After Wang An finished speaking, even he felt uncertain.
Mainly, the motorcycle factory that Wang An had established with several second-generation heirs was, quite frankly, a whim born from a desire to make some money. At the very least, for the next three to five years, Wang An hadn't expected the factory to be able to replicate many components.
There was no helping it; this era wasn't like the future. At this time, motorcycles in China were still in their infancy. Aside from the outdated technology of Xingfu, there were currently no enterprises in the entire country capable of fully independent research and development of motorcycles.
These were the heartbreaking facts!
As for Jialing, they were currently following the route of importing components and then assembling them into motorcycles back home; they didn't possess their own technology either.
Therefore, within the next three to five years, the motorcycle factory was essentially just an assembly plant, no different from a small workshop.
After Wang An finished speaking, he heard Wu Dong say helplessly
"Shuai-zi, your eldest sister, and I pulled some strings to hire a few retired senior technicians and engineers from the Bingcheng Machinery Plant and the Bicycle Plant. Not only do these old fellows need room and board, but their salaries are higher than mine as a full Colonel. I just don't know if they'll be up to the task, sigh!"
A regular county-level Wuzhuang Commissioner, the County Party Secretary, and the County Magistrate were all of the same rank. It was just that the Wuzhuang Commissioner was called a full Colonel (Zheng Tuan), while the County Secretary and Magistrate were called full Division Chiefs (Zheng Chu); only the terminology differed.
Furthermore, according to the "D-Command Gun" principle, both the Wuzhuang Commissioner and the County Magistrate had to coordinate their work with the County Party Secretary.
Hearing this, Wang An was instantly delighted. One had to understand that at this time, the talent was all tucked away in state-owned enterprises. They all clung to their "iron rice bowls" and would absolutely never proactively come to a small private factory.
This included university students and those with higher degrees of the era, who looked down on private enterprises and were unwilling to work for individuals.
Thus, the fact that Wu Dong and the others could hire retired senior technicians and engineers was already a quite impressive feat.
After all, regardless of the era, for a research-oriented enterprise, ordinary workers were easy to recruit in any quantity; what was always lacking were people with genuine technical skills.
Although Wang An was happy inside, he said aloud
"The replication stuff can wait. As long as they can lead people to assemble the parts together and the motorcycles can actually be ridden, I'll be more than satisfied, hahahaha..."
If there were complete components, Wang An could assemble a motorcycle himself; mainly because this task really wasn't that difficult.
Unfortunately, while Wang An indeed knew how to assemble them, he didn't dare reveal this skill.
Mainly, as a loafer who hadn't even graduated from middle school, it would be normal if he said he could assemble a bicycle, but saying he could assemble a motorcycle would be pure nonsense.
Because knowing a bit about motorcycles—being able to analyze whether various brands and models were good or bad—could be explained away. But how would he have learned to assemble them? There would be no way to explain it!
Hearing this, Wu Dong's brow furrowed slightly as he said
"That shouldn't be an issue. Those old technicians from the machinery plant started out tinkering with three-wheeled motorized carts. Those little 'rat' taxis on the streets of Bingcheng were produced by their plant before they retired. I reckon assembling a two-wheeled motorcycle shouldn't be a big problem either."
Hearing this, Wang An's mood improved further. Although the technical content of those three-wheeled carts wasn't very high, they were still motor vehicles that burned fuel; calling them motorcycles wasn't wrong at all.
So, Wang An said very happily
"Then it's absolutely no problem! If they can tinker with three-wheelers, they can definitely tinker with motorcycles. Brother Wu, you guys are quite something, being able to invite such big shots. Very good, really very good, hahahaha."
After speaking, Wang An couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Seeing that money was about to be made, it would be strange if Wang An weren't happy.
However, Wang An's laughter left the Village Chief, Sun Dafu, and the accountant, Li Youcai, looking completely bewildered.
After a few more useless exchanges, Wu Dong finally said
"Then that's the plan. I'll call you once the components arrive, and then you can come over and take a look."
Wang An agreed: "Mm-hmm, let's leave it at that for now. Hanging up now."
After hanging up the phone, accountant Li Youcai asked curiously
"Xiao An, from what I hear, you guys are tinkering with motorcycles? Motorcycles must make a lot of money, right?"
Wang An replied casually
"Hah, what money? I'm just following them to drink a bit of the soup. Anyway, Uncle, how much is it?"
It had to be said, this Li Youcai really had no sense of boundaries, having the nerve to ask such a question.
However, rural people at this time indeed didn't pay much attention to these things. Many people, in order to show off, would tell everyone how much they earned without even being asked.
While Wang An was on the phone, Li Youcai had already been timing it. So after Wang An asked, Li Youcai said
"A total of 11 minutes, that counts as 4 units, 60 cents."
For a single phone call, it cost more than Wang An's daily wage as a militia member. It showed that while 60 cents sounded like a small amount, it was absolutely not something an average person could easily afford.
Of course, people making calls at this time generally timed themselves and tried to keep it short. Someone like Wang An, who talked for over ten minutes, was definitely rare.
Wang An nodded, paid the money, and exchanged a few more idle words with the two top leaders of Kaoshan Village. Only then did Wang An leave the village headquarters and stroll leisurely back home.
Passing by Niu Dali's courtyard, Wang An couldn't help but think back to the scene when he and Lu Yueyue were chatting nonsense next to Niu Dali.
Actually, thinking of Lu Yueyue's graceful figure and delicate voice, Wang An's heart immediately grew hot.
Thinking of this, Wang An checked his watch, turned around, and walked toward Shen Wei's house.
What could relieve one's worries? Only Shen Wei.
Mainly, this time of day was exactly when Shen Wei went home to give the donkey grass and water; Wang An could take this opportunity to have a very "deep" exchange with her.
From a distance, Wang An saw smoke rising from the chimney of Shen Wei's house, which meant Shen Wei was warming water for the donkey.
It had to be said that the donkey Wang An's family had sold to Shen Wei was living a life of luxury since arriving at her home.
Because Wang An's family's farming had already reached a level of mechanization, and Shen Wei's land was planted and harvested together with Wang An's. Most importantly, except for going home to sleep, Shen Wei spent all her time at Wang An's house, so the donkey basically did no work all year round.
However, although the donkey didn't work, it wasn't useless, because it had given birth to a foal last year. Now, Shen Wei's house had three donkeys: two adults and one small one.
When he reached the door of the outer room, Wang An deliberately coughed once before pushing the door open. He saw that Shen Wei had already stood up from the stool by the hearth and was about to walk toward the door.
Seeing that it was Wang An entering the house, Shen Wei's face immediately filled with smiles, and she said softly and tenderly
"Xiao An, you're here."