Fang Bai already had a plan and said to County Chief Gu, "Leader, for the first batch, let's set the pre-tax land acquisition cost at 20 million yuan."
Currently, he could obtain bank loans of 30 million yuan, and had about 15 million yuan of disposable funds. After deducting the maximum budget of 25 million yuan for the shopping mall investment, he still had 20 million yuan available.
He would also need to continue borrowing around 10 million yuan from the bank, and the money earned by Xinghai Shopping Mall could be used to pay the bank loan interest.
As for the inventory funds after the shopping mall was built, that was a matter for a year later. He would think about funding issues then; 5 million yuan would be enough to support the supermarket.
"That much?"
Gu Wen coughed slightly, almost spitting out the tea in his mouth, and asked with a hint of surprise. He had thought Fang Bai would only invest a few million yuan in land acquisition and development.
Fang Bai said with slight concern, "Yes, we must acquire this much at once. If other investors disrupt our company's plan, all our previous efforts will be in vain."
If they didn't buy now, prices would soon rise, becoming several or even ten times higher, which Fang Bai was naturally unwilling to accept.
"Haha, Mr. Fang is still worried about that?"
"It's better to plan early. If it really gets disrupted, that would be troublesome."
Gu Wen put down his teacup and motioned, "Hmm, tell me about your investment plan. Investing in such a large piece of land requires a lot of capital."
Fang Bai knew that Gu Wen was worried about his capital issues and also disliked relying entirely on bank loans. He said, "The first phase of Xinghai Shopping Mall can be put into use next year. The huge popularity of the mall, excellent shopping conditions, and surrounding living environment will attract more citizens to purchase residences nearby. Coupled with the current high demand and short supply of housing, I believe this is our opportunity.
Since there is huge demand, there's no need to worry about funding issues.
I plan to gradually develop over the next two to three years. As long as they sell quickly, development will be completed in just a few years.
Of course, taking a step back, if the property sales are not good, we can still afford the loss, after all, developing real estate is not something that is completed all at once."
Two or three years later, that would be 1994. Fang Bai planned to develop slowly, one word: delay.
Of course, if sales were good, there would be no need to delay. He would just use the money earned to hoard more land, leaving the land near the shopping mall undeveloped for the time being, waiting for sufficient appreciation before developing it.
For residential construction investment, as long as houses sold quickly, there was never any need to worry about construction project funding.
Bank loans and pre-sold houses meant that even before the pile drivers entered the site, houses could be sold, so there was no need to worry about funding for house construction projects.
Fang Bai didn't have much interest in real estate, but in terms of money-making speed, apart from stocks and listed companies, there really wasn't any enterprise that could compare to it.
He planned to hand over the real estate business to his father or other managers to manage. He must withdraw from this industry twenty years later, otherwise, stepping on a landmine would be a matter of time, and he didn't want to end up like a certain Mr. Xu.
But it has to be said, drawing circles on a map to claim land, just like ancient sieges or playing SimCity, was truly exhilarating.
"Hey, this land is ours, and that land is also ours."
"This land is for a shopping mall, this land is for an office building. Oh, that land must be for residential use, how about villas?"
"Forget it, I've played enough. I'll sell all the land and houses, stand high up to enjoy the scenery, and watch the tigers fight."
Using the accumulated money to engage in real industries—this was Fang Bai's idea.
On Gu Wen's side, after listening to Fang Bai's words, he fell into deep thought.
He also had ambitions and was weighing the gains and losses of this gamble.
Xinghai Plaza was the first large-scale shopping mall in Wen City, and it was estimated to be one of the largest and most forward-thinking comprehensive shopping malls in the country. If Xinghai Company operated successfully, it would bring Gu Wen significant political achievements.
The lottery event brought in over three million in tax revenue for the county, and the city leaders had praised him.
Now, if the land Fang Bai acquired was developed, just as he said, "A blank slate is good; re-plan, I'll lead the charge." Since the other party had this idea, it was indeed worth trying, and it also aligned with the county's plan, though it wasn't as imaginative as Fang Bai described.
"So, if you say so, all the small workshops in this area will have to move?" Gu Wen asked, pointing to the circles Fang Bai had drawn on the map.
