Time-Travel: The Tragic Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Character Makes a Comeback
CHAPTER 102: The Eldest Sister of the 90s Quits Sacrificing Herself (14)
Seeing how everyone was talking excitedly, Zhao Fuyao casually asked, “What factory is it?”
“It’s the ‘Haomei Food Factory.’ It used to be pretty well-known locally, but it’s been going downhill in recent years. After the new boss took over, he hired a bunch of chefs to improve the taste, but the market just didn’t accept it. They lost money badly.”
“Duan Yong was also unlucky. He got tricked by some Hong Kong investors who left him with an empty shell company and ran off with the money.”
“Yeah, actually he’s not a bad guy. In the first year he even donated to schools, but the losses kept piling up. He couldn’t make money at all and ended up being pushed to the brink of jumping off a building…”
Everyone chimed in with their own explanations, but Zhao Fuyao’s interest was suddenly piqued.
Haomei Food Factory.
That was a major powerhouse company in the future. Its market value would eventually skyrocket into the hundreds of millions, even billions. And if she remembered correctly, the CEO’s surname was Duan.
This was practically a textbook growth stock.
Zhao Fuyao walked up to Duan Yong with clear interest and lowered her voice. “Mr. Duan, could you take me to your factory? I’m interested in investing.”
Duan Yong had already heard from the old woman that this girl was the one who saved his life. Hearing her words now, he hesitated.
She looked only about eighteen or nineteen. He did not look down on her, but still cautiously explained, “There are no workers in the factory right now. A group of people are still gathered at the entrance causing trouble. I’m worried they might hurt you.”
Zhao Fuyao shook her head. “It’s fine. This issue needs to be handled directly anyway. They just want their wages, I can cover them for you.”
Duan Yong was startled by her words. The workers’ wages were not a few hundred yuan, but hundreds of thousands. He opened his mouth, but in the end did not pour cold water on her.
After all, she had saved him. Maybe the girl just wanted to take a look inside the factory. He could treat it as fulfilling her wish.
“Alright, I’ll take you to the factory.”
……
About half an hour later, Duan Yong led Zhao Fuyao to the area near the factory.
Not far ahead, a large group of workers was still gathered at the factory entrance.
Duan Yong felt too ashamed to face them, because he truly had no money left to pay their wages.
He had once thought about ending everything, but after walking back from the edge of death, he realized how childish that idea had been.
No matter what, he still had to settle the workers’ pay.
Starting tomorrow, he would go out and try to secure business. If that did not work, he would beg other factory owners to buy his place at a low price just to clear the wages first.
“Duan Yong is here! Go block him, over there!”
Someone sharp-eyed at the factory gate spotted them and immediately shouted. A group of people rushed over.
Duan Yong had already been beaten several times by them before, so seeing this, he quickly tried to pull Zhao Fuyao away.
But Zhao Fuyao did not move. Instead, she calmly took out several bundles of cash from her bag.
“Everyone, you’re here for your wages, right? Take this and divide it among yourselves. I’m here to invest, and I need to go into the factory with Director Duan to take a look. If things go well, tomorrow everyone’s wages might be fully settled. So don’t cause trouble now, just make a path.”
The moment they saw the money, the crowd surged forward and started grabbing it.
The few ringleaders causing trouble sized Zhao Fuyao up. At first, they were doubtful because she looked so young. But then they thought again. She had just pulled out that much cash. What if she really was here to invest?
“Alright, everyone, make way and let them in to take a look.”
With that, Zhao Fuyao and Duan Yong smoothly entered the factory.
The place was huge. There were multiple workshops and warehouses, and the machinery was all fairly complete and well set up.
The production lines themselves were not the problem. The real issues were the lack of money, lack of orders, and lack of customers.
Duan Yong even explained on his own, “The main reason for all this is that the product taste no longer suits the general market. It was messed around with by people from Hong Kong. I originally brought back the old staff to fix things and stabilize production, but we were targeted by competitors. The new products we launched ended up hurting our reputation again.”
