As time passed by, more and more people gathered below the stage.
The crowd surged like an ocean, and the stage became an isolated island in the sea. Countless eager eyes looked up at the stage, filled with longing and anticipation for a better life. The noisy chatter filled the air.
"Wow! I've never seen so much money in my life!"
"Yeah! There's a million up there! My God! A million!"
"It's all because we bought the engine production line. Otherwise, there would have been even more!"
"Who would have thought! The director actually paid off the salaries owed from the past two years and even wants to distribute nutrition fees per person!"
"Ah, if I had known, I would have had more children. Caiyun, you have five kids. You've hit the jackpot this time!"
"Hahaha! Can this be called hitting the jackpot? With more people in the family, there are more expenses! Everyone has seen how tough it was in the past. If it weren't for the director... sigh!"
"You know, the director looks handsome up there no matter how you look at it, right? What do you guys think?"
"Hahaha! Wenzhen, you're a mother of two already. Even if he looks handsome, there's nothing we can do. Hasn't your husband been working overtime a lot lately? You must be making good money from that, right?"
"Oh, by the way, a while ago, there was talk about introducing the director to someone. What happened with that?"
Amidst intermittent bursts of cheerful laughter, the "Great Unity" wall was finally built. The head of the finance department, accompanied by five cashiers, sat nearby, looking proud and satisfied.
"Director, we're ready!"
Li Baojun handed over a megaphone and said at the same time. Wang Ye nodded.
"Everyone, quiet down!"
With Wang Ye's voice, like a spreading tide, the densely packed crowd quieted down. All eyes were on the stage, on Wang Ye, on their director.
After a moment of silence, Wang Ye smiled with the megaphone in hand.
"Today, do we all know what we're going to do?"
As soon as these words came out, a deafening chorus of shouts erupted from the crowd:
"We know!"
Hearing this, Wang Ye nodded satisfactorily and continued:
"I know everyone is anxious, so I won't go on for too long. But I still need to say a few words!"
Once again, the stage was met with thunderous applause. Wang Ye looked around at everyone, then put on a serious expression and said earnestly:
"Not long ago, when I first came here, Director Liang said something for me."
"He said that my arrival at our Red Star Machinery Factory was to lead us out of poverty and to prosperity. I think many of you must have heard it, right?"
"And this statement is actually what I have in mind. Now, more than ten days have passed. Are you still satisfied? Have I fulfilled my promise? Am I a man of my word?"
Wang Ye slapped the "Great Unity" wall next to him hard, making a "bang" sound, and the audience erupted into cheers and applause.
"Have you heard! Satisfied! Absolutely satisfied!"
In the midst of the cheers, Wang Ye smiled again, waving his arms and saying:
"So, today, I continue to speak."
"In the future! I will definitely lead everyone to live in small buildings, with electricity, lights, and telephones upstairs and downstairs! Every household will have a refrigerator, TV, and washing machine set! Every family will have bicycles, motorcycles, and even cars! Meat will be on the table every meal!"
"These are the promises your director, Wang Ye, is making today! Do you believe me?"
Once again, the crowd responded with a resounding chorus, echoing in the sky, startling the birds!
"We believe!"
At this moment, at the back of the crowd, three 212 jeeps had parked under the shade of the trees. Director Liang and Commander Song were smoking cigarettes while craning their necks to listen to Wang Ye's speech.
"I have to say! This kid would be quite a talent if he were a political commissar in the army."
"He speaks with such charisma!"
Finally, Commander Song sighed with emotion, while Director Liang couldn't help but smile bitterly and said:
"Does he have charisma? I think it's the money he's throwing around that's attracting people!"
"This is the era... This is the era!"
In the end, Director Liang seemed a bit melancholic, while Commander Song appeared quite relaxed, smiling and saying:
"The times are always advancing, aren't they?"
"Only when everyone is prosperous can the country be prosperous, right?"
"When the country is prosperous, our army can be better developed!"
"Let's go! The kid's done talking!"
Then the two got into the car, and the jeep rumbled directly from the outskirts of the crowd to the foot of the building. At this moment, Wang Ye noticed the arrival of the jeep, so he hurried down from the stage and met Director Liang and Commander Song in front of the building. Although Wang Ye only knew Commander Song from one side, he still looked surprised and said:
"Director Liang? Why are you here? And who is this?"
Seeing Wang Ye approaching, Director Liang introduced with a smile:
"This kid, you've really made big news for us!"
"This is Commander Song from the Luqi Provincial Military District. He's come to investigate!"
"I want to see what you have to say!"
Immediately, Wang Ye's face showed a surprised expression. He quickly reached out his hand and said:
"Hello, Commander Song..."
Commander Song, on the other hand, seemed indifferent, patting Wang Ye on the shoulder with a smile and saying:
"Let's go! Don't listen to what old Liang says about 'investigating.' I'm just curious! Let's go, show me your rockets!"
Hearing Commander Song's words, Wang Ye led the way while emphasizing:
"They're agricultural rain-enhancing rockets!"
Instantly, there was a knowing laughter from the crowd. After a while, under Wang Ye's lead, everyone arrived at a room where two prototype steel pipe rockets were stored. Wang Ye had anticipated a similar situation and hadn't taken all of them for experiments.
At the moment of seeing the rockets, Commander Song took a sharp breath and said:
"I said, kid, we agreed on military to civilian conversion."
"And you're making rain-enhancing rockets?"
"You're quite something!"