"Manager Wang, how about selling this machine to me?"
Fang Bai's words stunned Ma Jingsen and the two workers beside him.
Even if the machine was broken, it was still worth quite a bit of money. It was not something an ordinary worker could casually afford, much less an apprentice.
"Fang Bai, even with some problems, this machine is still worth a lot." Ma Jingsen did not explicitly say that Fang Bai could not afford it, but he truly did not think much of his chances.
Wang Hengli was somewhat curious when he heard that Fang Bai wanted to buy the machine. "Fang Bai, what are you buying it for?"
"I have my own use for it, but it's inconvenient to say for now." Fang Bai smiled. "Manager Wang, name a price.
"I know the condition of this machine as well. It can't be repaired, so you might as well get rid of it and replace it with a new one. Leaving it here only takes up space."
"Five thousand. After all, it can still barely be used. Even if it's dismantled and sold for parts, it would still be worth quite a bit."
Wang Hengli gave a meaningful smile. He knew Fang Bai had five thousand yuan. If he asked for any more, Fang Bai would not be able to afford it.
"Manager Wang, you really know how to joke. Who would buy parts from a secondhand machine tool? Even if they did, it would be hard to find matching ones.
"So this kind of equipment can only be sold as scrap metal."
Fang Bai spoke disdainfully. There were not many secondhand machine tools of the same model around, unlike cars, whose parts could be mixed and matched easily.
Wang Hengli shook his head. "Selling it as scrap metal is impossible. Just tell me how much you can offer. If I think it's suitable, I'll sell it. Otherwise, don't bring it up again. It'll hurt our relationship."
Only after Wang Hengli said that did Fang Bai probe his thoughts and learn his bottom-line price.
The machine tool had cost twenty to thirty thousand yuan and had only been used for a few years. Most of its functions still worked, so naturally it could not simply be sold as scrap.
Steel currently cost around 1,500 yuan per ton. The equipment weighed 3.5 tons net, with roughly 3 tons of steel. The highest buyback price from a steel mill would definitely be under 2,500 yuan. If it were sold to a scrap collector, getting 1,500 yuan would already be decent. Of course Wang Hengli was unwilling.
"Three thousand yuan."
Fang Bai replied. That was Wang Hengli's bottom-line price.
If Fang Bai could repair it, he would have a profit margin of seven to ten thousand yuan.
If he could not repair it, it would only be a small loss, one he could still accept.
"Deal."
Wang Hengli hesitated slightly. Three thousand was exactly his lowest acceptable price. As long as it was a little higher than the steel mill's recycling price, that was enough.
As a boss with assets worth over a million yuan, he would not fuss too much over such a small amount. Close enough was good enough.
For the machine in front of him, replacing the entire spindle housing and maintaining the column would probably cost another seven or eight thousand yuan, and it still might not be repairable. He might as well buy a secondhand machine instead.
"Have someone loosen the locking bolts connecting the machine to the floor first. I'll come move it away in the next couple of days and pay you then." Fang Bai spread his hands. "I didn't bring any money with me."
"No problem!"
Wang Hengli smiled cheerfully, feeling that he had solved a troublesome matter. He turned to Ma Jingsen. "Have someone dismantle the machine. I'll buy some new equipment."
"Alright."
Ma Jingsen had not expected the boss to agree to the deal. Three thousand yuan was no small sum, and he especially had not expected such an inconspicuous apprentice to have that much money!
As for the price, it was about right. He truly did not know what Fang Bai wanted it for. If things went badly, Fang Bai would become a sucker.
No, he would definitely suffer a huge loss!
Too young!
Did he really think making money was that easy? Ma Jingsen had no idea where Fang Bai got his courage.
Fang Bai did not know what Ma Jingsen was thinking. He had never paid much attention to the man. After greeting Wang Hengli, he went to the finance office to collect his wages.
He had worked for less than two months and had earned only a little over one hundred yuan, but that was not a small amount either. Fang Bai had to carefully calculate every yuan he spent.
A yuan in those days was no small amount!
It was enough to cover most people's food expenses for an entire day.
