22: Point out a direction to your older brother
It was late at night, and the crickets outside were chirping merrily.
In the east room, his parents and second brother were still fiddling with the new appliances, too fascinated to sleep.
The west room was Lin Chuan's room.
A temporary cot was set up by the edge of the kang. Long Wu lay on it, hands behind his head, staring blankly at the hanging lamp on the ceiling.
Lin Chuan sat cross-legged on the warm kang, sketching and writing in a small notebook.
"Boss."
Long Wu rolled over, and the cot let out a pained creak, as if it couldn't withstand the weight of this tower of a man.
"Boss, are we really going to the Canned Food Factory tomorrow?
I know that factory; production stopped two years ago, and the weeds in the courtyard are waist-high.
How can we bring such a mess back to life?"
Long Wu was a simple man, but he knew a thing or two about business.
Taking over a defunct state-owned enterprise was like throwing handfuls of money into the water.
Lin Chuan didn't look up, his pen scratching against the paper.
"Whether it works or not depends on who's doing it."
"If it stayed in the hands of those leaders who only know how to drink tea and read newspapers, it would definitely be dead.
But in my hands, it's a hen that lays golden eggs."
"Our first step is to repair the equipment in the factory and restore those production lines.
The mountains and water here are great, and there's plenty of fruit. If we make canned yellow peaches and get the flavor right, they'll sell easily."
"And then..."
Lin Chuan looked up, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.
"Once the funds are recovered, we'll immediately set up a brand-new production line."
"We won't sell anything else; we'll sell water."
"What?"
Long Wu was stunned, thinking his ears were playing tricks on him.
He sat up with a start, his large eyes wide and round.
"Boss, what did you say? Selling water?
Plain boiled water?"
"Not boiled water, but mineral water, purified water," Lin Chuan smiled.
"Oh my god!"
Long Wu scratched his scalp, his honest face full of confusion.
"Boss, I just don't get it.
Beverages and sodas at least have a sweet taste and some fizz; they're refreshing to drink.
But plain water? Who doesn't have that in their water vat at home?
When I was in the army, if I was really thirsty, I could drink my fill from a ditch.
If you put this stuff in bottles and sell it, aren't you treating the common people like suckers?
Who would buy it?"
In this era, Long Wu's thoughts represented the vast majority of people.
Water was something that fell from the sky or bubbled up from the ground; how could it become a commodity?
"Lao Wu, you don't understand."
Lin Chuan closed the notebook, his tone pensive.
"Right now, indeed, no one is buying it.
But you wait and see, in a couple of years.
When everyone's lives get better and they want convenience while traveling, who will want to carry a military canteen everywhere?
Bottled water is the trend."
"Moreover, this thing might look unremarkable."
Lin Chuan held up a finger and wagged it.
"The cost is terrifyingly low—just the price of the bottle and shipping.
The profit is much larger than you think.
If someone can make this bottled water number one in the country..."
He paused and said word by word:
"Then he could become the richest man in Huaxia!"
"The... the richest man?!"
Long Wu's mouth hung open wide enough to fit a lightbulb.
Selling water can make you the richest man?
This was like listening to a fairy tale!
If anyone else had told him this, he would have definitely slapped them and called them crazy.
But these words were spoken by Lin Chuan.
Spoken by this god-like boss who had helped him win tens of thousands today and bought a ten-thousand-yuan color TV without blinking.
Although Long Wu still felt it was absurd, a seed of blind faith had already been planted in his simple mind.
"Alright! If you say it'll work, Boss, then it'll work!"
Long Wu slapped his thigh. "Anyway, I'm just following you!! Hehe!"
Looking at Long Wu's happy, silly expression, Lin Chuan chuckled to himself. Where was the slightest trace of the Asura Military Commander's majesty from his past life?
As they were talking, the door creaked open.
The smell of cheap dry tobacco wafted in through the crack in the door.
The eldest brother, Lin Jiang, walked in wearing an old coat, a half-finished cigarette in his mouth, his face clouded with gloom.
"Little brother, not asleep yet?"
Lin Jiang glanced at Long Wu and nodded somewhat stiffly as a greeting.
Then he sat on the edge of the kang and took a deep drag of his cigarette, his brow furrowed into the shape of the character 'Chuan'.
"What's wrong, Big Brother? Something on your mind?"
Lin Chuan lowered his legs; seeing his brother like this, he had an idea of what was going on.
"Sigh, it's not a big deal, I just feel uneasy."
Lin Jiang stubbed out the cigarette butt in the ashtray on the windowsill and sighed.
"Seeing your capabilities today, I'm both happy and uncertain."
"I'm working at the Construction Bureau, and I'm losing motivation more and more."
For the past few months, my salary hasn't been paid in full; they say the performance is poor.
The bureau is in a mess. Several old colleagues have applied for unpaid leave to 'plunge into the sea' and go south."
