184: I can’t hold it anymore, the maces are sold out!

"It is highly likely that the Navy's first prize is for aircraft carrier technology, while for the Air Force, it's either an engine or new aircraft materials," Brother Qi speculated.

["Too advanced to be displayed"—seeing those eight words makes me feel even more puffed up with pride!]

[Puffed up +1, looking forward to the day I feel even more puffed up!]

[Any brothers want to team up and go to Qinchuan? Let's take a photo in front of the factory gate to show off!]

"Don't mess around. Julong Steel is a top-secret unit for the Navy, Army, and Air Force. Taking photos at their factory gate might land you in prison," Brother Qi warned.

Many fake military enthusiasts have a weak sense of security; one careless move and they could become accomplices leaking intelligence to the '500,000' spies.

[For real? It's just a photo.]

[You can look up the Secrecy Law. The area within 100 meters in front of Julong Steel is a restricted zone. You snap a photo, and the Patrol Police will snap some silver bracelets on you.]

[Testing the law with your own body—you're really asking for a prison sentence!]

"Let's stop here for today. I'm going to organize some materials. See you all tonight, Commanders," Brother Qi said as he ended the stream.

Meanwhile, on the other end, Bai Xiaoying's livestream was almost bursting with fans.

[Xiao Ying, Xiao Ying, hurry up and put up the link for the Great Guan Dao!]

[I want a mace. Can you include free shipping?]

[Can you list the multi-functional engineer shovel? How much is it?]

[Does the Longying Drone in the showcase support modifications? Give me a dozen.]

Bai Xiaoying looked at the audience count in her livestream, which had increased tenfold, with a confused look on her face. What happened?

"Wait, what are you all talking about? What Great Guan Dao and mace?" Bai Xiaoying asked.

[Didn't you see the news, Xiao Ying? Julong Steel was commended by the entire military yesterday—three third-class awards and one second-class award! It's totally awesome!]

[We can't afford an aircraft carrier tractor, but we can at least buy a Great Guan Dao or a mace to play with, right?]

Uh, a Great Guan Dao? A mace?

Wait a second, let me wrap my head around this.

Bai Xiaoying opened the news, and it was flooded with reports about the results of Dragon Xia's first major industrial survey, with Julong Steel taking the top spot.

Cold weapons like the Great Guan Dao and the mace won the third-class military science and technology progress award?

"Can I sell these in the livestream?" Bai Xiaoying asked, bewildered.

[@SuperModerator, speak! Can she sell them!]

[Are you crazy? You dare to threaten the Super Moderator? Do you not want to watch Xiao Ying's stream anymore?]

[If Longquan swords can be sold, the Great Guan Dao can definitely be sold as long as it's not sharpened!]

[What about the mace I've been dreaming of? It doesn't have a blade!]

[The multi-functional shovel likes this comment; I'm just a regular shovel!]

Bai Xiaoying immediately paused the livestream and called Lu Shenwei.

On the other end, Lu Shenwei had just entered the factory area and hadn't even taken a sip of water yet.

"The Great Guan Dao? Probably not. But the mace and the multi-functional shovel definitely can be sold."

As he said this, Lu Shenwei sought Chen Guang's opinion, and after receiving a definite answer, he corrected himself.

"The Great Guan Dao and the mace can be sold, but the multi-functional shovel cannot."

Bai Xiaoying asked excitedly, "How much should I list them for?"

The cost of the Great Guan Dao was 45 yuan, and the cost of the mace was 80 yuan.

Lu Shenwei thought for a moment. "List the Great Guan Dao for 320 and the mace for 420. Let's list them like that for now, and you'll get a 5% commission on every unit sold."

"Really? Don't worry, Director Lu, I guarantee they'll sell out!"

Bai Xiaoying excitedly ended the call and immediately posted the links for the two weapons.

[She actually listed them? Great Guan Dao for 320, mace for 420.]

[Even though shipping is included, it still feels a bit expensive.]

