“Wait a minute!”
Hearing Jiang Longcheng’s words, Qiangzi stopped immediately, and Li Yi also fixed his gaze on him.
“What’s up?”
“Brother Li Yi, is the foundry you were just talking about this run-down little factory nearby?” Jiang Longcheng asked.
“Yeah, it’s not far from here—the one on the west side of the road!” Li Yi replied.
“Brother Li Yi, do you guys have business at that factory?”
“Yeah, we do have some business there, but unfortunately, we don’t know the factory manager!” Li Yi said.
“No problem. To be honest, the plant manager’s name is Lin Jianguo, and he usually hangs around us.”
Jiang Longcheng continued, “Brother Li Yi, if you have business there, I’ll go get him!”
Li Yi’s heart skipped a beat, and he immediately replied, “No need to call him over. After all, I’m the one who needs to see him—it wouldn’t be appropriate to have him summoned!”
“What’s so inappropriate about that? That bastard…”
“Keep it low-key,” Li Yi said calmly.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Longcheng went silent instantly, like a young rooster with its throat squeezed.
“Oh!”
Li Yi smiled and said, “You don’t look too convinced!”
“No, I just…”
“No need to explain. Let me tell you this: fortunes rise and fall; no one can guarantee they’ll always have smooth sailing. Just think about the major families in the capital over the past few years—how many have come and gone.”
Li Yi continued, “I’m sure there were plenty among them who were even more arrogant than you! Look at them now—the more arrogant they were back then, the more destitute they are now. Doesn’t that wake you up?”
Jiang Longcheng thought about it seriously and realized it was true. There used to be quite a few distinguished families in the capital, but in recent years, a significant number of them had been ousted.
The scions of those once-powerful families now mostly lived in poverty and misery, and this was certainly linked to their past deeds.
On the other hand, those who had always treated others with kindness—even when their families faced misfortune—usually didn’t fare too badly.
Suddenly, it seemed as though Jiang Longcheng had grasped something!
“I get it now. Thanks for the insight!”
Li Yi nodded and said, “Since you know the management at the foundry, I won’t bother Uncle Wen. When you have time, take me to the foundry so I can meet them!”
“When?”
“The sooner, the better!”
“In that case, why don’t we go right now? That guy should be at the plant at this hour!” Jiang Longcheng said.
“Will your injuries hold up?”
“No problem. It’s just my arm that’s badly injured; the rest of my injuries aren’t a big deal!”
“Alright, let’s go now then!”
Seeing that Li Yi had agreed, Jiang Longcheng and Ye Jianhua both stood up, and the group headed out of the room.
Since the jeep couldn’t fit many people, Li Yi didn’t bring Dongzi and the others along. Instead, he took the money and got into the car alone with Jiang Longcheng and Ye Jianhua.
The driver started the engine, and they headed straight for the nearby foundry!
…….
Foundry. Security Office!
“Beep, beep, beep!”
Hearing the car’s horn, the security guard in the guardhouse immediately came out to check on the situation.
When Li Yi saw the guy, he couldn’t help but chuckle to himself. What a coincidence—wasn’t this the same arrogant watchdog from yesterday?
But when the guard saw the Jeep’s license plate, he was instantly startled. He didn’t even dare to ask any questions and immediately opened the gate.
Just as the car passed by the guard, Li Yi suddenly rolled down the window and flashed him a mysterious smile.
The security guard recognized Li Yi as well. His mouth dropped open, and his expression changed instantly.
He was just a lowly lackey—a little scare was all it took. Li Yi didn’t give him a second thought.
There were plenty of small-time nobodies like this around now, and who knew how many more he’d encounter in the future.
If he were to confront every single one of them, he’d never get anything done.
After entering the factory grounds, the car soon pulled up in front of a small three-story building.
After getting out of the car, the group headed straight for the factory director’s office upstairs!
In the office of the foundry manager, Lin Jianguo was listening to a financial report from the factory.
Since the year before last, the factory’s orders have been dwindling day by day, and its performance has been getting worse by the day.
In the previous two years, the factory still had some reserves, so they were barely able to cover the employees’ wages, though benefits had been cut time and again.
But in the first half of this year, there were almost no orders; it wasn’t until the second half that they secured a small amount of business, barely keeping production going for two months. Left with no other choice, they had to request funding from the city.
Yet there were simply too many organizations waiting for municipal funding, leaving the factory’s employees without pay for three months.
Lin Jianguo was at his wits’ end over this.
Just as he was at a loss, a frantic knock suddenly sounded at the door.
“Come in!”
As the office door swung open, several people filed in one after another.
When he saw that the man leading the group was a stranger, Lin Jianguo immediately asked, “Who are you…”
But before he could finish, he spotted Jiang Longcheng and Ye Jianhua behind him, and the words stuck in his throat.
“Brother Jiang, Brother Ye, what brings you all here?”
He then turned to the accountant standing nearby and said, “Zhou, hurry up and pour some water for them!”
Jiang Longcheng immediately replied, “No need for water. The main reason is that my friend here has something to discuss with you, so I just tagged along!”
Upon hearing this, Lin Jianguo was instantly taken aback; he knew exactly who Jiang Longcheng and Ye Jianhua were.
Although they were all children of the compound, their social standing was far above his own. Anyone who could get these two to accompany them was clearly no ordinary person.
Without delay, he showed his utmost respect and said, “May I ask your name, sir? I am Lin Jianguo, director of the Foundry!”
“Li Yi. Just an ordinary guy. I’m here today mainly to discuss a couple of business deals with Director Lin!”
“Oh, what kind of deals?” Lin Jianguo asked eagerly, his tone brimming with curiosity.
Jiang Longcheng and Ye Jianhua, standing nearby, were equally surprised. They hadn’t expected Li Yi to seek out Lin Jianguo for business, and were quite taken aback.
“First, I’d like to rent that row of buildings in the southeast corner of your factory. I wonder if that’s possible?” Li Yi said.
“Rent a building?”
Lin Jianguo was a bit taken aback. After all, this was a factory, and he had assumed Li Yi wanted to do business with him in that capacity—he hadn’t expected it to be about renting a building.
He thought carefully about it—what vacant buildings were there in the southeast corner of the factory?
“Brother Li, you aren’t thinking of renting those abandoned product display warehouses of ours, are you?”
“Yes, exactly those buildings. I was wondering if that would be possible!”
“They’re just a few empty rooms. If they’re useful to you, go ahead and use them—no need to rent them!” Lin Jianguo said with a laugh.
In his view, although he didn’t know this man’s background, since he’d been brought by Jiang Longcheng and Ye Jianhua, he was certainly no ordinary person.
Besides, the face of Jiang and Ye alone was worth these dilapidated buildings.
In fact, he felt that using those abandoned, run-down buildings to connect with two top-tier young tycoons was an incredibly good deal.
However, what he could think of, Li Yi could think of too—and he thought even further ahead.
Without further ado, Li Yi said directly, “Director Lin, let’s stick to business. I’m the kind of person who prefers to play by the rules!”
“If you’re willing to rent this place to me, I’ll take it. If you don’t rent it out to the public, I’ll look elsewhere. But if you’re offering it for free, I certainly won’t use it!”
Lin Jianguo dared not refuse. He immediately replied, “We’ll rent it—of course we will. It’s just that our factory has never rented out property before, so we don’t know the going rate!”
“That’s simple. You can check with the factory’s accountant or cashier to see what the going rates are for nearby properties and give me a quote,” Li Yi said.
“Alright, please wait a moment, I’ll be right back!”
With that, Lin Jianguo hurriedly left his office!