2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 216 Road Construction
Happy Chinese New Year to all my dear viewers!

"This is the live broadcast of the 2006 Spring Festival Gala!"

"As we bid farewell to the Year of the Rooster and welcome the Year of the Dog, the annual Spring Festival Gala is here again, amidst universal celebration!"

The "Auspicious Three Treasures" became the biggest highlight of the gala, and quickly went viral online after the Spring Festival Gala ended. "Your grandpa will always be your grandpa" became a popular internet phrase at the beginning of 2006.

The story of Tongfu Inn was featured on CCTV-8 this year, and for the villagers where Tan Jincheng is currently located, the happiest thing is that the agricultural tax was officially abolished this year.

This was the topic that the whole family talked about most when they had New Year's Eve dinner and watched the Spring Festival Gala.

Unlike previous years, after the New Year's Eve dinner this year, the two uncles didn't rush to play mahjong, but stayed at home to chat, while the two aunts left as soon as they finished cleaning up.

After the evening news ended and before the Spring Festival Gala began, a 15-second advertisement for FlashDrive's WindDrive series, filmed and edited by Liu Yifei, appeared on CCTV.

FlashCheer spent a huge amount of money to achieve these 15 seconds. They had been in contact with CCTV since Liu Yifei started filming the commercial, and the process took a very long time.

Although we didn't get the best time slot before the Spring Festival Gala, today's exposure is different from usual. Countless families will be glued to their TVs during this time, waiting for the Spring Festival Gala to begin.

"Unfortunately, apart from her parents, no one in the house knows that the commercial Liu Yifei just filmed was for their own company's product, haha."

When the advertisement aired, his parents glanced at him, their eyes filled with pride. It was quite impressive to see their son's company's product advertisement on CCTV during the Chinese New Year.

I really want to brag about it, but I'm afraid it will cause trouble for my son. I'm so conflicted.

Around 8:30, Tan Lixin, Tan Jincheng's cousin who was doing well in business and had even opened a Shanchi dealership for his brother-in-law, arrived.

This uncle is actually a good person. Since he became successful, every year when he returns to the village for the Spring Festival, he visits the elderly relatives and some elderly people in the village whose families are in difficulty, bringing them gifts such as milk and cash red envelopes to wish them a Happy New Year.

My father once told me that in the early 2000s, he would give each elderly person a New Year's red envelope containing five or six hundred yuan. In those years, five or six hundred yuan could last an elderly person in the countryside for a whole year if they were not sick.

In his previous life, he funded the construction of the village's first cement road, which was built by gathering villagers together. He also contributed a large portion of the funds to the construction of streetlights and the ancestral hall. He has done a lot of good things for the village over the years.

The younger siblings had all gone out to play. Children don't have the patience to watch the Spring Festival Gala at home. Besides Tan Jinyue, Tan Jincheng was the only other member of the younger generation staying at home, so it was naturally his turn to entertain guests.

"Uncle, have a smoke. You must have made a lot of money this year, right?" Tan Jincheng got up, poured tea, offered a cigarette, and greeted him with a smile.

Tan Lixin is engaged in the steel wholesale business. In recent years, the supply and demand relationship has been greatly improved due to the booming real estate industry. Although prices fluctuate greatly, business is generally easier. Tan Lixin's business has gradually improved since the beginning of the new century.

Facing this younger man, Tan Lixin, as one of the insiders, dared not be presumptuous and responded very enthusiastically: "Business has been alright these past two years, but steel prices dropped significantly in December, resulting in a small loss. Overall, it's not bad for the year."

“Sit down, why are you standing? He’s a junior, it’s only right that he pours you tea,” Tan Jincheng’s grandfather said to Tan Lixin.

"Okay, Jincheng, how's business this year? I see you bought a new car, you must have made a lot of money."

"This year is the initial stage, and it was a bit difficult at first, but things got better later."

Tan Lixin secretly curled his lip, thinking to himself, "Are you alright? I've been keeping an eye on you. An industrial base with an investment of 2 million yuan and a factory on 150 acres of land, your business is much bigger than mine."

"Oh, and I also want to thank you. I need your help when my brother-in-law opened his shop last time. Business has been pretty good in the last six months."

Tan Jincheng was taken aback, then remembered that he was referring to the time when Yicheng was being promoted. To be honest, he had forgotten about it. With a complete agent model, Tan Jincheng rarely paid attention to the terminal market except for the directly operated stores.

I never expected that Tan Lixin would specifically thank me for such a small thing.

Tan Jincheng quickly said, "Uncle, you're too kind. It's all normal procedure. It's not like I'm helping you. Actually, I should be thanking you for your support."

"What are you talking about? Brother, you still have business dealings with Jincheng?" Uncle Tan Liye, who was watching the Spring Festival Gala, asked curiously.

He and his second brother have been working away from home for many years, so they really don't know how Tan Jincheng's business is doing now. Last year, they only knew that the guy was in the clothing business and made some money. This year, he bought an Audi, so it seems like his business is doing quite well.

