With a neat turn, the pickup truck pulled to a smooth stop beside the bus station. The passenger entrance was just a short distance away.
He looked over and immediately spotted the bookish-looking Lu Xuedong. He hurriedly opened the door and called out, "Xuedong, over here."
At the entrance, Lu Xuedong was fending off two motorcycle drivers. Hearing a familiar voice, he immediately turned around, beaming as he waved. "Xiuyuan."
When the two motorcycle drivers saw Huang Xiuyuan and Huang Weichang following close behind, they knew they'd lost the fare and went off to look for other passengers.
Huang Weichang walked over and deftly took the luggage.
Meanwhile, Huang Xiuyuan and Lu Xuedong started chatting.
The pickup truck started up again and headed for Pubian Town.
"I thought you wouldn't be coming for a few more days. You'll have to stay at my place for now."
Lu Xuedong smiled. "That's fine. I'm not the pampered sort."
"By the way, it's good you came now. Give me a hand with a few things. There's just too much to do." Huang Xiuyuan patted his forehead, looking troubled.
He really did have a lot on his plate. Finding premises for the company, registering it, hiring staff, drafting its articles of association, and setting up the laboratory were all things that needed to be handled soon.
After welcoming Lu Xuedong and giving him a day to rest, they got to work.
February 13, the eighth day of the new year.
The three laboratory equipment suppliers arrived as scheduled. They had already discussed the terms, so Huang Xiuyuan didn't waste time with small talk. After confirming that the contracts were in order, he promptly signed the purchase agreements.
He wired a 30% deposit to each company's account.
They then agreed that the equipment would be delivered within six months. This included installation and commissioning, as well as some after-sales service.
With the three laboratory equipment purchase 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 said, introducing the place.
It was in Hongcao Town, next to and closely connected with Pubian Town. The factory grounds were quite large; the area enclosed by the walls looked to be around 40 mu.
At the factory gate, a short, stout, middle-aged man wearing a gold ring and a thick gold chain saw the pickup pull up and hurried over.
"Boss Huang, please come in."
He had clearly mistaken Huang Sixiao for the man in charge, leaving him a little awkward. Huang Sixiao explained the situation.
Huang Xiuyuan didn't seem to mind. Instead, he looked over the property.
He saw an empty production workshop, and beside the first factory building stood a second one, unfinished and abandoned. Before coming, he had already looked into the factory's situation.
The owner had specialized in making shirts for American clients. The subprime mortgage crisis had actually begun the previous year, and for a purely export-oriented business doing garment work with no technical content, it was a nightmare.
The factory owner, Han Hai, had taken out a loan in the first half of last year to buy 20 mu of land beside the factory and expand. But orders in the second half of the year had fallen by around 36% overall.
The first quarter of this year looked even worse. One of his buyers had gone bankrupt, leaving him unable to collect a final payment.
As for orders, they had plunged to less than 20% of the same period last year. It was one disaster on top of another.
The pressure of the loan, the unpaid final payment, the sharp drop in export orders, and the worsening subprime mortgage crisis overseas had left Han Hai with no choice but to cut his losses and save what he could.
After making a few calculations, Huang Xiuyuan asked, "Boss Han, how much are you asking for?"
"Thirty million," Han Hai blurted out.
"Thirty million? Ha!" Huang Xiuyuan shook his head with a laugh. "I'd say two million at most."
"What?" As if someone had stepped on his tail, Han Hai jumped up. "The land alone is worth more than that! Have you come here to make a fool of me, Boss Huang?"
Still unruffled, Huang Xiuyuan took a sip of tea and calmly laid out the facts. "You used the factory's 20 mu of land and its buildings as collateral for a seven-million loan from the bank. That's true, isn't it?"
"Uh..." Han Hai was immediately at a loss for words.
Huang Xiuyuan spoke as if to himself. "Add the bank interest, the unpaid wages, and what you owe for materials. How much working capital do you have left?"
His words struck a nerve. At some point, a sheen of sweat had appeared on Han Hai's forehead. He put on a show of calm and stubbornly replied, "That price shows no sincerity at all, Boss Huang. If you don't want it, someone else will."
"Is that so?" Huang Xiuyuan stood up. "Let's go. We'll take a look at another factory."
With that, he headed for the door. Huang Sixiao and the other two quickly got up and followed.
Seeing Huang Xiuyuan and the others leave without so much as a pause, Han Hai grew anxious. He hadn't expected the other man to be so direct.
His expression shifted for several seconds. As Huang Xiuyuan and the other three were about to walk out of the factory gate, Han Hai finally called out, "Boss Huang, wait! Hold on!"
Huang Xiuyuan turned around calmly. "Boss Han, are you hoping we'll stay for lunch?"
"Boss Huang, surely we can work something out. How about a fixed price of fifteen million?" Han Hai hurried over and named the price he had in mind.
But Huang Xiuyuan still shook his head. "Two million. I'll take on the factory's debts, including the bank loan and the workers' wages. I don't want your equipment, either. If that works, we'll sign. If not, forget I said anything."
"You don't want the equipment?" Han Hai quickly weighed his options. The factory really was struggling to stay afloat.
The bank loan alone was a huge problem. It came due in April, and its annual interest rate was 7.8%. He'd only managed to get that loan by pulling strings.
Meanwhile, all his working capital had gone into building the new factory and buying equipment. With that final payment now irrecoverable, he had no working capital left.
Once the loan came due, if he couldn't pay, the bank would seize the 20 mu of land and the factory buildings he'd put up as collateral.
If he could get out from under the debts, take the equipment with him, and still get two million, then maybe, with a bit more effort, he could make a comeback.
"I agree."
"Then let's make this a successful partnership." Huang Xiuyuan held out his hand, and the two men shook.
They had lunch together, then hired a lawyer. The two sides quickly signed an agreement transferring Hanhai Garment Trading Company to Huang Xiuyuan.
But there was still more to do. The company's business license and scope of operations had to be changed, along with various other matters. Most importantly, they needed to confirm the transfer of the debts.
That night,
the garment factory office was still brightly lit.
"Uncle Xiao."
"Xiao Yuan, what do you need me to do?"
"You and Accountant Li can start arranging for the workers to come back tomorrow and settle their wages. Here's the layoff list." Huang Xiuyuan handed over a document.
Huang Sixiao quickly took it. Everyone was being let go except for the four security guards, three kitchen staff, six cleaners, one electrician, and the three finance staff, including Accountant Li.
"Xiao Yuan, isn't the compensation a little too high?"
"We'll follow the law. The workers have it hard enough as it is." Huang Xiuyuan's tone was firm.
If he had been ruthless enough, he could have skipped severance entirely, because most of the garment factory's employees had never signed labor contracts and were considered temporary workers.
Han Hai paid ordinary workers a base wage of only 1,200 yuan a month. They could only earn that if they met the monthly quota; anything beyond it was paid as piecework.
Even if they worked flat out all month, they could earn only a little over 2,000 yuan. Most made around 1,500.
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