Chapter 1162: Workshop at Home

Fang Jingfu took the pen and began to write without standing on ceremony.

Since he already had so many businesses, he probably really didn't care about this bit of rent. They would just take what they needed from each other; he needed a space to set up a workshop, and Ye Yaodong needed someone to look after his house.

"I won't stand on ceremony with you then. Shall I just write 'free rent'?"

"Write it, write it. Just consider it a favor for looking after the house for me."

"Alright. Later, I'll get you some lighters to take back with you."

Ye Yaodong was pleased. Asking for that bit of rent was not as good as getting lighters. Talking about money seemed too mercenary; it was better to gift each other items—courtesy demands reciprocity.

"Sounds good... Hey... do you have a lot of stock on hand? If not, you don't have to give them to me. You can sell them to me at a cheap price. Anyway, I have a shop. If you give me a few boxes at a wholesale price, I can take them back and flip them. Wouldn't that earn the rent back?"

"Sure, that's easy to say. You really are a businessman, aren't you? Being a fisherman is just a front, right?" Fang Jingfu had an 'I knew it' expression. "With smuggling so rampant now, it all relies on fishing boats..."

"Shh, don't talk nonsense. I'm an honest man. Whether it's smuggling or speculation, you'll get arrested for it. The 'Eight Great Kings' incident in your area hasn't even passed yet, and there are still people who haven't been caught. You can't just say whatever you want; walls have ears."

He patted his own mouth. "My foul mouth, I misspoke. These lighters are made in our own workshop; they're just a local specialty, gifted between friends."

"Right."

"Our workshop was just set up a month or two ago. Recently, the order volume has surged. We've been assembling 24 hours a day without stopping, and materials are being hauled back and forth, which is why my parents find it noisy. I can move a portion to you first. See how many you want? Anyway, once we move to your place, I'll have my eldest brother increase production. Your empty space here is bigger than my house anyway."

Ye Yaodong thought for a moment. "Do you produce plastic casings?"

"Plastic? How can you put gasoline in plastic?"

"So it's only iron ones?"

"It was always iron. Just like the one I gave you a while ago, at most some colors are different."

"That's quite simple then. How much is one wholesale?"

Fang Jingfu looked at the workers beside him. "I'm telling you, since you want wholesale, it's definitely a wholesale price."

Ye Yaodong also looked at the workers beside him and felt he had asked a stupid question. How could he carelessly expose the wholesale price? He still had to take them back to sell.

"Then how much can the lighter you gave me sell for? The market price."

"6 to 8 yuan. You still have to transport this to your local area, so selling it for 8 yuan each isn't excessive. Our new batch with patterns can sell for 15 or 20 yuan on the market."

"That's still cheaper than the Friendship Store. Those foreign ones are two or three hundred yuan for no reason, and looking at the English, I don't even know what brand they are."

"Some of those foreign-made ones are just priced that way. What brand is it? Consumption is just higher abroad. Anyway, ordinary people like us can't afford them. With that kind of money, it's better to buy a television or a radio. My brother got one back then, and he took it apart again and again. He loves researching, so he kept looking for substitute materials until he came up with a cheap one."

"Loving to research is good. You have to make cheap ones that the masses can afford; that's how sales explode. Our country has such a large population. If everyone really had one, we'd have to sell over a billion, and it's impossible for everyone to only buy one, and you don't use them for a lifetime."

"Right, right, right. You have to make them so that every common person can afford them." Fang Jingfu seemed to have met a kindred spirit; the look in his eyes was shining.

"So you can consider plastic. The cost of plastic is even lower."

He frowned. "Plastic?"

"I don't understand these things, but you can research in this direction. Anyway, try to lower the cost as much as possible. Once the cost comes down, won't the price come down? Won't everyone be able to afford it? Right now, 8 yuan for one is still quite a bit of pressure for the common people."

"I'll talk to my brother later. He just researched this, so he definitely has to take it slow. I find that you know so much; you're always able to propose incredible things."

"Not really? I was just saying it casually."

"You do. I see you as having broad knowledge."

"Maybe. I run around everywhere, so I've probably seen more."

"Understood!" Fang Jingfu instantly caught on, again with an 'I get it' expression.

"What do you understand again?" Ye Yaodong was a bit speechless at his expression. Could he really think he was involved in smuggling? So he had seen a lot and knew everything?

"No need to say it, no need to say it. I understand. With the current environment, if you don't do it this way, you can't make big money. This is just how you make money fast. I understand; I've seen plenty."

"I'm really innocent."

"Mm, I understand. Later, tell me how many you want, and I'll go home, count them, and move them over for you."

