"Mr. Wang, why don't you sell this equipment to me?"
Fang Bai's words surprised Ma Jingsen and the two workers nearby.
Even if the equipment was broken, it was still worth a lot of money, not something an ordinary worker, let alone an apprentice, could casually afford.
"Fang Bai, even if this equipment has some issues, it's still worth a lot." Ma Jingsen didn't explicitly say Fang Bai couldn't afford it, but he genuinely didn't think highly of his chances.
Wang Hengli heard that Fang Bai wanted to buy the equipment and was a bit curious: "Fang Bai, what do you plan to do with it?"
"I have my own uses for it, but it's not convenient to disclose at the moment." Fang Bai smiled, "Mr. Wang, name your price. I'm aware of the equipment's condition; it can't be repaired. It's better to dispose of it and get a new one, rather than letting it take up space."
"Five thousand, I suppose. After all, it's still barely usable, and even if disassembled and sold for parts, it's worth a good amount."
Wang Hengli smiled meaningfully. He knew Fang Bai had five thousand yuan, and if the price was any higher, Fang Bai wouldn't be able to afford it.
"Mr. Wang, you're joking. Who would buy used machine tool spare parts? Even if you bought them, it would be hard to find matching ones. Therefore, this kind of equipment can only be sold as scrap metal."
Fang Bai said with disdain. There weren't many used machine tools of the same model, unlike cars which are easy to piece together.
Wang Hengli shook his head: "Selling it as scrap metal is out of the question. Just tell me how much you can offer. If I think it's suitable, I'll sell it; otherwise, let's not mention it again, it'll hurt our feelings."
Only when Wang Hengli said that did Fang Bai discern his true thoughts and his psychological price.
A machine tool bought for twenty to thirty thousand yuan, used for only a few years, with most functions still good, certainly couldn't be sold as scrap.
Currently, the price of steel is about 1500 yuan per ton, and the equipment's net weight is 3.5 tons, with the steel portion weighing about 3 tons. The highest recycling price from a steel mill would definitely not exceed 2500 yuan. If sold to a scrap collector, getting 1500 yuan would be good, so Wang Hengli was naturally unwilling.
"Three thousand yuan."
Fang Bai replied, knowing this was Wang Hengli's psychological price.
For Fang Bai, if he could repair it, he had a profit margin of seven to ten thousand yuan.
If it couldn't be repaired, it would only be a small loss, which was acceptable.
"Alright."
Wang Hengli hesitated slightly. Three thousand yuan just met his minimum price; as long as it was a bit higher than the steel mill's recycling price, it was fine.
As a boss with assets worth over a million yuan, he wouldn't dwell too much on small sums. If it felt about right, that was enough.
If the main spindle frame of this equipment were completely replaced and the column maintained, it would probably cost seven to eight thousand yuan, and there was no guarantee it could be repaired. In that case, he might as well buy a used piece of equipment.
"First, have someone loosen the bolts that secure the equipment to the ground. I'll come over these next two days to move the equipment, and I'll pay you then." Fang Bai said, spreading his hands, "I don't have any money on me."
"No problem!"
Wang Hengli chuckled, feeling that a troublesome matter had been resolved. He turned to Ma Jingsen, "Have someone disassemble the equipment. I'll buy a new one."
"Okay."
Ma Jingsen hadn't expected the boss to agree to this deal. Three thousand yuan was no small sum, and he never imagined that an inconspicuous apprentice would be so wealthy!
As for the price, it was about right. He really didn't know what Fang Bai planned to do with it; he might end up being a sucker.
No, he would definitely suffer a huge loss!
Too young!
He really thought making money was that easy. He didn't know where Fang Bai got his courage from.
Fang Bai was unaware of Ma Jingsen's thoughts and had never paid much attention to him. He greeted Wang Hengli, then went to the finance department to collect his wages.
He had worked for less than two months and only had one hundred-something yuan, but this money was not a small sum, and Fang Bai had to meticulously plan every yuan he spent.
One yuan in those days was not a small amount!
It was enough for most people's daily food expenses.
Nowadays, in Wen City's vegetable market, a jin of pork belly cost about 1.7 yuan. For most families, it wasn't easy to eat meat regularly.
