My Realistic Simulation Game

Chapter 39 The Power of Half a Hundred Thousand

The next day, two thousand kilometers away, in Guangzhou.

The heat wave, carrying the smell of sweat and the salty sea breeze, clung stickily to the skin.

The ceiling fan at the temporary office of Kowloon Trading Company in Guangzhou whirred futilely overhead, failing to dispel the oppressive heat.

Fang Minghai sat behind a large mahogany desk, his brows slightly furrowed, his fingers tapping on the surface, listening to his secretary report on the progress of several contract manufacturers.

"...Mr. Fang, we're having some trouble procuring denim fabric, with the upstream supplier..."

Before the secretary could finish speaking, the finance manager practically burst through the door, clutching a freshly printed bank statement: "Mr. Fang... Mr. Fang! The company account has suddenly received a cash remittance."

"Remittance?" Fang Minghai leaned back in his executive chair, a burning Camel cigarette between his fingers, his brow furrowed slightly.

In mainland China, payments are often made hesitantly, like squeezing toothpaste, and it's common for payments to drag on for months.

Money is coming into the account now? Is the sun rising in the west?
But it's only tens of thousands, at most.

Seeing the finance manager's flustered appearance, he was somewhat dissatisfied. He lazily reached out and took the form, casually glancing at the amount column.

When that number clearly came into his view, his eyes widened instantly.

His eyes were fixed on the enormous amount represented by Arabic numerals.

Half a million!
A full five hundred thousand dollars!
Fang Minghai continued reading, and when he saw the two characters "Qin Yuan" clearly in his eyes, his gaze suddenly narrowed.

Qin Yuan?

That young Northerner, dressed in a simple jacket, yet with sharp, calm eyes like a deep pool!
Only a few days?!

It only took me about a week to fly from Beijing back to Guangzhou!
How did he get that 500,000?
Five hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars is nothing to Fang Minghai.

But 500,000 RMB! In Beijing today, within a week?!

How is this done?
He was puzzled.

If Qin Yuan bringing back 320,000 yuan in cash from Moscow was already surprising enough, then this was already enough to astonish him.

But now, in less than a week, they have transferred another 500,000 yuan in cash to him.

It's like a fairy tale.

Cold sweat instantly soaked Fang Minghai's back, but then an indescribable surge of joy and relief welled up inside him.

After the shock came extreme excitement!

His judgment was correct! Qin Yuan is a man of extraordinary abilities!

This 500,000 is not only a huge sum of money, but also the most powerful proof of Qin Yuan's strength and efficiency!
Working with someone like that will lead to a bright future!
"Good! Good! Good!" Fang Minghai said "good" three times in a row, his shock quickly turning into an almost excited determination.

He slammed the remittance slip on the table and, addressing the bewildered secretary and finance manager, firmly ordered:

"Notify all contract manufacturers! Especially the ones that produce jeans and leather jackets!"

"Prioritize 'Jeanswest' orders to the highest level! All production lines, run at full capacity!"

"Within one month, no! Within twenty-five days, the first batch of goods must be completed, inspected, packed, and ready for shipment!"

The secretary looked troubled: "Mr. Fang, this... the deadline is too tight! Even with the workers working three shifts, I'm afraid..."

"Not enough manpower?" Fang Minghai's eyes were sharp as knives, seemingly tinged with the ruthlessness of the north:

"Then dig it up! Go dig it up at another factory!"

"Guangzhou! Shenzhen! Dongguan! Raise the wages!"

"I don't care which factory they're from, as long as they've worked on jeans and leather sewing machines! Poach them all!"

"Increase their wages by 30%! Immediately!"

"Yes, Mr. Fang!" The secretary, taken aback by her boss's unprecedentedly firm stance, quickly responded. Fang Minghai's order was like a boulder thrown into a calm pond of contract manufacturing.

Yangcheng Xinhe Garment Factory.

