Chapter 601: You Guys Are the Real Deal
Chapter 601: You Guys Are the Real Deal
Jiang Xia wheeled her bicycle into the courtyard.
She greeted Li Qiufeng.
On her way back, she had seen her grandparents out with the children.
Zhao Chenglei heard Jiang Xia’s voice and stood up.
Zhang Rui immediately said, "I’ll go call Sister-in-law in!"
He had no interest in their business talk and preferred to sit outside.
Zhao Chenglei remained seated, "Tell Sister-in-law I’m here."
"Sure thing." Zhang Rui took two cups of tea outside.
"Sister-in-law!"
Jiang Xia parked her bicycle and smiled, "I’m here. Stay for dinner tonight? We have fish that Fourth Brother caught himself."
Zhang Rui smiled, "I was planning to stay for dinner anyway. Sister-in-law, my brother is here, and Fourth Brother is talking to him about the factory. Fourth Brother wants you to come in."
Jiang Xia was puzzled, "What factory?"
Zhang Rui replied, "Didn’t you choose the fashion design major? Fourth Brother thought about taking over a garment factory so you can show your skills!"
Jiang Xia was speechless, "I had no idea about this."
After washing her hands, Jiang Xia went to the kitchen to clean the grapes she had bought.
She placed a cup of tea on the stone table next to Li Qiufeng, "Cousin, have some tea."
Li Qiufeng was knitting a sweater and whispered, "Thank you."
Zhang Rui sat down on a chair beside the stone table.
"Want to come in and sit?" Jiang Xia placed a plate of grapes on the stone table and was about to take another plate inside.
Zhang Rui said, "It’s cooler here, you go in!"
Jiang Xia didn’t argue and went inside.
Zhang Rui looked at the sweater Li Qiufeng was knitting and praised her, "Cousin, you’re so skilled! This sweater looks amazing! You’re really talented!"
Li Qiufeng blushed, "I only know how to knit sweaters, where’s the talent in that? You guys are the real deal."
Zhang Rui didn’t know why, but he enjoyed seeing her blush. He asked with a smile, "What do you mean we’re the real deal?"
"You guys are great at defending the country!"
Zhang Rui couldn’t help but laugh. Seeing her face turn even redder, he stopped teasing her, "I’m not that great, Fourth Brother is the real deal."
Zhang Rui then started telling Li Qiufeng about his and Zhao Chenglei’s missions.
He praised Zhao Chenglei while subtly including himself.
Li Qiufeng listened attentively.
Inside, Jiang Xia was listening to Zhang Rui talk about the factory.
"The warehouse is full of old clothes. I heard that clothes from a few years ago are still stocked there, and the workers are still producing those outdated styles. With so many new styles available now, who would buy old clothes? Is it because they have too many at home? If you want to take over that garment factory, you’ll also have to deal with the tens of thousands of clothes in the warehouse. It’s a big challenge. Spending so much money to take it over seems risky. It might be better to start your own factory and buy new equipment. That factory is over twenty years old, and the equipment is outdated. But right now, that’s the only garment factory in the city that’s really struggling."
"Take your time to decide. When no one wants it, the price might drop. These days, there are plenty of factories with poor performance. I think many more will face the risk of layoffs and closures after they try to survive on their own. No rush! Just wait for the right opportunity."
Zhao Chenglei agreed, "We’ll go back at the end of the month and take a look."
Jiang Xia also thought it was best to see it first.
Zhang Rui then asked Zhao Chenglei, "There’s also an electromagnetic factory in the capital city that’s struggling. Someone invited me to partner up and take it over. I think it’s a good idea, but I can’t handle it alone. I think you might be interested in the electromagnetic factory. Want to join in?"
Zhao Cheng Lei thought for a moment. "We can go and take a look."
There was really too much free time in the Capital City. The children slept a lot, and he was looking for something to do.
Zhang Rui asked, "Are you free tomorrow morning?"
Zhao Cheng Lei glanced at Jiang Xia.
"I have class tomorrow morning. You two can go ahead."
She had already discussed her schedule with the principal. She had no professional classes on Monday and Wednesday mornings, and didn't need to attend other classes, so she arranged her schedule for those days.
Tomorrow was Wednesday, and it wouldn't be good to take leave on the first day of class.
Actually, Jiang Xia had no classes on Friday afternoons, but she didn't want to schedule it for then. It felt like taking a two-and-a-half-day break, as she also had no classes on Saturdays.
In her college days, her class on Friday afternoons was always free, so her class could always leave half a day earlier than other students during holidays.
At that moment, her grandparents returned with the children, and Jiang Xia went out, leaving the two of them to discuss.
Jiang Xia thought it was good for Zhao Cheng Lei to take on a contract for an electromagnetic factory in the Capital City. It was too much for him to be cooped up at home, taking care of the children and translating.
Now that the children were familiar with her grandparents, they wouldn't be too dependent on their parents.
Thus, Jiang Xia and Zhao Cheng Lei were both very busy.
Jiang Xia was busy with classes, lesson planning, and coming up with proposals for several factories, as well as gathering information about them.
Zhao Cheng Lei, when he had free time, would discuss and investigate the electromagnetic factory.
Taking over a factory was like acquiring a company; at the very least, a background check was necessary. Basic things to look for included whether there were any debts or legal disputes.
If they took over the factory and found it was heavily in debt, that would be asking for trouble.
There were many things to investigate and verify.
Jiang Xia was skilled at solving these issues, given her previous experience in venture capital. She gave them advice and let them handle it themselves.
However, Zhao Cheng Lei had to take care of the children most of the time and couldn't go out every day, so Zhang Rui was the one who was mostly busy.
Before they knew it, it was already the end of September.
The electromagnetic factory issue wasn't fully resolved yet. There were indeed some unpaid supplier invoices, but there were also some outstanding receivables.
The difference was significant, several tens of thousands of yuan.
One day, Zhang Rui and his brother came over again.
Zhang Rui said to Jiang Xia, "Thanks to your reminder, we knew how to check the accounts and debts! Otherwise, I would have thought there were only unpaid receivables and no debts!"
Jiang Xia replied, "You wouldn't have come to ask me if you hadn't found something amiss. Take it slow, don't rush. The more information you have, the better your position will be."
"I didn't notice anything, Lei did. I'm not in a hurry now! We'll take it slow!"
Who knew if everything was fully investigated?
"Can you use your sharp eyes to check these documents for any issues? Take your time, no rush." Zhang Rui pushed a large stack of documents toward the couple.
Jiang Xia didn't look at them right away. She planned to review them carefully in the evening. "Sure."
Zhang Rui continued to complain.
In the courtyard, under the ginkgo tree, Zhang Rui and Li Qiufeng were still talking.
He asked Li Qiufeng, "Are you going home for National Day?"
Li Qiufeng, who was knitting a sweater, looked down. "No."
"Do you want to go see the flag-raising ceremony?"
Li Qiufeng looked at him in surprise. "Can we?"
(End of Chapter)
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