Restart life

Chapter 232 0229 [These days, there are actually matchmaking corners?]

People's Park, Heming Tea House.

Chen Guiliang used the lid of his teacup to smear the snowflakes: "What kind of business are you looking to do?"

“Buy a garment factory,” Jona said.

Chen Guiliang asked, "Where can I buy it?"

“Hangzhou,” Jona said, “from last year to now, two or three hundred small and medium-sized garment factories in Hangzhou have gone bankrupt. Existing factory buildings and machinery can be acquired at very low prices. And the government has given them the green light all the way!”

Chen Guiliang genuinely didn't know about this and asked, "Why are so many businesses going out of business?"

Qiao Na explained in detail: "In January last year, the global textile quota system was suspended, and exports from Hangzhou surged in a short period of time. Many business owners took the opportunity to open garment factories, and everyone rushed to export garments. As a result, Europe and the United States urgently launched special safeguard measures, imposed restrictions on Chinese textiles, and also initiated many anti-dumping lawsuits."

With things like this, it's no wonder that garment factories are going bankrupt on a large scale.

Last year, it wasn't just Hangzhou that saw a surge in new garment factories; coastal garment manufacturing bases were also building factories on a massive scale. Then, Europe and the US suddenly implemented a wave of trade safeguard measures, resulting in a large backlog of exported textiles.

At this very moment, another internal disturbance occurred.

However, CCTV exposed the pollution of the Qiantang River, forcing local governments to introduce environmental protection measures. In Xiaoshan and Shaoxing alone, 87 printing and dyeing factories were closed.

For surviving raw material factories, environmental upgrades will cost a lot of money.

The resulting shortage of fabric supply led to delays in garment factory deliveries, increasing the default rate by at least 15%. Furthermore, rising raw material costs further squeezed garment factory profits.

Triangular debt also erupted, with more than 30% of small factories experiencing a cash flow crisis.

"You're making clothes at a time like this?" Chen Guiliang asked.

Jona smiled and said, "Even a withered tree can give way to a thousand springs."

"Want to make women's clothing?" Chen Guiliang asked.

Hangzhou has been building itself into the "Women's Clothing Capital" for several years, and this title is gradually gaining recognition.

Jona shook her head: "I dare not make women's clothing. In the past two years, international brands have been impacting the market, driving local women's clothing to the wholesale market. 70% of the women's clothing in shopping malls are foreign brands."

"Then what will you do?" Chen Guiliang asked.

Jona said, "Children's clothing. Now, the competition is fierce in both men's and women's clothing, so only children's clothing still has a sufficient market."

Chen Guiliang asked, "What about your Taobao store?"

“We’ll keep doing it,” Jona sighed. “After what happened last year, the prices of mid-to-low-end clothing both online and offline plummeted. We were getting our stock at rock-bottom prices, and more and more people are opening Taobao stores. To grab customers and clear out inventory, they’re selling ten shirts for 100 yuan with free shipping to major cities!”

Chen Guiliang asked, "What are your development plans?"

Jona said, "First, I'll buy a small factory. I've inquired and found out that the triangular debt and unpaid wages are not the new owner's problem; the government will intervene and resolve them. I'll find stall owners in Sijiqing to cooperate with while continuing to sell these clothes on Taobao, trying to get rid of the inventory I've taken over. If I can't get rid of it all, I'll donate it directly to children in mountainous areas."

"The initial phase will be divided into three steps."

"The first step is to supply white-label goods to the Sijiqing market stalls, while also selling them directly through our own Taobao store. This ensures that the workers and machines have work to do."

"The second step is to imitate the styles of children's clothing from major international brands. Don't make too much at first, just small-scale production with no more than 10 machines, and create your own brand through a Taobao store to gradually build up your reputation and repeat customers."

"The third step is to expand production and design our own styles. Once we have enough brand recognition, we can try opening physical stores."

Chen Guiliang knew nothing about the clothing industry and had absolutely no interest in it. He simply asked, "How much money do you need?"

Jona said, “I’ve saved over 6 yuan in the past two years. I came back this time to ask my friends to invest. They are all rich kids and didn’t take the investment seriously. The five of them pooled together over 7 yuan for me. And it was a loan. They were too lazy to do business together. The factory I’m interested in isn’t very big. In the current market, I can get it for about 50 yuan, plus half a year’s rent.”

Chen Guiliang did not agree immediately.

Jona said, "These are special times. Before the large-scale closure of garment factories, the machines in the factory alone were worth 60 yuan!"

Bian Guanyue, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up: "Sister, I can still come up with 18 here."

Of the money Bian Guanyue lent to Chen Guiliang, part was used to invest in Bailian Technology, and the other part has already been returned to her.

Although this girl is from a wealthy family, she doesn't usually spend much money—of course, compared to ordinary students, Bian Guanyue is still quite extravagant.

Chen Guiliang asked with a smile, "Even including the money you borrowed from your friends, you only have about 13 yuan. If I invest, I'll become a major shareholder, and you'll end up working for me?"

“My Taobao store should be included too,” Jona said. “And you can only have a maximum of 25% ownership. The rest of the money is a loan from me. If you don’t want that, I’ll think of another way.”

"Alright, we'll do as you say," Chen Guiliang said.

He wasn't investing in the garment factory; he was investing in Jona herself.

