County Sugar Factory. Administration Building!
In the conference room, Liang Yukuai glared grimly at the large group of factory officials below him; his heaving chest betrayed just how terrible his mood was at that moment.
“Xie Baojun, how have you been running the Sales Department? We’ve sold over a thousand tons of brown and white sugar, yet not even a third of the payments have been settled?”
A middle-aged man sitting at the head of the table grimaced and said, “Director, I’ve already followed up with them, but the folks in Beijing keep telling us to wait, and wait some more…”
“Wait my ass! The people have already gathered outside our factory. How am I supposed to explain this to them?” Liang Yukui roared again.
Hearing this, the factory leaders in the conference room fell silent once more!
Just then, Director Ge, Liang Yukui’s right-hand man, suddenly spoke up: “Director, why don’t we take out a loan from the credit union to tide us over for now?”
“Hmph, that’s over 300,000 yuan! There’s no way the credit union would lend us that much all at once!”
Liang Yukui added, “Don’t forget, we already owe the credit union 250,000 yuan!”
In an instant, the entire conference room fell into dead silence once more!
Liang Yukui truly never imagined that the factory, which had been doing just fine last year, would suddenly be on the brink of collapse this year.
On one hand, they couldn’t sell their products; on the other, they couldn’t collect payment for the goods they had sold.
Since the start of spring this year, the factory hadn’t paid wages for over two months, and many workers were on the verge of collapse.
More importantly, the payments for the sugar beets purchased from local farmers last fall had not been made.
Normally, this money is distributed to the various production teams around the Lunar New Year.
However, due to the delayed settlement of this year’s payments, the farmers have been waiting for three or four months.
Compounding the problem, life is truly hard for people in many areas, and they were counting on this money to survive.
Left with no other choice, these villagers swarmed the sugar factory to demand answers!
Just as the heavy tension in the conference room was becoming almost unbearable, a frantic knock suddenly sounded at the door.
Liang Yukui frowned and said, “Come in!”
When he saw that it was his secretary pushing the door open, he snapped, “What is it? Don’t you know we’re in a meeting?”
The young secretary sensed Liang Yukui’s irritation; his expression changed instantly, but he hurriedly explained, “Director, someone’s here to see you!”
Liang Yukui slammed his fist down on the conference table and shouted angrily, “I won’t see anyone. No matter who it is, get out of here…”
“Director… Comrade Li Yi is here!”
Liang Yukui’s furious outburst stopped abruptly. After a moment, he asked, “You say Brother Li Yi is here? Where is he?”
“Right over by your office…”
Upon hearing this, Liang Yuke immediately jumped to his feet in excitement.
He recalled that Li Yi had mentioned to him last year that the sugar factory had been struggling in recent years. However, at the time, Li Yi had only hinted that the factory might face operational difficulties without specifying a timeframe, so Liang Yuke hadn’t taken it seriously.
After all, he was in the process of transferring from the corporate sector to the government. Once that was settled, the sugar factory would no longer be his concern—whatever happened to it in a few years was none of his business!
But what he hadn’t anticipated was that the situation would deteriorate so quickly.
Thinking of Li Yi’s unpredictable tactics, Liang Yukui didn’t hesitate; he immediately strode out of the conference room.
Just as everyone in the conference room was about to breathe a sigh of relief, Liang Yukui, who had reached the door, suddenly stopped and addressed the group once more: “We’re adjourning this meeting for now. You all need to figure out how to raise the money immediately—this can’t be put off any longer!”
Only after saying this did he walk out of the conference room.
………
When Liang Yukui returned to his office, he spotted Li Yi standing at the door from a distance.
He exclaimed excitedly, “Brother Li Yi, what a rare visit! When did you get back?”
“Hehe, I got back yesterday!” Li Yi said with a smile.
Liang Yukui opened the door as he said, “Come on in, let’s sit down!”
Once they were inside the office, Liang Yukui immediately took out some fine tea leaves and began to brew a cup for Li Yi.
“Brother Liang, don’t bother with that. Tell me about the people outside your sugar factory!”
