The two men, cigarettes dangling from their lips, walked side by side toward the second floor of the teahouse. There were no other customers upstairs, only Li Bazhong, the manager of the Chiu Chow Chamber of Commerce, sitting idly in his seat, drinking tea and flipping through the newspaper. His subordinates had set up a sign-in book next to the stairwell on the second floor. As soon as someone came upstairs, they would open the sign-in book and politely ask Song Tianyao and Tang Boqi to sign it.
Song Tianyao found his name in the sign-in book, wrote it again with a pen, and then handed it to Lou Fengyun. Seeing that Song Tianyao and Lou Fengyun had written their names, the subordinate in charge of sign-in immediately raised his voice slightly, politely addressing the two by their company name and personal names, and inviting them to walk towards the second-floor lobby. This was also a preemptive message to Li Bazhong was inside reading a newspaper.
"Boss Song Tianyao Manifest Glory Trading Company, Ms. Lou Fengyun Long Light Wig Factory, please."
"A-Yao? You're here so early?" Hearing his subordinate's voice, Li Bazhong closed the newspaper and stood up from his seat. "We agreed to meet at three o'clock this afternoon, there's still half an hour to go, you're too early."
"Tang Boqi. Tang Boqi of Kimei International Trading Company, Tang Jingyuan of Prosperity Wig Factory, please." Tang Boqi and Tang Jingyuan had already signed in. Li Bazhong looked at Song Tianyao, then at Tang Boqi Tang Jingyuan who had followed behind, and asked curiously, "What? Did you come together?"
"I was worried that you'd be bored by yourself, Uncle An, so I came over to chat with you. How about we play a game of rock-paper-scissors first?" Song Tianyao said to Li Bazhong.
Li Bazhong was the director of the Chaozhou Chamber of Commerce. Unlike Chu Yaozong and other Chaozhou businessmen who had worked in Hong Kong for more than ten years, Li Bazhong came to Hong Kong from the mainland in 1946 to open a trading company. As a young man, he worked as a laborer in a steel company in Guangzhou. Later, he went to a steel company in Singapore, Malaysia to work as an apprentice for several years. After that, he returned to Guangzhou to join the steel company and eventually rose to the position of deputy general manager of the steel company, second only to the general manager.
Just when Li Bazhong thought he would be dealing with steel for the rest of his life, the Kuomintang government swallowed up the steel company where he worked without any reason or explanation, which was akin to outright robbery. As a result, Li Bazhong was extremely disappointed with the Kuomintang government. He moved his entire family to Hong Kong and established a trading company, mainly dealing in fruit. He transported fresh fruits from Nanyang to Hong Kong and wholesaled them to various fruit stalls and fruit shops. Although he did not become extremely wealthy in a few years, he was still quite well-off and had a considerable amount of surplus money.
Li Bazhong had previously worked as the vice president of a steel company. He was a generous and outgoing person who especially enjoyed drinking and making friends. He would attend almost every tea party and wine party of the Chiu Chow Chamber of Commerce whenever he had free time. At the last New Year's banquet, Song Tianyao witnessed Li Bazhong's drinking prowess. He was so rough and bold that he didn't seem like a southerner at all. He would down his drink in one gulp and drink several cups without changing his expression.
Moreover, Li Bazhong had no interest in a position within the Chamber of Commerce, nor did he want to steal business from other industries. He was kind to everyone, which earned him considerable recognition from the Chiu Chow Chamber of Commerce members. As a result, he was the one who arranged the tea party, as he was known for his outgoing personality.
"You want to play rock-paper-scissors with me? A-Yao, if you've got the guts, don't leave tonight. Come to the restaurant and have a few drinks with your uncle. After we finish one round of rock-paper-scissors, I'll even show you how many fingers you have. That'll be considered a loss for your uncle." Li Bazhong laughed heartily and invited the group to sit down and chat.
As it approached three o'clock, the others gradually arrived, making a total of eleven people. Some came in person, like Huang Siqun, while others had their children come, like Tang Jingyuan. With Li Bazhong present, there was no awkward silence. Seeing that everyone had arrived, Li Bazhong stood at the head of the table and said with a smile:
"Chairman Chu and A-Yao have both spoken with me. Recently, many of you have privately called them to ask questions about the wig business. Chairman Chu and A-Yao understand your feelings; after all, everyone here today has ordered machines, and the factories and workers are already arranged. Production can begin as soon as the machines arrive in Hong Kong, so it's normal to be eager. That's why Chairman Chu specifically asked me to arrange this tea party, bringing A-Yao and everyone together to discuss the matter clearly. This way, everyone will feel at ease, and Chairman Chu and A-Yao won't have to answer each of you individually. However, let me make this clear: A-Yao is a younger generation, so please don't act like you're superior. It's a favor if A-Yao asks, and it's his right not to. He's young and shy, and he doesn't like to refuse. But if I see you pressuring him too much..."
Li Bazhong spoke, he exaggeratedly rolled up his sleeves and said in a half-serious tone, "As an uncle from the Chiu Chow Chamber of Commerce, I won't stand on ceremony! Alright, everyone's already met, so there's no need to beat around the bush. Let's speak frankly; everyone's busy."
"Mr. Song, regarding raw materials, is it possible to produce one wig from just one Braid? If there is any waste, how much would it be? Compared to when your factory workers first started producing wigs, did they seem to be more economical with raw materials?" After Li Bazhong finished speaking, a young man politely looked at Song Tianyao and asked a series of questions with some eagerness.
Song Tianyao looked at the other person with some surprise. Those questions were... quite insightful.
Chapter 267 Tang Boqi's Guess Fails
However, while this series of questions was well-chosen, it also revealed a problem: this guy didn't even inquire about the source of the raw materials, but directly asked about the losses of the raw materials during production. This indicates that the India brothers Xia Zuoji and his brother, have been in contact with him. Perhaps the factory owners present have already begun to stockpile raw materials, just waiting for the machines to arrive in port to start production.
It seems the other party is still a bit young. If it were a mature, steady, and shrewd old man, he wouldn't have revealed his problem in his very first sentence.
This was just a fleeting thought for Song Tianyao. He smiled calmly and looked at the other person, "Friend, who are you?"
"Mr. Song, my name is Luo Jiabao." After blurting out the question, the young man smiled slightly awkwardly at Song Tianyao and introduced himself.
Song Tianyao nodded in realization. The young man who spoke was the third son of the Luo family from Shunde, who ran a seafood business in Hong Kong. His father was Big Brother in the Po Leung Kuk.
"Um... let me introduce myself first. I'm in charge of Manifest Glory Trading Company's business, while Ms. Lou Fengyun has been managing the Long Light Wig Factory. I brought her along specifically because I was worried my answers might be a bit vague." Song Tianyao introduced Lou Fengyun to everyone and said earnestly, "So, Mr. Luo, Ms. Lou can answer your question."