“After that, a series of problems followed. Workers started resigning in large numbers, the factory could not keep running, and the shareholders pulled out one after another. That is how things ended up like this.”
As he spoke, Duan Yong looked completely drained.
Three years ago he had been full of ambition. Now he was completely worn down and struggling.
Zhao Fuyao asked casually, “How much capital would it take to bring the factory back to life?”
Duan Yong looked up when he heard that and gave a bitter smile.
“The factory has over 3,000 employees in total, and nearly half of them still haven’t been paid. Just the unpaid wages alone come to about 500,000 yuan. On top of that, there’s product development and marketing. If we want to fully restart operations, we’d need at least 2 million in the early and later stages combined.”
Two million. Not 200 yuan. To him, it already felt like an astronomical figure, let alone for the young girl in front of him.
Zhao Fuyao lightly touched her chin and continued, “If I invest 2 million, how much equity would I get?”
Duan Yong did not even hold much hope anymore and answered casually, “I currently hold 57 percent. If someone really could bring in 2 million in investment, I’d give up all my shares.”
Zhao Fuyao looked at him. “Factory director Duan, you are not joking, right?”
Duan Yong let out a helpless laugh.
“At this point, what joke could I even be making? The factory is basically an empty shell now, and it is heavily in debt. If anyone is willing to buy it, I would sell it just to pay the workers first.”
As long as he did not owe others anything, he would not feel so weighed down. Even if it meant starting from nothing again, step by step, he could still climb back up.
Zhao Fuyao snapped her fingers. “Alright, then I’ll be the investor. Mr. Duan, draft up a contract. I’ll get a lawyer, and we’ll set a time to sign it.”
Duan Yong stared at her in disbelief, asking again and again, “T-this is two million. Not two hundred.”
Zhao Fuyao confirmed she wasn’t joking, but it still took him a long moment to process everything. Even then, he was utterly stunned.
Half doubtful, half feeling like he had been saved by some kind of blessing, Duan Yong really went ahead and drew up the contract.
Zhao Fuyao went straight to a law firm and picked the most expensive lawyer by the hourly rate, then brought them along for the signing.
With this kind of money involved, she wasn’t about to take any risks.
The lawyer carefully verified everything, checking Duan Yong’s assets, debts, and all records related to the “Haomei Food Factory” in detail.
The next morning, the lawyer had Duan Yong sign a stack of documents, using all the official seals of the food factory, and even notified the other shareholders.
Everything was handled thoroughly, with not a single detail missed.
When the shareholders heard that an investor was stepping in, they were overjoyed and fully cooperative throughout the process.
All the documents were signed that morning. Zhao Fuyao transferred 2 million yuan into the account of the Haomei Food Factory, instantly becoming the largest shareholder.
Although Duan Yong no longer held shares, he now had 2 million in cash. After paying out the workers’ overdue wages, he used part of it to keep the factory running, and another portion to buy out shares from shareholders who wanted out. In the end, he barely managed to retain about 10 percent.
Zhao Fuyao was only an investor and did not take any position in management. Duan Yong remained the factory director.
Duan Yong looked like he had come back to life on a shot of adrenaline. The exhaustion on his face was gone as he threw himself into work day and night.
He knew very clearly that this turnaround was only possible because of Zhao Fuyao’s help. So he could not fail again. This time, he had to stand back up for real.
Under his leadership, the factory restructured its operations. They revived the classic products that had once made the brand popular, and added new local-flavor items with affordable pricing.
He gritted his teeth and spent heavily on TV advertising, even hiring a popular celebrity to film a commercial. Tens of thousands were burned just for a ten-second TV spot.
But those ten seconds were enough to push Haomei Food Factory into the public eye. Once launched, orders surged locally, and then quickly snowballed with demand pouring in from other regions across the country.
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