Chapter Twenty: Smash your iron rice bowl and I'll give you a golden one.

  Ye Haodong had expected him to refuse.

  At that time, people's concept of 'iron rice bowl' was very strong, and they looked at the identity of state-owned enterprise workers with special importance. Before Zhu Gong's reform, no matter how poor the business performance was or how difficult life was, most of them would rather choose to stay in a half-dead state-owned enterprise. When Ye Haodong worked in the bathhouse, he had contact with these people and understood their reluctance to give up their identity as state-owned enterprise employees.

  "We didn't ask you to quit your job, just come and help us out first. Since your factory is temporarily suspended, it's better for you to come here and help us rather than staying at home doing nothing. I'll pay you 1,500 yuan per month, and I'll pay you three months' salary in advance. If after three months my side still can't get on track, you can go back to work at the River Mouth Factory anytime."

  Ye Haodong's words far exceeded Zhong Zhimin's expectations, and the conditions he offered were so generous that he couldn't refuse.

  "If in these three months, our factory resumes production and needs me to go back, can I leave at any time?"

  Ye Haodong: "No problem."

  Zhong Zhimin: "If I have to leave within three months, I will return the excess salary to you."

  Yehao Dong burst out laughing, with a hint of magnanimity: "Don't mention it, if you have to leave at that time, just lift your foot and go. Let's be friends, who knows when I'll need to trouble you in the future."

  Zhong Zhimin raised his cup: "Alright, you two brothers are satisfied, I, Zhong Zhimin, am not a petty person either. I agree to go with you. This cup of wine is for you two, as you can look up to me."

  Three men clinked their cups together.

  Three days later, Ye Haodong and Bao Li were led by Zhong Zhi to take the train from Fengcheng to Quancheng. The destination of this trip was the Quancheng Paper Pulp Equipment Factory.

  With Zhong Zhi Min, this old horse who knows the way, the machine purchase contract was quickly finalized. The price is much cheaper than Ye Hao Dong expected, and the whole set of equipment cost 1.8 million yuan, which is far below Ye Hao Dong's budget.

  Three people returned to Steel City for a week, and new equipment and factory installation personnel also arrived. The factory address was chosen in the backyard of the big house bought by Ye Haodong, adjacent to the Shahe River, with high-voltage lines nearby, which is a good place to build a factory.

  Staring at the hundreds of tons of waste paper piled up in front of the acquisition station, Ye Haodong's idea of turning this garbage into money became more and more urgent.

  The equipment installation and debugging took a total of half a month. After confirming that the operation was normal, the factory personnel left. Zhong Zhi-min participated in the entire process from installation to debugging, working continuously for more than 10 hours every day. Zhong Zhi-min, this national cadre who was used to being pampered and enjoying privileges, became thin and haggard. Li Wei-dong felt that his salary of one thousand yuan per month was well worth it.

  Ye Haodong is completely inexperienced in equipment, but he sees the hard work of Zhong Zhimin and his team every day. All he can do is try to guarantee logistics support, let these people eat well and sleep well.

  After these people came, Ye Haodong specially arranged for them to stay in the best conditions in the nearby ore dressing plant's guest house. The food was also the highest standard of the guest house. Every night after work, there were good cigarettes and wine to entertain. This matter made Li Weidong both heartbroken and puzzled.

  "We buy their equipment, they come to install it, this is what they should do. These people come out to work, the factory must have arrangements for food and accommodation, why should we spend more money unnecessarily."

  Ye Haodong: "We should look further ahead, I heard Zhong Zhimin tell me that the future operation of these equipment, the fault rate and so on will have a great relationship with this debugging. These guys don't understand it, we provide them with some convenience in food and accommodation, they will be more careful when installing, each component will be installed strictly according to the design requirements, during debugging, they will also be more serious, when we officially start production, there will be fewer equipment failures, more pulp production, spending this money today is still worth it."

  After the workers from the creamer factory left after installation and debugging, the four technical workers introduced by Zhong Zhimin also arrived, and everything was ready, only waiting for the east wind.

