Chapter 106: Appreciation from the Bank Boss

Chapter 106: Appreciation from the Bank Boss

Chapter 106: Appreciation from the Bank Boss

The agreement was signed, and three days later, Citibank of the United States would send a check to Hong Kong. This was also the basic bank transfer model of this era.

Robert and Robin were also in a good mood. Although they came for the distribution rights in Europe and Japan, in fact, before they came, they were not very sure. It was considered good enough to be able to obtain the distribution rights in America.

At Kai Tak Airport, before boarding the plane, Robert said to Yang Wendong, "Eric, I hope you can increase production capacity as soon as possible. Many of our customers outside California and Nevada have already given us feedback that they are in urgent need of more sticky notes. Such a good opportunity must not be missed due to insufficient production capacity."

"Don't worry, I will definitely increase production capacity as soon as possible." Yang Wendong nodded and said.

He also wants to increase production capacity as quickly as possible. After all, the higher the production capacity, the more money he will earn, and it will be easy for him to become a wealthy family in Hong Kong.

However, in the past history of this kind of hot-selling product, even 3M had experienced a period of insufficient production capacity, and its funds were not sufficient, so what it could achieve in the first few months was very limited.

However, the funds obtained from the American market are now enough to make up for many problems and quickly increase production capacity.

You know, he could have used the same method to find potential distributors in Europe, but he gave up because of insufficient production capacity. If the production capacity of the American market is met, then the next European market will also be a huge market.

Robert added, "The deal is done. Eric, your other request is that your people or you go to the United States. The factory in New York State is still open. If you go there, you can still see the production process."

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Okay, I will prepare for this as soon as possible."

After the two Americans left, Wei Zetao said with a smile: "Mr. Yang, this is a big harvest. The $50 in funding, plus our close relationship with Liao Chong Hing Bank, is enough for us to acquire a large piece of land and build our own factory."

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Yes, we must build our own factory. Otherwise, even a large warehouse will not be able to meet our needs."

Larger factories are basically self-built, which is universal everywhere. Even for a factory with simpler products, you can design the layout of the new factory according to your own needs before building it, thereby increasing production efficiency.

It is impossible to rent a house, it is the other way around, the layout of your factory needs to coordinate with the house.

Wei Zetao said: "Yes, the area we require is too large. There is no such factory building on the market in Hong Kong. If we rent multiple places, it will seriously affect efficiency and make quality problems more likely to occur.

It would be most efficient if we could build several industrial buildings together.”

Yang Wendong thought for a moment and asked, "The factories on Hong Kong Island are mostly multi-storey, but there are fewer on the Kowloon Peninsula, right?"

The simplest example is that the Hongxing Plastic Factory he purchased did not have a second floor and was purely a ground-level factory.

"Yes, because the land price in Hong Kong Island is much more expensive, it is more cost-effective to build a multi-storey factory." After Wei Zetao finished speaking, he also understood what the boss meant, so he asked: "Mr. Yang means that we should build a large single-storey factory on the Kowloon Peninsula?"

"Since the land price is cheap, wouldn't it be more cost-effective to build a large area?" Yang Wendong asked in return.

Although the land prices in Hong Kong in the late 50s were nothing compared to what they would be decades later, the land prices on Hong Kong Island were still a bit expensive, so industrial land was mainly built in multiple floors. In this way, general small light industrial factories could use the same piece of land in multiple floors, thus reducing land costs.

But this is not the case on the Kowloon Peninsula. Now, except for some town centers, the vicinity of docks or some special places, other places may be only slightly better than wasteland.

In places like this, it is not cost-effective to buy a small piece of land and then build a high-rise industrial building. It is better to buy more cheap land and then build one or two or three floors.

Yang Wendong has not been very interested in real estate speculation in recent years, but now he also needs land to develop his industry. When purchasing land, he naturally thinks the bigger the better.

Even if it is industrial land now, it will still be cost-effective to find an opportunity to convert it into commercial use in the future.

Wei Zetao said: "Mr. Yang, the reason for this multi-storey factory is not just because of the land price. For ordinary light industrial factories, having an elevator that goes straight up and down will greatly improve efficiency.

Although the land price in Kowloon is cheap, there is basically no such large area of ​​flat land. It requires land reclamation or land leveling, and the cost is higher than building a high-rise.

We need to spend our money where it counts, as the cost of purchasing equipment later may be higher than the cost of building the factory.”

