The Wizard's Journey Begins in a Courtyard House

Chapter 318 Li Huaide's Dilemma

Chapter 318 Li Huaide's Dilemma

After Li Qin's reminder, Li Huaide immediately realized what was going on.

He stroked his chin, then said to Li Qin with a serious expression:

"I really have to thank you for reminding me this time, so I didn't miss such a good opportunity."

Li Qin, however, waved his hand with a smile.

"Uncle Li, you're too kind. Actually, even if I didn't say anything, you would have realized it very quickly."

This wasn't Li Qin being modest.

Li Huaide was no fool; he just hadn't reacted for a moment. If he had been given some time...

With Li Huaide's intelligence, he would have thought of using this incident to win over the leaders of the steel rolling mill.

Li Huaide, who has been deeply involved in the workplace, is very clear that if this matter is handled well, many neutral leaders will more or less be biased towards it.

Even if some people who were originally opposed to each other do not change their positions directly, they will not be as hostile as before.

But then Li Huaide became worried again.

Because he didn't know what to prepare.

Besides regular meat, other items need to be presentable, but also compliant with regulations.

Seeing Li Huaide's troubled expression, Li Qin asked in confusion:

"Uncle Li, is something troubling you?"

Li Huaide didn't hide anything and nodded directly, saying:

"Yes, I'm struggling with what to prepare that won't violate the rules, save face, or make these people happy."

Gift-giving has always been a difficult problem.

Li Qin didn't have much experience with this matter, since he didn't have many opportunities to give gifts in modern society, and usually it was just a few fixed items.

Cigarettes, alcohol, tea, health supplements...

However, this is not the right time to do so.

Although Li Qin could produce anything, it didn't fit the current situation.

Although Li Qin didn't know what to give as a gift, he could help Li Huaide analyze the options.

"Uncle Li, generally speaking, giving welfare is different from giving gifts, but the general direction is similar, which is nothing more than food, clothing, housing, transportation and other aspects."

Housing and transportation can be almost ignored; what's left are food, clothing, and daily necessities.

Hearing Li Qin's analysis, Li Huaide nodded in agreement;

"You're right, but we can probably give up on wearing this kind of thing. After all, we're factory leaders, and image is still very important."

If you dress too flashy, it won't look good.

This is the limitation of working within the system.

Although private customization was already available at this time, it was still quite expensive.

The key is that it is significantly different from ordinary clothes, and wearing it out is too high-profile, so not many people buy it.

Therefore, people's clothes usually look pretty much the same.

Now, it is an era in which farmers and workers are the masters of their own destiny. If a leader dresses too well, he will be accused of being out of touch with the masses.

That'll be a lot of fun.

Therefore, even though many leaders are wealthy, they still dress very simply in their daily lives.

This eliminates three categories of options, leaving only two choices: food and daily necessities.

With Li Qin's help to open up his mind, Li Huaide gradually began to have some rough ideas:

"As for these kinds of items, these people don't actually lack them, and they're all pretty much the same. This time it's just welfare items, so it's impossible to make some luxury items."

One reason is that the conditions are not sufficient, and another is that it is out of step with the current trend.

Therefore, we can only continue to focus on finding solutions related to food.

Li Huaide spoke in a low voice as he pondered.

However, Li Qin had a different opinion regarding what he had just said;

"Uncle Li, you said we can give up on this type of product, but I have a slightly different opinion."

Li Huaide, who was deep in thought, looked at Li Qin with some confusion upon hearing his words.

He had already made himself so clear, so I don't understand why Li Qin would say that.

Seeing his expression, Li Qin immediately began to explain:

"Uncle Li, what I'm talking about isn't those luxury items, but rather everyday items—not expensive, but relatively scarce daily necessities."

Upon hearing this, a glint of light flashed in Li Huaide's eyes.

He finally realized what was happening.

I just fell into a misconception.

When I think about what I use, I instinctively think of those extremely valuable luxury items.

Looking back now, besides luxury goods, there are indeed many items that, while not expensive, are quite scarce.

In high demand, such as:

A brick-shaped bar of soap;

This kind of soap was very popular in those days, and it was a consumable item. Both workplaces and households had a very high demand for it.

However, our country's industry is just starting out, so the manufacturing process is not very good, and the output is not very high.

This makes soap very popular.

Besides soap, similar items like toothpaste and other similar products are in a similar situation.

For example, matches;

In those days, lighters were high-end items only available in foreign countries, and even many high-ranking leaders did not own them.

Therefore, matches became an essential fire-starting tool for every household.

There were also white candles;

During this period, electricity was not very stable, and candles were an important lighting tool and a highly sought-after item.

There are also kerosene lamps of the same type.

And clam oil;

Clam oil is not the oil inside clams, but rather glycerin contained in clam shells, used as a hand cream to prevent chapped hands.

This is something that is extremely popular among the general public in this era.

Another one is malted milk powder;

This item was incredibly popular throughout the country, but it's still considered a "luxury item."

Besides these, there are many other similar items to choose from;

Cigarettes, alcohol, candy...

These items can all be given as Mid-Autumn Festival gifts.

In short, thanks to Li Qin's reminder, Li Huaide's thinking was opened up.

"You're right. We can prepare some items that may not be very valuable, but are relatively scarce or sought after, as welfare items."

Li Huaide said excitedly.

However, upon closer inspection, he showed a conflicted expression.

Previously, he didn't know what to prepare, but now he has a clearer idea. There are too many things to choose from, after all, this is just a Mid-Autumn Festival employee benefit, so it's impossible to prepare everything.

Li Qin saw Li Huaide's dilemma and immediately spoke up;

"Uncle Li, I don't think you need to worry about it. After all, this is just a holiday gift, and it's the first time you've prepared something for them."

Therefore, there's no need to prepare anything too fancy; otherwise, you'll have to worry about the perks for the Lunar New Year and Labor Day holidays next year.

That would be difficult for you to arrange.

Li Huaide, who was still somewhat conflicted, suddenly had a glint in his eyes upon hearing this.

He instantly realized that this was the first time, or even an attempt.

If the level is set too high from the beginning, it will indeed be difficult for him to handle things during holidays and festivals in the future.

Most importantly, preparing extra items for the leadership this time inherently carries a certain degree of risk.

If the prepared items are too good, one possibility is that they may exceed the standards and violate regulations, and another is that they may be discovered by the factory employees, leading to dissatisfaction.

After all, things are different now than they used to be.

Nowadays, workers and farmers have a very high social status.