My Lord, you need to stand up!

Chapter 593 I still want to live!
What could Wei Dong say? Blame himself for getting to know too many brilliant and talented people?
"This matter has nothing to do with me. It was indeed Lao Yu who introduced his comrade to me. You know, the Red Flag Song and Dance Troupe is based in Guocheng, Sichuan. A director who retired from there was having dinner and volunteered to ask the leaders to write an inscription to expand its influence. I know that there are many people in the government in Beijing who are involved in these kinds of things. Anyway, I didn't give any money. I would reward him after it was successful. In the end, he really got it done, so I invested in him to make a TV series. There was no extra benefit for me. I never used this name outside."

Old Fang probably pondered this and verified it with his information: "And what about your situation with Comrade Yu Songhai?"

This is the second time I've used this title. It seems to be more important than the inscription, so I've put everything else aside.

Wei Dong couldn't pretend he hadn't heard: "We had discussed many details of the reform and opening-up work in Chengdu. We were friends who got along very well after drinking and chatting about all sorts of things. But later, he went to the plateau to settle down and work for the sake of ethnic unity. I visited him and of course tried my best to support his work."

Lao Fang, um, means continue.

“I drove there myself and met a lot of aid workers and medical staff along the way. It was really tough, and there were many problems at the grassroots level. But like the reform and opening up here, I think the root of everything is that the economy is not developed enough. As long as a healthy commodity economy is formed instead of a lot of welfare aid, the situation can be reversed.”

"So the idea I proposed to Lao Yu was to vigorously develop economic production. I would supply a large amount of pre-cut fabrics to them, and they would open sewing factories in their county to sell to the entire plateau region. They could even take advantage of the proximity to the border ports to engage in foreign trade. The goal was not to make a lot of money, but to first establish a production and trade situation."

Even with his lifelong shrewdness and calculating nature, Old Fang couldn't help but say, "Good!"

This made Wei Dong even more proud: "But actually, the best business is yak meat. We have mastered the vacuum packaging technology, sent the equipment up, and they sealed and transported large pieces of high-quality yak meat to Jiangzhou, and then from there by waterway to Shanghai, where it was loaded onto ships and sold to Japan. The beef was 1.5 yuan per kilogram, and we gave the plateau 20 yuan. In reality, the Japanese sold it for 200 to 300 yuan in high-end restaurants in Tokyo. Now we have about 100 tons every month, and it is said that we have supplied more than 30 stores in Japan. The reputation is very good."

Old Fang quickly did some mental calculations and exclaimed in surprise: "Several million in sales every month?"

Wei Dong nodded: "The quality of highland yak meat is well-known, but we didn't have refrigerated trucks before, and frozen goods don't have the same freshness. We use vacuum sterilization packaging technology, which can keep it fresh for up to two months without affecting the taste. In fact, if we develop overseas markets well, I think we can sell to North America and Europe. Of course, their beef is very cheap there..."

Old Fang wasn't concerned with this kind of business acumen: "No wonder... he's now in charge of plateau reform and economic affairs, and he's doing an excellent job. It turns out you were the one providing the assistance."

When Wei Dong recalled those later anecdotes, he quickly clarified: "I didn't follow him to seek any economic benefits. I was just trying to improve people's lives by transporting sanitary napkins to the plateau, setting up a jeans factory, and building a beef processing plant. These investments would have made more money elsewhere."

Old Fang stared at him strangely: "Who's talking about you... Anyway, be careful not to talk about your relationship with him outsiders. Reforms will always encounter a lot of resistance, and he needs to grow like this. Consider this matter filed with me. If anyone asks you about him in the future, just pass the buck to me."

Wei Dong realized that this was an attempt to take responsibility for him, and he thanked him repeatedly: "I am a salesman, and he is a reporter. We are just friends who share the same values ​​and are like-minded. We are not friends based on mutual benefit. I also really want to help the plateau be developed. We are still training construction talents in the plateau, and I hope to send them back to vigorously promote construction. Real estate has always been a powerful tool to drive the economy."

Dawa is still in Beijing and Shanghai, so letting Weidong take precautions in advance is a way of saying that.

Old Fang looked at the bustling construction site in front of him, nodded, and walked inside: "I've been hearing that you've made great strides these days, and I've been wanting to come back and see for a while. I also need to give you enough time to tell me about your thinking behind all this, the investment structure... What is this?"

Old Geng had just set off for Nanjing, where the Electronics Building had already started construction. With over thirty floors, it would be the tallest building in Nanjing.

However, at Wei Dong's request, all the projects in various places were surrounded by walls and fences, with banners and signs. The construction projects, costs, areas, and construction companies were all posted on the walls at the entrance.

It looks very professional.

But as soon as you walk in, you see Qin Yuye's shipping container in the corner of the prefabricated housing area.

At that time, containers were still very rare. Inland waterway shipping never used them, and they were very precious at seaports.

After all, various metal materials are in short supply right now, and using steel to make such a cargo box is a wasteful act that is hard for many people to understand.

There were never so many discarded shipping containers that they could be used to build art houses everywhere.

Wei Dong thought he was looking at a strange metal box: "Containers, a large number of clothing company samples brought over from Hong Kong by a female Hong Kong businesswoman, probably for convenient transportation. You... this international port should be quite common, right?"

