Chapter 52
The appointment with Governor Cai is in the morning.
On a busy morning, a staff member outside the office patiently explained the rules of exchanging Hong Kong currency. Chen Lanjun handed over a stack of handwritten business plans and stared at the desk in a daze. The vermilion paint had been worn off to white, revealing the wooden frame inside.
The banker doesn’t have any surplus food, Chen Lanjun thought.
The pages turned with a "swish" sound. Cai Shuyun raised his head and turned his gaze from the white and black paper with the pen marks on it to the overly young girl in front of him.
"Mr. Chen, I'm actually very curious as to why you insist on taking out a loan to build a factory here, especially in the current situation."
Cai Shuyun's tone was a little subtle: "Based on your sister's experience and Mr. Chen's ability, Hong Kong may have a better future."
Being able to say this, it seems that Governor Cai has not been idle these past two days and must have carefully investigated Chen Lanjun's background.
"There's nothing I can do. I'm not good at swimming," said Chen Lanjun.
Cai Shuyun was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter: "Mr. Chen is really humorous."
For those who want to be "supervisors", swimming training is a must. It is easier to get ashore if you are good at swimming. After all, if you travel by water, you have to swim across a bay with fast water and high waves, and sharks are everywhere. It is impossible for those who are not good at swimming to swim across.
As for Chen Lanjun, although she can barely be said to be able to swim, she can't swim for long or very far.
This was because when she was a child, she was swimming in a river in her hometown and accidentally got entangled in water plants. Although her sister lifted her up in time, she choked on water several times and felt very uncomfortable. From then on, she was no longer willing to bother learning to swim.
Chen Lanjun smiled slightly and said, "The other reason may be that I am confident that what lies before us is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If I can seize this opportunity, my achievements will definitely not be worse than going to Hong Kong."
From a pragmatic point of view, Hong Kong today is no longer the environment suitable for creating business legends as it was decades ago. Today, Hong Kong's economy has been highly developed, and at the same time, the group of people who occupy the top of the pyramid has been largely fixed. It is difficult for latecomers to get a share of the pie.
The mainland is a brand new track, so it has unlimited possibilities. In the next 20 years, various legendary stories of starting from scratch will be staged one after another, and Chen Lanjun does not want to miss this feast.
She briefly recounted her thoughts.
After listening to this, Cai Shuyun thought for a moment, smiled and stretched out a hand to Chen Lanjun: "I wish we can catch this favorable wind together."
"Your loan has been approved."
Since walking out of the bank, Chen Lanjun's mouth has never turned down.
A full 30,000 Hong Kong dollars!
In an instant, his waist became thicker.
She walked along the road with a smile on her face, and began to calculate in her mind what the loan would be used for.
The highlight is the purchase of instant noodle production equipment. With tens of thousands of dollars, you should be able to get a second-hand old production line.
The rent is not much, but we also need to consider how to give the workers' wages and bonuses most appropriately.
She walked back to Wutong Restaurant smiling all the way, not even caring about the mud splashed on her cloth shoes.
"Ajing, guess what good news I brought back?"
Chen Lanjun walked into the restaurant with brisk steps, but saw Ajing and several waiters sitting in silence, each doing their own thing.
Ajing's eyes were red, as if she had been crying.
As soon as she saw Chen Lanjun coming back, Ah Jing ran over and said with a sob, "Something happened to Ah Tao."
Chen Lanjun's smile disappeared immediately.
A Tao failed to swim across the sea.
She is dead.
In a commune near the sea, the specialized corpse-recoverers are very busy these days. They open their eyes in the morning, go to the beach to check, pull up a body, tidy it up and bury it, and they can get 15 yuan for their labor.
The unfortunate young man who was caught today was A Tao.
In Nanfeng Village, A Tao's family members were crying loudly.
The cries and screams, one after another, were like a dark cloud, weighing down Chen Lanjun, making her feel very uncomfortable.
That young baby face was smiling at her a few days ago, but now it was gone.
"Second sister, this is fate." Chen Fengjun rushed over after hearing the news, stretched out her arms to hug Chen Lanjun, and comforted her, "It can't be helped."
Chen Lanjun put her face in her sister's warm arms and asked, "Sister, at that time..."
"...That's true." Chen Fengjun sighed softly, "That time, there was also a person who was knocked down by the waves and never floated up."
Chen Lanjun couldn't help but hold Chen Fengjun's hand tightly, feeling extremely scared. What if her sister really had never swam in the sea? Then...
She didn't dare to think about it.
"It's all over," Chen Fengjun said, patting her back gently, fearing that she might scare her sister. "It's okay. Everything will get better slowly."
The dead are dead, and the living must still live.
After ten minutes of silence, Chen Lanjun opened her eyes and stood up.
Chen Fengjun asked in confusion: "Second sister? What's wrong?"
"I'm going to talk to the village chief about building a factory." Chen Lanjun said expressionlessly, turning her head slightly to the side.
After saying that, she turned and walked towards the village chief's house.
When we arrived, the village chief was smoking.
After listening to Chen Lanjun's purpose, the village chief hesitated for a moment.
“Isn’t it inappropriate to announce the factory construction and recruitment to the villagers at this time?”
"Suitable." Chen Lanjun looked outside the house, and dust was floating in the light.
Her voice was calm: "I risked my life to earn money and a future, but if I could earn money and a future right at home, maybe things would be different."
*** ***
The death of a young person is always sad.
In an ordinary villager's home in Nanfeng Village, the old woman couldn't help shedding a few tears when she thought of Ah Tao who had come to visit her before.
The old woman looked at her son and daughter-in-law, and her tone was almost pleading: "Or, forget about the matter of supervising the soldiers."
The parents were silent, but the energetic grandson spoke up: "There are more people who made it through than those who didn't. This is the last chance! She must not have prayed to the gods before going into the water."
"That's not the right way to put it."
"Mom, you work so hard all year to only make 300 yuan, but they make as much as you make in a year in one month!"
"But the price the snakehead asked for was too high, several thousand."
"If it doesn't work, I'll go swimming too!"
"Oh, you're going to piss off grandma to death."
A family was arguing when they suddenly heard a loud horn in the village go off.
Struck by the voice, several people stopped talking and just looked outside with frowns.
The village chief's voice came from the loudspeaker: "Dear villagers, I have an important news to announce to you."
After a burst of "sizzling" sounds, a pleasant female voice was heard:
"I am Chen Lanjun, the general manager of Zhengmei Company. Our company has decided to build an instant noodle factory in Nanfeng Village. We will openly recruit workers with generous salaries and preferential treatment. As long as you are willing to work hard, your salary plus bonuses can reach up to 100 to 200 yuan a month."
Inside the room, the parents looked at each other.
As if grasping a life-saving straw, the old woman hurriedly said, "Listen, our village is also going to set up a factory to recruit workers, and the wages can be hundreds of dollars."
The grandson still looked unconvinced: "This is just a one-sided statement from the general. What if it changes? Who knows what the wind is blowing?"
However, after a few days, the grandson was completely speechless.
This time, the voice was not spoken over a crude loudspeaker at the entrance of the village, but a serious national broadcast that conveyed the central government's attitude.
The "Special Economic Zone Regulations" were officially passed. The Special Economic Zone encourages all merchants to set up businesses in the Special Economic Zone and protect their assets and income according to law.
Enterprises in the Special Zone are exempted from import duties on all production materials such as machinery and equipment necessary for production. In the first two years after the promulgation of the regulations, enterprises established through investment will enjoy special tax incentives.
This ordinary day when the regulations were officially promulgated has since become the birthday of the Special Administrative Region.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
