The year 2000, the year at the turn of the century.

From Liang Liang's perspective as a reborn individual, this year marked the beginning of a new chapter in Chinese history, while for Western countries, it was the start of a period of decline.

This year also happened to be the Year of the Dragon.

The dragon has raised its head.

Liang Liang made a special trip to Tianjin Street to buy a calendar featuring various dragons and hung it on the wall of his office, hoping that Haiyun Company would have a prosperous year of golden dragons and abundant wealth in 2000.

Haiyun Company's revenue had already soared in 1999, with total revenue exceeding 500 million yuan for the first time.

Of this, the appearance fees from the European tour alone earned 200 million yuan, and the copyright sales to Europe amounted to 100 million yuan.

The company earned 300 million Chinese yuan in profit in Europe alone.

Haiyun Audio-Visual has earned over 200 million yuan from the sale of various albums and feature films.

The movie "Battle of the Heavens" gave Liang Liang a pleasant surprise, grossing 70 million yuan at the box office, with the company receiving more than 30 million yuan in revenue.

The combined profits from Haiyun Dance Hall, Disco, Film City, and Small Theater have exceeded 100 million yuan.

The film and television city, which had no investment projects this year, generated a profit of 40 million yuan.

This is what makes Liang Liang happiest.

In 1999, the film and television city received more than 150 film crews and the number of tourists exceeded one million, finally generating profits.

At this rate of development, the film and television city will definitely recoup its costs in 2010.

In 1999, the company's total profit was 650 million yuan.

After paying off part of the loan, Liang Liang used the remaining money to buy land.

Therefore, this year's year-end bonuses totaled 40 million yuan.

Employees are more motivated to work when they have money.

After distributing the bonuses, Liang Liang and the company's senior executives inspected several plots of land that the company had purchased in Lianwan.

"Xiao Liang! Why did you buy so much land in the suburbs?" Liu Wen asked, frowning as he looked at the wasteland in front of him.

Liang Liang bought nearly a thousand acres of land around Lianwan City, spending several hundred million yuan.

"We'll build a skyscraper in the future!"

Now, land in typical locations in Lianwan costs 500,000 yuan per mu, while surrounding areas have land for 400,000 yuan per mu and even 300,000 yuan per mu. Why wouldn't he buy it?

Buying these properties will allow you to make a fortune, even just by buying land in the future.

However, he might not necessarily sell it after buying it.

"Building a building? You're not planning to enter the real estate market, are you?"

"I predict that the domestic housing market will rise like an inflating balloon. Don't be fooled by the fact that houses in Lianwan City are only a little over a thousand yuan per square meter now. In five years, the price will exceed three thousand yuan, and in ten years it may reach seven or eight thousand yuan per square meter. At that time, it will be difficult for ordinary people to buy a house."

"I plan to build a building and sell it to the company's employees at cost price. Employees who have worked for the company for more than ten years will have priority to buy the building, which will help them solve their worries."

Although they were skeptical of Liang Liang's predictions about future housing prices, they firmly believed that prices would only rise and not fall, so they understood why Liang Liang bought so much land.

On the morning of the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month, only a few staff members who had been assigned to be on duty during the Spring Festival remained in the company.

Liang Liang was one of the last people to leave the company.

Liang Liang locked the office door.

Ban Ya had already loaded the things Liang Liang had bought for his trip home for the Chinese New Year into the car.

On his way home, when passing through Landi City, Liang Liang turned the car in and stopped by Zhao Fang's house for a visit.

Liang Liang delivered some gifts to Zhao Fang's house, but did not stay. After putting down the gifts and wishing Zhao Fang a Happy New Year, he set off for home.

Although 2000 marked the beginning of a new century, the way we celebrated it was not much different from before; it was still the same old routine.

However, some things are different this year.

Xu Hebin's company was completed in October, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, after more than half a year of construction.

After two months of equipment installation, debugging, and worker training, the business officially opened on New Year's Day.

He listened to Liang Liang's advice and didn't try to achieve everything at once, hiring only a little over a hundred employees.

New businesses definitely need a period of adjustment before they can make a profit, and Liang Liang told him to be prepared for no profit for six months.

By the end of the year, Xu Hebin's wooden guitar factory had been operating for a month and produced more than one hundred qualified guitars.

Moreover, these are low-end guitars; a profit of thirty or twenty yuan per guitar is considered good.

The profit from one hundred guitars isn't even enough to pay the employees' salaries, not to mention electricity costs and wear and tear.

Therefore, as soon as Liang Liang got home, he immediately came to learn from her.

"I never imagined starting a business would be so difficult. My business lost two or three thousand yuan in the first month!"

"Hehe! You can't even handle losing such a small amount of money? Don't be discouraged, cheer up! You have to believe that the days of losing money are yet to come."

Xu Hebin was both amused and exasperated.

"Only when your employees are skilled and production increases will you see where the money is? Producing more than a hundred guitars a month? How can you make any money like that?"

"We did produce more than that, but the yield rate was quite low; some guitars were simply not up to standard."

"Didn't you borrow a few mentors from Bi Sheng?"

"I invited one."

"You only hired one? What's the point then?"

"Won't it cost money to hire too many? These craftsmen earn quite a bit of money each month."

Listen to this calculation! What kind of nonsense is this? It's impossible to tell what's more or less.

"After the New Year, we need to hire a few more mentors from Bi Sheng. Without good mentors, these employees won't be able to become proficient in a short time, and your output won't be able to increase. If it's not increasing, you'll lose money. If you want to make money, you can talk about it when you can increase your production capacity to a thousand or so per day. You can't even afford to lose your own child, yet you want to catch a wolf!"

Xu Hebin nodded: "I'll invite a few craftsmen after the New Year. I have to!"

"Take me to see your company."

Liang Liang drove Xu Hebin to his company, asking him some questions along the way.

Xu Mei said she lent him 500,000 yuan, but in reality she lent him 700,000 yuan. He himself invested 200,000 yuan, for a total investment of 900,000 yuan.

The factory was built, and some equipment and raw materials were purchased, which covered the costs.

Liang Liang laughed when he saw Xu Hebin's worried face.

Did you not buy any clothes for Chinese New Year this year?

Xu Hebin nodded.

He only had ten or twenty thousand yuan left, and he had to save it to pay his employees' salaries, so he didn't dare to spend it casually.

"Where are the firecrackers?"

"I bought some, two or three hundred yuan!"

This company only bought it for two or three hundred yuan?

"Not having enough money is not a problem. I'll give you another 500,000. The urgent thing is to quickly improve the skills of our employees, increase production capacity, and then we can make a profit."

The guitar market in Liangshuiwan has been thriving for several years, so there's no need to worry about sales. As long as production capacity and yield rate are increased, profitability will be guaranteed.

Xu Hebin thought the company looked pleasing to the eye, and he figured he'd make money sooner or later just because of that.

His businesses were all closed for the holidays, with only two night watchmen remaining.

The courtyard was large and clean; Liang Liang could even smell the distinctive paint odor of the new factory.