Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

Chapter 135: Chapter 125: Zhongsha Industrial Park, Orange’s Starting Point

Wang Zihao drove the Mercedes, circling Sai Ge Science and Technology Park twice while Zuo Hongyu led the way.

After looking at three factory buildings in a row, Chen Yansen was still not satisfied.

First, the spaces were too small; the smallest was 800 square meters and the largest was just over 2,000. Second, the factories were cluttered with old, dilapidated production lines, and renting them meant being forced to buy all this useless equipment. They were trying to rip them off.

Chen Yansen sighed and waved for everyone to get back in the car.

”President Chen, Sai Ge Science and Technology Park is right next to Huaqiang North. This area used to be full of knock-off phone factories—over a thousand of them at its peak. That’s why the factory spaces are so fragmented. My idea is to rent several smaller ones and connect them.”

Zuo Hongyu explained slowly from outside the car, offering a solution.

There was no other way. The larger factories in the park had long been occupied, and they were producing legitimate smartphones, so they weren’t affected by the ”Double Strike” campaign.

The places Zuo Hongyu had contacted were all old factories abandoned by owners who fled after the campaign.

Last year, the daily rent for factory space was 1.5 yuan per square meter. Now it had dropped to 1.1 yuan, with some even falling below 1 yuan, but very few bosses were coming to negotiate deals.

Seeing the group about to leave, the factory owner quickly lowered his price, offering a discount on the rent and selling the equipment for cheap.

But Chen Yansen found the space too small and left without a second glance.

”Let’s look somewhere else. The location of Sai Ge Science and Technology Park is great, but the factories are too scattered. I’ve said before, I need a total floor area of at least 10,000 square meters.”

Chen Yansen waved his hand, cutting off Zuo Hongyu, who was about to explain further.

He understood what Zuo Hongyu was thinking: just find a dozen small factories and sign contracts with them all. But with different owners for each factory, coordinating rent prices, lease terms, and payment schedules would be a nightmare.

”President Chen, then our only option is Zhongsha Village. The rent is at least 50% cheaper than Sai Ge, but the location and transportation are worse.”

Zuo Hongyu nodded and proposed the alternative.

”How far is it from here?” Chen Yansen asked.

”About nine kilometers. A fifteen-minute drive,” Zuo Hongyu replied immediately.

”Let’s go take a look.”

Chen Yansen didn’t hesitate, giving the order to Zuo Hongyu.

At that moment, Chen Yansen began to agree with Cao Dahua’s assessment of Zuo Hongyu: he was an honest man of few words, but he was reliable and methodical in his work.

When Chen Yansen had been unsatisfied with the factories at Sai Ge Science and Technology Park, Zuo Hongyu immediately produced a new plan. He had clearly come prepared.

That morning, in order to talk a friend out of suicide, Zuo Hongyu had risked offending his new boss by showing up half an hour late and bringing Zhou Jinling along without permission.

’He may have the face of a villain, but in an age where money is everything, he’s still willing to value loyalty and friendship. He might not be cut out to be a boss, but he’s an excellent employee.’

Afterward, the two cars sped along Binhai Avenue, passing the Shencheng Convention and Exhibition Center and Tian’an Digital City, finally arriving at the Zhongsha Industrial Park.

Just as Zuo Hongyu had said, the surrounding area was desolate. In all the time they were there, they only saw a single truck pass by.

Locals in baggy shorts and flip-flops zipped past on e-bikes, holding fishing rods.

Chen Yansen got out of the car and looked around, observing the transportation and supporting facilities. It was a step down from Sai Ge, but its advantage was the quiet, secluded environment.

In the distance, a large cluster of factory buildings stood together, not scattered like the cubicle-like spaces at Sai Ge.

Zuo Hongyu took out his phone and made a call.

Soon, a man in his forties wearing a polo shirt with a popped collar rushed over on an Electric Vehicle.

”President Zuo, is your company Daboluo expanding its production capacity again?”

The man stopped his vehicle, a puzzled look on his face, and couldn’t help but ask.

”Boss Huang, I left Daboluo last week. Let me introduce you. This is my new boss, Chen Yansen.”

Zuo Hongyu pulled Huang Qiming over to Chen Yansen and said with a smile.

”Whoa! Boss Chen, you’re quite the looker! Let’s go see the factory first.”

Huang Qiming sized up Chen Yansen, gave him a compliment, and then pointed to the factory area ahead, getting straight to the point.

”Boss Huang, a pleasure to meet you.”

Chen Yansen replied and followed Huang Qiming toward the industrial park.

Cao Dahua, Wang Zihao, and Song Yuncheng followed behind, looking around at the surroundings.

”This section is A3. It covers 3,400 square meters and mostly consists of three-story factory buildings, plus a six-story dormitory. The total floor area is 11,000 square meters. If you use it to make knock-off phones and get the right equipment, you could produce five million units a year!”

Huang Qiming pointed at his factory buildings, boasting with an air of authority.

”Boss Huang, making knock-off phones in Shencheng City these days is a dead end,” Zuo Hongyu said irritably.

”Haha, well then, make branded phones,” Huang Qiming replied with a dry laugh and an awkward expression, trying to brush it off.

He couldn’t help it. The ”Double Strike” campaign from the higher-ups had bankrupted eighty percent of the phone factories in Huaqiang North.

Even the factories in Sai Ge Science and Technology Park couldn’t find tenants, let alone the more remote Zhongsha Industrial Park.

A factory this large had a daily rent of 6,000 to 8,000 yuan. Every day it sat empty was another day of losses.

Huang Qiming was getting desperate, which was why he was just spouting nonsense.