Earlier, while downstairs, Li Yi had already briefly spoken with the villagers and understood why they were there.
Although he didn’t know why the sugar factory was in arrears on payments for the villagers’ sugar beets, he knew the factory must be in trouble—and it was likely a business issue.
Hearing Li Yi’s words, Liang Yuke’s hands stopped moving immediately. He let out a long sigh and said, “The factory’s cash flow has dried up. We owe the villagers a lot of money, and I’ve been worrying about this very thing!”
“How did the cash flow suddenly dry up? Haven’t your products always sold well?” Li Yi asked, frowning.
“Sales used to be quite good, but since the start of spring this year, many of our previous clients suddenly stopped buying our sugar!”
Liang Yukui continued, “On top of that, we haven’t been able to collect payments for over a million yuan worth of goods we sold earlier. As time went on, our factory’s cash flow collapsed!”
“On top of that, the reconstruction of our factory’s two production workshops last year consumed a massive amount of funds. All these factors combined led to this cash flow shortage.”
“Have you investigated why other organizations suddenly stopped buying your products?”
Liang Yukui replied immediately, “We have. Some organizations can’t afford it anymore because their profits have dropped, while others have found cheaper suppliers, so they’re no longer buying from us!”
“Right now, the organizations that have money don’t want our sugar, and the ones willing to buy don’t have the funds—that’s the situation!”
After hearing Liang Yukui’s explanation, Li Yi fell deep in thought.
The state-owned sugar factory in Qingshan County was established during the “Third Five-Year” Industrial Plan. Although it wasn’t particularly large, its products had consistently supplied the Beijing-Tianjin region, and its profits had always been solid.
Currently, the factory employs nearly a thousand workers. At its peak, it operated around the clock, 24 hours a day, and its annual revenue accounted for more than half of Qingshan County’s fiscal income.
He never expected that so soon after the launch of reform and opening-up, the factory’s operations would run into such serious problems.
With that in mind, Li Yi immediately asked, “Brother Liang, how much do you currently owe the people?”
“Over 300,000, plus two months’ wages for the staff—that comes to over 60,000!”
“360,000—that’s not too much. I’ve got an idea to help you get through this crisis at Nanguan for now,” Li Yi said.
Liang Yukui’s eyes lit up instantly, and he hurriedly asked, “What’s the idea?”
“If your factory is short on cash, you could settle the debts with the locals using sugar!”
“Settling debts with sugar? Will that really work? How could the people possibly use that much sugar?” Liang Yukui frowned.
“They certainly can’t use it all, but they can sell the sugar they receive!”
Li Yi continued, “Of course, when you settle the debts, the price of the sugar has to be low enough so the people can make a profit!”
“Well… what price would be appropriate?” asked Liang Yukui.
“Brother Liang, how much do you sell your sugar to the Supply and Marketing Cooperatives and those units in the capital per pound?”
“About 60 cents!”
“Then let’s set it at 60 cents a jin!”
As far as Li Yi knew, sugar was still a relatively scarce commodity in the vast rural areas at the moment. Many families—whether someone was in the postpartum recovery period or needed to replenish their strength—had to beg high and low just to get their hands on some sugar.
Moreover, at the county supply and marketing cooperative, sugar cost at least 90 cents per catty, and you needed sugar ration tickets to buy it.
If the sugar factory settled debts with the public by providing sugar at 60 cents a pound, the 30-cent difference per pound would certainly make the public willing to accept the deal.
In comparison, the sugar factory wouldn’t be losing anything; it would simply be shifting its profits from the Supply and Marketing Cooperative to the general public.
Liang Yukui thought for a moment and said, “Then I’ll have someone talk to the people outside about this!”
“Alright, but this is just a stopgap measure. To truly change this situation, you’ll have to adjust your business model—otherwise, the consequences will be severe!” Li Yi said.
“Then how should we adjust this business model?” Liang Yukuai asked urgently.
“We’ll discuss that later. First, you need to handle the situation with those people outside,” Li Yi said.
“Alright, I’ll do exactly as you say!”
With that, Liang Yukui hurried out.
Once Liang Yukui had left, Li Yi fell deep in thought.