Time passed quietly, and in a flash, several days had gone by.
Fang Bai's family was busy every day, except for Fang Tingting, who was still studying.
His stall had four strong college students guarding it, and they had set up the street stall many times without any troublemakers coming to cause trouble.
If ruffians wanted to cause trouble and extort money, they had to pick their targets carefully. Seeing four strong young men in protective gear guarding the stall, and with so many people around, it would be suicide to openly extort money without bringing a dozen or so people.
Instead of targeting Fang Bai's stall, it was better to pick on small factories run by outsiders, who were easier to bully.
Generally, they wouldn't dare to mess with locals, as an entire village might come out to defend them.
Ultimately, it was about bullying the weak and fearing the strong.
On another note, Wen City's business environment was much better now than two years ago, when there were many robbery cases.
However, some ruffians didn't care about such things; their eyes were fixed on money. They would seize any opportunity, even resorting to open robbery in broad daylight.
In this era, Wen City also had many triads. As far as Fang Bai knew, they were quite active on Shenhai Road in the city center, but fortunately, it was quite far from him.
In short, Fang Bai's stall still carried risks, but they were significantly reduced.
Some time ago, considering the safety of the on-site personnel, Fang Bai specifically bought several sets of security equipment for the students on guard to wear and use, including helmets, custom stab-proof vests, shields, and steel forks. They looked like steel factory workers and were not to be trifled with.
If it weren't for these few big student guards, they would most likely have been targeted by ruffians.
When earning money in this era, Fang Bai had long paid attention to personal safety. On the very first day he set up his stall, he hired two Da Ge Zi students, and after two or three times of setting up the stall, he increased the number to four.
Today was December 25th, and at 5 PM, Fang Bai was scheduled to attend Nanjiang Company's annual meeting.
Around 4 PM, he changed into formal wear for the banquet, bringing some business cards with him.
Since drinking was inevitable at the banquet, he hailed a Fiat car outside his home to take a taxi there.
Taking a taxi was only slightly more expensive than riding a human-powered trishaw. This car was much cheaper than a santana, costing only about ten thousand yuan, and never exceeding thirty thousand yuan even at its most expensive. Wen City now had thousands of Fiat cars.
Fiat cars being used as taxis had already become a unique feature of Wen City.
Sitting in the small and exquisite car, Fang Bai looked at the four closely-packed seats. The car body was not much different from the 'old man's joy' cars of later generations, and his thoughts drifted back three years.
In early 1987, the "Fiat" microcar appeared in the city, sparking curiosity among citizens.
In just a few months, it developed at a dazzling speed, and by the end of the year, Wen City already had two to three thousand Fiats.
In this "Fiat" craze, joint ventures, affiliated, and individual taxi companies exploded like firecrackers. At night, the streets of Lucheng instantly became a kingdom of micro-taxis.
Three years later, Fiats were ubiquitous on the streets.
Over these three years, there were continuous cases of taxi hijackings and robberies of drivers. Fang Bai knew of at least two incidents that occurred on Wuma Street; the unknown ones were certainly more numerous.
It was precisely because of such rampant crime that relevant departments specifically targeted criminals involved in taxi robberies, significantly improving public security.
His thoughts returned to the present. He had told his parents last night that he was attending a banquet, and they repeatedly warned him to be careful at night.
This afternoon, his mother nagged him several more times.
More than ten minutes later,
Fang Bai arrived by car at a decent hotel in Oubei.
In those days, there were no particularly high-end hotels. From his perspective, the five-story, ordinarily decorated hotel in front of him was indeed nothing special, not comparable to a three-star hotel of later generations, but it was considered quite good for that era.
At the hotel entrance, there was a sign indicating the location, start time, and other details of the Nanjiang Company's Annual Meeting.
Nanjiang Company had about a hundred employees. As Fang Bai walked into the hotel, Huang Xing noticed him and waved.
"President Huang, I wish your esteemed company prosperous business and abundant wealth in the new year."
"Haha, thank you, I'll take your auspicious words." Huang Xing warmly shook his hand and led him to the VIP table.
At this time, four people were already seated at the VIP table. They were somewhat curious to see Huang Xing bring a young man over.
When they reached the table, Huang Xing introduced him to everyone:
"Everyone, this is President Fang Bai. He currently specializes in valve processing. All of our company's gate and globe valves are handled by President Fang.
President Fang is an expert in the butterfly valve industry; he has helped me solve many core technical problems. If I have any technical difficulties in the future, I'll still need to ask for his help."
Hearing Huang Xing's grand introduction, everyone instantly became interested in Fang Bai. He looked truly young, probably just over twenty, even younger than the children of some of the bosses present.
But he had already started his own business and was recognized and valued by Huang Xing. Even if he wasn't as formidable as Huang Xing claimed, he was still a standout among his peers.
At first, they even thought he was a junior member of Huang Xing's family.
"Oh, President Huang, so there are technical problems that even you can't solve? Then President Fang must be truly impressive." One of the bosses showed slight interest.
"It's a great honor to meet all the presidents. President Huang is exaggerating a bit. I just happen to know a little about butterfly valves, happened to see it, and gave some casual advice," Fang Bai said modestly.
