Wang Shouren had no idea that Old Li had mobilized the entire academy.
Right now, he's grinning foolishly at Qin Huairu.
"Huai Ru, shouldn't we expand our medicinal herb planting team?"
Qin Huairu looked at Wang Shouren strangely: "What are you up to now? Nothing better to do at the factory? You're starting to care about things here?"
"It's alright. It's just that I finally have some free time, so it's good to brew some wine."
Wang Shouren felt a little guilty, as there wasn't much use for him in the factory anymore. So, he decided to brew some wine to pay off the debts he had accumulated over the years.
"It's been set up for a while now, covering seven provinces. However, some medicinal herbs take quite a while to grow. I estimate it will be next year or the year after."
"That's fine then. When will you be finished with your work?"
"What's up?"
"No, I've been thinking about this for so many years, it's time we went for a walk and a stroll."
"Are you done with your work?" Qin Huairu was quite happy to hear this.
The wives of Wang Shouren were basically the same type as Wang Shouren himself.
If you can be a hands-off manager, then be one.
In Wang Shouren's words, aside from a few essential things, the rest of the power should be delegated as much as possible. After all, this is a private enterprise; if things don't work out, you can just replace the person in charge. And there's no imperial throne to inherit in the family.
And so, the three women began training their successors as soon as they took office.
These efforts have yielded considerable results over the years.
So, the three of them ended up with nothing to do.
This gives me a chance to travel around and explore.
The three of them shared a common interest: browsing antique shops.
The antique shop was run by the government and contained many fine items from the Ming and Qing dynasties. These items weren't expensive back then, and some families particularly enjoyed collecting them. Later, these antiques fetched much higher prices.
Qin Huairu wasn't particularly interested in the prices; she was only interested in some exquisitely crafted porcelain pieces. She thought they were beautiful, and the only pieces she liked were from official kilns. Qin Jingru, on the other hand, only came to look at these antiques because Wang Shouren had said they would appreciate in price, and by a significant margin.
The shops are typically simply decorated and small, but they are filled with various precious cultural relics rarely seen in later generations. The artifacts and goods inside are arranged very neatly, with various porcelain, jade, bronzes, calligraphy and paintings categorized and displayed. There are very few people in the shop. When the shopkeeper saw a few people enter, he immediately greeted them warmly.
"The three of you are here again."
"Manager Wu, have you had any good deals lately?" Wang Shouren asked cheerfully.
Here, you don't need to worry about buying counterfeit goods at all; most of the products here are genuine. Only a very small number are fake, perhaps because the shopkeeper makes a mistake.
"Yes, yes, yes, we've saved it for you," Manager Wu said warmly.
These three were his biggest customers, buying things in huge quantities to collect. They didn't care much about the price, as long as they liked what they saw. Later, when the shopkeeper inquired about this one's background, he became even more enthusiastic. Just how powerful was this guy, known as the "God of Wealth" in Beijing? Nobody knew.
Before long, the shopkeeper brought out two porcelain pieces. He had just taken them out and hadn't even introduced them yet.
Liu Guangtian and his wife walked in and saw Wang Shouren looking at something, so they immediately came over to greet him.
"Brother Shouren!"
"You're here too? Planning to buy some more furniture?" Wang Shouren asked cheerfully.
Liu Guangtian scratched the back of his head: "Hehe, that's my only hobby."
"If you have some extra money, you can keep some of it. Don't leave it all here. The factory will be making some moves next year, and we'll need some funds."
"Oh? Okay."
After Wang Shouren finished speaking with Liu Guangtian, he paid the bill and left with his two wives.
Liu Guangtian and Ye Zhao were somewhat bewildered by his words.
"What is Brother Shouren trying to do? Is the factory short of money?" Ye Zhao asked curiously.
"No." Liu Guangtian shook his head: "This year, we sold cars worth tens of billions of US dollars in the US. It's unlikely that we're short of money. Besides, even if we were short of money, we wouldn't ask us for it."
That's the truth, regardless of how much money Wang Shouren made.
Given his status, if he really wanted to borrow money, he could borrow as much as the bank had available. His credit was such that banks in China would lend him money in the hundreds of millions.
At this point, Liu Guangtian paused, then slapped his thigh: "That's right, the house."
"A house?" Ye Zhao asked, somewhat puzzled.
"Yes, housing. Our factory is great in every way, except for one thing: we don't provide housing. It's been made clear from above that dormitories are dormitories, and no matter how long you stay there, they won't become workers' housing. Do you remember how much of my salary was deducted every month?"
"Yeah, four insurances and one housing fund. I heard that the higher-ups are planning to refer to this and implement one as well."
"The 'one fund' in it is the housing provident fund. Given our financial situation, the only thing we can afford to buy is a house, which requires us to save money."
"The factory is going to build houses?"
"It should be. I'll go back to the factory tomorrow and ask around!"
"So, are we still going to buy it or not?"
"I'm not buying anymore, let's find out more information first!"
"Okay! I'll do as you say!"
Hearing Liu Guangtian and his wife muttering to themselves as they left the antique shop, Manager Wu was completely dumbfounded. Standing in front of the counter, he muttered to himself, "Good heavens, 10 billion US dollars! How much money is that? No wonder they didn't haggle."
"Shouren, didn't you say that a courtyard house is more suitable in terms of economic value? Why did you still let Liu Guangtian and the others buy one?" Qin Huairu asked curiously.
"That's not the same. They can't buy a proper, unoccupied courtyard house."
Don't be fooled by the hype online about how much a traditional courtyard house costs; in reality, it's incredibly difficult to buy one. Even if you do manage to acquire one, it's usually just one or two rooms. These days, countless families live in a two- or three-courtyard house. Is it really possible to collect the entire house? That's highly unlikely. And even if you did manage to collect it all, and it became truly valuable, there would be a lot of disputes and complications.
Therefore, Wang Shouren's attitude towards courtyard houses was that if he could buy one, he would buy a complete set to avoid disputes. If not, he would rather not buy one at all.
"The houses I want to build are expensive, but they are well worth the price."
Indeed, in the 1980s, living in a fully modernized neighborhood with everything you could need nearby, you tell me, was it worth it? Moreover, Wang Shouren estimated that the property would likely continue to appreciate in value.
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