79: Asia's No.1 Factory

Having confirmed the task, Lu Fan didn't dawdle and directly spoke to test the waters.

"Boss Chen, I wonder what your take is on the current situation?"

"Mr. Lu, to be honest with you, I'm not optimistic."

Chen Liting spoke bluntly with a serious expression, dropping a bombshell right away, "The Little Japs have wolfish ambitions and are constantly increasing their troops. A storm is brewing."

"Great minds think alike... the japanese are watching like tigers, and this country indeed has many deep-seated issues and problems.

But I think it can still be saved. Boss Chen, what do you think?" Lu Fan looked at Chen Liting sincerely.

Chen Liting nodded slightly, his eyes sparkling. "I think so too, but I don't know what to do to save the country."

Lu Fan said with certainty, "the japanese's desire to destroy us will never die. Since they occupy the Northeast, they will definitely invade again.

We can't go to the front lines to kill enemies and serve the country, so we should do what we can to ensure the market is well-supplied with goods.

What do you think, Boss Chen?"

"Indeed, once the war starts, supplies will definitely be tight. I agree.

My three factories in Pudong—spinning, weaving, and dyeing—the machines are a bit old,

But the workers are skilled. As long as the raw materials can keep up, there's no problem running at full capacity to supply the market."

As he spoke, his expression changed and he sighed, looking worried. "Right now, the biggest concern is cotton; it's both expensive and of poor quality.

the japanese control the entire cotton market. To tell you the truth, I'm short on cotton now, and the factories have stopped working.

It was really because of this matter that I got so anxious and suddenly fell ill."

Lu Fan thought, isn't this the opportunity? The Cotton Card in his hand could finally be put to use.

"Boss Chen, how about we cooperate?"

Chen Liting looked up with a hint of doubt. "Tell me, what kind of cooperation?"

Lu Fan said calmly, "It's simple. I provide the cotton, and you help process it into cotton yarn and cloth.

How about you just charge me a processing fee?"

"Why talk about processing fees? It's a small matter!" Chen Liting agreed heartily, thinking to himself, "How much cotton could you possibly have?

Forget it, I'll just consider it returning a favor."

So, he turned and asked casually, "Boss Lu, how much cotton do you have?"

Lu Fan slowly extended one hand and then said unhurriedly, "Five thousand... tons."

"Five thousand is a bit on the low side, just enough for one shift's production, I'll help you..." Chen Liting heard the final unit was tons.

His expression changed instantly, and his voice unconsciously rose an octave, full of disbelief. "How much? How much cotton did you say you have?"

Lu Fan still calmly raised his hand to signal. "Five thousand tons. What's wrong?"

Hearing this number, Chen Liting's originally relaxed expression froze instantly, his eyes widened, and he was petrified on the spot.

What did five thousand tons mean? Currently, the total daily output of spinning mills nationwide is only about 300 tons.

Five thousand tons of cotton would take more than half a month for all the spinning mills in the country to process even at full capacity.

If all this cotton were produced by his own factories, they wouldn't be able to finish it in a year.

After a long while, Chen Liting regained his senses and confirmed again, "Do you really have 5,000 tons?"

"I really do. Can you really waive the processing fee?" Lu Fan teased with a playful look.

"This... this can't be waived... I was too rash, my apologies, my apologies..."

Chen Liting clasped his hands and bowed repeatedly; this was no small expense.

If it were free, he wouldn't even have his underwear left from the losses.

Lu Fan refilled Chen Liting's tea. "I'm just joking. For the processing fee, calculate it however you normally would.

But you have to clear out your cotton storage warehouses for me.

In addition, you need to prepare a large enough warehouse for me. I need to stockpile more than seventy percent of these goods."

"That's no problem. The warehouses are empty now, use them as you wish," Chen Liting said firmly, without any hesitation.

On second thought, he continued, "You don't need to pay any processing fee either. We can settle the account with finished products, does that work for you?"

"As you wish." Lu Fan wasn't opposed to this suggestion.

Looking at the task again, he suggested, "I have another idea. I wonder if Boss Chen is interested."

"Let's hear it!" Chen Liting looked at Lu Fan curiously.

Lu Fan took a deep breath, organized his thoughts, and spoke, "How about we cooperate to build a factory in the inland? Are you interested, Boss Chen?"

"Open a factory in the inland?" Chen Liting frowned upon hearing this and then began to analyze, "To be honest, we could try something small-scale.

But for a large scale, the raw materials, technology, market, and supporting facilities are all immature. The conditions aren't right yet."

From a businessman's perspective, what Chen Liting said wasn't wrong at all.

However, with the full-scale invasion of the japanese and the raging flames of war, if they wanted to preserve the seeds of national industry, factories had to move inland.

"Then let's change the approach. You only provide the technology and management, I'll take care of everything else, and you'll have a forty percent stake in sweat equity."

Chen Liting couldn't help but be surprised. A forty percent stake given away just like that, without hesitation.

He looked at Lu Fan and asked in confusion, "What exactly are you trying to do?"

"By doing this, I want to leave a spark for the national textile industry," Lu Fan said with a serious face. "I have a feeling.

the japanese will not stop their pace of aggression. Once the war starts, only the inland can be spared from the flames of war."

Chen Liting fell silent for a moment, then asked solemnly, "Are you sure?"

Lu Fan nodded with a grave expression. "In three months at the earliest, or six months at the latest, the japanese will inevitably invade,

otherwise, why do you think they are constantly increasing their troops in the Shanghai?"

"Those damn japanese occupied the Northeast and still want to push their luck." Chen Liting gritted his teeth and slapped his thigh. "Damn it!

Little Japs, I'll bet my family fortune to fight them with you. Boss Lu, tell me, what should we do?"

Lu Fan thought for a moment and quickly gave a plan, "For now, I'll provide the raw cotton, and you just focus on producing at full capacity.

At the same time, within a week, prioritize finalizing the design for the new factory. The scale of the factory should be at least three times your current one.

In short, design it as large as possible. Once the drawings are finished, I'll arrange for personnel to purchase machines as quickly as possible."

"Don't worry, it's all in my head. In three days... no, two days, I'll give you the plan," Chen Liting patted his chest and promised.

"The site will be initially set near Changsha, so it's convenient for Tang Jifeng to look after it.

Give me the issues regarding supporting facilities along with the design drawings.

Then I'll have Tang Jifeng immediately arrange for the factory's construction.

Two months from now, the employees here in the Shanghai will gradually be transferred there to prepare for production."

"I'll follow your arrangements." Chen Liting's eyes lit up upon hearing that they would have Tang Jifeng as a backer.

These days, without a backer, the path of industry was truly difficult. Everyone wanted a piece of the pie.

With Tang Jifeng's protection, those riffraff from the Green Gang definitely wouldn't dare to be as arrogant as they were now, coming to cause trouble every few days.

Now he could finally focus on his career with peace of mind.

"Boss Chen, even brothers keep clear accounts. I'll invest two million USD and take a seventy percent stake."

The figure of two million USD shocked Chen Liting once again.

Two million, and in USD at that. Converted to silver dollars, it would be at least seven million.

How large a factory would that build? Wouldn't it be the number one factory in Asia?

He didn't expect that his long-held wish would finally have a chance to come true.

Thinking that he would be able to go all out and do something big, his whole body trembled with excitement.