Chapter 96 Tour

Chapter 96: The Tour

The bus was packed, everyone chattering.

"A hundred yuan, really? Sounds too good to be true."

"It's free anyway, so no harm in checking it out."

"What if they charge us for the bus ride later?"

"No way I'm paying. They said free, meals included, and a hundred yuan. If they don't deliver, I'll be the one chasing them."

"What kind of factory are we visiting?"

"You don't know? And you still got on?"

"You do?"

"Yeah, I asked the guy with the megaphone. It's the new investor from Haicheng who bought into our factory. He said he also owns a garment factory in Haicheng, and he's paying for everything—meals and all—to invite us for a tour."

"Huh, this boss is something. Who tours a factory? It's not a museum."

"Who knows?"

"He must have an agenda, inviting us to tour. He's not trying to recruit us to work for him there, is he?"

"I'm definitely not going."

"Me neither. I'm just here for the hundred yuan, and to see for myself how impressive this big boss's factory is."

...

Among the crowd, one person stood out.

He sat in the back corner of the bus, arms crossed, gazing out the window at two black sedans nearby, a clear look of inquiry on his face.

An older man beside him spoke in a local dialect:

"This boss is quite something. Three buses, one megaphone, a few shouts, and three busloads of people follow him."

"Does he really have a factory? Or is he just bluffing?"

"If he already has a factory, why come to our rundown little place to buy shares?"

"And he's the one who squeezed out that Singaporean investor before."

"To do that, he must have greased a few palms among the higher-ups, spent a lot of money."

"With all that wealth and power, he could invest anywhere, buy anything. Why bother investing in our factory?"

The man in the corner continued to watch the cars in the distance.

What made him special was that he had been the one to lead the workers in pooling their money to buy shares in the factory.

His name was Pan Xiao, a Haimen local in his thirties, formerly a mid-level manager in the quality inspection department of the state-owned factory.

It was also Pan Xiao who, upon hearing of Jiang Luo and his team's arrival, had warned the workers to be cautious, lest they be taken advantage of by this big boss from Haicheng.

Just earlier, Pan Xiao had been in the factory, heard the commotion at the gate, and told everyone not to fall for the trick.

But the promise of free meals and cash was too tempting. One person was persuaded and left, then others followed, and soon more and more joined.

Pan Xiao had little choice. He also wanted to see what this Haicheng boss was truly up to, so he blended in with the workers and boarded the bus.

Now, as the bus rattled along the road and the two black cars were no longer in sight, Pan Xiao thought: *Guys like this are always sharp. We must stay alert and not get tricked.*

Pan Xiao was absolutely right. Jiang Luo was indeed very shrewd—not only that, he was also sharp and well-informed.

As the bus set off for the Haicheng factory, Wang Junqing, sitting in the passenger seat, half-turned to tell Jiang Luo in the back, "I found out. The one who organized the workers to pool money for shares is named Pan Xiao—Pan, as in the family name, Xiao, as in the given name."

"Mm."

Jiang Luo indicated he was listening.

Wang Junqing: "Pan Xiao was originally a manager in the quality inspection department. His father also worked at the factory, as the former Office Manager, and retired a couple of years ago."

"This Pan Xiao doesn’t get along well with several of the factory’s current leaders."

"But they say he’s a good guy, has a pretty good reputation among the workers."

"When Hongming was restructuring, because of his father’s connections, Pan Xiao was originally able to buy shares at a lower price, but several factory leaders collectively opposed it, and Pan Xiao’s chance to invest was squeezed out."

"Later, the factory’s restructuring kept failing, no investors could be found, so the factory encouraged the workers to buy shares."

"The workers didn’t want to—they thought it was useless, and they had no money."

"It was Pan Xiao who went around pooling funds, eventually scraping together tens of thousands to buy 15% of the factory’s shares."

"This time, when we arrived and you wanted to meet the workers, Manager Jiang, I heard it was also Pan Xiao who advised them not to meet."

Jiang Luo listened, thinking to himself: *Pan Xiao. Here we go again, another representative, another outspoken one.*

Wang Junqing continued: "The workers pooled their money to buy shares first, and then that Singaporean, Chen Xianlong, showed up."

"Before Chen Xianlong came, it’s said that Pan Xiao was already discussing with the factory about the workers running it themselves."

