2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 152 The Assistant's Change of Attitude
What's it like to drive a BMW to an Audi dealership? What's it like to buy two Audi A6s at once? In short, it was quite unusual in 2005.

If Xiaomi is a disruptor in the mobile phone market, then Chery, as a domestic brand, can definitely be considered a disruptor in the traditional automobile field, since the launch of its first Fengyun series in 2001 and its subsequent market recognition.

The Tiggo SUV, launched in March of this year, was a great success. Soon, major domestic automakers followed suit, and joint venture brands couldn't sit still either, either launching similar models or directly reducing the price of their existing models for promotion.

As a result, there were widespread price reductions in the car market in the second half of the year, covering almost all brands. If this had happened last year, Tan Jincheng would have really had to pull some strings to get two Audi A6s in stock at once.

What Flashcart aims to do is disrupt the electric scooter industry, learning from Chery's rigorous R&D and Xiaomi's marketing experience, and leaving its mark on the electric scooter industry.

The 05 Audi A6 already foreshadows some of the later Audi designs. It is completely different from the older Audi models. The interior features a very rare all-black color scheme, which, with the addition of a large amount of walnut wood trim, gives it a more solemn look.

This time, I picked up the A6L 3.0 automatic leading version, with a price of 65 yuan. It has double-row automatic leather memory seats, power folding and heated rearview mirrors, electronic brakes, ESP, and headlights that car enthusiasts jokingly call "the lighting factory".

The experience is indeed different from the BMW 3 Series; it's no exaggeration to say it blows it away.

After all the formalities were completed, Tan Jincheng was quite happy: "Haha, Brother Sun, Brother Hui, let's each drive back in one car. Brother Hui, you can drive my BMW."

One of the two cars is registered under Shanchi Auto Industry, and the other under Jinpeng Trading. Tan Jincheng is currently the legal representative of Jinpeng Trading, so there is no problem for him to pick up the car on behalf of Zhang Xupeng.

I asked him before picking up the car, and he said that if I bought the same black model, everything would be exactly the same except for the license plate.

If it were July or August, Tan Jincheng wouldn't need to go to the 4S store to pick up the car himself. But since it's not September and he's not very busy, Tan Jincheng is willing to make the trip. After all, few men don't like cars.

Sun Yuming rubbed his hands together and said, "Haha, Boss Zhang is angry when he gets back. He let me drive his new car first."

"Haha, it's because he was in such a hurry. As soon as I said I wanted to pick up the car, he let me pick it up too, so he'd have something to drive when he gets back."

However, it doesn't matter if Sun Yuming just drives it to his factory and parks it for a while. No one is going to drive his car until Zhang Xupeng comes back.

Since having an assistant, Sun Yuming has focused more on the work of liaising between the purchasing department and suppliers. However, for minor errands, Tan Jincheng still prefers to ask Sun Yuming to run errands.

For example, when picking up the car today, Tan Jincheng and Zhang Xuhui could have just asked an employee from the 4S store to help drive the extra car back, but Tan Jincheng still unconsciously called Sun Yuming along.

There was no other reason than that Sun Yuming's driving skills were more proficient, so Tan Jincheng felt more at ease letting him drive Zhang Xupeng's car back.

Zhang Xuhui didn't have much driving experience, but he was fine driving his own BMW; he didn't mind bumping or scratching it.

Carefully taking the BMW car keys, Zhang Xuhui realized how obvious the gap between people was. 130 million yuan was thrown out without batting an eye—a figure that many people could never reach in their entire lives.

It's laughable to think about it now. When I received the invitation, I looked down on Boss Tan and my cousin. Did two high school students deserve to have me, a college student, as their assistant? Even if I went, I would only be using them as a stepping stone.

The result was that what he saw was completely different from what he had imagined. Not to mention his boss, even his cousin had to look up to him. One of those two Audis belonged to him.

"Sigh, I can't even afford an Alto, so why should I look down on people who drive Audis? What good is a degree once you enter the workforce?" Zhang Xuhui said with a wry smile, touching the steering wheel of his BMW.

It's time to adjust my mindset. Even though I'm currently an assistant, I'm no different from a clerk. The boss makes Brother Sun do a lot of the errands, which is good proof of that.

Is an assistant who can't run errands for the boss even an assistant?
Then look at Brother Sun. He was the first to follow the boss, and he also only has a high school education, but so what? Brother Sun is now in charge of the entire procurement of Flashpoint parts. He can decide the life or death of a factory with a single word. What an opportunity!

“You have to work hard, Zhang Xuhui. Your cousin is already so successful. If you still look down on this and that with the airs of a so-called college student, you will never amount to much even if you go to other places in the future.”

Aside from education, I don't think I can compare to my cousin. He dared to go to sea with his boss right after graduating from high school. It is said that he was the first to propose the idea of ​​doing business after returning to land. This year, he was even able to lead a team to Guangzhou to participate in the Canton Fair on his own.

The fact that the boss dared to entrust the booth of another foreign trade company to him shows that he has the ability to handle things, and his success is not accidental.

As for the boss's abilities, Zhang Xuhui had witnessed them in less than a month as his assistant. He was very decisive in handling matters, had a strong sense of the big picture, and reacted quickly. If something unexpected happened, he would immediately and decisively make adjustments and provide solutions once he realized something was wrong.

