Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 386 is riddled with problems.
Pang Shaowen and Pang Shaowu had previously heard from General Manager Zhou that General Manager Yan was considering buying shares, and seeing this scene, they knew the cooperation was definitely off. They had previously thought Yan Hui was unreliable, but considering the situation, they realized their side was even less reliable.

Currently, among the nine shareholders, there are five factions: two surnamed Wang, two surnamed Pang, and one surnamed Zhou.

Although General Manager Zhou, Pang Shaowen, and Pang Shaowu are of one mind, they are not actually part of a faction. They are all united in wanting to retain technical personnel and make money from the factory. However, General Manager Zhou is an outsider, and if a suitable buyer comes along, he will definitely be a fence-sitter and have no sense of belonging to the company.

Left with no other option, Pang Shaowen and Pang Shaowu stood up for President Zhou and asked the other two to leave first. These four were all from the same clan, and although they had different views, they didn't want to be ridiculed by outsiders, so there was no conflict.

Old Pang was about to say something more, but Pang Shaowen and his companion dragged them away, leaving only President Zhou and Yan Hui's group behind.

"President Yan, I'm so sorry, you had to see this." President Zhou sighed as he watched the group leave.

For him, 130 million was a fair amount of money.

It's not that much, he can leave the shares here for three years without it affecting anything. But it's not that little either, he doesn't even earn 130 million a year.

Leaving the shares here is definitely not an option; the factory is in such a mess right now that someone could steal and sell equipment without anyone telling them. But selling them cheaply is out of the question—wouldn't that be a huge waste?

Yan Hui saw this predicament clearly, and so did President Zhou; he was simply unwilling to accept it.

"Before we came, Mr. Zhou, you also talked about the situation here. All of this is normal." Yan Hui didn't laugh at Mr. Zhou.

"Mr. Yan, shall we go now?" Mr. Zhou asked again.

"No rush, where are those two technical leads? I'd like to meet them." Yan Hui acted as if nothing had just happened.

"Huh?" President Zhou paused for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, come with me."

Of the two technicians, Mr. Zhou only knew one of them. This person was named Dai Lingfeng, from Foshan, Guangdong Province, and had been in the tile industry for more than ten years.

Dai Lingfeng is 40 years old this year. He was headhunted three years ago with a salary of 20 yuan a year. At that time, he was only making about 8000 yuan a month in Foshan. After coming here, he and his good brother built this factory from scratch.

Three years later, their skills had improved again, and they could earn such high salaries back in their hometown. Since their families were all in Foshan, they decided to leave.

"Master Dai, this is General Manager Yan. He's here to take a good look at our factory." General Manager Zhou called Dai Lingfeng aside and introduced him to Yan Hui.

"Hello, Mr. Yan." Dai Lingfeng gave a casual greeting, which was considered giving Mr. Zhou face.

"I just looked at the tiles here, and the quality seems pretty good. They're just as good as the ones I saw in Jinan. Master Dai really has excellent craftsmanship!" Yan Hui exclaimed.

"We built this equipment from scratch, debugging as we went, and it took us almost a year to achieve this quality." Dai Lingfeng said, glancing at the production line and letting out a soft sigh.

His current income is indeed not low, but he is too uncomfortable staying here. The management is chaotic, bonuses are not paid, and his income has not increased.

20 in 2005 is not the same as 20 in 2008.

“Indeed, Master Dai, my main business is in chemicals. It took us three whole years from research and development to market launch to produce an advanced adhesive. Debugging is really troublesome, so I completely understand what you mean.” Yan Hui wholeheartedly agreed. Any production involving chemical reactions requires very high-level processes, and even producing silicone adhesive, which Yan Hui somewhat looked down upon, is not something that can be done casually.

The production of ceramic tiles involves a series of complex physical and chemical reactions, and the various processes are not simple. Even experienced craftsmen need to spend some time adjusting a newly assembled production line.

"Is Mr. Yan involved in the chemical industry?" Master Dai asked curiously.

He and his friend are both technicians. They graduated from vocational school 20 years ago and have been working in technology for more than a decade, so they are somewhat arrogant.

"Yes, we produce single-component polyurethane sealant." Yan Hui nodded.

Don't let the seemingly simple term fool you; some bosses don't even know what sodium chloride is. Yan Hui's comment made Dai Lingfeng more respectful: "Three years of R&D, Mr. Yan understands the technology."

"Those who work in technology must respect technology," Yan Hui nodded.

“I like what you said, Mr. Yan.” Dai Lingfeng nodded. “However, it’s a pity that we will definitely have to leave the factory here.”

"From what I heard from President Zhou, you're hoping to get 30 a year?" Yan Hui asked.

“That’s what I said before, but now I think I’d better not.” Dai Lingfeng shook his head. “Even if you gave me 300,000 yuan now, I wouldn’t keep it. I can earn 200,000 to 300,000 yuan a year back in Foshan. Why should I abandon my family and career here? I won’t comment on what’s happened recently.”

"Yeah, that's understandable." Yan Hui wasn't the only one who saw what just happened; many people around them did too.

After a brief exchange, Yan Hui and President Zhou walked out together.

After leaving, President Zhou sighed, "Judging from what they're saying now, they don't even want to stay for 30 a year. I think that's the truth. Under these circumstances, even if you, President Yan, take a stake, and even if we can control the company, it will be difficult. Pang Shaowen and Pang Shaowu can only accept 30 a year at most."

“That’s no problem. I think 20 a year is quite a lot. In my chemical company, no one’s basic salary is more than 20 a year.” Yan Hui understood this.

"Huh? Your technical lead earns less than 20 a year?" Mr. Zhou was very surprised.

"My technical lead?" Yan Hui shook his head slightly. "He's a shareholder."

"He owns shares! No wonder. Then what's the point of talking about a salary?" President Zhou immediately understood.

"In short, I don't think this matter can be resolved right now. If President Zhou has a suitable channel to sell the shares at the original price, I think he should act quickly," Yan Hui offered a simple suggestion. He admitted that coming here today had indeed seemed unreliable.

“There’s no way to get out of this situation. If all else fails, I’ll take a loss of 20 yuan and see if I can sell it. It’s just the cost of the equipment as equity, so there shouldn’t be any problem.” At this point, there was no need for Boss Zhou to lie to Yan Hui.

"Well, if this continues, losing 20 isn't too much."

(End of this chapter)