211: Chapter 211 Layoffs

Chen Youhua was reading a paper sent by Guo Qi when he received the call.

He had already read it three times, but there were still many parts he didn't understand regarding the preparation process of Indium Tin Oxide nano-films and the dense formulas and charts.

"Old Zheng," he answered the phone.

Academician Zheng briefly explained the situation.

Rehabilitation data, expanding cooperation, as well as enhancement research for healthy soldiers and exoskeleton solutions.

After listening, Chen Youhua thought for a while.

"The prosthetic limb project can be expanded," he said. "I fully support the adaptation for disabled veterans. Wang Zhe and Li Wei have experience there; just let them take charge."

"What about the enhancement type?"

Chen Youhua thought for a moment and said, "Exoskeletons are fine. But the prerequisite is that they must not harm the physical or mental health of the volunteers, and it cannot go against their will. Furthermore, it requires a strict ethical review."

"Of course," Academician Zheng said. "So, you agree?"

"Of course I agree." Chen Youhua paused. "However, Old Zheng, there is one thing I need to make clear in advance. I might be less involved in the prosthetic limb project from now on."

"Why?"

"I'm doing preliminary research on brain-computer interfaces."

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a few seconds.

"brain-computer interfaces?"

Chen Youhua leaned back in his chair, looking at the dense writing on the whiteboard.

"Prosthetics are like building a bridge to reconnect a broken road. A brain-computer interface is like blazing a trail where no road has ever existed."

"And the difficulty?"

"Not on the same order of magnitude," he said truthfully.

"Peripheral nerves are like highways, bundled together with clear directions. The cerebral cortex is like an overpass, dense and intricate, with every single path connected to countless others. To insert a wire into it without affecting its normal function... it's very difficult."

"Then how do you plan to do it?"

"Start with materials first," Chen Youhua said.

"Flexible electrodes, biocompatible coatings, and neural signal acquisition chips. Solve the core problems first, then consider integration."

"Is there anything you need me to help coordinate?"

"Not for now." Chen Youhua thought for a moment. "I can handle the initial stages myself with the help of enlightenment. Once the direction is clear, I'll consider pulling people from the prosthetic limb project."

Academician Zheng was silent for a moment, then said, "Alright. Go ahead and do it. Tell me whenever you need something."

"Thank you, Old Zheng."

After hanging up, he stood up and walked to the whiteboard, looking at the words on it.

Flexible electrodes, neural encoding, immune barriers, signal acquisition... behind every term was a mountain to climb.

"enlightenment," he said, "rank the core problems that need to be overcome for brain-computer interfaces by priority."

"Certainly, Father," enlightenment's voice quickly rang out.

"Sorted. The highest priority is flexible electrode materials. Without them, everything else is just empty talk. Next is the biocompatible coating. Without it, the electrode will be destroyed by the immune system once inserted. Third is the signal acquisition chip. Without it, the signals collected by the electrode cannot be transmitted."

"Materials." Chen Youhua drew a line under the first term. "What material specifically?"

"Currently, the most promising is Indium Tin Oxide nano-film. It has good conductivity, is transparent, and has high chemical stability. Once made to a nanoscale thickness, it will exhibit a certain degree of flexibility."

"Indium Tin Oxide..." Chen Youhua muttered the name.

"Help me prepare the relevant literature; I'm going to start grinding."

"Understood, Father. Don't work too hard."

...

At the same time Chen Youhua plunged into the material science literature, the Qiming Intelligent Manufacturing Engine was quietly operating in every corner of Rabbit Country's industry.

Zhou Jianguo had been a bit troubled lately.

Since his factory implemented the enlightenment system, production capacity had doubled, the defect rate had halved, and profits had risen by thirty percent. Logically, he should be happy, but he couldn't bring himself to be.

The problem was with the neighbor.

The factory next door was owned by a boss surnamed Qian. He produced similar things, and previously, the two factories were neck and neck—whatever orders he had, I had, and whatever customers I had, he had.

But since implementing the enlightenment system, Boss Qian's factory seemed to have activated a cheat code; costs kept dropping, and his quotes were ridiculously low.

