Qian Hongming had plenty of ways to handle this. He took the initiative to pull Yang Li over to sit down, handing her a stack of photos with a smile. “Take a look at Liu Jun, this rough fellow. If you didn’t know better, you’d think I picked up someone from Africa, Asia, or Latin America at the airport.” The photos were taken when Liu Jun first returned home, showing a stark contrast between Qian Hongming and Liu Jun – one white, one black. Qian Hongming had been busy recently and only just remembered to have the photos developed.

Yang Li also spoke with hidden meaning, “My third brother is also a foreign student, but he’s never been like this.”

On matters of principle like this, Liu Jun was unwilling to admit fault, not even verbally. “I do indeed feel out of place with society as a whole after returning to China, but I believe it’s not because of studying abroad. Hongming, you should know – I’ve always been very serious about things.”

“That’s right. You were serious but magnanimous in school, and everyone liked you very much. You even led all the tall boys in the class to fight a gang of thugs who hung around near the school, all for a timid girl. Even though you got disciplinary action, everyone still elected you class monitor…”

“A good man doesn’t boast about past glory. My biggest feeling after returning home is that the competition here is primitive. Not only are the methods primitive, but the biggest problem is that everyone subconsciously thinks this is natural and proper. Perhaps some people don’t think this way in their hearts, but if they don’t go with the flow, they’ll be swallowed up by the chaotic competition. Now with every step I take, I have to think – will this step land me in a trap?”

“This shouldn’t be a problem you only encounter after returning home. Every student who leaves school faces this kind of role transition, almost feeling like their worldview and outlook on life have completely changed. But after a few years of being bloodied and bruised, they become functioning members of society. Liu Jun, you’re just a few years late entering society because your family background was too good and your life too smooth. What do you think, Miss Yang?”

“I just told my big brother a couple of days ago that competition is too primitive.” Yang Li blurted out, but immediately changed her tune. “But since we’re in the midst of it, we can only adapt to the rules.”

“If I choose to remain stubbornly unrepentant, will my days ahead be very difficult?” Liu Jun still asked Yang Li very directly.

Qian Hongming tried to smooth things over from the side. “Liu Jun, when talking to Miss Yang, soften your tone a bit.”

“Miss Yang should be able to see my stance of treating friends as equals with respect. Miss Yang probably doesn’t want others to treat her like a little girl either.”

Yang Li was stunned for a moment, then shook her head. “You’re foolish. I have so many classmates who studied abroad, and what they learned better is how to thrive in both Chinese and foreign cultures – playing the foreign card in China and the Chinese card abroad. I’ve never seen someone like you who won’t even play the cards you’re given. No one can answer that question for you – you’ll have to experience it slowly yourself.”

“You’re the first person since I returned home to say that domestic competition is very primitive. Thank you, Miss Yang. I have a companion – I’m not lonely.”

Yang Li was still stunned for a moment, but couldn’t help responding with a “Right.” Qian Hongming turned his head and chuckled secretly – this kid isn’t stupid at all. After a while, when the other card players arrived, Liu Jun watched for a bit, then took his leave. Yang Li personally escorted him to the door, leaning against the doorframe and saying, “I think people should still insist on noble character.” After saying this, she smiled and closed the door. Now it was Liu Jun’s turn to be dazed.

Inside the house, Qian Hongming had a rather complex and urgent order, asking Yang Li if she could help open a back door at Shi Yiji to squeeze it into this month’s production plan. Yang Li agreed very readily. Yang Li had always been very curious about the fight Liu Jun led in high school, so she pressed Qian Hongming for all the details. Qian Hongming didn’t expect Fourth Miss Yang’s interest to shift so easily, and felt a bit disappointed in his heart. Since it was harmless anyway, he told Yang Li that Liu Jun openly had a girlfriend in high school, and even the teachers didn’t care, as long as Liu Jun brought back math competition trophies for them. But strangely, after going abroad and returning, he had lost some of that charm that used to make girls scream.

But Yang Li thought, no, no – this is what makes a real man. Only little boys devote themselves to making girls scream.

So when Liu Jun appeared in the Shi Yiji branch factory workshop early the next morning, he saw Yang Li in casual clothes, already waiting in the workshop. Liu Jun just waved hello and threw himself seriously and rigorously into the busy on-site quality control work. Even though the branch factory was entirely an enterprise recruited and managed by the Japanese, Liu Jun quickly discovered countless details that were, in his eyes, very principled issues. He found the on-site production management to report problems, and the technically knowledgeable production management argued with him that the workers’ methods had no significant impact on quality – they all had experience and told Liu Jun not to be so rigid. Liu Jun also had technical knowledge, and he used hard data to tell production management about possible consequences and the probability of those consequences occurring. He didn’t expect production management to say that this probability was within acceptable limits. Liu Jun persisted relentlessly, insisting on dragging production management through calculations of how the consequences would affect costs, demanding that production management make changes. Production management originally wanted to ignore him, but then Yang Xun also came. When Yang Xun saw that the consequences would affect costs, he immediately shouted, demanding improvements. So the problem Liu Jun had been wrestling with all morning was solved in just a few words from Yang Xun. Liu Jun felt utterly powerless in his heart, sighing that people wouldn’t follow good reasoning, but meekly submit to authority.

