3: First order

Three days later.

Office.

Li Mubai slumped powerlessly in his chair.

Just now.

The newly purchased steelmaking machinery had arrived.

After a flurry of activity, the machinery was installed, and he was dog-tired.

The factory was empty now; he hadn't even notified the workers to come in.

So, he had to do everything himself.

Li's Father had paid a large sum for this new machine, which had made Li Mother's heart ache for a while.

But for his son's career.

Even knowing that this investment might result in a total loss.

The old couple still unhesitatingly took out the money.

...

Ding-a-ling...

He had just lain down to rest for a moment.

The landline on his desk rang.

Even though Li Mubai didn't want to move at all, for the sake of the Steel Factory, he still got up and answered the slightly yellowed landline.

“Hello.”

“Is that Mu Bai?”

“Yes, Uncle Zhao, you haven't called in a long time.”

“Hahaha, I've just been busy with work.”

Hearing this familiar voice, Li Mubai smiled.

The caller was an old customer of the Steel Factory.

He was also Li's Father's old comrade-in-arms, named Zhao Zhenghua, and they had a good relationship.

Zhao Zhenghua worked in a secret unit.

Although Li's Father hadn't explained his situation, Li Mubai had some guesses.

He would sometimes order a batch of steel, which was considered support for Li's Father, his old comrade-in-arms.

“Uncle Zhao, is it the same as usual this time?”

“Uh, the usual. Steel plates 3 centimeters thick, 1.3 meters long and wide.”

“Alright, Uncle Zhao.”

After stating the requirements, they chatted for a couple more sentences, and then the call ended.

At the same time.

In a certain secret weapon production Research Institute.

Zhao Zhenghua put down the phone, his eyes filled with memories.

“Old comrade-in-arms. This is my last time supporting your Steel Factory. Now that weapons have been upgraded, we no longer need steel of this hardness as targets for weapon testing.”

...

Inside the Steel Factory.

Li Mubai was a little excited to receive the order.

Although Zhao Zhenghua's orders only came once every few months.

The demand was quite large each time, making him one of the Steel Factory's few major customers.

Although he didn't know what Zhao Zhenghua used the steel for.

Li Mubai still decided that all subsequent steel would be produced using the steelmaking method provided by the system.

After all, this could earn him exchange points.

According to the information given by the system.

The strength of the synthetic steel was enough to rival the top-tier steel of his previous life; in terms of hardness and toughness, it was second to none!

Such steel would definitely be warmly welcomed in this era of technological innovation.

With everything ready, Li Mubai called the workers.

One day later.

At the entrance of the Steel Factory, an elderly man with graying temples stood.

This was an old employee of the factory, surnamed Xiao.

Li Mubai was used to calling him Lao Xiao.

That's right.

Only Lao Xiao came; everyone else had resigned.

They knew the Steel Factory was beyond saving and couldn't be revived, so they all left.

There was no future here, only a dead end.

“Sigh... Lao Xiao, let's begin.”

Li Mubai sighed softly.

The work that needed to be done still had to be done.

He couldn't keep people, and he couldn't blame them, after all, everyone had to live.

However, what was worth celebrating was.

The new machines had just been installed, and many things didn't require manual operation.

Otherwise.

With just two people, it would be impossible to revive a Steel Factory and successfully produce steel.

As the machinery roared, the cool environment inside the factory also began to warm up.

The air was filled with the unique smell of melting steel, which was mesmerizing to some.

Due to a shortage of staff.

Many tasks could only be done by Li Mubai himself.

Lao Xiao assisted on the side.

Lao Xiao was old, over sixty; others would have retired long ago.

But Lao Xiao's family had someone seriously ill.

Aside from the Steel Factory, who else would hire a sixty-year-old man?

The roaring was immense.

As time passed.

The scorching, bright molten steel was quickly produced, and then these batches of molten steel were poured into molds.

White steam filled the factory.

Before long.

One steel plate after another began to emerge.

