been a headache for families across all eras, especially in the era of assigned housing. Often, three generations were crammed into one room, with clothes piled higher than mountains—pulling one piece could bring down a heap.

In the future, these problems had been well solved. Many fabric sofas and panel beds had massive storage compartments underneath. Not just clothes—two quilts could fit easily. Zhenzhen drew several bed designs with under-bed storage. The not-so-wide headboards also had drawers that could be opened to store things like underwear and thermal pants.

Besides traditional wooden sofas, spring sofas had already appeared on the market. Zhenzhen added a pull-out drawer under the sofa cushion. Although not very deep, it could still hold a good number of odds and ends.

She took her finished design drawings to Sun Rende and asked him to have the production supervisor at the panel furniture workshop start producing the new styles immediately.

Sun Rende flipped through the designs and rubbed his hands excitedly. “These designs aren’t just practical—they look good too. Especially this wardrobe; with this layout, it can hold twice as many clothes as before. The people will love it.”

Zhenzhen nodded. “It’s not really that difficult. I’m just worried other furniture factories might copy our styles. Have Director Liu look into whether we can apply for a patent on these designs.”

Sun Rende noted that down. Zhenzhen then tapped the table and suddenly looked up at him. “What are you using on your dorm bed?”

Sun Rende looked at her in confusion. “Just the quilt the factory gave us. I layered two of them.”

“Doesn’t it feel hard to lie on?” Zhenzhen asked, watching him.

“Of course it’s hard. After all, it’s just a wooden board underneath,” Sun Rende laughed. “But I’ve slept like that since I was little—I’m used to it.”

Zhenzhen nodded, then sketched a mattress on paper and showed it to him. “Have you ever heard of the brand Simmons?”

Sun Rende shook his head. Zhenzhen pointed to the paper and explained, “It’s an American mattress brand that’s been around for over 80 years. Their fabric-covered spring mattresses changed the way Americans slept. Back in the 1930s, Simmons even had a production plant in Shanghai, but it shut down due to the war. Right now, there’s still a gap in the domestic spring mattress market. If we seize this opportunity, we can carve out a huge market.”

In her previous life, Zhenzhen’s mother worked at a spring mattress factory. With no grandparents to help with childcare, Zhenzhen’s mother used to take her to work on weekends. Later, during her university years, her parents divorced, and both renounced custody, claiming she had turned 18. Zhenzhen once went to the factory to speak with her mother but ended up waiting in the workshop the whole day, watching mattress after mattress being assembled before her mother finished work.

Thinking back on that life, Zhenzhen couldn’t help but sigh. What had once been a painful memory had now become the seed of her entrepreneurial success. She wrote down the production process and key technologies of mattresses from memory, along with two detailed sketches.

“We’ll produce two types of mattresses: pocketed spring mattresses and continuous-coil mattresses. The first type is ideal for couples who sleep lightly—one person turning over won’t disturb the other. The second type molds to the body better and is more comfortable.”

Even though she wrote detailed instructions, Zhenzhen still worried that workers unfamiliar with spring mattresses might misunderstand. So yesterday, she specifically went to Hong Kong to buy two single Simmons mattresses and stored them in her space. Early this morning, she had them hauled over on a tricycle.

“I had someone bring back two Simmons mattresses from Hong Kong. They’re in the main hall downstairs. One’s for you—only after experiencing a comfortable night’s sleep can you design a better mattress.”

“What about the other one?” Sun Rende asked cautiously.

Zhenzhen looked up. “That one’s for disassembly in the workshop. Study its structure and connections—but that’s just the base. We’ll manufacture according to my instructions.”

“Understood.” Sun Rende took everything she wrote and looked at her hesitantly. “It’s just that both workshops are busy right now. If we start mattress production too, we might be short on manpower. Some of our equipment is outdated and needs replacing too.”

Zhenzhen rubbed her brow. “Handle it as you see fit.”

With Zhenzhen’s go-ahead, a recruitment banner quickly went up at the furniture factory. For experienced workers with backgrounds in woodwork or sofa production, the factory offered wages higher than average. With money, there was no fear of not attracting talent. In just ten days, Sun Rende recruited fifty workers through skills tests.

New product development kicked off in full force.

After the delivery of the thirty sets of high-end rosewood furniture, the new panel furniture and spring mattresses also rolled off the line. Zhenzhen had several pieces sent back to the siheyuan for trial use. After a few days, her family found them even more comfortable than the Simmons mattresses available in Hong Kong.

These new products were aimed at the domestic market, so Sun Rende applied to hold a furniture trade fair. Zhenzhen, having seen many such events in her past life, had over ten thousand flyers printed and had factory workers distribute them on the streets a month in advance.

By the time of the trade fair, the furniture hadn’t even been set up yet and the venue was already packed. Back then, buying furniture from a store still required a ration ticket. But at a trade fair, there was no need for tickets—if you had the money, you could buy.

At the scheduled time, the workers carried over beds with full under-bed storage, multifunctional modular furniture, wardrobes with various compartments, attractive and practical upholstered spring sofas, and spring mattresses that looked exceptionally high-end to the exhibition venue.

Sun Rende took the lead personally, using a loudspeaker to introduce each piece of furniture from his factory. The advantages of most items were obvious at a glance, but no matter how flowery the descriptions of the mattress were, nothing compared to actually lying down and trying it. As a result, a peculiar sight emerged at the exhibition: one person after another lay down on the bed, rolling left and right, then lying flat to feel the mattress’s softness. Everyone got up beaming, crowding around the factory workers to ask about the price.

Very soon, all the furniture at the exhibition was sold out. Some young couples preparing for marriage who didn’t manage to buy any chased all the way to the factory, crowding its entrance tightly. Zhenzhen calculated the inventory and production rate, then decided to sell only ten furniture sets a day at the factory gate. Those who didn’t make it on the first day came back the next. As word spread, people lined up earlier and earlier.

With the popularity and scarcity of Tengda-brand furniture and mattresses, a wave of “Tengda fever” swept through the capital. If a family had a set of Tengda furniture for a wedding, it was considered a great show of status. Some people who bought Tengda mattresses made sure not to cover them with fitted sheets, leaving the brand label visible to attract waves of envious stares.

The capital often led national trends, and soon suppliers from all over the country crowded the gate of the Tengda Furniture Factory. Sun Rende was signing contracts until his hand went numb. One batch of new equipment after another was brought into the factory, and recruitment banners were hung time and again at the entrance. Tengda’s panel furniture had become a nationally known brand. Meanwhile, Feihuang-brand solid wood furniture took the high-end route, holding a significant share of exports each year. Many well-established families in China came to the factory to custom-order antique-style solid wood furniture. Due to its popularity, prices for intricately carved solid wood pieces tripled within a year, and sets made from aged materials like huanghuali wood soared to tens of thousands of yuan.

In addition, Tengda’s veteran woodcarvers brought in considerable profits through the export of carved trunks and Japanese-style Buddhist altars.

By the time Zhenzhen was about to graduate from university, Tengda Furniture Factory had grown to over a thousand employees, with a workshop area five times its original size. In just two years, Zhenzhen had made tens of millions in profits from the furniture business alone.

Looking at the funds in the account, Zhenzhen smiled with crescent eyes. “Finally, I have legitimate money to do the things I truly love.”

Author’s Note:

Startup GET √

Our Zhenzhen’s entrepreneurship is already on par with a successful career~~ I was afraid everyone wouldn’t enjoy the business arc, so I fast-tracked the plot—after all, this isn’t Zhenzhen’s true calling~~~
—

Xi Junjie blushing: I’m about to graduate. Can I marry my wife now?