Fang Bai remembered that only when he and his sister returned home from school on weekends would their parents be willing to spend money on meat, and the quantity they bought wasn't much, just enough to satisfy their cravings. Moreover, their parents would try their best to give the meat to him and his sister.
The fatty meat was used to render oil for stir-frying vegetables, with a few pieces of rendered fat added to every stir-fried vegetable dish.
Lean meat was generally used to make meat soup or stir-fry gourds; they usually wouldn't bear to deep-fry it for char siu.
Wanting to eat five-spice beef was impossible.
Eggs were cheaper than meat, but they couldn't be eaten every day either.
Fang Bai and his sister boarded at school, taking rice from home to exchange for grain coupons at school. Their family didn't have much cultivated land, so they often had to buy rice from the market.
They brought salted vegetables from home, occasionally with a bit of meat. Eating salted vegetables was mainly because they could be stored and saved money, then they'd get rice from the school. The school also had meat dishes, but most students were reluctant to spend on them.
People were generally thin in those days; Fang Bai, for example, was 176 cm tall but only weighed 62.5 kg.
During his time in the hospital, Fang Bai could eat a little pork every day from fast food, but his parents mostly ate porridge and steamed buns to save money.
Therefore, Fang Bai's current dream was to solve his family's food problem, so they could eat meat every day.
Especially since his sister was still in her growth phase; she was currently like a wilted cucumber.
He now possessed five thousand yuan, but he didn't dare to spend it recklessly.
On the other hand, he was racing against time, cherishing this golden era to earn more money. He couldn't waste time just to save money; what needed to be spent should be spent.
After Fang Bai left Hengli Company, it was already noon. He found a restaurant for lunch, took a short nap at the guesthouse, packed his things, and left the guesthouse.
Next, he planned to rent a place to start a business while also repeating his studies to prepare for the college entrance exam.
During his time in the hospital, he had already considered how to accumulate his first stage of startup capital.
This was precisely the golden age of economic development. The market had suddenly opened up, pent-up demand was gushing forth, and the market was completely blank, a pure seller's market. It could be said that business opportunities were everywhere.
Walking on the streets, the stalls he saw offered all kinds of food, clothing, and entertainment, carrying people's entire desires and passions.
Even with only a few tens of yuan, as long as one could find a source for goods, setting up a stall to sell small commodities like calendars was better than working a regular job.
Of course, due to the lack of mobile phones and the internet, information was enclosed, so capital was not the primary issue.
Rather, it was information asymmetry, and secondly, whether one had the courage to venture into business.
Fang Bai had thought about having his parents make things instead of working, but it was currently difficult to change their mindset. Only if he succeeded first and let his parents taste the sweetness would they change.
There were many profitable industries and paths, such as trading canned goods for airplanes, sourcing electronic products from Zhongguancun to sell elsewhere, opening supermarkets, opening arcades, promoting overstocked products through lotteries, stock trading, real estate speculation…
However, the current economic system was not very sound, and the business environment was not very good, so not every opportunity was suitable for him.
For example, trading canned goods for airplanes; Fang Bai wasn't confident enough that he would be so lucky in Bear Country not to get cut down. A man's death is like a lamp extinguishing; no matter how much money he earned, it would be useless.
Opening an arcade: there were quite a few hooligans playing games, constantly threatening violence and demanding protection fees. Smashing machines would be minor; he might even implicate his family.
Going north to stock up would take several days for one trip. Having enjoyed the convenience of high-speed rail, he definitely wouldn't want to experience the crowded, slow, and pickpocket-ridden green-skinned trains again.
From a god's-eye view, everyone is confident that they will be incredibly powerful upon rebirth.
If he didn't have the Golden Finger, he might have followed the paths taken by other reborn individuals.
But with the Golden Finger, his avenues for making money were much broader.
Therefore, after comprehensively considering his own situation, Fang Bai found a few suitable money-making paths that fit his rules before going to college.
Two updates daily, brothers, remember to help boost readership, it affects recommendations. Please don't hoard chapters; I update 4-6K characters steadily every day. I feel the plot is quite compact, with basically no filler.