One of them is in the steel business, and the other is in the clothing business. How did they end up doing business together?
Tan Lixin looked at Tan Jincheng without saying anything, so Tan Jincheng had no choice but to explain: "I own a factory that makes electric vehicles. My uncle used to run a specialty store for my brand."

Upon hearing this, the people in the room who had been chatting instantly fell silent and all looked at Tan Jincheng. Tan Lixin was also helpless. He knew that his nephew's business had grown so big that he didn't want too many people to know, but he had actually come today to discuss something with his nephew. He just hadn't expected that even his uncles hadn't told him.

Before New Year's Eve, the village chief approached him. The village planned to raise funds to build the main road into a cement road, but it was obvious that the villagers' conditions were not good enough to build a decent road, so they wanted him to contribute more.

In previous years, he would have donated more without hesitation, but now that he knows his nephew is richer than him, he has to inform him.

My nephew wants to keep a low profile now, but this matter can't be kept secret forever. If it comes up in the future, some gossipy people will inevitably stir up trouble. Young people don't understand, and the relationships in the village aren't exactly harmonious.

There are always some people who can't stand seeing others do well. They like to talk behind people's backs and there's nothing you can do about it. Then there are some who like to act tough. If my nephew doesn't notice this time, when his grandfather passes away and he comes back for the funeral, someone will definitely cause trouble for him.

A few years ago, he had seen a man who worked in the city who couldn't raise money to repair his ancestral hall. When his father passed away, some fools actually stood guard at the entrance of the ancestral hall and wouldn't let him in, which was a very awkward situation.

"Electric bikes? They're even sold in Yicheng? What brand are they?" Tan Liye asked immediately.

"Shanchi, I don't know if you guys noticed, but that ad for the Fengchi electric scooter before the Spring Festival Gala was mine too." He continued, and decided to go on and say more, since his uncle probably already knew.

"Your company's electric scooter advertisements have even been broadcast on CCTV?" Tan Licheng asked, his eyes wide.

Wow, this nephew has really made something of himself! The two brothers, who were originally planning to sit for a while and then go play mahjong, have completely lost interest now.

They may not know about other things, but to get an ad on CCTV, they must have invested a lot of money. How could things have turned out like this in just one year?

"Didn't you say last year that you were in the clothing business? How come you're making electric cars now?" Tan Liye asked, puzzled.

"Just do whatever makes money. I'm still young, so I might as well give it a try."

At this point, Tan Lihua said with a smug look, "He just likes to cause trouble. You all know that. He disappeared for several months after graduating from high school, making his family think he had been kidnapped."

"That was an accident, okay? If I had known I wouldn't be coming back, I definitely wouldn't have gone up there," Tan Jincheng said helplessly.

"Hahaha." Everyone burst into laughter.

Tan Lixin smiled and replied, "I came here today to discuss something with you. The village plans to pave the main road with cement, and the village chief asked me to donate more. I think I should talk to Jincheng about this, since he's young and might not understand the village's rules."

Road repairs? Tan Jincheng's eyes flashed. Was it repaired this year? He didn't recall it being done this year. Was there some problem somewhere?

"Uncle, how much are you planning to donate?"

"And you? You're much richer than me now. My little company doesn't have the qualifications to advertise on CCTV."

"I'll donate the same amount as you, Uncle. I'll donate the same amount as you. Let my dad handle the publicity; I won't get involved."

The Tan family is not highly regarded in the village. If you were to address Tan Jincheng by seniority, people his age would have to call him either "uncle" or "grandpa." As for the elders, it goes without saying that Tan Jincheng doesn't like to act like a junior in front of a group of people he's not very familiar with, nor does he see the need for it.

Since the village is going to repair the road, we should donate what we can. In the future, for things like this that require money, let Dad handle it. I'm sure he'll be happy to do these things.

Due to his upbringing, Tan Jincheng didn't have much affection for his hometown, but he admired Tan Lixin's character. Tan Lixin's practice of visiting the village elders every year to wish them a Happy New Year continued until before his rebirth.

This has been the case for over 20 years. Even if some people say he's just putting on a show, it's still quite remarkable. At least over the years, his New Year's red envelopes have genuinely improved the lives of many elderly people.

“I plan to donate 10, so you should donate 10 too.”

"Okay, I'll listen to you, Uncle. Next time something like this happens, just tell my dad. I can provide the money. I don't know much about village affairs, so I'm definitely not good at doing manual labor. As for money, as long as you don't rip me off, I'm fine with it."

"Don't worry, no one will dare to rip you off. Your uncle is here."

Tan Licheng, who was always informal with Tan Jincheng, saw that the two had almost finished discussing serious matters and directly asked Tan Jincheng, "How much money have you made this year? With all that advertising and buying an Audi, you can just casually pull out 10 right now?"

(End of this chapter)