funbook-pk Chapter 6: Having such an uncle is a blessing beyond measure.
Chapter 6: Having such an uncle is a blessing beyond measure.
Another week has passed in the blink of an eye.
8 month 27 day.
In the past few days, all employees of Lijiagang Company have been busy with department expansion, the continuous addition of new employees, and various training sessions.
In addition, he also arranged for Fu Bo's eldest son, Li Junwen, and the business manager to take his mechanical drawings and laboratory list to Japan to customize a fully automated production line and purchase various equipment needed for the laboratory.
Meanwhile, in order to ensure that the production line blueprints for manufacturing washing machines were not copied by the Japanese, Li Jiagang specially split the complete blueprints into three parts and asked Li Junwen to find three machine tool factories to manufacture them.
This is very necessary. After all, there is no such production line in the world. Once the Japanese see the complete blueprints, they may have ulterior motives, steal the blueprints, or even murder Li Junwen and his men.
Disassembling and customizing is at least much safer.
As long as the production line can be safely returned to Hong Kong, he will naturally find a way to put it back together.
In addition, news of the changes at Lijiagang Company quickly reached Li Yongsen's ears.
"You said that Jiagang has added several departments and is constantly hiring to expand the company's scale?"
"Yes, Chairman."
"Do you know why he wants to expand?"
"I'm sorry, Chairman, those managers are very tight-lipped. Before I could get any more information, they made an excuse and left."
"hehe!!!"
"It's good that they followed business rules. If they really would just casually reveal their company's secrets, then there's no need for these people to stay."
"Well, it's been so many days, I should go and see what that kid is up to."
After Li Yongsen finished speaking, he left the office.
Li Jiagang Company is also located in the same building as Li Yongsen's, renting his space. That's why the recent changes in his company reached Li Yongsen so quickly.
Li Yongsen took the elevator to the 8th floor.
"Hello, Chairman Li."
"Hello, Chairman..."
When Li Yongsen appeared, his former employees still greeted him respectfully.
"Okay, okay, you're all well."
"Not bad, you all seem full of energy and drive after not seeing you for a while. What's wrong, did you all get a shot of adrenaline?" Li Yongsen joked with them in a teasing tone.
At the same time, he was also surprised. How could the company's employees have become so highly motivated in just a few days? He was really curious.
While Li Yongsen was joking with his employees, Li Jiagang in his office was in a dilemma.
His face was full of worry.
Expanding the company, hiring more people, and introducing new laboratory equipment are all pretty cool things to do.
They can spend money like water.
His company account originally had more than 800,000 in working capital, and with the recovery of more than 100,000 from completed business, the company had nearly 1 million Hong Kong dollars in money, but now he has spent more than 700,000.
With only 30 yuan, how can that be enough?
He also needs to order washing machine production lines, each of which costs at least several hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars. Initially, he needs to order at least five production lines to make ends meet.
This alone would require over 200 million.
In addition, there are taxes to pay, and what about transportation costs?
Then we'll need to purchase raw materials, parts, and so on to produce the washing machine.
Anyway, it gave him a lot of headaches.
"It seems I'll have to take out a bank loan," Li Jiagang sighed helplessly.
It was only at this point that he truly realized that doing business was not easy, and no wonder he often heard news of certain companies going bankrupt or failing.
Now that he has experienced it firsthand, he understands the pressure.
For example, his company account is out of money now, and he has no choice but to take out a bank loan. However, once the loan is approved, his company's product development may fail or he may be unable to open up the market.
This will result in debt.
With so much debt, it's no wonder they go bankrupt.
"Is there really no other way to make money besides taking out bank loans?" Li Jiagang was still pondering.
"How about we sell off those radios in the company warehouse at a low price to recoup some funds?"
"But that's not enough. Even if we sell all those radios in the warehouse at a low price, we won't make much money, and we can't get all the payment immediately."
"Should we ask Li Yongsen to borrow it?"
"Forget it, I haven't even paid off the debt for their company shares, how can I have the nerve to borrow more?"
Li Jiagang kept muttering to himself.
I thought and thought, but I still had no clue.
Just then...
He suddenly noticed the newspaper on the table.
Commercial and Financial News: "The Hang Seng Index rebounded, closing up 6 points yesterday."
"The share prices of the five major companies, namely Cheung Kong, Hang Lung, New World Development, Sun Hung Kai Properties, and Henderson Land Development, have reached new highs."
When Li Jiagang saw this, he immediately picked up the newspaper and read it carefully.
"I almost forgot about the stock market."
