Chapter 26: The First Injection of Capital

Although Zhou Ziyang had dressed himself up with deliberate care, Li Jianhong was still taken aback when he finally saw him in person.

He was just too young.

There is a common saying: "He who has no hair on his chin has no weight in his words."

This young man didn't look much older than Li's own son. Could he really pull this off?

Fortunately, Zhou Ziyang hadn't come to negotiate the business alone; he had brought his team with him. Otherwise, had the other party seen Zhou Ziyang by himself, it would have been inevitable for them to hold him in low regard.

"Boss Li, right? We’ve been in contact before." Zhou Ziyang had known Li Jianhong in his past life. Even though this was ten years earlier, not much had actually changed, so Zhou Ziyang stepped forward and initiated a handshake.

"Oh, right, yes," Li replied. At first, seeing Zhou’s youth, he had his doubts. But then he looked at the group of strapping eighteen and nineteen-year-olds behind him.

*Black cat or white cat,* he thought, *if it can catch mice, it’s a good cat.*

"Let’s get in the car first and get them settled at the factory. As we discussed, these people will have a one-week trial period at your facility. If you’re satisfied after a week, I’ll bring the rest of the workers over."

"That’s no problem at all. As long as your people are up to the task, I’m happy to enter into a long-term partnership with you."

In truth, once Li Jianhong saw the group behind Zhou Ziyang, he had already decided to cooperate. He could see that the labor force Zhou had provided was fundamentally different from those of other staffing agencies: they were all around twenty years old, relatively clean-cut, and unlikely to cause trouble. The thing he feared most was the agencies that recruited from all over the country, bringing in people who were prone to conflict.

"That works."

After finalizing the arrangements with Li, Zhou Ziyang signaled to Li Dongfeng, who was standing a short distance away, to get everyone onto the bus.

Truth be told, standing there and watching Zhou Ziyang—who was the same age as them—shaking hands with a paunchy, suit-wearing middle-aged man and discussing business, the rest of the group was full of suspicion.

"Dongfeng, what do you think Brother Zhou is talking about with that guy? He isn't planning on selling us off, is he?"

"What are you talking about! My brother is the son of an official. His dad is a leader at the city’s Procuratorate. You can even find him on Baidu Baike; there are news articles about him too. If you don't believe me, look it up!"

"If my brother were really doing something shady, couldn't you just go straight to his dad?"

Li Dongfeng said this and then made a show of looking it up on Baidu to prove it to everyone. When they saw the results, the group’s worries vanished.

Then, they saw Zhou Ziyang beckon them to board the coach before he climbed into a black Mercedes-Benz E-Class with the suit-wearing man. The group was finally put at ease. "Dongfeng! Your brother really is the son of an official. That’s a Mercedes E-Class! It costs over five hundred thousand!"

"That much? I couldn't earn that in a lifetime!" Someone gasped upon hearing the price.

Seeing the awe and respect the others held for Zhou Ziyang, Li Dongfeng felt a sense of reflected glory. He beamed and said, "Of course! Look at who my brother is! Let's go, get on the bus!"

The twenty-plus men filed onto the coach. It was a bus specifically used by the factory for transport, and it was quite luxurious—certainly much better than the cramped vans often used by scam agencies in the south. Once on board, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.

They felt they had followed the right person. If he could send such a fancy coach to pick them up, the twenty-yuan hourly rate might actually be true. Consequently, the flattery directed at Li Dongfeng and the admiration for Zhou Ziyang only grew. Li Dongfeng, accepting all the praise, felt as though his nose were pointed toward the heavens.

Zhou Ziyang sat in Li Jianhong’s Mercedes, leading the bus. The two didn't rush into business talk, instead chatting about general matters. Li Jianhong offered Zhou a cigarette from a hard pack, but Zhou waved it off, saying he didn't smoke. Li nodded, smiling and saying it was a good habit. He didn't light one either, shifting his focus to probing Zhou Ziyang’s background, given how young he appeared.

Zhou Ziyang sensed his intent, but instead of answering directly, he steered the conversation toward the factory owned by Li's family. It was a family business, with his grandfather currently serving as chairman. They specialized in electronic product assembly and display screen testing. Over a decade ago, to reduce labor costs, they had chosen to build factories on the mainland, primarily in the southern Jiangsu region, with their largest site in Kunshan. Later, when the provincial government pushed for inter-city support, Suzhou was matched with Sucheng, and Li Jianhong had followed that policy to set up shop there.

