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Ye Chen looked at Boss Lu and said calmly, "Show me around the plant."
Boss Lu nodded. He didn't refuse; he was already at the end of his rope. Plenty of people had toured the factory, but none accepted the price he asked.
Ye Chen was his last lifeline.
Outside the factory, the workers were equally stunned.
It wasn't just Boss Lu who doubted Ye Chen; seeing how young he was, the workers couldn't believe it either.
They hadn't been paid for more than three months and their families were almost out of rice.
Their feelings matched Boss Lu's.
Whether it was real or fake, Ye Chen was the only one they could pin their hopes on.
What if it turned out to be true?
"My plant is the most famous food-processing factory in Hangzhou," Boss Lu said proudly.
Ye Chen nodded.
Dean Zheng had briefed him on the way here; every aspect of the plant was indeed excellent.
"Then why is it in this state?" Ye Chen asked, puzzled.
Boss Lu sighed. "We used to do export food processing and it was very profitable at first. I even upgraded the equipment, but then the foreign economy tanked and..."
Ye Chen nodded. Since 2008, the global economy had been sluggish.
Many overseas companies had folded, dealing a heavy blow to China's foreign trade.
Seems Boss Lu was just unlucky—he'd finished upgrading his equipment right when the crisis hit.
After walking around, Ye Chen was quite satisfied with the plant.
All the machines were brand-new and the workshops were huge.
Boss Lu sighed. "Sigh, bad luck. I put everything into this place. The plant, the land, the equipment, plus the wages I owe—over two million; if you want it, it's yours."
Two million plus was clearly inflated, and Ye Chen knew it.
But at that price he couldn't lose.
In the coming decade, Hangzhou would expand and this spot would become downtown.
This once semi-rural fringe would be worth its weight in gold.
Forget the rest, just the land alone would make him a fortune.
He now recalled the plot would house the future municipal government building.
Back then, Hangzhou turned this industrial zone into the city center, complete with schools, Hospitals and every amenity.
Right now it was wasteland, but skyscrapers would rise here.
Buying this land guaranteed a killing.
Yet that windfall was ten years away; what Ye Chen really cared about was milking the system right now.
Because the business was expanding, Ye Chen re-allocated the shares.
Ye Chen held fifty percent, Xia Yingluo thirty, Li Sitong twenty.
Actually, Ye Chen wanted to give Xia Yingluo more.
But she flatly refused, so he let it go.
Three million for this plant was indeed a bit steep.
Yet Ye Chen loved expensive things.
If the seller asked too little, he wouldn't even want to buy.
The pricier, the better, as far as he was concerned.
What scared him most was a bargain price.
Right now his main concern was Xia Yingluo's opinion.
"Yingluo, what do you think of this plant?"
"I think it's okay, just the price..."
Ye Chen waved a hand. "Price isn't the issue—look how hard up these workers are; how could we haggle?"
Xia Yingluo: "..."
She had to admit he had a point.
They returned to the yard.
The workers stared at Ye Chen with anxious eyes.
He was their hope now.
"Old Lü, think this deal will go through?"
"Go through, my foot—what money could a green kid like that have?"
"Exactly, those two look like High School students to me."
"Sigh, we haven't seen wages in three months; my wife just gave birth and we can't even buy formula."
"Forget it, let's head south for work."
After all, every man here carried his family's livelihood on his back.
Without pay, wives and kids still had to eat.
They'd come today for one last try; if no money appeared they couldn't keep waiting the boss out.
Old Lü sighed.
His old mother was sick, his wife in poor health; the whole family depended on his wages.
Three months without pay, his wife had phoned to say they couldn't even buy rice.
Thinking of it, Old Lü's face grew even more bleak.
"Sigh, I figure we'll never see that money; I'm going south to try my luck."
By now no one held any hope for the plant.
They hated giving up the back-pay, but what else could they do?
Life was hard; they'd come out to earn money for wives, kids, food and schooling.
A wave of grief spread among the workers.
Some female employees even sobbed aloud... When Ye Chen and the plant manager came out, they saw faces torn between hope and despair.
Old Lü opened his mouth but said nothing in the end.
He'd wanted to beg Ye Chen to buy the plant.
But the boy looked too young; odds were slim.
Under everyone's gaze Ye Chen finally spoke: "I think the plant is pretty good."
The equipment was new and, from the careful maintenance, he could tell the workers were diligent.
He announced, "Boss Lu and I have agreed on the purchase. He asked me to pay one month of back wages first, but I refused."
At that, the workers' hopeful faces dimmed again.
Ye Chen continued, "Because I think you've all had it rough—one month isn't enough. We'll pay all three months of arrears."
Every worker froze.
They stared in disbelief, wondering if they'd heard right.
He added, "More than that—if you're willing to stay on, every worker gets a twenty percent raise!"
The workers erupted.
Old Lü asked excitedly, "Young man—no, Boss—are you serious?"
Ye Chen smiled. "Of course. I've already called my lawyer; we'll sign the contract at once and back-pay will follow immediately."
Truthfully, the plant was worth at most 1.5 million.
But the higher the price, the happier Ye Chen was.
He could make money while clearing the workers' wages and letting them send cash home—killing two birds with one stone.
Xia Yingluo held thirty percent; the system rebate would exceed nine million.
Besides, responsible workers were hard to find—keeping them was crucial for the future Hot Pot Restaurant chain.
That was why Ye Chen offered a raise: to make every worker stay.