"Once Chen Xianlong arrived, Pan Xiao’s plans were disrupted."

Jiang Luo understood: "With Chen Xianlong gone and now me here, this Manager Pan must be having fits."

He added: "No doubt about it. He’s definitely on this bus today."

Then he instructed Wang Junqing and Old Four, who was driving, "You bought the water, right? When we stop for a break later, go pass it out and try to find out who among them is Pan Xiao."

Old Four, with a toothpick in his mouth: "No problem!"

The bus headed toward Haicheng, stopping twice along the way for restroom breaks and to pass out water to the workers and drivers.

After the first break and water distribution, Jiang Luo already knew who Pan Xiao was.

During the second break, Pan Xiao was leaning back in the last row, lost in thought, when someone outside the window said: "Manager Pan."

Pan Xiao snapped out of it, looked down through the open window, and saw an exceptionally young man he didn’t recognize—not one of the megaphone or water-distributing guys he’d seen before.

Pan Xiao reacted quickly, sitting up straight and asking, "Are you the boss from Haicheng?"

Jiang Luo smiled: "That’s me."

He looked around casually and added: "Nice weather today. Perfect for showing you all around my factory."

"Honestly, my factory hasn't been around long; it started as just a small workshop."

Pan Xiao didn't speak, watching Jiang Luo warily, wondering what Jiang Luo was getting at.

He was also quietly sizing up Jiang Luo, surprised that the boss from Haicheng who had kicked out the Singaporean guy was so young.

Jiang Luo then looked up again, smiling at Pan Xiao: "Do you know how much I took out from the main branch of the Bank of China in Haicheng to put into my factory?"

Pan Xiao said stiffly: "Why should I know?"

Jiang Luo said casually: "Ten million yuan."

Pan Xiao was shocked.

Ten million?

Ten million!!!?

Pan Xiao couldn't even wrap his head around how much money ten million really was.

To him, it sounded like an unimaginable amount, a huge sum.

Now Pan Xiao was even warier. Mentioning money and knowing the other party was wealthy, he was afraid this big shot from Haicheng might try to bribe him like he’d bribed the factory directors. He immediately said, "You don’t need to tell me all this. Your money is your own business."

Jiang Luo: "Indeed, it is."

"The money is my loan, and the factory is mine."

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

Pan Xiao was on high alert.

"Nothing much."

Jiang Luo said calmly: "I just want to tell you that only with money can you buy imported equipment, only with money can you set up a modern factory, and only with money can you keep things running."

"Director Pan, since you have Hongming's and the workers' best interests at heart, I hope after today's visit, you'll come away with some ideas."

After saying this, Jiang Luo turned and walked back to his car.

Pan Xiao watched Jiang Luo's back as he walked away, his feelings were mixed.

First, he never would’ve guessed this boss to be so young. Being so young and already in business clearly meant the other party either had connections, was capable, or both.

Second, this boss actually had ten million yuan to put into a factory. Ten million sounded like a fairy tale to him, and if even a fraction of that money were given to Hongming, Hongming could "survive."

Third, he realized his own defenses and struggles were completely transparent to the other party. He was "struggling to make ends meet," while the other was completely relaxed. The difference between them was like night and day.

The rest of the way, Pan Xiao kept thinking: *Ten million, ten million. This big boss from Haicheng has ten million, and he already had a clothing factory.*

*Did he come to their Hongming with an ulterior motive? Could he really run it properly and change their factory's fate of always losing money?*

In the afternoon, the bus finally arrived at Juxiang Town, driving onto the now bustling road not far from the factory.

The workers on the bus were looking out curiously, and Pan Xiao was also watching.

Everyone chatted: "This place is buzzing."

"Yeah, I thought factories in big cities were all in remote areas."

"So many stores and stalls."

Soon, the bus arrived at the entrance of Shengfei. The entrance was very spacious, empty, and flat. The security guard from the factory came out and guided the bus to turn and park at the entrance.

Once the bus was parked and the door opened, the workers filed off one after another, curiously looking around:

"So this is it?"

"Wow, this factory looks huge. The gate is so wide."

Two black sedans drove directly through the main gate.

Then, a few staff members came out from the factory and greeted the large crowd: "Hey everyone, this is Shengfei Clothing Factory. I'm an employee of Shengfei, and today, along with two colleagues, I'll be leading you on a tour of the factory."