Li Mubai held a small iron hammer and struck these steel plates.

Bang, bang, bang...

The steel plate, struck hard by the iron hammer, did not deform in the slightest; there wasn't even a slight indentation.

And the sound of the steel being hammered was noticeably much crisper than before.

“As expected of a system-produced item. The material of this synthetic steel is so perfectly straight, Uncle Zhao will surely be satisfied!”

Li Mubai smiled.

Four days passed quickly.

The tens of tons of steel plates Zhao Zhenghua needed were finally completed.

Due to the lack of manpower, what should have taken one or two days took twice as long.

The next day.

Several green-skinned large trucks appeared at the entrance of the Steel Factory.

A group of burly men in military green clothes with crew cuts got out of the trucks.

Li Mubai was used to it.

He knew these were Zhao Zhenghua's subordinates, responsible for loading the steel plates onto the trucks.

However, Zhao Zhenghua did not appear.

Before long.

With the help of the factory machinery, tens of tons of steel plates were loaded onto the trucks.

As the trucks were leaving.

Li Mubai heard the system's notification sound.

【Congratulations on obtaining 100,000 exchange points!】

He knew.

The other party had already transferred the money to his card, otherwise, he wouldn't have received exchange points.

100,000 exchange points meant 100,000 yuan more in his card.

In this era.

100,000 was already a huge sum.

You could buy several houses in the county town.

Li Mubai was overjoyed.

Today was a very special day; it was payday.

With this money.

He could pay the wages of the laid-off employees.

Even though those people, seeing the Steel Factory on the verge of collapse, hadn't actively asked for their pay.

But as an entrepreneur, one shouldn't treat others unfairly, right?

Matters involving money needed to be handled carefully.

Otherwise.

If these people caused trouble at the Steel Factory over this later, he wouldn't have any peace.

After going out to withdraw the money, Li Mubai returned to the Steel Factory.

At the same time, he called Old Xiao into his office.

“Boss, you called for me?”

“Old Xiao, please sit first.”

Old Xiao had an honest and simple appearance.

His sixty-year-old face was full of wrinkles, his skin was slightly dark, and his eyes held an unshakeable weariness of life.

Hearing Li Mubai's words.

He carefully sat down opposite the desk.

“Old Xiao, today is payday, this is your salary for this month.”

Li Mubai didn't waste words.

He pushed the envelope, which had already been prepared on the desk, towards Old Xiao.

Old Xiao glanced at it, his eyes showing confusion.

“Boss, this... isn't this counted wrong?”

The reason for this question was.

Old Xiao noticed the envelope was thick and bulging.

While his past wages were also in envelopes, they were never this thick.

So he suspected that Li Mubai might have given him too much.

Li Mubai smiled faintly.

He greatly admired the other's character.

If it were someone else who saw an envelope thicker than their usual salary, they would probably have already run off with it.

“It's not counted wrong, you've worked hard these past few days, consider this your compensation.”

The two of them had worked a lot of overtime these days.

For this.

Old Xiao accepted it without complaint or regret.

Doing the work of several people for several consecutive days had caused Old Xiao's back to bend quite a bit.

It should have been a happy occasion.

Old Xiao, however, froze upon hearing this, and in the next second, his expression changed drastically, and he suddenly stood up, pleading:

“Boss, please don't kick me out of the Steel Factory. I can still work, I won't be lazy, please be merciful...”

As he spoke.

Old Xiao's eyes were a little moist.

The sudden situation caught Li Mubai off guard.

After thinking it through, he burst into a wry smile.

Old Xiao thought he was being laid off, which was why he was given so much pay.

Li Mubai smiled and explained the truth one by one.

After listening.

Lao Xiao's worry disappeared, replaced by a beaming smile.

After thanking Li Mubai profusely, he carefully tucked the envelope from the table into his embrace, felt it again, and then left the Steel Factory with a relieved expression.

Double wages.

His seriously ill wife could buy medicine again!