Chapter 63: 062 A Rather Eerie Company

"Thank you."

Fang Qingye did not refuse.

Corporate inspections are always like this; there was no need for him to act so high and mighty.

It was just that the gift being given—a box of Nanxin Yellow Chickens!

It was this again!

Nanxin Yellow Chicken is a very famous specialty of Su Province, often used as a gift, but the problem was that Fang Qingye had already received several of them.

It turned out that Wang Lei's younger cousin had successfully entered the key class of Chengguan Middle School for his transition to junior high, so his third uncle wanted to thank Fang Qingye and his father.

They sent red envelopes, cigarettes, and alcohol, but the other party refused them all, so finally they came up with a plan.

Wang Lei's third uncle ran a chicken farm in the countryside, raising the very famous Su Province specialty—the Nanxin Yellow Chicken. Later, his third uncle specially selected five yellow chickens, slaughtered them, plucked and washed them clean, and sent them to Fang Qingye's house as a return gift.

With no family around and Fang Qingye not wanting to cook them himself, he simply sent the five chickens to his grandfather's nursery, and as a result, he had been eating chicken every day since then.

It seemed he would have to keep eating it for a while longer.

The corners of Fang Qingye's mouth twitched involuntarily.

Driving into the county town, Zhang Chunli, sitting in the back seat, asked, "Xia Hangzhang Fang, are we returning to the office now?"

"Everyone worked very hard this morning, so we won't go to the office this afternoon; I will drive you home to rest," Fang Qingye said.

"Wow... it's so good to go down to the countryside with Xia Hangzhang Fang!" Zhang Chunli said happily at once.

Fang Qingye smiled and said nothing.

The place to be visited today was a site inspection of Jinghai Athena Horticulture Technology Limited Liability Company.

The company is located within the Jinghai National Agricultural Science and Technology Park. The science park is an industrial park built by Jinghai City that integrates agriculture, landscaping, and leisure tourism, focusing on developing four leading industries: flowers and bonsai, silkworm cocoons and silk, marine aquaculture, and marine biology.

The core area is right in Nanxin County.

After finishing breakfast in the morning, Fang Qingye drove Zhang Chunli and Chen Meimei to the company. Not far from the science park is Yishou South Road on the edge of the county town, and it took just over ten minutes to reach the company.

Athena Horticulture Technology Limited Liability Company mainly focuses on the research, development, production, and marketing of small and micro bonsai (seedlings), etc. The loan application this time is for 5 million, which is considered a relatively large amount.

Fang Qingye drove to the entrance of the company building, where the company chairman and general manager, Duan Jianming, was already waiting at the door.

A man in his early forties with relatively small eyes that revealed a hint of shrewdness.

After a simple handshake and pleasantries, Fang Qingye, just like yesterday, asked the two to divide the work and check various documents, while he accompanied Duan Jianming to tour the company's production base.

Neat and tidy.

This was the deepest impression the production base left on Fang Qingye; whether it was the bonsai greenhouses or the seedling base, everything was swept clean.

Thinking of his grandfather's Four Seasons Nursery, the comparison of the two environments was literally one in heaven and one on earth.

But...

Bonsai and seedlings definitely have to deal with soil, so the ground cannot possibly be this clean.

Duan Jianming seemed to see through Fang Qingye's confusion, so he smiled and explained, "Xia Hangzhang Fang, you probably don't know, but our company's goal is to build a garden-style factory. I have very high requirements for the environment; the cleaning of the greenhouses and workshops must be done more than three times a day, and it is absolutely forbidden for sand and dirt to appear everywhere.

The company has workshops, greenhouses, raw material warehouses, and exhibition halls that are very regular, and at the very back, Fang Qingye discovered were the employee dormitories and kitchen.

When he went there, there were women hanging clothes in the yard, and children with runny noses running around.

"Are they the workers' families?" Fang Qingye asked.

"Yes, the bonsai-making workers of our company are all invited from Yangzhou. Yangzhou is known as the birthplace of Chinese bonsai art, and its bonsai are famous for their intricacy and beauty, boasting the title 'Yangzhou Bonsai, Unmatched Under Heaven'."