"Mr. Zhou, Boss Qian's side has taken another big order." When the CFO delivered the news, his expression was a bit subtle. "The quote is fifteen percent lower than ours."

Zhou Jianguo frowned. "How did they do it?"

"Layoffs," the CFO said. "They laid off thirty people last month and another twenty this month. Now their factory only has about fifty people left, all of whom are technical backbones. Labor costs have been suppressed to the minimum, and the enlightenment system is running at full speed."

Zhou Jianguo didn't speak. He remembered that when he went to the factory next door to deliver goods last month, he saw a crowd of people standing at the gate, carrying luggage with wooden expressions.

He hadn't thought much of it then, assuming it was normal personnel turnover, but now he knew those were layoffs.

"Mr. Zhou, should we also..." the CFO asked tentatively.

"No," Zhou Jianguo interrupted him.

"But the cost gap is too large. If this continues, all our orders will be snatched away by them."

"I said no."

The CFO opened his mouth, said nothing more, and turned to leave.

The office fell silent. Zhou Jianguo leaned back in his chair and looked out the window at the factory area, where the machines were still turning and workers were busy on the assembly line.

He saw Old Zhang walk out of the workshop, holding a part, looking at it against the light, and then walking back in.

Old Zhang had worked for him for twenty years. He had gone from an apprentice to a team leader, had the best skills, and had trained the most apprentices.

The factory had tried to promote him to workshop director several times, but he refused, saying he just wanted to stay on the front line. Zhou Jianguo knew he couldn't bear to leave those machines.

If he laid people off like Boss Qian, Old Zhang would definitely be the first to go.

In his fifties with a vocational school education, where could he go after leaving this factory? To the neighbor? Boss Qian only wanted technical backbones, not old masters.

Zhou Jianguo rubbed his temples and opened his computer. A line of text popped up on the enlightenment backend: "You have used the enlightenment system for 187 consecutive days. Production capacity has increased by 37%, and the defect rate has decreased by 52%."

He looked at those words; the neighbor's costs had dropped by over thirty percent because they had laid off fifty people.

"enlightenment," he typed, "is the factory next door using you too?"

"Sorry, I cannot disclose client information."

Zhou Jianguo stared at the desktop, feeling a wave of annoyance. This was the client-facing Artificial Intelligence recently launched in an update of the Qiming Intelligent Manufacturing Engine.

But chatting with it was simply like talking to an idiot; it wouldn't say anything of substance.

He could only give it commands on how to adjust requirements.

...

In the following days, Boss Qian's factory was like a machine running at full throttle, moving faster and faster.

Orders were taken one after another, and customers were snatched one after another. Although Zhou Jianguo's factory was also growing, the speed was much slower.

"Mr. Zhou, the big order from Mr. Li's side was also snatched by Boss Qian." The CFO's voice grew heavier. "Their quote is twenty percent lower than ours."

"Twenty percent?" Zhou Jianguo frowned. "Did they lay off more people?"

"They laid off ten more this time. Now there are only forty-two people left in the entire factory."

Zhou Jianguo fell silent. Forty-two people to manage such a large factory?

No matter how powerful the enlightenment system was, if a machine broke, it needed someone to fix it; if a customer came, they needed someone to receive them; and if a product left the factory, it needed someone to inspect it. What could forty-two people do?

"How are they operating?" he asked.

"They changed from three shifts to two, with one person doing the work of two. Wages were increased by thirty percent, but it's still more cost-effective than supporting over a hundred people."

Zhou Jianguo didn't speak. He thought of Old Zhang in his own factory, who came to work and left on time every day, and even had to report to his wife if he occasionally worked overtime. The workers in the factory next door probably didn't even have time to report.

"Mr. Zhou, are we really not considering..." the CFO tentatively asked again.

"Not considering it," Zhou Jianguo said. "You may go."

The CFO sighed and left.

Zhou Jianguo sat in his office, listening to the sound of the machines outside. He had heard that sound for over a decade; he used to think it was noisy, but now it felt reassuring.

He knew the temperament of every machine, which ones were prone to failure, and which ones needed regular maintenance. He also knew the names of every worker, that Old Zhang's wife was in poor health, that Little Li's child was taking the college entrance exam this year, and that Big Liu had bought a new house and was renovating it.

