Chapter 90 An unexpected gain
In the era of the book, there were no convenient high-speed trains, so traveling to Guangdong Province still required flights. This time, Lin Ruoyan didn't bring her son with her to visit the furniture factory. Seeing that her sister had to go on a business trip, Lin Ruxu took on the responsibility of being her uncle, temporarily staying at the courtyard house and taking care of the son.
Lin Ruoyan felt more at ease. She arranged a two-day trip to Guangdong Province and brought Hua Mengmeng with her. If the furniture was suitable, she could also arrange for it to be accommodated at a B&B or restaurant.
Last time, when the company was purchasing office furniture and supplies, Hua Mengmeng was also involved. She has a good eye for aesthetics and is good at bargaining. For the two of them, staying in a hotel suite was no problem.
Hu Quan had already inquired about the strength of the Lin Group in advance. He knew that in addition to Lin Ruoyan's personal needs for luxury housing projects, sales office decoration, and future homestay operations, she was also interested in cooperation. He also knew that she liked investing. Although Lin Ruoyan did not bring it up this time, she must be interested in the furniture factory and would go to see it in person.
Hu Quan was a shrewd man. He returned a day in advance and made all the necessary arrangements back home, ensuring that everything from food, clothing, housing, and transportation was of the highest local standard. When Lin Ruoyan arrived, he personally accompanied her throughout the entire process, starting with picking her up at the airport, striving to ensure that she felt comfortable and at ease during this inspection.
In the real world, Lin Ruoyan plays an assistant role similar to Hua Mengmeng, but unfortunately, she never had a good boss like herself. Her boss is just a senior executive, not a direct decision-maker. She is lucky to get a standard room with a window. She has to worry about all the travel arrangements herself, and sometimes even pay for her boss's travel expenses.
Apart from going to the toilet and eating by himself, the leader really relies on his assistant for everything else. Sometimes she even wonders if the leader doesn't use his brain when he goes out?
Now she can really do it without using her brain.
Not only did Hu Quan arrange the itinerary properly, but Hua Mengmeng's language skills greatly boosted her confidence through this trip abroad. She had been to many foreign countries and had flown so many times, so what had she not seen? Lin Ruoyan was taken care of meticulously, with everything from ticket exchanges and security checks to checking the boarding gate and finding the VIP lounge. Without Lin Ruoyan having to tell her, Hua Mengmeng took care of everything in advance.
Arriving at the Guangdong airport, Hu Quan and his wife accompanied them as soon as they disembarked. They had lunch before heading to the factory. Since Lin Ruoyan and Hua Mengmeng were both women and didn't drink, they enjoyed a typical Cantonese meal. Hu Quan's wife, a skilled talker, proactively introduced the various local delicacies and cultural features during the meal, creating a comfortable atmosphere.
Speaking of locals, Lin Ruoyan was particularly interested in the fact that this place would become a major domestic furniture production hub. Currently, there were only a few furniture factories here, and those that did were contract manufacturers for major brands. Even fewer, like Hu Quan, were creating their own original antique furniture.
Most furniture factories follow the trend of producing Western-style furniture and cheaper panel furniture. This leads to severe homogeneous competition. The high-end market is all imported, while the domestic mid- and low-end markets are undercutting each other on price. To save costs, inferior materials and crude workmanship are used, which will eventually turn into a vicious competition.
Hu Quan sees things further, and therefore insists on being original and imitating ancient styles.
This kind of Chinese furniture culture has its roots in China, and there are many antique furniture materials that can be used as reference. On this basis, combined with modern life scene design, various spaces such as halls and bedrooms will have different variations according to different needs, and the future prospects are bright.
Lin Ruoyan discovered that although Hu Quan's factory was small, it was equipped with a relatively luxurious R&D center. Here, there were students from reputable art academies and experienced carpenters. They did not simply copy classical furniture, but were truly innovative.
For example, things like sofas and coffee tables are not what our ancestors had. They can make new models with the same functions but with Chinese style and charm, and insist on using mortise and tenon joints to assemble them without glue and nails, showing the exquisiteness and wisdom of traditional craftsmen.
