Chapter 86 The One-Armed Butler and the Little KPI Shock

Big Sister Liu said, "I can take care of the New Year's goods."

"As for the rest... I don't know how to do it."

"Manager Lin, you give the orders, and we'll follow your lead!"

"Right! We'll listen to Manager Lin!"

The others expressed their agreement one after another. "Whether it's climbing mountains or diving into the sea, we won't even blink!"

Lin Xi felt a headache coming on.

These people were the foundation of his original Service Center.

Their loyalty and drive were fine.

But this was corporate management, not a gathering of outlaws at Mount Liang!

He couldn't blame them; management was something that required accumulated experience.

Lin Xi sighed, thinking to himself: 'Am I going to have to spend a massive amount of time on this?'

"Manager Lin."

He Zhenhua, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up.

His voice wasn't loud, but it was clear and articulate, with a metallic coldness to it:

"Before coming here, I took a look at Red Star Technology."

"Including the machinery plant, the plastics plant, the Service Center, and so on."

He looked around, his gaze sharp as a knife:

"If I may be blunt, the current Red Star is not an enterprise."

"It's an organized... Beggars' Gang."

*Pfft—*

Er Ga, who was drinking water, spat it all out.

Sun Erga's face turned the color of pig liver:

"Hey! How can you talk like that?"

"What do you mean, a Beggars' Gang?"

"We've earned over ten million in foreign exchange for the country!"

He Zhenhua didn't even lift an eyelid:

"Materials are taken without records, attendance is based on shouting, financial expenditures have no budget, and the workshop hygiene... is appalling."

"With this kind of efficiency, a factory in Germany would have gone bankrupt three times already."

A thin layer of cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

His face was somewhat pale, a physiological reaction brought on by long-term neurasthenia.

But he stood tall and straight, like a Populus euphratica tree pinned to the Gobi Desert.

"Give me 48 hours."

He Zhenhua turned to Lin Xi, his eyes filled with determination and confidence:

"I will give you a management system."

"If I can't do it, I'll leave on my own."

Lin Xi looked at his trembling right hand; he was trying his best to suppress his physical pain.

In the live stream, the netizens were already exploding:

[Holy crap, this uncle is kind of handsome! A broken, ascetic-style uncle?]

[This vibe is incredible. I feel like he's going to pull out a vernier caliper to measure the thickness of my face in the next second.]

[But he doesn't seem to be holding up physically; his face is as white as paper.]

"Fine."

Lin Xi smiled and said, "48 hours. I'll wait for you."

...

Two days later.

Lin Xi looked at the hundred-page handwritten "Red Star Management Regulations" on his desk and couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air.

The handwriting was as neat as print, and even the punctuation marks exuded a sense of rigorous chilliness.

The content was even more authentic "Prussian style":

A bureaucratic management system with a hierarchy so strict it was appalling;

Attendance accurate to the second, with a minute's lateness resulting in the deduction of that day's performance bonus;

The red line for material waste set at 0.5%, with direct accountability for anything over;

Most ridiculous of all, there were even suggested standards for how long employees should spend in the restroom.

This was a perfect model of industrial-age management.

It treated people like machines, pursuing ultimate efficiency and discipline.

"What do you think?"

He Zhenhua sat opposite him, his eyes dark-circled, but his spirit was frighteningly high.

He seemed to have temporarily forgotten his physical disability and psychological trauma during these two days and nights of frantic work.

"The framework is perfect."

Lin Xi closed the notebook and gave a fair evaluation, then changed the subject:

"But, Old He."

"If this thing is sent out, I'm afraid the workers will smash your windows tonight."

He Zhenhua frowned:

"Without rules, there is no order."

"That's how Germanic factories are managed."

"That was Germany in the 50s."

Lin Xi picked up a fountain pen and quickly crossed out several lines on the paper.

"This is China in the 80s."

"We are going to build things of the future, so management has to keep up."

"Watch closely."

As Lin Xi spoke, he began to "perform surgery" on the proposal, incorporating the comments from the netizens in the live stream.

"First, cancel the rigid attendance tracking and change it to 'results-oriented'."

Lin Xi wrote down a few words.

"As long as the work is done well and the quality meets the standards, there are no hard requirements for attendance."

"Second, change 'hierarchical reporting' to 'flat responsibility'."

Lin Xi explained,

"If a technician finds a problem, they can push open my office door directly, or come straight to you."

"There's no need to go through the three levels of group leader, director, and factory manager."

"Third, and most importantly..."

Lin Xi drew a heavy circle on the paper, his gaze turning sharp:

"Introduce KPI... oh, no."

"We'll call it 'Key Performance Indicators'."

"What we want is a wolf-like spirit, creativity, not managing people into obedient screws!"

Initially, He Zhenhua's face was full of resistance, and he even wanted to slap the table in rebuttal.

This kind of unconventional management style was practically an insult to the knowledge he had learned!

But as Lin Xi analyzed it point by point,

From "stimulating subjective initiative" to "fault-tolerance mechanisms,"

He Zhenhua's expression changed.

From anger to confusion, and then to shock.

As an expert, he knew all too well what these modifications meant.

This system Lin Xi proposed seemed casual,

But in reality, every single point precisely targeted the pain points of traditional management.

This wasn't just a management system; it was a new dimension of deconstruction for "human nature" and "efficiency."

Compared to the things he was so proud of learning in Germany, it was at least advanced by...

Twenty years?

No, fifty years!

When Lin Xi stopped writing, He Zhenhua stared at the document that had been modified beyond recognition, his hand shaking so much he couldn't even hold his teacup.

This time it wasn't because of his illness, but because of excitement.

"Manager Lin..."

He Zhenhua's voice was dry.

His spine, which had been held perfectly straight, finally bent slightly at this moment.

"I studied in Germany for five years and thought I had learned the essence of industry."

"After hearing your words today, I feel like a frog at the bottom of a well."

Lin Xi pushed the revised regulations back, smiled, and handed him a cigarette:

"Old He, you've built the framework for Red Star, and I've set the principles."

"The rest is up to you."

He Zhenhua took the cigarette with trembling hands, but didn't light it. Instead, he solemnly tucked it behind his ear.

He took a deep breath, stood up, and carefully adjusted his collar with his only remaining right hand.

Then, he gave Lin Xi a standard military salute.

The movement was crisp and clean, and his gaze was as resolute as iron.

"Mission will be accomplished."

In the live stream, the comments boiled over again:

[Hahaha, Manager Lin's move would make even a capitalist weep!]

[Streamer, why didn't you include the PUA Supreme Edition I suggested! Negative review!]

[Lin Xi, the father of KPI, is online. Workers of the Red Star factory, get ready to receive your 'blessings'! Tremble!]

[This move, this move is transforming Prussian iron and blood into internet-style wolf spirit. Red Star is about to take off!]

[Streamer! After these two observations, I think I know what Old He's illness is! It can be treated!]

Having settled the internal steward, Lin Xi was in a great mood.

Just as he walked out of the meeting room, he saw Sun Erga approaching with a sneaky look on his face.

"Brother, do you really dare to use that one-armed hero?"

"He looks fierce. The way he looked at me just now was like he wanted to eat me alive."

Lin Xi patted Sun Erga on the shoulder and smiled meaningfully:

"Er Ga, be polite to him from now on."

"If he catches you slacking off, I won't stop him from docking your bonus."

"Huh?" Sun Erga's face fell. "Then I'd better go work on the distribution channels."