NOVEL WEB Chapter 50: Chapter 50 – The Factory Is Born
Chapter 50 – The Factory Is Born
Back at home, after Yang Wendong finished telling Su Yiyi about his latest meeting, she exclaimed, "That's incredible! They're offering to open distribution channels for us?"
Yang took a sip of tea and smiled. "When the product is good and the people around you have vision, they'll compete to work with you.
"You've seen the news about Li Ka-shing, right? Last year, he launched his plastic flower line, and it exploded.
Clients from Hong Kong, Japan, and even Europe and America were rushing to prepay 100% upfront just to secure supply."
"So amazing? The newspapers didn't go into that much detail," Su Yiyi said, clearly impressed. "Brother Dong, how do you know all this?"
"The papers only have so much space," Yang said. "I picked up the rest chatting with businessmen at the port these past weeks."
"Oh, so our glue boards might be the next plastic flower?" she said with wide eyes.
Yang shook his head. "Not quite. Same category of opportunity, but not on the same scale.
"People like An Yongqiang and Zhao Chengguang see economic potential in the glue boards, that's true.
But plastic flowers are decorative, emotionally pleasing—people want them. Glue boards? The more you use them, the less you need them over time."
In truth, plastic flowers only dominated for about a decade, but the profit potential during that period was massive.
It's said Li Ka-shing became a millionaire just from that product line.
And in 1950s Hong Kong, a million dollars was an astronomical sum.
Su Yiyi laughed. "Even if it's not quite the same, maybe you'll invent something even better someday."
"Maybe," Yang chuckled.
After all, the greatest advantage of time-traveling was the knowledge he carried in his head—things that were common in the future but nonexistent in this time.
The problem was, most of the high-tech ideas he knew couldn't be executed yet.
And for many of the simpler ones, he had no way to verify whether they already existed, because there was no internet to check.
For now, his only priority was to do well with what was already working.
Once he made enough money, he could afford to fund research and try new things.
Suddenly, Su Yiyi seemed to remember something. "Brother Dong, if we open a factory… won't the gangs and the police come to bother us?"
Yang paused, then nodded. "It's possible. But even shakedowns have rules—just like when we ran our stall at East Market.
As long as we follow those rules and pay what's expected, no one will cause trouble."
In 1950s Hong Kong, every shop and street vendor faced these issues.
And factories were no different.
The system was rotten, but even so, it still had some structure.
As long as you paid the bribes or "fees" expected of you, they wouldn't break their own unspoken codes, because doing so would mess up the whole racket.
"That's how the world works," Su Yiyi sighed. "Liming told me that over at East Market, people have been getting beaten. Some couldn't pay up and even committed suicide."
"What?" Yang asked, alarmed. That explained why Su Yiyi had brought up gangs and cops so suddenly.
He had worked there before, and while people weren't exactly thriving, he never expected multiple suicides.
"It's because the economy's been bad," Su Yiyi said. "Real estate prices dropped hard.
Some vendors had bought property earlier and are now deep underwater.
Plus, business is slower, but the market enforcers still charge full fees."
Yang nodded solemnly. "Yeah. Bad economy, nothing you can do."
He knew the next real estate boom in Hong Kong wouldn't start until mid-to-late 1958, running through 1964.
But the first half of 1958 was a brutal downturn.
Those who had bought at the peak were the ones suffering most now.
"Oh, by the way," Su Yiyi said, "near East Market, about 1,000 meters away, there's a small industrial area with cheap rent. I think we should open our factory there."
Yang raised an eyebrow. "You had Liming go scout it out, didn't you?"
Su Yiyi smiled sheepishly. "Yes. I figured it's close to both here and the shantytown.
It's perfect. Easy for us to oversee, and convenient for hiring—wages in the shantytown are still low."
"Makes sense," Yang nodded. Then added, "When we do hire, we'll pay market rate.
"But we'll provide lunch. Not saying every meal has to include meat, but let's make sure it's hot, filling, with broth or sauce—something they can pour over rice."
The thought brought back bitter memories of his early days.
Working like a dog, just to fill his stomach. That was the reality for so many.
Bosses could be cruel. When too many people competed for too few jobs, they exploited the desperation.
Most jobs didn't even include meals. And workers—barely able to afford food—starved quietly.
That's why many still fought for port and warehouse labor.
Not just for the pay, but for the guaranteed meal, even if it was just rice and watery soup.
"You're a good man, Brother Dong," Su Yiyi said cheerfully.
Yang chuckled. "Feeding someone doesn't make me a saint."
"No, it really does matter. Growing up, our dream was just to eat until full.
I remember you once stole a chunk of meat from the butcher's counter."
"Yeah," Yang said with a wry smile. "If you can eat enough to feel full, that's already a blessing."
As someone from the 21st century, it was hard for him to grasp just how bad things used to be.
In those days, even white rice was a luxury for many families. Meat? Maybe a few times a year.
People worked themselves to the bone and still went to bed hungry.
…
The next day, Yang visited the industrial area near East Market with Su Yiyi and Zhao Liming.
Liming had already been there and was familiar with the area. After checking out several properties, they selected a 120-square-meter warehouse to serve as their first official factory.
The rent wasn't bad—450 dollars per year.
Yang paid six months upfront and six months as a deposit.
Over the next three days, Zhao Liming brought in people to clean the space.
They hired an electrician to handle the wiring, while Su Yiyi went out and bought a few second-hand tables for the upcoming assembly line.
By May 15th, four months after Yang Wendong arrived in Hong Kong,
he officially owned his first factory.
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