As for the workers in the factory next door, Boss Qian probably couldn't name more than a few.

...

The turning point occurred on a Friday afternoon.

Zhou Jianguo was wandering around the workshop when his phone rang. It was the client, Mr. Li.

"Old Zhou, can your quote be any lower?" Mr. Li got straight to the point.

"Mr. Li, our quote is already at its limit."

"Old Qian next door is twenty-five percent lower than you, you know that, right?"

"I know."

"So, what do you think?"

Zhou Jianguo thought for a moment and said, "Mr. Li, let me ask you a question."

"Go ahead."

"How many people are left in Old Qian's factory now?"

There was a brief silence on the other end of the phone.

"Forty-two," Mr. Li said.

"In my factory, there are one hundred and thirteen," Zhou Jianguo said. "Do you know what those extra seventy-one people do?"

"What do they do?"

"They fix machines, inspect products, interface with you, and deliver goods to you. There are also several old masters; if a machine has a problem, they can tell what's wrong just by listening to the sound. No matter how powerful Artificial Intelligence is, it can't hear if something is wrong with a machine's sound."

Mr. Li didn't speak.

"Mr. Li," Zhou Jianguo continued, "if you choose Old Qian's factory, the price is cheap. But what if a machine breaks down? Do they have anyone who can fix it? What if there's a problem with the product? Do they have anyone to interface with you? What if delivery is late? Who will you go to?"

Silence again. Then Mr. Li laughed. "Old Zhou, you really know how to talk."

"I'm telling the truth."

" OK, I'll think about it some more.."

After hanging up, Zhou Jianguo put his phone in his pocket. Old Zhang walked out of the workshop, holding a part.

"Boss Zhou, there was a slight issue with the precision of this batch. I adjusted the machine tool, and it's fine now."

"Thanks for your hard work."

"It's nothing." Old Zhang wiped his hands. "Boss Zhou, I heard the place next door is laying people off?"

"Yeah."

"We won't, will we?"

"No," Zhou Jianguo said. "Don't worry."

Old Zhang glanced at him, nodded, and turned back.

...

enlightenment had discovered these companies' actions long ago.

"Academician Zheng, the system has detected large-scale layoffs in multiple regions. Among them, the workforce of Qian's Precision Manufacturing Co., Ltd. has dropped from 127 people to 42, a decrease of 67%. Similar situations account for about 11% of the manufacturing industry."

Academician Zheng looked at the data on the screen, his expression very grim.

"Continue monitoring," he said.

Two days later, a document was sent down from above. The wording was very gentle, but the content was firm.

Any enterprise using the Qiming Intelligent Manufacturing Engine must maintain a workforce size of no less than 85% of the baseline before use, and wages must not be lower than the standard line.

Violators will have their system access permissions suspended or terminated.

As soon as the news broke, Boss Qian's call reached Zhou Jianguo.

"Old Zhou, have you heard?" Boss Qian's voice was both urgent and angry. "85%! I laid off so many people, and now they want me to hire them back? Where am I supposed to find them?"

"What kind of policy is this? What about a company's right to independent operation? What about the laws of market competition? Isn't this moving backward?"

"Sigh, who's to say it isn't..." Zhou Jianguo replied.

But in his heart, he had already cursed Boss Qian's entire family and was overjoyed; let's see how you find people now.

...

The policy was implemented quickly. Some of those factories that had laid off too many people began rehiring, while others invited old employees back. Some were willing, others were not.

When Boss Qian called Old Zhang, Old Zhang was in the workshop adjusting a machine tool.

"Master Zhang, we're short-staffed here. Please come back; I'll increase your salary by twenty percent."

Old Zhang tucked the phone between his ear and shoulder, his hands never stopping. "Boss Qian, I've worked here for twenty years."

"I know, that's why you're the first person I'm calling."

"Then when you laid me off, why wasn't I the first person you looked for?"

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

Old Zhang finished adjusting the machine tool and took the phone down. "Boss Qian, I could fix your machines with my eyes closed. But I'm not going. These old bones of mine can't handle the upheaval."

He hung up and continued working.