Hearing Duan Qingming's words, Fang Qingye nodded.

Although his grandfather's Four Seasons Nursery did not focus on making bonsai, he had also heard his grandfather talk about knowledge in this area.

As the two walked, Duan Qingming continued, "Our company provides food and accommodation; only if the families live here can the workers work with peace of mind. Our Jinghai specialty, the Que She Podocarpus bonsai, belongs to high-end bonsai, and its materials are also relatively expensive. You see, the entire greenhouse is full of them; having more people makes it look good and guards the courtyard."

"Making Que She Podocarpus into bonsai does indeed belong to high-end bonsai, so the price is naturally high, but the demand is relatively small. This year the market is quite depressed, and many bonsai companies have already gone bankrupt... Boss Duan, have you heard?" Fang Qingye asked.

"Xia Hangzhang Fang, you are young and haven't done business. In this world, there are only bankrupt enterprises, but no bankrupt industries."

Duan Jianming suddenly put on the posture of an elder and continued:

"Although the demand for bonsai in our Jinghai, and even in Huijing and Shanghai, has decreased, the demand for bonsai in big cities like Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Xiamen is very large. Last year, our company hooked up with the Guangdong-Shenzhen Club line; bonsai are not only sold to Guangdong Province and Fujian Province, but have also entered Hong Kong, Taiwan, and even Singapore... Since last year, the procurement volume has continued to grow, and now it accounts for two-thirds of sales."

"To be honest, as long as we hold onto this line, I dare not say we can eat well, but eating our fill is absolutely no problem."

Duan Qingming said a whole bunch in one breath, but Fang Qingye always felt that he was a bit full of hot air, but for the moment he couldn't say anything bad, so he just nodded.

After walking around the factory area for a big circle, Fang Qingye returned to the office building to see how Zhang Chunli and Chen Meimei were doing with their checks.

But before entering the office building, suddenly four men wearing company work uniforms ran over and blocked Fang Qingye and the others' path.

"What are you doing?!" Duan Qingming's face turned gloomy.

A middle-aged man in his forties, slightly older than the rest, stepped out from the middle, looked at Duan Jianming, and shouted loudly, "Boss Duan, you have finally shown your face today! I want to settle the score with you regarding our overtime pay!"

"Master Wang, can't you see I am accompanying a distinguished guest?!"

"We don't care!" Master Wang was somewhat domineering.

"We have been working three shifts in a row for two consecutive months to rush the order. It was originally agreed that we would get an extra two thousand yuan per month, but why did Accountant Yu deduct it to only one thousand! You are too black-hearted! You make money and eat meat, but you must leave a mouthful of soup for the people who do the work! I'm putting my words here today: if you don't pay today, we will immediately drop our tools and quit!"

Hearing that these people were going to strike, Duan Jianming panicked a bit and immediately smiled ingratiatingly, "Master Wang, it's not that I don't want to pay, it's just that the client only paid the deposit, and we need to buy a large amount of materials, so we can't turn over the funds temporarily!"

"You see, this is Xia Hangzhang Fang from the Oriental Bank, who is inspecting the company to prepare for the loan. As soon as the loan is received, I will first make up the arrears for you, how about that?" Duan Jianming said.

Master Wang looked at Fang Qingye, then said to Duan Jianming, "Alright then, Boss Duan, I'll trust you once. As soon as the money arrives, give it to us immediately!"

"Master Wang, rest assured. You have worked with me for so long; when have I, Duan Jianming, ever treated you badly? It's just that the situation has been a bit special recently. Rest assured, I keep my word!" Duan Jianming said quickly.

"Boss Duan, so busy! Working around the clock for two months? What a huge order is that?" Fang Qingye asked.

"Ai... A foreign trade company in Shenzhen ordered 100,000 bonsai to be shipped to Southeast Asia. They urge me to deliver the goods every day, and I am really rushing day and night!" Duan Jianming said with a smile.

Just as Fang Qingye was about to speak, he suddenly noticed that the four men who had just left, the one called Master Wang, looked back at them, and there was a hint of a smile on his face.

What was he smiling at?

Fang Qingye suddenly felt that Master Wang's smile was a bit strange.