Sail across the sea

Chapter 488 Your classmate is quite special
Seven or eight years ago, inspired by Gao Fan, Yin Xiaobiao started a business dismantling old equipment.

His business model involves helping clients demolish old factories and equipment for free or for a nominal fee, on the condition that all the scrap materials removed belong to him.

Yin Xiaobiao established a system for recycling and refurbishing waste materials. He could collect even an old screw or an old spring, clean and remove rust, and then sell them to township enterprises that lacked the means to obtain production materials.

In recent years, the scale of infrastructure construction in various regions has been increasing, and the related demolition and relocation business has also been growing daily. For government departments, the scrap metal in an old enterprise is not worth much. If someone can help them demolish it for free, they can save on demolition costs and only pay for the residual value of some scrap materials, which is a very worthwhile deal.

For Yin Xiaobiao, the cost of dismantling the old equipment was not high. In those days, labor was extremely cheap. The recyclable parts and scrap metal from the old equipment were actually quite valuable; selling them not only covered the labor costs but also generated a substantial profit.

Yin Xiaobiao's grades were average in school, but he was very shrewd in business. He was good at summarizing experiences and was willing to spend money to purchase various demolition tools, which effectively reduced demolition costs.

Others have tried to replicate his business model, but gave up after a few projects because they couldn't control costs like Yin Xiaobiao and lacked channels to sell scrap parts.

When Yin Xiaobiao started his business, he received help from Ke Shuilong, a merchant from Shuainan. Later, he learned that the money Ke Shuilong lent him was actually advanced by Gao Fan, but his gratitude to Ke Shuilong did not diminish.

He expressed his gratitude to Gao Fan and Ke Shuilong by emulating their selfless acts of helping others. He set a rule for himself to donate 5% to 10% of his profits to charity each year, a rule he has followed without interruption.

After several years of expansion, his business now covers several provinces surrounding Maolin, and he has undertaken more than a dozen projects in Muyang. As is customary, he donates a portion of his earnings in Muyang to the Hope Project in Muyang, an act that has attracted the attention of several government departments.

On several occasions, rural schools applied for emergency funding from higher authorities due to issues such as dilapidated buildings, but the local finances were unable to provide the funds. Yin Xiaobiao happened to hear about this and stepped in to help the government out of the predicament. When news of these events reached the provincial finance department, they sent someone to express their gratitude to Yin Xiaobiao. It was during this time that Hu Dongming met Yin Xiaobiao.

However, neither of them expected that they would have a mutual friend like Gao Fan.

Gao Fan explained his relationship with Hu Dongming to Yin Xiaobiao, who then quickly extended an invitation:
"Director Hu, I didn't know you and Gao Fan were classmates, otherwise I would have visited you more often. How about this, I'll treat you and Gao Fan to dinner tonight. There are a few good local restaurants in the Fanjiawan mining area, with excellent food."

Hu Dongming smiled and glanced at Gao Fan. Gao Fan said, "I'm afraid it won't work this time. Director Hu took time out of his busy schedule to accompany me to Linji. After the ceremony, we will be returning to Jiangcheng together. I also bought train tickets for tomorrow morning to return to Ruizhang. You know about the relationship between Director Hu and me, so you can invite Director Hu separately later."

Hu Dongming then continued Gao Fan's words, saying, "Right, right, President Yin, do you still have my business card? When you come to Jiangcheng, please remember to call me so we can have a good chat. Since you and Gao Fan are classmates, we're in the same year, so we should have a lot in common."

Yin Xiaobiao said, "Okay, okay, whenever I go to Jiangcheng, I will definitely report to Director Hu."

"It was just a chat between friends."

"Haha, then I'm honored to be associated with you."

After exchanging pleasantries with Hu Dongming, Yin Xiaobiao said to Gao Fan, "Gao Fan, it's such a pity. I didn't see you in Cangtang during the Spring Festival, and you're so busy this time. I don't know when we'll have time to get together again. I still have a lot of things I want to ask you." "Maybe in a month or two, I might come to Muyang again, and I'll try to find time to come to Linji again," Gao Fan said.

Yin Xiaobiao thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "If it's next month, I probably won't be in Muyang anymore. I just took on a project in the northern border region, and I'll probably be staying there for a while, at least half a year."

"You're really something, you've even expanded your business to northern Xinjiang," Gao Fan praised.

Yin Xiaobiao laughed and said, "Mainly because I've never been to the Northwest and want to broaden my horizons. A friend recommended this project to me, and after talking to them on the phone, they expressed interest. So, I'm planning to finish up my work here and then go take a look."

"You go ahead and do your own thing. There will always be opportunities to meet and chat," Gao Fan said.

Men aren't usually that clingy. After finishing his business, Yin Xiaobiao left. He had been invited to the ceremony by the client as the contractor for the demolition work. The client's representatives were waiting for him ahead, so it wasn't appropriate for him to stand there and talk with Gao Fan for too long.

"Your classmate is quite special."

Watching Yin Xiaobiao leave, Hu Dongming commented.

"What's so special about it?"

"He is the only person I have ever met who is truly passionate about doing public welfare. Whether it is a private entrepreneur or a government official, it is possible to donate money occasionally, but it is usually just following the trend or putting on a show. Mr. Yin's situation is very different. In my observation, he does public welfare out of genuine sincerity."

“I know about this. He received help from kind people when he started out, so he vowed to give back to society. I didn’t expect him to be able to stick to it for so long.”

“There’s an old saying: It’s not hard for a person to do a few good deeds, but it’s hard to do good deeds all one’s life and never do bad deeds. Your classmate is almost worthy of that saying. You don’t know, but our hall manager specifically instructed that if there are any government-funded projects in the future that involve demolition and relocation, under the same conditions, Mr. Yin’s company will be given priority.”

"Ha, I guess this is a case of good deeds being rewarded," Gao Fan laughed.

Hu Dongming said, "Maybe he's using this method for marketing. Are you Maolin people just naturally good at marketing?"

Gao Fan said seriously, "Don't wrong him. Xiao Biao does charity work out of the heart, not for marketing purposes."

“I know that,” Hu Dongming quickly corrected himself. “I was just saying that his actions unintentionally had a marketing effect. And it was precisely because it was unintentional that I said you Maolin people are naturally good at marketing.”

(End of this chapter)