Epiphanies of Rebirth Chapter 55 (Part 1)
Translated by Pure
Edited by tingting
Chapter 55.1 "My room has a seaside view..."
Mother Zhou and Wang Quan debated for a long time before deciding on bean paste as their first product.
This was the most suitable option as the other sauces and pickles had various problems concerning their shorter shelf life. This was too complicated for them who are new to the food industry. Bean paste, a non-staple food that did not have very high requirements in terms of storage environment, had become the best choice.
What's more, Mother Zhou's handmade bean paste was still in short supply within her snack bar.
In order to manage the construction of the factory area, Mother Zhou had handed over most of the store’s management to Father Zhou. Father Zhou had been helping in the store and had been studying with his wife for a long time; he could essentially cook everything in the menu. Moreover, the biggest characteristic of Mother Zhou's food came from her special sauces, such as the spoonful of bean paste when stewing the beef brisket, it was the essence of the whole dish.
So, the daily operations of the store were not largely affected. Except for a few things that were too complicated for Mother Zhou to prepare by herself, Father Zhou was already fully competent in making the rest.
It was just that Father Zhou could not comprehend why Mother Zhou would suddenly let go of everything in the store to tinker with opening a factory. The couple used to be workers in a state-owned enterprise; they lived on the official family's wages. Now they traveled thousands of miles from Liyun Town and settled in Yan City with their son. They owned this small shop that generated such a hefty daily income, Father Zhou was truly perplexed with her actions. What was his wife not satisfied with?
For this reason, the two had quarreled for many days, but in the end neither of them could convince the other. Mother Zhou was no longer the weak woman who previously had obeyed her husband's every order. In the beginning, the operation of their store was almost entirely supported by her cooking skills. Because her contribution to the family economy was getting bigger and bigger, her back had also become straighter and straighter. She also had her horizons broadened during the time when she emerged herself in the market with Wang Quan. She realized progressively how small the snack bar that used to satisfy her was. A productive woman shouldn’t mind her husband's anger. Not to mention, everything she was doing was for Zhou Haitang to enjoy a better future like Wang Quan's child. She had nothing to fear!
Carts of soybeans were pulled from Linchao to Yan City and dumped into the warehouse.
Lin Jingzhe squatted on the ground. He scooped up soybeans in the palm of his hand and then let them slither down like gravel from between his fingers.
The plump soybeans were bright in color, and every bean was completed without any significant deformities. When they collided with each other, they made a crisp sound like pearls falling to the ground before converging into a golden lake.
Mother Zhou praised, "These soybeans are really good! They are very suitable for making pastes. It's really different in the north; Liyun Town wouldn’t be able to produce such good beans."
The source of the goods was found by Wang Quan, who also had acquaintances in the production area. He couldn't help but smile bitterly when he heard her words. "The soil near Linchao is really good. Every family over there has grown soybeans for generations, accumulating and formulating their expertise in growing them. What's the use of knowing how to grow soybeans well? They were still poor, some farmers couldn't even afford food at home."
Linchao was next to Yan City, but its sense of existence was not high, and Lin Jingzhe didn't pay special attention to it in his previous life. Hearing Wang Quan's words, he couldn't help feeling a little surprised.
He still remembered attending a 2010 conference with the theme of ‘Confronting Economic Globalization.’ A big wig, who had made a fortune relying on hedging on the profits of soybeans through futures contracts[1], raised the issue about the increasing percentage of their country's annual soybean global exports. At that time, Linchao’s famous name had already been well-known to the world, as competitions to secure a futures contract with them were fiercely ongoing. It was unexpected that this particular industry would have experienced such pains in the early 1990s.
Thinking of this, Lin Jingzhe couldn't help but recall the future legume-related incidents in the next few years.
When he came back to his senses, Wang Quan was still describing the hardships of the farmers in Linchao to Mother Zhou. The latter's eyes were moist as she listened and she couldn't help but sigh.
Lin Jingzhe threw the beans back into the bean pile and patted off the remains left on his hands.
"Let's manage this factory well and strive to increase the shipment volume. In the future, when the demand for soybeans increases, we can directly invest in soybean planting in Linchao." As he said this, Lin Jingzhe couldn't help thinking about the profits in growing legumes. Being able to perfect a complete product line from sowing to sauce production to sales was undoubtedly the most beneficial and optimal operation.
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Haitang Food Factory began to recruit workers. The recruitment was quite simple, and there are still many qualified candidates to choose from.
It was now autumn. Nearing the end of 1991, the factories of major state-owned enterprises began to decline. Some marginal factories even began to fail to pay wages. Due to the comprehensive development in the north of the city, more and more people from the surrounding towns rushed to Yan City to find jobs. The originally empty and spacious Yan City seemed to suddenly become lively. The residential buildings began to sell well, and the traffic on the road became more and more clustered. There were several roads that passed through the city, traffic jams had already begun to appear there during peak hours.
