Chapter 160: I Raise the Banner for My Doggy
Factory Director Tian interrupted Su He mid-sentence. “Little Su, I know your reasons make some sense, but even the S City Food Factory has given up on this project. We’re just a small county-level food factory—we can’t afford to take the risk. Our foundation is weak; we can’t withstand the tossing around. Also, you’ve been out there for a few days already. It’s about time you came back!
Don’t waste the travel funds!”
Su He blinked innocently, “Oh, right, Director Tian, I almost forgot to mention—I met a leader from the Foreign Trade Department during this trip. He said he could help us secure a booth at the Canton Fair. I told him about the instant noodle project, and he thinks it has great potential. Since you’ve decided to give it up, I guess I’ll have to convince the county leadership to build a new instant noodle factory instead. Don’t worry, I’ll return the borrowed travel funds when I get back. I’ll just get reimbursed by the new factory director! Long-distance calls aren’t cheap, so I’ll hang up now!”
“Wait, wait, wait!! Little Su, you young folks are always so impulsive! It’s perfectly normal for me to hesitate a little on such a big project, isn’t it?! You’ve been with our factory for a while—why go to some new director for reimbursements?! Did you just say… the Canton Fair? Our county’s never had a booth there before. Are you saying instant noodles can actually be showcased there… even exported?”
Su He thought: Old business rep? Wasn’t I just a nominal rep when I left An County?
She replied firmly, “Of course they can! Our raw material and labor costs are way lower than in Country J. If we improve the taste and packaging, we can definitely win over the international market.”
Director Tian cautiously asked, “But… but I heard the S City Food Factory’s self-developed production line is much worse than Country J’s. Can it even meet our needs?”
Su He answered casually, “There is a gap, yes. But we can have the county’s machinery factory help improve it. It shouldn’t be a big problem.”
Director Tian thought to himself: What the hell does the machinery factory know?! They’ve never even seen Country J’s production line—how can they improve it?! These youngsters, getting all fired up with excitement and not thinking things through! When push comes to shove, it still takes old comrades like me to keep things grounded…
Still, when he thought about the potential foreign exchange from exports, he started to get tempted.
As he was mulling it over, he heard Su He continue, “The technicians at the S City Food Factory have been to Country J. I’ll compile a report based on their oral accounts to give the machinery factory some reference. You know what they say: ‘Three cobblers with their heads together are as wise as Zhuge Liang.’
Even if we can’t upgrade it perfectly, it’ll still be better than what we have now. And even if it doesn’t work out, once we earn some foreign exchange, we can think about importing a production line from Country J.
The first step is always the hardest—we just need to bring the project into our food factory first, so others don’t snatch away the golden goose. Now, grab a pen and paper. I’ll walk you through how to write the project proposal. Once you polish it up, go see the county leaders immediately…”
Su He chattered on one end of the line while Director Tian scribbled furiously on the other, his wrist aching from writing.
Good grief! This little girl Su He really lived up to her reputation as a county radio station reporter! Look at her writing—it made instant noodles sound like gold bars!
After the call, Su He gave him the phone number of the Jinxiang Hotel, telling him to call there if anything came up.
Once the call ended, Director Tian froze when he saw “Jinxiang Hotel” written on the paper. Then he rummaged through the newspapers on his desk until he found an article:
“S City Jinxiang Hotel, as a foreign affairs guesthouse, continuously improves service quality and has won praise from international guests…”
His eyes darted between the “Jinxiang Hotel” in the newspaper and the one on the paper. Living on steamed buns and cold water? Staying in a one-yuan-a-night guesthouse? Turns out you’re living in a foreign affairs hotel?!
That was it—he now completely believed that Su He really did meet someone from the Foreign Trade Department!
He picked up his fountain pen and began writing the proposal like he was on steroids!
*
Meanwhile, Su He ended the call and paid the exorbitant phone bill.
Principal Chen winced in pain and asked as they walked along, “How did the talk go with Director Tian? Did he agree to introduce the instant noodle production line?”
Su He nodded. “Yeah. I told him to finish the proposal and immediately go talk to the county leadership. Whether it works out depends on his abilities now.”
She felt confident. After several rounds of contact, she found that Director Tian was actually more adaptable—and shameless—than most people of his era. Plus, every leader at this time wanted to help the country earn foreign exchange. With such a great opportunity in front of them, they definitely wouldn’t let it slip by. Not to mention, the proposal she wrote for him—if not a 100% sure thing, it was at least 90%.
The two returned to the hotel, and Su He lay on the bed, zoning out. After a while, she said to the Exchange System:
“Doggy, I’ve spent a lot of money with you the past few days. Why don’t you gift me a coffee-flavored ice cream?”
Exchange System: $#%#@￥!%#
It was about to refuse when it heard Su He add, “Once the instant noodle production line deal goes through, we’ll have big orders coming in. You wouldn’t want to upset me at a time like this, right?”
A moment later, the exchange system reluctantly gave her a coffee-flavored ice cream.
Su He munched on it while chatting with it. “Doggy, remember this: You have to give to gain! If you treat me well, I’ll never shortchange you. I’ll make you the top dog in the system world! I’ll carry the flag for you! Who can stand against us?!”
The Exchange System’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle skin turned bright red with excitement!
It even proactively gifted her a set meal: fried chicken and a cold cola.
Su He, while chewing, thought to herself: Who the hell came up with this stupid, brain-dead thing?!
The exchange system, unaware of her inner complaints, happily dreamed of the future. Once its host got rich, she’d surely buy it tons of skins—it could wear one and throw one out. Every day, it’d be the flashiest, most fabulous presence in all of system-land!
