Liu Fu suddenly stood up and said, "Acquire the Sanbao Winery?" Liu Fu didn't expect Liu Jian's appetite to be so big, wanting to acquire a company right off the bat. Remembering what he said some time ago about wanting to become a big boss, he inexplicably believed Liu Jian. Calming his mood, Liu Fu continued to ask, "Tell me your thoughts, how did you think of acquiring the Sanbao Winery?"
Liu Jian said, "Dad, you've been in Panshi for so many years, you also know how popular the Sanbao Winery was back then, people came from everywhere to buy wine. Even those big hotels in the province came here to buy wine. At that time, everyone wanted to get a job as a worker in the winery. Unfortunately, those officials messed things up. Such a big winery, because it couldn't keep up with production, they started making fake wine themselves. Not only did they not expand production, but in the end they even directly bought ethanol to mix it in, ruining a perfectly good winery to the point of near bankruptcy."
Sanbao Distillery used to be a unique landmark in Panshi. The trucks coming to pick up wine lined up from the distillery entrance all the way to the city government building. Because of this, the city government specially allocated a large piece of land to Sanbao Distillery for parking. Such a high-quality enterprise, a star enterprise, was forced into bankruptcy by those bureaucrats. I really don't know what they were thinking. In his previous life, when Liu Jian was bored, he had wondered what it would be like if he were the owner of Sanbao Distillery. Now that he saw the opportunity, Liu Jian was like a shark that had smelled blood, frantically wanting to tear off a few bites.
Recalling the distillery's former glory, Liu Fu couldn't help but sigh at the impermanence of the world. He nodded and said, "Yes, I know all this. Sanbao Distillery's production couldn't keep up, and many people couldn't get their goods. In order to supply the goods, the factory started adding industrial alcohol to the wine. Later, it became adding wine to industrial alcohol, and now it's adding water to alcohol. Alas, a good distillery has become like this. Your Uncle Chen also told me about this. Back then, he also came from Sanbao Distillery. But back then, going to the distillery was just for gilding and gaining political capital, unlike now when everyone is desperately trying to transfer out. Today, the factory doesn't even have anyone in charge. Go on."
Liu Jian smiled and said, "Dad, I've inquired. Although Sanbao Distillery is about to go bankrupt, the distillery's equipment is all new and still usable. There aren't many workers in the factory. Those with connections and willing to spend money have left. Now all that's left are some people who are about to retire, and some small-time thugs like Li Si who can't find a way out and have been relying on the distillery. There's not much of a burden. Sanbao Distillery has stopped production and hasn't paid wages for several months. If this continues, the distillery's equipment will be sold as scrap metal by these people. Hundreds of thousands worth of equipment will become scrap metal. It's such a pity."
Liu Fu interrupted Liu Jian and asked, "Son, you're not thinking of getting those equipment, are you? We don't have any use for them. Even if the price is cheap, it's useless to buy them. It's not that easy to sell them off, and we wouldn't get a high price anyway."
Liu Jian shook his head and said, "Dad, I'm not thinking of getting the equipment, I'm thinking of getting the Sanbao Distillery. I'll buy the distillery and brew my own wine. This is a business, and as long as it's managed properly, it's a treasure trove. The Sanbao Distillery's equipment is state-of-the-art, the distillery's area is large, and the workshops are all usable. Without too many workers, there's not too much of a burden. Those government officials are all gone, and without those parasites, while the framework of the Sanbao Distillery is still there, buying it won't be expensive, and it has development potential. I think this is a great opportunity."
Carefully looking at Liu Fu, Liu Jian said, "Dad, you don't want to be called a contractor wherever you go, do you? This is an opportunity. It's up to you whether you want to be the boss of a company or a contractor."
When Liu Fu heard his son say, "Everywhere I go, people call you a contractor," his heart skipped a beat. He had indeed made a lot of money in the past few years, but who really looked up to him? Even if they didn't say it to his face, people would call him a contractor and a nouveau riche behind his back. Liu Fu wasn't used to being a contractor at first, but he had no choice because of his family's livelihood. He couldn't just earn a few dozen yuan a month and live a tight life. He figured people could say whatever they wanted, as long as he could make money. As he earned more and more money over the past two years, and his family's condition improved, Liu Fu felt more and more uncomfortable. He had even considered switching to another profession, but he didn't know anything other than the construction industry. He only learned about construction after being demobilized from the army and working for a few years at the Pan Shi City First Construction Company. Liu Fu started his own business because he was bold, had many friends, had been in the military and seen the world, and operated in a gray area.
If his son hadn't reminded him the other day, he wouldn't have known the consequences of violating industry rules. The thought of being ostracized by his peers made him feel indescribably depressed.
In fact, Liu Fu wasn't very happy being a contractor, he was just doing it to make money. He wanted Chen Sheng to get him a seat as a people's representative precisely because he lacked social status.
