2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 164 National Day Arrives Again
After leaving the finance office, Tan Jincheng called Sun Yuming and Zhang Xuhui to his office to discuss how to set up a new factory.

Sun Yuming's next tasks will be much heavier. He will not only have to ensure the smooth flow of the supply chain, but also take charge of the construction of the new factory. He will be back to the busy state of May and June in less than two months.

Sun Yuming did not resist this at all; on the contrary, he enjoyed it.

Since taking charge of the supply chain, Sun Yuming has clearly felt a change in his status. Firstly, within the company, those in charge of procurement are basically people the boss trusts, so much so that the company staff respect him very much.

Secondly, the attitude of the suppliers is very obvious; large suppliers may not be so obvious, but small suppliers, especially those with readily available alternatives, are extremely respectful.

This is what work should be like. Unlike before, when I was doing sales, I was like a grandson, having to smile at everyone and often failing to close deals. All I earned was money from being treated badly.

"If you're in a hurry, I can skip the National Day holiday," Sun Yuming said with a smile.

Tan Jincheng rolled his eyes at him and said, "If you don't rest, Brother Xuhui needs to rest too. A few more days won't make a difference. He should rest when he needs to."

"Oh? I don't have to rest, I'm fine, studying is the priority," Zhang Xuhui quickly replied.

"Alright, stop arguing. It's Xu Hui's first year working. Aren't you planning to go home for the National Day holiday? And Sun, you need to find a wife too. Take advantage of your stable income now and slowly save up to buy a house."

Of the three people here, Tan Jincheng is the youngest, but he is the only one with a girlfriend. Moreover, in terms of his mental age, he has the confidence to lecture these two single guys.

With Sun Yuming's current income, he can indeed buy a house. After being transferred from his previous position as assistant to the marketing department and becoming the head of the purchasing department, Sun Yuming's basic salary was increased to 7000 yuan per month.

With bonuses and performance-based pay, plus the benefits that Tan Jincheng tacitly agreed to, his monthly income from both official and unofficial sources totaled around ten thousand yuan, and his annual salary was over one hundred thousand yuan, enough to buy a house in Beicang.

If the water is too clear, there will be no fish. Unless Tan Jincheng is personally in charge of the purchasing department, no one can avoid some gray income. Even if Tan Lihua is in charge, it is not allowed. Therefore, Tan Jincheng naturally turns a blind eye to some of the permissible amounts.

The adult world is not black and white; everything is fine as long as you keep things in moderation.

"So, boss, are you going home?" Zhang Xuhui asked.

There are all sorts of ways people address Tan Jincheng in the company. Sun Yuming always calls him "boss," while Zhang Xuhui is used to calling him "boss," and other senior executives prefer to call him "President Tan."

"I'm not sure yet, but if you don't want to go back, you can go to Guangzhou to visit Xu Peng and ask him to pay for your plane ticket."

Tan Jincheng hadn't really decided what to do on National Day, but he was definitely going to spend it with Gu Qingqing.

Also, I need to make arrangements to bring my cousin over, as I promised my uncle. I can't go back on my word.

"Alright, that's about all I can think of for now. If you have anything to add, please let me know. I'll go check with the R&D department first. Also, we're going to work in the bonded zone next year, so be prepared."

"I'm fine with anything, no problem. I'm okay anywhere, as long as I work for the boss."

"Stop flattering me and get to work. Make sure the holiday arrangements are in place. Also, Xuhui, remind HR Manager Chen to make sure the staff on duty during the holidays are properly arranged."

It is now 2005. Although the Skynet system already exists, it is still a long way from full coverage. During holidays, the safety of the factory area is the most important thing, which is why some large-scale enterprises have police stations at their gates.

The factory is currently quite close to the police station, but even so, there is still some distance, so safety is still up to you. Also, you need to be careful about the warehouse area.

The National Day holiday was fine, but we need to be extra careful at the end of the year. Fortunately, FlashCheer is currently in short supply and is basically shipping once a week. Before the National Day holiday, all the goods that needed to be shipped had already been shipped out, and there is currently no inventory in the factory.

After seeing Sun Yuming and Zhang Xuhui off, it was already lunchtime, so there was no need to go to the R&D department at this point.

At this moment, in a canteen on the East Campus of Ningbo University, four beautiful figures are having lunch together.

"National Day is coming, how about we go out and have some fun together? We've been living together for two years and haven't gone out together yet, Qingqing, what do you think?"

Xu Manli teased, "Isn't Qingqing supposed to be with her boss, Tan?"

"Then let's invite her boss, Tan, along. He can be our driver. I just don't know if Qingqing will be willing to go."

Gu Qingqing smiled lightly. Lately, the girls would tease her from time to time, and she was clearly immune to such harmless teasing.

"I wonder if he'll have any free time. He recently rented another factory building, so he'll probably be busy."

"Why don't you ask? We really wouldn't mind bringing him along."

“Exactly, and having a car would be more convenient. I’ve never ridden in an Audi A6 before.” Gu Qingqing thought for a moment and said, “Okay, I’ll ask him in a bit. He was in a meeting when I spoke to him this morning, and I don’t know if he’s finished yet.”

