2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 150 "Your Boss Tan"

What would it be like for someone who has been working long hours at high intensity to suddenly become less busy?
Tan Jincheng said, "It's probably the feeling of emptiness."

Since returning from the Spring Canton Fair, Tan Jincheng has barely had a day off. He has been frequently traveling to various places, experiencing the tension after production started, and feeling exhausted while writing marketing plans.

By September, these busy days had suddenly disappeared.

Every day, I look at reports, sign documents, or at worst, play games or browse the internet in the office.

While bored, Tan Jincheng also kept a close eye on his competitors. Needless to say, the leading company, Xinri, was also making its move. After investing heavily in five automated production lines introduced from Xiao Rizi, the second phase of the project involved the construction of a 5-square-meter motor and electrical appliance R&D and manufacturing branch.

Yadi is a well-established company, and its boss is someone who transitioned from another industry, similar to the boss of Xinri. These types of people share a common characteristic: they have money and connections. Even if they start later, their power is not to be underestimated.

Take the owner of Xinri as an example. Outsiders see him as having only a junior high school education, but little do they know that he was able to get hundreds of thousands of yuan in start-up capital from his parents before 1990. Before 90, what kind of family could casually take out hundreds of thousands of yuan?
Although Aima has not yet appeared, its strength should not be underestimated, as it has become one of the three most well-known brands in the country in the future. With these powerful competitors emerging one after another, Flashcar's future is still a long road ahead.

Sometimes, Tan Jincheng would even regard Zhang Xupeng as his spiritual support. Zhang Xupeng was the friend Tan Jincheng trusted most besides his parents before the age of 30 in his previous life, and Zhang Xupeng felt almost the same way.

Since his rebirth, Zhang Xupeng's wealth and career have increased far beyond his previous life. However, such rapid growth is not always a good thing. At this time, Zhang Xupeng, who is worthy of Tan Jincheng's trust and has entrusted his back to him, has become a source of spiritual support.

The two brothers, who had left their hometown, supported each other in Beicang, which made Tan Jincheng truly feel that being reborn was not a dream, but a real life in this world.

I wonder what Zhang Xupeng felt when he went south to Guangzhou alone last year, when he knew nothing and stayed behind in Beicang to overcome many difficulties to protect the rear.
Now that Zhang Xupeng has gone to Guangzhou, Tan Jincheng doesn't even have anyone to talk to normally anymore.

Fortunately, there's Gu Qingqing, Tan Jincheng's new friend.

The new semester has just begun, and many students haven't even registered yet, let alone been busy with their studies. Gu Qingqing led Tan Jincheng on a stroll through the campus, occasionally introducing some campus buildings, and sometimes bumping into some familiar classmates from the department.

During her two-month summer job, Tan Jincheng became the man Gu Qingqing had the longest period of one-on-one contact with since birth, besides her father.

If you don't understand something at work, you don't have to go directly to the third floor to ask, just like before. For lunch, you can eat the special stir-fry from the Flash Cafeteria with Boss Tan.

You can also stay in the boss's office during your lunch break, because the environment there is much better than that of the Taobao operations department. There's a refrigerator, a big sofa, and even a small room at the very end of the third floor where you can sleep.

Gu Qingqing had seen the small room; it was quite clean, just as clean as the place where Boss Tan lived. However, Gu Qingqing hadn't dared to stay there, because that was where Boss Tan usually stayed at the factory when he was busy.

"Are you busy? If you're not, how about we have lunch at the cafeteria? It'll be on me."

"Sure, I've never experienced a university cafeteria before. I'd like to learn from them and see if there's anything we can improve in our cafeteria."

"You don't even think about studying when you're eating in the cafeteria, no wonder you can make money."

"Haha, making money doesn't really have much to do with this. Making money mainly depends on following the general trend. It's like buying stocks; when prices are falling, it's useless no matter what you buy."

"You even know about stocks?"

"I know a little, but I don't really understand it."

"So what do you think will be profitable in the future?"

"This topic is too general. Actually, you can make money doing anything. But if you want to know what makes the most money, it would definitely be import and export, real estate, and the internet."

Even after the 2008 global financial crisis, the import and export industry was still quite profitable before 2015, when globalization was more advanced and trade barriers were less severe. The only difference was the level of profit.

There's no need to elaborate on real estate, and the internet industry has also grown rapidly this year. With the iteration of smartphones, the internet industry will usher in comprehensive development. However, compared to these two industries that require huge investments, import and export business is currently the most suitable option for ordinary people.

As long as you have business acumen and can handle the intricacies of international trade, you can have a chance to get a share of the pie with a small investment. Even if you are in their downstream supply chain, you can still make a lot of money.

In addition, the financial industry has always been a profitable industry. However, although the threshold for this industry seems low, it is actually extremely high and is not something that ordinary people can master.

Stock trading? That doesn't count as finance at all. Only when you enter the primary market can you be considered to be involved in finance.