At Wen City's vegetable markets, a jin of pork belly cost around 1.7 yuan. For most families, even wanting to have one meat dish was not easy.
Fang Bai remembered that his parents only spent money on meat when he and Younger Sister came home from school on weekends. They did not buy much, just enough to satisfy their cravings, and their parents tried their best to give the meat to him and Younger Sister.
The fatty meat was rendered into oil for cooking. Whenever they stir-fried vegetables, they would add a few pieces of fat that had already been fried for oil.
The lean meat was usually made into soup or stir-fried with gourds. They generally could not bear to deep-fry it and make char siu.
As for wanting spiced beef, that was impossible.
Eggs were a little cheaper than meat, but they were not something they could eat every day.
Fang Bai and Younger Sister boarded at school. They brought rice from home to exchange for grain coupons at school. Their family did not farm much land, so they often had no choice but to buy rice from the market.
They brought pickled vegetables from home, occasionally having a little meat with them. They mainly ate pickles because they could be stored and saved money, then got rice from the school cafeteria. The school had meat dishes too, but most students could not bear to spend the money.
Everyone was rather skinny in those days. Fang Bai was already 176 centimeters tall, yet he weighed only 125 jin.
During his time in the hospital, Fang Bai could eat a bit of pork in his fast food every day, but his parents mostly saved money by drinking porridge and eating steamed buns.
So Fang Bai's dream now was to solve his family's food problem and let them eat meat every day.
Especially since Younger Sister was still growing. Right now, she looked like a wilted cucumber.
He now had five thousand yuan, but he still did not dare spend it recklessly.
On the other hand, he was racing against time. He had to cherish this golden era and make more money. He could not waste time just to save money; he had to spend what needed to be spent.
After Fang Bai left Hengli Company, it was already noon. He found a restaurant for lunch, returned to the inn for a short nap, packed his things, and checked out.
Next, he planned to rent a place and start a business while repeating his studies to prepare for the college entrance examination.
During his time in the hospital, he had already considered how to accumulate his first round of startup capital.
This was the golden era of economic development. The market had suddenly opened up, and long-suppressed demand surged forth. The market was largely blank, completely a seller's market. Business opportunities were everywhere.
Walking along the streets, he saw stalls selling everything—food, clothes, toys—carrying all of people's desires and passions.
Even with only a few dozen yuan, as long as one could find a supply channel, setting up a stall to sell small goods like calendars was better than working a job.
Of course, without mobile phones or the Internet, information was restricted. Capital was not the main problem.
The real issue was information asymmetry, followed by whether one had the courage to dive into business.
Fang Bai had considered having his parents make something rather than work for others, but it was hard to change their mindset right now. Only after he achieved something himself and let them taste the benefits would they change.
There were many industries and paths to make money: trading canned goods for airplanes, buying electronics in Zhongguancun and selling them elsewhere, opening supermarkets, opening video game arcades, using prize draws to sell backlogged products, speculating in stocks, speculating in real estate...
However, the current economic system was not very sound, and the business environment was not ideal. Not every opportunity suited him.
For instance, trading canned goods for airplanes—Fang Bai was not confident enough to think he would be lucky enough not to get killed in Bear Country. Once a person was dead, no amount of money mattered.
If he opened a video game arcade, plenty of hooligans would come to play. They might casually threaten violence, demand protection money, or smash up the machines. That would be the least of it; it could even drag his family into trouble.
Going north to buy goods would take several days for a single trip. Having enjoyed the convenience of high-speed rail, he absolutely did not want to experience those crowded, painfully slow green trains again, full of pickpockets and petty thieves.
From a god's-eye view, everyone believed that being reborn would make them incredibly capable.
If he did not have the Golden Finger, he might have followed the paths others who had been reborn took.
But with the Golden Finger, he had far more ways to make money.
So after considering his circumstances, Fang Bai found several money-making paths that suited him before he entered university.
Two updates a day. Brothers, remember to help boost the follow-up reads—it affects Recommendation Slots. Don't stockpile chapters. Updates are steady at 4,000 to 6,000 words a day. I think the plot is fairly tight, with basically no filler.
Before you continue