[Seriously? You think this price is expensive? Think about it: you can buy equipment that won a third-class military science and technology progress award for just over 300. Doesn't that make it feel cheap?]

[Damn, you really are a talent. Now that you put it that way, not only do I not think it's expensive, I want to buy two more.]

[Huh??? What the heck! Where did the thousand-plus items in stock that were just listed go? Sold out in a second?]

[Brother, in the time you spent being shocked, others have already finished paying. Just wait for the next batch.]

[Damn it, my heart hurts! Xiao Ying, save me, hurry up and restock.]

Bai Xiaoying said helplessly, "Don't worry, everyone. The factory is ramping up production, and another batch will be listed in my livestream tomorrow at 12:00."

There wasn't much demand for the Great Guan Dao and the mace to begin with, and the inventory was over a thousand units.

Upon learning that sales were booming, Lu Shenwei immediately summoned Ma Quanlin.

"Uncle Ma, restart the production lines for the Great Guan Dao and the mace immediately. We need to ensure a daily output of one thousand units."

Ma Quanlin was stunned for a moment. "Huh? A thousand units a day? Can we sell that many?"

"Didn't you watch the Dragon Xia Channel 1 news at noon?"

"News? I was busy working and didn't get a chance."

"Our Great Guan Dao and mace have become hits. The sales of our other products will likely skyrocket as well. Prepare the whole factory for overtime."

As the Lunar New Year approached, Julong Steel Factory showed no signs of stopping work.

Many workers volunteered to work overtime—not just for the triple pay and generous subsidies, but to reciprocate the shopping enthusiasm of the vast number of netizens.

"Working overtime during the New Year is great. Not to mention the triple pay, there's also the full New Year subsidy—500 a day. With sales commissions, that's at least 2,000 a day!"

"Including base salary and bonuses, that's at least 3,000 a day for the first three days of the Spring Festival."

"I heard the Great Guan Dao is sold out again. The brothers on the steel product production line are really in luck."

"Our Longying Drone production line isn't doing too bad either. Sales have doubled compared to usual, and I expect another surge after the Spring Festival."

Julong Steel Factory once again became a hot topic of public opinion. On the second day after Lu Shenwei returned to Qinchuan, District Chief Zhou Wen visited with his leadership team.

"You're quite something, kid. You launched a satellite without making a sound!" Zhou Wen praised.

Lu Shenwei waved his hand. "You're joking. I didn't know about it beforehand either."

"Where are the medals? Where did you put them? Take us to admire them."

Lu Shenwei led the way and opened the door to the conference room, where four gold-lettered medals were mounted on the white wall.

"This... you just hang such important honors in the conference room, kid? Why didn't you set up an honor room for display?" Zhou Wen said.

That was a military-wide honor. Many units couldn't get a single third-class award in their entire lifetime.

And you just hang them here? If I hadn't taken off my military uniform, I would've taught you a lesson today!

"The rest of the factory area is full of workshops. Hanging these honors in the conference room lets everyone see them. I couldn't just hang them in my office, right?" Lu Shenwei explained.

Zhou Wen was so annoyed he didn't know where to start. "At least set up an honor wall. Hanging them all alone like that looks ridiculous."

"That's a good suggestion. I'll find someone to renovate tomorrow and, while I'm at it, get the medals framed properly," Lu Shenwei mused.

"The well-fed don't know the hunger of the starving. If other military industrial units saw this, they'd be furious," Zhou Wen said, feeling depressed.

Lu Shenwei nodded. "What brings you here today?"

"Your steel factory won an award, didn't it? The district has a special bonus—it's not much, 1.2 million—to reward you. Also, I wanted to talk about the overall planning we discussed last time."

Zhou Wen handed over a document. Lu Shenwei casually flipped through a couple of pages and said, "The Julong Rise Plan?"

"That's the tentative name. I'm thinking of integrating the surrounding industrial enterprises," Zhou Wen pondered.