Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 314: Giving Wings to the Country (End)

Fuzhou Second Chemical Plant is one of the most efficient factories in Fuzhou. Although the equipment in the factory is relatively old, the chemical industry does not advance that fast in technology and is inherently asset-intensive. Even in the international arena, it is not far behind and is at the first-class level domestically.

Its products are mainly plastic films, soaps, various cleaning agents, etc., which are supplied to the whole country. The factory has more than 2,000 workers, which is a very enviable small group in the country at this time. In the eyes of others, it is not much worse than the government compound.

Zheng Yi spent his childhood in the staff housing of Erhua. Soap was sold at an internal price. Generally speaking, his childhood was relatively lucky among his peers. Fuzhou is not like the Northeast, and there has not been large-scale layoffs of employees in state-owned enterprises.

Because it is a hometown of overseas Chinese, he came into contact with overseas Chinese earlier and had relatively more opportunities. Although when he was a child he did envy those families who were able to get rich early by relying on their relationship with overseas Chinese under the tide of market economy, objectively speaking, he has never been hungry or poor since he was a child.

Compared with other ordinary children of the same age across the country, I am already very lucky.

"Welcome, welcome, warm welcome."

"Welcome, welcome, warm welcome."

It only took a few minutes to drive from the department store to the chemical plant. God knows how the factory leaders managed to get a welcoming team to greet him at the door.

"Hello, Mr. Zheng. I'm Yuan Xiao, the director of the Second Chemical Plant."

As soon as he got off the car, the factory director shook his hand enthusiastically.

"Old Yuan."

"Forehead……"

Director Yuan, who is just in his early fifties this year, was called "Old Yuan" by Zheng Yi, who is nearly seventy years old, and he said he couldn't do it anymore.

"Hahahahaha, good, good, good, Old Yuan, you're so good."

Zheng Yi figured it out on the way here. What he did in Fuzhou was destined to be illogical and incomprehensible in the eyes of others. He couldn't explain it, but he didn't need to explain it.

If that's the case, then he should just do as he pleases.

He is almost seventy years old and has so much wealth and power, so of course he has to do whatever he wants. It's also good to be a naughty old man.

The old factory manager was a pretty good person. Nothing like bullying had ever happened to his family, so he didn't need to take revenge on anyone.

Compared with the old Northeast, the state-owned factories in Fuzhou were extremely lucky. The pain period of reform was not long. His father was a technician and was relatively the beneficiary of the reform. Throughout the 1980s, his father's salary would be increased at any time, and the family income gradually widened the gap with that of ordinary workers. Welfare housing and medical care were also guaranteed. Later, when the family was demolished, they made a small fortune.

Naturally, they had more respect for the old factory manager, and they got along well with each other.

After a brief handshake, Zheng Yi soon saw Zheng Jianbin, his father, in the welcoming crowd.

The provincial and municipal leaders must have mentioned Zheng Jianbin in the department store, so they called him out specifically.

Seeing this, Zheng Jianbin also took the initiative to step forward, bowed rather stiffly and said, "Hello, Mr. Zheng."

Old Yuan introduced Xiao Zheng: "Although he is young, he is the technical backbone of our factory. Balabala, balabalala."

Zheng Yi, however, was no longer as excited as he had been in the department store. He suddenly turned around and said to Li Jilong, "Does he look like me when I was young?"

Li Jilong took a serious look and nodded, "Really, it really is. It looks quite similar. Honestly, uncle, I would believe it if you said this was your illegitimate child."

"what"

Zheng Yi kicked Li Jilong upon hearing this and said, "What illegitimate child? That's all nonsense."

Then he asked Zheng Jianbin, "Your father's name is Zheng Long, and your grandfather's name is Zheng Huanger, right?"

Zheng Jianbin nodded. He was completely confused.

"Then it can't be wrong, this is my nephew."

After saying that, Zheng Yi asked Zheng Jianbin to hold his hand and walked into the factory.

"Me, your nephew? This... Mr. Zheng, could you be mistaken? Our ancestors are from Zhangzhou."

"That's even more true. My ancestors are from Zhangzhou."

This is truly a pie in the sky. Everyone in Fuzhou knows who Mr. Zheng is. It is said that he is rich enough to rival a country. Even all the people in China put together are not as rich as him.

"Mr. Zheng, let me introduce our factory to you... um... where are we going?"

