At noon, Wang Ye treated all the employees to a good meal.
At one thirty in the afternoon, Li Baojun drove, with Wang Ye in the passenger seat, ready to return to the machinery factory. There were still many people left at the department store, and they needed to continue to settle things.
Wang Ye planned to recruit salespersons upon his return, while Li Baojun would organize production. Currently, there was only a small inventory, and besides sales, they also needed to urgently rush a batch of goods for the procurement by the municipal committee.
Sitting in the car, Wang Ye asked casually, blowing smoke rings, "Baojun, among the women under thirty in our factory, who do you think is the most beautiful?"
Originally, because they had eaten too much for lunch, everyone in the car seemed a bit sluggish, but when Wang Ye brought up a topic of interest to young people, they instantly perked up.
"Under thirty? The most beautiful? It's definitely Liu Manting! It has to be Liu Manting!" said one person promptly.
"From what I know, there's not less than a hundred people in the factory who secretly admire Liu Manting! Even among us in this car, there's one!" Li Baojun, who was driving, straightened up suddenly, wearing a mischievous smile on his face as he said this. Hearing his words, another voice from the back seat quickly chimed in!
"Nonsense, it's definitely not Liu Manting! Chief, don't listen to him. It's Zhang Na! Zhang Na is the most beautiful!" The person speaking was named Xu Leilei, also one of the twelve team leaders. He was unremarkable in appearance, but he was reliable and capable, doing meticulous work.
Upon hearing Xu Leilei's words, Li Baojun laughed, "Lei Lei, you know who's interested, right? Liu Manting, isn't it? You don't have a chance anymore!"
"What do you mean, Chief, are you planning to go on a blind date? A while ago, the aunties in the factory were preparing to matchmake for you!" Li Baojun continued jokingly, "I'm just afraid you already have someone, and it would be impolite to approach you suddenly!"
"In my opinion, with your qualifications, you could pick anyone in our factory! I bet there'll be a lot of hearts broken!" Li Baojun teased, even dragging out the last word, causing Wang Ye to playfully smack him on the shoulder, scolding, "You're only twenty-two, what kind of marriage are you talking about?"
"Besides, our machinery factory looks like this, and none of us can afford to buy even a fan. Where would I find the mood to get married?"
"I'm planning to recruit salespersons. It's not because of your guys' incompetence. Not to mention those aunties."
"So, it's better to find a few young, beautiful, and eloquent girls!"
The others in the car suddenly realized. Just as they were discussing who else besides Liu Manting and Zhang Na in the factory could be considered beautiful, Li Baojun, sitting in the back seat, thought for a moment and said, "Chief, will we pay the salespersons?"
Upon hearing this, Wang Ye nodded without hesitation, "Of course. Don't think that being a salesperson is easy. It's not like being a salesperson at the department store, where they have a guaranteed income. Being a salesperson is a skilled and physically demanding job!"
"So, I plan to give a base salary of fifty cents per day and one dollar commission for each item sold!"
As soon as Wang Ye finished speaking, everyone in the car showed surprised expressions. Just then, Xu Leilei, sitting in the back seat, hesitated and stammered, "Chief, my sister isn't in our factory, mainly because she's too young, only sixteen."
"But she's very beautiful, tall, and not childish-looking at all. From what the folks in the factory say, she's good at sweet-talking. Could you let her work as a salesperson?"
Xu Leilei's voice was hesitant. Li Baojun immediately agreed, "Yes, yes, I can vouch for Lei Lei. His sister is Xu Jiaojiao, and she's really beautiful and good at talking! Really! I swear!"
"She's really sweet-talking. Every time I see her, she calls me brother..."
Li Baojun said this out of good intentions because he got along well with Xu Leilei and knew that Xu Leilei's father had been injured and lost his job, leaving the family with little income. Because of this, Xu Jiaojiao, who excelled academically, eventually gave up going to high school. Xu Leilei's father almost drank pesticide.
In short, the family was living quite frugally.
If Xu Jiaojiao could work part-time as a salesperson, earning a little more would be a big help to the family.
Unexpectedly, as soon as Xu Leilei heard Li Baojun say this, he widened his eyes and looked at him seriously for a few seconds before suddenly roaring, "Li Baojun, you animal! How do you know that Jiaojiao is beautiful? No wonder you always want to hang out with me!"
"You must be going to my house to peek at Jiaojiao, right?"
"Ah! I treat you as my brother, and you want to be my brother-in-law? Disgusting!"
"You animal!"
With that, he punched Li Baojun's shoulder twice. Li Baojun also got angry and quickly dodged, shouting, "Xu Leilei, you're the animal! I'm helping you, and you're slandering me!"
"You're finished today! Get off the car and wait for me!"
As laughter filled the car.
In the development office of the Industrial Bureau in Yuntai City, with the hurried knock on the door, after getting permission from Director Li, the secretary hurried over and handed him a piece of paper while saying, "Director Li, I just received a transnational telegram from Tanzania, addressed to Wang Ye!"
"It's from someone named Ki Kwete, who claims to be the Deputy Minister of Defense of Tanzania!"
"And here's a copy of the telegram Wang Ye sent to the other party a few days ago."
Hearing this, Director Li's face showed a moment of astonishment, quickly taking the telegram and his eyes couldn't help but twitch!
Well! This was something!
In domestic telegrams, charges were based on the number of words, so in order to save money, many people tried to shorten the content of their telegrams. However, the telegram sent by Ki Kwete back to them was at least several hundred words long, like writing a love letter?
"Wang Ye, sir."
"It's been a long time since we last parted."
"I've returned to my homeland and miss you very much, so I sent you this telegram."
"If possible, I would prefer to contact you by phone, but unfortunately, there is no telephone communication between our countries."
"Thanks to your advice, I have obtained what I wanted, and our transaction was also very pleasant. I think now I can answer the question you had at that time."
"We are now friends, best friends!"
"If possible, I would really like to visit you again next year. However, currently, my affairs here are quite busy, and it may be difficult to arrange it properly in the short term. I'm afraid visiting you might delay your schedule."
"Recently, some events have occurred in my homeland, which are related to the transaction you offered me."
"It won't be long before you can find out what happened here from the official news, and with your intelligence, you will surely be able to decipher deeper issues."
"So, I won't explain further."
"In contacting you this time, I have two additional requests."
"Firstly, I would like to purchase that type of product again, at the same price as before, with a total amount of two million US dollars, totaling five thousand units. I hope production and delivery can be arranged as soon as possible."
"Secondly, I hope to receive your advice on the development of Tanzania's independent 'industrial products'."
"If you are willing, please remember to reply to me via telegram. I will pay a sufficient price for the second request, ensuring your satisfaction!"
"The specific transaction arrangements will be handled by foreign affairs personnel contacting you."
"Your friend, Kikwete."
In just a few seconds, Director Li finished reading the telegram, his eyes widening in surprise.