Anti-Japanese War, weapons designer at Fengtian Arsenal

"Rent...rent a car?"

Village Chief Niu was a little stunned. How could such an expensive item be rented? Would anyone rent such an expensive item?

Li Qinwu nodded and said, "Yes, rent a car! The new policy of the factory in the future is that cargo bicycles will cost 8 copper yuan per month, small tricycles will cost 11 copper yuan, large tricycles will cost 14 copper yuan, and rickshaws..."

Li Qinwu told him the price of renting a bicycle, which was not high. According to the salary of the Julong Steel Plant, the workers could get 500 copper yuan per month, and spending 8 copper yuan to rent a bicycle was barely acceptable. But it was just barely acceptable. For the people who had been frugal for thousands of years, was it really worth spending their precious wages to invest in a bicycle?

"This... Director Li, this..."

Village chief Niu did not expect this result. He actually hoped that the factory would increase the number of model workers, commonly known as freeloading.

"Master Li, 8 copper coins per person, I'm afraid there won't be many people willing to rent a car!"

Li Qinwu anticipated his idea and continued to take out his next move.

"Don't worry, Village Chief Niu. I haven't finished my words yet. In the future, individuals who want to rent a car need to leave a record in our factory. They must have a clean background and own houses and fields in the nearby countryside. They must also have a guarantor like the village chief, a respected person, to prevent someone from renting a car and not returning it."

Li Qinwu paused, took a sip of tea, and confirmed that Village Chief Niu understood before continuing, "In addition, the files left behind will also record how long the individual rented the car and how much money they spent. When they have enough money to buy a car, then from then on, the car will completely belong to them."

This time, Village Chief Niu’s eyes widened.

"You mean, you rent the car to us first, and the rental fee will be counted as the purchase price. When the rental fee accumulates to 30 dollars, the car will be sold to us?"

Li Qinwu nodded.

"Yes! And if you rent a car for 10 years and save 10 dollars in car rental fees, and then you have money and want to buy a car, the rental fees can also be used as car purchase money.

In addition, during the rental process, as long as the vehicle is not damaged intentionally, all wear and tear will be borne by the factory. If the rented car does not work well, you can come to the factory to repair or replace it at any time. If you want to buy a new car, you can directly exchange it for a new one. "

Village Chief Niu's head was buzzing after hearing this. If the car rental fee can be saved and used to buy a car in the future, then it would be quite cost-effective!

"Director Li... Director Li, can I go back and discuss this with the villagers?"

"Well, of course. If our workers want to rent a car, they don't need so many guarantees. Oh, and if a worker rents a car, the factory will give benefits at the end of the year. A rental fee of 50 copper coins will be added to the rental file, which is equivalent to speeding up your car purchase. You can also transfer this thing privately. Just report it to the logistics department."

Village Chief Niu's breathing became more rapid. This was equivalent to the factory giving out half a dollar in subsidies during the New Year!

When Director Niu came out of Li Qinwu's drawing room, the workers from Niujia Village immediately surrounded him.

"Let's go to the cafeteria first and talk while we eat!"

It was lunch time now, and Village Chief Niu took the workers to the factory cafeteria for lunch. However, the delicious food from the past could not attract their attention. Everyone surrounded Village Chief Niu with their lunch boxes.

Village Chief Niu told everyone about the car rental policy that Li Qinwu had mentioned, especially the fact that the rental fee could be used to buy out the bicycle.

Now the workers began to count, some even went to the grass outside the canteen to find stones and sticks, and used primitive methods that only they could understand to count.

The car rental fee is 8 copper yuan per month, which means 96 copper yuan for a full year. Add on the 50 copper yuan that the factory adds to the archive every year, and the total cost for the year is 146 copper yuan.

As a worker, it costs 2600 copper coins to buy a car, which means you have to save for 17 years!

Everyone was tempted. 17 years may be too long for modern people, but for people of this era, and for the Chinese people’s expectations for a better life, 17 years is enough time to work hard!

The people are fanatical about private property. This can be seen from their enthusiasm for land, cattle, and housing for thousands of years. They hope to have their own little home and live their own little life. To this end, they are willing to work hard for decades, dozens of years, or even generations!

Is it completely acceptable to spend 17 years to buy a bicycle or use it first before buying it?

After careful calculation, many people decided to put bicycles into their future life investment, but many people also felt that it was not worthwhile to spend 8 copper yuan a month on a bicycle. What is the use of this thing except to make people envious? It is better to work hard and become a model worker to get a factory bicycle for free.

But most people are hesitant, mainly because they want to spend 8 copper coins to buy a car they don’t know what it is used for, and they are struggling with ideas that others have but they don’t have. Another option is to rent a car and create a file early so that they can enjoy the factory’s car rental subsidy, which is 50 copper coins!

The villagers were quite confused, pulling hair on the factory's dusty grass.

At this time, the crisp sound of ding-ling ding-ling was heard, and all the workers looked up and saw Niu Er riding a tricycle with a basket full of vegetables, walking briskly on the hardened ground of the factory.

A worker saw Niu Er's cart loaded with so many vegetables and was moved. He shouted to Niu Er: "Uncle Niu Er! You're bringing in the vegetables so early today!"

Niu Er used to make four trips to transport vegetables to the factory, twice in the morning for lunch and twice at noon for afternoon lunch. The small wheelbarrow could only carry so much vegetables, so he had to make an extra trip, which was very tiring.

Niu Er smiled and replied, "Hey, this bike is very convenient. It can carry a lot of goods. I only need to run it twice a day in the future. Moreover, this bike goes fast and is much more labor-saving than a unicycle. I won't say more to you. I will ride my bike to take my granddaughter to the city for medical treatment when I get home. Let's go."

Jingle bell, jingle bell.

Niu Er rode his tricycle into the cafeteria. The workers' eyes were fixed on him and his tricycle until he disappeared into the cafeteria.

"This... seems like it would be quite convenient to take some things to the city to sell and do some work..."

I don't know who muttered this, but it expressed everyone's thoughts and made the bicycle more important in everyone's hearts.