Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 977 Force Majeure

Chen Hui thought for a moment and said, "I'd better ask my mother and let her analyze it for me."

Xiao Wei said, "You can call tonight. It's hard to explain in a few words, and my aunt will definitely be busy during the day. I'm thinking about something right now. You know, it seems like none of the cities in Xidu, Andong, or Dalian have designated locations for boiler rooms, right? Xingcheng doesn't have one either. Now that hotels are opening, how are we going to solve the boiler problem?"

Chen Hui said, "Just pretend, what's the point?"

Xiao Wei said, "Where can we install it? There's no place to build a boiler room."

Chen Hui burst into laughter, laughing so hard he collapsed onto the sofa. Xiao Wei stepped over and stomped on Chen Hui's butt, yelling, "Are you crazy? Laughing, laughing, still laughing!"

Chen Hui raised a hand and waved it: "I can't hold back, haha, I can't hold back at all. Hahahaha."

After laughing for a while, Chen Hui rubbed his eyes, turned over and sat up, saying, "Oh my god, I almost died laughing."

Xiao Wei sat down next to Chen Hui and asked, "Is it that funny? Did I ask the wrong question?"

Chen Hui said, "Go look at those big hotels. Apart from the old buildings, which one still has a big chimney and a boiler room? There's no way to change it here at Rose Hotel. Now the hotel boilers are all installed inside the building, understand? In some corner on the first floor, the oil tanks are buried underground outside the building or in the underground parking garage. Now it's all oil and gas, unlike before when they burned coal. Oh my, that's hilarious."

Xiao Wei suddenly realized, nodded, and said, "I understand, I really didn't know anything about this. How much space would it need to put it in the building?"

Chen Hui said, "It's generally three or four hundred square meters, mainly depending on the capacity. You see, in all the big hotels, apart from the lobby, there's not much done on the first floor because the boiler, laundry room, and other auxiliary equipment are all there. The smoke is directly discharged to the roof. Some rooftops even have condensing towers installed."

Xiao Wei said, "How do you know all this? You used to just check the meter, didn't you?"

Chen Hui said, "I've also worked in installation. Sometimes my dad would bring documents home, and I'd just flip through them. There was a boiler in my dad's building, and there was even an indoor bathhouse downstairs."

Xiao Wei: "...I thought your dad and his family used electricity everywhere."

Chen Hui said, "How could that be? Do you think the power industry can just use electricity as it pleases? It still requires approval. If you consume too much electricity, the higher-ups won't approve it."

Xiao Wei said, "I don't know. The instant noodle factory wants to rebuild. Where do you think would be a good place to rebuild it? It needs to be two or three hundred acres of land."

Xiao Wei walked back to his desk and took out the business cards from the various boxes, searching through them.

Chen Hui stood up, walked to the window, looked down, and said, "Isn't there enough room here?"

Xiao Wei said, "Nonsense, we need two or three hundred acres of land, where are we going to put it? Just dump it?" He found Liang Dongmei's business card, put the others back in the card holder, and said, "I'm thinking of doing it all at once, otherwise we'll have to expand later. Now there's competition, we won't compete with them, but we have to hold onto the Northeast, right?"

Chen Hui twisted his neck to think, while Xiao Wei dialed Liang Dongmei's factory phone number.

"Hello there."

Xiao Wei said, "I'm looking for Factory Director Liang."

The person on the other end said, "Wait a minute." Then I heard the sound of shuffling shoes: "Factory manager, factory manager, General Manager Liang, there's a phone call."

I waited for a few minutes.

Chen Hui said, "Then we'd have to go further away. Land prices here are too high; it's not worth it. How about we go to the surrounding suburbs? How about Huanggu District?"

Xiao Wei said, "I don't know, I'll have to ask. Do you think it'll work there?"

Chen Hui said, "As long as there's no problem with transportation, water, and electricity, what else do we need?"

Xiao Wei said, "We don't need much. Water, electricity, transportation, and land prices are cheap and we need to be long-term. We can't just take over the land after a few days."

Liang Dongmei's voice came through the phone: "Feed? Who's looking for me?"

Xiao Wei said, "My name is Zhang Wei, from a brother company."

Liang Dongmei's voice then became warmer: "Oh, Mr. Zhang, you wanted to see me about something? Go ahead."

Xiao Wei asked, "Have you bought the land yet?"

Liang Dongmei said, "Not yet, we're still talking about it. Xiaohong said she wants to buy a bigger one, because the one she originally looked at wasn't suitable, it was too small."

Xiao Wei asked, "Does your factory have to be built there? Will building it elsewhere have any impact?"

Liang Dongmei said, "No, as long as the car can run, it doesn't really matter where it is. But it can't be too remote, otherwise it will be inconvenient for clients to come. It's best if it's a place that can be reached by public transportation or taxis. What's wrong?"

Xiao Wei said, "I might be building a supporting cardboard box factory here. Are you interested? If it's feasible, we can build it right next to my factory. I'll provide the land and build the factory, but your shareholding will have to be reduced. We must have a controlling stake."

Liang Dongmei replied without hesitation, "Sure, how about adding a cardboard box workshop later? We can use the money for equipment, right?"

Xiao Wei said, "Yes, but the equipment for making cardboard boxes needs to be of a similar quality; we can't cut corners."

Liang Dongmei asked, "What 'ridge'?"

Xiao Wei said, "It's one of those packaging boxes, food packaging boxes."

Liang Dongmei said, "Oh, C-long, okay."

Xiao Wei said, "Packaging boxes, printed cardboard boxes, foam bowls, cake boxes, printed plastic bags, all of these need to be supplied. You two calculate the investment amount and the size of the land needed, and discuss the specifics. If you think it's okay, you two can come over when I get back from my business trip, and we can talk about it in person."

Liang Dongmei asked, "Mr. Zhang, when are you coming back?"

Xiao Wei said, "We're leaving on the 8th, and we might be back on the 12th or 13th. We'll call you then, and I'll have someone let you know when I get back."

Liang Dongmei said, "Okay, okay, just call me when you get back. Is there anything else?"

Xiao Wei said, "That's it. Hang up."

Chen Hui asked, "That couple from last time? Didn't Xiao Hong invest money?"

Xiao Wei said, "Plans can't keep up with changes. Once the instant noodle factory is built, all the supporting facilities need to be set up, otherwise the costs would be sky-high. We don't know anything about this, so I thought I'd find them to cooperate with. It should be possible. The couple seemed alright."

Chen Hui asked, "What about Xiao Hong?"

Xiao Wei said, "It's okay, she's just having fun. Let her do something else. I'll pay her back the 500,000."

Chen Hui took out a cigarette and sighed, "Poor Xiao Hong, her first investment in her life failed because of force majeure."

Xiao Wei laughed and said, "Her interest is in houses; she plans to buy one in Kyoto. She doesn't care about anything else. Besides, we must hold a controlling stake in this supporting factory, otherwise there will be too many uncertainties in the future. I estimate the factory buildings and equipment will cost several million, plus the land price. How much do you think we should give them?"

Chen Hui said, "It depends on whether they invest money or not. If it's ten million, and they invest three million forty percent, is that acceptable?"

Xiao Wei said, "That's possible, but what if he can't come up with that money?"

(End of this chapter)