To close the deal, he led the group around A3 for a long time, explaining everything about the factory, including the power distribution room, the air compressor room, the cooling station, and more.

Chen Yansen remained silent, leaving it all to Zuo Hongyu and Cao Dahua.

’I have to admit, the conditions of Huang Qiming’s factory are quite good. The supporting facilities are comprehensive—it has employee dormitories, a parking lot, and a garbage station. The layout is also reasonable. It’s obvious a professional designer was hired during construction.’

Zuo Hongyu glanced at Chen Yansen. Seeing his boss give a slight nod, he knew what to do. He began to discuss the price, lease term, and payment period with Huang Qiming.

”0.65 yuan per square meter per day, payment every three months, a minimum two-year lease, and the contract signed for two years.”

Seeing that Zuo Hongyu was interested in renting, Huang Qiming quickly stated his price.

”Boss Huang, you might be able to fool a layman with that, but we’ve been around Shencheng City for over a decade. We know the prices very well. If you’re trying to rip off President Chen because you think he’s an outsider, then we’ll have to look elsewhere.”

Zuo Hongyu shook his head after hearing the offer, his expression darkening as he asked in displeasure.

”Rent paid annually, and we can sign an eight-year contract. But on the price, Boss Huang, you’ll have to come down a bit more. How about 0.5 yuan?”

Cao Dahua asked with a friendly smile, sticking out his belly.

Seeing them haggling over the price, Chen Yansen lost interest in participating. He left Wang Zihao there to learn and went for a stroll around the park with Song Yuncheng.

”You sold 5% of your shares in FoxTao just to make mobile phones?”

Song Yuncheng asked softly.

”That’s part of the reason,” Chen Yansen replied casually, gazing at the setting sun.

”There are rumors online that you’re going to package up FoxTao and sell it,” Song Yuncheng asked after a moment’s hesitation.

”Shouldn’t you be happy about that?”

Chen Yansen turned around and teased her with a smile.

Song Yuncheng, Zhang Wenbo, Xiang Pengfei, and the others each held 100,000 stock options. Based on a 16 billion yuan valuation, those options were worth over 3 million yuan.

At the time, housing prices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shencheng were mostly between 10,000 and 20,000 yuan per square meter, while the more remote suburbs were just over 8,000. If Chen Yansen really sold the company, they would become rich overnight.

”Everyone would rather build FoxTao to be bigger and stronger.”

Song Yuncheng shook her head and said seriously. This sentiment represented the feelings of a portion of FoxTao’s employees.

Although Chen Yansen still held nearly 70% of the shares after selling 5%, most startup founders wouldn’t sell off equity while their project was on the rise.

Chen Yansen’s action undoubtedly sent a message to the outside world: he wanted to cash out early.

”Don’t worry, I have no intention of selling FoxTao.”

Chen Yansen smiled, adding silently in his head: ’At least, not right now.’

’FoxTao’s performance isn’t stable enough yet. The 16 billion yuan valuation from Augusta Capital is, frankly, inflated. It would be difficult to find a domestic buyer to take it over.’

’If Ah Li could go public next year, Ma Liyun might be interested. But right now, Ah Li’s move to transfer ownership of Wealth Treasure has already been noticed by Yahoo.’

’The two companies are fighting tooth and nail online. For Lao Ma to solve this and buy back Yahoo’s shares, he’d need to have at least 5 billion US Dollars ready.’

’He has no spare capacity to take on another acquisition!’

So, when Chen Yansen said he wasn’t selling, it was only because he hadn’t found a suitable buyer yet.

Hearing Chen Yansen’s words, Song Yuncheng felt a little more at ease, but she still reminded him in a low voice, ”A lot of people in the project team are talking. I think you should hold a staff meeting to explain things.”

”Alright. I’ll have Xu Dan arrange it later.”

Chen Yansen raised his hand and ruffled Song Yuncheng’s hair.

”Brother Sen...” Wang Zihao, having finished the price discussion, walked over. He was just about to call out to Chen Yansen when he saw him stroking Song Yuncheng’s head and immediately shut his mouth.

Hearing the sound behind him, Chen Yansen patted Song Yuncheng’s shoulder and walked back as if nothing had happened.

Wang Zihao opened his mouth, wanting to say something but holding back. In the end, he remained silent.

Back in the office, Zuo Hongyu and Cao Dahua were waiting.

Chen Yansen picked up the draft contract. The lease term was for a minimum of five years, with rent to be renegotiated every three years and paid every six months, at a rate of 0.5 yuan per square meter per day.

It was 20% less than Huang Qiming’s initial offer, and an astonishing fifty percent cheaper than the rent at Sai Ge Science and Technology Park.

Chen Yansen did a rough calculation: the annual rent would be nearly 2 million yuan.

’Looking at Huang Qiming’s clothes and appearance, he really doesn’t seem like a big boss with a net worth of tens of millions.’

Chen Yansen nodded, entrusting the follow-up matters to Zuo Hongyu.

Cao Dahua decided to stay in Shencheng City to help contact equipment suppliers and set up the production line. Things like functional testers, injection molding machines, and CNC machines could all be sourced in Huaqiang North.

But for SMT (Surface-Mount Technology) equipment, they both felt that buying brand new would be too wasteful. Coincidentally, there was an electronics equipment auction in Shencheng City this month, offering a chance to get a batch at a low price.

Naturally, Chen Yansen wouldn’t let Cao Dahua help for free and offered him a separate salary.

In Chen Yansen’s eyes, although Cao Dahua had failed in business, he was still perfectly capable of running errands and procuring equipment.

Of course, according to Cao Dahua himself, he was mentoring a university student’s startup. His main job was still a university professor, so there was nothing wrong with drawing two salaries.

Four people had come, but only three returned.