Chapter 144 138: Self-Employed Support Program (Part 2)

Upon hearing Shi Zehong's words, Zhao Qianju suddenly froze.Open a small restaurant outside a factory with thousands of people?

This is truly a path I had never envisioned....

But he immediately snapped out of it.

If it's really as Shi Zehong said, could it really be feasible?

Now that Zhao Qianju has been at the construction site for almost a month, he knows how promptly the workers there are paid.

At the site, the earliest pay cycles were every three days, now it's changed to five days—now in Chixian City and the construction site, Huaxia's clock tower has been erected, and the 24-hour system has gradually begun to spread. Among the refugee community, they have also started using Huaxia's time table.

The previous time division in the Damo Realm was roughly four periods as one cycle.

After all, due to previous productivity issues, many jobs didn't require such precise timing.

For the family's servants and shop assistants, they basically worked according to their employer's requirements.

The refugees were even simpler—being able to survive meant the task was done, what about a detailed timetable?

Therefore, the specific timing in the Damo Realm wasn't so precise.

In a way, this was also a form of class monopolization pua, leaving the lower classes in a completely bewildered state.

Now, as living standards gradually improve, the civilian class naturally begins to demand more detailed timings.

The 24-hour system has therefore been widely welcomed, a point made evident by the rising sales of simple clocks in the Happiness Supermarket during this period.

Of course.

Maybe long, long in the future, the Damo Realm will also have a similar group as here.

Passionately planning what to do at specific times every day, only to end up playing with their phones and lazing around the next day.

Ahem...

Returning to the topic at hand.

The current salary disbursement period at the construction site is five days.

Although it's quite longer than the previous three days, it's still punctual and not a penny is deducted.

If it's this way at the construction site, the factories in Chixian City should be no exception.

Moreover, as Shi Zehong mentioned, the wages at these factories are paid daily!

So it's foreseeable that...

The workers' pockets will soon swell.

In this situation, what would it be like to open a small restaurant?

Although the factory should also have a cafeteria similar to the construction site.

But the construction site is purely physical work and inherently more important, so the menu might be richer.

As for the factory food...

It's probably the standard canteen food.

There should be both meat and vegetables, but not as many choices in varieties.

Although for most refugees, this quality of meals could already count as 'gourmet'.

But among these tens of thousands of workers, there will always be some gluttons.

For example, those who were previously well-off or slightly affluent, once they have money, they'll surely start to regain their former standard.

Not to mention when it's time to get off work, pooling small amounts for a few sips of liquor is common behavior among the temporary working class in the Damo Realm.

Therefore, in terms of customer base, the restaurant is absolutely not lacking.

Frankly speaking, at this point, Zhao Qianju was somewhat tempted.

Because Wang Qiaoyun used to be a cook and her father-in-law a chef, early on when becoming a son-in-law, Zhao Qianju had some experience with helping to wash vegetables and cut meat.

So he knows a bit about the profits of ingredients.

If a restaurant could open in a high-traffic location, achieving a profit of 30% or even 40% is not impossible.

Moreover, ordinary people actually like eating bony things, as they're more filling, and with a little liquor, it's enough to while away the time.

Such as chicken racks, duck heads, offal, etc....

The wholesale price of these ingredients is actually very, very cheap, with extremely high profit margins.

With such costs.

Within a group of over ten thousand workers, if even just 0.2-0.3% come each day, it would be enough for the restaurant to profit.

Frankly speaking.

This is a way to set up and immediately earn income!

In a sense, calling it windfall profits wouldn't be an exaggeration.

But at the same time, a doubt arose in Zhao Qianju's heart:

Why choose me?

Shi Zehong, a seasoned cadre within the system, saw through Zhao Qianju's doubts. In fact, even he would have the same question if the roles were reversed, so he explained:

"Brother Zhao, the organization chose you this time mainly because we plan to implement a scheme called 'Individual Business Development Plan'.

So-called individual businesses are a colloquial term for self-employed urban and rural businesses, simply put, they are civilians with their own enterprises."

For example, Granny Zhao's breakfast stall next to our station in Chixian City, as well as those small vendors selling wonton noodles, and even Ye's Coffin Shop, all actually fall under the category of individual businesses.

Brother Zhao, you may not know, but on our construction site, there's actually a worker evaluation system. It adds points based on each worker's performance and contribution and lists out a ranking chart.

You rank very high on this list, so naturally, you became one of our first batch of candidates."