"They must go, and no more permits should be issued, but they cannot be rushed. They must be properly resettled. Small workshops are the vitality of the county town and a characteristic of Yongjia County.
I suggest designating a large industrial zone specifically in the western part of the county town to provide small factory buildings for valve factories, small shoe factories, and other small workshops, with low rent or low prices, or even rent-free for the first year. Concentration also has benefits, forming a unique supply chain for Yongjia County, attracting more investment.
I think this concentrated planning is very important. If it's not planned well, more and more will emerge, and relocation will be extremely difficult in the future." Fang Bai emphasized this point, as the small workshops in Yongjia County in later generations were too scattered and difficult to plan, especially when the small bosses became rich and were even more reluctant to move.
Moreover, the entire county town was planned very chaotically.
"Leader, there's another point: we must leave enough room for the expansion of roads and parking lots. I think, in the future, car prices will become lower and lower, people's incomes will become higher and higher, the per capita car ownership will rapidly increase, and there will be more trucks. If a city's roads are not well-planned, it will slow down the city's development speed."
Gu Wen heard this and praised, "Hmm, Mr. Fang, you have very good ideas and a forward-looking vision, genuinely contributing to your hometown. Thank you for providing us with good suggestions."
"Leader, I'm just thinking from the perspective of enterprises and the public, and I also have selfish motives. If the area around Xinghai Plaza is messy, it's not a good thing for our company's shopping mall and also affects the city's image. This is a banner for Yongjia County to the outside world."
Gu Wen nodded. As a local government leader, he hoped that urban governance within his jurisdiction would be standardized. These were all political achievements and reputation.
Putting aside everything else, taking superior leaders on a tour of local construction without any presentable achievements would be a loss of face.
"How about this: I'll first convene other leaders and relevant department personnel to hold a special meeting on this matter. After the discussion is almost complete, we can meet again to discuss further. What do you think?"
"That works. After all, it's not a small matter. I'll await your good news, Leader." Fang Bai agreed. "Leader, I have something else to attend to, so I won't disturb you any longer."
"Alright." Gu Wen stood up, shook his hand, and saw him out of the office.
After seeing Fang Bai leave, Gu Wen told his secretary to notify all leaders and relevant departments to hold an investment special meeting tomorrow.
After Fang Bai rode his bicycle out of the county compound, he went to collect payment for the valve processing orders.
The last collection was before the new year. Now that the various valve factories had just started operations for half a month, it was time to collect payments.
He no longer took orders from Wang Hengli. He couldn't even finish the orders from other valve factories, so he had no shortage of orders.
That fat guy was incorrigible and had taken a mistress again. Given his wife's ruthless nature, that family would sooner or later have problems. Fang Bai didn't want to get involved; he didn't even need to seek revenge, the fat guy would bring about his own destruction.
Hua Feng, Huang Xing, and others knew what Fang Bai's family did. Recently, Xinghai Company had been very prominent, and they were very enthusiastic when they saw Fang Bai arrive.
Huang Xing was a bit confused and curiously asked Fang Bai, "Mr. Fang, Xinghai Shopping Mall earns thousands of gold daily. Are you still doing processing to earn this small amount of money?"
Fang Bai said earnestly, "Mr. Huang, industry is the cornerstone of a nation, and industrial valves are the nodal points of a nation's Context, controlling the flow of vital fluids like oil and natural gas. They cannot be underestimated.
I greatly admire experts who specialize in industrial technology and hope that the nation's industry will develop better and better.
However, our nation's high-end valves are monopolized by foreigners. The hope for the nation's high-end valves lies with us valve factories, and with you, Mr. Huang.
I also hope to make a name for myself in this industry and do something meaningful. This isn't a matter of how much money it is."
Huang Xing listened to Fang Bai's words, his tone heavy. Although he knew Fang Bai was flattering him, what he said was indeed true.
"Mr. Fang is right. If someone like you, who understands valves so well, doesn't continue to delve deeper, it would indeed be a pity."
"I just know a little. I came here this time to continue the lifeline of my processing factory. After the college entrance examination, I'll be going to university. At that time, I'll still need your continued support, Mr. Huang."
Huang Xing was startled. This method of asking for payment was quite interesting, and he couldn't help but laugh: "Haha, no problem. Let's go, I'll settle the payment for you first."
