24: The Lin Group in its infancy
Early the next morning.
Dongan Town Canned Food Factory.
The dilapidated red brick wall of the factory area looked much more pleasing to the eye now.
The half-man-high weeds in the courtyard had been cleared away overnight by Wang Dalong and several old workers; even the ground had been leveled, revealing the dark soil.
After a two-year hiatus, black smoke finally billowed once again from the workshop's large chimney.
"Clatter, clatter, clatter..."
The old-fashioned conveyor belt made a grinding sound.
Current machinery was far less efficient, quiet, or precise than that of later generations.
"Boss Lin! You're here!"
Wang Dalong, wearing a faded blue uniform and holding a large wrench, came out to greet him with a face covered in grease.
Although he was so tired his eyes were rimmed with dark circles, they shone with a terrifying brightness.
"How is it, Factory Director Wang? Are the machines inside okay?"
Lin Chuan smiled and handed him a cigarette.
"They're good! They're great!"
Wang Dalong tucked the cigarette behind his ear and excitedly patted the machine's casing.
"Last night, several master workers and I stayed up all night to go over all three production lines!
As long as we turn on the power and add the ingredients, these machines will run even smoother than they did two years ago!
Boss Lin, when do we start production?"
"No rush."
Lin Chuan waved his hand, his gaze sweeping across the empty raw material warehouse.
"Even the cleverest housewife can't cook without rice."
"Factory Director Wang, we still need to collect the yellow peaches from the surrounding fruit farmers, right?
How do you plan to transport them back?"
Hearing this, the excitement on Wang Dalong's face faded slightly, replaced by a look of difficulty.
He pointed to several "Reversed Tricycles" with wooden wheels in the corner—man-powered carts modified from bicycles.
"Boss Lin, I'm actually worried about this too.
The factory's original truck was handed over to others long ago to pay off debts.
Now we only have these few carts left, plus we can hire a few donkey carts from the town.
Although there are many orchards nearby, the roads are in poor condition.
Even if we work as hard as possible, we can only haul a few thousand catties of fruit a day at most.
Not only is it inefficient, but with the weather getting hot, the fruit is likely to rot if it's bumped around on the road for too long."
"A few thousand catties?"
Lin Chuan shook his head, his brow furrowing slightly.
"Too slow."
"What I want is a throughput of tens of thousands, or even over a hundred thousand catties a day!
Since we're doing this, we have to become the largest in the entire province!"
A few thousand catties was indeed too little. From his previous life in the business world, Lin Chuan remembered that some large factories had a daily consumption of citrus reaching 500 tons, which is one million catties.
Consuming only a few thousand catties a day just wouldn't do.
"Qiang Zi."
Lin Chuan turned around and beckoned to Qiang Zi, who had been following behind him.
"Brother Chuan, at your command."
"Drive back to the Transport Team right now."
"Go find Director Li."
"Tell him that Boss Lin wants to rent six more Jiefang Trucks."
"I won't let him work for nothing; besides the rental fee, I'll still pay each driver a separate salary of four hundred yuan.
Have him transfer all the idle, skilled drivers in the team to me.
From now on, all our factory's raw material transport and deliveries will be contracted to their Transport Team!"
"Six trucks?!"
The wrench in Wang Dalong's hand almost fell to the ground.
"Boss Lin, how much will that cost per day?
The Transport Team's vehicles are precious things; will Director Li agree?"
"Factory Director Wang, remove the word 'will'."
Qiang Zi chuckled on the side and puffed out his chest.
"You don't understand Brother Chuan's current status.
Director Li treats Brother Chuan like the God of Wealth!
The Transport Team has no work right now!
Forget six trucks; even if we took all the vehicles from the Transport Team, he'd be so happy he'd be bubbling over!
Just wait, I'll be right back!"
With that, Qiang Zi stepped on the gas and drove off in the Jiefang Truck, leaving a cloud of dust behind.
Wang Dalong watched the receding taillights with his mouth wide open, only managing to squeeze out a sentence after a long while.
"Boss Lin, you are truly powerful!"
"This is just the beginning."
Lin Chuan walked into the workshop and looked at the workers who were wiping down the machines.
These were all former employees of the factory; hearing that the factory had been revived, they had all rushed back to help, even without pay.
This simple sense of belonging touched Lin Chuan deeply.
"Factory Director Wang, pass the word down."
Lin Chuan's voice echoed through the empty workshop, firm and powerful.
"Starting today, our factory will implement a new system."
"Stop those twelve-hour back-to-back shifts that treat people like livestock."
"We are implementing an eight-hour workday!
Nine-to-five, with a lunch break at noon. We'll provide one meal, and it must include meat!"
"Additionally, we'll have two days off every week!"
"As long as production is on schedule, everyone can go home on Saturdays and Sundays to their wives, children, and warm kangs!"