Being labeled a smuggler for no reason, Ye Yaodong helplessly reached out and tapped the table. "You write yours first. Hurry up and finish writing so you can press your thumbprint."

"Alright, alright, alright."

Fang Jingfu immediately lowered his head and started writing again.

Ye Yaodong also thought about what quantity would be appropriate. If one sells for 6-8 yuan, the cost absolutely cannot be higher than two or three yuan. After all, this might pass through several hands—from wholesaler to middleman to retailer—so the labor and materials combined probably only cost about one or two yuan.

Of course, the producer has to make money too. For 1,000 units, it probably only costs two or three thousand yuan.

There's no need to ask for too many. He's just taking them back to flip them on the side. He wasn't relying on reselling to make money anyway; just bringing a few along is fine.

Besides, he had just remitted 10,000 yuan back a few days ago, and he only had four or five thousand yuan accumulated from selling goods these past few days. He also had to pay the workers' wages, which would be about a thousand.

"It's written. Take a look. If there's no problem, sign your name."

Ye Yaodong's train of thought was pulled back. He picked up the paper, took a look, and after confirming there were no problems, he signed his name.

Fang Jingfu also wrote his name. "Copy another one. One for each of us."

"You copy it. One task shouldn't bother two masters. Since you've already written one, just write another."

"Fine then. Think about how many you want? I'll go back and prepare. Also, can you have someone come over tomorrow to build a canopy for the courtyard?"

"Sure, no problem. Anyway, we go out to sea every day now and only come back at night to sleep. We'll leave two or three people to cook at home. You can have someone come over to build the canopy first, and it's also fine to move the assembly materials in early."

"Good, straightforward. I've definitely made a friend in you. It's a good thing I went to hand in the photos today, saving me from running around in this hot weather. I spent all day yesterday looking and got heatstroke, then lay at home for a day. In this day and age, who isn't short of housing? There aren't that many empty houses."

"You copy one first. It's almost noon. Stay and eat here later; we can chat while we eat."

"Okay."

He lowered his head again and scribbled away, copying it out again. Then the two of them signed their names, each taking one sheet of paper.

Ye Yaodong kept his sheet in his notebook without tearing it out, to avoid losing it. He tore off Fang Jingfu's sheet and gave it to him.

"Let's go. Lunch isn't ready yet. Let's go into the room and chat for a bit."

Fang Jingfu immediately stood up and followed behind him, then whispered, "Do you have any other good goods there? I'll buy a little from you too..."

Ye Yaodong had black lines all over his head. "Do you really think I'm a smuggler?"

"Otherwise? You have over a dozen boats, several shops, and several workshops. What can you do to earn that much? If you were on our side, you would have been invited to drink tea and be interrogated every three days."

"You also said it yourself, I have so many things. If there wasn't a legitimate way, I would have been invited to drink tea and be questioned long ago. Would I still be standing here?"

"Ah, you're really not doing that?"

"No, I'm an honest man."

Fang Jingfu was half-believing. "Forget it then. After all, we're just casual acquaintances and haven't met many times. It's normal for you not to trust me. We'll talk about it later. Once we've spent more time together, you'll know my character."

"Don't talk like we're dating. Isn't it disgusting? I'm telling the truth, and you don't believe me. Forget it. You'll know later anyway. Tell me first, how much will you charge me wholesale for that lighter? I'll calculate how many I want."

"Originally, the wholesale price for others was 2 yuan. Seeing that you're letting me use the house for free, I can give you 1.5 yuan. After all, the metal casing, metal parts, springs, and electrodes are all custom-ordered from other workshops, and the gas and dye are also expensive. Plus, I have to pay people to assemble them."

Ye Yaodong thought 'holy crap' to himself. Sure enough, they could lower the price by 50 cents. Charging him a wholesale price of 1.5 yuan meant they still had to make money. The cost definitely didn't even reach one yuan. Selling them for 8 yuan was simply a tenfold increase.

Even after deducting the middleman's transport and labor costs, the profit was still huge.

Tsk tsk tsk. Sure enough, every industry is easy to do right now; they are all super-profits.

In an era of resource scarcity, everything sells well, and everyone is short of everything.

"Don't tell anyone about this price. The wholesale price we sell to outsiders is 2 yuan. Then wholesalers or scalpers flip them and sell them to various places. Then it might take a while for them to reach the hands of local peddlers and small shops. Selling them outside, they all have to be 6 yuan and up."

"Sure enough, it's all exploitation by middlemen layer after layer. By the time it reaches the common people, who knows how many hands it's passed through and how much the price has been marked up."