Liu Fu realized that the contractor's identity was affecting many of his social interactions. Even good friends, how many truly looked up to him? It was only because people laugh at poverty but not prostitution that no one made a fuss about it. He was nominally a wealthy man, a big boss, belonging to the upper class of Panshi City, but in reality, no one truly regarded him as someone above them. The most influential thing was those three words: "contractor." Hearing what his son said, Liu Fu felt very uncomfortable.
Liu Fu didn't say anything, signaling his son to continue.
Liu Jian knew that Liu Fu was already somewhat moved by what he had said, so he redoubled his efforts and said, "Dad, I've been thinking about this a lot these days. We could switch industries, but we don't know what to do. Today, I ran into Li Si, and I suddenly had an idea. What if we acquired the Sanbao Winery? Our family would have its own enterprise, a real enterprise, a big factory. With dozens of workers, wherever you go in the future, Dad, you'll be a factory director, a real boss, an entrepreneur, and who could look down on us then?"
Liu Fu took a deep drag of his cigarette and quietly pondered for a long time, until the ashes almost burned his hand before he snapped back to reality. He looked deeply at his son beside him, his heart was moved.
He changed his mind and said with a smile, "Isn't it you who wants to acquire Sanbao Winery? How did I become the big boss?"
Liu Jian looked at Liu Fu resentfully and said, "Isn't it you who made me go back to school? I don't have time to manage it. Otherwise, would it still be your turn?"
Watching his clowning son, Liu Fu was amused and laughed heartily, "If we acquire Sanbao Winery, you'll need to study even harder, otherwise, how will you manage such a big factory?" After laughing, Liu Fu thought for a moment and said, "Xiaojian, go and call your mother out. This is not a small matter, we should discuss it together as a family."
After Liu's mother came out, she said, "You father and son are chatting so happily, what do you need me for?"
After Liu Jian explained the whole story, she realized it was a big deal, and that these two were up to something. In Liu's mother's opinion, their current life was good. The family's conditions were getting better and better, they were earning more and more money, they had a house and a car. The only thing she used to worry about was her son's studies, but now she realized that her son was much better at doing things than going to school, so she didn't worry about that anymore. As for Liu Jian going back to school, Liu's mother had an indifferent attitude. Anyway, the family had money now, so it didn't matter whether her son went or not.
Suddenly, this father and son wanted to undertake such a big thing, and Liu's mother did not agree.
Liu's mother looked at the father and son staring at her and shook her head, saying, "I feel like this is a bit risky. Besides, aren't we living pretty well now? How many people have better food and clothes than us? When I go out, so many people are envious. If we don't do this, can our family still make this much money? And we don't even know how to brew wine. What if we lose money? I don't agree!"
Liu Jian had been mentally prepared for Liu's mother's thoughts. Liu's mother just wanted to live a stable life. Call it a lack of ambition or a woman's limited view, but that's what many people in this era really thought. Relatively speaking, Liu's mother was already more open-minded than many people to support Liu Fu going into business and giving up his formal job to start over. It's just that this matter was indeed a bit big, and in some ways, it was indeed unreliable. There was nothing wrong with Liu's mother thinking this way.
Liu Jian ran behind his mother and started massaging her back as he said, "Mom, I'm not saying we should stop doing construction. It's about adding another way for our family to make money, a way to make even more money. It's getting harder and harder to get construction contracts. Ask Dad, you don't believe me. How many people are eyeing those small projects from the Grain Bureau? We have connections, but others have connections too, and some have even better connections than ours. They can't give all the projects to us, can they? Give one to this family, give one to that family, and eventually, our family won't have many projects left. If things continue like this, our family won't make much money anymore. Mom, you don't want our family's life to get worse, do you?"
Liu Mu didn't know any of these things. Liu Fu always only reported good news and never bad. He couldn't hide it anymore today. Liu Fu didn't say anything but nodded to his wife.
Seeing Liu Fu nod, Liu Mu realized she had been thinking too simply. She turned her head and said to Liu Jian, "Go, sit over there. You reek of smoke. Stop sucking up. Even if that's really the case, how much money will it take to buy the Sanbao Winery? And what I said earlier, we don't know how to make wine, can we really do it?"
Liu Jian chuckled and sat back on the sofa, saying, "Mom, it doesn't matter if we don't know how to brew wine. There are so many workers in the factory; who doesn't know how to brew? We just need to know how to sell the wine. The Three Treasures Winery's wine always sold well, but the brand is ruined, and now no one dares to buy it. If we buy the winery and change the brand, as long as the quality of the wine is up to par, then we won't have to worry about selling it. We'll create good packaging, spend some money on advertising, and hire some people to hype it up, making a name for the wine. It would be hard not to sell well. I don't know how much it will cost to buy this winery, but I don't think it should be too high. Think about it, we buy the factory, we take over the workers, and the municipal government doesn't have to manage them anymore. They won't have to spend a single penny anymore. Isn't this helping the government solve its difficulties? How can they ask us for too much money? Actually, the most important thing isn't the government, but the workers who are left in the winery now!"