Factory director Li Hexin frowned and slammed the simple resignation letter in his hand onto the greasy desk.

This is the third one this week.

The first two were just laborers, but Chen Zhiqiang was one of the top sewing machine operators in their workshop, specializing in overlocking the edges of trouser waistbands—he was fast and accurate.

"Qiang, is there something wrong at home?" Li Hexin forced a smile. "The factory is doing pretty well, isn't it? It's not as stable as working here when you go out to find a job."

Chen Zhiqiang rubbed his rough fingers, a little awkward, but his eyes were firm: "Thank you for your concern, Director Li. There's nothing wrong at home... it's just... it's just that the pay over there is really high. It's an extra few dozen yuan a month..."

"Who would poach someone like this? They dare to steal my man? They've got some nerve!" Li Hexin was starting to lose his temper.

“It’s…it’s a new factory opened by people from Hong Kong Island. The brand name is something like…True…True something Weiss…” Chen Zhiqiang tried hard to recall the somewhat tongue-twisting name.

"What a load of bull, Jeanswest! Never even heard of it!" Li Hexin scoffed, waving his hand dismissively. "Hong Kong capital? Hmph, here to do OEM manufacturing, huh? Aren't they OEM for Apple? Such poor taste, choosing a new brand instead?"

He believed he knew it inside and out.

Apple brand is the real gold standard for jeans these days. Thaksin and his company's ability to secure such a large share of the OEM market is quite respectable among factories of all sizes in Guangzhou.

Who does that so-called "Jeanswest" even know?

"Alright, alright, since you're determined to climb the social ladder, I won't stop you."

Li Hexin impatiently tossed the resignation letter aside. "Get your wages and leave! If you can't make it out there, don't even think about coming back!"

He thought to himself, "If an experienced person leaves, I can just hire a newbie to train; it'll only take a little effort."

Orders for Apple products keep pouring in; the Xinhe brand will never fall in this land of southern Guangdong!
What he didn't know was that Chen Zhiqiang's departure was just the beginning.

Master Zhang from the third workshop, Team Leader Liu from the fifth workshop, and skilled workers from various workshops all left at a rapid rate of more than a dozen people per day over the next week.

This might not be a big deal for a large company.

After all, there is a high turnover rate of employees in garment factories in the south.

However, for a medium-sized contract manufacturer like Xinhe, losing nearly a hundred workers in a week, most of whom were skilled workers, would be a huge loss.

In particular, they also had to deal with Apple's demanding deadlines.

Losing one person is no big deal, but if he loses hundreds, he can quickly find workers to replace them.

Moreover, training a skilled worker takes time!
Belatedly realizing what was going on, he quickly asked his brother-in-law to find out the origin of this "Jeanswest".

Within a day, his brother-in-law, Li Mingliang, reappeared with a bitter expression: "Brother-in-law, I've found out... he was... poached by Kowloon Trading."

"And it's not just our factory; there are similar cases of people being poached from garment factories in surrounding cities."

"I heard that Fang Minghai offered experienced staff salaries 30% above market value to poach them in order to accelerate the development of this new brand called 'Jeanswest'..."

"Jeanswest again?" Li Hexin frowned, pondering the unfamiliar name. "Fang Minghai? The Fang family from Hong Kong? Haven't they always been involved in entrepot trade? Why are they suddenly starting their own clothing brand? And in such a hurry?"

He was filled with doubts.

The Fang family's sudden and significant move, and their precise poaching of key workers from his Apple manufacturing jobs, made him sense something unusual.

Apple orders are one of the lifelines of their factory, and worker turnover directly affects delivery!
"Investigate!" Li Hexin said grimly. "Find out exactly where this 'Jeanswest' comes from! Who else is behind Fang Minghai?"

He had a vague feeling that things weren't so simple.

Fang Minghai's reckless rush to complete the project suggests that "Jeanswest" has ulterior motives.

A sense of unease crept into Li Hexin's heart.

(End of this chapter)