I'm back in 1990

Chapter 1177: Sparking Heated Discussion

Huang Ruiying knew her father's temper, and seeing that he was busy, she stopped trying to persuade him and turned to go downstairs.

Seeing that she came down alone, Yu Xiang asked, "Where's your dad?"

Huang Ruiying pointed upstairs: "My dad said he had something to do, so he told us to eat first."

Yu Xiang was annoyed when she heard this: "I've been messing with the fish tank all day and nothing's wrong, and now that it's almost dinner time, something's happened! Honestly!"

The brother and sister exchanged a glance but didn't respond. They were all too familiar with their mother's tactics, and it was best for them not to get involved.

"Let's not wait for him, let's eat!" Yu Xiang instructed the nanny to serve the meal.

But she added one more instruction: "Leave some food in the insulated box to keep it warm."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Yu Xiang then let the three children eat first, while she went upstairs to see what the man was busy with.

Once inside the study, she asked, "What are you busy with? A whole day isn't enough time for you, why do you have to be busy during mealtimes?"

Huang Xiaochuan replied, "It'll be ready soon."

But his fingers didn't stop. He added another paragraph, then clicked save, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Yu Xiang asked curiously, "What are you writing now?"

"I wrote a short article, and someone online is spouting nonsense, saying that low prices are the way out for the manufacturing industry. That's utter rubbish. I can't stand it, so I'm saying a few words." Huang Xiaochuan stood up and stretched his body and limbs.

Yu Xiang complained to the man, "You really have too much free time. People write what they want; if they're wrong, just ignore it. Why take it so seriously?"

"That won't do. Some statements are very easy to mislead the public. They may seem like the truth, but they are actually fallacies. I must correct them."

Looking at the man's expression, Yu Xiang's anger subsided considerably. After so many years of marriage, she knew this man's temperament and personality. Moreover, he was extremely concerned about the country and its people, as if the earth would not turn without him.

Yu Xiang walked up to the man and gently pulled him up: "Alright, alright, let's go downstairs for dinner. After dinner, you can write whatever you want. You're almost fifty, so you need to take care of your health."

"I'm just over forty, and I'm in excellent health, you know that best!" As he spoke, Huang Xiaochuan winked, his expression quite ambiguous.

Yu Xiang glanced behind her, embarrassed and annoyed. Seeing no one was around, she glared fiercely at the man. This man was too much... but he was actually quite... something else...

After dinner, Huang Xiao returned to his study and carefully revised the article again. After confirming that there were no errors, he clicked to publish it online.

He is quite famous in the economics circle, and many like-minded scholars and entrepreneurs are his online friends. Huang Xiaochuan often reads their articles online and also leaves messages to communicate with them privately.

After posting, he finally felt a bit tired. How could he not be? He had been busy setting up the new tank all day, and then writing articles until midnight. It was almost 1 a.m.

After taking a shower, he went to bed, but some people were still awake and saw his article as soon as it was published.

The next day, things started to escalate.

Some of his colleagues in economics, as well as some of his senior classmates, left comments on his articles.

Read Chapter 1177 now: Sparking Heated Discussion, and start your day with an exciting read.

One economics professor from Southern University of Finance and Economics wrote in a comment: "Professor Huang's article hits the nail on the head regarding an extremely dangerous misconception in current economic discussions, and it is worth reading carefully by everyone who cares about the development of the manufacturing industry."

A scholar from Yang University who specializes in industrial research echoed this sentiment: "The manufacturing industry has been mired in a price war for too long. The industry is severely competitive, profit margins are pitifully low, and companies have no spare capacity to invest in research and development. This is a vicious cycle that must be broken."

As more and more people see this article, the discussion is heating up.

Some entrepreneurs also joined the discussion.

A Guangdong-based owner of an electronic component export business commented in the comments section: "Professor Huang's article speaks to the hearts of those of us in manufacturing. I've been in the export business for over a decade, and it's become increasingly difficult. The price wars with our competitors are cutthroat, and some customers even use other companies' quotes to drive down prices. Prices are so low they don't even cover costs. If we don't accept the orders, we get no orders; if we do, we lose everything. So, after much deliberation, we've decided to invest in technological upgrades. Although the investment is large, if we don't do this, we'll have no choice but to close down and go bankrupt."

This comment has sparked a lot of discussion and support.

A few days later, Huang Xiaochuan's article was reposted by a financial blogger with hundreds of thousands of followers.

This blogger fiercely criticized Huang Xiaochuan's views, saying that he was talking without thinking, and that he believed that companies should first survive, and that there is no point in talking about upgrading if they can't even survive.

In the current situation, only low prices can secure orders, orders generate cash flow, and cash flow is essential for development.

His repost sparked a massive number of comments.

The debate is clearly polarized. Some people believe that Huang Xiaochuan's point is insightful: low-price competition is a dead end; focusing only on the short term and ignoring the long term will inevitably backfire.

Others believe that Huang Xiaochuan does not understand the true situation of enterprises. Many small and medium-sized enterprises are struggling to survive and are already doing well if they can maintain the status quo by selling small profits and quick turnover.

The two sides argued back and forth, and later, some people began to question whether Huang Xiaochuan was standing up for his own interests, after all, he controlled a huge business empire.

A small factory owner in Zhejiang Province commented: "Please go and see for yourselves the front lines of manufacturing before you talk about whether low prices are the way out. In one town here, there are hundreds of factories making the same product. If you don't lower your prices, someone else will. Raw material costs are rising, labor costs are rising, and environmental regulations are getting stricter. Everything is going up, except for product prices. If we raise prices, we'll lose orders. In this environment, how can we upgrade? What will we use to upgrade?"

An anonymous commenter said, "Rich man Huang makes it sound so easy. He talks about increasing R&D investment, but for small businesses like ours, that's just a pipe dream. Our entire year's profits aren't even enough to cover the budget of a single R&D sub-project for a large company. How can we invest? We can only prioritize survival. Has Rich man Huang forgotten what 'Why don't they eat cake?' means?"

Some people mocked and criticized Huang Xiaochuan, while others agreed with his views.

An executive of a precision mold manufacturing company responded in the comments section: "We climbed out of the quagmire of low-price competition. In the past, we had to drive the price down to the lowest possible level for every order we took. Not only were we exhausted, but the profits were also pitifully small. Three years ago, we made the decision to restructure our production line, cut off unprofitable businesses, and focus on high-end, high-precision molds. It was indeed tough at first. Employee income plummeted, and we lost old customers. But after we got through it, the situation changed. Now the profit margin is more than ten times what it was before, and our high-net-worth clients are more stable."