"What?!"
Wang Dalong was truly shocked this time; even the cigarette tucked behind his ear fell to the ground.
"Eight hours? And two days off?
Boss Lin, isn't this too lax?
Even the large state-owned factories don't do this!
As a private factory, shouldn't we be so desperate for profit that we'd want the workers to stay awake twenty-four hours a day?
Can production levels be maintained?"
In this era, private enterprise owners were synonymous with capitalist scum like Zhou the Skinner.
Giving workers two days off? That was simply unheard of!
"Factory Director Wang, we aren't just making money for the sake of making money."
Lin Chuan patted Wang Dalong's grease-stained shoulder, his gaze resolute.
"We are doing this to establish the Lin brand!
Only when they've rested well and are in a good mood can the workers focus on their jobs; that way, the canned food won't have the taste of resentment!
Besides, don't worry, I'm not short on money."
"As long as the quality is good, we'll produce as much as we can!"
Wang Dalong's blood boiled with excitement as he listened.
An employer like this was truly one in a million!
"Alright! Boss Lin, you're straightforward!
If I, Old Wang, slack off again, I'm not human!
I'll go arrange it right away! I guarantee everyone will be full of energy!"
"One more thing."
Lin Chuan called out to Wang Dalong, who was about to leave.
"What's the price for our first batch of canned food?"
"Uh, I was thinking, since we're a new brand and don't have much of a reputation..."
Wang Dalong rubbed his hands together and calculated:
"Current canned food on the market, like that 'Zhenxin' brand, sells for four yuan and fifty cents a jar.
If we want to sell ours, we have to be a bit cheaper—maybe three-eighty or four yuan?"
Lin Chuan shook his head, held up four fingers, and then bent one halfway.
"Four-fifty."
"Not a penny less."
"Not only will we not lower the price, but we also need to put effort into the packaging. Use glass jars with screw-on iron lids; the style must be minimalist to look high-end."
"But—!" Wang Dalong grew anxious. "Four-fifty? Who would buy that?
People trust the old brands; if we charge the same price, we definitely won't be able to sell anything!"
"I'm not lowering the price."
A playful smile curled at the corner of Lin Chuan's mouth.
"However, we'll run a promotion."
"For the first month of the new product launch..."
"Buy one, get one free!"
"If they buy one four-fifty jar of canned food, we'll give them another one for free!"
"We can even do boxed sets—buy one case, get one free!
Free home delivery!"
"What?!!"
Wang Dalong felt his heart skip a beat.
"Buy one, get one free?!
Boss Lin, wouldn't that be equivalent to two yuan and twenty-five cents a jar?
That won't even cover the costs!
This is just losing money to make a name for ourselves!
We'll lose several dimes on every jar!
If we sell a lot, won't we lose everything down to our underwear?"
"Lose money?" Lin Chuan gave a cold laugh.
"Factory Director Wang, you have to look at the big picture."
"What are we lacking right now? Is it money?
No."
"What we lack is fame! It's market share!"
"I want every person in Dongan Town, even the entire city, to think of our Lin brand first whenever they want to eat canned food!"
"Once they get used to our delicious, generous, and additive-free canned food..."
"Even if we restore the original price later, they won't want to eat anything else!"
"This is called losing first to gain later—playing the long game to catch the big fish."
Although Wang Dalong only half-understood, he felt there was great wisdom in those words.
"But how much money will we have to burn?"
Lin Chuan: "Just remember, money is not an issue. We must make our brand famous so that people feel at ease whenever they think of the Lin name."
"Remember, Lin's Canned Food focuses on quality and safety!
If anyone dares to drop the ball on quality, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
"Understood! I will definitely convey your philosophy, Boss, to every employee in the factory."
Wang Dalong said excitedly.
Seeing his excitement, Lin Chuan chuckled inwardly.
"Making money?"
If it were just for money, the hundreds of billions sitting in his system would be enough for several lifetimes.
What he was doing now wasn't just seizing the market.
More importantly, he needed to launder the money from the system.
He needed to make those assets that had mysteriously appeared in the system legitimate through various physical industries.
And the Canned Food Factory was just the beginning.
His ambition had never been confined to this little jar.
"Walmart, Sam's Club, Costco!"
Lin Chuan whispered these names that would one day resonate across the globe.
In this era where supplies were still relatively scarce and the Supply and Marketing Cooperatives still sold things with a stern face...
He would step by step establish a chain of large supermarkets.
From supermarket chains to large warehouse membership stores.
He wanted to bring the best products from around the world to people everywhere at the lowest prices and with the best service.
In his previous life, the water seller became the richest man in China.
But Walmart sat on the throne of the Fortune Global 500 for many years.
Mastering retail channels was equivalent to mastering the lifeblood of business.
"This game of chess has only just begun."
Lin Chuan turned his gaze toward the distance.