"Come to your house and sit down."

Zheng Yi and Zheng Jianbin strode forward without hesitation, heading towards the family compound in the back. Everyone was a little confused. Director Yuan couldn't help but ask Li Jilong, "Leader, has this Mr. Zheng been to our factory before? Why does he seem so familiar?"

Li Jilong was also confused, so he could only say, "Just follow along. Why all the nonsense? My uncle is always mysterious."

Zheng Yi had no interest in Zheng Jianbin's introduction to Erhua. Instead, he asked, "Are you married? Who is your wife? What does she do? What's her name?"

"My wife... is Zhu Xiaofei. Yes, she works in the provincial party committee."

"Oh~, Aunt Zhu."

"what?"

"It's okay."

Zheng Yi seemed to have some idea why his father was not with his mother.

He once heard people joke that when Aunt Zhu was young, she was the most beautiful girl in their compound. All the boys in the entire family compound liked Aunt Zhu, and he guessed that included his dad, but she was beautiful and had a good job, so she looked down on his dad.

In this time and space, for its own reasons, it secretly provided some chemical technologies to the country as early as the 1950s, especially petrochemical post-processing technologies. Naturally, the beneficiary companies included Fuzhou No. 2 Chemical.

Dad is still the same dad, and the job is still the same job, but this job itself is more prestigious than in history, and the factory is more profitable. You have to know that in the 1960s and 1970s, working in a factory with good performance was no worse than working in a government agency.

It was not worthy in history, but it is worthy in this time and space.

Then naturally there is nothing to do with my mother.

To a certain extent, my parents' marriage may have been because neither of them could find anyone better under the circumstances at the time.

[Damn it, after all this time, I ended up destroying myself.]

So I went home holding Lao Zheng's arm.

The group of followers were a little dumbfounded. Seeing the two people going upstairs, it was inconvenient for such a large group of people to go up. In the end, only Xiaotong and Li Jilong followed. The others, including a group of provincial and municipal leaders, could only wait outside.

"Mr. Zheng, you... you seem very familiar with this place?"

"Yes, yes, very yes. Is your house on the fourth floor?"

"Yes, 4."

"Go upstairs, upstairs."

"Then your body..."

"It's not hard to get to the fourth floor."

The home is still the same home, only about 50 square meters in total, and the decoration is shabby, but it is also an authentic two-bedroom, one-living room house, similar to the home in his memory, except that the room that originally belonged to him has become someone else's, and it is filled with colorful stickers and some small toys like Barbie dolls.

"Your daughter's room?"

"Yes, this is my daughter's room."

"How old is your daughter?"

"I'm nine years old and attending a family primary school."

"Is everything…alright at home? Zhu…do you and your wife get along well?"

"Okay, that's good, that's good."

"Hey, how did you marry such a beautiful wife? A poor man marrying a beautiful wife is not necessarily a good thing. You said she works in a government agency. You are just too young. When you two quarrel on weekdays, it must be because she is more powerful than you and scolds you every day."

Zheng Jianbin: “…………”

Zheng Yi didn't care about the strange reaction on his father's face, but simply rummaged around the house. He found a tin box of imported biscuits and a tin can of "condensed milk" in the sewing machine. He dipped the biscuits in the condensed milk and started eating them without hesitation.

"You're my nephew, so I'm going to take care of you. Do you want to come back to Penang with me, or stay in Fuzhou? If you come back to Penang with me, I'll find you a job and send your children to the same private elementary school our children attend." "If you want to stay in Fuzhou, I'll raise money to start a joint venture chemical plant and make you the director."

"This... uncle."

"what?"

"You, aren't you my uncle?"

"Oh yes, I'm your uncle."

"Um... you came so unexpectedly today." Zheng Jianbin smiled bitterly. "I never knew our family had overseas connections, and this background is surprisingly... so big."

As he was speaking, he heard the sound of keys outside the door. It turned out to be Aunt Zhu who came back with the key to open the door. As soon as she came in, she greeted Zheng Yi warmly.

Zheng Jianbin: "Why are you back? Shouldn't you be at work at this time?"

"When the provincial government heard that Mr. Zheng was visiting our home, they immediately sent me back and gave me a task. They also told me that they would transfer me to the Investment Promotion Office."

Obviously, he came back with the mission of attracting investment. This man is indeed generous and at least he can be relaxed in front of Zheng Yi.

