Chapter 22 The Limit Theory of 1,000 Units

The live stream chat was flying, with the screen filled with "666".

[Hahaha! That crisp sound is the sound of 'aluminum' justice being served!]

[Who said the Streamer was bullying an honest man just now? Why don't you step out and say that again? This guy had enough hidden aluminum alloy scrap on him to cast a whole pot!]

[What the hell is 'I'm an old comrade'? Old comrades are getting a bad reputation because of him! This is clearly a seasoned repeat offender!]

[Big Cannon's Little Fangirl: Wow! Am I the only one focusing on Big Cannon's arm strength? Lifting a grown man with one hand like he's a little chick... that's so manly! I'm in love!]

Lin Xi bent down to pick up a piece of aluminum, rubbing the edge with his thumb.

"Industrial pure aluminum, twenty cents a catty at the recycling station."

He lifted his eyelids and glanced at Zhao the Scabby, who was suspended in mid-air.

"Master Zhao, this pocketful of yours... at most, it would sell for five cents, right?"

"It's... it's public property, what's wrong with taking a little?"

Zhao the Scabby was still being stubborn, his face red and neck veins bulging. "I'm doing this to save for the public..."

"Throw him out."

Lin Xi didn't bother listening to his nonsense and simply waved his hand.

"You got it!" Sun Erga had long found this guy eyesore, and he scurried over to pull open the heavy iron gate.

With a swing of Wang Dapao's arm—away you go!

*Whoosh—*

Zhao the Scabby, along with his greasy, grimy self, went "tumble-tumble" into the snow outside.

"Don't bother coming back."

Lin Xi stood at the doorway, looking down at him.

"As for today's wages, you don't get a share."

"This is retaliation!"

"I'm going to report you!" Zhao the Scabby hopped around in the snow, cursing with a shrill voice.

*Bang!*

The iron gate slammed shut ruthlessly, cutting off the cursing in the cold wind.

The world became quiet.

Lin Xi turned around and looked at the remaining six people in the workshop.

There was fear and unease in their eyes.

"One person short."

Lin Xi patted the dust off his hands, his smile making their skin crawl.

"Meaning, the forty cents for assembling one unit, which was originally split between seven people, will now be split among the six of you."

He paused and held up a finger.

"Each person gets an extra one and a half cents."

The originally stagnant atmosphere underwent a marvelous chemical reaction the moment he said "one and a half cents."

Fear?

Non-existent.

Replacing it was an ill-concealed sense of secret joy and greed.

The workers glanced at each other; no one said a single good word about Zhao the Scabby anymore. Instead, their hands moved even faster than before.

They were terrified that if they were slow, they too would be thrown out, handing that one-and-a-half-cent profit over to someone else.

This was human nature.

As long as the profit was large enough, kindness and sympathy were redundant luxuries.

...

That day, the Fifth Workshop became the most frenzied place in the entire base.

Once the assembly line ran smoothly, the efficiency was terrifying.

They delivered 12 units at noon and 18 units by evening.

Within a single day, the first batch of 30 "red star · warm sun" units was snatched up, leaving not even a sample behind.

Ten o'clock at night.

The furnace fire was bright. Big Sister Liu poured a large pile of cash onto the table, her hands shaking.

"We've made it... we've really made a fortune!"

Sun Erga spoke incoherently, his eyes red with excitement.

Liu Guihua slapped the order book onto the table with heroic spirit.

"Manager Lin! Let's expand production!"

"Just now, several people asked if they could get some for their relatives in the provincial capital!"

"Let's hire dozens more people and run three shifts."

"The people can rest but the machines won't. Let's aim to sell ten thousand units!"

"Right! Sell ten thousand units!"

The fellow workers also began to shout, as if the dream of becoming a "Ten-Thousand-Yuan Household" was already within reach.

"Ten thousand units?"

Lin Xi sat in his chair and gave a cold laugh.

"Are you trying to kill this business?"

A bucket of cold water was poured over their heads.

The lively scene cooled down instantly.

Everyone looked at each other, not understanding why their God of Wealth was dampening their spirits.

"Listen carefully, I'm only saying this once."

Lin Xi held up a finger, his gaze sharp.

"Whether it's now or in the future, we will only make 1,200 units of this thing."

"Not a single unit more."

"Why?" Sun Erga got anxious. "You'd have to be a fool not to take the money!"

"Because once it leaves this gate, this thing is just scrap metal."

Lin Xi stood up, walked to the blackboard, and casually drew a circle.

"This thing consumes 0.8 kilowatt-hours of electricity per hour."

"In the base, electricity doesn't cost money, so it's a miracle heater."

"But outside the base, electricity is fifteen cents per kilowatt-hour. Running it for one night would cost one yuan and fifty cents!"

"How much is an average worker's monthly salary? Who can afford to burn that?"

"This..." Sun Erga was silenced.

He was only thinking about making money and had completely forgotten about this fatal flaw in the product.

"We are fleecing the base."

Lin Xi's voice was frighteningly calm, possessing a clarity that didn't seem to belong to this era.

"In our base, those who have the purchasing power and are willing to spend thirty-eight yuan on this thing amount to less than two thousand households at most."

"The market is only this big."

"If we make too many and can't sell them, we'll be stuck with a pile of scrap copper and iron."

"And—" Lin Xi narrowed his eyes, looking at the pitch-black night outside the window.

"If we make too much noise and the power grid load spikes, the people in the Logistics Department aren't idiots."

"We must finish making this quick money within a month, and then—"

"Immediately stop production and move to the next battlefield."

In the live stream, the chat was filled with "I get it."

[The Streamer's vision has expanded! Isn't this just a limited-time dungeon?]

[Indeed, for an Aerospace City of 30,000 to 50,000 people, the market capacity is only so large. Anything more is overcapacity.]

[Outside of Aerospace City, most other places use shared electric meters and can't enjoy the benefit of free electricity.]

[The little sun is fine as a first pot of gold, but it's not sustainable as a long-term cash cow.]

These words shattered everyone's fanaticism but built up a sense of conviction.

This was vision.

While they were still staring at their own little patch of land, Lin Xi had already seen through the end of the entire chessboard.

Following someone like this is the only way to get a piece of the pie!

"Listen to the manager!" Wang Dapao roared in a low voice, breaking the silence.

"Once we finish these 1,200 units, we pull out! No lingering!"

"Right! Listen to Manager Lin!"

...

And outside the workshop.

In the shadows.

Zhao the Scabby wrapped his tattered cotton coat tighter, staring fixedly at the window through which light shone.

His face was blue from the cold, but a malicious fire burned in his eyes.

In there was money, piles of money!

It was supposed to be his share too!

"Fine... speculation and profiteering, and even daring to fleece the state..."

He spat fiercely on the ground.

This little sun was a hit; who would it affect the most?

It would definitely be the Department Store!

"Want to get rich? Kicking me out to eat the whole meal yourself?" Zhao the Scabby turned and dove into the wind and snow.

"I'm going to send you all to eat prison food!"