After Fang Bai collected the processing fee from Nanjiang Valve Company, he went to the next one.
Throughout the day, he visited several companies, and all payments were settled very smoothly.
The reason it went so smoothly was, firstly, Jiayu Processing Factory's high processing efficiency and stable quality, and secondly, people knew that Fang Bai, this young man, was very good and unexpectedly had connections with the county leaders.
After visiting all the cooperative valve factories, Fang Bai received over 80,000 yuan in processing fees. He could keep over 30,000 yuan for himself, while 40,000 to 50,000 yuan belonged to Jiayu Company. He would then take another 20%, so in reality, his father-in-law would only get 30,000 to 40,000 yuan, and after expenses, only a little over 30,000 yuan.
But it was much better than before; one month's work was equivalent to a year's work previously.
Fang Bai arrived at Jiayu Company again, having not seen his father-in-law for many days.
Qin Donghai heard the sound of a motorcycle outside the workshop, looked up, and saw it was Fang Bai. The calm expression on his face immediately turned to joy. He stood up and went out to greet him, laughing heartily:
"Fang Laodi, you're here!"
"Yes, I went to settle the payments." Fang Bai parked his car, took a black bag from his backpack, and handed it to his father-in-law. "These are the processing fees for this period. I suggest that after we collect payment next month, we add two more pieces of equipment.
Accelerate expansion this year and distribute less dividends at year-end."
Qin Donghai pondered for a moment. Business was indeed busy, and they couldn't keep up. He agreed, saying, "Okay, we really need to add equipment. Is it still a drilling machine and a lathe?"
"Yes, for now, it's still these types of operations. After we have enough five drilling machines, we'll add a milling machine. Some jobs can't be done without a milling machine."
"Alright!" Qin Donghai was now full of passion for his career. It wouldn't be long before he had to move to a larger factory building. He had already rented the neighboring building for backup.
Fang Bai watched the workshop for a while and saw a worker wearing hemp gloves grinding a workpiece with a grinding machine. He reminded his father-in-law, "When grinding with a grinding wheel, you still need to wear plastic gloves. If the grinding wheel hits a glove, it can directly pull your hand in, and you won't be able to shake it off. You still need to pay attention to safety."
Qin Donghai frowned and said, "Yes, I might as well stop buying hemp gloves. I'm really worried about not being able to manage it well."
"Plastic gloves are easily cut when moving workpieces. Remind them more often. They must work according to production safety standards, otherwise, if you have too many employees, you won't be able to manage them."
"That's true."
Fang Bai chatted with his father-in-law for a while and then left. He returned home, quietly read, and prepared for his exams.
Just as he sat down to read, he suddenly thought of Da Ge Zi Wang Dakai.
After Wang Dakai returned from delivering lottery tickets, he helped for two days, and before the event even ended, he realized he couldn't be of much help and went to learn to drive. Fang Bai hadn't had time to reward him, so he would have to wait until he returned from driving lessons to give him the 5,000 yuan reward.
Fang Bai had already given Da Kai a sum of money before. Giving him too much now, he was afraid that if he gave it to his family, they would use it to foolishly renovate their house or buy home appliances.
In those days, people, as long as they had a little money at home, would either renovate their house or buy home appliances.
As a friend, Fang Bai still hoped Da Kai would save more money and invest in a house in the city, which would be better than renovating his current home.
"Alas, people of this era, without mortgage pressure, actually live very happily."
Fang Bai sighed and sorted out his business.
The land investment matter would probably take several days: discussion, inspection, and then more discussion.
Fang Bai's father was handling the bank procedures, and the shopping mall was handled by his parents, so Fang Bai didn't need to worry about that.
On Jiayu Company's side, Fang Bai had already established connections with several valve factories. He just needed to maintain relationships occasionally, which wouldn't take much time, unless they were developing new clients.
After his father finished with the bank loan, Fang Bai would go find the design institute from last time to design the shopping mall. When he had time, he would also talk to Lu Dahai about investing.
All his endeavors were steadily progressing in a positive direction.
After sorting things out, he shifted his thoughts back and lowered his head to review.
During this period, despite being busy, he still managed to spare time to memorize English.
In the first half of the year, his main energy was focused on reviewing English. For the next few months, he only needed to consolidate his knowledge and catch up on the subjects where his grades were poor.