Struggle in the Steam Age

"Is this the tricky question you said?" After simply eating a tomato bolognese for lunch, Lawrence, accompanied by Safir, went to the gear area. After passing a section of road full of sewage, the two of them Came to the gate of a small factory.

There are a few capitalized words of Robert Iron Works written on this gate, but the paint on these iron letters is almost gone, and there is still a thick layer of rust in many places, even Lawrence can see that there are two places on the letters completely After being rusted through, the sun shines down through the hole.

"Yes, this is the tricky question." After a burst of train whistles, Safiel pointed to the factory gate with a small door open, "Let's go in and talk, don't stand stupidly at the door."

Her proposal was very reasonable, because although the two of them were only wearing ordinary windbreakers today, such a suit of clothing was as dazzling as a lighthouse in the dark in this kind of factory area. They only stood at the door for a few minutes, and some people around them were already looking at them.

After entering the factory area, Lawrence found that the factory was dead silent. Compared with the other factories that were constantly making noise around it, it was obvious that there was something abnormal here.

"According to the prior agreement, Mr. Bass should pay us 900 yuan." In the quiet factory area, Sai Feier's voice sounded, "But after we found out that the son he thought was not his real son, He gave us this little semi-abandoned factory as payment."

"So many?" Lawrence looked a little surprised. "Are those rich people always so generous when they spend money, that they can actually pay 900 yuan for a single entrustment?"

"Ordinary entrustment is naturally not, but when we completed this entrustment, it was equivalent to helping him save hundreds of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of yuan, so it was reasonable to get this amount of remuneration. It's just that at that time we They only agreed on the amount of money to be paid but did not agree on the method of payment, so that guy found a loophole and simply took the dilapidated factory to pay off the debt."

"This should have been expected by him a long time ago." Lawrence said, "Selling the factory must not be a decision made on the head. It is no wonder that he can do things to such an extent for the sake of profit. Either his wife or his lover chose to betray him."

"But the price of the land and the things in this factory should be far more than 900 yuan, right?" Lawrence said after walking around the outside of the factory building, "A miser should not make such a mistake."

"Indeed, these factories and the machines inside are worth about 12,000 yuan." Saifeier naturally investigated this place clearly when he signed for it. "But there is a debt of 11,000 yuan on the books, so it is equivalent to 1,000 yuan."

"You're right, this can be regarded as a difficult problem." Lawrence said looking at the slightly dilapidated factory building. "Although the land of the whole factory is not big, it is not small. Although the machines inside are in good condition, the style is too old. In short, it is difficult for this factory to sell as a whole, and we have no way to sell separately. .”

"But the matter is not unsolvable." After a little calculation, Lawrence said to Safir, "I think I can ask Mrs. Fontaine for help. We saved her son before, and Mrs. Fontaine, who is a local steel tycoon, wants to come. There should be a way to help us sell this small factory."

"No, if I simply sell the factory, it's not like I can't find someone. The real tricky part is not here." After Lawrence finished speaking, Safiel bit his lip and hesitated, then raised his head and looked at him explain. "I think there's something you should see—"

Twenty minutes later, they emerged on what appeared to be a dirty, cramped street. The entire block here is a place where local workers live. There are no sewers, no street lights, and there are only a few platforms at the street intersection with water pipes on them. Someone guards there and charges everyone who uses the water pipes.

The houses on the entire street are all back-to-back houses, which means that the left, right and rear walls of these houses are shared with the surrounding houses, and only the front facades of the buildings have doors and windows. At the same time, these two-story houses look very small, with only one house on each of the upper and lower floors.

Because it is working time now, there are not many people on the street. Some three- and four-year-old children who were dressed in rags or even naked were playing on the road. When Lawrence and the others first stepped into this street, a few dubious guys came over with their hands in their pockets, but after he released an acid splash and made a hole in the wall, those guys disappeared immediately.

"Uncle Jimmy, good afternoon." Led by Safir, Lawrence walked into one of the small rooms with her, and a middle-aged man in his 40s with gray hair opened the door for them.

"Good afternoon, Miss Coburg." The man invited Lawrence and the others into his room. After squinting his eyes and adapting to the darkness in the room caused by blocking the broken windows with wooden boards, he realized that it was a An extremely shabby and cramped room.

There is a table in the middle of the room, and beside it are benches of different heights and styles. There was a small stove near the window, and a tattered shelf was nailed to the blackened wall beside the stove, on which were placed kettles, pans, and some bad-looking cutlery. On the other side of the room was a bed, and the whole room was stuffed to the brim.

"Sorry, it's a bit of a mess at home." The old worker named Jimmy rubbed his hands a little awkwardly. "Mr. and Miss like you shouldn't come here. If you need to ask me for anything, please let me know, and then I will visit you."

"This is Mr. August, please tell him the specific situation." Safir pointed to Lawrence and introduced Jimmy. "It's all up to him to decide what to do next."

"Is that so?" Jimmy looked at Lawrence with excited eyes. "Please allow me to introduce this factory. Robert Iron Works is one of the oldest factories in the hands of Mr. Bass. It has been providing various parts for other factories under him to ensure the normal operation of the machines in other factories. There are a total of 120 workers working for this factory, and they are—"

According to Jimmy's introduction, Lawrence knew one good news and one bad news. The good news is that although the machines in this factory are a bit old, both the workers and the overall level of the factory are good. It is even fully equipped because maintaining the machine requires the manufacture of some custom parts. Whether it is woodworking, metalworking or heat treatment casting, there are corresponding equipment.

But on the other hand, the factory has twice as many workers as a factory of the same size. Moreover, there is no way for the entire factory to carry out large-scale production of a certain product. In particular, this factory originally belonged to a factory that provided logistics for other factories of Mr. Bass, and the products were clearly directional. But now the market for the product has disappeared directly.

"That Mr. Bass isn't worried that we won't supply him in the future?" Lawrence asked after Jimmy thoroughly introduced the current situation of the factory.

"Of course he's not afraid." Having said that, Jimmy looked very angry. "Before he opened a new factory with similar functions, and in the new factory, he would rather find some new workers to retrain than pay us old workers for retraining."

"The annual salary of a skilled worker like Jimmy is 200 yuan a year, and the annual salary of a new worker is only half of that of their skilled workers." Safiel approached Lawrence at this time and tiptoed into his ear. "The so-called training is just an excuse. The new machine is only more efficient, and the operating method has not changed much."

Lawrence nodded after listening to Safir's words. After all, the machines in the factory are not those with extraordinary power. There is not much difference between the operation of old machines decades ago and the new ones now. It can be done in two days, and it doesn't cost much at all.

"I see," Lawrence said after Jimmy had finished his introduction. "You wait for news from me at home for the time being. If things don't change, I will make a final decision within a week."

"Well, sir, I think you are right." Jimmy looked a little frustrated, but he also knew that many things could not be concluded immediately, "I hope you can continue to employ me and my staff after consideration." Guys, we're not as nimble as teens and twenties, but I swear every single one of us is good enough at our jobs."