Chapter 719: The Production Line Is Back!

The Li Family Courtyard!

Hearing the urgent ringing of the phone coming from the study, Li Yi immediately strode inside and picked up the receiver!

“This is Li Yi. Who’s calling?”

“Comrade Li Yi, this is Zhou Rui. Is this a good time to talk?”

“Yes, what’s up, Zhou?”

“Here’s the situation: the equipment we ordered from Corning has arrived safely in Pengcheng. It’s expected to reach Yangcheng tonight and will then be transported by train to Beijing…”

Before Zhou Rui could finish, Li Yi exclaimed happily, “Hahaha, that’s great! Did they not send any coast guard vessels to intercept us this time?”

“Heh, would they dare? We didn’t want to make a big deal out of it this time. Otherwise, just their reckless boarding and forced search of our government vessel would have been reason enough for us to send warships into Victoria Harbor!”

Zhou Rui continued, “As long as those foreigners haven’t been kicked in the head by a donkey, they’d never dare to come looking for trouble again. Right on our doorstep, we’ve got a hundred ways to deal with them!”

“That’s good to hear. Now I can go back home for the New Year with peace of mind!” Li Yi said with a smile.

“Hold on a moment. I called today not only to let you know the equipment has arrived safely in Pengcheng, but also to discuss a few other matters with you!” Zhou Rui said.

“What’s up? Go ahead.”

“First off, those technicians from Corning. When they arrived in Pengcheng and found out the final destination was Beijing, they all walked out on the job!”

Li Yi asked in a low voice, “Where are they now?”

“Those guys refused to leave after arriving in Pengcheng. They’re currently staging a protest at the accommodations we arranged for them!” Zhou Rui said.

“What have you done about it?” Li Yi asked again.

“We appealed to their sense of duty and reason, asking them to go to Beijing to help us set up those production lines, but they absolutely refused…”

Before Zhou Rui could finish, Li Yi cut him off: “Your approach is wrong!”

“Then what do you suggest we do? We can’t exactly threaten them with knives and guns, can we?”

“Threatening them with knives and guns is so lame—it makes us look like bandits. Have someone tell those guys that if they come to the capital and set up the production lines properly, we’ll give each of them a $10,000 bonus.”

Li Yi continued, “At the same time, tell them that if they choose to go back now, we won’t stand in their way—we’ll send them back across the river immediately.”

“But they haven’t fulfilled their promise to install the production line—that’s a major breach of contract. We’ll certainly hold them accountable. Not only will Corning have to pay compensation, but they’ll also lose this job. Let them choose for themselves!”

“What if they insist on going back?” Zhou Rui asked.

“Then we’ll send them back to Hong Kong Island!”

“You’ll really send them?”

“We really will!”

Li Yi continued, “Without Butcher Zhang, are we supposed to eat pigs with the hair still on them? If it comes down to it, I’ll find engineers from elsewhere—we’ll get this production line up and running one way or another. But I doubt those guys will dare go back after we’ve had our say.”

Li Yi was well aware of just how dire the job market was over in Thief Eagle right now. Due to the severe stagflation the economy had been experiencing in recent years, a large number of companies couldn’t sell the products they produced and eventually went out of business, driving the unemployment rate to a terrifying 11% at one point.

More importantly, the local economy is currently suffering from severe hyperinflation, with prices for all daily necessities—including food—skyrocketing.

Under these circumstances, it’s safe to say that the vast majority of workers would cherish their current job opportunities.

“Alright, I’ll have someone pass on what you just said to them right away!” Zhou Rui said.

“Alright, anything else?”

Zhou Rui replied immediately, “I just got a call from our colleagues at Pengcheng Customs. They said they discovered a large quantity of other items while unloading the ship and asked us what they should do!”

“What other items? Are there things besides that equipment?” Li Yi asked in surprise.

“Hmm!”

