Chapter 242 Middleman

Xu Qiang wanted to cooperate with overseas Chinese, but he was unsuccessful and in fact it was impossible to succeed.

They are wealthy and can buy advanced equipment from abroad. Xu Qiang can work for them, but if he wants to become a partner, that is absolutely impossible.

Xu Qiang was not disappointed about this, but started his second plan.

Earlier, when he was drinking with Wang Zhong, director of the town supply and marketing cooperative, he heard about many things in Shanghai, including the incident with the Sunday engineer.

In fact, there are not many people working as Sunday engineers these days. On the one hand, the country does not allow technical workers in state-owned enterprises to engage in this kind of work. On the other hand, many technical personnel and engineers in state-owned enterprises look down on such small and medium-sized township collective enterprises. In addition, they are very satisfied with their own income, so they are unwilling to put aside their pride and do this kind of work.

Therefore, some of the earliest people who became Sunday Engineers were either those who were dissatisfied with their original jobs and wanted to find another way, or those who were in urgent need of money and needed some way to make extra money.

The last point is that when engineers went to township enterprises on Sundays to provide technical support, they would be involved in illegal activities.

In 1979, a factory in Fengxian, a suburb of Shanghai, suffered losses for years and planned to develop new products. Han Kun, an assistant engineer from the Shanghai Rubber Products Research Institute, was hired as a technical consultant and rushed to Fengxian almost every Sunday. After nearly a year of hard work, he finally saved the factory. Unexpectedly, he was prosecuted by the procuratorate for taking bribes due to a reward of 3400 yuan.

However, starting this year, SH City has also introduced some relevant policies, gradually allowing some technical personnel to provide technical support to some township enterprises around Shanghai without delaying their main work and not involving confidentiality regulations.

Han Kun, who was previously prosecuted for a 3400 yuan reward, eventually had the prosecution dropped by the inspection agency, which also led to more and more technicians joining Sunday Engineers.

The person Wang Zhong introduced to Xu Qiang was the "matchmaker" of the engineer this Sunday. This person's name was Bai Hai and he currently lived on Nanchang Road.

Two days later, Xu Qiang found Bai Hai himself according to the address provided by Wang Zhong.

Bai Hai is now in his forties and works at Shanghai Xingji Radio Factory. In 1979, Huzhou, Zhejiang Province invited him to take classes in order to learn about TV production technology. Afterwards, the local government stuffed an envelope in his pocket, which Bai Hailin did not dare to accept, but the local government still stuffed him with a black fish and a turtle.

Having tasted the "sweetness", Bai Hai couldn't stop, so from then on, he would take a boat to the surrounding areas almost every Sunday to give lectures and technical guidance. Since last year, relying on the connections he had built up in recent years, he began to act as a matchmaker for technical talents in these township enterprises and charge some "hardship fees" from them.

After Xu Qiang explained his purpose, the two of them went to a small state-owned restaurant near his home and prepared to eat and chat.

"...Old Wang hasn't come to see me for a while. Is he doing well now?" Bai Hai asked after the food and wine were served.

"Very good. He is a well-known person in our area. Whenever there is a wedding or funeral, everyone will ask him to buy things through his connections." Xu Qiang smiled slightly and continued, "Now his fertilizer business is very big. He is already the largest buyer in our area."

"When this guy was in school, he was very cunning. He wasn't very good at studying, but he made a lot of money. He often bought meal tickets from girls and sold them at high prices in the boys' dormitory. He was a very troublesome person..." Bai Hai couldn't help but smile when he recalled the past. He continued, "In fact, he could have been assigned to work in Shanghai, but in the end he applied to work in the supply and marketing cooperative in Jiangxi. I guess he is about to become a local tyrant in your area, right?"

"That's not the case, but it's almost like that. There are a lot of people who have connections with him, and even more people who ask him to do things for them," said Xu Qiang.

"I guess you spent a lot of money asking him to do things for you, right?" Bai Hai said with a smile.

"Director Wang is a very nice person. I used to run a small business and it was all thanks to him that I was able to keep the stall going, so I have always been grateful to him," said Xu Qiang.

Although Xu Qiang rarely deals with Wang Zhong nowadays, especially after becoming the director of the factory's chemical laboratory and cooperating with He Yong from the supply and marketing department, he no longer relies on the raw material supply channels provided by Wang Zhong.

But no matter what, Wang Zhong can be considered the first 'noble man' he met after his rebirth, so just for this reason, Xu Qiang will remember him for the rest of his life.

"Old Wang is indeed a man of honor, that's for sure." Bai Hai nodded and asked Xu Qiang, "So what do you want to talk to me about in Shanghai this time?"

