What a Mess

A little over ten minutes later, the valves had been unloaded, and the driver drove back.

Fang Bai then discussed the processing price for the three-inch Gate Valves with his father-in-law.

At fourteen yuan per unit, he kept an eleven-yuan profit margin for himself. After deducting Hua Feng's rebate, he would actually only receive nine yuan.

The larger the valve specifications, the greater the profit margin.

"Boss Qin, you need to find a way to add more staff and work overtime. Boli Company has a huge order volume. The first batch of two hundred units is only a trial run.

"I also have ways to secure orders from other companies. You can't possibly keep doing all the work yourself. You need to learn how to manage people."

"Alright, I'll write up a recruitment poster and hire people in a while." Seeing Fang Bai secure an order from a second company, Qin Donghai was fired up and brimming with fighting spirit.

Fang Bai measured the dimensions of the three-inch Gate Valve on-site with calipers and began designing a dedicated fixture and drilling jig for it.

At noon, Fang Bai handed the design drawings to his father-in-law. The rest was no longer his concern.

Qin Donghai felt this kind of partnership was quite good. One handled external matters and key technologies, while he only needed to do the work. He was making far more money than before.

That evening, Qin Donghai wanted to drink with Fang Bai.

Fang Bai wanted to decline, but he could not refuse such hospitality and had no choice but to agree. He knew his father-in-law wanted to tie him firmly to the same wagon so they could continue working together.

Fang Bai returned to school for classes that afternoon and told Younger Sister to sort out her own dinner that evening. He had a dinner appointment.

The dinner was held at a relatively upscale nearby restaurant, with only Fang Bai and his father-in-law present.

Qin Donghai ordered several substantial seafood dishes and brought two bottles of Maotai. The meal would probably cost around a hundred yuan.

At that time, a bottle of Feitian Maotai cost several dozen yuan on the market. If it could be stored for thirty years, it could sell for ten or twenty thousand.

Fang Bai's alcohol tolerance was nowhere near what it had been in his previous life. That capacity had been built up through practice. At first, he felt nothing when the liquor went down, but the aftereffects were rather strong. After drinking two liang, he felt a little dizzy within minutes.

He tried his best to stay clear-headed so he would not say anything wrong.

His father-in-law's tolerance was not much better either. He did not drink much normally. After the two of them finished one bottle, their tongues were already slurring. Just like in his previous life, they actually started calling each other brothers.

What exactly happened was hard to describe, and Fang Bai could not remember it either. In any case, they had nearly sworn brotherhood in a peach garden and bitten their fingers to draw blood.

He had started out with everything planned perfectly. Who knew his tolerance would be so terrible? His father-in-law kept pouring him drinks too, as if he were doing it on purpose.

"Older brother, let me tell you, as long as you can handle the workload over there, I can get you as many orders as you want. As long as us brothers work happily together, we'll get rich in a year or two and have everything we could want."

"That's what I admire about you, little brother. I can drink just fine, but finding orders? No, I don't have that ability!

"Come on, keep drinking. Happy cooperation and getting rich together."

"I can't drink anymore. If we keep going, I won't be able to find the toilet."

"What are you afraid of? I'll help you find it later."

"Alright, keep going."

"Good brothers, five champions, sixes all the way!"

"Good brothers, eight horses, five sunflower hands! Older brother, you lost. Drink!"

Fang Bai had no idea how much he drank. Even if he had wanted to stay sober, he had been forced into drunkenness. When leaving the restaurant, he blindly slapped two hundred-yuan bills onto the counter. The restaurant owner said the bill had already been paid and stuffed the money back into his pocket.

When he woke up and checked his watch, it was already the middle of the night. Looking around, he discovered that he was actually sleeping in a hotel.

The hotel environment was not bad. It had a private bathroom and toiletries. It seemed his father-in-law had spent money again.

Fang Bai's head still hurt, and his mouth was dry. Fortunately, the hotel kettle contained warm water, and he gulped down two large cups.

He splashed water over his face in the bathroom, then looked at himself in the mirror. He did not look like he had made a drunken fool of himself.

But who the hell knew? He could not remember anyway.

After trying hard to recall for half the day, he only had vague impressions. Other than remembering his father-in-law taking him to get a room, he could not remember a single thing!

Damn it, alcohol really was poison that burned through the gut!

"Good thing he didn't arrange a girl for me. If Shu Yu found out, both her dad and I would get our kidneys carved out!"