But Yang Xun couldn’t watch every day. When Yang Xun left, some people secretly reverted to their mistakes, just to pursue a few minutes of acceleration. On-site management, afraid of being questioned by Yang Xun, occasionally managed things to show their presence. Only Liu Jun was like a firefighter, patrolling everywhere, but it was like whack-a-mole – fix this one, and that one pops up. Some people were deliberately lazy; others, while not wanting to be lazy subjectively, didn’t have the string of “consistent attitude” in their hearts, and without someone watching, they gradually became careless and produced defective products. Still others simply didn’t take Liu Jun, an outsider, seriously. When Liu Jun went over to correct them, they coldly went their way, treating Liu Jun’s words as background noise. Some who got annoyed even argued with Liu Jun. Liu Jun was almost exhausted. After a full day, he was parched by dinner time, but he didn’t dare go home, afraid that without him watching, the night shift would be even more chaotic. He couldn’t understand why these people didn’t have the consciousness to do their work well and perfectly, why they didn’t have a good sense of responsibility for their work.

In the evening, Yang Xun came to inspect after attending a banquet, slightly intoxicated. When he came, those management personnel naturally surrounded him attentively. But Yang Xun was shrewd – even with the noisy machinery around, he still heard the hoarseness in Liu Jun’s throat and saw the exhaustion written all over Liu Jun’s face. This wasn’t the energy a young person should have. Yang Xun believed there must be a problem here. Yang Xun asked Liu Jun very bluntly what his impressions were today and what needed improvement.

Liu Jun looked at the people behind Yang Xun, who had just been confrontational with him, who stuck to him like taffy, unwilling to pursue excellence. He could finally see worry in their eyes now. But he didn’t hesitate – when it came to quality, he had no sympathy. “The defect rate exceeds expectations. It’s not that they cannot do better. However, according to the contract, I only require finished products from your company. But I’m very worried that the current quality of semi-finished products will affect the processing quality of later stages.”

“Oh, what problems are there? Did you spend the entire day in the workshop monitoring processing?”

“Yes. Although the defect rate has nothing to do with me, I hope to get products that better meet accuracy and quality requirements. The problems are…” Liu Jun unceremoniously listed problems one, two, three, and four, watching the faces of the management personnel around Yang Xun change color.

After Yang Xun finished listening, he let out a “Damn it!” and began a vigorous scolding session. The management personnel didn’t dare get angry or speak up, but when Yang Xun scolded them, they looked at Liu Jun. Liu Jun felt like he was being cut to pieces by these people’s eye daggers. Liu Jun still couldn’t understand why these people didn’t have the self-respect he pursued, why they’d rather endure scolding than do their work well. From Yang Xun’s scolding, he learned that these people’s income wasn’t bad locally, so why were these people… Liu Jun was completely puzzled.

After Yang Xun finished scolding, he threw out “I’ll be back in two hours” and pulled Liu Jun out for a late-night snack. Once outside, Yang Xun said, “Little Liu, your technical skills are very good, but you don’t understand human nature at all. Can you reason with workers? These people are candles – they won’t light unless you ignite them. You’ll see – when we go back in two hours, whether the defect rate has changed.”

“But isn’t it said that people live for face, trees live for bark? If you scold them until they’re completely humiliated, how can they possibly work with you wholeheartedly afterward?”

“Where have you seen subordinates work wholeheartedly with their boss?” Yang Xun got into Liu Jun’s car, insisting on sitting in the driver’s seat. Liu Jun was about to answer that he had, but Yang Xun followed up with, “Don’t say Germany.” Liu Jun was immediately speechless. His father’s workers didn’t; the client’s employees skimmed off the top; Shi Yiji’s employees had no sense of responsibility.

Yang Xun didn’t press the question, but said to himself, “You modified this car well – no wonder Yang Li praised you like you’re some kind of god. The accelerator responds very quickly when you press it, much more powerful.”

“Mr. Yang, have you ever thought about whether you’re afraid they’ll all quit together after scolding such a large group?”

“A foreigner once said that one Chinese person is a dragon, but three Chinese people are worms. I’m not afraid of them – they can’t organize themselves. I’m also not afraid of a few individuals jumping out to cause trouble. I have plenty of people in one factory – I don’t lack one or two. If there were only a hundred or so people, I wouldn’t dare scold them – fewer people can easily riot together.”

“Every word is a golden rule.” Liu Jun couldn’t help thinking of his father, who was being held hostage by workshop workers.

Yang Xun sneered coldly, “You think you know how to do things, but how much have you accomplished? Young man, learn how to be a person first.”

