Chapter 255: A Gamble [Seeking a Follow-up]

The old man stretched out a palm and broke off two fingers, leaving only three fingers.

But think about it.

He raised the other two fingers as well.

"500?"

Lu Yang's eyes almost popped out of his head.

"Not five million, five hundred thousand, young man. Five hundred thousand."

"Whoo~"

Lu Yang patted his chest and let out a long breath.

Fortunately it’s not 500 million.

When I saw this old man just now, he raised five fingers, then broke off two, and raised two more. I thought he was struggling over whether to hide the truth and tell himself that the factory only owed the bank 5 million, not 300 million.

It turned out to be only 50.

If I really only owe the bank 50, it would be acceptable.

500?
Lu Yang would definitely turn around and leave.

When the old man saw Lu Yang's expression, he was obviously not scared.

He also breathed a sigh of relief.

Then he said cautiously: "Although we only owe the bank more than 50 yuan, we owe more money to the upstream raw material factories.

Because business has not been very good.

A few decades ago, it was still a very honorable thing to make clothes with fabrics woven by disabled people.

However, since the reform and opening up, people's hearts have changed. Many people not only look down on the disabled, but also particularly object to using fabrics woven by the disabled to make their clothes.

As a result, even though we have lowered the ex-factory price of our fabrics again and again, we still cannot sell them as well as those from normal manufacturers who employ workers with healthy hands and feet.

Another problem is that the collection of payments is too slow. Over the years, there have been a lot of bad debts.

Finally, there is another problem. When working, there are only a little over a hundred workers, and they all have various physical defects and are considered disabled. However, the wages they receive are almost the same, with more than 200 people receiving wages every month.

This is for historical reasons.

There are too many redundant staff and I can't do anything about it.

After all, this is a collective enterprise.

The result is that there is not enough salary to pay.

The factory simply could not keep the money it received for the goods, so every time the raw materials settlement cycle came, the factory would be in a particularly difficult situation, with a constant stream of raw material merchants asking for money.

The factory could only delay them as much as possible and not pay them off.

Otherwise, the employees’ salaries cannot be paid.

In the end, it kept getting delayed and has led to the current situation. After the factory went bankrupt, we can’t buy even a penny of raw materials on credit.

Plus, there was no money in the account, so we had to stop work and production.”

Lu Yang was very patient and waited for him to finish speaking.

Although there is too much nonsense in it, the key information is still there.

For example: the factory could not continue to operate and could not buy raw materials on credit.

It’s because the money for raw materials has not been paid to them yet.

Why not settle it?
It’s because there is no money in the factory’s account.

Why is there no money in the account?

Because all the wages have been paid to the workers.

Why does it cost so much to pay wages?
Because there are too many redundant staff.

They just eat and don't work. Some are even too lazy to eat. They sit at home and don't need to punch in. They just come to collect their salary at the appointed time every month. There are people like this, and there are more than one or two. How can such a factory not go bankrupt?
Lu Yang took a deep breath, and then said very patiently: "Uncle, you still need an answer from me. How much money does your factory owe to the raw material suppliers?"

The old man looked conflicted, lowered his head in thought for a while, and finally raised two fingers.

"20?"

"No, 200 million."

"Hiss~" Lu Yang took a breath of cold air.

It's a bit too much. 200 million is not a small amount. It is equivalent to the money I spent on investing in Chashan Coal Mine.

But in the future, can the money that Chashan Coal Mine earn and the continuous benefits that it can bring to itself be compared with this small cotton textile factory on the verge of bankruptcy?
Obviously they cannot be compared.

Because there is no comparability at all. Even if you wait for another ten years, until the land under your feet appreciates in value, it will not work.

and also,

The key point is that he can't come up with 200 million this time.

Lu Yang thought about it.

He decided to take a gamble, and in front of the old man, he unfastened the mobile phone hanging from his waist and called the city government office.

"Hello, is this Brother Tang?"

"Yes, yes, yes. I only need a few words to talk to Vice Mayor Xu."

"Hello, leader. I'm Lu Yang. I'm currently in Fuli Cotton Textile Factory. The person sitting opposite me is Director Lao Geng. Yes, I don't know his specific name yet, but everyone calls him Lao Geng."

"By the way, I call him old man. This old man said that Fuli Cotton Textile Factory now owes more than 50 yuan to the bank and more than 200 yuan to suppliers, which is close to 300 yuan in total. Leader, if I hadn't come here, I really couldn't believe that a small local factory with less than 200 actual workers on the payroll could owe so much money in just a few years."

"regret?"

"No, no, no, how could I regret it? I called to ask Deputy Mayor Xu to do me a favor."

"Please submit a report to the Standing Committee regarding our Meisite Company's wholly-owned and independent acquisition of the Fuli Cotton Textile Factory."

"No joke."

"Of course, there must be conditions. My conditions are very simple."

"First, I will only pay a symbolic $1 to acquire the Fuli Cotton Textile Factory."

"Yes, it's 1 yuan. Leader, you heard it right. Not a dime more."

"Let's do some calculations. Fuli Cotton Textile Factory has been shut down and is actually insolvent. It owes the bank more than 50 yuan and suppliers more than 200 million yuan. The foreign debt is close to 300 million yuan, and that doesn't include interest."

“And actually, what’s left of it?”

"There are nearly 200 people on the payroll, and almost half of them are redundant. Management is also very difficult. Those who don't work are dying faster than those who do. The key is that these people who don't work are obviously normal people, but they supervise the disabled people who are working. Leader, please judge this factory. How can it not fail?"

"Okay, I won't talk about this for now. I admit that this is due to historical reasons. Let's talk about this later."

"First, let's talk about what else is left besides this."

“An old, beat-up machine, isn’t it?”

"Boss, you said it's very valuable, so I'll give it a high valuation, 100 million, is it enough? It should be enough, right?"

"Okay, that's enough. Let's talk about its second and most important asset, the land under its feet."

"It's only 10 acres. It's much smaller than the state-owned cotton textile factory I visited. Leader, don't you think so?"

"With its current value, it can't be sold for much money. After all, land is not valuable now. Of course, everyone is betting on its future and the development of urban construction. So I will also give it a high valuation, 50. 50 for ten acres, is that high enough? Leader, do you think it is enough?"

"enough?"

"The total is 150 million, close to 300 million in foreign debt, and the value of my own assets is less than 150 million. Does that mean that even if I accept it for 1 yuan, I will still lose 150 million?"

"Can't refute it?"

"It's impossible to refute it."

"Then let me state my second request."

"I can pay back the money. Some people say that if you take over a bankrupt factory like this, you should get rid of all its foreign debts and only take the core that you think you can use."

"I don't think so."

Foreign debt is also part of the factory's past. Why should we leave it to the government, right? So after I acquire this factory, I will also inherit its foreign debt, but there needs to be a repayment period. "

"We will set a one-year deadline. Within one year, the government will guarantee that no raw material supplier, including banks, will force the newly established Fuli Cotton Textile Factory to repay any debts in any form."

"After one year, I promise to pay off all these debts."

"really?"

"Of course I mean it. If you, Vice Mayor Xu, agree and can convince the Municipal Standing Committee to facilitate this acquisition, I am willing to spend another 50 to expand this factory. Not only will all the disabled workers be able to return to work, but I will also recruit another 300 to 500 sewing workers to help our city solve some of its employment problems."

(End of this chapter)