After Director Xu approached, he stared at Li Yi for a long moment.
Just as Li Yi furrowed his brow, preparing to ask a question, Director Xu finally spoke: “Comrade Li Yi, thank you for your warning.”
Although Director Xu felt uneasy about the sudden fire in the administrative building—and had even suspected that the people standing before him might be involved, given how unlikely such a coincidence was—
But upon carefully recalling everything that had just happened, he realized they had merely given them a heads-up—they hadn’t even touched the electrical panel or the wires, so it was simply impossible for them to have tampered with anything.
Clearly, these two young men were the kind of people with keen insight and a keen eye; they had spotted the safety hazards in their factory at a glance.
More importantly, Factory Director Xu had just realized something: thankfully, no one was upstairs at the time. If the fire had broken out at noon or in the middle of the night, the losses would have been far more than just some lumber, paint, and glue—they could have cost dozens, or even hundreds, of lives.
In that case, the consequences would be nothing short of catastrophic.
In that case, he, as the factory director, would be in for a world of trouble—if not killed, he’d certainly be left battered and bruised!
At that thought, he couldn’t help but feel a chill run down his spine, which was why he had come over to thank Li Yi.
Li Yi understood what Plant Manager Xu meant. He sighed and said, “You’re too kind. It’s truly a pity—this could have been avoided…”
Li Yi had intended to say a few more words, but realizing he was an outsider, he felt it would be inappropriate to say too much, so he tactfully stopped there.
Nevertheless, Plant Manager Xu grasped his meaning. With a look of shame on his face, he said, “It was a failure on our part in management. I will request disciplinary action from our superiors. Unfortunately, with this incident occurring at the plant, we simply cannot accommodate you here, nor do we have the capacity to fulfill your company’s order!”
Li Yi nodded in understanding.
Actually, for him personally, this fire wasn’t such a bad thing.
Originally, Li Yi had been agonizing over how to rescue the workers, but now that the fire had broken out early—and no one had died—it was all for the best.
Surely, having learned this lesson, the factory’s management would never dare to neglect safety issues again. Even if Li Yi didn’t say anything, they would conduct a thorough inspection of the remaining factory buildings.
As for the loss of lumber, paint, and finished furniture, it didn’t really concern him—after all, his sole purpose was to save lives.
So stepping back at this moment was actually a good move!
But upon seeing the sorrowful and despairing expressions on the workers’ faces at the fire scene, Li Yi changed his mind and said, “Director Xu, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you!”
“What is it?”
“To be honest, we came here today to inspect your factory, but besides placing an order, we have another purpose!” Li Yi said.
“What purpose?”
“To acquire or invest in your factory!”
“Acquire or take a stake?”
“That’s right. Our company does indeed need a factory like this to produce office furniture for us. However, due to time constraints, building our own factory would definitely not be feasible. So we were wondering if we could acquire one—and personally, I’m most interested in your Pioneer Furniture Factory!” Li Yi said.
“Why us?” Factory Director Xu frowned.
To be honest, from his own perspective, he absolutely did not want the factory to be acquired.
The reason was simple: as long as the factory remained under state ownership, his position as factory director was as secure as a rock.
But if the factory were sold, there was an 80% chance they wouldn’t want him. Even if someone asked him to continue as factory director, he couldn’t possibly work for a private entity—after all, he was a state official.
However, Star Investment had strong ties to Hong Kong businessmen and had even established its branch headquarters right here in Beijing—their connections were formidable. He didn’t dare outright reject the people standing before him.
“First, your factory isn’t very large, so whether we acquire it outright or take a stake, the financial burden is minimal!”
Li Yi? continued, “Secondly, Pioneer Furniture Factory has a small workforce, so relocating them will be relatively straightforward. In short, your factory fits our needs perfectly.”
Factory Director Xu paused briefly before replying, “To be honest, our factory’s profitability is mediocre. Don’t be fooled by the constant stream of trucks coming and going—it looks busy, but we’re barely scraping by, just enough to pay everyone’s wages!”