"I used to work at Shengli Machinery Factory. Last year, I was admitted to Jiangxi TV University. However, the TV signal in the mountains was too poor, and there were frequent power outages, so the factory arranged for a few of us to come to Shanghai for classes," said Xu Qiang.

"Oh, you are also a college student." Hearing this, the smile on Bai Hai's face became even more intense.

"I came to you this time because I wanted to find a way to make money through you. I heard that you specialize in connecting technical personnel with township enterprises..."

"It's fine if you want to make money, but the question is what kind of technology you have and what your technical level is. If your technical level is not strong enough and you can't solve the other manufacturer's problems, then you won't be able to make money." Bai Hai said seriously.

Faced with Xu Qiang's self-recommendation, Bai Hai still had some doubts about him.

After all, Xu Qiang looks too young, only in his early twenties. Being so young, it is natural that he has not worked for many years.

Although township collective enterprises lack product technology, especially technical talents, not everyone can be competent. Experienced engineers are required. Because of this, the people who have been engaged in Sunday engineers in recent years are basically around 40 to 50 years old. The youngest one Bai Hai has seen is in his early 30s. He has never seen someone as young as Xu Qiang.

Moreover, the township enterprises also look at people carefully. People who are too young cannot be trusted. On the contrary, the older you are, the more respect they have. This is a kind of cognitive experience. At least you have worked for many years, not just a rookie who has just started out.

So even if Bai Hai helps to connect those township enterprises, the other party will most likely not trust Xu Qiang.

"I studied chemical engineering. Although I have not been working for a long time, I was responsible for the research and development of several major new product projects for our factory. I also received praise from provincial leaders, so there is absolutely no problem with my skills," said Xu Qiang.

In fact, Xu Qiang also understands that he is so young and is indeed very different from the image of a respected old expert in many people's minds. Only he himself knows how powerful his skills are, and outsiders mostly judge people by their appearance.

"Let me tell you the truth. Today's township enterprises have high standards. Ordinary technicians are not needed at all. In fact, it is mainly because some guys have ruined our market. They took high salaries, but in the end they didn't help people solve the problem, and they also wasted a lot of raw materials..." When he said this, Bai Hai was a little angry. He continued, "So I think that if you don't have the diamond drill, don't take the porcelain job! It's not enough to lose face to earn that money..."

"Hahaha, that's true." Xu Qiang laughed when he heard that.

"You said that you are responsible for several scientific research projects in the factory? Is that true?" Bai Hai asked.

"There's no need for me to lie. Everyone in the factory knows about this. I was a model worker in the factory last year."

"You've become a model worker at such a young age? That's not easy..." Hearing this, Bai Hai became more and more unbelieving.

"How about this, Master Bai? Can you help me sign a line and see which factory needs to solve the chemical problem..."

"But……"

"If I can't solve the problem, I won't take a penny. But if I succeed, I won't treat you, Master Bai, unfairly when I get the money." Xu Qiang said with a smile.

"No money!?" Bai Hai said in surprise.

Bai Hai had never seen anyone like Xu Qiang.

After all, no matter how talented an engineer is, there is no guarantee that he can really help township enterprises solve their problems. So even if the problem is not solved, the hard work fee should still be paid. After all, it is not easy to travel a long way, and no one would do these things if not for money.

But Xu Qiang directly proposed a method of not asking for money if the problem could not be solved. This is actually very risky. After all, people are not omnipotent. After working hard for a long time and not earning any money, he still has to pay for travel and meals. This is a big loss.

"Not only is it free, but if they suffer any loss, I can compensate them accordingly!" Xu Qiang said straightforwardly.

As the saying goes, a skilled person comes with courage. In Xu Qiang's opinion, with his level of chemical technology, he is fully capable of mastering the chemical equipment and products of this era.

And free things are often the most expensive.

In addition, Xu Qiang joined the ranks of Sunday engineers not only to make money, he also had other purposes.

"Well... OK." Bai Hai thought for a moment and said, "Let's make it clear first. You have to pay for the travel expenses. If I fail to help them solve the problem after I introduced you twice, we won't have to contact each other in the future. The factory trusts me very much. You can't destroy my reputation."

"Don't worry about this. You have a signboard and so do I. After all, I am a model worker of our factory. I can't afford to lose face!" Xu Qiang said with a smile.

"Okay, since you are so confident, I will help you ask in the next few days. But you also know that I have already applied for unpaid leave from the factory, and I am relying on running errands for others..." Bai Hai said with a frown.

"Don't worry, if I make money, you will definitely get a share, at least ten big unity tickets!" Xu Qiang said with a raised eyebrow.

"Be sensible! Come, have a drink!" Bai Hai's eyes lit up when he heard that, and he immediately filled Xu Qiang's glass with wine.

"Dry!"

The next moment, their glasses clinked together...

(End of this chapter)