"Yes, such flat land would have been developed into real estate long ago." Yang Wendong nodded, and felt that he had not considered it carefully, so he said: "I didn't think of this, so let's just build a high-rise building."

Wei Zetao nodded and said, "Yes, we can take a middle ground. The area should be larger, but the floors don't need to be as high as those in Hong Kong Island."

"Okay." Yang Wendong also said: "The cost of the glue factory is not low, and we need to hire specialized people, which is also difficult. If I can't find one later, I can only rely entirely on the people from 3M."

This is what makes Yang Wendong very helpless. If he cannot recruit professional talents, then the entire industry will not be able to start. Although 3M has promised to provide technical assistance, he also needs knowledgeable people on his side.

Wei Zetao thought for a moment and said, "Actually, it's not like there aren't any people who are good at this."

"What do you mean?" Yang Wendong asked puzzledly.

Wei Zetao said: "I contacted an international headhunting company before and asked them to find a Chinese expert in this field. He found one and he replied that he would consider coming to Hong Kong.

But his price is quite high, about $600 a month, and he said he would bring a few other people with him, and their price would be a little lower, but still two or three hundred dollars."

"Are you sure they have this ability?" Yang Wendong asked back.

In this era, the average annual income of Americans is less than $2000. High-tech talents will earn relatively more, $600 a month, which is not a small amount, but Yang Wendong can still afford it as long as he has the ability.

Wei Zetao said: "The headhunting company has made a promise. These people work at Dow Chemical in the United States. They are also responsible for glue, but they are slightly biased towards industrial glue. The difference should not be that big."

"If you are really capable, then this salary is fine." Yang Wendong thought for a moment and said, "Well, let's send someone to the United States to communicate with them, and then ask another investigation company to do a background check on these people. I need detailed information, and I also want to see if the headhunting company you are working with has deceived us."

Wei Zetao agreed: "Okay, no problem, but it will cost a lot of money."

"We have to spend what we should spend." Yang Wendong said: "The most important thing right now, in addition to increasing the production capacity of sticky notes and mouse traps, is to build this glue factory, which will ensure that we have sufficient production capacity in the future.

If we succeed, then when the scale is large, the cost we can reduce will far exceed what we spend today.”

3M brought a lot of money, which could soon be turned into factories and equipment. At the same time, sticky notes could be produced continuously, which would soon lead to a huge demand for glue and paper. Hong Kong today is not the mainland of China in a few decades. Many things here need to be imported. Even when plastic flowers were popular, conventional things such as plastic particles were out of stock. It is hard to say whether the same thing will happen when I need a lot of glue in the future. Maybe these traders will add extra price.

The most important thing is to reduce costs. Cost is the lifeline of an enterprise. So many plastic companies in Hong Kong are actually just working for many traders and the international chemical giants behind them. Yang Wendong will not allow the industry he has worked so hard to build to be taken advantage of by others.

Three days later, at the Liu Chong Hing Bank headquarters:

"Ms. Lin, this is a registered letter from the United States." A man in a green uniform came to the office on the 8th floor of the bank and handed a letter to the recipient in person, saying, "This is an expedited airmail from the United States."

"Let me see." Miss Lin put down her work immediately when she heard that it was an expedited letter from the United States. After taking the letter, she saw the English on the surface of the envelope and said with a smile, "Thank you very much."

"You're welcome." The messenger left politely.

Miss Lin then called a little girl across the street and said, "Ah Zhen, come and take a look. Here is a registered letter from the United States. It should be a bank draft."

When Ah Zhen saw her leader calling her, she immediately pulled her chair over to the leader's side and said with a smile, "Sister Lin is amazing. She knew it was a money order before she even opened it."

"Have you forgotten what you learned before? This registered letter sent by a foreign bank is so thin, it basically only has a money order." Sister Lin taught: "Remember what you have learned in the future, not everyone will teach you every time."

"Oh, okay." Ah Zhen nodded, and then said, "Then open it and take a look."

"This kind of bill of exchange is usually the settlement fund of the export factories in Hong Kong, and the amount is usually not very large." Sister Lin said as she carefully tore open the envelope so as not to damage the contents.

Ah Zhen asked curiously, "There are many large companies in Hong Kong, why are they generally not very big?"

Sister Lin just tore open the envelope and said with a smile: "There are many big companies in Hong Kong, but they are all in cooperation with big banks. Our Liu Chongxing is just a little bit behind."

