After the meeting, Fang Bai called Lu Dahai, the contractor, first.
A landline phone had already been installed in the office, costing several thousand yuan, and Fang Bai also updated his business card to include the landline number.
He still wasn't used to carrying a mobile phone; it was too much trouble and couldn't make roaming calls.
But if he didn't buy one, he'd have to wait until 1998 for PHS and GSM digital mobile phones, and his pager rang two or three times a day, which was quite annoying.
Like now, Lu Dahai didn't have a mobile phone, so he could only call his pager to reach him.
After waiting five or six minutes, Lu Dahai called back, and Fang Bai answered the phone:
"Hello, Boss Lu, I have a project here. Are you free?"
"Oh, you just came from your hometown, so you're free!"
"Within two days, help me level a three-thousand-square-meter concrete ground. Oh, it's a bit rushed. It doesn't need to be as thick as a road. I'm just holding a temporary event, and some of the muddy ground is too soft. Just do it casually; it's for people to stand on temporarily. Yes, three or four centimeters thick is enough. It's fine if it gets damaged, as long as it covers the muddy ground. We'll dig it up again when we build the Xinghai Shopping Mall later."
"If you're free, come to Xinghai Shopping Mall to discuss the details, there are still some other matters."
One bag of cement can pave approximately 3 to 5 square meters of hardened ground. Currently, the price of cement is 200 yuan per ton, which is 10 yuan per bag.
A three-thousand-square-meter concrete hardened ground, if paved according to civil standards, would cost at least fifty thousand yuan, but according to Fang Bai's requirements, one or two tens of thousands of yuan would suffice.
This three-thousand-square-meter hardened ground was mainly used for displaying prizes, as it was best to centralize the prizes to create a gathering effect.
The southeast and south sides of Xinghai Shopping Mall were hardened road surfaces, which could also be used as activity venues, totaling several thousand square meters.
These few thousand square meters were certainly not enough. The dozens of mu of land behind Xinghai Shopping Mall would best be compacted with a road roller.
Lu Dahai didn't have such equipment, but he had channels for it. Fang Bai directly entrusted him with the responsibility. Anyway, no matter what method he used, he just needed him to level a flat ground within three or four days.
Half an hour later, Lu Dahai hurriedly rode his motorcycle to Xinghai Shopping Mall and found Fang Bai.
Fang Bai took him to the open space behind Xinghai Shopping Mall, clearly explained the requirements, and told him to start construction immediately. If he couldn't do it, there would be no further cooperation.
Lu Dahai's eyes widened when he heard that Boss Fang had already bought these tens of thousands of square meters of land and was planning a large construction project.
That was a huge project worth tens of millions of yuan!
Holy cow, just buying the land alone must have cost several million yuan.
He didn't have the strength to undertake a large project, but just getting a small piece of the pie would be enough to make him rich.
"Boss Fang, please rest assured, I will level it for you even if I have to work night shifts, ensuring that people won't trip or fall when walking on it. I'll immediately arrange for personnel and equipment to enter the site and start work today, no need to wait until tomorrow." Lu Dahai was full of enthusiasm, wanting to perform well.
He and his fellow workers had just rushed over from their hometown and currently had no work, so they had been looking for jobs these past two days.
If it were a while later, they might have work and not necessarily be free to take on Boss Fang's project.
Fang Bai directly asked: "Alright, what about the construction fee?"
"This won't cost much. Including land leveling and three thousand square meters of concrete hardened ground, just give me twenty thousand yuan. It's a good start for the New Year, so I'll just earn some hard-earned money." Lu Dahai estimated that this price was just for hard work, and he might even lose money.
The main reason was to curry favor with Fang Bai; his big project was the real sweet spot.
Moreover, this was the first project of the New Year, and he couldn't refuse it, otherwise, this year's projects might not go smoothly.
Fang Bai nodded: "Alright, then you go get busy. We'll settle the project payment after it's done. I won't shortchange you. I also have a lot of things to do here."
"Okay, no problem. I'll go back and arrange people right away."
Lu Dahai still trusted Fang Bai's words. After all, they had cooperated once, and as long as the quality was good, Fang Bai was very prompt with payments.
After speaking, he immediately rode his motorcycle back to gather his team. Those guys were currently smoking and playing cards to pass the time in their rented room.
Fang Bai watched Lu Dahai's hurried departure with a thoughtful expression.
Should he acquire his construction team?
He would have many projects to undertake in the future, and instead of letting others earn the money, he might as well raise his own team.
Lu Dahai was good at his work and could be trusted.
Moreover, Fang Bai possessed the Golden Finger, so Lu Dahai couldn't hide any misdeeds from him.
Even if they eventually parted ways, the loss for Fang Bai wouldn't be significant.
Of course, it would be best for two or three construction teams to merge, so as not to let one contractor undermine him.
Hmm, after this event is over, he'll talk to Lu Dahai properly.
Lu Dahai didn't expect that while he wanted to get a piece of the pie from Fang Bai.
He didn't expect that Fang Bai was digging a pit for him, intending to swallow him whole.
The next morning, around eight o'clock, Fang Bai went to the County Industrial and Commercial Bureau to find Chen Shi.
Fang Bai first extended New Year greetings and then brought up the matter.
"County Chief Gu called me yesterday afternoon and said you were going to hold a large lottery event and needed our department's cooperation." Chen Shi was a bit confused when he suddenly received a call from the leader yesterday, so he had to wait for Fang Bai to arrive to clarify.
"It's like this: yesterday, I discussed large shopping mall investment matters with several County Leaders, and I happened to hear County Chief Gu say that the county's finances were difficult. I suddenly had an idea and proposed that a large prize lottery event could increase tax revenue by one or two million yuan, which requires the approval of the Industrial and Commercial Bureau and two notarization personnel."