Huang Xing still went around the table, introducing Fang Bai in turn:
"President Fang, this is President Zhang, the boss of Jida Valve Company, specializing in producing plug valves and ball valves;
This is President Li of Shuanggao Valve, specializing in producing gate and globe valves;
This is President Chen of Sanfeng Foundry, and this is President Mei of Wangguan Footwear. He started his business with me back then but didn't want to get into valves; he made shoes himself and has done very well, with a considerable scale."
Fang Bai shook hands with each of the bosses and exchanged business cards with them.
He was neither obsequious nor arrogant; he treated everyone as equals in his interactions.
Anyone invited by Huang Xing to sit at this table for dinner would naturally have a decent status. Even if one looked down on them, they would still have to show respect to Huang Xing and wouldn't casually embarrass anyone.
Embarrassing a guest without reason would naturally be embarrassing Huang Xing.
They were all adults and naturally understood that offending someone without cause would not benefit them.
Just because someone was doing average now didn't mean they would be bad in the future. Perhaps they would need their help someday; a business person's life is never smooth sailing.
For example, President Chen of Chun Foundry paid more attention to Fang Bai and warmly engaged with him, because from a business perspective, foundries are often the subcontractors.
After Huang Xing finished his introductions, he said he needed to go to the entrance to greet more guests and told everyone to chat freely.
There were too many valve factories in Wen City, but Fang Bai still remembered some of the larger ones, such as President Li of Shuanggao Valve, which had a scale of one to two hundred people.
"President Li, I've long admired your reputation. Your company's high-pressure sealed stainless steel globe valves are very famous in the industry and are specifically made for export." Fang Bai gave President Li the only opportunity to explore his thoughts today, showing him great consideration.
"Oh, President Fang is quite familiar with my company's products."
"I have some understanding, and I've even specifically researched them. Since you're here, please give me more pointers." Fang Bai said politely. Flattery at a drinking table shouldn't be taken seriously.
Given the current industry level, he could only be considered a newcomer, and he was also young, so he should maintain a low profile. However, if others were to give him the cold shoulder, Fang Bai wouldn't give them a good face either.
Everyone present had been through the mill in society for many years and were seasoned veterans at banquets; they understood basic etiquette.
In addition, he wanted to take on the outsourced processing business for the other company's gate and globe valves to increase his network.
"Haha, let's exchange ideas."
After praising President Li, Fang Bai also exchanged pleasantries with President Zhang of Jida Valve Company.
By the time the last four VIPs arrived, Fang Bai had already finished exchanging pleasantries with the four bosses present.
Soon after, the banquet began.
During the event, Fang Bai also noticed Huang Xing's nephew at Huang Xing's family table, who was currently just a teenager and a student.
Fang Bai was actually a little curious about how this young man would develop in the future.
At 7 PM, Fang Bai left the hotel, reeking of alcohol.
When he arrived at his doorstep, Liu Fengqing saw her son get out of a Fiat car, his face flushed, his steps unsteady, a triumphant smile on his lips, and singing:
"I stumble and sway like a surging wave,
Hey, a myriad of grievances are dismissed with a laugh,
I know the world inside the car,
Shaking, but refusing to fall!"
He was singing quite enthusiastically. Liu Fengqing quickly supported her son, called her husband to help her get him inside, patted his head, and playfully scolded him:
"My dear boy, you can't drink! Why drink so much? You're acting crazy and even singing now."
"Husband, hurry up! Our son is drunk and acting up!"
Liu Fengqing saw her husband dawdling and shouted loudly towards the house.
"Coming, coming!"
Soon, Fang Shi scurried out. He saw his wife supporting their son, whose little legs were already unable to stand on their own. He smelled the alcohol from afar and quickly scurried over to help him.
Fang Bai closed his eyes, touching his dizzy forehead, and lay on the chair. The white liquor had a strong kick. Fortunately, he had used going to the bathroom as an excuse to leave early multiple times; otherwise, it would have been hard to get back.
It was better to escape drinking than to make a fool of himself. Drink as little as possible, or not at all if possible.
Who the hell remembers your performance escaping drinks after getting drunk? After getting drunk, people just see if you have any use value. If not, it's ineffective socializing.
His alcohol tolerance wasn't good now, otherwise, he'd want to drink those old drunkards under the table.
Just thinking about it was enough; an average of over a jin of high-proof baijiu per person was truly something not just anyone could handle.
He was drunk after half a jin, and even if he practiced, he'd only reach a little over a jin.
"I'm so sleepy, I'm going to sleep for a bit." Fang Bai mumbled, then fell asleep.
Seeing him in this state, his parents still helped him tidy up, brought him hot water to wipe his face and soak his feet, and finally helped him to bed to rest.
In the middle of the night, Fang Bai had a nightmare, again the scene from 2001.
He instantly became much more awake, sitting up still somewhat angry. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself, saw a teapot on the table, which seemed to be water prepared by his parents, gulped down two large cups, and then lay back down.
Currently, he could only work hard to make money, upgrade, and improve his strength.
At yesterday's banquet, he hadn't yet established a relationship of mutual interest with the various bosses, so it couldn't be considered true networking yet.
But they had already met and exchanged pleasantries, and soon there would be business dealings. He could start by seeking valve orders from those few bosses.
Unexpectedly, Huang Xing introduced him to so many bosses, which saved him a lot of trouble.