Volume One: Grass Grows, Orioles Fly

Chapter One: Compress Forty Million

Early autumn, 1980, Metallurgical Department of Nanjiang Province.

In the spacious conference room, four floor-standing electric fans were running at full power, sending out cool air, but no matter what, they could not dispel the stuffiness in the room or the thick haze of cigarette smoke. Two or three dozen participants from three generations—old, middle-aged, and young—sat around the conference table, sparring with words, even their eyes sharp with hostility.

“The central government’s directive is very clear: the investment must be cut by 40 million US dollars. This is non-negotiable. The Pujiang Steel Plant project is more than ten times as important as yours, and it has already been completely halted. The fact that your Nanjing Steel project can be kept at all is already quite good, but the budget must be drastically reduced, otherwise the Economic Commission cannot invest!”

The speaker was Yvonne Harris, director of the Budget Office of the Metallurgical Bureau under the National Economic Commission—a “young and vigorous” official in his thirties, notorious in the industry as the “cold-faced King Yama.”

“Director Harris, we’re not talking about money here, we’re talking about science. The Nanjing Steel 1780mm hot rolling mill project isn’t just for our Nanjiang Province, it’s to provide hot-rolled plate for the entire national economy. The project budget was already approved by your office, and we’re about to sign the contract with the Japanese side. Now you suddenly demand a budget cut—where are we supposed to cut it from? If you want to cut, then cut my salary first. I’ll bring my wife and kids to eat at your house!”

The director of Nanjiang Steel, Kevin Zimmerman, retorted to Yvonne Harris’s demand without backing down. Already in his fifties, he had been the director of Nanjing Steel for over a decade, and was a veteran in the national metallurgical industry, unafraid to go head-to-head with officials from the capital.

Yvonne Harris replied coldly, “Why should I care if your wife and kids have food to eat? Don’t think I don’t know about your Nanjing Steel exceeding standards to build a private canteen. If anyone goes hungry, it certainly won’t be your whole Director Zimmerman family.”

Kevin Zimmerman was left speechless. The issue Yvonne Harris brought up was indeed a weak spot for Kevin Zimmerman, and at least left him with no comeback.

Perhaps since the founding of the country, the state had repeatedly demanded that enterprises not build “luxurious halls and buildings.” Such notices came every few days, almost more frequently than a woman’s monthly cycle. But on the enterprise side, no one really took these requirements seriously. Which well-off enterprise wouldn’t secretly build a small canteen, club, or guesthouse?

Building such facilities wasn’t because the leaders were greedy for comfort—everyone did it, and if your factory didn’t, you’d fall behind. Besides, when higher-ups came to inspect, how could you host them well without a canteen? How could you entertain them without a club?

Nanjing Steel was one of the top enterprises in Nanjiang Province. Central ministry officials often came to visit, so Nanjing Steel’s reception facilities were even more upscale than others. Normally, this wasn’t an issue, but when it came to budget discussions, it became a handle to grab. If you have money to build a fancy canteen, can’t you cut the budget for the new project a bit? If you insist the 40 million can’t be cut, who knows if you’re planning to use the money to build some new entertainment facility?

The deputy director of the Nanjiang Metallurgical Department, Helen Lawson, stepped in to help Kevin Zimmerman out. He was also a veteran cadre, almost at retirement age. At that age, tempers tend to mellow. He coughed lightly, drawing everyone’s attention, then spoke kindly to Yvonne Harris:

“Little Harris, let’s keep things separate. The Nanjing Steel canteen issue was actually years ago and has nothing to do with the 1780 hot rolling mill investment. What Old Zimmerman just said was just out of frustration. No matter what, it’s not like his salary won’t be paid. As I understand it, Old Zimmerman means that the budget for importing the hot rolling mill equipment was set long ago and is well-founded. We’ve been negotiating with Japan’s Sanli Steelworks for nearly half a year. Their quoted price for the complete equipment package is 380 million US dollars, and that’s after repeated bargaining. If we push hard, maybe we can cut another one or two million, but to cut 40 million at once is simply impossible.”

“Unless we lower the equipment standards and choose Sanli Steelworks’ other 1500mm mill. In that case, not only could we cut 40 million, we could cut another 100 million if we wanted. But would the Economic Commission agree to that?” Kevin Zimmerman interjected.

Yvonne Harris said, “That’s impossible. The 1780 specification was chosen by the Metallurgical Bureau after careful consideration. If we switch to 1500, the equipment will be outdated before it even goes into production. Such an import would be completely pointless for us.”