Most importantly, everyone in the company's senior management has great faith in the boss.

From their eyes, you wouldn't guess that the boss is only 20 years old; everyone seems to have overlooked the boss's age.

And the boss can only make decisions that everyone can accept.

Another thing Zhang Xuhui appreciates most is that the boss never makes trouble for junior employees. As long as you don't cause trouble and do your job well, he won't bother you even if you make a mistake.

In the boss's words, junior employees just need to do their jobs for money; the responsibility for mistakes should lie with their supervisors and the next level of management. Of course, for those who repeatedly fail to correct their mistakes, the boss is ruthless.

He managed the factory with about 200 employees very well. In his spare time, he could play games or go to Jinyi Industrial to take orders. His abilities were truly incomparable to those of so-called "college students".
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"The advance payment from Yicheng has been fully received, and the advance payments from Yingzhou and Henan Province are also arriving one after another. We expect to receive 547.4 million yuan in advance payments."

"Currently, the workshop's production capacity has been calculated to be stable at 7500 units per month. The production plan is already scheduled until November, but it is still not enough. Many new terminal stores have called hoping to purchase more stock."

"In addition, workshop employees have asked if the discount for purchasing cars could be increased to two cars, as some employees want to buy one for their family members as well."

"The district's higher-level authorities are holding an exchange meeting at the end of the month, and we hope you can attend."

“The neighborhood office also has an event for National Day, and they sent us an invitation.”

"In addition, your application for industrial land has been forwarded to the higher authorities, and they have replied that they will consider it carefully."

"Also, a bunch of photos of the exhibition setup in Guangzhou were sent to your email. Pengya couldn't get through to you on the phone, so he asked me to pass on the message."

Zhang Xuhui reported the details one by one, all of which were compiled by various departments. Money is a good thing, but even though he had personally witnessed Tan Jincheng's ability to handle things, Zhang Xuhui had always ignored it like an ostrich.

"I can do it too."

After casually spending 130 million yuan to buy two Audis without batting an eye, and then remaining nonchalant afterward, Zhang Xuhui has come to realize the reality that he can't compare to his boss, or even his cousin Zhang Xupeng, with that kind of mentality.

Honestly, could I really just ask my brother to bring back a luxury car without even looking at it or asking what model it was?

You wouldn't buy a computer like this, would you?
Since then, Zhang Xuhui has become much more serious about his work. Tan Jincheng noticed this but didn't point it out, knowing that change is always a good thing.

To be honest, if there weren't truly no suitable candidates, Tan Jincheng would never have hired a recent college graduate as his assistant.

Everyone who has just graduated is arrogant and unrealistic, including Tan Jincheng and Zhang Xupeng, who were just graduating. Otherwise, they wouldn't have made a stupid decision to get on the ship.

Zhang Xuhui is actually quite good at quickly recognizing reality and changing his work attitude. Most students don't know this until they've experienced years of hardship in society.

Uncle Zhang's recommendation wasn't without reason. People like my father and Uncle Zhang, veterans of state-owned enterprises, rose from the bottom. They may not have achieved much in their careers, but decades of experience have given them a keen eye for people.

Lin Yumin and Wu Zhenping, recommended by my father, are both very reliable. They are neither arrogant nor humble, and their work ability is also very strong. They have made great contributions to the market promotion this time.

"Okay, I understand. I will attend the district's exchange meeting. As for the street office's activities, you can go in my place. Donate whatever you need to donate. If you don't understand anything, ask Brother Sun."

"Regarding the employee's request to increase internal vehicle purchases, please post a notice in the workshop stating that the company's current production capacity cannot meet this requirement, and we hope everyone will understand."

Ordinary working-class families wouldn't be willing to buy two brand-new electric scooters. They're just trying to get a bargain. A deluxe version is 300 yuan cheaper than the market price, and besides, they can't even sell them in Beicang. They could resell them for 2500 yuan and maybe someone would want them.

Needless to say, the affordable version sells for 2000 yuan and there's definitely someone who wants it. You can earn 200 to 500 yuan per spot, so who wouldn't want to take advantage of that?
Never underestimate the wisdom of frontline employees; they are quite shrewd.

"Okay, if there's nothing else, I'll head out now." Zhang Xuhui said while taking notes. His office was next door, the one Sun Yuming had used before.

"Well, let's go."

After Zhang Xuhui left, Tan Jincheng didn't rush to work. Instead, he was thinking that the Mid-Autumn Festival was coming soon and whether he should go home.
In addition, the receipt of the final payment for the first batch of 8000 units and the second batch of prepayments have been enough to ensure that Flashway can break even this month and next month. With monthly sales of 7500 units, sales revenue has increased to 1207.5 million yuan.

Orders are booked until November, and there are still orders coming in. So it seems that Flash has been able to turn a profit since October. Shouldn't they offer better benefits for the Mid-Autumn Festival? After all, it's Flash's first official holiday.

"Hello, MOTO, hello, MOTO."

Just then, Tan Jincheng's phone rang; it was Zhang Qingliang calling.

"Hey, Uncle, what's up?"

The voice on the other end of the phone wasn't Zhang Qingliang's, but a woman's: "Hello, is this Mr. Tan Jincheng? This is Beicang District People's Hospital."

Tan Jincheng suddenly stood up, his mind buzzing as if it had exploded.

(End of this chapter)