After Apocalypse, I Got Rich With Superpower
Chapter 138 - 136: Processing Plant

Chapter 138: Chapter 136: Processing Plant

The Base Commander tapped on the desk unconsciously, his mind weighing the feasibility of a partnership with Xue Dong’s processing factory.

"I don’t have anyone capable of handling this kind of business at my disposal. The factory must be run by someone with a business mindset and leadership abilities to stay afloat."

"Then how about letting Pan’er start it off, and later find the right person?"

"No, she doesn’t have the time, and she also has to take care of the Spirit Plants, which are our confidence."

The Base Commander waved his hand, worriedly touching his head.

"You may find Pan’er reserved, but she’s capable of handling significant matters. She’s stubborn and resilient, with a flexible mind and clear accounts in her heart. She’s also tolerant and sincere; otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to manage three farms. It’s not because of you that Jianzhong and the others are here, but because they were impressed by Li Pan’s character. She’s the one who kept those thorns together."

The Base Commander had great admiration and respect for Li Pan in his heart.

Xue Dong nodded in agreement, "Indeed, Pan’er is truly the core of everything. There are qualities that I lack, but Pan’er possesses leadership capabilities and the bearing of a commander. The key is that she trusts the people she uses, and her choices are precise and clever."

She silently provided everyone with many resources and opportunities for improvement, like Crystal Cores, which brought almost everyone to a High-level status. Even if you left the farm, you were a character to reckon with elsewhere.

She saw everyone as people, putting herself in their shoes, thinking of ways to save money for everyone—even paying out of her pocket to avoid expenses for the staff, giving them respect and consideration.

When it was your time, she truly delegated power, listening to your opinions, granting you the authority to act and make mistakes, never complaining but rather offering encouragement and debriefing to help you succeed—an experience of success you wouldn’t find elsewhere.

"What am I going to do? I can’t find anyone to run the processing factory, and I don’t want to partner with the rich—they’re always scheming and don’t act with integrity. Watching over them is too exhausting."

The Base Commander wiped his face in frustration.

Partnership requires pleasure, mutual help, and support, without nitpicking. My collaboration with Li Pan is smooth and satisfying. When the other party is in trouble, we instinctively think everything through for them, rendering full support to each other without needing excessive explanations.

No. 9 Farm was in such a difficult situation, but Li Pan sought financing everywhere, without a single word of complaint. She buckled down to work, enduring the hardships to the end.

She took a significant loss by not interacting with the rich district, but Li Pan kept silent, resolutely avoiding contact with them, following orders without question, providing him with immense confidence and influence.

Such a good kid, the only talent like her.

Xue Dong was worried too. The rich district might turn their backs at any moment, and it would all be for naught, only benefiting those wealthy individuals, which would be utterly ridiculous.

"How about letting my Brother Xizi come out to do it?"

"Qian Xi has the brains and leadership skills, but he’s never done business before. We’re all plain folks here; we can’t match the business-minded.

The Base Commander had a clear understanding of his own limits.

"Fear not, we have support from behind. I’ll take a share in the processing factory, and the base will hold a majority. We’ll keep control in our hands. In the end, the base makes the final decisions. We’ll watch out for major mistakes and overlook the minor ones. Didn’t we also start the farm by feeling our way across the river? And here we are, we made it."

As he spoke, Xue Dong’s mind opened up with ideas.

"You see, there’s still a chance to make it work if we proceed as I mentioned. If it really gets up and running, it’ll solve many of our base’s subsistence problems, expand operations and production, create many jobs, and provide more opportunities for ordinary people to live better lives. When everyone has money to earn, a goal for living, life will be more stable, won’t it? Plus, it will generate more revenue for the base."

"It’s a good thing, but I’ll need to take Jianzhong with me."

"You can’t do that. If you take him, what am I supposed to do?"

"You have to give me someone. All I have left in the Patrol Team now are young kids. I have given you all the good ones capable of leading the team. Jiao Ming, Cui Yanjun, Qin Jianzhong, Shi Lei—they were all brought up by the elders, reliable and fiercely loyal. I’ve given them all to you; you must help me."

The Base Commander started to play the sympathy card.

All he had left were young kids unable to hold the fort.

"How about I give you Liu Qian? She’s also handled finance, and she’s managed various departments for a time—quite the all-rounder."

"Alright."

The Base Commander was very satisfied upon hearing this.

The two had lunch together at noon, and then discussed in more detail how to handle the specifics of the factory.

Setting up the processing plant was quite troublesome, with numerous tasks at hand. One needed to plan the whole situation thoroughly and not tackle every issue at once.

The Base Commander had two million at his disposal, and the factory building was already available—he just needed to tidy it up before it could be used. They still needed a few more staff members, which could be further considered.

Xue Dong made a phone call to Li Pan and Wenwen to discuss how much their family could invest in the factory and obtain a share of the ownership.

He also spoke with Liu Qian about involving her in the management and as a shareholder of the processing plant, to which she agreed.

"Brother, our family can invest at most five million. Any more than that won’t work. We need to reserve some working capital. Besides, we’ll need to acquire some large machinery later."

"Five million is enough."

The Base Commander was delighted to hear this. The equipment was ready; they just needed to add a few things to get a production line up and running, and they could start from there.

"Alright, give me the contract and the documents."

Wenwen was becoming more and more professional and formal, with every sum of money accounted for in the paperwork.

This time the shareholder was Xue Dong—mainly because he was in charge of the external affairs, and since they were uncertain about what lay ahead, Li Pan’s name was not added to the ownership for the time being.

This was also the Base Commander’s intention. They needed to share the risks together. Putting everything under Li Pan’s name was not only beneficial but also entailed bearing the risks.

The work began to slowly progress, and as Qian Xi took on the task, he started keeping his people busy.

Liu Qian returned to the base and got busy with the factory matters, as she had a wealth of management experience from her previous jobs.

They planned on processing rice and wheat first, then setting up two production lines: one for soy sauce and miso, and another for deep-processing tomatoes into canned goods.

Spring plowing was still underway, but since they used machinery this year, they didn’t need as many people—the existing workers were sufficient.

Everyone had their role and the arrangements were well-organized.

Li Pan was still taking care of the Spirit Plants. The Five Elements Spiritual Fruit had a slight deficit because it had already produced several batches of fruits last year. This year, the main focus was on recovery and growth, as it was still a young tree without many years of growth.

She would provide it with superpower energy three times a day to compensate for the deficit.

The other Spirit Plants were also well taken care of, with no sign of a shortfall.

This year, she exchanged some seeds and saplings of medicinal materials, planning to try making Medicine and start a new project.

Along with the medicinal plants already grown on the farm, they had almost all the materials needed for Basic Level Potions. What remained was the age and effectiveness of the medicinal materials.

Naturally, she would start with Basic Level Potion training, focusing on planting medicinal materials at the current stage.

In the forest area of No. 9 Farm, they planned to plant some functional Spirit Trees to stabilize the soil and water, which would bring a portion of spiritual energy to the farm and be greatly beneficial to it.

Li Pan studied the Spirit Plant exchange list from the base, pondering and researching it repeatedly.

Xue Dong had returned from the base; he had been helping with the processing plant recently and had been going to the base quite often.

"What are you looking at?"

"I plan to exchange for some Spirit Trees. They’ll be of great benefit to the farm and will also be advantageous for cultivating Spirit Plants in the future."

"Oh, have you set your sights on any specific ones?"

"I’m still considering it."