Wenjia is right. They've been together for two years, but they've never gone on a group trip together. The reason is that she used to do part-time jobs, while the three of them have gone shopping together several times on weekends.

Normally, someone like Gu Qingqing, who doesn't fit in, would be ostracized by the other people in the dormitory. However, Gu Qingqing is quite lucky and hasn't encountered this situation, at least not openly.

There's a joke online that four women in a dormitory can create up to 17 group chats, and that four women have 800 different thoughts, but that hasn't happened with Gu Qingqing yet.

Although the four come from different backgrounds and occasionally have minor conflicts, they are generally mild-mannered.

Now that they've brought it up themselves, I have to respond. But is it appropriate for me to be the only one bringing my boyfriend on the dorm trip? And will he even be willing?
"Hey, you said your boss Tan rented another factory building? Has his business grown this big now?" Chen Yanan asked curiously.

Gu Qingqing nodded with some pride and said, "Yes, I rented it a few days ago. It's in the bonded area of ​​their district, and it's 3000 square meters."

For Gu Qingqing, the dream before the Mid-Autumn Festival was a psychological preparation period for Tan Jincheng's business, but it was still very unexpected that he would start to expand production capacity in less than half a year, and at a rate of three times.

After asking, I learned that FlashCheer was in short supply in the market. After the September orders were fulfilled, the December orders were already full. The customer service hotline responsible for contacting the retailers received several calls every day urging for delivery.

In addition, after seeing the advertisement, people from counties and cities under the developed market and some surrounding counties and cities will call to inquire whether they can try to purchase a batch of goods from them.

Take Yingzhou as an example. The reason why Zhao Chuanbing wanted to acquire the agency rights of Yingzhou City was because it has a vast market. As a large city with a resident population of more than 800 million, Yingzhou City has three counties under its jurisdiction with a population of more than one million.

If he could secure the regional agency rights for Yingzhou City, Zhao Chuanbing was certain that he would make a fortune.

“3000 square meters is more than four acres of land. How much money must that cost? And then there’s the equipment to buy. Boss Tan is really rich,” Zhao Wenjia exclaimed.

Her family is from the countryside and owns several acres of land, so she has a better understanding of 3000 square meters than others.

Gu Qingqing laughed and said, "Where would you get that much money? Take out a loan. Factory owners don't actually have much money on hand. Most of their assets are inventory and fixed assets."

Wen Jia's doubts were actually Gu Qingqing's initial doubts as well. However, after Tan Jincheng explained the basic process of the business to her, she understood. She also understood why Tan Jincheng, despite his high net worth, lived a life not much different from that of an ordinary person.

In the early stages of the company's development, Boss Tan was often short of money. In fact, he might not have been as comfortable as his father.

Gu Qingqing's family owns 35 stalls in Yiwu International Trade City. The annual rent for each stall ranges from tens of thousands to 200,000 yuan, bringing in four to five million yuan a year just from rent alone, not counting her father's other small income.

To be honest, Tan Jincheng didn't know about this. He only knew that Gu Qingqing's family had a shop in the commercial city, so their income must be quite good, but he hadn't really inquired about the exact amount.

If they found out, they would be depressed again, thinking that all the hard work is not as good as the easy money from demolition compensation.

Zhao Wenjia then asked, "Aren't you afraid of losing money on a loan? Such a large area must require a considerable loan, right? How can you repay it if you lose money? Wouldn't all your previous efforts be wasted?"

“No business is without losses, but if you’re afraid of losses, you can’t do business. That’s probably what a man’s ambition is,” Chen Yanan replied.

Her family also runs a factory, and her father often talks about business matters at home. Among the four people present, Chen Yanan has the deepest understanding of doing business, but she has never heard of anyone doing business like Boss Tan.

From childhood to adulthood, she only heard her parents say that doing business was difficult and making money was hard. She never heard her parents mention someone like Boss Tan who amassed a fortune of tens of millions in a year.

"Hey, Qingqing, my family is in the auto parts business. Is there anything your boss Tan's company can do with us? If so, could you put in a good word for me and get some business for my dad?"

Chen Yanan is from Yinzhou. Her family runs a small factory of more than 200 square meters, mainly producing auto parts. It is not easy for small factories like theirs to make auto parts. Most of their orders are second-hand or even third-hand, and the profit margin is so-so.

When business is slow, they even have to take orders from other factories in the same industry to make ends meet. In the past, during summer vacations, Zhao Wenjia and her brother worked a lot at the factory to reduce labor costs.

Perhaps it was because she knew from a young age that life was not easy that Chen Yanan developed such a rational personality. Among the four people in the dormitory, Chen Yanan was the most rational. Although she was not the oldest, she had the air of an elder, and she usually came up with the ideas.

Chen Yanan's words made Gu Qingqing hesitate for a moment, but she still decisively refused: "Um, I can't say for sure, but if he agrees to go out with us, you can ask him yourself."

Tan Jincheng once told himself that one should learn to say no and not be a pushover.

It's been a month since it was released, and I've written 228,000 words, averaging 7600 words per day. There were even 10 days when I wrote 10,000 words a day. Considering I'm not a full-time writer, it's not bad.

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(End of this chapter)