Liu Jun continued to have no response. He thought of the problems he discovered when he first returned – people’s faces generally lacked kindness, and people held natural hostility toward those around them. Why was this the case? He had countless reasons he wanted to tell Yang Xun about why people couldn’t be disrespected, but the fact was that people respected Yang Xun when he lost his temper. It seemed that not only was competition primitive, but human relationships also seemed to be in a barbaric state. People only respected authority, not themselves.

“I probably won’t be able to enter the workshop tomorrow. They won’t resist you, but they might treat me as an informant.”

“Are you afraid?”

“No. But my on-site quality supervision will become more difficult. Without a doubt.”

“What do you plan to do?”

“I should be asking you what you plan to do. Going on like this, can you deliver quality products on time according to the contract requirements? I’m just someone worried that Shi Yiji cannot execute the contract. I’ve heard that large domestic enterprise orders need someone to closely monitor quality, otherwise, anything can happen during delivery. I’ve already discovered problems today, so may I ask how Mr. Yang plans to solve them?”

Now it was Yang Xun’s turn to be speechless. He was a sensible person, clearer than Liu Jun that today’s scolding might have heat for a day or two, but the heat would disappear once he turned around. But he would soon have to go on business trips and couldn’t come back to continue scolding. And besides him, everyone else’s effectiveness was about the same as Liu Jun’s. “What solution do you have?”

“Have someone with rich management experience redesign the assessment methods based on actual processes.”

“Impossible. We change workers and products quickly here, often switching products in less than a month. How could we keep up with assessments?”

“It’s possible. All work can be quantified, but this is very scientific work that requires someone who understands both management and technology to lead the precise calculations.”

Yang Xun stopped in the Haoyuan courtyard but wasn’t in a hurry to get out of the car. He seriously considered Liu Jun’s words. He believed this was experience Liu Jun had gained from old-school capitalism, and he had always deeply loved such well-tested good experience from old-school capitalism. But after thinking for a long time and reviewing his available personnel, he could only shake his head – such talent still needed to be cultivated. He used to have someone who calculated his mall this precisely, and he immediately cultivated her into his wife. But now, to handle Liu Jun’s business, it obviously wouldn’t work – his wife had gone abroad to have their second child, and besides, his wife didn’t understand Shi Yiji’s production processes either.

After Yang Xun thought for a long time, he got out of the car and said to Liu Jun, who was exercising in the night air, “You continue going to the workshop. For quality issues, I’ll temporarily solve them my way.”

“What method?”

“You don’t need to know. You just need to see the results.”

“But based on the current situation, I can’t feel at ease without knowing the reason.”

“You’re worrying unnecessarily. I always do what I say I’ll do.”

“Thank you. I have another concern – after this batch of processing is finished, will Shi Yiji follow the contract agreement and never make this product again?”

“Whatever the contract says, that’s what I’ll do.” Yang Xun didn’t take this seriously at all. “I heard you argued with Yang Li about these things last night. I have the same attitude as Yang Li – if workers leak technical secrets, I have no way to deal with it. I can’t help you kill that person.”

“Thank you, I understand what you mean, Mr. Yang. I will also strictly follow the contract.”

“Any other concerns? If not, shouldn’t you be working harder on developing new products?”

Liu Jun told the truth, “I have no confidence. My R&D investment is very large, but it seems I can’t effectively maintain secrecy from what I see now. I don’t know what meaning there is in continuing R&D.”

“Don’t you still have interest mixed in there?”

“My interest is in higher-end R&D. What I’m doing now doesn’t count. It seems the domestic environment isn’t good yet.”

“The environment is created by people themselves. I hate young people who find excuses for not doing things. Aren’t you doing it? Since you’ve decided on it, devote yourself wholeheartedly and persist to the end – persistence is victory. What’s there to discuss?”

Liu Jun didn’t expect Yang Xun to encourage him to persist. He didn’t know what Yang Xun was thinking, but at least what Yang Xun said wasn’t wrong.

Haoyuan was Yang Xun’s cafeteria. When he entered, the head waiter came up to tell him in detail who had been there and who was currently waiting in which private rooms. Liu Jun saw that Yang Xun barely sat down for a moment, ate a few bites of food, but carried his wine glass in and out of meetings with those various people. This left Liu Jun to have a good late-night meal by himself.

When they finished eating, it was already the middle of the night. When the two returned to the branch factory, what left Liu Jun completely speechless was that the finished product rate was so high it exceeded his imagination. This showed these people could do well, but were unwilling to do so. But were workers candles that wouldn’t light without being lit? Wasn’t there another way to make them spontaneously develop an attitude of pursuing excellence in their work?

Seeing Liu Jun nod with satisfaction, Yang Xun gave the management staff a mix of scolding and praise, then left. When leaving, Yang Xun told Liu Jun very precisely that this group could maintain their enthusiasm for three days. Liu Jun responded with silent acceptance.