And for the members of Li Minghong's team, this was also a time of great excitement. From Han Songlin's attitude earlier, combined with the rumours about him, they all realised that it seemed like they were really about to see the end of their suffering and the beginning of their happiness.
'Brother Hong, we'll get the research and development funding, right?'
Li Minghong let out a small sigh of relief and looked at the young girl who had spoken. The team had not broken up, and the young girl had played a considerable role in that.
The young girl was not a traditional beauty, not tall, barely touching the 1.6-metre threshold.
And that was with shoes on!
The young girl was petite and cute, the team's happy-go-lucky.
If it wasn't for her, the team, which could not see a future for itself, would have been very disheartening; at the peak of the team's numbers, there were more than 20 people, that was when Li Minghong had just returned from the United States.
Then the number of team members began to dwindle, and in the end there were only five people left, plus himself, making a total of six.
What could six people do?
They could do a lot, too. At the very least, they had already built the first prototype of the CNC machine tool.
There were still many problems with the first prototype, but as long as they continued to make improvements, they would definitely be able to achieve good results.
However, after the first prototype was made, the situation of Changxing Machine Tool had continued to deteriorate, and there was no way to continue supporting research and development.
Li Minghong said with certainty, 'Not only will there be more funding for research and development, but your wages and benefits will also increase significantly. By then, if you want to buy beautiful clothes and bags, you won't have to worry about your wallet being empty!'
'Really?' Ji Xiaotong couldn't believe it. She really wanted to buy all kinds of beautiful clothes. As a girl, she naturally liked beautiful clothes; although she liked them, it didn't mean that she had to buy them.
If she had money, she would buy more; if she didn't have money, she would save up.
Li Minghong nodded with a smile. He treated Ji Xiaotong like a younger sister, and even his younger brothers like younger brothers.
'Not just pretty clothes, in a year or two, you'll be able to drive a car!' said one of the people who knew more about the Xinghai Group.
Drive a car?
Ji Xiaotong's eyes widened. There weren't many cars in the entire Chinese society.
A Santana passing by could cause people to linger for a long time.
The cheapest cars these days cost more than 100,000 yuan.
'Zhou, you're talking nonsense. Cars are so expensive, how can you afford one?'
'Don't be sceptical. I'll tell you. A friend of my father's was awarded the title of sixth-level technician at Xinghai Group and gets a monthly salary of more than 4,000 yuan. He helped with the research and development of a project and received a bonus of more than 20,000 yuan. There's also a year-end bonus. All in all, he earns more than 100,000 yuan a year.'
A hundred thousand yuan is still a hundred thousand yuan!
If you do the math, it seems that after saving for a year or two, you can really afford a small car.
'And, once we have developed a product, 3% of the profit from sales of the product goes directly to our R&D team as a bonus. The CNC machine tools we develop will definitely have a big market in China, and we will be rich! At least we can get tens of thousands of yuan in bonuses a year.'
Li Minghong doesn't want to dampen the enthusiasm of the young people, but he is really afraid that they will become complacent: 'We have just made the first prototype, and there are still many problems that need to be improved. Do you think it's ready to go on sale now? The next step is the most time-consuming, and we need to keep improving and perfecting it. If we want to go on sale, we'll probably have to wait two years!'
If they can get the support of Xinghai Group, this time can naturally be shortened a lot.
Now it's up to Han Songlin.
Thinking about this, Li Minghong's gaze could not help but fall on Han Songlin, who was constantly talking to people.
It's not easy to be the boss.
You have to deal with so many people, and you have to greet everyone with a smile.
Doesn't it tire you out to keep smiling?
Han Songlin couldn't say whether he was tired or not, but he was a little thirsty at the moment.
Yes, he was thirsty.
In the meeting room, Zhu Xiangping carefully brought Han Songlin some water. Han Songlin took a sip and, seeing everyone seated, patted the microphone.
The sound of the microphone made the meeting room gradually quiet down.
Today's meeting was a general meeting of all employees.
Since Changxing Machine Tools had been acquired, it was only natural that such a meeting would be held.
To be honest, the Changxing Machine Tool meeting room is like an auditorium.