Old Fang didn't even look at the project under construction, and reached out to touch the container: "So in the eyes of knowledgeable people, this is a matter of course and commonplace. It's laughable that some frogs in a well are still opposing it. The three million US dollars invested in this project to become the largest port in the country have already been spent. The foreign investment company I found in Europe wants to withdraw its investment because there have always been people resisting cooperation with foreign companies."

Wei Dong laughed instead: "Oh, that's common. The first foreign-related hotel I stayed at in Beijing was built by an overseas Chinese wholly owned by a foreigner. All the employees were from catering and food companies and tourism departments. They weren't even planning to give the investors any shares. Allowing you to build it was already a favor. Capitalism doesn't dare to talk about shares. It all belongs to the people. So later, all sorts of messy things happened on the production line of the Beijing-Beijing automobile joint venture. It's all like that. Take it slow."

Old Fang shook his head: "We can't delay. I spent a few years in prison, so I decided to double down on my work to make up for the lost time. You have to realize that you are already influencing and changing things, so you have to develop this sense of responsibility that time waits for no one."

Wei Dong paused for a moment, then said, "I understand. I will learn from you, but I still think things should be done step by step. You can't rush things, especially when it comes to getting so many people involved."

Perhaps knowing that it would take another twenty or thirty years of effort for the outline to gradually emerge, Wei Dong was able to remain calm.

Old Fang paused for a moment, then laughed: "I disagree with your point of view, but I will defend to the death your right to have your own opinion. Come on, tell me what's going on with this construction site that's proceeding according to plan." Wei Dong was utterly astonished. He later saw a joke online that sounded so familiar. Are you like me, thinking, "I don't understand, but it sounds impressive..."

As expected, Lao Fang was stunned and puzzled: "What, what 'Li'?"

Wei Dong breathed a sigh of relief: "Even if I don't understand, I think what you said is very impressive. In our area, we have a joking expression, such as 'ten moved but refusal,' which means being very moved but then firmly refusing. Hahaha, isn't that interesting?"

Old Fang frowned, pondered for a moment, then smiled: "I'm trying my best to understand what young people are doing, but I'm still a little behind. What is that?"

Wei Dong was filled with admiration. Look at his mentality! After being released from prison, he only wanted to catch up. Even in his sixties, he was still working hard to learn from young people and keep up with the times.

Therefore, the entire layout is explained in detail.

It's actually a modified version of the Jiangzhou factory.

Next to the terraced factory buildings, there are rows of repair shops, cement plants, and steel processing plants. Even setting up a shed can solve the problem of whether or not there is work.

We'll be able to get the factory up and running in about a month, then we'll have to cram in the equipment and start production.

The cafeteria in the second-tier area will be simplified first, but it will definitely be developed into a food street later.

Finally, the residential complex across the street will be designed with three "T" shapes pieced together, resembling the cross-section of an engine rotor. By sharing a central elevator shaft, equipment costs will be saved, and each building can accommodate over a thousand households, thus addressing accommodation needs as much as possible at this stage.

Each building cost over 20 million, but has two floors of shops and one floor of parking garage.

Wei Dong finally explained to Lao Fang the secrets behind his current real estate model.

They offer the houses to their employees at cost price as much as possible, and the actual profit comes from the public shops below.

Whether it's leasing out operations in the early stages or selling them later, no one should cross the line during this phase of differing opinions and endless debates.

For a building that is twenty or thirty stories high, the selling price is already quite reasonable after spreading the construction cost across just two or three floors, but in the long run, this kind of price increase is also quite considerable.

Old Fang, who must have paid a lot of attention to and studied the real estate market in Hong Kong, could understand this very well. He suddenly realized, "I was wondering if you were making any profit from each of your buildings, which were both cheap and good. That doesn't make sense. So that's why. You are indeed a very cautious person here. You are bold in doing things but careful about details. That's great. That's exactly what I want."

This is where the advantage of prior preparation becomes apparent.

All kinds of planning maps, architectural drawings, and construction drawings are detailed and accurate. There is also a newly drawn map of the dock industrial area, which depicts the scale and details of this factory area after its completion.

At Lao Fang's signal, the area was immediately cleared, and the technician and the others were taken out and the door was closed.

Only two people remained in the somewhat stuffy prefabricated construction site.

Oh, and there's a baby too.

Old Fang pointed to the dock on the map and said, "I just told you that the initial three million US dollars for the dock construction have been spent, and the foreign party wants to withdraw its investment. So this is the time when I am most worried. It just so happens that you are here to fill this gap. I will give you ten million US dollars and thirty percent of the dock's shares."

Wei Dong had no idea how much this international port was worth. All he cared about was: "Taking it from foreign investors? Isn't that a loss of state-owned assets? Isn't thirty a bit too much? I'm willing to take a symbolic share. I'm only saying this now that we're here. Even if it's just making a contribution, it's what I should do. I can handle it."

Old Fang smiled approvingly: "It's best that you have this attitude, but I can't take shares. How can we determine the right direction for the future development here? So, the state-owned assets are 27%, the industrial zone is 28%, and I will try to persuade the foreigners to withdraw their shares but not their investment, leaving them with 15%."

Wei Dong could hear the message: "Damn it, I'm the largest shareholder. Please let me go. I don't want to be beheaded or go to jail. I still have so much work to do to reform things, and I don't want anything to happen at this critical juncture."

So how could his daughter not use foul language?

(End of this chapter)