Chapter 92: A New Team and a New Journey Begins
As soon as he heard the words, Yang Wendong immediately understood and asked with a smile, "Mr. Wei, you're not even going to ask about the salary?"
Wei Zetao laughed and shook his head. "I've done some research on you, Mr. Yang. You're quite generous with the people around you. Even your factory's employee meals are far better than what other factories offer. That alone tells me you're a decent person."
"That's true—I do consider myself a good person," Yang chuckled. "But being a good boss doesn't necessarily mean I'll pay you a high salary."
Wei laughed. "It still wouldn't be bad. A man like you, who built all this from scratch in under a year, surely understands the basics of employee motivation."
Yang nodded. "I know your salary at Cheung Kong Industries was 500 a month. How about I offer you 700? It wouldn't make sense for you to take a pay cut after switching jobs."
In this world, everyone works for money. No one joins a company out of pure ideals. Even in the modern era, the famous story of Joe Tsai joining Alibaba happened because Tsai had incredible foresight and faith in Jack Ma's vision—and though his salary was just 900 RMB, he received equity in return.
In this era, no one gave employees stock options. So naturally, higher pay was the simplest incentive.
Wei Zetao smiled. "Then I'll happily accept."
Yang continued, "I know that money might not be your biggest concern—you're probably more focused on a sense of accomplishment. I believe you'll find that here at Changxing Industrial."
"I believe in your ability to take this company to the level of Cheung Kong," Wei said, nodding seriously.
"Then let me officially welcome you to Changxing Industrial," Yang said.
"Please just call me Old Wei," Wei replied. "You're the boss—it doesn't feel right for you to keep calling me 'Mr. Wei.'"
"Alright then, Old Wei," Yang laughed. "Let's briefly go over some of the key issues. Now that you're onboard, even before your official start, you can start thinking things through."
He then gave a rundown of the company's current state—at least the parts that were widely known internally. Naturally, confidential projects like the Rubik's Cube weren't mentioned.
After listening carefully, Wei thought for a moment and said, "From what you've said, our first major problem is the production capacity of the Post-it notes."
"Exactly. That's the issue I'm most concerned about," Yang nodded.
He had anticipated from the start that the Post-its would quickly run into production limitations. There wasn't much he could do to change that in the short term, but it was a problem that had to be solved sooner or later.
Wei analyzed, "You were very smart to push for localizing the Japanese machines from the beginning. That was critical. Without equipment, there's nothing to talk about."
Yang smiled. "Well, Post-it machinery isn't too complex, and Dongsheng had the capabilities to copy it."
Wei nodded. "I know Dongsheng—I've worked with them before. Cheung Kong bought many of our latest injection molding machines from them.
But if you hadn't reached out first, they wouldn't have known anything about this opportunity. You planned ahead well."
"Haha, let's talk about something more practical," Yang laughed. Every era has people who flatter others, and flattery was often a key social skill.
It didn't need to be overdone, but the occasional comment like that made people feel good.
In any era, knowing how to deal with people was just as important as knowing how to deal with problems—unless you were such a genius that rules didn't apply to you.
Wei continued, "Given how hot Post-its are in the U.S. market, and with 3M's brand power, if we can get a few more shipments out and generate some cash flow, we can apply for a bank loan.
Then we can rent a new factory, order more machines from Dongsheng, and ramp up production. Once the goods are moving, cash flow will take care of the loan."
Yang nodded. "As for the factory, I've been thinking more about building our own. What do you think?"
Wei asked, "Are you aiming to own the property? Or do you also see long-term potential in the real estate market?"
"A bit of both," Yang replied. "But mainly, owning the factory would make things easier logistically."
Wei thought about it and said, "Honestly, I wouldn't recommend building your own facility right now. Even if you're optimistic about real estate, there's no need to rush into it within the next six months."
Yang asked, "You're worried building will slow us down?"