"That's something that can't be helped. We can't sell them one by one. People buy them in bulk, and that's how we make a profit. Selling them one by one would take until the year of the monkey, and we couldn't sell them to hundreds of millions of people."

"Mm, I was just saying it casually. Sure enough, you have to find the source factory. Don't forget your brother when you make this big and strong. A brother for a day is still a brother."

"Haha, it hasn't even started yet, and you keep talking."

"Oh, it's only a matter of time."

Fang Jingfu waved his hand. "Easy. Just because you were generous enough to rent me the venue for free today, from now on, you're my brother."

"Alright. If you become rich, don't forget me."

"Hahaha, you're killing me. It hasn't even happened yet, and I feel like I'm about to become a billionaire."

"Oh, it's all a matter of time."

"You really know how to talk. Tell me, how many do you want? I'll reserve them for you in advance. Let everyone else wait."

Ye Yaodong happily held up both hands and made a 'V' sign. "I want 2,000."

"That many!" Fang Jingfu looked him up and down. "And you say you're not doing that."

"Please, brother, I have a shop. Do you know where my shop is? In the aquatic wholesale market, the largest aquatic wholesale market in our city. You don't know how much foot traffic there is every day. 2,000 might not even last a month before they're sold out."

"Really?"

"Of course. But if they sell well, I might have to ask you for more."

"Easy!"

This could also be considered cross-industry...

Originally, he thought the wholesale price would be two or three yuan for 1,000 units. Now that he was given 1.5 yuan, asking for 2,000 wasn't too many. Just consider it testing the waters. It happened to be something they didn't have there.

If the response was good, he would get another batch from Fang Jingfu. It could be considered helping him expand, and he could make money himself—a win-win.

If he makes 5 yuan on each, 2,000 units... ten thousand...

Holy crap... isn't this too black-hearted?

What about those foreign ones selling for dozens or hundreds? Damn, pure capitalism.

He had long heard that in the late 80s and early 90s, the lighter industry in Wenzhou rose and began to slowly occupy the national market. By the millennium, Wenzhou's lighters could account for 80% of global production.

He didn't expect to run into it and be able to witness the rise of lighters with his own eyes.

Thinking about it, his heart felt a burst of heat. No wonder so many people went to be scalpers; this damn thing is too easy to make money from. No wonder the 'Eight Great Kings' were targeted.

"Then when I go back, I'll prepare 2,000 for you first. Oh my, there are too many people coming to me to place orders recently. Thinking about it, I need to find a few more people to assemble them."

"Recruit more people. There will definitely be more in the future. It's best to arrange a one-stop shop, even producing the accessories yourself."

"That's a bit of a big investment. Take it slow. Make money first; once you've made it, you can do more."

Ye Yaodong didn't say anything. This wasn't an industry he was familiar with anyway, so they could plan it themselves.

He just happened to run into it, so he'd flip a batch. It would be a waste not to make money. Anyway, bringing people back is one trip, and hauling goods back is also one trip. It's really better to get more things to take back and resell.

Finally, he understood: West-to-East Gas Pipeline, South-to-North Water Diversion, two-way transport, specialty exchange.

Lin Ji must have made a fortune!

Fang Jingfu and the others must have made a fortune too. Wholesale at two yuan, earning at least one yuan. Producing a thousand a day is pure profit of 1,000 yuan. That's 30,000 a month! Over 300,000 a year!

Expand production a little, and it's 100,000 a month, a million a year!

Ye Yaodong's eyes almost popped out as he calculated in his heart. Sure enough, his speed of making money was the slowest. He still had to rely on technology.

"Let's go, let's go eat. Remember to prepare the goods early and send them over to me. I'll probably go back whenever it cools down."

Fang Jingfu reached out and counted on his fingers. "Today is the 5th. It'll probably take about half a month to cool down. There's plenty of time. Anyway, I'll definitely have them ready for you before you go back."

"Good. Tell me, now that you're doing business and making lighters, is it appropriate to still hold the title of Vice President of the Fisheries Association?"

"What's inappropriate about it? My dad researches the ocean; it's just that my eldest brother went astray and accidentally researched lighters. What's wrong with me doing both? Anyway, I'll move wherever I'm needed. I still have several younger brothers and sisters below me. Once they graduate, I'll just throw them to my dad. You're still holding a title yourself, so you have the nerve to talk about me."

"That's different. At least I'm really drifting on the sea."

"Is it fun?"

"Who said it's fun? This is risking your life to make money, risking your life to fight. Who told you it's fun? If they had a choice, who would be willing to ride the wind and waves on the sea? It's just relying on the sea to eat from the sea; otherwise, you can only wait to starve to death."

