Chapter Forty-Four: Industry Giant

  "Since it's a gamble, then naturally what we're playing with is our heartbeat. This thing in my hand is the blueprint for a sewing machine. A sewing machine is a device that can replace manual sewing and mending, and making a garment like this one only takes an hour." Zhang Lei said proudly.

  Patchwork robe (kasaya), named for being made from many small square pieces of cloth sewn together, refers to clothing with many patches.

  "It's actually so efficient, isn't Boss Zhang exaggerating?" Xu Feng and Yang Yong were both shocked. A hundred-stitch shirt, even if it was made by a skilled woman with nimble hands and feet, would take at least half a month to complete one piece. If what Zhang Lei said was true, then the efficiency would be increased by a hundredfold! It's easy to imagine what kind of scene it would be if sewing machines were promoted on a large scale.

  Zhang Lei burst out laughing and said, "Boss Yang, Boss Xu, this is the content of my bet. Whether I'm exaggerating or not depends on your judgment. Boss Xu, I'll sell you this machine blueprint for 1,000 taels of silver. As long as you can produce the silver, I'll give you the blueprint, and then I won't care about the blueprint or anything produced from it. What do you think?"

  After listening to Zhang Lei's words, Yang Yong took over and said: "Boss Zhang is really generous, opening his mouth with a thousand two, this is not a small amount."

  "Two big bosses don't have to be humble, for me, one thousand two silver coins may be a large sum of money, but compared to the two big bosses, it's just Zhang Fei eating bean sprouts - a small dish. " Zhang Lei said with a smile. It was also fortunate that Zhang Zhanfu's treasured fan saved his life at the time, allowing Zhang Lei to develop, but because he only occupied a very small part of all the businesses, the pure dividend did not bring him huge profits, and it only improved his living standards."

  Xu Feng sighed and said, "Alas, Boss Zhang was just joking. It's not as easy as you say it is. Even on normal days, when we're busy with this and that, the profits are already depleted by 70% or 80%. Let alone now when business is so tough to do, being able to break even is already a stroke of luck. Where would we have the energy to think about making money?"

  "The two bosses are really humble, they're both wealthy and influential people, yet they come to a young person like me to cry poor, this isn't fun anymore. Mr. Xu, I've said my piece, dare you bet on it?" Zhang Lei felt that the nonsense had gone far enough, so he directly pointed his spearhead at Xu Feng.

  Now that things have been said to this point, Xu Feng can't avoid it either. To be honest, 1,000 yuan is not a small amount, but the scene depicted by Zhang Lei is even more enticing. From the small single-person loom, you can see that Zhang Lei has absolutely stunning creativity.

  After a long deliberation, Xu Feng finally sighed and said: "Alright, Boss Zhang, I admit I compromised, one thousand two."

  Zhang Lei's face suddenly lit up with a smile, and he handed the drawings to Xu Feng, saying: "Xu boss is really generous, come on, let me toast you a cup first."

  The structure of the sewing machine is relatively simple, and it can't be operated manually. If it's made like a small single-person loom, you won't make any money at all. So Zhang Lei thought of this method, directly exchanging it for cash. As for others imitating and copying, let Xu Feng worry about that.

  A meal was eaten and the host and guest were satisfied. Back at Xu's house, Zhang Lei thought about the gains of this period of time and felt quite satisfied. Time passed quickly and the weather gradually warmed up. After several months, Zhang Lei came to the mountain where he planted sesame and tomatoes again.

  After such a long time, the tomatoes and sesame have grown vigorously, and it's really not bad for a cheap variety. Even if you just scatter some seeds and don't take care of them, they can still produce such an effect, which makes Zhang Lei feel very relieved.

  After checking and finding nothing serious, Zhang Lei returned. Anyway, now that he had this BMW, his speed was much faster, and a round trip would only take about half an hour at most.

  Now that the mountain affairs no longer need to be worried about, Zhang Lei also felt at ease and focused on making the power device needed for the single-person spinning machine. In fact, he still had other things in his hands, but good things couldn't be brought out all at once, or they would be too cheap.

  Doing just one thing, Zhang Lei, originally a carpenter, is now quite accomplished in the field of ironwork, especially in micro-processing.

  Since Zhang Lei last complained about how hard it was to run around, Xu Feng has been sending someone to Xujia Camp to pick up the goods every time. At first, it was once every half month, but later it became every few days, and Zhang Lei felt that he could hardly keep up with his pace.