"Exactly," Wei nodded. "Given how urgent things are right now, renting makes more sense. If we find the right space with water and electricity already set up, we can move in and be producing within seven days.
You can't build a factory that quickly.
Even Cheung Kong Industries tried to build their own facility earlier this year, but then plastic flower orders from overseas skyrocketed, and the factory they'd just finished was already too small.
They were so big that no rental property in Hong Kong could meet their needs, so they had no choice but to build a massive factory."
"You're right—I didn't consider that thoroughly," Yang admitted. "Let's rent for now. Once our production capacity stabilizes and we meet early demand, we'll revisit the idea."
Real estate investment, for now, was just a side consideration. If it conveniently aligned with the company's expansion needs, then great. If not, it could wait.
Wei asked, "Mr. Yang, may I ask a somewhat sensitive question? How are the company's finances? I don't need exact numbers—just a general picture."
"Right now, things are okay. At least we haven't taken out any loans from Hong Kong banks yet," Yang replied.
The debt owed to 3M was significant, but as long as production capacity kept growing, it could be paid back quickly. The real challenge was scaling up production as fast as possible—and for that, Yang needed a professional production manager.
Wei nodded. "That's good to hear. I know some department heads at local Chinese banks. They're generally very supportive of Chinese-owned factories."
Yang said, "Our corporate account is with Liu Chong Hing Bank. Do you know anyone there?"
When he'd first started the business, his partnership with the local government required a bank account. In Hong Kong's banking environment, only Liu Chong Hing was willing to take that risk and open one for him.
Once the company was officially established, he continued using the same bank for all basic payments and transactions.
Thanks to his knowledge of the future, he knew this bank would experience a run in the coming years—but that was still far off. For now, he felt safe keeping his money there.
Besides, Liu Chong Hing's low "risk awareness" made it easier for him to secure loans. As long as the amount he borrowed exceeded what he had deposited, he would carry no real financial risk.
"I do," Wei Zetao nodded. "The founder of Liu Chong Hing Bank, Liu Po Shan, has always been generous toward Chinese-run factories in Hong Kong. Their loan reviews aren't particularly strict either, which makes it a great option for small companies that don't have well-organized finances."
Yang Wendong smiled. "Even better. We can work with them. But even if the audits are lax, we still need to get our accounting in order."
"Of course," Wei said. "A lot of companies start out with chaotic books. It's only after hiring proper finance professionals that they manage to get things sorted.
It's fine for small businesses to be a bit messy, but once you scale up—or aim to grow further—financial records absolutely need to be clean."
"You probably know some finance people, right?" Yang asked.
"I do, but I can't poach anyone from Cheung Kong," Wei replied honestly. "But I do know some professionals from other factories. I'll reach out to them."
Yang nodded. "Alright. Not just finance—make a list of every position you think we need. If I don't have any issues with it, start looking for the right people. I want you to build the team from the ground up."
Hiring someone equivalent to a general manager didn't just mean hiring one person—it meant building a full management team. Whether it was a team of three or ten, it needed to operate as a unified structure to maximize efficiency.
Until now, Changxing Industrial had functioned more like a workshop than a company. But now that they were working with 3M—and in the future would likely be collaborating with many overseas distributors—a professional internal team was essential.
This included proper operations, finance, procurement, quality control, and foreign sales departments.
"I'll put together a list as soon as possible," Wei said.
"Good." Yang nodded. "Anything else you want to ask?"
Wei thought for a moment. "I've got a good handle on the Post-it side of things. What about the glue traps and flypaper? Are there specific requirements?"
"Nothing too special," Yang replied. "But there is one core principle: unless we have an overwhelming number of workers in the future, both glue traps and flypaper must be made manually."
Wei considered this, then asked, "Is that because Mr. Yang wants to help more Chinese workers find employment?"
"Yes, that's part of it," Yang said. "But from a business standpoint, the more employees we have, the more stability we have.
Post-it production is equipment-driven, so it doesn't create many jobs. But glue traps are basic enough that machines wouldn't be any better than human labor. So doing it manually suits our needs."