Fang Jingfu rubbed his nose, feeling a bit embarrassed for asking such a question.

"Your name is well-chosen: Fang Jingfu—'Enjoying a peaceful life.' You can tell you're destined for a good life just by hearing it."

"Ah, damn! How did you know my nickname is 'Enjoying a Peaceful Life'!"

Ye Yaodong was dumbfounded. He just casually said the homophone.

"It actually hit the mark. It shows you're destined to enjoy a peaceful life."

Fang Jingfu was full of joy. "I think so too. I'm destined to enjoy a peaceful life. What's your nickname? You must have a nickname, right?"

"I don't have a nickname!"

"How is that possible? Is there anyone who doesn't have a nickname?" Fang Jingfu looked at the other old guys at the dining table who were laughing while watching them.

"What's your boss's nickname?"

"Boat King Dong. My nickname is Boat King Dong. I have so many boats, so everyone in my hometown calls me that."

"Ah? Really?"

He looked suspiciously at the other three old guys who were secretly laughing.

"Of course it's true. Didn't I tell you earlier? I have over a dozen boats. If I don't have this nickname, what would I have? But after I go back, I might change it again. Everyone will have to call me President Ye!"

"Hahahaha, you're killing me. You really know how to gild your own face."

"When you're away from home, you give yourself your own status. When you return to your hometown, of course you have to brag a bit. If you don't show off such a good status, isn't that like... wearing nice clothes and walking in the dark."

"That's called 'wearing brocade and walking in the dark'."

"Ah, right."

"What grade did you finish? Junior high graduate?"

"Literacy class graduate."

Fang Jingfu almost spat out a mouthful of soup. Fortunately, he turned his head in time, but because he covered his mouth with his hand, he also smeared his face with soup.

"Ah, why are you so excited? A literacy class graduate is also a graduate, and also a cultured person."

He couldn't help but give Ye Yaodong a thumbs up. "High. When you're away from home, sure enough, you give yourself your own status. Understood. I finally understand the meaning of what you said. You're really something. I've learned something today."

"What's this? Being able to read is enough."

The other boatmen also hurriedly echoed, "Yeah, being able to read is already very impressive. What's more, Adong is famous in our ten miles and eight villages. What's important about whether he's literate or not?"

Ye Yaodong didn't agree with this statement.

"That's still important. You can't just say that. Writing is still very important."

"Fine then. I don't know which part of your bragging is true and which is false."

"What's there to lie about? It's a fact that I brag about being President Ye when I go home. How is telling the truth to the elders and fellow villagers called bragging?"

Put this way, Fang Jingfu actually felt it didn't count as lying.

"That's true. It's indeed a solid title, so it doesn't count as bragging."

"Eat. If you keep talking, you're going to spit it out again."

After Fang Jingfu was full of wine and food, he sat down and chatted with them for a while, inquiring about their hometown. He still felt a bit of curiosity about Ye Yaodong.

At a young age, he had such a big boat, bought a house locally, and said he had over a dozen boats at home, as well as shops, land, and workshops. They bragged about him as if he were very famous, but it didn't look like it was fake.

Ye Yaodong, bored, accompanied him for a while, and only sent him away after they had chatted enough.

The boatmen asked all sorts of questions, but he didn't say much. He just went back to his room, intending to count his money and take a nap.

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, they had continued to salvage for several days. Now he had already gathered over 5,000 in his hands. If they fished for another 20 days, he estimated he could gather another 10,000.

Hmm... calculating like this, taking out 3,000 yuan to buy lighters isn't too much, right?

But for the first time, it's better to be cautious and take a little less. Anyway, after they're sold, he can just come over and transport a batch depending on the situation.

In the evening, when Ye Fu came back, he also told his father that the house issue was resolved, and after the weather cooled down, they could leave without any worries.

"Thousands of lighters, can they be sold? That much money..."

"How could they not be sold? A Friendship Store one is hundreds of yuan, and this one is only a few yuan. I estimate everyone will be fighting to get them."

"Alright. I just wanted to say that we are fishermen who catch fish, and suddenly we're buying so many lighters back..."

"What's this? When you arrive at a place, you always have to bring some specialties. Just put them in the shop for consignment."

"Fine, you decide."

Ye Yaodong patted his father's shoulder. "Mm, that's right. You'll live to be a hundred."

Ye Fu looked at him suspiciously. "What are you saying? It always feels like it's not a good thing."

"A broad mind and a fat body, worrying about nothing, living to a hundred is as easy as pie."

Ye Fu still didn't understand. "Talking nonsense."

