Chapter 71: Li Xian's Plan

Looking at the pristine white toilet paper, Xu Dequan clenched his fist tightly.

"Factory Director, it's done!"

Li Xian tore off a piece from the large sheet of paper and rubbed it in his hands. He was quite satisfied. The blend of wood pulp and cotton pulp provided the right amount of toughness, a good hand feel, and decent water absorption. Although it was still inferior in color and texture compared to toilet paper twenty years in the future, given the current technology and equipment, this was about the best they could achieve.

Li Xian immediately instructed the workers to cut the entire sheet of raw paper into three layers, then to use the roll paper machine to produce a batch of rolled paper.

The commotion had long attracted the attention of the workers in the workshop. When they saw the rolls of paper, delicate and white like handkerchiefs, even though they were skeptical about such an extravagant product, they couldn't help but marvel.

"Oh my, how comfortable would it be to wipe with this?"

"Who would even use such good paper? If it were mine, I wouldn't bear to use it."

Hearing the discussions around him, Li Xian shook his head and smiled wryly.

Consumer awareness—this needed to be cultivated.

When news of the successful paper production reached Zhang Dagong and Chen Shulin, they came over. They examined a roll of paper with a diameter of fifteen centimeters and pondered over it for a while.

"This thing... how much will the cost be?" Chen Shulin asked after some thought.

Xu Dequan, who had roughly calculated the cost, responded, "If we start mass production, the cost per sheet will be around eight cents. For three-layered sheets, you get 25 rolls from three sheets of paper. Including various miscellaneous costs, it would be about ten cents per roll. But this is a rough estimate; the exact amount will depend on the calculation by the ton, taking into account electricity, labor, and packaging. Oh, and we also need to consider losses."

Upon hearing this rough estimate, Chen Shulin shook his head, "Too expensive. A small roll costs ten cents. How much do you plan to sell it for?"

Li Xian chuckled, "The market price will be at least twenty cents."

Chen Shulin frowned, "Currently, a bundle of toilet paper on the market costs only five cents. Your price is four times higher. What kind of family would use this? Let's not even talk about whether the product is good or not—at such a high price, it would take a year or two just to enter the market. Do you believe that?"

Li Xian did not respond to Chen Shulin's objections.

As long as the mindset doesn't falter, there are always more solutions than difficulties. If he wanted to make a high-end product, these issues would need to be overcome.

Seeing that Li Xian ignored his advice, Chen Shulin pulled down his blue cap and said, "You're starting production without even having a sales channel. If you can't sell it, you'll see how you deal with it! I'm not involved anymore. Make sure to pay me the wages tomorrow. With all this blind work, I'm not confident!"

Watching Chen Shulin storm off, Li Xian shook his head.

He was a good person but had a rigid mindset.

He silently labeled his sales manager.

...

It is said that once the production line starts, gold will roll in endlessly. However, for Li Xian at present, the biggest shortage was money.

After announcing the start of production, the workers again brought up the issue of the previously owed wages. With little hope for the future of the toilet paper, they demanded that the outstanding wages be paid before production began.

The procurement department was also asking for funds. Currently, the only available funds in the factory were the two thousand yuan Li Xian had set aside—meant originally for the cafeteria's food expenses.

Li Xian estimated that to start production smoothly, the loans from the agricultural bank and his current balance would be entirely depleted.

Before the toilet paper could become truly profitable, maintaining normal factory operations required a significant amount of money.

He had to consider selling that batch of aluminum ingots.

Recently, aluminum ingot prices had risen again, but compared to the previous surge, the increase had slowed. The current price had reached 7,050 yuan per ton. This was still quite a gap from the 8,000 yuan he remembered. However, considering that the peak price of 8,000 yuan had occurred about seven to eight months after the Fourteenth Congress, he decided not to wait any longer.

After leaving the factory, he contacted a newspaper in the provincial capital and submitted a small advertisement. He listed the information about selling over twenty tons of aluminum ingots and included the contact number of the dormitory.

After transferring the money to the agricultural bank and receiving the receipt, he was busy until around four o'clock.

Frustrated with the inefficiency of the era, he returned to the dormitory.

Li Jie had returned from the hospital but was as weak as seaweed after a day of diarrhea.

In the dormitory, Li You was much calmer. Li Xian could guess why without asking; after spending a lifetime as a minor worker with so many leaders around, he dared not make a fuss.

Zou Ni was also aware of the high-ranking officials residing in the dormitory and was very reserved. It was Li Daoyun, however, who was loudly cursing Gao Dashan, Gao Ming's father.

"To hell with him! During the famine in '60, his family was so starving their eyes turned green. Gao Dashan and his useless dog didn't know what to do during the New Year and were trying to stew two rats. It was me who hunted a roe deer and sent half to their family, allowing them to have a decent New Year! Now he looks down on our third son? Anyone from the Eight-Nine Forest Farm can look down on us, but what right does he have to? He's forgotten all his kindness after becoming an official!"

The old man was furious after hearing that Li Jie had been forced to drink medicine by Guo Guixiang and was revisiting old grievances, clearly feeling deeply distressed.

That evening, Li Xian asked the cafeteria to prepare some thin porridge and easily digestible dishes. The family managed with that. Hearing about Li Jie's plight, Wu Shengli and Zheng Weishi also expressed their sympathy.

However, since this was Li Xian's family matter, the outsiders didn't want to say too much. The old men shifted the topic to the paper factory.

When they heard that the factory had produced rolled paper, with a price of twenty cents per roll, and that full-scale production would begin soon, the old men were full of questions.

With such an expensive product, where would they sell it?

In these times, eggs were only eight cents per pound, and four rolls of paper would buy a pound of eggs. Ordinary families would not use such things.

Faced with the crowd's inquiries, Li Xian set down his large bowl and wiped his mouth, "We definitely need to open up sales channels. I plan to distribute the first batch of ten tons of rolled paper for free in the Forestry Bureau, Bangye County, and several surrounding counties."

When these words were spoken, the entire cafeteria fell into an eerie silence.

After a long while,

Clang.

Zheng Weishi's chopsticks fell.

Crash.

Wu Shengli's bowl broke.

"Burp!"

Li You turned away again.