Acquiring the Factory

With a smooth turn, the pickup truck came to a steady stop beside the passenger terminal, not far from the passenger entrance.

He took one look and spotted the bookish-looking Lu Xuedong, then hurriedly opened the door and called out, "Xuedong, over here."

Lu Xuedong, who was at the entrance trying to deal with two motorcycle taxi drivers, immediately turned his head upon hearing the familiar voice, his face lighting up as he waved, "Xiuyuan."

Seeing Huang Xiuyuan and the following Huang Weichang, the two motorcycle drivers realized the business had fallen through and went off to look for other passengers.

Huang Weichang walked over and efficiently took the luggage.

Huang Xiuyuan and Lu Xuedong began to chat.

The pickup truck started up again, heading toward Pubian Town.

"I thought you wouldn't be here for a few more days, so you'll have to stay at my place for now."

Lu Xuedong smiled, "It doesn't matter, I'm not someone who needs to be pampered."

"By the way, it's perfect that you're here, help me out a bit; there are just too many things to do." Huang Xiuyuan patted his forehead, looking troubled.

He really did have a lot on his plate: the company site, business registration, personnel recruitment, company bylaws, and setting up the laboratory were all things that needed to be resolved in the near future.

After welcoming Lu Xuedong and letting him rest for a day.

February 13th, the eighth day of the Lunar New Year.

The three laboratory equipment suppliers arrived as scheduled. The terms had already been discussed, so Huang Xiuyuan didn't waste any time with them; after confirming the contracts were in order, he quickly signed the procurement agreements.

He wired a 30% deposit to the other party's company account.

They then agreed that the equipment would be delivered within six months, which included installation, testing, and a portion of future after-sales service.

With the three equipment procurement contracts settled.

The next day, before the job applicants arrived, Huang Xiuyuan took Huang Sixiao, Huang Weichang, and Lu Xuedong with him.

"Xiao Yuan, this is Hanhai Garment Factory." Huang Sixiao introduced it to him.

It was located in Hongcao Town, right next to Pubian Town, and was closely connected to it. The factory area was quite large; the area enclosed by the walls was estimated to be about 40 mu.

At the factory gate, a short, stout middle-aged man wearing a gold ring and a thick gold chain saw the pickup truck pull up and hurriedly rushed over:

"Boss Huang, please, come inside."

Clearly, the man had mistaken Huang Sixiao for the person in charge, which made Huang Sixiao feel a bit awkward, so he explained the situation to him.

Huang Xiuyuan didn't pay much attention to that, instead observing the state of the site.

Looking at the empty production workshop, he noticed a second, unfinished factory building next to the first one. Before coming, he had already looked into the situation of this garment factory.

The owner specialized in OEM shirt manufacturing for American clients. In fact, the subprime mortgage crisis had started last year, and for a purely export-oriented enterprise—especially one doing low-tech garment OEM—facing the subprime crisis was a nightmare.

The factory owner, Han Hai, had taken out a loan in the first half of last year to acquire 20 mu of land next to the factory to expand, but orders in the second half of the year had dropped by about 36% overall.

The situation in the first quarter of this year was even less optimistic; one of his buyers had gone bankrupt, causing a final payment to become uncollectible.

As for orders, they had plummeted to less than 20% of the same period last year—it was truly a case of it never rains but it pours.

The pressure of the loans, the bad debts, the sharp decline in foreign trade orders, and the intensifying subprime mortgage crisis abroad left Han Hai with no choice but to cut off his tail to survive.

Huang Xiuyuan did some quick mental math and asked, "Boss Han, how much do you intend to sell for?"

"30 million." Han Hai blurted out.

"30 million? Heh!" Huang Xiuyuan laughed and shook his head, "I think 2 million at most."

"What?" As if his tail had been stepped on, Han Hai jumped up, "Even if I sold the land, it would be worth more than that. Is Boss Huang here to make a fool of me?"

Remaining calm, Huang Xiuyuan took a sip of tea and slowly stated, "You used the 20 mu of land and the factory buildings as collateral to take out a 7 million loan from the bank. That is a fact, isn't it?"

"Uh..." Han Hai was instantly rendered speechless.

Huang Xiuyuan's words seemed to be a monologue, "Including bank interest, unpaid wages, and debts for raw materials, may I ask how much liquid capital you have left?"

These words struck at the heart of Han Hai. A thin layer of sweat appeared on his forehead, and he feigned composure, stubbornly saying:

"Boss Huang, your price shows no sincerity. If you don't want it, someone else will."

"Is that so?" Huang Xiuyuan stood up immediately, "Let's go! Let's go take a look at the next factory."

After saying this, he walked toward the door, and the three others followed him up quickly.

Seeing Huang Xiuyuan and his group leaving without a moment's hesitation, Han Hai grew anxious; he hadn't expected the other party to be so direct.

His expression shifted for over ten seconds, and as he watched the four of them about to walk out the factory gate, he finally spoke up: "Boss Huang, wait, wait."

Huang Xiuyuan turned around calmly, "Boss Han, do you still want to keep us for lunch?"

"Boss Huang, everything is negotiable. How about a final price of 15 million?" Han Hai chased after them, stating a price he had in mind.

However, Huang Xiuyuan still shook his head, "2 million, and I will assume the factory's debts, including the bank loans and worker wages. Furthermore, I don't want your equipment. If that works, we sign the contract; if not, consider it as if I never said anything."

"You don't want the equipment?" Han Hai quickly calculated. His factory's current situation was truly becoming unsustainable.

The bank loan alone was a huge problem. The loan was due in April of this year, with an annual interest rate of 7.8%—a rate he had only managed to secure through connections.

Now, his liquid capital had all been poured into the construction of the new factory building and the purchase of equipment, and with that bad debt, his cash flow was completely dry.

Once the loan matured and he couldn't come up with the money, the 20 mu of land and the factory buildings used as collateral would be seized by the bank.

Now that he didn't have to shoulder the debt, could take the equipment with him, and had two million in cash, if he worked hard enough, he might just make a comeback.

"I agree."

"Then it's a pleasure doing business with you." Huang Xiuyuan extended his hand, and the two shook hands.

They had lunch together and hired a lawyer, quickly signing a contract to transfer Hanhai Garment Trading Company into Huang Xiuyuan's name.

The matters that followed were far from over; the company needed to update its business license, scope of operations, and various other administrative details, especially the formal confirmation of the debt transfer.

That evening.

The office at the garment factory remained brightly lit.

"Uncle Xiao."

"Xiao Yuan, what do you need me to do?"

"Starting tomorrow, you and Accountant Li need to arrange for the workers to come back and settle their wages. Here is the layoff list." Huang Xiuyuan handed over a document.

Huang Sixiao hurriedly took it. Aside from the four security guards, three kitchen staff, six cleaners, one electrician, and the three finance personnel including Accountant Li standing before him, everyone else was to be let go.

"Xiao Yuan, isn't this compensation a bit too high?"

"We do things by the book; the workers have had it hard enough." Huang Xiuyuan's attitude was firm.

In truth, if he were ruthless enough, he could have easily avoided paying severance, as the vast majority of the garment factory's employees had never signed labor contracts and were essentially temporary workers.

The base salary Hanhai paid to general laborers was only 1,200 per month, which required meeting a basic quota to receive, with the rest coming from piece-rate commissions.

Even if they worked around the clock every month, their wages rarely exceeded two thousand, with most averaging around fifteen hundred.