The next morning, while Fang Bai was eating breakfast, he suggested that his family add another car—one for him to use and one for the family.
He would still need to take a car with him when he went to university.
"Alright, I'll go order a car today," Fang Shi said without much hesitation. Now, with the shopping mall's monthly profit exceeding a million, even after deducting high interest payments, there was still a surplus.
Jing Tian and others provided channels for the mall, which continually increased its product offerings, leading to a wider variety of goods.
After Fang Bai finished breakfast, Wang Dakai brought him the morning paper, saying there was interesting news about him.
"Boss, if you go out now, I bet a lot of people will recognize you," Wang Dakai chuckled. Since he had money, he bought more rugged clothes instead of his old student attire, making him look much more robust.
Fang Bai said indifferently, "Do you think this is a good thing or a bad thing?"
"It's not entirely a bad thing."
"Your words are meaningless," Fang Bai sat on the sofa, picked up the newspaper, and began to read.
On the third page, there was a prominent headline: "National College Entrance Examination Top Scorer: You Only Care About His Family Background and Looks; Be Less Prejudiced."
"Currently, the highest scores from each province have been confirmed, and with 675 points, it's not just the provincial top scorer, but the national top scorer!
After the college entrance examination results were released, student Fang Bai became a sensation among the citizens of Wen City, in every street and alley, due to his academic performance and his status as the son of Xinghai Company. He is handsome, sunny, and from a good family.
However, as his exposure increased, our reporters interviewed and found that citizens were more focused on his looks and family background. Some said that good looks and good grades were enviable, but some citizens said that such a family background should receive less attention and less reporting.
Some citizens also said, 'If he has a good family background, isn't it normal for him to achieve such grades? If he didn't utilize his superior family background, wouldn't it be a waste of resources?'
If it were a child from a humble background who achieved such grades, most would probably praise them.
In reality, the college entrance examination is fair to everyone; scores are not something parents can decide.
But if one only has a face without ability, no matter how good the circumstances, it is useless.
Our reporter conducted on-site interviews with teachers and students from Oubei No. 1 Middle School and discovered a shocking inside story.
Fang Bai, the national college entrance examination top scorer, is actually also from a humble background!
Fang Bai's parents are farmers, also from a rural family, and their family is poor.
Last year, he failed the college entrance examination, and then had an accident while working in a factory, losing three fingers. This was originally a sad event.
However, student Fang Bai was not discouraged by this; instead, he ignited his fighting spirit.
He led his family to start a business by setting up street stalls, studying while earning money. It can be said that Fang Bai played a crucial role in the rise of Xinghai Company.
At the same time, our reporter learned through interviews that Xinghai Company actively pays taxes and donated 300,000 yuan to Oubei No. 1 Middle School, making it an admirable enterprise.
Fang Bai's inspiring life is worth learning from...
Let go of our jealousy and anger, set good examples for our children, and pay more attention to their study habits and character development. Our children will develop in a positive direction, and our family will also prosper with our children's excellence."
After reading the newspaper, Fang Bai sighed. He wasn't happy; this surge in fame brought him no significant benefit, but rather continuous trouble.
He heard his mother say that some media reporters wanted to interview their family, so she told the employees not to speak carelessly, to refuse all interviews, and to prohibit customers from revealing information about the boss's family.
But the more they did this, the more curious people became.
Yesterday afternoon, many citizens visited Xinghai Shopping Mall, not to buy appliances, but just to take a look and see what the top scorer's store was like.
Now, many people come specifically to see it, and Xinghai Shopping Mall has gained a nickname: the "Top Scorer's Store."
Rumors began circulating among the common people that "taking your child to the top scorer's store will make them study better." Fang Bai found these stories his mother told him somewhat absurd.
Fang Bai couldn't help but complain that if he created a "top scorer learning machine" product, it would probably become very popular.
In the afternoon, Fang Bai went to find his father-in-law, taking him to visit his valve industry contacts to hand over the business.
"Hua Feng from Berly Valves Company is a bit greedy, but he has principles in his work and is a bit arrogant. I give him a good rebate, so Uncle, you must deliver gifts promptly in the future, to his home, not to the company, and don't tell anyone else. His home is located at..." Fang Bai meticulously explained, also telling him the unit price he was getting.
Qin Donghai was somewhat surprised after learning the price Fang Bai was getting; the money he earned was no less than his own.
Currently, Jiayu Company has four car drilling production lines with a total of 12 workers. Including Fang Bai's profit, the company now has a monthly after-tax profit of approximately 130,000 yuan, which is already higher than the profits of many valve factories with hundreds of workers.
The profit from contract manufacturing was actually higher than the profit from selling finished valves. Besides the advanced process methods and tooling fixtures, it was also due to Fang Bai receiving payments for every order promptly.
Fang Bai told him that their process methods would soon be imitated, and if they still used the same production line, a monthly after-tax profit of 50,000 yuan would be very good.
What he didn't expect was that Fang Bai had a clear understanding of all the connections he had built, including the hobbies of people's family members. No wonder he managed to secure the orders.
Hua Feng knew that Fang Bai had become the top scorer in the college entrance examination and greatly admired him. With so much family wealth, he still ran these small businesses.
Fang Bai took his father-in-law to visit Hua Feng, and then proceeded to visit other contacts.
At Nanjiang Valve Company, Fang Bai and his father-in-law also received a warm reception from Huang Xing.
"Boss Qin, let's keep in touch and cooperate more in the future. The market is so big, we can't finish it all."
Qin Donghai knew that Huang Xing was showing deference to Fang Bai, so he also said enthusiastically, "Thank you, Boss Huang, for always taking care of our company's business."