The internationalized metropolis of the later generation had already begun to take shape. Lin Jingzhe was honored to be a member of its construction this time. The U-shaped building surrounding the Triangular Plot had been demolished, and the construction team from Flux Realty entered the venue. The designers and architects held their blueprints and after the ceremony, the first shovels of earth in the making of the foundation were dug.
Mao Dongqing was very busy. He wore a safety helmet and arranged all the work at the construction site. He already had the experience of building a shopping mall when he was in the Special Administrative Region. Although it was not completely the same as the current Mixed-Use Building, the underlying specifics actually had a lot in common. For example, what kind of design could give more effective and comfortable facilities, or how the degree of open field was the most comfortable for visiting clients. Hence he and his team provided Flux Realty’s designers with a lot of great advice.
The final rendering of the finished product not only combined Mao Dongqing's knowledge of the preferences of domestic consumers, but also incorporated the trendy designs Flux Realty’s designers had personally experienced in the developed countries overseas. The results were no worse than the many luxury commercial buildings Lin Jingzhe had visited in his previous life. Once this unique building rose from the ground, he wondered what kind of trend it would set off being located in the central business district.
It was getting colder, so it wasn't too hot wearing a helmet. In the temporary iron house on the construction site, Lin Jingzhe was listening to Mao Dongqing's suggestion on whether a small detail on the blueprint needed to be temporarily revised.
Realizing it was a good suggestion, Lin Jingzhe nodded and praised, "Good. Once you confirm that there is no problem with safety, you can proceed with it."
Mao Dongqing's ability was by every means worthy of the title of ‘inconceivable genius’ given to him by his business partners in his previous life. His suggestions were very practical, but in today's society, it sounded somewhat unconstrained.
While putting away the blueprints, Mao Dongqing was once again filled with endless gratitude for Lin Jingzhe's trust. His whimsical ideas were always ridiculed by others, but every time he spoke to Lin Jingzhe, they would immediately click akin to two pieces of a puzzle. In the beginning, Mao Dongqing only came to Lin Jingzhe for some income, but he had now given up the idea of starting from scratch, starting the day he was promoted to a supervisor. For a creator like him, there was nothing more rare than a confidant who could boldly trust and use him.
Lin Jingzhe browsed the blueprints under Mao Dongqing's shining eyes– the mix-use building was going to be 30 floors– 2 floors underground and 28 floors above ground. This was an average height among the several surrounding office buildings that had also begun construction. However, the comprehensive design was unique; the first to fifth floors were to be used as a commercial shopping mall.
With such a good location on 2nd Middle Road, there was no need to worry about attracting investment. As he was prepared for the physical industry to be affected by e-commerce, Lin Jingzhe deliberately avoided this danger at their initial stage during planning. From the very beginning he intended the commercial building part to be concentrated on high-end luxury brands. Therefore, he attached great importance to the initial design of the interior, and did not allow it to be overlooked by negligence.
Mao Dongqing was explaining to him in a low voice when the door of the iron house was knocked upon. One of his newly recruited assistants opened the door after receiving permission. Seeing that Lin Jingzhe was there, he didn't dare to speak, and only looked at Mao Dongqing with his troubled eyes.
Mao Dongqing probably understood something, and sighed upon seeing this, "It's okay, just talk."
"Mr. Lin, Mr. Mao." The little assistant sighed and glanced out of the window. "That Mr. Shi has brought a group again."
"Mr. Shi?" Lin Jingzhe glanced out of the window, and saw a few outsiders came to the construction site. The leader was a tall young man in a neat black suit. His reserved and proud appearance was incompatible with the surrounding environment.
He asked Mao Dongqing: "Who is this? A troublemaker?"
Mao Dongqing shook his head. "No, it's just a few old acquaintances."
A group of five people, with the one at the head called Mr. Shi...?
Lin Jingzhe suddenly had a flash of inspiration. "Were they from the initial team you brought to Yan City from the Special Administrative Region?"
Mao Dongqing smiled wryly. "Yes, they are the ones who left for Qiqing Real Estate and had a falling out with the rest of the team."
Lin Jingzhe still remembered this incident. Although the matter was over now, he was, regardless, furious at having Qiqing Real Estate and Qi Kai colluding together in poaching his recruits.
He asked, "So why did they come back again? Are they trying to persuade you to jump ship?"
"No. More like they want to jump onto our boat." Mao Dongqing said, "They can’t wait to leave Qiqing Real Estate!"
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Footnote:
[1] A futures contract is a legal agreement to buy or sell a particular commodity asset, or security at a predetermined price at a specified time in the future. Futures contracts are standardized for quality and quantity to facilitate trading on a futures exchange. Read more here - https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/futurescontract.asp#:~:text=A%20futures%20contract%20is%20a,trading%20on%20a%20futures%20exchange