Chapter 69 - 68: The Vault
Chapter 69: Chapter 68: The Vault
The internal power struggles within Anjiade Company.
Jiang Miao had no interest. As long as they handled the experimental equipment on time, he wouldn’t have cared even if Du Jiade was taken out by his brother-in-law, Zhu Ziming.
On the lush green country road, two pickup trucks drove steadily through Qingcao Town. After rounding a bend, they entered Meilong Town, part of Hai Feng County.
In fact, Meilong Town was very close to Magong Town, as the two were separated only by a river. The area near this river’s mouth was called Cheung Sha Wan.
The area around Cheung Sha Wan was also the core aquaculture zone of the Shanmei Region. The famous Chenzhou Oysters originate from this area.
They continued driving for about twenty more minutes.
Several gold and silver processing factories appeared on both sides of the road. Jiang Miao knew they were almost there. Less than five minutes later, they arrived at the gate of the gold and silver processing plant the company had acquired locally.
This factory used to be in the gold and silver electroplating business. Later, the local government launched a multi-year environmental cleanup initiative, wiping out almost ninety percent of the electroplating plants and small gold and silver processing workshops in all of Meilong Town. The few that remained, which were purely gold and silver processing factories, were barely hanging on.
When his electroplating business could no longer operate, the factory’s original owner had switched to gold and silver processing.
Unfortunately, when it rains, it pours.
The factory owner was plagued by misfortune. Last year, he suffered a stroke from playing the stock market that left him partially paralyzed, and he was still lying in a hospital bed. His eldest son had wanted to take over the factory, but he discovered his father had used the factory’s gold and silver reserves to secure a bank mortgage of over twenty million. Now that money was tied up in the stock market, and the bank was demanding prompt repayment.
Left with no other choice, he had to sell the factory to Hailufeng Company.
When the security guard saw Jiang Xia, he immediately opened the main gate.
The pickup trucks drove into the factory’s open lot.
Jiang Miao got out of the car and glanced around the factory. It was a decent size, covering twelve mu.
The main gate was on the south side, near the road. The north side bordered a river. Back when it was an electroplating plant, wastewater had been discharged directly into the river behind it.
The factory was divided into three parts: a seven-mu steel-structure workshop, a four-story building on a one-mu plot, and four mu of open land.
Because it was zoned as industrial land, the acquisition price was only 18.6 million, even with the workshop and building included.
The price didn’t even need to be that high, but Jiang Miao had rejected some potentially problematic dealings, which raised it to 18.6 million. The benefit of doing so was that all the factory’s paperwork and property rights were legitimate.
When Jiang Miao bought properties and factories, he insisted on everything being legal and compliant, leaving no hidden liabilities.
It might seem like a way to save a few million, but such methods often create latent risks and liabilities.
If the company was thriving, those hidden problems could be covered up. But if a crisis hit, they could become the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
Therefore, Jiang Miao would rather spend a few million more to ensure all procedures were handled legally and properly.
Shady dealings are never sustainable.
Only by operating aboveboard can a business endure.
As he got out of the car, Lu Mingyuan climbed out of the other one.
"Mingyuan, take a look and see what equipment this factory needs. My requirements are very simple: reduce noise, eliminate exhaust fumes, and prevent wastewater from being discharged into the river."
As the company’s dedicated environmental engineer, Lu Mingyuan understood his duties. He immediately replied, "I’ll need to survey the site for a week before I can plan the next steps."
"Alright. Consider yourself on a business trip. Zixuan, arrange a week’s travel subsidy for Mingyuan."
"No problem." Li Zixuan took out his phone and sent a business trip application to the HR department, which handled all such requests at Hailufeng Company.
Lu Mingyuan, along with an assistant, began to inspect the small factory.
After settling things with Lu Mingyuan, Jiang Miao walked toward the factory’s building with Li Zixuan and the others.
The first and second floors of this building housed the factory’s former vault. After all, for a factory that processes gold and silver, a vault is standard equipment.
His sister had already gone inside.
By the time Jiang Miao reached the vault’s entrance, his sister was walking over with the factory’s vice manager, Lin Yonghua.
"Ah Miao."
"Sis, Vice Manager Lin, let’s go check out the vault."
"This way, Boss!" Lin Yonghua, ever perceptive, hurriedly opened the heavy iron door.
This Lin Yonghua was a local and also the brother-in-law of the factory’s previous owner. Originally, Jiang Miao hadn’t planned on keeping him, but he changed his mind after they met.
It wasn’t that the factory couldn’t run without Lin Yonghua; rather, the man was honest and dutiful. Even though the previous owner was his brother-in-law, he had never coveted any of the man’s assets and had always just collected his fixed salary.
After the previous owner had his stroke, Lin Yonghua didn’t stir up trouble. He consistently cooperated with the owner’s family to ensure the factory’s normal operations.
He was a classic example of an honest man.
And a gold and silver processing plant desperately needed that kind of management. Otherwise, the gold and silver dust generated just from the cutting process was a prime opportunity for embezzlement.
Honestly, Lin Yonghua hadn’t expected to be kept on. After all, a new boss would surely promote his own people to manage the factory.
As the newly appointed vice manager of the factory, Lin Yonghua received not only a promotion but also a raise.
Before, he had only been in charge of warehouse management, earning just over 4,000 yuan a month. Now, he was essentially managing the entire factory, and his salary had been raised to the D3 Level of 5,500 yuan, with potential for future increases.
They entered the vault.
The vault contained four separate security rooms—two on the first floor and two on the second.
Previously, the first floor had been for storing finished or semi-finished gold and silver products, while the second floor stored raw materials.
Now, the layout had been changed. On the first floor, one security room stored raw jadeite, while the other temporarily stored finished and semi-finished jadeite and gold and silver products. The second floor was still for storing raw gold and silver materials.
The storage was "temporary" because the company had also built a vault at its jewelry store in the city, which was dedicated to storing finished gold, silver, and jadeite products.
After all, it was best not to store such valuable items all in one place.
The vault also had two warehouse keepers, both of whom Jiang Xia had sent over from the city.
Opening or closing the vault, regardless of whether items were being deposited or withdrawn, required at least two people to be present: one of the warehouse keepers and either Lin Yonghua or Jiang Xia.
After all, as the company’s gold and silver reserves grew, there was no guarantee they wouldn’t be targeted.
Under Jiang Miao’s watchful eye, Lin Yonghua and one of the warehouse keepers used their keys to open the security room where the raw jadeite was stored.
Inside the security room were more than a dozen large, cast-iron safes. Each was secured with both a key and a mechanical combination lock.
"Old Lin, open this one," Jiang Xia ordered, looking at the inventory log in her hand.
"Alright!"
Lin Yonghua inserted the key and turned it to the designated position. Then he turned his back to the safe, and the warehouse keeper stepped forward to turn the mechanical combination dial.
CLICK! The safe’s heavy iron door swung open.
The two men quickly counted the items inside. Every single piece of raw jadeite had its photo, dimensions, and weight recorded in triplicate, leaving no opportunity for a switch.
Only after confirming everything was in order did Lin Yonghua turn around and say, "Boss, Manager Jiang, the count is correct. The items are all accounted for."
"Very good." Jiang Miao pointed to ten of the raw jadeite stones. "We’ll cut these ten today."
Everyone helped lift the raw stones out of the safe and place them on a handcart.
After completing the withdrawal log, they sealed the vault once more, locking it up layer by layer.
Only then did they wheel the handcart with the raw stones to the factory’s stone-cutting workshop, ready to make the first cut.