Volume 1: Stormy Weather in a Small Town Chapter 12: Secretary Tang, You Must Make an Effort

  In the town committee meeting room, a dozen or so people sat around a long table, holding a reform pilot conference for the town's canned food factory. The town's leaders attended the meeting, along with two representatives from the canned food factory workers.

  The meeting was discussing Liu Jia Shun's plan, and Liu Da Zhong was the first to express his agreement. Liu Jia Shun's plan was indeed well-written, as he had been managing the canning factory for four or five years and was familiar with its drawbacks. The reform proposals in the plan provided detailed solutions, such as streamlining personnel, reducing costs, and preventing unnecessary waste.

  The leaders of the town nodded one after another, expressing their approval. Liu Dazhong listened to each speech, looking at Tang Yi with a self-satisfied expression, thinking that no matter how you reform, it's still our Liu family who will be in charge. It's just a change of name.

  On the side, Chen Ke was frowning and looking worried. Her old man had also participated in this competition, but it seemed that Liu Jia Shun becoming the new factory director was already a done deal. This made Tang Yi's brow furrow even deeper, knowing that he didn't want to hand over the management of the canning factory to Liu Jia Shun again. But at this point, it seemed like he was also powerless to do anything about it. After all, he couldn't just veto a plan that everyone else had agreed on by himself. In her heart, she was mainly worried about Tang Yi. She leaned against the table, staring blankly at Tang Yi's elegant face, thinking about how to cheer him up after the meeting. Suddenly, she froze, what was she thinking? She quickly sat up straight and continued recording seriously, sneaking a peek around her, relieved that no one had noticed her little moment of distraction.

  Liu Dazhong's loud voice, slightly complacent, rang out: "Alright comrades? It seems that this time Liu Jiatong comrade's plan has been widely expected. Next, I announce..." He didn't even prepare to ask Tang Yi's opinion, and was about to announce the result.

  "Wait a minute!" Tang Yi, who was flipping through the plan book on the table, waved his hand to interrupt Liu Dazhong, picked up a red plan book from the table and asked, "What do you all think of this plan?"

  Tang Yi had just flipped to this plan book, and it seemed that there was no such copy in last night's plan book. It should have been added temporarily before the meeting this morning. The font of the plan book was elegant, seemingly written by a girl. At first, Tang Yi only glanced at it casually, but after reading one page, his eyes lit up. As for Liu Jia Shun becoming the new factory director, Tang Yi naturally disagreed, because he always felt that it was just a change in name only.

  But what he said at the wine table was not nonsense, and it seemed that there really wasn't anyone in town who could put his mind at ease. As expected, after reading through the plans for these few days, not a single one was passable, and they all looked similar to those of Liu Jiashun's. Tang Yi had already prepared himself to accept the result of letting Liu Jiashun become the new factory director, although this outcome was somewhat bitter.

  Tang Yi had even begun to think about how to guide the Liu family to improve the canning factory, but suddenly saw this red-covered plan book, Tang Yi was excited, such a plan book, is what he really needs!

  "Comrades, take a look at this plan, it's not bad, right? Take a look, in this plan, it thoroughly proposes how to expand the canned food factory business, how to utilize local advantages... Hmm?" Tang Yi suddenly paused, because the plan clearly stated "Expand the variety of canned flowers, for example, using local silver ears..." He couldn't help but raise his eyes to look at Chen Ke, only to see the little girl secretly lowering her head, dodging his gaze, as if she had done something wrong.

  Tang Yi flipped through the cover, signed "Chen Fangyuan", and vaguely felt a little familiar. Suddenly, he remembered that this wasn't his godmother's father's pen name? For a moment, Tang Yi was truly at a loss for words. This little girl had actually plagiarized his own ideas! However, this plan book was indeed well-written, with many things he hadn't thought of also written inside. It was clear that a lot of heart and soul had been put into it. It seemed that not all of Chen Ke's ideas were her own after all. After all, Chen Fangyuan was the first person to open a small retail store in town after the reform and opening-up, and over the years, she had accumulated some wealth, making her one of the most capable people in town.

  Tang Yi coughed and said, "Everyone take a look, what do you think of this plan?"

  Liu Dazhong furrowed his brow and said, "Town Head Tang! I think it's unnecessary to discuss this further, don't you? Everyone has already agreed on Comrade Liu Shun's plan, why must you, Tang Yi, insist on adding your own twist, as if the collective wisdom is not as good as your individual cleverness?"

  Tang Yi smiled and said: "That's not what I meant, Secretary Liu. Have you seen this plan? Let me summarize it briefly. First, let me ask everyone, how do we make a company successful?"

  Everyone looked at each other in dismay, but Tang Yi didn't wait for their response and continued: "In my opinion, running a good company can be summed up in four words: open source and cut expenses. There are countless ways to do business, but ultimately they all boil down to these four words. If the plan book of Liu's family is about cutting expenses, then this plan book in my hand is about opening sources!"

  Tang Yi's voice was high and powerful: "Is it more important to open up sources or control expenditure? Different companies, different businesses have different interpretations. I think they should be equally important, but for our canning factory, I can responsibly say that at this stage, opening up sources is much more important than controlling expenditure! Controlling expenditure? No matter how frugal you are, no matter how much you oppose waste, if your products don't sell, what's the point of saving money? So now, in order for our canning factory to gain new life, we must open up sources! We must find ways to sell out our cans! We must explore new markets!"

  "Right, right, right! Secretary Tang is absolutely right!" Heads nodded in agreement, regardless of whether they understood or not. Those who did understand thought to themselves that Secretary Tang was truly insightful. Those who didn't understand also decided to follow Secretary Tang's lead, and before long, the red flag had changed hands, and Liu Dazhong became isolated. Looking at those sycophantic heads, Liu Dazhong's face turned iron-gray, and in his heart, he suddenly felt a wave of helplessness. Had he really grown old? Could it be that he had been defeated by this young whippersnapper with just a few words, without putting up any resistance at all?

  Chen Ke was giggling foolishly as she recorded, as if she had won.

  "Besides! How could he not make it a top priority after taking office and being familiar with the situation? Not doing so would be going against his own wallet, wouldn't it? Who would be foolish enough to go against their own wallet?"

  A burst of laughter echoed through the venue, and everyone began to applaud warmly, marking the successful conclusion of this meeting.

  After the meeting, Tang Yi caught Chen Ke who was trying to slip away quietly and said with a smile: "Little guy, are you going to betray me? You're writing my words into a proposal. If I don't agree with it, wouldn't that be opposing myself?"

  Chen Ke broke the jar and shouted loudly, raising his small head to argue: "I'm applying what I've learned!"

  Tang Yi "pa" sound, popped a loud slap on her face, and smiled as she left, leaving only Chen Ke staring at his back with hatred.