After chatting for a while, a student-like figure ran into the office. Huang Xing waved to him, patted his shoulder, and said, "This is your Brother Fang Bai, this year's top scorer in the college entrance examination. You should learn from him."
"Brother Fang Bai."
Huang He greeted him and then left.
After his nephew left, Huang Xing sighed and said to Fang Bai, "My nephew, his father passed away early, and I'm raising him now. This child is a bit mischievous, please don't mind him, General Manager Fang."
"Haha, it's nothing. I was the same when I was his age," Fang Bai said with a laugh. He wouldn't interfere with other people's family matters.
Looking at his demeanor, he seemed stubborn, and indeed, a child without a biological father to guide him can be harder to manage.
After visiting Huang Xing, the afternoon passed.
The next day, Fang Bai continued to take his father-in-law to visit the high-level executives of various valve companies. In two days, they finally finished visiting all the business partners.
There were no meals or drinks; they were visiting bosses who valued quality and price.
On the third day, Fang Bai took his father-in-law to visit the County Leader.
After County Chief Gu congratulated Fang Bai on becoming the top scorer in the college entrance examination, he chatted with him about the small valve workshops.
"Your previous suggestion for a concentrated area for small valve workshops. We recently held a discussion and analysis meeting and found it feasible. It can be used to build an industrial brand for Yongjia County. Currently, relevant personnel are conducting research, and I also want to hear your demands as a valve company boss."
After a brief thought, Fang Bai said, "Convenient transportation, easy parking, stable power supply, and ideally, dormitories should be built.
Each small workshop doesn't employ many workers, but the housing for these workers is a big problem, as small workshops don't have the capital to build migrant worker dormitories.
The County Government can invite interested companies to invest in rentals, but the rent must be strictly controlled; otherwise, it will increase the migrant workers' expenses and also put pressure on these valve factories.
Some commercial shops should be added nearby, primarily to serve the industrial zone.
The first year should have zero rent to attract valve factories to move in.
Future rents cannot be too expensive, otherwise, no one will be willing to move.
There's also another method: land can be leased for those small bosses to build their own facilities, as long as the land specifications are well-planned and the four utilities and level ground are provided. A time limit should be set for construction and relocation, otherwise, the land will be reclaimed.
If I want to find an industrial plot of a few hundred square meters, it's difficult for the county to allocate it to me, so I can only buy or rent other factories and renovate them.
But if land is available for sale, then building one's own facility is definitely the best option."
"Hmm, that makes sense. General Manager Fang, are you interested in investing?"
"Thank you for the invitation, Leader, but I don't have that much energy. I'll be going to Shanghai for university soon," Fang Bai shook his head. This was a thankless investment, but if done well, it would indeed benefit the county.
Whether it's for image projects, increasing county tax revenue, or attracting investment, it has a positive impact.
Fang Bai knew that County Chief Gu and other County Leaders were banking on this, but for a businessman, this investment would be subject to various restrictions. If the county heavily supported it, it could be done, but the profit would be low.
If it was done well, his relationship with the county would become even stronger.
However, Fang Bai didn't need that now.
After discussing this matter, Fang Bai brought up the main business, intending to invest two million yuan to buy land and build a valve factory.
For the county, this was good news, but Fang Bai's land requirements were relatively difficult to meet.
"Leader, my goal is to independently research and develop high-end valves, specifically for export to earn foreign exchange and break the monopoly of foreign valve companies in our country's high-end market. I'm not interested in making low-end products; that's too uninteresting.
In just a few years, Jiayu Company will quickly need to expand. If there's no suitable land, we'll have no choice but to move.
In fact, it's not just Jiayu Company; because there's too little land in Wen City, other factories will also be forced to move due to this, which is not good for Wen City's economic development. I hope the county has plans for this soon.
Concentrating valve workshops and factories in one area can actually save land. Otherwise, they're scattered everywhere, which is too dispersed and detrimental to commercial and residential development," Fang Bai emphasized. He wasn't making threats; if Yongjia County couldn't solve his land problem, he would eventually move out of Wen City.
If there's no land to expand the factory, what's the point?
Given the current situation, the only path is demolition, relocation, and re-planning.
However, implementation is still relatively difficult. Where will the money come from? Land must be sold for development; relying on tax growth is a bit slow.
Xinghai Company paid several million yuan in taxes to the county, which solved many problems. Therefore, the county attaches great importance to Xinghai Company and also hopes that Fang Bai can increase his investment.
Now, County Chief Gu felt uneasy upon hearing Fang Bai's words.
"General Manager Fang, you can rest assured about the land for the valve factory. We will definitely allocate a plot for you, giving Jiayu Company enough room for development," Gu Wen promised. "Give us some time to see how best to plan it.
Ah, hearing your reminder, I feel like the previous plans will probably have to be completely overturned."
"Of course," Fang Bai understood. Gu Wen had taken his advice and realized the problem.
Gu Wen and his colleagues had realized this problem long ago, but they felt it hadn't reached a critical point yet.
Now, Fang Bai had directly stated that if the land problem couldn't be resolved, they would definitely move out.
Jiayu Company was just one example; Fang Bai represented the sentiments of other company bosses, and other companies would do the same.
If this continued, Yongjia County's economy would struggle to rise.
Fang Bai chatted with County Chief Gu for a while and then left, taking his father-in-law to visit other County Leaders and heads of various departments.
A few days later, Fang Bai finally finished visiting all the contacts in the county town with his father-in-law.
In Yongjia County, there was no longer a need to significantly expand their network; maintaining the current situation was sufficient.