Hearing Xie Yunjuan's complaint, Lin Zhenhua hurriedly greeted a few times with a fake sigh, people are tired from shopping, how can it be considered a work injury, right?

"Hey, by the way, Xiaolin, I remember that your Hanhua Heavy Industries also has a home appliance export business, are you familiar with the home appliance sellers in the United States?" Xie Yunjuan suddenly remembered something and asked Lin Zhenhua.

Lin Zhenhua nodded: "Several household appliances of our company are also exported to the United States, so I also have some connections with American sellers. What, is there anything wrong with Sister Xie? ”

Xie Yunjuan hesitated for a moment, and finally opened her mouth hesitantly: "Xiaolin, that's the case, this time I came out, a few friends asked me to help them see if they could buy two refrigerators in the United States, I want to see if you have anything to do with it." ”

Lin Zhenhua laughed: "No, Sister Xie, you also need a ticket to buy a refrigerator in the United States?" ”

As a Chinese in that era, I was very accustomed to being out of stock in the market, and I had to ask someone to find a relationship to buy something in demand. However, Xie Yunjuan found the United States to find a relationship, which made Lin Zhenhua feel too nonsensical, there are only things that can't be sold in the United States, and I haven't heard of the in-demand goods that can't be bought.

Who knows, Xie Yunjuan told Lin Zhenhua very seriously: "Xiaolin, you are really right, the United States buys a refrigerator and also needs a ticket." ”

"Won't it?" Lin Zhenhua's eyes widened, "Sister Xie, you're not joking with me, are you?" ”

Xie Yunjuan said dissatisfiedly: "Why are you Xiaolin like this, I am a young man, and I can still make such a joke with you young man?" I asked in the electrical appliance mall today, and they said that the refrigerator was out of stock. ”

"Don't, Sister Xie, in my eyes, you will always be a young ......" Lin Zhenhua was surprised, but he didn't forget to pat Xie Yunjuan's ass, after saying this, he then asked: "Sister Xie, did you go to an electrical appliance mall, or did you go to several?" ”

"I've been to several houses, if you don't believe it, you can ask the student who stayed in the school, and she also inquired for me. It is said that it is a once-in-a-century thing, and several models of refrigerators I fancy are out of stock, and the salesperson said that it may be uncertain when they will be available. However, not all refrigerators are out of stock, and there are still those made in Brazil, and there are no local ones in the United States. I can't just come to the U.S. and buy a Brazilian refrigerator, right? Xie Yunjuan said.

"How is this possible?" Lin Zhenhua was confused, he thought about it, took out a small telephone number book from his pocket, flipped to a page, and then copied the telephone number in Xie Yunjuan's room and dialed a number.

"Hello, is this Gart, please find me Ms. Belinda." Lin Zhenhua said to the telegrapher.

Speaking of Belinda, this person has a deep relationship with Lin Zhenhua. A few years ago, Lin Zhenhua promoted five-blade fans at the Canton Fair, and the first person to negotiate with Lin Zhenhua was Belinda, the sales director of Gart Corporation in the United States. In the following years, Belinda went to China almost once or twice a year, and even went to Xunyang to visit the home appliance production line of Hanhua Home Furnishing Company, and met Lin Zhenhua several times.

This time Lin Zhenhua came to the United States, and he originally planned to meet Belinda after finishing his business, but now he heard Xie Yunjuan say that the refrigerators in the New York market were out of stock, and he couldn't help but ask Belinda about it.

"Hello, I'm Belinda, who are you?" Belinda's gentle voice came over the phone.

Lin Zhenhua replied with a smile: "Hello, dear Ms. Belinda, I am Lin Zhenhua from China. ”

"Oh, dear Lin, how did you call me, is there something important?" Belinda asked in surprise, she thought that Lin Zhenhua had come to her for a long time. The company is still supplying home appliances to Gart, and the first thing Belinda thinks about is whether there is something wrong with the supply.