In his past life, Zhou Ziyang had worked in corporate services and had served Li Jianhong’s company for a year, working closely with him throughout that time. He knew everything about the scale of the company and the man himself.

Li Jianhong complimented Zhou on being a young talent, already running his own company at such a tender age. Zhou Ziyang just shook his head, dismissing it as a small-time venture that didn't make much money.

"Boss Li, I heard your company is planning to build a new factory."

"?" Li Jianhong was curious. The head office had indeed sent word that, to expand production, he should scout for nearby cities suitable for a new facility. But that news had only just arrived. How could this young man know? *Does he have a connection at the head office?*

Zhou Ziyang was just testing the waters; he knew the factory expansion wouldn't actually happen for another ten years. But, as the saying goes, "Even if there is no rabbit, you still take a swing at the grass."

Zhou Ziyang pulled out his newly printed business card. It was elegant—a minimalist white card with a high-quality feel, featuring only his name and phone number.

"If you have the need, please keep in touch with me," Zhou said. "The business environment here has certain advantages compared to Sucheng."

Zhou Ziyang proceeded to detail the tax exemptions in his hometown. He mentioned that for industrial land, the nominal price was 100,000 yuan per mu, but after a project was established, 20,000 yuan per mu would be rebated, effectively bringing the cost down to 80,000 yuan. He also spoke of decoration subsidies, five-year interest-free loans, and various employment and administrative incentives.

After Zhou finished speaking, Li Jianhong was stunned.

"Manager Zhou, to be honest, I’ve had contact with people from your side before, so why is what you're saying different from what they told me?"

In reality, the policies Zhou Ziyang described were those that would be implemented a few years later. But in this era of aggressive investment promotion, if Zhou could actually bring an investor like Li Jianhong over, he could go directly to Zhou Guowei to secure an allocation, which would count as a political achievement for his family. These subsidies were well within reach.

Moreover, when others approached Li Jianhong for investment, he wouldn't immediately disclose the size of his potential investment, so they only offered him standard policies. But Zhou Ziyang, coming from the future, knew that Li Jianhong would eventually invest nearly 500 million yuan in the city. The official who secured that investment would receive a personal bonus of 500,000 yuan.

"Everyone’s position is different, so the policies they offer are bound to be different," Zhou said with a mysterious air. "I’ve been researching your company for a while now, Boss Li. I truly hope you can build a factory here. Sucheng’s environment is fine, but it lacks a complete logistics network. You’re well aware of that."

Seeing Zhou’s calm and confident demeanor, Li Jianhong was genuinely tempted. If what Zhou said was true, that meant land for only 80,000 yuan per mu? Even if he didn't build a factory, buying it as an investment would be a guaranteed win.

Just as Li Jianhong was eager to continue the conversation, Zhou Ziyang changed the subject. "Let’s set the investment talk aside for a moment. What do you think of this group of people I’ve brought you?"

"They’re excellent! Manager Zhou, you’ve truly solved an urgent problem for me!" Li Jianhong decided he would definitely have someone look into Zhou’s background once he returned. But for now, Zhou gave him the impression that they would be doing "big business" together in the future. There was no point in haggling over a few yuan for a small staffing deal—it would make him look small-minded.

The two negotiated the contract right there in the car.

The service provider would supply the client with at least fifty temporary workers for a term of no less than two months (60 days). During this time, the provider would be responsible for any shortages or accidents. The client would pay an hourly rate of 28 yuan, totaling 840,000 yuan. Upon signing, the client would pay a 20% deposit of 184,000 yuan, with the remainder paid monthly.

By rights, Zhou Ziyang should have been required to keep a deposit in an escrow account, but Boss Li was wealthy and didn't care for such trifles. He had already guessed Zhou’s identity: at his age, he was likely the son of someone influential, and the workers were just fresh high school graduates—the boy was probably just playing at business.

Boss Li didn't care about that bit of money; he needed two things: first, a stable labor force, which Zhou had just provided. Second, he wondered if Zhou could help him with the future factory expansion. If he really could, then the favor he was doing now would be repaid ten or a hundred times over.

Come to think of it, if Li were to build a factory now, it would be a real bargain. Ten years later, the price of industrial land would still be reasonable but would rise to 200,000 yuan per mu. At 80,000 yuan, it was a steal.