You're Planning to Open a Little Workshop?

"Old Yang, are you pulling my leg? I looked it up. You can start a small Glass factory for just over a million yuan." Shen Bing gave Old Yang a look that said he wasn't buying it.

Old Yang shot him a disdainful glance. "What, are you planning to open some little workshop?"

"Then a workshop it is!" Shen Bing gritted his teeth.

A great man once said, "Give me a fulcrum, and I can move the Earth."

Old Shen's motto: Give me a workshop, and I can turn it into an industry giant.

His confidence wasn't unfounded. The Over-the-Horizon Telescope Manufacturing Technology took the use of Glass to its limits.

After spending the whole day in the library, Shen Bing also understood the current Glass industry far better—and was utterly stunned by it.

Compared with the Glass-making technology he possessed, the major Glass makers today weren't working with Glass at all. They might as well have been playing with mud...

At this stage, Shen Bing had little chance of producing a complete over-the-horizon Telescope. He couldn't obtain the necessary equipment and raw materials in a short time.

But taking one or two techniques from it and putting them to use first, building up his capital in the process? That was easy enough.

Sun Li gritted his teeth. "Old Shen, are you really going into Glass-making?"

"Of course. Do I look like I'm joking?"

"There used to be a small Glass Factory near my hometown—the kind of little workshop Old Yang means. But competition was too fierce, and it shut down two years ago. Nobody's been willing to take it over, so the equipment's still sitting there. I even had a look around when I went back over summer break," Sun Li said.

Sun Li was from Rongcheng, though he lived on the outskirts in Shiqiao Town. Little workshops like that were everywhere there.

"Then get in touch with them for me. As long as the equipment still works and the price is reasonable, I'll take it over." Shen Bing looked completely serious.

Perhaps it was that earnest expression that finally convinced Old Yang and the other two he really meant to open a Glass factory.

They knew a fair bit about Shen Bing's family. If his father was backing him, opening one wasn't impossible.

Sun Li called home and soon got the Glass Factory owner's phone number.

Shen Bing called him at once. Judging by his voice, the man was in his forties or fifties and spoke briskly.

Shen Bing asked a few basic questions. Once he learned the factory had a full set of equipment, including a small crucible Furnace and a forming machine, he decided to go see it for himself.

After all, there was only so much they could settle over the phone.

Most importantly, Shen Bing needed to determine whether he could modify the equipment.

Early the next morning, Shen Bing got up and checked the Gate to the Immortal Realm. Finding no suitable tasks, he went straight to the dorm, dragged a bewildered Sun Li out, and set off.

"Old Sun, you've got to talk some sense into Shen Bing! Opening a Glass factory is a terrible idea!" Wang Bo's howl still reached Shen Bing after he had gone a good distance.

None of them saw the brilliance of his plan.

To be fair, he wouldn't have approved of it himself before.

The University of Electronic Science and Technology was only twenty or thirty kilometers from Shiqiao Town. They hailed a Taxi and headed straight there.

They chatted off and on during the ride. Sun Li tried every way he could think of to change Shen Bing's mind, but Shen Bing wouldn't budge.

By the time they arrived, Sun Li gave up.

If even Shen Bing's father supported him, there was no point arguing. If his father didn't, the plan would fall through without Sun Li saying a word.

Shen Bing had called the Glass factory owner on the way, and the man was waiting at the town entrance when they arrived.

"You're Boss... Shen?" The man, who looked to be in his forties, couldn't hide his disappointment. He had thought he might finally unload the Glass Factory, but how could this youngster, clearly still a student, take it over?

Was he just messing around?

Even so, the man held on to a sliver of hope.

Shen Bing smiled. "I'm Shen Bing. No need to call me boss—Shen Bing is fine. Boss Wu, could you show us your factory now?"

"All right." Boss Wu's enthusiasm had plainly faded.

Sun Li didn't know Boss Wu, but once Boss Wu learned he was a local, his attitude warmed considerably.

The corner of Shen Bing's mouth lifted. That was exactly the effect he wanted.

Boss Wu also ran a flower nursery in Shiqiao Town. It was still small, but as people's living standards rose, business there was booming.

With a nursery like that, failing to stay on good terms with the locals would bring him no end of trouble.

Soon the three reached a small factory building—or rather, a single-story brick structure of two to three hundred square meters, with a few machines inside.

Fine. It really was a little workshop.

"Shen Bing, don't let the size fool you. This factory has everything it needs. There's the Glass-melting furnace, the forming machine, the annealing kiln, the polisher, and the cutter. I hadn't used the equipment long before I had to shut down because money got tight. It's been idle for two years, but I've kept up the maintenance. The machines are still almost as good as new..."

Shen Bing kept nodding through Boss Wu's explanation, but barely heard him. He was assessing the equipment in his own way to see whether it met his needs.

After a full day of studying yesterday, Shen Bing had gained a thorough grasp of current Glass-making processes, from the construction and calibration of production equipment to the selection and proportions of raw materials.

What mattered most, though, was the Glass-making and processing methods contained in the Over-the-Horizon Telescope Manufacturing Technology. That was the real source of Shen Ice's confidence.

After a while, Shen Bing looked up. "Name your price, Boss Wu."

"What...?" Boss Wu was in the middle of his explanation and didn't immediately understand what Shen Ice meant.

"I'm ready to take this place over. Tell me what you want for it." Shen Bing's calm expression gave nothing away.

Now Boss Wu understood. Life was full of pleasant surprises! "I spent more than nine hundred thousand yuan setting all this up. The equipment has some wear, but you couldn't buy a new set for that price today. I won't ask for the moon. Give me eight hundred thousand, and everything here is yours, including a year's rent on the land."

Shen Bing frowned slightly. "Boss Wu, I'm serious about making a deal. You know these machines may still have plenty of life in them, but the technology was already outdated when you bought them. Nobody wants equipment like this now, so it isn't worth much. And land rent out here on the outskirts can't be that high. I'll give you six hundred thousand. If that works, we can close the deal right now and handle the paperwork. If not, I'll walk."

Boss Wu hesitated. The young man knew the market well. He really did want the factory.

"All right. Since you're being so straightforward, I will be too. Pay in full, and we have a deal."

"Deal."

And just like that, they settled on a six-hundred-thousand-yuan deal.

Boss Wu wanted to treat Shen Bing to a meal, but Shen Bing declined. His time was too valuable to spend it at a dinner table.

At Shen Bing's request, Boss Wu introduced him to several workers: honest local farmers who had worked at the factory before it closed, then found other jobs.

Rolling around and acting cute for votes...