Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 421 Chat
Yan Hui is conservative, one-sided, and lacks financial acumen. From an experienced perspective, if he had leveraged his position to short iron ore futures at this stage, he might have quickly doubled or tripled his capital. However, he's not that capable; he simply prepared for the conventional shorting of physical iron ore orders, intending to earn ten or twenty million yuan, nothing more.

People who run physical businesses are different from those who work in finance. If Yan Hui makes a fortune during this period of steel price fluctuations thanks to his exceptional foresight, he will have a strong regional influence and even a certain deterrent effect, to the point that when he goes to bid, others will worry about him and fear him.

In finance, however, how much you earn today has absolutely no bearing on tomorrow; it might all be wiped out tomorrow, and there's no real regional influence. (Except for those who can draw their own candlestick charts.)

After the plane landed smoothly, the boss drove Yan Hui back home: "By the way, where are you going next? Germany?"

"Yes, we're planning to go to Germany. My company's CTO helped me apply for an academic visit, so I'll go with him." Yan Hui nodded.

"Speaking of this, I'm quite puzzled myself. How can someone with your educational background understand chemistry so well?" The eldest brother has been curious about this for years.

Of the five brothers, he was the best student and the only one to get into a top-tier high school. He could accept that Yan Hui was richer than him, but he found it somewhat hard to accept that Yan Hui was now involved in scientific research.

"I've been seriously involved in the experiments for several years, of course!" Yan Hui immediately started bragging.

"Really? I can't believe it." The boss glanced at the passenger seat to confirm that Yan Hui had just said those words.

“We produce advanced polyurethane adhesives. I was originally planning to investigate the Brazilian market, but we still have too few connections. And to be honest, the infrastructure and security levels here make me lack confidence. If there were national-level cooperation and special support for overseas expansion in a few years, I might go overseas with them. But now that I'm here, I don't have any ideas.” Yan Hui didn't explain further. Their company's achievements speak for themselves; further explanation was pointless.

“That’s true! Maybe in the future, car factories will come from China to build factories and manufacture cars! Then you can come and build glue factories too!” The boss nodded.

"Yes, it is indeed a bit too early now. I have to change a lot of my plans for coming here, which is unavoidable. At first, I wanted to bring my grandma and the others. Luckily, I didn't bring them, it's just too far away."

"That's true, this place isn't really suitable for elderly people. By the way, how are they doing in Japan?"

"I heard it's pretty good, but with National Day approaching, hotels in Japan are getting more and more expensive, and my sister says she doesn't want to stay there anymore," Yan Hui said with a smile.

"Your family is short of money?" the eldest brother said dismissively.

"I'm mainly worried that my grandma won't be used to it. She should go back after her checkup. I can't manage things over there, so I'll let my sister take care of it. I plan to move my trip forward by a day and fly to Germany tomorrow," Yan Hui said.

"Alright, let's get together again when I get back to China. I can tell you're too busy with this job." The eldest brother thought for a moment. "It's convenient for you to go to Germany. I remember there are direct flights. I transferred in Frankfurt, Germany when I went home. But it still takes eleven or twelve hours to fly there." "Oh well, just have to endure it," Yan Hui said helplessly.

Chen Jian arranged Yan Hui's visit for four days later, so Yan Hui wasn't in a rush. However, Yan Hui didn't have a good feeling about Brazil; he felt he wouldn't learn anything there and would rather go to Germany sooner.

"By the way, what exactly are you going to Germany for? Even if you know a little about technology, can you really understand all that stuff? I don't believe you if you say that," the boss asked again. He was still very curious about Yan Hui's achievements over the years, and he wanted to take this opportunity to ask.

"Yes and no. I definitely can't understand the technical details, and some German products are the best in the world. Even our company's technical head wouldn't dare say he understands everything. I went there mainly to see what the world's most advanced equipment and laboratories look like. I need to have that kind of concept. To put it another way, if you tell an ordinary person that you're given 100 million to build a laboratory, he has no idea what to expect. He doesn't know how to spend 100 million or what the results will be. Although I have that concept now, it's very shallow. I need to visit more places and learn more so I can know what the company's next step is. I don't need to understand every step, but I at least need to know what it looks like. Simply put, I must have that kind of framework and insight." Yan Hui shared his philosophy with his boss.

"So, many bosses like to visit and learn from other places?" The boss seemed to understand.

“Some people are just looking blindly, that can’t be denied. And I might be looking blindly too. But, I don’t know what the outcome will be, I still have to go and see for myself. Coming to see this iron mine today, I was quite impressed. The scale of this mine is so large that you can only truly understand how impressive it is by seeing it with your own eyes. I looked at the excavators, the mine pit, the truck transportation distances, the composition of the ore, and the situation on the railway side, and I could roughly calculate the cost of iron ore. Anyway, I calculated that, without considering taxes, mining fees, and other unknown costs, the current profit margin for iron ore is over 100%! In other words, there is still a lot of room for iron ore prices to drop; it's just a matter of waiting for the right opportunity.” Yan Hui gave a brief explanation.

This is Yan Hui's "concept" because he is in this industry and is good at cost calculation, so he can understand many things that outsiders cannot.

"This iron mine is so profitable?" the boss asked, somewhat surprised.

"Is there any mining operation in the world that doesn't make money? My tile factory needs a lot of kaolin, and I've looked at several mines. To be honest, I'm even thinking of getting my own mine for fun." Yan Hui's words were true.

Many people describe someone as wealthy by saying "his family owns a mine," which shows that everyone knows that mining is indeed profitable.

There are two important reasons for this. First, prospecting technology has improved, so the minerals discovered at the time of permit issuance may not be all of them. Second, mining technology has improved, mining efficiency has increased, and mining costs have decreased, all of which are different from when the permit was issued.

"This is reliable! When you get a mine, you'll be a real big boss." The eldest brother looked at Yan Hui, "Among us brothers, you're the best. Back then, the third brother tricked you like this, and you still managed to get to where you are now. It's really not easy."

"By the way, I went home a while ago," Yan Hui said, bringing up the topic of her recent trip home.

(End of this chapter)