Hong Kong Island: From a small stall to a global supplier

A huge bulk carrier is anchored in the port, its headlights illuminating the area around the dock as if it were daytime. A massive crane slowly extends under the control of workers, and dozens of people are busy on the bulk carrier.

On the dock, Wang Yaotang and Director Shi stood side by side a few dozen meters away, watching without saying a word, quietly enjoying the sea breeze.

After a long while, a long, rectangular wooden box was hoisted up, and with the winch turning, it soon reached the shore.

"I heard that this requires engineers from the manufacturer to complete the assembly?" Director Shi suddenly said.

"This is a bit difficult. I'll have someone inquire about it, find the target, and bring him back," Wang Yaotang said after thinking for a moment.

"Cough cough cough," Director Shi hurriedly waved his hand, "That's not what I meant. How could I kidnap someone?"

"Then what do you mean?" Wang Yaotang tilted his head and looked at him irritably.

"I..." Director Shi opened his mouth, but all the words he wanted to say were swallowed back.

"An embargo? What can I do? Just take the installation manual and figure it out myself. If we bring everything back, how can so many experts be troubled by an installation problem?" Wang Yaotang snorted. "Besides, there are many overseas Chinese in Japan. Surely someone has done related work. We can find a way to bring it back and provide guidance."

"Yes, yes, yes." Director Shi hurriedly replied, regretting in his heart that he had said such a thing. This kid came from the streets, and his methods could not be judged from a normal perspective.

However, it is precisely because he acts without any scruples that he is able to acquire such large items; a normal businessman would not be able to do so.

Upon hearing Director Shi's words, Wang Yaotang smiled and said, "I do have a way to get workers to install the old equipment that we brought from France, but I'm planning to give this old equipment to Wenchong Shipyard."

Director Shi frowned. The original plan was to have only one set, with the domestic side exchanging policies for it. But now there's an extra set, and it's impossible not to accept it. However, it will be difficult to form a joint venture with a shipbuilding heavy industry manufacturer like Wenchong Shipyard, which is related to national security.

Moreover, a set of second-hand equipment is not enough to leverage.

"I need to report this before I can give you an answer."

"The goods will arrive in a few days."

"You've already planned this all along, haven't you? Just say what you want. Wen Chong definitely won't give up his shares." Director Shi took a deep breath.

“I am a patriotic businessman. How could I possibly propose anything that would put the country in a difficult position? I am very unhappy with what you are saying, and it has greatly dampened my enthusiasm,” Wang Yaotang said loudly.

Director Shi's expression twisted as he raised his hand to rub his temples. He couldn't refute these words. "Fine, my mistake. The country will not mistreat those who have made contributions. Tell me if there's anything the country can do to help."

"Are you implying that I'm trying to blackmail you for something in return?" Wang Yaotang tilted his head to look at him.

"I..." Director Shi was once again at a loss for words, leaving him speechless.

"What's with that expression? Did I make things difficult for you?"

"No, it was my oversight," Director Shi forced a smile.

Seeing that he had the upper hand, Wang Yaotang said with a heavy heart, "The development speed of China's shipbuilding industry is far behind that of foreign countries. Even the most basic cargo transportation depends on foreign countries, not to mention warships. We can only do some defensive work in the coastal areas. The vast South China Sea has become a place for wolves to run rampant. Fishermen cannot work in peace. Marine resources are wantonly stolen by these South China Sea thieves. What's even more hateful is that the imperialists led by the United States often send aircraft carrier battle groups into our territorial waters to show off their power, and we are powerless to do anything about it!"

"As a Chinese son and daughter, I see this and I am deeply concerned!"

Director Shi opened his mouth, "Isn't it you who's 'running rampant'?"

Once the ship arrived in port, the crew checked its appearance and confirmed it was a bulk carrier built in Japan, although the specific model number was obscured...

Who the hell would hide the ship's number?

Of course, Director Shi would only think these words in his heart, but he would agree verbally, saying, "You're right. The issue of maritime security has plagued the country for many years. In several conflicts, our military equipment was outdated, and it was only by risking their lives that the naval officers and soldiers were able to drive away the other ships. However, ships are the culmination of industrial achievements, and with the current level of basic industry and technology in our country, we are far behind and need to catch up little by little."

"These two sets of equipment you brought can indeed solve a lot of problems. On behalf of the country, I thank you."

Director Shi was absolutely sincere when he said that.

In his eyes, although Wang Yaotang committed murder, arson, and robbery, he was never ambiguous about national righteousness, his identification with the country was heartfelt, and he was willing to contribute to the country's development. That's what makes a good comrade!

“You’re welcome. I’m Chinese first and foremost.” Wang Yaotang smiled broadly. “What I’m saying to you today is that we need to learn more from the outside world, taking the best and discarding the worst. We can’t just work blindly; we need to go out and learn more, and then bring back the advanced experience and technology we’ve learned.”

