When Jiang Chi inherited her grandfather’s bicycle factory, it was on the verge of bankruptcy. It owed thirty million, the employees’ average age was fifty-five, and the factory buildings were so dilapidated even stray cats avoided them. The only product it could boast about was a batch of twenty-year-old “Forever” roadsters gathering dust in the warehouse.
Everyone urged her to sell the land and enjoy life with the money. Wouldn’t it be better to just lie flat?
Jiang Chi looked at the worried old hands, who could barely afford to pay out their pensions, then at the three-digit balance in her own account. She gritted her teeth. “Sell? No way! We’ll develop our technology and build our brand. I’m going to make ‘Forever’ great again!”
At first, nobody believed in the newly appointed “Factory Manager Jiang.”
The veteran employees said, “What does a young person know about bicycles? Don’t go messing things up.”
The distributors said, “Who rides these things anymore? We want bike-sharing and electric bikes!”
The competitors scoffed, “A shabby old factory like that thinks it can steal our market? What a joke.”
Then one day, an intelligent bicycle combining retro aesthetics with the latest technology made a stunning debut at a design exhibition and won an international gold medal.
Soon after, a series of “Forever” products took the internet by storm, including ultra-light carbon-fiber mountain bikes, folding city commuters, and balance bikes for children. Orders poured in faster than they could fill them.
The veteran employees stood tall and strode about proudly. “Our factory manager is amazing!”
The distributors crowded her doorstep, waving their money. “Factory Manager Jiang, we want stock! Send us stock!”
The competitors stared in disbelief and held an emergency meeting that night. “This makes no sense! Who exactly is Jiang Chi?!”
Jiang Chi: Thanks for asking. I’m just an ordinary worker.