“What’s going on? Director Zhou, did you ask Zhou Wen who would be so bold as to…”

“Comrade Li Yi, it’s not what you think. I asked Wen, and he said those items were gifts sent to you by prominent Chinese business figures from Hong Kong… no, I should say they were wedding gifts for your sister!”

Zhou Rui continued, “If it were just a small amount, the customs officials certainly wouldn’t have said anything, but this time the quantity is really quite large, and the items are quite valuable…”

“Officer Zhou, I understand. So what should we do now?”

Li Yi understood—his friends in Hong Kong must have heard his sister was getting married and decided to send some wedding gifts.

Traveling back and forth between the two sides was still quite a hassle, and bringing a large quantity of items through customs was even more difficult, which is why he had asked Huang Lixing for help.

Old Huang took this opportunity to deliver both the gift and the equipment.

Fortunately, Zhou Wen was in charge of this operation, and since he is Zhou Rui’s own nephew, otherwise this situation would have been impossible to explain.

Zhou Rui thought for a moment and said, “Normally, in a situation like this, the goods would be confiscated by customs, but your case is rather special, so we certainly can’t handle it that way.”

“First, these items are wedding gifts sent to your sister by those Hong Kong businessmen—they weren’t smuggled in for profit. If they were confiscated like this, it would seriously hurt those businessmen’s feelings.”

“Second, you weren’t aware of this—it was our people who helped them transport the goods back, so we share some responsibility! Therefore, I plan to submit a report to our superiors, explain the situation, and request that this be treated as a one-time exception!”

Li Yi paused briefly, then said, “Zhou Chu, how about this: you talk to the Pengcheng Customs office. We’ll pay the customs duties on those items, and we’ll treat them as normal imports. How does that sound?”

“We’ll still have to report this to our superiors!” Zhou Rui replied.

“Alright!”

“Alright then, let’s settle it this way. I’ll give you a call when that shipment of equipment is loaded for Beijing!”

“Alright…”

Then, the two hung up the phone!

After the call ended, Li Yi felt a bit helpless—this whole situation was a real headache.

Old Huang and the others didn’t really understand the situation back home; they thought there’d be no harm in sending some congratulatory gifts over on this occasion.

After all, in their eyes, Li Yi was a special envoy working on behalf of the state.

If shipping such a large shipment of equipment had caused no problems, surely a few gifts wouldn’t be an issue!

But what they didn’t know was that the equipment had been purchased to support the Yanjing Television Factory; for the sake of economic revitalization, the higher-ups were naturally happy to see it happen.

However, those gifts were intended for private individuals, which, in the eyes of customs, constituted outright smuggling.

Moreover, the fact that Zhou Rui felt it necessary to call personally suggested that the gifts sent by Old Huang and his group likely contained something rather sensitive. If they were merely clothes and shoes, he wouldn’t have gone out of his way to make this call.

Of course, there was another possibility: Zhou Rui’s primary purpose in making this call was to remind himself.

After all, there would certainly be no shortage of instances in the future where supplies and equipment were shipped in this manner. If such situations occurred frequently, it would be difficult for them to explain.

So, barring any surprises, the items sent by Old Huang and his team will arrive in Beijing along with the color TV production line, and it’s unlikely he’ll be required to pay back taxes.

But if this kind of situation were to happen again in the future, it would be difficult to handle.

It seems he’ll have to find time to talk to Old Huang and the others—they can’t cut corners like this in the future.

Of course, this also applies to my brother-in-law, Yan Guangming, Jin Junze, and others—to prevent them from taking advantage of their trips between Hong Kong and Pengcheng to smuggle all sorts of things for personal gain.

Although the likelihood of that wasn’t very high, it was still necessary to be prepared.

That said, this matter isn’t urgent. The most important thing right now is to inform my second older brother, Jiang Longyin, that the color TV production line has been brought back to the country.

After all, he had advanced the money for the equipment, so it had to be made clear.

With that in mind, Li Yi stepped out of his study, exchanged a few words with Jiang Xue, then called Zhang Ziqiang over and left the house.