Lin Zhenhua said: "It's nothing, it's just that I'm coming to New York, so I'll call you to greet you, and I very much hope to have the opportunity to visit you once." ”

"Great, you're in New York? Oh, I see, you're here for Mr. Ford, aren't you? Belinda said, Lin Zhenhua's friendship with Ford, she also knows.

Lin Zhenhua briefly said a few words to Belinda about the cooperation he hoped to cooperate with Spischer, and of course there were no trade secrets involved. After finishing speaking, Lin Zhenhua asked, "Ms. Belinda, there is a strange thing I want to ask you about. A colleague of mine was shopping malls in New York today and found that all the locally made refrigerators in New York appliance stores were out of stock, is this true? When Belinda heard that it was this matter, she couldn't help but pour bitter water: "My God, it's over, the matter of the refrigerator being out of stock is actually going to be spread to Zhongyan Country." Your colleague has learned that our locally produced refrigerator has been out of stock for more than a month, and we at Gart have also suffered some losses because of this incident. The bill of lading we sent out did not mention the goods, and we had to pay compensation to our customer. ”

"How so?" Lin Zhenhua asked, "Is there an economic crisis in the United States?" ”

Belinda said: "It's not an economic crisis, it's just a strike. The staff of Tagor Corporation, the main supplier of refrigerators in our market, went out of work, so the supply of refrigerators was interrupted. ”

Lin Zhenhua laughed heartlessly: "Why do workers strike workers, and can a strike last so long?" ”

Belinda said: "It was the union that organized the strike and demanded an increase in wages. But Mr. Hornby, the boss of Taggo's company, strongly disagreed, and a stalemate ensued. In the past, Taggo's union had organized several strikes, and each time they won. But this time, I think the old man Hornby was probably enraged, and he didn't give in for more than a month, and we're all waiting to see the results now. ”

Hearing Belinda call Hornby an "old man", Lin Zhenhua was moved and asked, "What, Belinda, are you familiar with Mr. Hornby?" ”

Belinda smiled: "Yes, I know him very well, when I was young, he pursued me. Over the years, we have maintained a good relationship. ”

Lin Zhenhua said: "Belinda, this is your fault, since we have such a good relationship, something happened to him, why don't you go to visit him?" ”

Belinda is also a smart person, she heard some meaning from Lin Zhenhua's words, so she asked, "What, Lin, are you interested in visiting Hornby?" ”

"Well, I'm a little interested." Lin Zhenhua said, "Belinda, to be honest, I haven't seen what a striker looks like, if it's convenient, I'd like to visit Mr. Hornby, and by the way, see what the striker of Taggo is like." ”

"Okay, I'll contact Hornby for you, maybe he'll be interested in meeting a friend from China." Belinda agreed over the phone.

Early the next morning, Belinda drove her car to the Hull Hotel, and Lin Zhenhua boarded her car with Xie Yunjuan. Belinda pulled the two of them and drove towards the Tiger factory in the suburbs of New York. Lin Zhenhua's other companions still went to the Spischer company in a Ford car to conduct some follow-up negotiations, which Lin Zhenhua and Wilson would not attend, but between their subordinates.

After driving for more than an hour, Lin Zhenhua and his entourage entered the Taggo Public Division. This is a large-scale refrigerator manufacturing company, facing the gate of the place stands a monument, the word "TIGER" is written on it, and there is a pattern like a tiger pounced on food, this should be the LOGO of the Taggo company. When the car drove into the gate of the public office, Lin Zhenhua felt the feeling of depression caused by the resignation, and the roads in the factory seemed to have not been cleaned for a long time, and fallen leaves were piled up all over the ground.

Hornby had already been notified by Belinda in advance, and stood under the office building waiting for Lin Zhenhua and his party. It was a gray-haired, red-faced white old man who looked to be in his 60s, with reading glasses on the bridge of his nose and a somewhat stubborn look on his face. Seeing him, Lin Zhenhua remembered Zhu Tiejun's old man, these two old men should be a little similar, that is, they usually look like a grandfather next door, with a childlike appearance, but once they are provoked, they can't be pulled back by eight cows.