  Xu Feng rose again in a short period of time, which has attracted the attention of other bigwigs in Songjiang Prefecture, including Su Lun, the young master of the Su family. The Su family's timber business has been rooted in Songjiang Prefecture for over a decade and has become the largest in the prefecture through the efforts of two generations. Their family assets are worth tens of millions, and it is said that they also have a deep connection with the authorities.

  This morning, he accidentally flipped through the account book that had not been taken care of for half a month and was shocked to find that the business had declined significantly compared to before, especially in the sales of wooden machinery. This situation made him extremely surprised, and he quickly called Chen Yufei, who was in charge of the overall business, into his study.

  "What's going on here? Tell me, at this rate of decline, in a few months I'd like to know what you'll be eating! " Su Lun slammed the ledger onto the table, his face full of anger.

  Chen Yufei was also worried, thinking of all sorts of methods but to no avail. When Su Lun asked him like this, he immediately reported: "Young master, it's not that we're not working hard, on the contrary, recently we've been thinking of various ways to expand the market."

  Su Leng snorted and said: "Expand the market? Can you expand the market to this extent? Nothing has been sold, your market has expanded to dogs, right?"

  As the person in charge, Chen Yufei has an inescapable responsibility for this result. However, it's not that he didn't try hard enough to achieve this outcome. Su Lun said this, making him feel quite wronged, and added: "Young master, you don't know the whole story. That Xu Feng is really enjoying himself lately."

  "Xu Ji? Isn't he the one who's been beaten down and can't even lift his head lately? How could he possibly affect my business?" As for Songjiang Prefecture, Su Lun was quite familiar with these few families, but when Chen Yu Fei mentioned Xu Feng, it made him extremely surprised.

  Chen Yufei nodded, enthusiastically introducing how Xu Feng had recently launched new machinery that was portable, affordable and convenient, quickly expanding its influence in the market. He leveraged his previous network of relationships to establish a foothold and then squeezed out other competitors. Then he mentioned that according to intelligence, these machines were actually developed in collaboration with a young person, anyway, he managed to distance himself from the declining performance.

  Su Lun sat in his own chair listening to Chen Yufei's report, with his left hand supporting his chin, or perhaps scratching the stubble that had just grown out.

  "Oh? So Xu Feng has such skills, what new thing has he come up with? Is there one? Bring one over and let me take a look. Oh right, you bunch of fools, can't you even make something for yourselves to see? Whose interests are greater, ours or his? In the end, won't we still be the ones who will be eaten alive?" Su Lun suddenly thought, if Xu Feng could do it, why couldn't he? Wooden machinery wasn't some kind of precise thing after all.

  Chen Yufei said with a bitter face: "Young master, we also thought of doing this, isn't this our usual way? How could I not know? But it's different this time, there are mechanisms on the machine."

  "Is there a mechanism? Can't this guy have learned something? So many of you can't break through one mechanism, I really want to take a look, go get me one." Su Lun waved his hand and said.

  The person below is very efficient, and in just a little over half an hour's time, he has already carried the box inside.

  "This is?" Suren had never thought that a loom could be carried around.

  Chen Yufei assembled the entire small single-person weaving machine and then demonstrated it to Su Lun, with a familiar action, obviously having studied for a long time.

  Finally, he introduced Su Lun to the core part of this machine, which was that box.

  "It's actually got this kind of function, it really is a good plan. This Xu Feng, seems like he can't be underestimated after all." Su Lun raised his head to gaze at the sky, sighing with emotion.

  After a while, he said: "It seems that I still have to take some time to visit this old Xu."

  At the same time, Xu Feng at home had no idea that he had already caught the attention of the big shots, or rather, he was no longer concerned about their opinions. During this period, the factory was producing small single-person looms and sewing machines. Because the core part of the small single-person loom was not in his hands, production was limited. However, the sewing machine could be made entirely by himself, so it sold better. This period not only wiped out the previous downturn but also achieved a significant increase, which made him feel very comfortable.

  "Haha, it seems that this Lei is indeed a capable person. The sewing machine, 1,200 silver coins, it seems that the money was not spent in vain. Now he has already earned back the cost, and from now on, it's all pure profit. It can also make up for the loss of the small single-person weaving machine." Xu Feng said with satisfaction. These two products were widely praised as soon as they entered the market. With this momentum, as long as they operate well, they will definitely be able to suppress several competitors.

  "Boss, boss, Sulen is here," said Er Gou, running in from outside.

  Xu Feng suddenly stood up from his chair, somewhat surprised, and said: "How did he end up here? Let's go out and meet him. Hehe, I have a premonition that this time he came is related to my two new machines."