Lin Ruoyan made it clear that evening that she would invest in Hu Quan and allow him to expand production. The factory was currently too small, with only about twenty people. With the "New Chinese Style" becoming a nationwide phenomenon and potentially spreading to many neighboring countries, sufficient production capacity had to be prepared in advance.
Hu Quan was of course happy, but the actual investment needed still needed careful planning. He hoped that Lin Ruoyan would give him some time to think it over carefully.
At this moment, the sound of quarreling suddenly came from the factory gate.
Lin Ruoyan overheard a foreigner arguing in broken Cantonese. No one at Hu Quan's place spoke English, and the foreigner's Cantonese was shaky and slangy. She asked Hu Quan, "My assistant, Hua Mengmeng, studies Business English. Can you ask her to translate for me?"
Thanks to Hua Mengmeng's translation, everyone finally understood that the foreigner hadn't been intentionally causing trouble. He had been scammed by a middleman who had sold the antique furniture as genuine antiques, but he didn't dare to charge too much. The four-piece set of tables, chairs, and benches was only five times the original factory price.
A foreigner settled in Hong Kong and frequently traveled to Yuezhou, where he also bought a villa. He particularly enjoyed the traditional culture of China. He bought some furniture and displayed it in his home as if it were antiques. However, a knowledgeable source noticed the quality of the furniture. When he tried to find the middleman, he found he had already fled. After much inquiry, he discovered that the middleman was sourcing his goods from local manufacturers.
When I arrived at the factory gate, I saw that it was full of antique furniture. I thought it was a den selling fake antiques and I had to get an explanation.
Fortunately, Hua Mengmeng's translation was very accurate, and Hu Quan also took out the instructions and price tags of the products sold by their factory. The instructions were in Chinese and English, and specifically stated that this was antique furniture, what materials were used, and what the production date was.
Hu Quan also saw photos of the furniture from the foreigner, confirmed which batch of products they were, found the relevant production instructions and shipping invoices, and after telling the foreigner the whole story, the foreigner finally understood that Hu Quan's factory was a legitimate business, and the fraud was the work of the middleman later.
The foreigner apologized deeply and praised the young female translator who spoke fluent English. He also said that she must have grown up abroad or was a top student studying abroad because she spoke such good English.
Hua Mengmeng never thought that she would receive praise from foreigners, but since joining Lin's Real Estate, her language skills have been fully utilized. Overseas inspections and the ability to solve problems at critical moments have increased her confidence, and her temperament has changed unconsciously. She is no longer the timid person who was ashamed of her academic qualifications and poor family background, and can now chat and laugh with strangers.
Hu Quan explained sheepishly, "These two are my guests. Luckily they're here, otherwise it would have been easy to have a misunderstanding today due to the language barrier."
Lin Ruoyan handed over her business card, and the foreigner also handed out his business card, and everyone chatted and laughed.
Lin Ruoyan noticed the foreigner's name and realized he was a director of an international education group. This group not only operated schools from kindergarten to private high school in Xiangjiang City, but also had branches in several major cities across China, including the Guangdong provincial capital, Shanghai, and Beijing. She remembered that there was an international school in the villa area that seemed to be run by this education group.
Upon inquiry, it turned out to be true. The international school currently operated by the group in Beijing is integrated from primary school to high school, and has a good reputation. They are planning to expand the campus or build a branch school in a selected location. In any case, they will not have to worry about student recruitment.
Lin Ruoyan thought of her own luxury housing project. The total construction area was only 100,000 square meters, and there were not many indicators for the construction of supporting kindergartens. The CY District Committee had already announced that it was okay not to build a kindergarten, but to pay money to move it to another location. This was to allow the luxury housing project to have more sales area.
However, today she met the director of this international education group. After chatting with him, she discovered that he had very advanced educational philosophies and respected and loved Chinese traditional culture. This rare sense of cultural identity made her decide to explore the possibility of collaboration. She then mentioned her plan to establish an international kindergarten in her luxury housing project in Beijing.
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