  Two days later, Li Weidong took the lead and invited the heads of local environmental sanitation departments, power supply and water supply departments, as well as industrial and commercial management departments to several big tables. They had a lively and noisy opening banquet.

  Ye Haodong's first venture, the New Green Soy Sauce Factory, has officially started operations. The name of the factory comes from Ye Haodong's time in juvenile detention, where he saw a patch of new green on the eastern mountain outside his window, symbolizing vigorous growth.

  The pulping machine can finally produce at full capacity, and a large amount of waste paper is being fed into the machine, eventually turning into buckets of white pulp. Ye Haodong and others are all very excited.

  The first step of the Long March has been taken quite smoothly, but various difficulties are far from over. First is the sales problem, and less than a month after production started, the small yard of the factory was already filled with large buckets of pulp; turning waste paper into pulp is only the first step in turning waste into treasure, next Ye Haodong still needs to find a way to sell them out, to quickly recover the funds spent, to form a virtuous cycle. This matter is pressing, and Ye Haodong must solve it as soon as possible.

  Another difficulty is related to the local power supply department. Although this equipment is mainly hydraulic, two programs have a large power consumption, so the local power supply department comes to the door and indicates that the factory's electricity usage is relatively large, increasing the line load. Due to concerns about affecting the normal production of the ore dressing plant, it was decided to stop supplying electricity.

  The third difficulty is caused by the shortage of raw materials. More than a month ago, hundreds of tons of waste paper piled up like mountains would have turned into pulp equivalent to 70-80% of the original quality. Moreover, this month, despite Li Weidong's increase in the price of waste paper and the expansion of procurement efforts, the contradiction between supply and demand due to insufficient raw materials and inability to fully release production capacity has become increasingly apparent.

  In the meeting room of the activity board house, Ye Haodong's main subordinates gathered together. Bao Lijiang, who was in charge of scrap metal recycling, Li Weidong, who was in charge of paper pulp raw material recycling, and Zhong Zhimin, the temporary factory director of the pulp mill, all sat there without saying a word, with a hint of worry on their faces.

  Ye Haodong has also been frowning for days. After thinking continuously for several days, he finally came up with a plan today.

  Ye Haodong: "I know you've been worried about me lately, our career is now encountering difficulties, and if anything goes wrong, we may have to close up shop early. But what I want to say is that these difficulties are nothing, as long as we plan well, difficulties can turn into good things!"

  As soon as the words were spoken, the three people's reactions were different. Li Weidong was somewhat unbelievable, Bao Ligang was very convinced and nodded his head, while Zhong Zhimin directly expressed distrust: "Haodong, I've been thinking about these things for a few days, but I haven't come up with any good solutions. Firstly, the sales route of paper pulp is something I have no way to deal with. As for the power supply department, I can try to find the old factory director and ask him to intercede. As for the difficulties with raw materials, Weidong is familiar with it, let's see if he has any good ideas?"

  Li Weidong helplessly said, "What good method can I have? Our purchase price is already three points higher than other places per catty. Now all the waste paper in the ore dressing plant area has been collected by our family, but it's still not enough for those big machines in the factory."

  Baoli just wanted to speak, but Ye Haodong waved his hand at him and smiled: "Your side is doing well, I know that this month you earned more than 8,000 yuan, happy things don't need to be said. Today's focus is on solving difficulties. I have an idea, listen and see if it works."

  Three people nodded.

  Ye Haodong: "I think the primary problem to be solved is the product backlog. Our main difficulty now, in fact, boils down to a cash flow issue. The power supply department needs money to grease the wheels, and raw materials require daily funding. I have already devised a comprehensive plan to thoroughly resolve the raw material issue, but this plan also cannot do without money. Therefore, I believe that the most pressing problem to be solved at present is to convert the contents of those large vats in the courtyard into cash."

  Li Weidong nodded: "Then what's your good way to find a sales channel?"

  Ye Haodong: "Two days ago, I made a call to the purchasing department of Liao Cheng Xinfeng Paper Mill. The other party was very happy and had a very positive attitude. Tomorrow, Vice Director Wang from their side will come over to take a look at our pulp to see if it meets their requirements. If it's qualified, they'll buy as much as they need."

