Fang Bai took out the contract agreement and delivery note for Huang Xing to sign. After Huang Xing signed, he personally had the finance department settle the payment for him.
While the finance department was settling the accounts, Huang Xing extended an invitation to Fang Bai:
"Mr. Fang, our company is holding an annual meeting at 5 PM on December 25th, and we'd like to invite you to attend. Will you be available then?"
"Many of our peers will also be there to observe, so you can network a bit, and you might even gain something."
The company had a good year in terms of revenue, so Huang Xing planned to celebrate by having an early New Year's Eve dinner and inviting well-cooperating peers, using this opportunity to deepen their partnership.
Holding annual meetings started last year, and he felt they were quite useful.
Some large-scale enterprises in Wen City also liked to do this.
"Oh, it's my honor, of course I can attend. Even if I'm busy, I'll make time." Fang Bai didn't hesitate.
"Haha, you're good with words. Then it's settled."
Huang Xing wanted Fang Bai to attend for two reasons: first, Fang Bai was responsible for their company's outsourced processing, and the volume was considerable, so an invitation was appropriate.
Second, he felt Fang Bai was a very good person; he understood technology, and Huang Xing especially admired young people who understood technology.
"Alright."
After receiving the money, Fang Bai was not in a hurry to leave and went back to the workshop with Huang Xing.
At this time, the technicians had just adjusted a butterfly valve and were starting a pressure test.
Previously, they knew the gate was leaking, but they just didn't know it was the upper part, and even if they did, they hadn't thought it was caused by the gate's sagging.
During the pressure test, it was not advisable to be too close to the equipment.
Fang Bai and Huang Xing stood outside the pressure testing machine and still saw bubbles emerging on the water surface.
"Boss, the bubbles are much fewer. It should be fine with a little adjustment." The older technician reported to Huang Xing, a joyful expression on his face. "Mr. Fang really found the root cause. Impressive."
"Hmm, adjust it more." Huang Xing was also very happy; they had finally found the problem. He enthusiastically shook Fang Bai's hand, "Thank you, Mr. Fang, you truly are an expert, impressive."
"Not at all, Mr. Huang, you flatter me. It was just good luck, solving it by elimination."
"Once can be called luck, but twice definitely isn't.
Besides, being able to pinpoint the core problem last time couldn't have been luck; this isn't a lottery.
You have true insight, a keen eye, and real skill."
Huang Xing, being involved in R&D, greatly admired those with better technical skills than him. Now, the more he looked at Fang Bai, the more he appreciated him.
Young and knowledgeable, but what a pity, he's in business and not someone from his own company.
After exchanging pleasantries with Huang Xing for a while, Fang Bai left Nanjiang Company.
He was now squeezing every moment of his time, wishing for 48 hours a day. He had to do business, spend time with family, spend time with his wife, and study.
He was racing against time to grow stronger as quickly as possible.
Some regrets, once experienced, he didn't want to repeat; they weren't forgotten or unmentionable, but rather remained in silence.
A while later, Fang Bai successively went to Boli Company and Hengli Company to settle the payable processing fees, collecting over 30,000 yuan in total at once. His father-in-law could get nearly 20,000 yuan, which was the performance of one production line working two shifts for almost a month.
And about 15,500 yuan belonged to Fang Bai personally, and this part of the money did not require taxation.
Have you ever seen a salesman pay taxes on the money he received?
No way!
Fang Bai estimated that his father-in-law's production capacity had reached its limit and should urge him to add equipment.
He had only received the first payment before, so his father-in-law probably didn't have much money to add equipment, and Fang Bai couldn't lend it to him. On the surface, their relationship was merely that of a processing factory and an intermediary, not partners.
Upon arriving at his father-in-law's factory, his father-in-law was in the workshop, and Fang Bai settled the processing fees with him.
Qin Donghai received 19,500 yuan and was delighted. In less than a month, after deducting expenses, he had earned what he usually made in half a year.
"Fang Laodi, want to have dinner together tonight?"
"Brother, I really don't have time. Today I ran to three places to collect payments and dealing with those bosses is truly exhausting." Fang Bai had no time to waste at the dinner table, which would take two or three hours. He needed to focus on studying.
Moreover, once at the table, alcohol would be unavoidable.
What if he got drunk and they arranged girls for him?
Last time, his father-in-law wanted to take him for a foot massage. Was that something he could partake in?
Just kidding.
He had to maintain a good impression in front of his father-in-law.
Besides, he had to go to Hua Feng's house tonight to give him the rebate.
Hearing Fang Bai's words, Qin Donghai understood. Getting orders wasn't easy, especially snatching them from others.
Fang Bai saw him hesitate as if something was on his mind: "Do you have anything urgent?"
"Sigh, now that orders aren't very tight, I want to add two more pieces of equipment and more staff, but I don't have enough capital."
Qin Donghai's lack of capital wasn't the main reason. Including today's payment, Fang Bai had given him two or three tens of thousands of yuan in total, plus his own savings of thirty or forty thousand, and borrowing a bit more would be enough to buy two new pieces of equipment.
If he bought used equipment, it wouldn't be a problem at all.
Alternatively, he could also get a bank loan, which wasn't difficult.
His concern was that if he bought the equipment, orders might decrease, so he had to pull Fang Bai in as a shareholder.
Fang Bai smiled meaningfully: "You're not short on that much money, are you?"
"Hehe, my brother understands me. My main concern is the orders. I think we should deepen our partnership."
"Brother, just say it directly, don't beat around the bush. It's making my head spin, and it'll be dark soon. I still have something to attend to."
"Alright, I just want to invite you to invest in the workshop, with shares distributed according to investment." Qin Donghai had discussed it with his wife. Giving shares to someone, too little wouldn't work, but too much would be like working for someone else. He had to control over 70% of the shares, which meant giving up a portion of the profits.
But the benefit was deepening his partnership with Fang Bai and no longer worrying about him going solo.
Fang Bai pondered for a moment and said, "Is that so? Do my network resources count?"
If it weren't for his father-in-law's connection, Fang Bai could completely set up his own company and hire someone to manage the workshop, allowing him to enjoy 100% of the profits.
For him currently, equipment wasn't worth much. Investing over a hundred thousand to buy a few pieces of equipment was not a problem.
Helping his father-in-law was mainly to make up for the regrets of his previous life and also to improve his father-in-law's management ability.
Currently, his relationship with Qin Shuyu hadn't been revealed, so he had to follow the normal procedure.
As for his father-in-law, the factory building was his own, worth about 30,000 yuan. Two used pieces of equipment were around 30,000 yuan, and there were some tools and transportation equipment, worth about 5,000 yuan, totaling 65,000 yuan in assets.
If he bought two new pieces of equipment, it would probably cost 60,000 yuan, making the total assets 125,000 yuan.
If Fang Bai invested 25,000 yuan, he would hold 20% of the shares.
However, if network resources were included and his profits were added to the workshop's distribution, Fang Bai would definitely need absolute control.
Because Fang Bai played a key role. It was because of him that Qin Donghai's processing line could earn 20,000 yuan a month, and two processing lines could earn 30,000 to 40,000 yuan, totaling hundreds of thousands a year.
In comparison, what were the equipment worth?
For small factories, being able to secure orders was the main point.