"Of course, we can't let the Industrial and Commercial Bureau work for nothing, so I plan to donate fifty bicycles to the Industrial and Commercial Bureau." Fang Bai explained with a smile, also fearing that Chen Shi would blame him for not notifying him in advance.
After listening, Chen Shi carefully observed Fang Bai again.
This Fang Bai's business was growing bigger and bigger, and he was now directly connecting with the County Leaders.
An event that could increase the county's tax revenue by one or two million yuan—this information was quite significant.
Moreover, if this were true, then Fang Bai would certainly be a distinguished guest of the County Leaders.
No, as long as Xinghai Shopping Mall's scale increased and it became a major taxpayer in the county, the county would definitely value him, and even the city leaders would pay attention to him. At that time, Chen Shi would actually need to rely on Fang Bai.
Upon closer inquiry, Chen Shi finally understood what kind of lottery event Fang Bai was planning.
He was really going all out! The prizes were worth nearly ten million yuan!
Donating dozens of bicycles was not a small sum either. They could be distributed to unit employees, and he would also receive good reviews from the department's employees. He didn't expect such a good thing.
Chen Shi had no complaints about Fang Bai not telling him in advance anymore. He smiled gently: "The approval and personnel are minor matters. I thought it was something major."
"Hmm, that's all my fault. I should have notified you in advance." Fang Bai said apologetically with a chuckle.
"It's fine. If the county agrees, I certainly have no objections here. Given our relationship, there's no need to be so formal when speaking. If you need any help in the future, just come to me directly." Chen Shi felt that Fang Bai was very sensible. He was young but already well-versed in social conduct, and his business was so big, truly impressive.
Moreover, this guy's re-examination scores were so good that he was sure to get into a key university. If he pursued an official career in the future, with his high emotional intelligence, he would start very high and definitely do better than himself.
Thinking of this, he became even more polite to Fang Bai.
"Leader, the scratch-off lottery needs sales staff. You see, do you have any relatives or family members of well-performing subordinates who could also be arranged?"
"I plan to hold the event for seven to ten days, and a sales point can earn one or two thousand yuan, no problem."
Leaders don't lack money, but their relatives, friends, and subordinates do.
Fang Bai thought this way: an event shouldn't just make money; it should also smooth the way in the county, making future business much smoother.
Being on good terms with the County Leaders alone wasn't enough; the actual execution still depended on the relevant departments, and he also had to maintain good relations with the relevant units.
After all, County Leaders would be promoted to other places to serve, but his own business couldn't just move, right?
Chen Shi pondered for a moment. Fang Bai was giving favors and jobs, which was very thoughtful. His eyes were filled with kindness, and he asked amiably: "Hmm, roughly how many people are needed? When do you need them?"
"20 sales points, with 2 to 3 people assigned to each sales point, preferably by family unit."
"They need to gather at Xinghai Shopping Mall at 2 PM the day before the Lantern Festival to be briefed on the event details." Fang Bai planned to arrange 60 sales points. For the other 40 sales points, 20 would be for the public security department, 10 for Mo Yang, and the remaining 10 for disabled retired military families in the county.
He planned to print 32 million yuan worth of lottery tickets, which meant 16 million tickets.
Last night, he discussed it with his father and felt that the original plan of 8 million tickets might not be enough.
If sales were booming, they could continue, but it would be too late to print more tickets elsewhere.
As for prizes, they could be replenished in a day, unless the factory was out of stock.
So, they might as well print twice as many, divided into two batches, which wouldn't cost much more.
Therefore, if there were 8 million tickets, each sales point would be allocated an average of 133,300 scratch-off tickets. If all scratch-off tickets were sold, they could receive a 0.6% commission, approximately 1,600 yuan.
For seven to ten days, two or three people earning one or two thousand yuan was something everyone would want to do.
Fang Bai's allocation of sales points was precisely to win over people from these departments, which would save a lot of trouble in the future.
Chen Shi nodded: "Good, no problem. I'll give you the list the day after tomorrow. You can use them however you see fit then."
"Leader, after I finish with this event, I'd like to find some time to meet with Director Mo again. What do you think?"
"Alright, after you finish this event, if it goes smoothly, we'll arrange it. Consider it your treat, haha, no rush." Chen Shi was very happy. The wild game he ate last time made everything else taste bland now.
It was unlikely he would pay for it himself, but there hadn't been any dinner invitations recently either.
Fang Bai left Chen Shi's office and then went to find Luo Gang, the captain of the County Public Security Management Brigade.
The county government had more than a dozen departments. Some departments had only a dozen staff members, while others had many, such as public security, whose main leader was usually concurrently held by the Deputy County Chief.
Generally, there were five law enforcement and service agencies, and public security was one of them. The person Gu Wen had mentioned to him was Luo Gang, who was directly responsible for specific regional public security and could arrange for support from the police station near Xinghai Shopping Mall.
If County Chief Gu hadn't given him a heads-up in advance, it would have been extremely difficult for Fang Bai to cooperate with these people, and it was also the department he least wanted to deal with.
If you did something bad, they would just watch from the side. That would be acting against the wind, lawless.
Even if he was dealing with corrupt individuals, Fang Bai still felt a bit uncomfortable.
But overall, there were more righteous individuals.
By around ten o'clock in the morning, Fang Bai left the Public Security Management Brigade with a joyful expression.
Fang Bai hadn't expected Luo Gang to be so easy to talk to. He even said Fang Bai had helped him a great deal and proactively invited him for a drink.
He was really busy today, so he would arrange to meet him another day. Fang Bai wasn't afraid of drinking now; who would he be afraid of with a drinking capacity of one and a half catties?