"Belinda, my goddess, you are finally willing to come and see me." Hornby walked over to Belinda, and the old man and the old lady came to a bear hug that was not suitable for a child, and they both laughed together.

"Hornby, let me introduce you, this is my friend from China, named Lin Zhenhua. This is his friend, Ms. Xie. Belinda introduced Hornby.

Lin Zhenhua stepped forward and shook Hornby's hand. Hornby seemed to want to show his strength in front of Lin Zhenhua, and shook hands a little hard, but Lin Zhenhua was not good at stubble, and he also gave some strength in his hands. After the two of them fought silently in their hands, they both laughed, knowing that each other belonged to sexual lovers. ,

Hornby took everyone to his office, poured water for everyone personally, and then said to Lin Zhenhua and Xie Yunjuan self-deprecatingly: "Lin, Xie, I'm really sorry to let you see the joke." My workers have gone on strike, and even my secretary has participated in the strike, so I have to pour water for you myself. ”

Xie Yunjuan is also an old foreign trade cadre, but she is still very uncomfortable with this kind of private visit, and she doesn't know what to say, so she can only smile and not speak. Lin Zhenhua doesn't care, in his mind, Americans are also people, and Americans are relatively simpler, in fact, they are quite easy to deal with.

"Mr. Hornby, I would like to inquire why your workers have quit their work? Is it because you have abused them? I think you're a good old man, so you shouldn't abuse people, right? Lin Zhenhua joked unscrupulously.

Hornby shook his head: "How is this possible, I have been running this business for 30 years, and who doesn't know that I, Hornby, care more about them than the old man than the father of the workers." The reason for their dismissal was to ask me to raise my wages, which is the fifth time in the past three years that they have asked for a higher salary. I said yes four times and don't want to say yes a fifth time. ”

"What is the average salary of your workers right now?" Lin Zhenhua asked curiously.

"$420 a week, which is a relatively high level in the surrounding factories." Hornby said.

"$420? That's about $1,800 a month, right? How many people do you have to pay for this? Xie Yunjuan asked Lin Zhenhua in a low voice. She is in foreign trade, and her English level is not bad, and she can understand the conversation between Lin Zhenhua and Hornby.

Lin Zhenhua silently calculated in his heart and replied: "According to the exchange rate of 3.7, it will be equivalent to almost 7,000 people." ”

"My mom, isn't earning 7,000 yuan a month enough?" Xie Yunjuan smacked her tongue and said.

Lin Zhenhua did not continue the discussion with Xie Yunjuan, but turned back to Hornbee and said, "Mr. Hornby, how do you plan to solve this strike?" ”

Hornby spread his hands and said, "I don't know." I tried to negotiate with the unions to get them to understand the company's financial difficulties. But the unions didn't want to talk to me, their only demand was to increase wages, and it was useless to say anything else. I'm now only a few hundred thousand dollars a year in profits, and if I were to increase each worker's weekly salary by another $20, I'd go bankrupt. At present, the trade unions are controlled by some young people, who do not have the spirit of diligence and thrift like our older generation, and they are afraid of hardship and tiredness in their work, but they have very high requirements for labor and wages. ”

Belinda sighed with deep sympathy: "Isn't it, the young people of our public office are like this now, no matter what they are asked to do, the first thing they ask is how much salary to pay." Things like business trips to Asia still require people my age to do, and young people don't want to go. ”

Lin Zhenhua said: "Mr. Hornby, since the local labor price is so expensive, and the workers are not easy to talk to, why don't you consider moving the factory to another place?" ”

"Where are you going?" "It's not just around New York, it's the whole of America," Hornby asked. Unless ......"

"Unless what?" Lin Zhenhua looked at Hornby and smiled maliciously.

"Why, young man, are you willing to take over our factory?" Hornby asked, he could read Lin Zhenhua's intentions from Lin Zhenhua's expression.