"Please form a line, one after another, and follow me."

Someone immediately shouted from the crowd: "Weren't we promised a meal? And no money either?"

The man: "Meals are provided, and money will be given. Don't worry."

"The factory has a canteen, and everything is ready. After the tour, we'll take you to eat."

"After you finish eating and resting, you'll return to the bus."

"Once you're back on the bus and seated, our colleagues will come to give you red envelopes."

"Rest assured, everyone will get one. No one will be left out."

Only then did everyone stop complaining and gradually form small lines, following the man into the factory.

The leader now had a loudspeaker and began announcing through it: "First, I'll take you to visit the raw material warehouse, where the fabrics are stored."

Someone in the line immediately muttered: "What's so interesting about fabrics?" "Yeah, right."

The leader continued as he walked: "Let me first introduce to everyone that our factory uses a wide variety of fabrics—many colors, many styles, and all kinds of materials. We've calculated that there are over 170 types in total."

"Actually, that's relatively few because the factory isn't fully built yet. More workshops are still under construction."

"Once all the workshops are completed and operational, we'll need even more fabrics."

"The fabric storage warehouse will also be larger."

A worker in the line remarked: "Wow, so they use a lot of fabrics here. More fabrics mean they must produce a lot of clothes."

"Yeah, definitely more than our factory uses."

...

And so, the workers followed the leader in a long line to the fabric warehouse.

These people were also from a clothing factory and usually dealt with fabrics, so a fabric storage warehouse was nothing new to them.

But when they arrived at the entrance of Warehouse No. 1, they were stunned—the door was three to four meters high, nothing like the small warehouses they were used to at Hongming.

Once inside, everyone fell silent, collectively amazed—

The warehouse was enormous, with high ceilings and tall shelves stacked layer upon layer, filled with fabrics from bottom to top.

It was a scale beyond anything they could have exaggeratedly imagined.

Pan Xiao looked at the fabric shelves before him, standing at least ten meters tall, and swallowed nervously.

Such a massive warehouse, so much fabric, so many materials—truly befitting a boss with ten million yuan.

He wondered just how large this factory was to require such an enormous warehouse and such vast quantities of fabric.

Wasn't he afraid the fabric would pile up and suffer spoilage over time?

What if it wasn't used up after a few months or even a year? Wouldn't the fabric go bad, grow mold, and become another financial loss?

The man leading the tour exclaimed through a megaphone: "Don't just look at how big our warehouse is. Our factory's daily fabric consumption is even greater. Recently, our General Manager Wang made several extra trips out of town to bring back several batches of fabric. It's barely sufficient for now. Otherwise, if we'd brought you here today, the warehouse wouldn't have been so full."

The crowd was stunned: *Such an astonishing amount of fabric still isn't enough? Just how big is your factory?!*

*Do you eat fabric like meals and drink it like water?*

Just then, some workers were moving fabric, preparing to send it for initial and re-inspection before delivering it to the fabric relaxing department.

Those workers, curious about the large crowd, chatted briefly with the tour leader.

One of the male workers moving fabric said, "I thought the factory had hired new people and was training them."

The tour leader replied, "No, not at all. They're here from other factories for a visit."

The fabric-moving worker laughed and said to a few visiting workers near the tour leader, "Why just visit? Come work at our factory directly."

"Our factory offers great benefits: shift rotations, only six hours a day, two days off a week, and high wages."

"New workers start with a base salary of over eighty yuan per month, plus piece-rate pay. The more you make, the more you earn. Even a first-level worker can easily make two to three hundred yuan a month. As you move up the ranks, like the fifth-level workers in the sewing workshop, they earn at least six to seven hundred yuan a month. Reach the sixth level, and you can even test for managerial positions and leadership roles."

The visiting workers were stunned: "What?!"

How much?!

You can earn six to seven hundred yuan just operating a sewing machine?!

Six to seven hundred yuan!?!?

Back home, at Hongming factory, ordinary workers made a little over a hundred yuan a month. A hundred-plus yuan was considered decent in Haimen—enough to support a family and raise children, and live comfortably.

"That much?!"

Someone couldn't help but exclaim, "The wages here are unbelievably high!"

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Author's note: Made it to the rankings! Thank you all [kiss].