Chapter 85 (1/2)

Selling Water in the Desert

It did require a lot of bravery and courage as a roadside machine shop owner to ask a government-owned enterprise to procure land for a machining plant because of a collaboration. Mu Jian-Feng was here because he admired Xia Lei’s character and his ability.

At that moment, Jiang Xin went close to Xia Lei and spoke in a low voice, “Mr Xia, do you know who he is? He is our boss!”

Only then did Xia Lei know Mu Jian-Feng’s identity and it shocked him so much his mouth was agape and he was tongue-tied.

Liang Si-Yao discovered Mu Jian-Feng and Jiang Xin’s arrival at that moment and seemed to guess something so she came walking out.

“Chairman Xia, please may I trouble you to have a look at this recruitment document to see if it’s acceptable?” Liang Si-Yao specially brought out the freshly-printed recruitment document and handed it to Xia Lei for his perusal.

Xia Lei could tell what Liang Si-Yao was trying to do and he smiled as he said, “Elder Mu, Mr Jiang, let me introduce you. This is my assistant, Liang Si-Yao.”

Liang Si-Yao followed up with a respectful bow, “Hello, Elder Mu, Mr Jiang.”

Not a handshake but a respectful bow - it was a gesture of great respect in the workplace.

Jiang Xin spoke respectfully, “Hello, Miss Liang. May I ask which university you graduated from and what you majored in?”

“I studied at Harvard University in America and I graduated from the School of Business, majoring in Business Management. I’ve worked in an e-Commerce company and a venture capital company in America.” After a brief introduction of her resume, she smiled again, “Now I work for Chairman Xia.”

Mu Jian-Feng and Jiang Xin could not help exchanging looks after hearing her speak. Both of them looked astonished. They knew that Harvard Business graduates were very well sought after in America, much less China. If she were willing, she could have her pick of any of the listed public companies to work in at a salary of at least 500,000. An elite talent such as herself actually chose to work for a just-beginning Xia Lei!

Xia Lei took note of Mu Jian-Feng and Jiang Xin’s reactions and was secretly happy and proud.

“Miss Liang, would you be willing to come to our company to work if I offered you a salary of 500,000?” said Mu Jian-Feng.

Xia Lei’s smile froze on his face and he thought ‘What’s with this Elder Mu? If he wants to poach my employee, he should try to do it behind my back, right? He’s actually poaching her right in front of me? Is he completely overlooking me or is he not planning to help me get that piece of land at all?’

Xia Lei was instantly flooded with doubt and worry.

“Thank you for your kind offer but I would rather stay with Thunder Horse Manufacturing than go to China Industrial Group,” said Liang Si-Yao.

“Eh?” Mu Jian-Feng looked interested, “Miss Liang, could you elaborate and tell us why?”

“Your company is big and offers an attractive salary but those are just temporary advantages. Staying in Thunder Horse Manufacturing gives me greater opportunities for growth. My current income is definitely below 500,000 a year but it will surely grow in the future. This is my reasoning for income. Another reason is prospects. Thunder Horse Manufacturing has great prospects that an average company cannot match. You acknowledge this too, otherwise you wouldn’t be here, correct?” said Liang Si-Yao.

To sum it up, would Mu Jian-Feng and Jiang Xin have come here today if Xia Lei was not the only person who could process the high precision parts they needed in the whole of China?

“Impressive. Not so simple, eh? Young people these days are much more impressive than us in our time,” chuckled Mu Jian-Feng, “Miss Liang, I was just joking earlier. You can go back to work.”

“Mm. Yes, Elder Mu.” Liang Si-Yao turned and walked away.

Xia Lei called her to stop and handed the recruitment document to her, “You can take charge of this. There’s no need to ask me.”

Liang Si-Yao nodded and brought the papers back inside Thunder Horse Workshop. The employees of Thunder Horse Workshop looked curiously at Mu Jian-Feng and Jiang Xin outside the shop and whispered amongst themselves. After Liang Si-Yao entered the workshop, she indicated that they should stop looking and continue working and they stopped their discussion and started working again.

She was of a higher rank than them as assistant to the Chairman so they had to listen to her. The employees of Thunder Horse Workshop were not particularly cultured but one of the good points they had was that they were clear about who the boss was. They would do as the boss said without complaints.

Mu Jian-Feng spoke to Jiang Xin, “Jiang, tell the workers to unload the materials and bring them into the workshop. Mr Xia doesn’t have many people so we won’t use his manpower.”

“Yes, Elder Mu.” Jiang Xin went to carry out his instructions.

“Walk with me, Mr Xia,” said Mu Jian-Feng to Xia Lei.

Xia Lei had guessed that this would come and he said, “Of course, let’s have a walk.”

The two of them walked, one old and one young, following the pedestrian path and talking as they walked.

“Mr Xia, my main purpose in coming today is not to help you get that piece of land. Do you know what I came for today?” After some small talk, Mu Jian-Feng changed the topic to his main purpose.

“I can roughly guess. Elder Mu, you came to Hai-Zhu this time to see if I can really upgrade normal lathes to the most advanced lathes of the European and American standards, correct?” said Xia Lei.

“Good guess. Since you’ve guessed it, can you give me an answer that would reassure me?” Mu Jian-Feng stopped in his tracks and looked Xia Lei straight in the eyes, as if to see through all his secrets.

“I have already told Mr Zhou Wei and Mr Jiang Xin that I can do it. But first, I’ll need to go overseas and see the blueprints and the real thing,” said Xia Lei.

“That’s no problem. You can go overseas any time. We also have channels which can arrange for you to see the blueprints and most advanced lathes. When are you leaving?”

“After my company is established,” said Xia Lei.

Displeasure flashed in Mu Jian-Feng’s eyes, “Mr Xia, you still want us to procure that piece of land for you?”