Lin Zhenhua nodded and said, "The old man is really wise, I was about to make this suggestion to you." Your workers are paid $420 a week, and ours is only $10 a week, so why don't you give it a try? ”

"$10!" Hornby exclaimed, exaggeratedly, "I'm a cake seller, are you talking about a worker?" ”

Lin Zhenhua felt that he was really a little embarrassed, the current average monthly salary level of domestic factories is 80 to 100 yuan, spread out to 4 weeks, the weekly salary is only 20 to 25 yuan per person, according to the exchange rate of 3.7, only equivalent to 5 to 7 US dollars. Lin Zhenhua said that 10 US dollars, and there were some exaggerated elements.

Of course, objectively speaking, the monetary value of the two countries is not completely converted according to the exchange rate, and what can be bought for 1 yuan in the United States at that time may not be able to be bought in the United States for 1 dollar. Therefore, the consumption level of workers in China is not so disparity compared with that of workers in the United States. The prices of agricultural products in China are very cheap, and the prices of industrial products are relatively high, so the people of China can still be satisfied in terms of eating, but it is more difficult to buy electrical appliances, and as for buying a car, it is a fantasy. "The level of labor and wages in China is indeed relatively low. Belinda confirmed, "I think what Lin said should be true. ”

"It's no wonder that some of my friends are talking about moving the factory to China." "For a $10-a-week worker, that's unbelievably cheap." ”

Lin Zhenhua said: "Mr. Hornby, to tell you the truth, I have a refrigerator production line on hand, which can reach an annual output of 150,000 units. If needed, we can also expand it to 300,000 units per year. If you can bring up the main parts, assemble them in China, and ship them back to the United States for sale, I think even if you add the cost of shipping at both ends, the price of the refrigerator will be much lower than it is now. ”

"I'm convinced of that." Hornby said. As he spoke, he picked up a pencil and counted it on paper. As a veteran of the industry, he is well aware of the production costs of refrigerators and the cost of shipping. After calculating, he raised his head and asked Lin Zhenhua, "Mr. Lin, what do you think if I give you $15 for the assembly cost of each refrigerator?" ”

When he spoke to Belinda on the first day, Lin Zhenhua had already saved his mind to cut this processing order. Before leaving, an exchange with Huanggang in Beijing gave Lin Zhenhua a new understanding of the export processing industry. Previously, he had always felt that he should make high value-added equipment products, but after talking to Huang Gang, he felt that the labor-intensive export processing industry should not be abandoned.

China is a country with a large population, and there are hundreds of millions of laborers in rural areas that need to be transferred, and a large number of jobs are urgently needed. High value-added products should be done, and low value-added products should also be done. Professor Yu Jian's mistake was that he only found a low-value-added industrial positioning for China. Huanggang's point of view is that the high, medium and low-end are all-inclusive, and they can't wait to concentrate all the world's industries in the middle country, which is the positioning of the legendary "world factory".

Lin Zhenhua figured this out, and this time he came to the United States with the idea of taking both soft and hard. The first day he talked to Wilson about the OEM of the machine tool at the Spischer Company, and today he came to talk to Hornby about the OEM of the refrigerator. Since the workers in the United States think that the wages are low, then we should give up this kind of low-wage jobs to the workers in the middle of the country, and we will not dislike it.

"Mr. Hornby, the wages you just calculated are only enough for us to pay the workers. As a manager like you, I also need to think about shareholder returns. Lin Zhenhua said to Hornby with a smile.

"Well, didn't you just say that your workers are only paid $10 a week?" Hornby said. According to his calculations, $15 per refrigerator already includes corporate profits.

"It's just the paycheck." Lin Zhenhua said, "Ms. Belinda has been to our factory, and I think she will have some say. Our factory is a social welfare factory, and we have to pay for all the benefits of the workers, including their housing, medical care, and children's education, all of which are at an additional cost, so ......"