Chapter 17: The Three Hundred Thousand Hadn't Even Warmed Up Yet!

Around three o'clock in the afternoon.

Tang Ye received a call from the security office; someone had come to see him.

Tang Ye went downstairs and saw from a distance that Sun Hai was lighting a cigarette for the security guard. He thought to himself, why didn't this kid give a heads-up before coming?

Sun Hai entered the office and became quite interested in the green plant by the window. He tugged at the leaves and said, "Tang Seng, the clivia is growing very well; it feels like it's about to bloom!"

Tang Ye could tell he was in an excellent mood. "What exactly do you have to see me about?"

Sun Hai let out a chuckle and boasted, "I made a windfall."

Tang Ye's expression was extremely calm. "Alright!"

Tang Ye didn't play by the rules and didn't ask further, which immediately made Sun Hai anxious. "That indifferent?"

Tang Ye smiled, then asked, "How did you get this windfall? Tell me about it!"

The fat man shook his head, crossed his legs, and said with a smile, "I bought a junk stock in the first half of the year that had been suppressed for over half a year. This stock was hailed as the trashiest stock in the A-shares; it only fell and never rose. I never expected it to keep rising since last week. At first, I thought it was a coincidence, but it hasn't stopped rising even today."

Tang Ye paused for a few seconds and warned, "I don't mean to pour cold water on you. The stock market is just a casino. If you don't take the money out, it's just digital chips, no different from game tokens in an arcade."

Sun Hai spread his hands and said relaxedly, "That's why I pulled out, exchanged the game tokens for cash, and cashed out."

"How much?"

"Three hundred thousand!"

Three hundred thousand was not a small sum in 2005.

You could buy three commercial properties in slightly outlying areas of the city.

Tang Ye secretly thought Sun Hai had quite a bit of gumption; not every gambler could resist the desire brought on by constant gains. "How do you plan to spend it?"

Sun Hai said, "I'm here to consult you! To see if there's anything suitable for me to do."

Sun Hai was dead set on starting a business!

Tang Ye pondered that Qinge Clothing Factory needed some startup capital for a new product. "Actually, there is one right now. Shall I introduce it to you?"

Tang Ye took a project proposal from his drawer and handed it to Sun Hai.

Sun Hai flipped through two pages and looked at Tang Ye in astonishment. "Making women's lingerie?"

Tang Ye said with a smile, "That's right. What? Do you feel embarrassed for a grown man to be in this industry?"

Sun Hai shook his head and licked his dry lips. "What's there to be embarrassed about! Gu Zai starred in a movie called 'La Brassiere', didn't it have pretty good box office numbers? This project is fresh, exciting, and stimulating—it's worth doing!"

The movie 'La Brassiere' was released in 2001, and that year it grossed over eighteen million at the box office in Xiangdu, ranking sixth. Because of the unique nature of the subject matter, it had a powerful impact on Sun Hai.

"I have to ask my partner to see if she is willing to accept you. This project has great potential; if things go smoothly, we can break even in half a year and be profitable in a year." Tang Ye looked at Sun Hai's expression and didn't feel comfortable exaggerating too much.

Sun Hai was clearly not that easy to fool, and he said with a smile, "Don't treat me like a pig. I'm only willing to invest if you're willing to put up money!"

To Sun Hai, this extra money from the stocks was no different from money picked up off the street.

He understood Tang Ye's character—he was extremely cautious in his work. If he was willing to invest in this project, he must have considered many risks.

Tang Ye made a call to Gu Wenqin.

Upon learning that someone wanted to join the venture, Gu Wenqin hurried over.

The moment Sun Hai saw Gu Wenqin, he was stunned for a long while.

He hadn't expected to see such a beautiful woman in a small place.

Gu Wenqin not only had good looks and a slender figure, but more importantly, there was a touch of charm in the corners of her eyes.

"Hello, my name is Gu Wenqin."

"My name is Sun Hai, Tang Ye's high school classmate." Sun Hai came back to his senses and laughed a few times to cover up his previous loss of composure.

Now that there was an additional investor, Sun Hai, the shares had to be redistributed.

Tang Ye adjusted the agreement and printed it out. "I've drafted the contract; you two take a look and see if you have any objections."

Tang Ye went home and told Qin Lan about his plan to invest in the lingerie project.

Qin Lan's personality was vastly different from the serious and stability-seeking Tang Yu, and she was very supportive of Tang Ye's idea to invest.

"A young man should have ambition, especially before the age of thirty. Everything is changing; don't be afraid of failure. At worst, you can just start over."

Gu Wenqin provided the factory and workers, accounting for fifty percent of the shares.

Sun Hai invested three hundred thousand, accounting for thirty percent of the shares.

Tang Ye took out all the savings he had accumulated from his postgraduate studies and work, and borrowed one hundred thousand from his mother, investing two hundred thousand in his mother's name for twenty percent of the shares.

"Town Mayor Tang, I have no objections to the share ratio!"

"I'll listen to you..."

Tang Ye's tone suddenly became serious. "Starting a business definitely involves risks. So we must be mentally prepared. Whether we make money or not is secondary; the key is to put in the effort and carefully perfect every detail."

Gu Wenqin's eyes turned red. Although she didn't put in any cash, the costs of the factory, labor, and management could not be ignored.

"I'm under a lot of pressure. If we lose money..."

A touch of determination appeared on Sun Hai's round face. "We are all adults and can be responsible for our own decisions. At worst, we just start over!"

Tang Ye dared to make a heavy investment because he had thought it through carefully. He smiled and encouraged his partners, "We won't lose money. The era of the demographic dividend is coming. Especially the purchasing power of women, which will become prominent in the next three to five years."

Gu Wenqin took a deep breath, feeling the blood in her body quietly burning.

"Once this equity contract is signed, we'll be grasshoppers on the same rope." Tang Ye took out the ink pad and was the first to press his fingerprint.

Gu Wenqin did not hesitate at all and pressed her thumbprint onto the signature line.

Sun Hai suddenly stalled.

The three hundred thousand hadn't even warmed up yet!

Just throw it in like this?

They say starting a business is a life-or-death struggle, let alone in a field he had only just come into contact with today!

Impulsiveness is the devil!

Should he think about it some more?

"Tang Seng, I suddenly remembered I have something else to do. I'll take the contract back, and I'll bring it over to you in a few days, okay?"

Gu Wenqin looked at Sun Hai, considering his position; it was indeed too rushed. "Why don't we sign the contract in a few days? Let him have some time to ease into it!"

"Fatty, you want to go back on your word? It's too late!"

Tang Ye grabbed Sun Hai's wrist, pressed it into the inkpad to coat it, and then pressed his thumbprint down.

"Damn it! Is that how you do things?"

Sun Hai looked at his hand covered in red ink, then looked at the red palm print on the signature line, feeling a bit dazed.

"Giggle, giggle, giggle..."

Gu Wenqin's laughter, crisp as an oriole emerging from a valley, diluted the tense atmosphere.

Tang Ye blew on the damp ink print a few times. "Done. In ancient times there was the oath at the Peach Garden; today there is the alliance at Pinghu."

Sun Hai scratched his head with his left hand. "I haven't boarded a pirate ship, have I?"

"That was something you delivered yourself!" Tang Ye handed one of the contracts to Sun Hai. "Remember to wire the money first thing tomorrow morning. The contract is already signed; you wouldn't drag your feet or try to welch on it, would you?"

Sun Hai steeled his heart!

"I'm a man of action; I won't delay things...

If I lose everything... I'll just pretend it was stolen!"