Chapter 210: Chapter 199 Bodyguard (1) Chapter 210: Chapter 199 Bodyguard (1) On Friday after school, Dong Jiajia walked out the door with Lu Jiaxin, chatting as they went, “Since today’s Friday, you should be heading back to Mid-mountain, right?”
In Hong Kong, there are no classes on the weekends, so her question wasn’t out of the blue.
Lu Jiaxin shook her head and said, “I’ve found a tutor. I’ll be in tutoring sessions all day tomorrow, and then after that, I’ll return to Mid-mountain to spend time with my aunt.”
No sooner had she finished speaking than she heard Su Heyuan calling out to her.
As Dong Jiajia saw that Su Heyuan was driving a used car, she felt the car was too low-end, “Jiaxin, is this your boyfriend?”
Lu Jiaxin felt awkward; the Mainland has a strong taboo against premature love, but girls in Hong Kong mature early, starting to date at fifteen or sixteen. She shook her head and said, “No, he’s my godmother’s nephew. He’s been asked to look after me a bit in Hong Kong, to make sure nobody bullies me.”
Dong Jiajia was somewhat disappointed. Seeing Su Heyuan approach, she quickly said, “See you next week.”
Once Lu Jiaxin was in the car, Su Heyuan asked, “Was that girl just now your classmate?”
Lu Jiaxin hummed in response, “Her father’s a judge; she’s usually quite arrogant, but she’s been very enthusiastic with me.”
“Not bad, you’ve made friends so quickly.”
Lu Jiaxin smiled and said nothing. Whether they could truly become friends remained to be seen. As for Dong Jiajia’s kindness, who knew if there was a knife hidden inside it.
After they got into the car, Su Heyuan said, “The company has already been registered; now we need to choose an office location. Jiaxin, I’ve shortlisted a few places for you to consider: one in Central, one in Wan Chai, and one in Causeway Bay.”
Without much thought, Lu Jiaxin said, “Rent somewhere convenient and cheap. We don’t have money now, but when we do, we’ll buy two floors to use as our office.”
Su Heyuan shook his head and said, “Office space in Hong Kong is very expensive; seven to eight thousand or even ten thousand per square foot. Buying a thousand-square-foot office space would cost tens of millions.”
Lu Jiaxin didn’t argue about it; seeing the money in hand before talking about buying office space seemed more credible.
Su Heyuan continued, “My grandfather said building a factory is too slow and not cost-effective; he suggested it’s better to directly acquire an existing garment factory. I consulted with an agency. One of the factories was established five years ago, and its machines and equipment were bought four years ago. However, the asking price is eight million, which is over our budget.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Jiaxin immediately shook her head, “Our budget for acquiring a garment factory is within five million; nearly double that is definitely not okay. Big Brother Su, we don’t need a large-scale factory in Hong Kong. If we get large orders, we can find contract manufacturers on the Mainland.”
Su Heyuan explained, “Jiaxin, the reason that factory is so expensive is that it sits on a large parcel of land. Remember what Mr. Nie said during our dinner, that the real estate market is soon going to rebound? If we can get it, after moving the factory in the future, we could make a lot selling the land!”
Lu Jiaxin said, “If it’s that much over the budget, I don’t have enough money.”
The factory would cost eight million plus taxes and labor expenses; they would need to have at least ten million ready. She had a sixty percent stake in the company, so she would need to contribute six million. Together with the share of the profits from the jeans, she currently had over thirteen million on hand. However, she wasn’t planning to touch the eight million she had in the stock market, so she didn’t have enough money.
Su Heyuan asked with some confusion, “How can it not be enough? Don’t you have over three million in savings, and didn’t you just get another four million?”
“I won’t touch that three million I’m setting aside for stock trading,” Lu Jiaxin said. In addition to the originally planned three million, there was also the five million from the sale of the plans, making a total of eight million she was ready to invest in a big way!
Su Heyuan hadn’t expected this reason, but he still couldn’t bear it. After thinking for a moment, he said, “Then you put in four million, and I’ll cover the difference. Let’s buy the factory first. Once we’ve finished the paperwork, we should be able to get a loan from the bank, probably around two million. Then we won’t need to put in extra money for the factory’s operation.”
Lu Jiaxin chuckled, “Don’t you think you’re at a loss?”
Su Heyuan really didn’t feel at a loss, “The three million I earned from selling jeans, of which I kept forty percent, was already a big advantage. I believe that with you, our clothing company will definitely make a killing.”
Lu Jiaxin didn’t want to buy such a large factory, but since he was willing to advance the money to purchase it, she didn’t oppose it any further—real estate prices were expected to rise next year, and the trend looked good. However, she wanted to accumulate capital, and the only way to quickly amass a large amount of capital was through stock and foreign exchange trading.
Su Heyuan continued, “Don’t worry about sales channels, I control all of the Su family’s distribution networks. As long as our clothing’s styles are more innovative, prices are lower, and quality is assured, they will definitely source from us.”
Lu Jiaxin understood his intention, “I will find time to work on new styles. I’ll design new models before the factory starts operating. But a clothing company can’t rely on just one person, so after the company becomes profitable, we’ll need to recruit fashion designers.”
After finalizing these two matters, Lu Jiaxin said, “If you snatch the Su family’s clothing factory’s customers, won’t your uncle and cousin seek revenge? Also, won’t your grandfather be angry about you undermining the family business?”
Su Heyuan wasn’t worried at all, “The clothing factory’s profits are meager; Su Xingcong and Su Hexu have wanted to sell it for a while, but the old man didn’t permit it. As long as I start my own thing and the company takes off, the old man won’t be angry. As for revenge, the old man won’t allow it, and I’m not afraid of their retaliation either.”
Lu Jiaxin felt that it was still necessary to take precautions.
Su Heyuan shared this concern, and added, “This time, I’m also planning to hire two bodyguards for myself.”
Su Heyuan had already been in touch with the manager of a security company and had discussed the requirements for two individuals. Upon arriving at the security company, the manager handed over the prepared profiles to them.
Lu Jiaxin wanted a female bodyguard, and there weren’t many available in the market, offering limited choices. There she was, with only three profiles in her hand, while Su Heyuan received a thick stack of them.
After reviewing the profiles of three individuals, Lu Jiaxin chose the one with the most ordinary appearance and said, “This Feng Lihua will do!”
This security company was ranked number one in Hong Kong and the backgrounds of their bodyguards were clean, so there was no need to worry. She chose a female bodyguard with an ordinary appearance; she believed a bodyguard didn’t need to be too beautiful—as the more ordinary and inconspicuous, the better.
Su Heyuan picked out five individuals, and said, “Bring these five over so I can have a look.”
Soon, all six of them had come over. The five individuals Su Heyuan picked were all tall and burly, visibly over 1.85 meters; Feng Lihua was a head shorter than these five, looking quite delicate standing beside them.
Su Heyuan chose the tallest among them and, in comparison, was quite dissatisfied with Feng Lihua. He said in Mandarin, “Jiaxin, do you want to pick someone else?” Turning to Feng Lihua, Lu Jiaxin asked, “Can you drive, cook, and do household chores like cleaning?”
Feng Lihua was startled by the question, but she professionally responded, “I can drive; my cooking is limited to simple dishes, and the taste is average. I can do housework when there’s time.”
This didn’t sound like hiring a bodyguard, but rather like hiring a domestic helper. However, a bodyguard’s fees were much higher than a helper’s; she couldn’t possibly have been hired just for housework.