Fang Bai laughed at himself, wondering what he had said to his father-in-law the night before and whether he had mentioned Qin Shuyu.

He tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. He barely closed his eyes during the latter half of the night. Every time he did, he saw his father-in-law chasing him with an iron hammer!

Near dawn, he finally could not hold on any longer and dozed off for a little while.

A little after seven in the morning, Fang Bai woke up, left the hotel, and nervously made his way to Jiayu Processing Plant.

By then, Qin Donghai was already working.

When he saw Fang Bai arrive, he greeted him with a grin. "Little brother, you're here? Why not rest a little longer?"

Hearing his father-in-law address him that way, Fang Bai knew he had not said anything he should not have. Still, with that form of address, it seemed that in this life too, they had become "troublesome" brothers. Heh.

He still remembered how, in his previous life, after his father-in-law learned about him and his daughter, his face had gone from red to green to purple. He had been a master of face-changing opera, and when he swung that iron hammer chasing Fang Bai, it was like he had wheels of wind and fire beneath his feet!

Now that his father-in-law called him "little brother," it felt strange.

Whatever. He would just pretend he did not know Qin Donghai was Qin Shuyu's father.

"I've slept enough. I came to check on you. You should rest a bit too. You shouldn't operate machinery after drinking," Fang Bai said with concern.

Qin Donghai smiled and waved his hand. "Don't worry. I know my own body best. If I felt unwell, I wouldn't force myself."

"Then get back to work."

Once Fang Bai confirmed that he had not exposed himself the previous night, he left Jiayu Processing Plant in relief.

He planned to make a trip to T City. Naturally, he was not going there for valve orders, but for foreign trash.

Finding bargains in secondhand equipment was not as easy as Fang Bai had imagined. Even with the Golden Finger, it was difficult to obtain machinery with large profit margins. It took too much time and effort, so he simply gave up on that money-making path.

Rather than tinkering with used equipment, he might as well deal in electronic foreign trash.

Electronic foreign trash required considerable repair expertise. For foreigners, hiring a repairman was expensive, so they might as well throw it away and buy something new.

But to Fang Bai, electronic foreign trash was treasure.

Problems that ordinary people found difficult to trace could be identified by Fang Bai with a touch of his Golden Finger. He did not even need testing equipment!

Jiangzhe Province also had a port for importing foreign trash: Jiaojiang Port Terminal in T City, a well-known distribution center for "foreign trash" in China.

As far as Fang Bai knew, hundreds of ships arrived at the port every day carrying electronic waste from the Island Nation, Korea, and the USA.

Massive amounts of foreign trash were unloaded at T City's port, giving rise to dozens of dismantling companies.

It had to be said that industries such as recycling all kinds of waste resources accounted for one-third of the total industrial output value of T City's Luqiao District and Jiaojiang District. The tariffs they generated accounted for more than half of T City Customs' total tariff revenue.

Of course, it also brought severe waste pollution to T City. Many lower-level workers often suffered from redness, swelling, itching, small bumps, and other skin discomforts, while serious illnesses were not uncommon.

What Fang Bai planned to collect were products that had already been sorted by dismantling companies and caused relatively little pollution, so they would not have much impact on his health.

Having made up his mind, he planned to visit T City.

Wen City was only a little over one hundred kilometers from T City. No highway had yet been built between the two places, and the bus ride took more than two hours.

Fang Bai hurried back to his rental, packed his things, slung on his backpack, and headed out.

Inside the backpack were his English review materials, a change of clothes, and all his cash.

Pressed for time, he hurried to the nearby Oubei Bus Station to buy a ticket to T City.

While waiting for the bus, Fang Bai began reviewing English.

A little after ten in the morning, Fang Bai arrived at T City's bus station. After leaving the station, he took a taxi to Jiaojiang Port Terminal.

The moment he arrived, he wanted to flee the place!

Good lord!

The several-hundred-meter-long terminal was piled with garbage, and the stench was overwhelming.

Many workers on-site did not even wear gloves, directly sorting through the garbage with their hands. Anything worthless was tossed aside or even burned on the spot.

But there was no helping it. For China at that time, this foreign trash truly was treasure. The country was desperately short of raw materials.

Fang Bai took a rickshaw and had the driver take him around while asking about the local situation.

For the fare and cigarettes, the driver told him everything. Fang Bai learned quite a bit from him.

Naturally, Fang Bai also asked many locals.

By noon, Fang Bai had gathered the information he wanted and identified his target electronic products.