Having said this,

Shi Zehong quietly looked at Zhao Qianju, waiting for his response.

In the plan discussed by the Rabbits and the Wei Mansion,

with the establishment of several factories,

the entire low-income and civilian strata of Chixian City will, in a very short time, possess economic capabilities above the subsistence line.

The specific timeframe could be as short as a week or as long as two weeks; it's bound to be achieved.

After all, Chixian City's basic scale is too small, and even with the newly arrived migrants, there are only thirty thousand people.

Moreover, the prior productivity level of Chixian City was pitifully low, so raising it isn't too difficult.

It's like improving academic performance.

A student scoring 7 or 8 out of 100 can, with the right study methods, jump to 40 or 50, which appears impressively rapid.

But for top students already scoring 146 or 147, trying to reach 149 or even 150 becomes exceptionally difficult.

Ultimately, it's all about the basic level of capability.

And once these worker groups have money in hand, individual businesses—or the basic commercial base—then become an issue Rabbits and the Wei Mansion must consider.

After all, if money isn't spent, funds can't circulate, leading to an awkward situation where there's 'vitality' but a lack of 'energy.'

Chixian City would then become the idle sluggard Shi Zehong previously mentioned, which is undoubtedly an insult to Wei Siming and Cheng Shiqing's efforts.

Therefore, promoting the circulation of funds to achieve the purpose of creating a healthy economic cycle is the necessary next step.

The key among this is individual businesses—this was already proven in the 1980s and 1990s, essentially the concept of market economy vs. planned economy.

To encourage the ordinary people to gradually dive into the 'business sea,' we must first have representatives who earn money.

Similar to the early "ten-thousand-yuan households" who were the envy of their neighbors.

If lucky, they might later earn the accolade of 'pigs on the wind-turbine,' achieving such success.

And Zhao Qianju is this lucky one.

Because of his previous excellent performance.

After hearing the concept of individual businesses, Zhao Qianju somewhat understood why Shi Zehong had chosen him.

But then he thought of something else, and his eyes instantly dimmed.

After a moment of silence, he said to Shi Zehong:

"Director Shi, I appreciate your kindness, but the restaurant... I might not be able to open it."

Shi Zehong looked at him quite astonished and asked:

"Why?"

Zhao Qianju shook his head bitterly: Google seaʀᴄh ????????????????????✦????????????????✦????????????

"I... I don't have much savings in my family."

Although he had previously earned some money on the construction site.

Due to the deliberate control by the Rabbits, the income from the construction site was actually only 3-4 times the average of a regular person in Chixian City.

Compared to the current domestic Huaxia, earning those copper coins amounted to around 15,000 when others earned 4,000—a calculation not by a 2-to-1 exchange rate but by the purchasing power conversion from the Damo Realm to domestic.

In the long run, this treatment was indeed profitable, but Zhao Qianju had only been carrying bricks for a month anyway.

Even adding his younger brother Zhao Qianjin's income, the conversion to Huaxia standard was just over 20,000—Zhao Qianjin was previously an apprentice and only recently became a junior worker.

Not to mention, due to family obligations, about 40% of the income of the Zhao brothers was spent on improving their family's living conditions:

Besides food and clothing, the brothers also spent a considerable amount on medical treatment for their old mother.

Although the Rabbits had implemented a universal health care solution for most refugees, it only covered common illnesses or acute symptoms:

Such as common infectious diseases, gastroenteritis, or acute symptoms requiring surgery.

But for Zhao Qianju's mother who had a prolonged condition requiring long-term care, the field hospital confirmed that Zhao Qianju had sufficient income, then required him to bear part of the medication costs himself.

So indeed, Zhao Qianju did not have much money at hand, which was not enough, at least, to rent a shop.

Learning about Zhao Qianju's insufficient funds, Shi Zehong was taken aback for a moment, then laughed:

"Money is not a problem... Wait a moment, let me find something."

He hurriedly rummaged through his belongings, finally pulling out a document:

"Phew, found it.

This is the support plan released together with our developmental plan for promoting individual businesses.

Each merchant selected for the plan can apply for a loan of five thousand Huaxia currency—or two thousand five hundred copper coins, roughly equivalent to a regular person's three-year income at the initial stage.

Of course, once the factories open, it can be earned back in just a few months.

This loan is for five years, without any interest, and after... ahem, after review, no collateral is needed, and during the period, all tax-related miscellaneous expenses of the store are exempt.

However, we will have financial personnel to supervise how the money is used to ensure it is spent on setting up the store."