“And as you know, selling the factory isn’t something we can decide on our own—we have to wait for approval from the district and city authorities!”
Li Yi nodded and said, “I’ll discuss this with the city authorities, but I hope that if they agree, Director Xu, you’ll help us do our best to reassure the factory’s employees.”
“Alright, I promise!”
Then Plant Manager Xu added, “If your company does acquire our plant, please treat our employees well!”
“Rest assured, Starry Sky Company offers some of the best wages and benefits in the country. We will certainly not shortchange anyone,” Li Yi replied.
Seeing that Li Yi had promised to treat the factory’s employees well, Factory Director Xu immediately said, “That’s good…”
Just as they were speaking, a burst of enthusiastic applause and cheers suddenly erupted on the scene.
The two looked up to see that the firefighters had already extinguished the blaze; the applause and cheers were directed at them.
Next, Li Yi saw the fire chief walking toward them, clearly coming to speak with Factory Director Xu.
He glanced once more at the warehouse, blackened by smoke and fire, sighed, and then turned to leave the scene!
After leaving the Pioneer Furniture Factory, Zhang Ziqiang immediately asked, “Brother Yi, where are we going now?”
“To the district government… Never mind, let’s go straight to the Provincial Investment Promotion Bureau!” Li Yi said.
“Got it!”
Zhang Ziqiang started the car and drove straight to the Jiang-Zhe Provincial Investment Promotion Bureau.
As the streets and buildings flashed by outside the car window, Li Yi’s mind was filled with a thousand thoughts.
The reason he still wanted to acquire the Pioneer Furniture Factory after resolving the fire hazard wasn’t because the factory held any great value worth wasting his time on.
Rather, it was because he wanted to help Xue Jianming and his wife—or, more accurately, Li Yi wanted to help Xiao Jing Shu.
Li Yi had no particular emotional attachment to Xue Jianming and his wife; they were merely ordinary people whose names he had heard of. But when it came to his niece, Xiao Jing Shu, Li Yi felt more pity and gratitude.
That’s right—gratitude!
Sacrificing part of one’s liver to save a mother is something even biological mothers and daughters might not be able to do, let alone an adopted daughter!
Yet when Xiao Jing Shu learned that her third older sister had a serious liver condition and that her own liver was a perfect match, she disregarded her boyfriend’s objections and, without hesitation, decided to donate part of her liver to her sister. Even knowing that the surgery would have a severe impact on her own health, she did not back down.
What’s more, she was even willing to break up with the boyfriend she’d been with for several years over this matter.
Although Xiao Jingyu’s liver donation ultimately wasn’t needed due to Li Yi’s arrival, her devotion had already earned Li Yi’s respect.
In this life, he couldn’t bear to see Xiao Jingyu separated from her biological parents, but he wanted to provide this heartbreakingly vulnerable young girl with better opportunities—to give her an enviable, happy childhood and a life filled with smooth sailing.
Li Yi had considered simply giving money to Xue Jianming and his wife, but they might not accept it, and it could easily raise suspicions about his motives.
So, after much deliberation, Li Yi ultimately decided to stick to his original plan: acquire the furniture factory and then mentor Xue Jianming.
Normally, acquiring a state-owned enterprise would involve approaching the provincial or municipal government and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, but Li Yi clearly didn’t have time to waste on a small factory; he had many more important matters to attend to.
Consequently, Li Yi turned to the Investment Promotion Bureau.
The reason for approaching the Investment Promotion Bureau was that it was specifically tasked with attracting investment. In those days, the bureau held significant authority, and to meet their investment attraction targets, they were often willing to go to great lengths.
So Li Yi decided to discuss the matter with them first, then have Lan Xinyi, An Hong, and others take over the acquisition of the Pioneer Furniture Factory.
After all, once the fire incident was resolved, the other matters wouldn’t be so urgent…
……….