In his original world, Li Jiagang was also a seasoned stock investor who loved stock trading.
Now that he has traveled to this era, he believes that with his decades of experience in stock trading and his prophetic memory, he is confident that he can make some money from the stock market.
If he could make some money in the stock market, he wouldn't have to worry about the problems he's facing now.
"It's late August 1978. What are some good stocks to make money in the Hong Kong stock market at this time?"
Li Jiagang kept searching through his memories.
"The milk-drinking incident at Landmark in October 1972 is over."
"At the end of 72, the legendary 'monster stock' incident involving Xiangjiang Antenna also came to an end."
"The Hong Kong stock market crash of 73 is over."
"The global oil crisis of 74 is over."
The following years were a period of economic downturn in Hong Kong, and there were no major events in the stock market.
"Damn it, I was born at the wrong time..."
"System, why don't you let me travel back to 72? That way, at least I could make a lot of money in the stock market and then start my own business."
If Li Jiagang were to travel back to around October 1972, he would indeed be confident that he could earn an unbelievable amount of money, after all, he would become the richest man in the world.
Even when Hutchison Whampoa changed hands in 75, he could have taken it over if he had planned ahead. He wouldn't have needed to start any other businesses; he could have simply expanded his empire from Hutchison Whampoa and achieved his goal in one fell swoop.
"What a pity..."
"78... What did you have in 78?"
"Oh dear, Wharf Holdings..."
"Haha, I almost forgot about that..."
"Knock knock knock!!"
Just then, a knock on the office door interrupted his thoughts.
Li Jiagang adjusted his emotions.
"Come in."
"Jiagang, what's making you so happy? I could hear your laughter from outside the door."
The person who came in was Li Yongsen.
"Uncle, what brings you here?"
"I happened to be back at the company today and heard that you had some big plans, so I came to check it out."
"Jiagang, how come you've expanded so much all of a sudden, hiring people and adding departments? Can the company's current business keep up?" When it came to the main topic, Li Yongsen also became serious.
Li Jiagang had nothing to hide from his uncle: "Uncle, a few days ago I used my connections and spent a lot of money to hire a very famous technical engineer from Japan who helped us break through the washing machine technology we were developing. We're currently manufacturing the parts."
"What? You mean there's been a technological breakthrough in fully automatic washing machines, and they've started manufacturing parts?" Li Yongsen jumped up and asked, startled by the news.
"The technology has been mastered, but until the parts are manufactured, we don't know the final outcome."
"Great! That's wonderful!"
"Your father and I spent over a year trying to achieve the same result, but you made a technological breakthrough for this product in just ten days."
"Good job, Jiagang."
"Thank you for your support, Uncle."
"Heh, you little rascal."
"By the way, if you don't have enough money, your uncle has some. Just ask if you need it," Li Yongsen said generously to Li Jiagang.
Li Jiagang was indeed very moved upon hearing this.
His uncle treated him exceptionally well, not only giving him all the company's shares without charging him any money, but also showing no envy when he heard that the company's product development was about to succeed. He was even willing to lend him money.
How could he not love such an uncle?
"Uncle, I really need the money, but I can't borrow from you anymore. Your company also needs to operate. However, I'd like you to recommend a familiar and reliable bank to me. I plan to take out a loan to purchase production lines, materials, parts, and so on."
"You need a loan?"
"Jiagang, your company is just starting out. You'll be under a lot of pressure if you take out a loan."
"And...and if the newly developed products don't sell well in the future, and you're still carrying this loan, have you thought about the consequences?"
"If you're really short of money, I'll lend you some, Uncle."
"If you feel uncomfortable, then when you make money in the future, just pay me the same interest as the bank," Li Yongsen said firmly.
Li Yongsen's words moved him deeply once again.
"Uncle, I've calculated it. Including the initial setup of the production line and the purchase of various materials, I'll need at least ten million. That's a lot of money..." Li Jiagang said somewhat embarrassedly.
"Hahaha……."
"Your uncle has been in business for so many years and he values steady development. He doesn't invest rashly, so he still has several million in funds."
"I'll have the finance department transfer it to you tomorrow."
"Uncle, this..."
"Alright, if you still consider me your uncle, then don't say anything more."
"If you want to repay me, then manage the company well, make money and take back all the assets your father has built up over the years. That way, he can rest in peace."
"Uncle, I definitely will."
"Do a good job..."
Li Yongsen patted Li Jiagang on the shoulder, then turned and walked outside.
Looking at his uncle's retreating figure, Li Jiagang was filled with emotion and a surge of warmth in his heart.