"Oh, that's right. But in recent years, after the big boss introduced the policy of opening an account with 100 yuan, I think our bank has grown bigger and bigger, and we are preparing to build a new headquarters building in Central." As she was talking, Ah Zhen suddenly found that Sister Lin's face and eyes had changed. She quickly stopped talking and asked, "Sister Lin, what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing." Sister Lin paused, immediately put away a piece of mail in her hand, and then said, "You should go back to your post first."

"Oh, OK." Ah Zhen was a little surprised. She was curious about the amount on the note, but now it seemed that it should be quite large, so large that she couldn't even read it.
Sister Lin put the money bill into the envelope, then immediately stood up and disappeared from her sight in a short while.

An hour later, a draft of $50 appeared in the chairman's office at the Liu Chongxing Bank headquarters building:

A middle-aged man who looked to be about 50 years old, holding the draft in his hand, said with a smile: "I, Liao Baoshan, have been running a bank for more than ten years. To be honest, I rarely see a draft of US dollars."

"Yes, Dad, I never thought that my Liao Chong Hing Bank would receive such a large bill of exchange. It's incredible." A man in his 30s also said.

The assets of Liao Chong Hing Bank are of course far more than one million US dollars, and even tens of millions of US dollars are easily exceeded.

But these are data obtained through a long-term flow of funds, absorbing a large amount of retail investors' funds; Hong Kong's big companies and wealthy people all like to put their money in British banks, and Chinese banks rarely have such big business.

Generally speaking, the major clients of Chinese banks, apart from real estate companies, are some export factories, but they are usually small-scale.

Not to mention a single transaction of US$50, there are probably only a handful of Chinese factories in Hong Kong that export more than US$50 a year. Once a Chinese factory grows to a large scale, it will choose large British banks such as HSBC.

Liao Baoshan looked at the account information and asked, "Liewen, is this the Changxing Industrial account that borrowed 80 Hong Kong dollars before? The one that has no collateral, only a contract with a large American company?"

"Yes, it is that company. The draft for $50 was also sent by 3M Company in the United States." Liao Liewen explained: "I checked the information of this 3M company last time. It is a top industrial giant in the United States. Its scale is much larger than that of Jardine Matheson and HSBC combined."

"It's indeed a big American company." Liao Baoshan nodded and asked, "I don't remember any recent data showing that Changxing Industrial's account had any large transaction records. How come this American company suddenly sent me a draft of $50?"

Liao Liewen shook his head and said, "It's not clear yet. Our bank cannot fully understand the transactions between customers, and they will not take the initiative to tell us.

But this money order is real. I just called the US to confirm it myself. There were people at the bank there at night who confirmed it was real. "

For such a large transaction, even if there is no problem with the process, they still need to confirm it by phone. With such a large amount of funds, if something goes wrong, an ordinary small bank will be in trouble.

"Well, but we still have to inquire about it, so that it will be convenient for us to cooperate with it in the future." Liao Baoshan said after thinking for a while.

Liao Liewen asked: "Dad seems to be very optimistic about this company."

"With $50 here, how can you not be optimistic?" Liao Baoshan said with a smile: "I remember the last data showed that this person has only been in business for a year, right? He has achieved such results. In the entire history of Hong Kong, it is estimated that there is no such rising young man."

Liao Liewen nodded and said, "Indeed, I have never heard of it. However, we still don't know what this $50 bill is. It may not be a payment for goods, but a loan."

"If it's a loan, then it means that Changxing Industrial has something very valuable." Liao Baoshan smiled and said, "It should be this sticky note. I find it convenient to use, especially since I've gotten older in recent years and my memory isn't that good. This thing is really good."

"Dad is still young." Liao Liewen said with a smile.

"Forget it, you don't have to flatter me anymore. My heart isn't very good, you know that." Liao Baoshan sighed and said, "I just hope that you can inherit the family business sooner, and take good care of your brothers and sisters, then I will feel at ease."

"I will definitely work hard." said Liao Liewen.

"Effort is one thing, but connections are more important." Liao Baoshan said after a moment, "I have introduced you to my business friends, but these people are of the same generation as me. You still need to make friends with people of your own generation."

Liao Liewen asked, "Dad, do you mean to make friends with Yang Wendong?"

"Big American companies are so optimistic about him, so I am naturally the same." Liao Baoshan smiled and said, "Well, you go there in person and tell him about this. You can build personal connections and get to know him first."

"Okay, I'll go right away." Liao Liewen did not hesitate. People who have 50 US dollars in cash, whether it is their own money or borrowed, are already considered to be one of the top people in Hong Kong and are worth making friends with.

(End of this chapter)