Chen Lishu smiled, "Brother Lang, do you need something from me?"
Li Lang replied, "Of course! This is quite important. Since the two places aren't too far apart, how about I wait for you to come back, and we can discuss it in person?"
Chen Lishu heard the seriousness in his tone and knew it might be something significant. After hanging up, she called home.
"...Yes, I received a call about something urgent. I might not be back for a couple of days. I've been away for so long, and I really miss the children."
Gu Xingdong asked, "What about me?"
Chen Lishu responded, "Of course, you're the one I miss the most."
After chatting for a while, Chen Lishu hung up and rubbed her temples.
She hadn't expected to be away for this long.
Especially the two younger ones, they had clung to her legs and cried when she left.
"Manager Chen, your train ticket has been booked for tomorrow morning," Han Dongdong said, entering with a train ticket in hand.
Chen Lishu gave a wry smile, "There's an urgent matter in the capital. Could you please help me cancel this ticket and book a new one to the capital?"
"Certainly, I'll handle it right away."
...
Chen Lishu arrived in the capital the following afternoon. After resting for a night, she went to Li Lang's advertising company the next day.
Li Lang had opened an advertising company not long after adopting Chen Lishu's suggestion.
The policies had become more open this year, and coupled with his collaboration with the Capital Television Station, his business had been doing well.
"I was just about to call you to arrange a time, and here you are. I feel a bit embarrassed," Li Lang said, quickly inviting her to sit down. He then called for his secretary to pour tea for Chen Lishu.
Chen Lishu accepted the teacup from the secretary, thanked her, and then said to Li Lang, "I didn't have anything else to do, so I just decided to come and see."
"The matter is this: I have a friend who is the factory director of a garment factory. It's a large state-owned enterprise, with annual revenues well over a million."
Chen Lishu nodded, waiting for him to continue.
"Starting a couple of years ago, it was the Shougang Steel that began implementing the contract system, wasn't it?"
"Given our relationship, I have no reason to hide anything from you. Frankly, in the past two years, the efficiency has continuously declined, and the revenue has not met the targets. Therefore, the factory is preparing to be contracted out."
Chen Lishu asked, "What is the scale of the factory, and how much is the contract fee?"
Li Lang scratched his head, "I don't actually know that. If you're interested, I can give him a call, and we can go for an on-site inspection later."
Chen Lishu agreed, "That sounds good."
The shipping costs from the provincial capital to the capital would be considerable. If her focus was to be in the capital in the future, setting up a branch factory here would be a good idea.
A ready-made factory would ultimately be much more convenient than building a new one.
Especially in the capital, land, equipment, factory buildings, and labor all had higher costs. More importantly, it was troublesome.
In the provincial capital, she at least had connections, so all approvals and procedural reviews could be handled with a quick call. This might not be the case in the capital.
After Li Lang made the call, the other party readily agreed upon hearing that Chen Lishu was interested in visiting.
The two drove from Li Lang's company and arrived at the garment factory entrance about half an hour later.
The overall footprint was indeed not small, but at first glance, it was evident that the factory buildings were very old. One of the doors at the entrance was even broken.
A guard had to come out and manually lift the gate for the car to enter.
This indicated a severe lack of management.
However, Chen Lishu could understand. Procrastination and passing the buck had become a common ailment in state-owned enterprises. Regardless of how well or poorly things were done, it was still public property; there was no risk of being fired for poor performance, nor any guarantee of promotion or pay raises.
Consequently, many people were complacent, and employee morale was low, which was why many state-owned enterprises struggled to survive.
Chen Lishu wanted to get out and walk around. After the car drove into the yard, it stopped in an open space.
The two got out of the car and asked a passing worker for directions to the office. They then walked towards a three-story office building.
Before they even reached the entrance, they saw a crowd gathered in front of the office building.
"The person is still injured and lying in the hospital, and the factory refuses to compensate. Aren't they forcing us to our death?"
A middle-aged man frowned, "Your husband was injured while taking on private work during his break at the factory. You can't blame the factory for this."
"I don't care! My husband has worked diligently for the factory for over twenty years. He deserves some credit, if not for his hard work. Are you just going to abandon such a large factory? What will others think? It's too inhumane!"
"Our family is facing such hardship, and now the pillar of our family is gone. Either you pay for his medical treatment, or you let my son take his place."
The middle-aged man took a breath, "Isn't your eldest son only sixteen?"
"Sixteen is not that young anymore."
"..."
Chen Lishu and Li Lang stood by and watched for a while. The man suddenly looked up, and upon seeing them, a hint of awkwardness flashed across his face.
He quickly called over a junior leader to take the person to the office for negotiation, lest the commotion negatively affect the atmosphere.
"I didn't expect you to arrive so quickly. Let's go upstairs to my office and talk," the man said, walking towards them. As he spoke, his gaze fell on Chen Lishu, and he subtly sized her up.
The woman before him was in her early twenties, very beautiful, but her eyes were very bright, unlike those of ordinary young women her age.
It was clear she was no ordinary person.
Ever since she saw the woman causing the disturbance, Chen Lishu had completely lost interest in contracting this garment factory.
If her initial thought was to save time and effort by taking a shortcut, the woman causing the commotion had given her a wake-up call.
Contracting a factory indeed had its benefits, but the unwieldiness was a fatal flaw of all state-owned enterprises.
If they were to contract it, they would definitely have to sign a contract and take over all the existing employees along with the factory.
Just managing these people would likely be a considerable undertaking.
These were employees who had worked for half their lives. If drastic measures were to be taken, pushing them to desperation, who knew what might happen.
Moreover, the older employees had long since developed lazy habits, becoming old hands at slacking off.
If the price weren't so incredibly attractive, Chen Lishu would have decided not to burden herself with unnecessary trouble.
She would rather spend more time buying land and building a new factory herself.
The man's surname was Sun, and his name was Sun Cheng.
Chen Lishu and Li Lang went to the office with him.
"I've been friends with Li Lang for many years. I know he has many contacts, so I asked him to keep an eye out, and I never expected him to introduce the renowned Manager Chen to me."
Chen Lishu replied, "Factory Director Sun, you're too kind. I still have a lot to learn and improve from large state-owned enterprises like yours."
"Manager Chen is too modest. I watched the Spring Festival Gala programs. The clothing produced by your factory is definitely at the forefront of fashion trends, and the idea of sponsoring clothing is something I truly admire, Director Sun."
Li Lang, listening to their polite exchanges, interjected.
"Perhaps we should get straight to business."