A female college senior about to graduate has already saved over 6 yuan by selling on Taobao, and now she dares to borrow money everywhere to open a factory. Even if she fails this time, she will have the opportunity to make a comeback in the future.

This kind of person has a bright future.

Chen Guiliang invested in his personal capacity. With his current salary and novel royalties, he could easily come up with two or three hundred thousand yuan.

"Next time you hit someone, think about how to clean up the mess." Chen Guiliang picked up his teacup and took a sip.

Jona said, "I knew my limits; I didn't kill anyone when I hit them."

You call that having a sense of propriety?
Jona asked, "Aren't you wondering why I hit someone? Why didn't I ask my family for money to do business?"

“You don’t have to say,” Chen Guiliang said with a smile.

Jona said, "I want my dad to know that I'm no less capable than boys. Boys can fight, and so can I; I've been able to fight since I was little. Boys can do business, and so can I, and I won't need his help!"

Chen Guiliang was unaware of her childhood experiences, so he refrained from hastily judging her as naive. Qiao Na said, "Let's talk about the shares first. You'll hold 25%, and Guan Guan will hold 10%. The remaining money will be a loan from me, paid at bank loan interest rates. After I finish negotiating with the factory, we'll sign the contract and the IOU."

"Sure," Chen Guiliang said indifferently.

He had some expectations for this factory, mainly wanting to see what kind of results Jona could achieve.

Is this considered a different kind of simulation game?
Investing in Tudou.com before, and then investing in ZBJ.com next, I had absolutely no sense of anticipation. Because I already knew where things were headed.

On the contrary, it's particularly interesting that Chen Guiliang would invest in people like Tao Chenggang and Qiao Na, whom he would never have known in his past life.

The phone text message sounded.

Ao Yanzhen sent a message: "Today I went to the Innovation Center on business and met a newly founded company. I casually asked around and found out that the founder is named Liu Yan, a senior from Peking University who participated in the financing and listing of Sina and AsiaInfo. He also led AsiaInfo's acquisition of Dekang."

Before one text message was even finished, another one followed: "This person was previously the vice president and director of Wang Zhidong's current company. He's now independently creating the 6rooms video website, aiming to compete with Tudou.com. The company hasn't even been registered yet, but it's already secured angel investment. Should we talk to Tudou.com about it?"

The sixth room has also been created.

Moreover, they secured angel investment first, and then registered the company.

Chen Guiliang did not inform Wang Wei of this news because Tudou.com's real enemy was Youku.

"Young man, would you like your ears cleaned?" an old man asked as he approached.

Chen Guiliang said, "No."

The three chatted as they left the teahouse and wandered around People's Park, where they unexpectedly came across a "marriage market".

Does this thing already exist?
Chen Guiliang curiously went over to take a look and found that it was actually quite reliable and had not turned into a wishing well more than ten years later.

The first blind date profile showed the woman had decent qualifications: stable job, no family burdens, and a height of 1.72 meters or taller. Having a house would be ideal, but if not, they would purchase it jointly. There was no requirement for a bride price.

"Are you going on a blind date?" Bian Guanyue joked.

Chen Guiliang replied with a smile, "Yes, let's see if there's anything suitable."

Bian Guanyue said, "Then I'll take a look too, maybe I can find something better."

She actually went to look at the matchmaking information and was immediately surrounded by several male parents.

"Little sister, you're so cute! Look at my child. My son is 28 years old, a college graduate, and an engineer..."

"Don't tell him. His kid is only 1.6 meters tall. My son is 1.77 meters tall and very handsome..."

"Sister, my son is a high school teacher. My wife and I are both retired and receive pensions every month..."

Seeing Bian Guanyue being surrounded by a group of elderly men and women trying to sell her something, Chen Guiliang couldn't help but chuckle and turned to Qiao Na, asking, "Why don't you give it a try too?"

Jona stood tall and proud: "Let's give it a try!"

She walked over and said frankly, "I'm a senior in college this year, about to graduate with my bachelor's degree. I've never been in a relationship, and I want to find a man to marry."

The elderly men and women all looked over, but then collectively turned their heads away, completely ignoring Jona.

She's actually not bad-looking, but her hairstyle and clothing are too masculine. I guess these older women feel their sons can't handle her.

"Hahaha!"

Chen Guiliang was overjoyed.

"cut!"

Jona also looked down on them, though she was actually a little annoyed.

Chen Guiliang walked up to another matchmaking ad and asked the old lady waiting there, "Grandma, what do you think of me?"

The old lady shook her head: "You're too young."

"I look young, but I'm actually 30 years old."

"Really? What company do you work for?"

"I drive a big truck."

"That won't work. Driving a large truck often involves long-distance travel and is prone to accidents."

"..."

Bian Guanyue broke through the group of parents, ran to Chen Guiliang and said, "This is so interesting! I didn't know there was a place like this in People's Park."

“You’re quite popular,” Chen Guiliang said.

"Of course." Bian Guanyue raised her small face, looking proud.

Jona walked ahead and said, "It's not interesting, let's not wander around here."

Bian Guanyue ran over and took her cousin's arm: "Sister, you actually look quite good with long hair."

Jona said irritably, "Don't talk to me about this. It's annoying!"

Chen Guiliang glanced at several matchmaking flyers, looking at the simple requirements on them, and felt that this era was truly wonderful.

(End of this chapter)