"I can rob once or twice, but I can't keep robbing people."

"Pfft, cough cough cough..." Director Shi couldn't catch his breath and looked at Wang Yaotang with a troubled expression. Why did you have to say it? How embarrassing!

"There's no one else here." Wang Yaotang scoffed.

As a businessman, he naturally didn't need to be as restrained as a dignified official.

Director Shi abruptly changed the subject, "You mean you want Wen Chong to go out and open a shipyard elsewhere?"

“Ship repair yard,” Wang Yaotang said with a smile. “What can we use as our main products in a shipyard? The technology itself is outdated, the construction period is long, and the production period is long. The best place to learn technology is a ship repair yard. You can personally repair ships of different sizes from different countries, and you can naturally learn a lot in the process.”

Director Shi quickly understood and couldn't help but clap his hands and exclaim, "This is great, great!"

Currently, major shipyards in China do not pay much attention to repair services because they can only repair and maintain ships produced domestically, which can only be considered internal technical exchanges. However, if a shipyard were to be opened overseas, it would be a completely different story.

"You have a plan? Where will you hold it?" Director Shi asked impatiently.

“Initially, it will definitely be in my old base,” Wang Yaotang said with a smile. “Later, if possible, we may expand to places like Lion City.”

“I’ve noted this down. But you should also talk to Wen Chong and Lao Zhao and ask them to submit the documents to the higher-ups themselves. I don’t think there will be any major problems. The country is quite supportive of going global. The only issue is funding. The Sixth Ministry of Machinery Industry can’t provide much funding to support it.”

Wang Yaotang didn't respond to this. He was patriotic and knew he couldn't lift a sledgehammer with his small arms and legs.

Standing on the dock, chatting for over an hour while enjoying the sea breeze, Wang Yaotang was getting a little hoarse from talking. The cargo was still being unloaded over there, and it looked like it would take another two or three hours to finish.

"I should have brought a fishing rod," Wang Yaotang said with a hint of regret.

"Speaking of this, we recently arrested a group of smugglers, and among the smuggled goods we seized were a lot of fishing rods. That's when I found out that the good fishing rods here cost more than $800. I think it's better to make your own bamboo rods. It's practically robbery."

"Ha, robbing money can't be this fast," Wang Yaotang laughed. "Don't underestimate a small fishing rod; it's highly technical, and many of them can be used in shipbuilding, all of which are subject to embargoes in China."

"Everything's under embargo, damn it," Director Shi cursed. They chatted on the dock until they ran out of things to say, until everything was unloaded, at which point they both breathed a sigh of relief.

"Let's go take a look." Director Shi shook his slightly numb feet and walked over with a smile.

"Would you like to come aboard and take a look?"

"Great! I've never been on such a big ship before."

A special walkway was built, and the first place they went was the control room. Director Shi looked at the pile of instruments and equipment with some curiosity, while Hai Dazhao explained to him what they were used for.

As he spoke, Director Shi suddenly noticed a dried purplish-black patch, and his profession immediately made him recognize it as dried blood.

Following his gaze, Wang Yaotang explained, "I fell asleep while the boat was sailing and accidentally bumped into something."

"Yes, yes, yes," Hai Dazhao quickly replied, "I bumped myself and it bled. It hurts so much."

Director Shi pursed his lips; his profession made it difficult for him to tolerate such a crude lie.

He took a deep breath, held it, and then toured other areas, including the engine room. He saw several more bloodstains along the way, which made him unable to hold back any longer. "Couldn't they have cleaned it up a bit?"

"Would you believe me if I said this was all blood that came out when killing fish?" Wang Yaotang asked with a smile.

“I…believe!” Director Shi turned and walked outside.

He stepped off the boat, smiled, and shook his head. "What are you going to do with the boat?"

"Find a place and blow it up."

"Huh?" Director Shi stopped in his tracks, looking over in surprise. "You... this ship cost several million dollars!"

"Around 400 million, the ex-factory price of Japanese cargo ships is about 800 US dollars per ton." Wang Yaotang sighed, "It's not easy to handle. I'll take it to Lao Zhao to take a look. If they are willing to dismantle it, then we'll dismantle it for them. If they are not willing, then we can only deal with it this way."

"They can't even build it themselves!" Director Shi said with great regret.

After a few casual words, the goods were safely delivered, and Wang Yaotang felt relieved. He asked Hai Dazhao and the others to take the boat to Wenchong, while he took a speedboat back to Hong Kong Island. It was already past midnight, and he could get a good night's sleep when he got back.

The next day, after having breakfast at home, he took a speedboat to Wenchong Shipyard. By the time he arrived, it was already past 10 a.m. Engineers Liu and Li had already inspected the ship and were waiting for him.

