Angie Perlis wiped Song Tianyao's mouth with her handkerchief. "Arrange for me to go to United States, let your lover manage your wig business, and you can personally handle the stock matters?"
"I'll temporarily entrust this to professional stockbrokers at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to handle it slowly. Treating it as a growth investment will avoid attracting attention. After all, it's a dormant stock, so we need to be cautious when making a move. I'll focus on expanding the wig business first, and only start working on other things once things are reasonably well-established and not too embarrassing. That should take about a year and a half to two years, but you should be back by then." Song Tianyao said after Angie Perlis finished wiping her hair.
Angie Perlis folded her handkerchief. "Actually, I've realized that you're still taking risks and gambling. The only difference is that this time, even if you don't succeed, you won't face any danger or consequences. But as a lawyer... I don't really approve of this kind of behavior. You could develop steadily, although it would take a long time. But with your abilities and ample time, you will eventually achieve your goal. There's no need to make people feel like you're a gambler who's good at seizing opportunities."
"There isn't that much time. If one day you can really guess what I want, you'll find that there isn't actually enough time, not nearly enough for me to develop it slowly." Song Tianyao turned his head to look at Angie Perlis, smiled, and then looked back to focus on driving.
"God is so unfair," Angie Perlis said, looking at Song Tianyao with a smile. "He gave you a brain that I envy and even be jealous of, but he's also fair, because he put you sitting next to me. I can accept that outcome."
Song Tianyao slowly pressed the accelerator to increase the car's speed, looked straight ahead, and a slight smile appeared on his lips, "Me too."
As the car stopped outside the factory, the two got out and walked side by side toward the factory gate. In the drizzle, two figures, one in red and one in black, appeared.
Red as fire, black as night.
Chapters 234 Sharpening the Knife
The purchasing managers from three long-established department stores —Lane Crawford, Marks & Spencer & Spencer, Debenhams —along with Shek Chi-yik, who had come discreetly in a private capacity, were standing in the workshop, accompanied by Song Tianyao and Angie Perlis, watching the female workers in uniform busily operating on the clean and tidy assembly line.
Of the three department stores, only Debenhams Hong Kong Department Store's manager was a Britain named Barney Owen. Like all Britain working in Hong Kong, he also had a Chinese name, Bao Shijie. The purchasing managers of Lane Crawford and Marks & Marks & Spencer were both China person had studied in the Britain.
Bao Shijie specially took a United States -made wig from his Debenhams department store counter. He then stood near the setting oven, waiting for this final step to be completed so he could personally compare the differences between the Hong Kong -made and United States -made wigs.
The other two, though not as obviously as Bao Shijie, were clearly not planning to have a deeper conversation with Song Tianyao at this moment. Their eyes kept glancing towards the shaping oven. Their goal was the same: they had to see the finished products in the factory with their own eyes before they would discuss other issues. Shek Chi-yik could let them visit, but he would never force them to place orders with the factory. If the product quality was not good, there was no point in discussing anything else.
"This factory's production line can produce four different hairstyles simultaneously according to demand. Currently, only my factory in Hong Kong can produce wigs, and it has provided jobs for over a hundred people for the government." Song Tianyao noticed that the three were not interested in discussing other matters, so he casually introduced the Long Light Wig Factory to them, "The factory provides its workers with three meals a day and uniforms, making it the first factory in Hong Kong with such generous worker benefits."
Meanwhile, Angie Perlis chatted quietly with Shek Chi-yik about Mrs. Bess and life in London.
Liu Xinze, the purchasing manager of Marks & Spencer's, adjusted his glasses and asked casually, "Boss Song, how long did it take for your factory to go from planning to production?"
"From the moment I decided to make wigs, it took nine months, from market research and technical training to building the factory and finally producing the first qualified wig," Song Tianyao answered without hesitation.
Of course, the nine months figure was just something he made up on the spot; whether the other party believed it or not was up to them. But whether they believed it or not, Song Tianyao knew what the other party was up to.
Bao Shijie and Lane Crawford's Ji Ledong turned to look at Song Tianyao after hearing his answer, but neither of them spoke.
The female worker in charge of the shaping oven kept her eyes on the clock. When the time was up, she turned off the oven, put on thick gloves, took out four finished products that had finished shaping and baking, and placed them on the shelf against the wall in the workshop.
Bao Shijie strode over and ran his fingers over the texture of the hair strands. Liu Xinze and Ji Ledong also went to the shelf to personally inspect the finished products produced by Song Tianyao's wig factory.
"The factory has conducted experiments. We wash wigs just like we wash our own hair, and the wig's shape won't change. After a little combing and blow-drying, it looks brand new," Song Tianyao said as he walked at the back, inspecting the wigs.
After the three men thoroughly inspected the four types of hair products and walked out of the noisy production workshop, Shek Chi-yik finally spoke, "Gentlemen, what do you think of the products from this Hong Kong factory?"
When the director of the Industry and Commerce Bureau spoke, the three of them naturally no longer maintained the slight arrogance they had shown towards Song Tianyao. Bao Shijie nodded. "The quality is good, not much different from products made in the United States, but it seems a little heavier than United States products?"
"It's indeed good, but the hair quality feels slightly inferior to that of European and American hair."
"Aside from the monotonous hair color, it's impeccable for a Hong Kong factory."
All three spoke eloquently, but if you listened carefully, you could tell that while they were saying it was good, they were also finding fault with it.
Song Tianyao was not angered by this. Instead, he smiled broadly. Only someone who was ready to buy and had the intention to bargain would say such things. Otherwise, he could have just come over to give Shek Chi-yik some face and then politely declined with the excuse of praising Shi Zhiyi and then saying that he would have to go back to the company to study and consider it.