"Even Old Man Zhang from our team is clamoring to buy out his years of service."
Lin Jiang rubbed his rough hands, his eyes vacant.
"Everyone says that this iron rice bowl probably won't hold anymore and there will be mass layoffs.
But I'm panicking!
I've held this iron rice bowl for half my life. If it's really smashed, what if I don't make it out there?
If it's like they say, not knowing where the next meal is coming from, wouldn't I be failing your sister-in-law?"
"But if I don't leave now and wait until they kick me out later, there won't be a penny of compensation. That would be even worse."
Lin Jiang looked up at Lin Chuan.
"Little brother, you're the university student in our family. You've seen the world and came back from the capital.
Give me some advice.
Should I keep this job, or not?"
This was the early 90s, the most painful choice faced by countless state-owned enterprise employees.
One was the stability of a frog in warming water.
The other was an unknown, turbulent sea where one might drown.
An honest man like Lin Jiang feared change the most, but he also feared being left behind by the times.
Lin Chuan looked at his brother, his heart filled with mixed emotions.
In his previous life, he died early and hadn't experienced the great wave of layoffs.
But Lin Chuan also knew many people who were hesitant at first and stayed at the Construction Bureau.
In the end, when the last wave of layoffs came, they didn't get a penny of compensation and were forced out.
With no other skills, they could only end up pedaling tricycles.
"Brother."
Lin Chuan's voice was soft, but in the quiet night, it sounded like a clap of thunder.
"Resign."
"Ah!!..."
Lin Jiang's body trembled. Although he had a premonition, hearing those words still made him shudder.
"Really resign? But that's a proper institution!"
Lin Chuan let out a cold laugh.
"That's already a thing of the past.
Brother, you'll have to trust me; no one can stop the tide of state-owned enterprise reform.
If you leave now, you'll take your compensation and go make a fortune with dignity.
If you leave later, you'll be swept out the door like trash."
Lin Chuan shifted his body closer to his brother, his eyes burning bright.
"And do you think resigning means I'm letting you starve?"
"I just told Lao Wu about selling water, but that's for the future.
Right now, the fastest way for our Lin family to make money lies with you!"
"Me?" Lin Jiang pointed at his own nose, looking completely dazed.
"Yes! You!"
Lin Chuan grabbed Lin Jiang's shoulder, his tone firm.
"Brother, you're a veteran in construction.
You can read blueprints, you've led construction teams, and you know exactly where to buy cheap cement and sand.
This is a skill! It's a golden rice bowl that no one can take away!"
"Resign now, and go gather those brothers from the bureau who have skills and are willing to work but are also owed back pay.
We'll form our own construction team!"
Lin Jiang was heart-stricken: "Form our own team? Whose work would we take? How can a private individual be qualified to build large buildings?"
"Not now, but soon."
Lin Chuan smiled.
His brother clearly didn't understand the trick known as 'affiliation' that would become popular later.
In principle, private individuals at this time weren't qualified to directly undertake large projects, let alone acquire land and construct buildings.
1992 was exactly the time to play that game.
Form a construction team, then find a state-owned construction company, like the Second Municipal Construction Company, and pay an annual management fee.
When negotiating business later, you can use the business card of the Manager of the Third Project Department of the Second Municipal Construction Company.
In reality, the people are yours, the money is yours, and the project funds are yours.
This is the famous 'affiliation'."
In the 90s, 90% of so-called state-owned enterprise construction sites were actually run by private contractors.
"Brother, have you heard of commercial housing?"
"In the future, houses won't be those matchboxes distributed by work units anymore.
We're going to build good houses with renovations, gardens, and property management!
Specifically sold to those who got rich first!"
"We'll become the first private real estate company in Harbin, and even the entire province!"
"You, Lin Jiang, will no longer be a minor engineer at the Construction Bureau."
"But the President of the Lin Construction Group!"
"Ah! Me?"
Lin Jiang was stunned.
Lin Construction Group, President!
These terms were too powerful!
Lin Chuan's words were like a ball of fire, thrown directly into Lin Jiang's heart, which had been dry for half a lifetime.
With a roar, it burned until his whole body felt hot!
"Little brother!" Lin Jiang's throat was dry, and he swallowed hard.
"Are you serious? Can this really work?"
"This path is definitely right, but how far we can go depends on fate."
Lin Chuan pointed outside. "But Brother, there's one thing I can guarantee.
As long as you dare to take this step, everything in this room today will be just pocket change to you in the future!"
Lin Jiang looked at his brother's extremely confident gaze.
He remembered Lin Chuan's methods from last night, how he could turn the world upside down with a wave of his hand.
He took a deep breath.
"Alright!"
Lin Jiang gritted his teeth, looking ten years younger in that instant.
"Since you've said so, little brother, what do I have to fear?!"
"Tomorrow I'll go to the bureau! I'll take the layoff and collect a sum of money!
Let's fucking do it!"