On the campus of Ningbo University, Tan Jincheng and Gu Qingqing walked side by side. One was handsome, the other beautiful, and both dressed with great style. Passing students and parents couldn't help but turn their heads, assuming they were another campus couple. However, contrary to their expectations, the two weren't talking about love, but rather discussing what could make money. This was somewhat strange for their age group, but it made sense given the situation between Tan Jincheng and Gu Qingqing.

One is a reborn individual whose psychological age far exceeds their actual age, while the other grew up in a business-oriented environment like Wushang, where almost all of their relatives and friends were also in business, making them particularly sensitive to these things.

Perhaps it was Gu Qingqing's personality that made Tan Jincheng feel that they got along well and were suitable to be friends. As a reborn person with little experience in dating, he really didn't know how to deal with a young girl.

"I've read a lot of rebirth novels on Qidian.com. The reborn characters seem to have endless glory, some even with a harem full of them, but it seems that there are not many love stories that are truly suitable for their age and mindset?"

Going back to being 20 years old, finding a girlfriend, or even several, isn't difficult; but finding a suitable soulmate with whom you can communicate without barriers seems much more difficult. This is probably a case of giving and taking.

That's true, it's impossible for you to have all the good things. Compared to a so-called soulmate, being reborn can make up for too many regrets.

Around noon, Gu Qingqing took Tan Jincheng to her favorite cafeteria, letting the big boss Tan experience the joy of a university cafeteria.

"Clear!"

Halfway there, Gu Qingqing heard someone calling her from behind. She turned around and saw Xu Manli.

"You've arrived? Have Wenjia and Ya Nan arrived yet?"

Xu Manli quickly caught up, but instead of answering Gu Qingqing immediately, she carefully examined Tan Jincheng and then mischievously asked Gu Qingqing, "Aren't you going to introduce him?"

In fact, she had already recognized that this was the same Tan, the boss who had bought gifts for Qingqing last time. He was indeed good-looking, and apart from their heights being somewhat mismatched, the two of them could be considered a handsome man and a beautiful woman.

It's not that this Mr. Tan is particularly short. According to Xu Manli's estimate, Mr. Tan is probably between 175 and 180 cm tall, which is not short at all. However, Qingqing's actual height of 168 cm is really too conspicuous.

Women's height is visually more noticeable, and Qingqing's fitted white dress today accentuated her figure even more. Luckily, she wasn't wearing high heels, otherwise, from behind, Qingqing would appear to be a head taller than Boss Tan.

Strangely enough, Tan Jincheng's original height was about 175 cm. Although the work was hard during his year at sea, the food on the cruise ship was not bad. I don't know if it was his mindset or because he went through a second growth spurt at 18, but his height increased by two centimeters.

Tan Jincheng only discovered this during the last company experience session when he joined in the fun. He had always thought he was 175cm tall, but he didn't expect that he was actually 177cm tall. Tan Jincheng was so happy that he bragged to Zhang Xupeng that he could pretend to be 180cm with shoes on.

Well, the starting height for rebirth novels on Qidian is 180cm, so I guess I barely qualify. I haven't let rebirth characters down.

Ignoring Xu Manli's gaze, Gu Qingqing introduced him generously, "This is my friend Tan Jincheng."

She then introduced her to Tan Jincheng, saying, "This is my roommate, Xu Manli."

For some reason, ever since returning home, Gu Qingqing no longer wanted to call Tan Jincheng "Boss Tan".

"Hello, I'm Qingqing's roommate. I often hear her mention you. What brings you here today?" Xu Manli said, extending her hand.

Tan Jincheng glanced at Gu Qingqing. She hadn't told her roommate about her part-time job, so he decided not to make a fuss and let her explain later.

He reached out and gave it a light handshake, saying, "I just happened to have some time today, so I came to take a look."

Gu Qingqing was a little embarrassed: "Let's go, don't block the door, let's go inside and get our food."

The three of them entered the cafeteria together. There were quite a few people on the first day of school. Gu Qingqing said to Tan Jincheng, "You go find a seat first, and we'll go get our food."

Tan Jincheng nodded. This was his first time eating at a university cafeteria. To be honest, the scene was much more spectacular than the company cafeteria, with people coming and going, and quite a few cutting in line.

Xu Manli's eyes darted around, and after Tan Jincheng left, she quickly pulled Gu Qingqing aside and asked, "What's going on? Why is your boss Tan here today? He couldn't have brought you to school, could he? I remember you arrived last night."

“No, he brought Zhao Xianbo and Qin Siyu over. They were working summer jobs in Beicang during the summer vacation,” Gu Qingqing said softly.

Xu Manli reluctantly accepted this explanation, but immediately realized, "Wait a minute, you didn't even ask him what he wanted to eat! Tell me what's going on between you two!"

Hmph, I almost fell for this little girl's trick. She didn't deny "your boss Tan" either!
(End of this chapter)