Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 221 Support
The next morning, Yan Hui got up early, packed his things, and waited for his brother-in-law to arrive at the warehouse.

While waiting, he swept the outside clean and then tidied up the warehouse and the house.

Yan Hui felt that it was right to clean such places every day, because outsiders would immediately know that someone was there and wouldn't be tempted to visit. If a place is deserted for a long time, or is covered in dust, outsiders are more likely to be interested.

When my brother-in-law came, he brought two people and a truck. He drove the truck directly into the warehouse, leaving his own car outside.

"You've tidied it up nicely!" After entering the warehouse, my brother-in-law looked around and said, "I haven't been here for the past two days. This warehouse is so big, have you cleaned it all?"

"At first, the dust was quite thick, and it took me four or five days to clean it up. Now I clean it every day, and it's much easier; there's not much dust anymore," Yan Hui nodded.

"That's one of your strengths, you must keep it." My brother-in-law smiled and nodded.

This warehouse has a manual crane. As long as the equipment is secured, one person can use this set of pulleys to lift the air conditioner onto the truck.

With four people working on it, it was quick; in less than 20 minutes, two complete industrial air conditioning units were installed on the truck.

Today, Yan Hui wasn't the only installer; several others were already at the construction site.

After locking up the warehouse, the brother-in-law took Yan Hui to his Santana.

“I’ve been quite busy lately, and I don’t have much work here. Do you go to the construction site to work every day?” My brother-in-law sighed. “When your sister asks me, I don’t even dare to tell her that you work on the construction site.”

"Don't tell her. With her personality, she'll definitely worry if she hears it." Yan Hui immediately shook his head.

“Well, this isn’t a long-term solution. The construction site is still too dangerous. I know you don’t have much money right now. I was thinking, how about I lend you some money to open an air conditioner repair shop? Then you can hire a worker. Once you have a shop, business will naturally come,” my brother-in-law suggested.

"Brother-in-law, actually, I still don't want to work with air conditioners. This kind of thing really isn't suitable for me. With my skill level, I can only install and replace parts; I'm not good at anything else." Yan Hui shook his head helplessly.

"Isn't this all the work you're supposed to do? You just need to know where it's broken and how to replace the parts. Parts prices have dropped by 20-30% in the last two months, but the repair prices haven't changed. If you ask me, as long as you keep learning, earning 40,000 to 50,000 yuan a year shouldn't be a problem." The brother-in-law felt that this was enough, at least enough for Yan Hui to get started.

“I understand what you’re saying, brother-in-law. I’ve been on the construction site recently and I’ve seen a lot of practical applications. I’m still your brother-in-law. I’ve basically accepted the situation with Jianye. If I want to start over, I’ll probably still go into the timber business.” Yan Hui told his brother-in-law about his plan for the first time.

"Oh?" Upon hearing this, my brother-in-law perked up immediately. "You're planning to get into the timber business? Have you found any sales channels lately?"

“I don’t have sales channels yet, but I can find them. My raw material supply is still there. Although production in Northeast China was suspended for a few months, it can start immediately if I need it. What I lack now is sales channels, but I think I can handle that,” Yan Hui said. “I need to stay on the construction site and figure everything out.”

"Is this the same as your previous situation?" My brother-in-law was still a little worried.

"It's different. The person who lied to me, Boss Teng, used to supply goods to construction sites. In the future, I'm going to build my own processing plant. I'm going to skip him and replace him, supplying goods directly to construction sites." Yan Hui has been spending so much time at construction sites recently, so he's learned quite a bit.

A large construction site has a relatively high demand for timber.

Besides scaffolding planks, many construction site equipment, wooden window frames, formwork timber, etc., all require timber. A large-scale construction project of 20 square meters will require no less than 1000 cubic meters of timber.

Yan Hui had once proactively expanded his business to construction sites by selling ash wood. Although it only happened once, it made him realize that supplying construction sites directly was very profitable.

"So how are you going to solve your funding problem? Sometimes supplying goods to construction sites requires delayed payments. If I remember correctly, the person who scammed you started gambling because of the pressure of debt from delayed payments and inventory." My brother-in-law reminded me.

The construction site business is tough, partly due to inventory and payment delays, and partly because there are too many people with connections. The latter, the brother-in-law, goes without saying; Yan Hui certainly knows.

“When I went home for Chinese New Year this year, my cousin came to see me once. He asked me if I had any high-interest loans after my recent failure. He said if I did, he would lend me money to pay them off. I was very upset at the time, and I told him I had no debts and that I had paid them all off. My cousin told me that he could lend me money when I started doing business again. I can't start a lot all at once, but I should be able to make enough for one freight car.” Yan Hui’s mind gradually returned to normal.

He had to admit that his mind had been in turmoil for the past few months.

"Oh, oh, oh, that's true on my cousin's end. How about this, once your company is up and running and you have orders, I can lend you some money. Just let me know how much you need then." My brother-in-law nodded.

Yan Hui's failure this time was a case of those involved being blinded by their own perspective, while bystanders saw it clearly. His cousin, brother-in-law, and uncle all understood it perfectly well.

Even when Yan Hui most wanted to escape, he sold his watch and other items to pay off his debts, a quality that many Fujianese business owners deeply respect.

A person cannot stand without integrity; this is not just a saying.

There's a saying in the investment world: I'm not investing in your business, I'm investing in you as a person.

In short, my brother-in-law now also thinks Yan Hui is a worthwhile investment, especially the current Yan Hui. The current Yan Hui is much poorer than before, but he's definitely more cautious and ruthless!

Moreover, if we don't invest when the other party is poor, are we going to wait until they have hundreds of millions before investing?

“Okay, brother-in-law, I can give you a share of the profits then,” Yan Hui promised.

"We'll see when the time comes," my brother-in-law nodded. "If that's the case, I won't stop you from going to the construction site."

"I'll take it slow," Yan Hui finally admitted his problem. Haste? There's no need to rush.

"There's no rush, Xiaohui. I don't know many people, especially when it comes to timber. But I do have some resources on the construction site, since our air conditioners are all for the construction site. I'll formally introduce you when you come out with me later. Whether you get the opportunity or not is up to you. You can't let me down. You have to be on your best behavior from now on!" After Yan Hui had been here for so long, his brother-in-law was finally starting to mentor him.

Yan Hui was so dejected that even his brother-in-law couldn't lift him up. Ultimately, to truly stand up, one must rely on their own spine.

Yan Hui didn't say anything after hearing this. He rubbed his face and looked out the window.

(End of this chapter)