Zheng Yi and this woman had nothing to talk about, and it even felt weird. He felt like it was a mismatch, as if this woman was the cause of his parents' divorce.

Although he also found it ridiculous.

Zheng Jianbin glanced at his wife. The two of them understood each other's intentions with just a glance. He said, "Uncle, if possible, why don't you help us upgrade our second factory? I'm already at this age and my life is pretty good. If you ask me to leave my hometown and go abroad now, I'm afraid my family will have a hard time adapting. I heard that you can help our country get rid of poverty and achieve the four modernizations. What do you think..."

"Okay, I understand." Zheng Yi nodded.

Zheng Yi took out another cigar and offered it to him, saying, "You're still on the front line, right?"

“Yes, I am a frontline technical engineer.”

"The safety measures at the Second Chemical Plant are terrible. There are constant ammonia leaks, causing workers to suffer from ammonia poisoning. This crappy factory doesn't care about safety at all, nor does it care about the health and safety of frontline workers like you."

"This... there's nothing we can do. The equipment is aging, and there's no way to replace it. Mr. Zheng, how about..."

"Is my aunt okay?"

"Ah? Your aunt?"

"Oh, your sister, Zheng Meiling."

"My sister...she's doing well. She's a teacher at No. 2 Middle School."

"It's pretty good, but that mother-in-law of hers, ah~, is really sick. You, as a younger brother, don't care about her at all. And your brother, after he retired, you didn't help him find a partner. What kind of person is that? Don't let them get married. They'll fight for their whole lives and divorce when divorce is allowed. Poor child living in a single-parent family, how pitiful. Oh, by the way, where's your mom? Why don't you call her over so we can chat together?"

Zheng Jianbin: “…………”

When the topic came to this point, Zheng Yi had completely let himself go, saying whatever he wanted to say and whatever he thought of. Li Jilong and Zheng Xiaotong were even more annoyed.

It was seen that Zheng Yi knew everything about Zheng Jianbin's family situation, including his brothers, sisters, nephews and nieces, and seemed to be very familiar with them.

However, no matter how you look at it, this should be the first day these two people meet.

They chatted like this for more than an hour, all about family matters, and Zheng Yi basically talked non-stop, while Zheng Jianbin listened like a fool, nodding from time to time, or responding.

He was so frightened that he felt like a ghost.

After talking all the way to the end, Zheng Yi glanced at the clock at home. It was already past eleven o'clock. He then said indifferently, "Don't worry about the investment. You know my main business is petrochemicals. It can be considered a family tradition. I will follow your lead."

Zheng Jianbin: “…………”

"Go ahead and replace and upgrade all the equipment at the Second Chemical Plant. I'll give you $3 billion for the first phase of building a world-class integrated chemical plant here. Don't worry about raw materials or orders. I know our country is in dire need of foreign exchange right now, so I'll find a sales channel for you. All our products will be exported."

"It's settled. There's only one condition: you become the factory manager, and no one else can interfere. You run the place yourself. If you mess up, I'll compensate you."

"Let's go to the restaurant. They said the province has arranged a Buddha Jumps Over the Wall banquet for me. Honestly, I'm quite looking forward to it. Let's try this legendary, authentic dish and see how it differs from what I usually eat. Pick up the kids, and call your mother and all the relatives to come along."

He turned to Li Jilong and said, "Call Li Yuping and her relatives. I'll tell you who else to call."

Li Jilong: "Okay."

If you can't explain it, just don't explain it. Li Jilong also stopped thinking about it if he couldn't figure it out.

In the end, Zheng Yi called all his close relatives and put them on the list.

Everyone was confused. You know, his grandma, grandfather and grandmother were all still alive, but he insisted on trying to establish relationships with both families, and ended up making life difficult for these three elderly people.

The city has already started an investigation into the ancestors of the Li and Zheng families, but the results are really confusing. After all, these people are still alive, and there is not much room for imagination.

Zheng Yi didn't care about that. After returning to Fuzhou, he became more and more carefree. At the banquet, he was not shy in front of a large number of relatives. He was so happy that he even asked for white wine, which was very rare.

He gave his mother money to start a supermarket chain and gave his father money to start a chemical factory. For him now, he had to invest in China anyway, so it didn't really matter what he invested in. Money was just a number to him.