Fang Jingfu was very fast. He went back that day, and the next day he called people over to build the rain canopy.

However, Ye Yaodong had gone out to sea and wasn't at home. By the time he returned in the evening, it had already been built.

From afar, he could see the military green rain canopy on top of his house entrance, which was particularly eye-catching. Everyone was still standing at the entrance, looking up for a long time.

The courtyard gate was wide open, but looking inside from the entrance, it was pitch black. The effect of blocking the sun and rain was too good. It wasn't even dark yet, but they had to turn on the lights inside the house.

"I have to tell him tomorrow that he has to pay the electricity bill himself."

Ye Fu hurriedly echoed, "Right. We won't charge him rent, but he has to pay the electricity bill. We can't let us pay it. Otherwise, once this canopy is built, we have to turn on the lights in broad daylight. That's a lot of electricity."

"Not to mention, it's quite efficient. The rain canopy was built today, the parts and accessories will be transported tomorrow, and the workers will start assembling the day after tomorrow."

Ye Fu didn't care about other people's workshops; he felt sorry for the vegetables in the courtyard. As soon as he returned, he looked at the few vegetables he had planted at the foot of the wall.

"The sun can't shine in now. We have to eat these vegetables in the next two days, or dig them up and plant them at the back door."

There was also a small area at the back, but it was only ten square meters, and there was a well and a few clothes racks on the side for drying clothes.

"Just eat them in these two days."

"Mm, are you sure that renting our house to someone for free won't lead to it being occupied?"

"It won't. Our house is registered, and we have the lease contract written yesterday. Besides, Fang Jingfu isn't a rascal. After a few contacts, he can still be trusted."

"Isn't it because you saw him on the road that day and he could casually give you a lighter?"

"That's one point. His lighter workshop makes money every day. How much is our house worth? Does he need to occupy it? At most, he'll run it for a year or a half, and then they'll have to buy land and build a big factory."

"Are you so sure?"

"Of course."

People who can make it in this era are capable people. And the trend of lighters, from what he heard in his previous life, he knew it was a money-making business.

Ye Fu shook his head and stopped talking about him.

Anyway, no one was renting the house, and leaving it like that gave them more of a headache. They were also worried about it being occupied by neighbors or others. Since he trusted him, let's just trust him.

The next day, when they got up early to go out to sea, they didn't expect it to be cloudy and windy, but it didn't rain, so they thought about continuing to go out to sea.

Fang Jingfu's actions were also very fast. In the afternoon, when they returned early because of the rain, his side was already in full swing, with parts and accessories piled high around the corners of the walls, box after box, bag after bag, everywhere.

The empty space in the middle of the courtyard was also set up with 4 long tables, and there were piles of stools on both sides. This was probably the workstation for the workers to assemble the lighters. It looked quite crude.

And the three boatmen were all sitting on the steps of the main hall, watching people move in and out, busy working.

When they ran back through the rain, those stools were also full of people Fang Jingfu had called to move things.

Fang Jingfu took the lead in greeting him. "It looks like a typhoon is coming."

"Yeah, it's already October, and the weather is about to cool down, yet another typhoon is coming. Have you moved everything over here?"

"Almost. Tomorrow I can call people over to assemble and start working."

"How many workers are there?"

"Originally there were only a few. After moving here, I plan to call a few more, making it 20. Now I'm preparing to call a few more; otherwise, the orders won't be finished in time."

"Impressive. After changing the venue, the production quantity has directly doubled."

"But it's also worrying. The number of orders is increasing, but people only give a 30% deposit, while we have to pay for the raw materials ourselves. The more orders, the more money we have to pay in advance. We've only been doing this for a short time, and it's worrying. We've already borrowed a lot."

"Collect a big wave of deposits to supply one or two orders, and after completing the orders, take the final payment to continue buying materials for the subsequent orders. Is that not enough?"

"Not enough. Everything has to be prepared in advance and materials ordered. Once a wave of deposits is collected, we have to go order materials; otherwise, if it's late, the materials won't keep up."

Ye Yaodong didn't understand these things very well. He was a bit greedy, but he wasn't familiar with this industry, and this was also a family business, so he didn't dare to meddle randomly.

"Find a chance to borrow from brothers and sisters first."

"Mm, anyway, with orders, making money is only a matter of time."

"You have more confidence than me."

"Don't worry, getting rich is only a matter of time."

"Do you want to invest in our workshop?"

Ye Yaodong hesitated. He didn't understand this thing, and all in all, they hadn't known each other for more than a month, and he was about to leave soon. ===== CHAPTER 1163 =====