Upon meeting, Director Zhao began to complain, “Wang Sheng, your ship is Japanese. Do you have any documentation? If not, we can’t do the job. Besides, ship dismantling and shipbuilding are completely different industries. It requires a lot of specialized cutting equipment. The key is that after the materials are cut, they are useless. They can’t be used for shipbuilding. At most, they can be sold as scrap metal. How much is scrap metal worth? It’s not even enough to cover the labor costs.”

One minute it's a technical problem, the next it's occupying the dock, then it's delaying production tasks—they came up with a whole bunch of excuses.

Engineers Liu and Li were dumbfounded. Weren't we supposed to disassemble it to learn the technology?

Just a moment ago I was so excited my face was flushed, how did it suddenly become a problem?
"Then I'll take it away?" Wang Yaotang interrupted impatiently, waving his hand.

Factory Director Zhao sighed and said reluctantly, "Well, there's no need for that. We're friends after all, and I'll definitely help if I can. How about this, you take out HK$50, and we'll take care of the ship for you."

"I'm giving you the boat, and I still have to pay you?" Wang Yaotang asked with a strange expression.

“The factory belongs to the state, and I, as the factory manager, can’t just make decisions on my own. I have to give the workers an explanation. There’s no other way.” As he spoke, he walked to Wang Yaotang’s side and whispered, “I know this ship has a questionable origin. If you tow it away and deal with it, not to mention the risks, the fuel costs alone will be hundreds of thousands. It’s better to dismantle it completely; that would be much cleaner.”

"No wonder he can become the factory director." Wang Yaotang pointed at Director Zhao, both amused and annoyed. "His skin is really thicker than usual. Why bother building ships with steel? Just use his skin."

"I don't like hearing what you said. How can you curse like that!" Director Zhao's voice suddenly rose, as if he had suffered a great injustice.

Wang Yaotang looked Lao Zhao up and down and said casually, "Three days later, a French ship will arrive at the port, along with a second-hand three-axis CNC machining center and four sets of two-axis CNC machine tools of different specifications. It seems that Wenchong Shipyard is not interested, so we can only find other shipyards to cooperate with."

"Wang Sheng." Factory Director Zhao grabbed Wang Yaotang's arm. "I've always told my friends that among patriotic businessmen, Wang Sheng is the most willing to give, never caring about personal gains or losses. He's a good son of the country and a good role model for the people!"

"Whenever good things happen to Wang Sheng, he thinks of our Wenchong Shipyard. Knowing that we encountered many technical difficulties in building large cargo ships, he immediately spent a huge sum of money to buy a large ship and sent it to us for dismantling and learning. What kind of spirit is this?"

Factory Director Zhao shook Wang Yaotang's hand and said excitedly, "Our factory will immediately hold a commendation meeting to learn from Mr. Wang Yaotang and properly thank him for his selfless contributions to the shipyard's development."

Wang Yaotang's lips began to slowly curl up in a smile. "Isn't there a problem?"

"Difficulties? What difficulties can't our working class solve!" Director Zhao waved his hand. "With everyone united, we can overcome all difficulties!"

"I won't trouble Director Zhao, so as not to delay the production schedule," Wang Yaotang said sarcastically.

"We live and eat at the factory; the factory is our home. If we work hard, there's no problem we can't solve."

"Why did Director Zhao act so deferentially at first and then become so obsequious? It's laughable," Wang Yaotang said, bursting into laughter.

"As long as it's for the good of the factory, what do personal honor or disgrace matter?" Factory Director Zhao said with an upright expression.

Wang Yaotang nodded. "Director Zhao, not bad."

They chatted about the lathe, and when they heard it was salvaged from a shipyard, Director Zhao was even happier. However, whether it would end up in their hands was not up to Wang Yaotang; Director Zhao would have to go and plead with his superiors himself. But having the donor's approval was their biggest advantage.

After discussing the lathe, Lao Zhao insisted on dragging Wang Yaotang to the canteen for drinks. At the table, Wang Yaotang brought up the idea of ​​a joint venture to set up a factory in Hong Kong.

If this shipyard is truly run well, and the technology is learned and money is made, and the shipyard grows and expands, then Director Zhao could be promoted directly to the ministry based on this.

Old Zhao excitedly grabbed Wang Yaotang, ready to become sworn brothers. "From now on, we'll be brothers even though we're not from the same father or mother. We don't ask to be born in the same year and month, but we ask to die in the same year and month. We'll share happiness and hardship together."

"Come on, how old are you? How old am I? Are you cursing me to die young?" Wang Yaotang said with a laugh. "You took care of the radar thing I mentioned before, so you can't just thank me verbally."

Wang Yaotang had previously wanted to install a radar system on the Xingye, but this thing was prohibited from being exported.

Factory Director Zhao wiped his face. "I can't guarantee anything, but I will do my best to persuade the higher-ups."

"Brother Zhao, let's drink!"

"Brother Wang, let's drink!" (End of Chapter)