My aunt said she wanted to open a restaurant, so Zheng Yi built two five-star hotels for her in Xiamen, Shenzhen, Fuzhou and Guangzhou.
My uncle mentioned the booming development of township enterprises, so Zheng Yi gave him money to set up a steel plant.

I opened an aquaculture center for my uncle, directly leasing a piece of sea. I opened a textile and clothing factory for my eldest uncle, and he created his own clothing brand. My third uncle wanted to start a construction company, so I gave him all the orders. He also built a villa complex for himself in Fuzhou. Although it was not allowed according to the policy, it was not impossible to make special arrangements.

As for my uncle, second aunt, and eldest aunt, they all wanted to visit Penang and the United States. Zheng Yi satisfied all their requests and made clear arrangements for them.

Although no one understood what was wrong with Zheng Yi and why he was so kind to these two families, Zheng Yi himself was very happy. He also understood what it meant to be rich and powerful but not return to one's hometown, like walking in fine clothes at night.

As for the electronics factories and textile factories in Shenzhen, he had no interest in these three-in-one businesses. He just put his two half-sisters on his lap and ate and drank with the help of alcohol.

Li Jilong: "Uncle, why don't you drink less? You've already drunk a bottle."

"Hmm? Have you drunk a bottle already? It's okay, don't worry about me. I haven't been this happy in many years. Are you happy? At your uncle's age now, I don't know how many years I have left to live, and I don't know if I can see the day I want to see, hey~"

As he spoke, Zheng Yi hugged Li Yuping and Zheng Jianbin and said, "I don't know how long I have left. I'll make a will. After I die, I'll leave you a share of my property. Probably... um... you two will get 10%, and I'll get 20% in total. Is that okay? Well, it's settled. Any objection from others will be invalid."

Everyone: "…………"

But everyone just thought what he said today was drunken talk, and no one dared to respond.

If you get 10% of Zheng Yi's inheritance, you will immediately become one of the richest people in the world, and the country's foreign exchange reserves will probably be far less than that.

Because it was so outrageous, Zheng Yi said seriously that no one dared to believe it.

Zheng Yi suddenly sighed and turned to Li Jilong, chattering nonstop, "Honestly, if everything goes according to plan, it will take at least another thirty years, maybe even forty, for me to see the day I hope to see. Honestly, I'm afraid it's hard to live another thirty or forty years."

"It's rare for a person to reach seventy. Although I'm in good health now and don't have any serious health problems, life expectancy is always unpredictable. I could die at any time. I also hope that some things can be passed away as quickly as possible."

"I know the country is facing difficulties, and some policies still need to be tested bit by bit, and gradually tried out. But you should know that, without being modest, I am still a politician, right?"

"Uncle, do you have any suggestions? Please tell me."

"It's not really a suggestion, I'm just a little anxious. I remember the policy made a distinction between foreign investment and overseas Chinese investment. I heard that overseas Chinese investment was treated as a special kind of domestic investment. Is that the case?"

"Uncle, you are right. There is indeed such a saying."

Zheng Yi held up three fingers and said, "Three hundred billion US dollars. I promise you that within a year, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation will establish an investment fund specifically targeting mainland China, specifically for PPP projects. This is a model we implemented in Southeast Asia ten years ago."

"To put it simply, we will use this money to invest in infrastructure in the country, counting it as a loan to build projects, and use the profits from the projects themselves to repay the loans. However, the prerequisite is that the funds themselves cannot be misappropriated, and relevant technologies and equipment from SAARC must be used."

"In addition, domestic state-owned enterprises that are willing to upgrade their equipment can apply for loans from SAARC. However, they must purchase SAARC-designed equipment and patented technology, and use profits to repay the loans."

Li Jilong: "What if the loan can't be repaid?"

"If the loan cannot be repaid, the shares of the project and the factory itself will be used to offset it. When the shareholding reaches the holding level, we from SAARC will send people to take over the management of the factory and public project."

"I, Zheng Yi, fully support our country's reform and opening up. I'm just a little anxious. It's just about attracting foreign investment. There's no need to look for anyone else. Just find me. Why don't you just set up your investment promotion office in Penang? If you have any major projects, just talk to me directly."

"What I can guarantee to my motherland is an almost unlimited supply of ammunition. It all depends on how much you can give me."

"I've been wandering overseas all my life and have achieved some success. But now that I have a short time left, I have only one wish: to give wings to the country's reform and opening up."

(End of this chapter)