The Self-Cultivation of a Reborn Massage Therapist

Chapter 371 Industry Progress
Lanzhou, in western China.

Forty-two-year-old truck driver Lao Ma's previous logistics company went bankrupt, leaving him three months' wages unpaid.

So he decided to downgrade his spending, reducing the amount of grilled sausages he ate when picking up his son from school from two to one, making sure his son finished his sausage first.

At night, Old Ma sat in his cramped living room, looking at a basin with worry in his eyes. His sweaty feet were soaking in the basin, and a few dried herbs floated on the surface of the water.

"Dad, is your folk remedy even working? My athlete's foot has practically followed me all over Northwest China, and the itching is unbearable!" he shouted into the house.

His father slowly replied from the inner room, "What's the rush! It's a recipe passed down from the neighbor's ancestors. Soak it for forty-nine days to get rid of the root!"

Old Ma sighed with a worried look on his face. As a long-haul truck driver, what he feared most was athlete's foot; after a long trip, he would be both itchy and in pain.

He scrolled through his phone irritably when suddenly a job posting popped up:
[Slow Weaving Life Logistics Center - Seeking Cross-Border Specialized Transport Drivers with High Salaries]

Position: Driver of temperature and humidity controlled special container trucks (European routes)

Salary: Starting from RMB 12,000 per month

Benefits: Five social insurances and two housing funds, 15 days of annual leave, star-rated accommodation and meals throughout the trip, labor protection and health therapy.

Old Ma suddenly sat up straight, splashing foot-washing water all over the floor.

"No need to bring your own car?! Twelve thousand?! And they even treat athlete's foot?!"

He couldn't believe his eyes.

……

The Slow Weaving Lifestyle Industrial Park actually comprises three locations.

One is an industrial park transformed from the Jianghai Textile Heritage Park, another is the former Jin Dayang Textile Factory, and the third is a large-scale special logistics company base.

Beyond raw material production, this entire supply chain integration, from new material research and development to specialized logistics reaching the end consumer, is extremely complex and requires significant investment. Perhaps only in China, a country with the world's most complete industrial system, could all the pieces of the puzzle be assembled.

Of course, having a foundation is not enough. What is needed is a bold and ambitious person who doesn't care about money and dares to let his subordinates do things, in order to ultimately drive this crazy industry integration.

"Murder and arson bring wealth," and Zhao Xiaochui's money certainly came easily, and not slowly at all.

For local governments, the source of the money is not important—as long as the higher authorities confirm that the source of the funds is legal and compliant, they are happy to fully cooperate with this "hothead's" extravagant spending.

As for subsequent product market development and brand operation, that's not something the local government needs to worry about.

Bank mortgage defaults, local debt crises, corporate bankruptcy bailouts, worker resettlement, and stable tax revenue sources... these are what they truly care about. And this easy, slow-moving approach conveniently solves all those headaches in one fell swoop.

It can be said that even without the special care of "a certain company", Zhao Xiaochui would be unable to do anything to Jinling Capital and Choulv at this point.

Zhao Xiaochui can no longer enter that office as a young person.

However, Zhao Xiaochui didn't care about these changes at all. All he cared about was his rightful wages. If it weren't for the firm refusal from above, he wouldn't have even touched that money.

If it weren't for the refusal from above, he wouldn't even want this money. The thought of the local state-owned assets' fearful yet resolute refusal when he tried to get them to participate made Zhao Xiaochui extremely frustrated—so the livelihood pressure of hundreds of thousands of people is all on my shoulders?

Also, is that money really that hot to handle?

Zhao Xiaochui had just received a text message from the fat receptionist: all the funds and assets he obtained from Commissioner Smith involving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the J party would no longer be subject to a percentage-based commission, but would be returned to him in full.

The reason given was: "Little Hammer, your identity is a bit sensitive, huh?"

Zhao Xiaochui: "..."

Rubbing his throbbing temples, Zhao Xiaochui walked into the office area. The thought of the inexplicable pressure he was carrying made him feel uneasy.

'If you want to avoid trouble later, you must do these things.'

This was the suggestion from the chubby receptionist and Yu Xiaoning, so he let Zhou Yaqin lead the office staff to do their thing. He never expected things to turn out this way.

Upon entering the corridor, one sees piles of various gift boxes in disarray, ranging from exquisitely packaged luxury goods to simple local specialties, a dazzling array, piled up everywhere from the corridor to the office lobby.

Zhao Xiaochui walked through the corridor, which was almost flooded with gift boxes, and finally found Zhou Yaqin working overtime in a corner.

He asked with a furrowed brow, "What...what are all these things?"

Zhou Yaqin looked up from the documents, a wry smile on her face: "These are all 'gifts' from the local government, partner banks, and various partner companies. They come almost every day. Jinghai Industrial Park doesn't dare to take them, so they're all being pushed onto us."

She picked up a list and read aloud, "For example, CIMC Vehicles Group sent a trailer truck over directly to unload this pile of stuff."

Zhao Xiaochui was even more puzzled: "CIMC? We have business dealings with them? What are they sending us?"

Zhou Yaqin explained, "It's a large purchase order from our specialized logistics company. They're delivering these mainly because..."

She paused, her tone a mix of helplessness and amusement:

"Our finance department was incredibly efficient with payments. The prepayment arrived instantly after the contract was signed, and the final payment arrived instantly after the acceptance inspection. They said that in all these years, they've never encountered a client who settled accounts so quickly and even urged them to issue invoices as soon as possible. They felt they had to show their appreciation and hope for long-term cooperation in the future."

After listening, Zhao Xiaochui was stunned for several seconds before finally managing to utter a sentence:
"Just because of this? Isn't this the only right thing to do?"

Zhou Yaqin was taken aback by this 'naive' question and had to explain:

"Little Hammer, do you know how the integration of Jinghai helped the banking system absorb the non-performing loans and take over the advanced equipment mortgaged there? It was all because there were no accounts payable that should have existed!"

She pointed in the direction of the linen washing center: "That three-story building is now piled high with 'thank you gifts' from various banks. President Ling Rui even personally stated that they would cover all our employee team building activities and high-end travel in the future, euphemistically calling it 'maintaining strategic VIP customer relationships'."

Zhao Xiaochui was stunned. Before he could process the information, Zhou Yaqin handed him a newly received document, her tone more relaxed:

"There's more good news: the environmental assessment results for the new office building and staff dormitory on Huagong Road are in, and they all meet the standards for occupancy. We can arrange for staff to move in at any time."

She smiled and said, "Now, your troublesome administrative team finally has a place to be placed and won't be in your way here anymore."

(End of this chapter)