Wei nodded. "Makes sense. The more jobs we control, the easier it is to work with the government. Cheung Kong now employs thousands of people, and Mr. Li Ka-shing has even been appointed Vice President of the Hong Kong Plastics Industry Committee. It's almost like holding a government post.
He'll probably receive a medal within a few years."
"Forget medals," Yang laughed. "I just want to keep the company running steadily."
In any modern society, controlling jobs is one of the most powerful assets a business can have. For 1950s Hong Kong—a chaotic and rapidly evolving city—employment was Yang Wendong's best protective charm.
After the interview, Yang updated Su Yiyi, Zhao Liming, and the others.
"Are we bringing in a professional for finance too?" Su Yiyi asked.
"Yes," Yang nodded. "Even if Wei doesn't find someone in the next few days, I'll have him recruit someone soon."
"That's good. There's so much bookkeeping to do I can barely keep up," Su Yiyi said.
"You all should keep learning," Yang said with a slight smile.
In truth, it wasn't just his team—he himself had a lot to learn. There were still many things he didn't fully understand about this era, like how to deal with banks. That too would take time.
"When's Old Wei starting?" Zhao Liming asked.
"A week or two. He'll be here right after New Year's," Yang replied.
In this era, leaving a job wasn't as bureaucratic as it was on the mainland. Once someone had mostly handed over their responsibilities, they could leave. And Hong Kong wasn't that big—if anything needed following up, it was easy to reach out.
Having locked in the company's future core team, Yang finally felt a weight lifted from his shoulders.
He was never worried that his products wouldn't sell. What worried him were the things he wasn't good at: production capacity, quality control, financing…
With the Post-it note explosion already underway and glue traps likely to follow within months, having a professional team to manage production and scale operations had become urgent and essential.
…
Soon, it was Christmas. Even as a British colony, Hong Kong celebrated the holiday—but mainly for government offices and large foreign firms. For ordinary people, unless it was Chinese New Year, the rest of the calendar was just work and survival.
Wei Zetao had submitted his resignation to Cheung Kong Industries and was now actively helping Changxing Industrial build out its internal departments.
On the evening of December 29, Wei introduced a young man, around thirty years old, to Yang Wendong.
"Mr. Yang," Wei said, "this is Mr. Bai Xiangyu. He studied in Japan and has been engaged in trade with Japanese firms for years."
"Mr. Bai, pleasure to meet you," Yang greeted him with a polite handshake.
Bai Xiangyu returned the gesture. "It's a pleasure, Mr. Yang. Mr. Wei told me about your startup journey. I'm truly impressed. The Post-it note is an amazing invention."
"Haha, invention or not, you still have to produce it—and sell it all over the world," Yang replied with a smile.
The reason Changxing Industrial was able to attract people like Bai—competent, connected individuals—was because these were people with vision. Like the team at 3M, they could see the long-term potential of Post-it notes.
If Changxing had been making generic toys or household goods, no matter how big it was, it would have been nearly impossible to poach talent from rising stars like Cheung Kong.
Wei knew this. Talented professionals would only switch jobs for a larger company—or one with real promise.
Bai said, "I know quite a few retail traders in Japan. I think they'd be very interested in a product like this."
"That's excellent," Yang said. "Let's take a quick tour of the factory first, then we can talk in more detail."
Post-it notes, glue traps, flypaper—Japan would be a critical market for all of them. And with its proximity to Hong Kong, shipments could reach Japan in just a few days by sea.
In an era when shipping costs were high, Japan's closeness made it even more attractive than some Western markets.
Wei had specifically sought someone like Bai, fluent in Japanese and familiar with Japanese business, for this reason.
…
Time passed quickly. By January 3, 1959, Wei had brought in seven people in just over a week. Three of them officially joined the company.
With that, Changxing Industrial's core team was in place—and the company's development had embarked on a whole new journey.
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