"Second brother, are you crazy?!"
"Do you even know how much two million is? That's a lot of money. If you lose it, it's a sum you couldn't get back even if you sold your life!"
After negotiating the price with the clothing factory owner, Zhou Mingli took the bundle he had brought and began packing it with various skirts, short-sleeved shirts, and pants.
Cheng Shaojun kept chattering in his ear.
Zhou Mingli got annoyed and said, "Do you think your great-uncle is dumber than you?"
Cheng Shaojun was taken aback and stammered, "Then...how is that possible?"
“Even your great-uncle doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with this, so what are you afraid of?” Zhou Mingli patted his head. “Get to work.”
"……oh."
Cheng Shaojun scratched his head and had no choice but to continue packing clothes.
The two went to Guang City, and during the break between Zhou Mingli and Mr. Lu, they didn't forget to bring home nearly 20,000 yuan worth of clothes.
When Cheng Shaojun got home, he went to find Cheng Yehan and told him everything Zhou Mingli was going to do.
Cheng Yehan wasn't in a hurry after hearing this. When the weekend came, he took a fish and leisurely went to the Zhou family's house.
That is, all the Zhou family members are at home on weekends.
It's already May, and Huang Zheyue is about to take the college entrance exam. There are several other students in the compound who are also taking the exam. Everyone is keeping quiet and not daring to make too much noise so as not to disturb these children's studies.
Even Zhou Yang and Zhou Miao behaved themselves.
Jiang Ci and Zhou Mingli were surprised that Cheng Yehan came alone.
Jiang Ci invited the man in and put the fish into a basin. "Grandpa, why did you come at this time? You didn't even tell us you were coming to pick you up."
Jiang Ci helped him sit down and made him a cup of tea.
"Although I'm an old man, I'm not so old that I can't walk." Cheng Yehan took the tea Jiang Ci handed him. "Mingli and Shaojun came back together yesterday?"
Jiang Ci smiled and said, "Yes, that's exactly what I was going to tell you."
"Wait a moment, Zhou Mingli, bring the things over for Grandpa to see."
Zhou Mingli responded and went back into the house. He came out again shortly afterward and handed Cheng Yehan a stack of not-so-thin papers.
Jiang Ci also informed Cheng Yehan that the CEO would be holding a meeting this year to confirm the legal status of individual businesses, and that there would be more and more private enterprises in the future.
Cheng Yehan didn't know anything about business, but his wife's family was indeed one of the wealthiest merchants in Hong Kong, and he had learned a thing or two about the ways of the world when he was young.
After reading it, he took a breath and said to Zhou Mingli, "It seems that the book Xiao Ci asked you to read wasn't a waste of time."
Zhou Mingli said modestly, "She has already graduated from university, so I can't still be an illiterate farmer, can I?"
Cheng Yehan laughed heartily, “Learning has no end. You should read books, you can attend night school, and then go to a good university properly. Even if you do business, you will have the confidence to do so.”
Zhou Mingli and Jiang Ci both nodded, exchanged a glance, and thought to themselves that they had passed Cheng Yehan's test.
All the clothes Zhou Mingli brought back from Guang City were given to Xu San and Sister-in-law Yu to sell. For every item they sold, Zhou Mingli gave them a one-yuan commission.
Zhou Mingli, on the other hand, focused on finding ways to acquire land and build factories.
Jiang Ci is in this circle, so even if she doesn't inquire, some news will reach her ears earlier than others.
And Zhou Mingli is her husband, so it would be difficult for him not to know the truth.
Zhou Mingli came from a government agency, and when he came out to find land to build a factory, his former colleagues naturally couldn't refuse him outright.
Moreover, the Zhou family and the Cheng family still have some connections. Considering Cheng Wenyun, the former secretary who has now been transferred to a leadership position in a certain place, they have to think twice.
So when Zhou Mingli went to the relevant department to inquire, he presented the corresponding proposal. The department head also came out, read his proposal, and then took Zhou Mingli to see his superior.
Zhou Mingli used to work in the kitchen, so he had nothing to do with building factories or being a factory manager.
But he is also the husband of a diplomat, and what he is doing is a compliant operation outside the scope of his diplomatic duties.
The leaders told Zhou Mingli to go back first, then closed the door and began to discuss the matter.
The authorities have hinted that individual business operations are legal, but now most businesses across the country are small-scale operations. This is fine for the few pilot areas in the south that have opened up business operations, but there are basically no large private factories in the inland areas.
Even in Beijing, most of the large factories are state-owned, with very few truly private enterprises.
The proposal that Zhou Mingli gave them was indeed effective and feasible.
"The boss is encouraging it, so we can't just hold him back," the leader said. "But Zhou Mingli wants land. Which plot do you think we can approve for him?"
Someone started to think, "Isn't there a pickled mustard tuber factory in the West District? Its business has been getting worse and worse in recent years, and many workers have left to start their own businesses. Now there are less than fifty people left in that factory."
"Last year, our wages were several months behind, and the workers even came here to protest."
"Why not shut down that factory, grant the land to Zhou Mingli, and let him arrange for the laid-off workers to be resettled?"
That pickled mustard tuber factory is a burden. Nobody is thinking of leasing land to build a factory. The factory is losing money, and nobody wants to take over such a factory. It would be better to sell it to Zhou Mingli and let him reorganize it.
The bosses encouraged individual business owners, and they gave Zhou Mingli an opportunity.
If Zhou Mingli doesn't do a good job, that's his problem, and it has nothing to do with these people.
Which official isn't cunning?
Everyone present nodded in agreement, thinking the plan was excellent.
So Zhou Mingli ended up with this piece of "chicken rib" that wasn't exactly good.
This pickled mustard tuber factory used to be very prosperous, employing up to a thousand workers at its peak.
The place is big, but now most of the people have left, leaving only less than a hundred people watching over the factory.
Many of the production workshops have been closed, and now only one production line is stubbornly and tenaciously still in operation.
Zhou Mingli, along with the leader who approved the land to him and the factory director, toured the land.
"This place covers 200 acres. Over there are all production workshops, this is the canteen, and that is the warehouse," the factory manager explained. "If you go west out of the factory gate, that's where the workers live. There aren't many workers left in the factory now, but the leaders said they can arrange for them."
After speaking, the factory manager glanced at Zhou Mingli without making it obvious.
This young man, not yet thirty, showed no emotion on his face, and for a moment he couldn't quite figure out Zhou Mingli's temperament.
“I know that since I’m taking over this place, I have to be responsible for the people who came before me,” Zhou Mingli said calmly. “I will make arrangements for the remaining workers in the factory.”
The factory manager and the leaders who came with him all breathed a sigh of relief.
Zhou Mingli walked around the factory once, and the next day he went to find Dazhu and asked him to help find a surveying student from his school. They came to the factory together and spent two days re-measuring the area.
With the blueprints in hand, Zhou Mingli returned home and discussed with Jiang Ci how to rebuild the factory.
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