  Zhong Zhimin was somewhat surprised: "Xinfeng Factory I know, that's a large factory with thousands of people, how did you get in touch with them, and why would they care about our little paper pulp?"

  Ye Haodong: "Do you still remember the Song Chao Du I mentioned to you from the juvenile detention center? His father is Song Hao, his company has a huge procurement contract with Xinfeng Factory every year. I helped Song Chao Du before, and when he went to visit his son, he happened to meet him, so they got to know each other. He always thought he owed me a personal favor, as soon as I found him, he immediately agreed to help, personally contacted the director of Xinfeng Factory, Liu Chang, that's how I got in touch with the procurement department of Xinfeng Factory."

  Zhong Zhimin was delighted: "Director Liu is a well-known figure in the industry, he has the final say, and our products are all made of high-quality raw materials. This matter has a 90% chance of success. I didn't expect that Haodong had quietly found a solution."

  Ye Haodong smiled confidently: "I not only want to contact them to buy our pulp, but I also plan to borrow a chicken to lay eggs and cooperate with them to make our pulp industry bigger."

  The three of them listened and nodded in agreement, even Zhong Zhi Min, who had always looked down on Ye Hao Dong's group, couldn't help but praise him: "You really don't seem like a 17-year-old."

  "Children of poor families have to take responsibility early, horses are afraid of being ridden, people are afraid of being forced, Buffett started playing stocks at the age of 10, what's this compared to that?" - Ye Haodong

  The next day, in Fuyulou, the largest restaurant in Xinguang District.

  Director Wang, with a drunken tongue, patted his chest and made a guarantee: "All paper pulp will be purchased at the market price of high-quality paper pulp. The truck that pulls goods tomorrow will arrive, and the payment for the goods will be settled at the same time. Moreover, all products from Xinglu Pulp Factory in the future will be fully packaged by Xinfeng Factory."

  After three rounds of wine and five flavors, the host and guest are satisfied. Ye Haodong settled the bill, took two Red Tower Mountains from the counter and put them in Wang Kechang's bag.

  Ye Haodong understood that this Wang department head could be so straightforward because of the face given by Song Chao to his father, and estimated that before coming, their powerful factory director had already made arrangements. Even so, Ye Haodong did not dare to neglect this Wang department head, eating, drinking, and taking everything without any difference, and also arranged for him to go to Li Tengyu's massage and health care center to enjoy himself thoroughly.

  The next day, Wang Kewang spoke with credibility, and six special tank cars from Xinfeng Factory arrived. After loading the car and passing the weighbridge, it was found that there were over 120 tons. At a market price of $480 per ton, it would be more than 4,000 yuan per ton in RMB. The financial director who came with the cargo truck happily handed over a check for 5.2 million yuan to Ye Haodong, which was personally signed by Liu Chang.

  The moment they got the money, Ye Haodong was not the only one who felt excited, Zhong, Bao, Li and three others were also overjoyed.

  Ye Haodong held the check, sitting there foolishly pondering, thinking about his next move, muttering to himself: "Business is getting bigger, need to find an accountant."

  Li Weidong walked in with some trepidation: "Haodong, they two want to ask you, what are your plans for the raw materials?"

  Ye Haodong: "What's wrong with you, speaking in a tone that sounds so awkward."

  Li Weidong smiled awkwardly and rubbed his head.

  When I first met Ye Haodong, although I thought highly of him, I hadn't seen any actual results. The first time I saw Ye Haodong make money was by selling medicinal bath formulas, and then there was the last time he sold stamps. The former relied on hard work, while the latter had a large component of luck, and it still wasn't clear that Ye Haodong had great abilities. Previously, following Ye Haodong, there were also some brothers who got together to help each other out and develop together. Just now, Li Weidong personally witnessed Ye Haodong striking gold for the third time, but this time it wasn't just luck and hard work. Ye Haodong's unique business vision and boldness were both evident in this deal.

  From now on, if we want to work together again, we must put ourselves in the right position. Li Weidong thought deeply and finally sighed this sentence in his heart.

  "Bring them both in and let's discuss it together, what should we do next."