Certainly,employees were very happy simply to get their pay, but I wanted to go further. Soon after my arrival,
when the Chinese Lunar New Year came around, I borrowed again to buy each worker a New Year’s gift of five
catties of fish. It may seem laughable now, but that gesture had an immediate and positive effect. It put hope into
employees’ hearts that our factory had a chance. I then borrowed tens of thousands more yuan to replace the truck
that was many employees’ transportation to and from work. The truck made for a terrible ride, especially for those
who carried children in their arms, so I went to the added expense of buying a bus. Again, it was a small change
by today’s standards, but it had a real impact on morale. How could a factory that was obviously getting better and
better be about to fail?