Anyway, it's just a place to hold meetings.
After repeated staff reductions, Changxing Machine Tool now has more than 760 employees.
Most of them are skilled workers, and some are porters and the like.
As for office staff and logistics personnel, there have been many cuts.
'Hello everyone, my name is Han Songlin, the owner of Xinghai Group. From today onwards, Xinghai Group officially acquires Changxing Machine Tool; you, too, officially join the big family of Xinghai Group.'
'In this big family, there is not just Changxing Machine Tool!'
Han Songlin scanned the people under the stage, all of whom were listening attentively; he was not prepared to say anything like renaming Changxing Machine Tool.
Changxing, the star of long prosperity, had a nice meaning, and there was no need to change it.
'Fuxing Industry, Fuxing Power, Fuxing Precision, Fuxing Forging, Fule Liquor, and Fumando Supermarket are all subsidiaries of Xinghai Group.' Han Songlin sounded a little dazed as he spoke; he had created a Luk Fook enterprise?
Why not change Xinghai Group to Luk Fook Group or Fook Luk Group?
That seems a bit tacky! (The author was going to do it like this!)
Han Songlin's mention of each company's name elicited a gasp of surprise from everyone.
Fuxing Industry needs no introduction, it's an old cow.
As for Fuxing Power, it's the largest engine manufacturer in the entire southwest region.
And Fuxing Precision, in the production of gears and bearings, constantly researches technology, and dare not say it's the best in the country (some military industry companies have stronger technology than civilian technology), but it's one of the top few that dare to say so.
In addition to taking orders from Fuxing Power, Fuxing Precision also takes orders from the outside.
As long as you pay, and pay enough, Fuxing Precision will do it for you within its capabilities.
As for Fuxing Forging, some of Changxing Machine Tool's forged parts are now sent to Fuxing Forging.
Who can blame Fuxing Forging for having so many types of forging machines?
As for Fule Liquor, its advertisements are all over the place, so you can't not know it.
Who hasn't been to Fumando Supermarket?
So when Han Songlin mentioned these company names, there was a slight commotion in the auditorium.
'In a company, I firmly believe that three types of people are the most important: technical research and development personnel, skilled workers, and ordinary people who quietly contribute in their positions. In the future, I will never let these three types of people suffer; if there are benefits, they will be the first to be considered.'
Han Songlin had previously emphasised two types of people: R&D personnel and skilled workers. Then he felt that this was a problem, because in this way, R&D personnel and skilled workers had a strong sense of belonging to the company.
However, this is unfair to employees who appear ordinary in their positions and conscientiously complete their work.
They are like an inconspicuous screw, and if there is no problem, you will never know how important they are.
Indeed, these ordinary people are quite replaceable.
Basically, just put anyone in their position, and there should be no problem ensuring the normal operation of the position, regardless of how well they can do it.
'I have great expectations for Changxing Machine Tools. In the next five years, the group will invest at least one billion in research and development of machine tools. We must do everything we can to improve our technical capabilities.'
'In the future, the group will not take a single cent of the profits earned by Changxing Machine Tools, and will reinvest it all in research and development. The group will also provide financial support every year.'
'We aim to occupy a position in the global mid-to-low end machine tool market in the first decade of the 21st century. In the second decade, we will make breakthroughs in high-end machine tools.'
'In the third decade, we will surpass foreign machine tool companies!'
'This plan will take a long time to implement, and many people here, including myself, may not be able to see Changxing surpassing and leading the world in our lifetime.'
'But it doesn't matter. When that day finally comes, our descendants will burn the news of Changxing dominating the world's industrial sector in front of our graves.'
'I firmly believe and hope that this day will come quickly. I also hope that everyone here can work together to make Changxing the undisputed leader of human industry and the promoter and leader of human industrial technological progress one day in the future.'
As Han Songlin's words fell, the applause in the auditorium continued for a long time.
Even many people's eyes were full of tears.
Zheng Lin gently wiped away the tears from the corner of her eyes. For some reason, she had already experienced many scenes of Han Songlin giving people a pep talk, but why was this time so inspiring?