2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 329 Birthday Reunion
August 19th, Sunday, is also the Qixi Festival (Chinese Valentine's Day).

Changzhou is not particularly far from Ningbo. During the time he was in contact with Changzhou, Tan Jincheng would return to Ningbo every weekend.

Today is Qixi Festival, a weekend, and also his birthday, so Tan Jincheng naturally spent it at his home in Ningbo.

Tan Jincheng, who has never had a proper job and has hardly ever been to school, doesn't really have a concept of weekends.

In both my past and present lives, weekends are spent busy with business, and rest is random.

"Did all employees at Flashpoint Technology get a raise?"

"Yes, the employees' morale is very high recently, especially the front-line employees."

"That's right, there are quite a few registered users of Flash on Kaixin.com, and I see them posting on it every day."

After eliminating the unstable factors, as part of the anniversary celebration promotion plan, the human resources department quickly announced a salary increase plan for all employees, and also began to fill the vacant positions.

As a star enterprise in Beicang District, and with its intentional publicity, the company's salary increase for all employees has caused quite a stir. The district even praised Shanchi, and the second boss made a special trip to Shanchi for inspection.

This is to support Flash, so that other companies won't dare to cause too much trouble.

It must be said that Flash, this little butterfly, has to some extent raised the basic salary level of ordinary employees in Beicang District, at least much higher than the average level in Tan Jincheng's previous life.

With FlashCare offering such high wages, and their new factory set to start production in a few months, requiring a large influx of new employees, raising wages is simply not an option.

The Beicang area, where wages were already not low, has attracted even more migrant workers, leading to an increase in rents. How could the district not be happy?

Good businesses can bring many positive effects to the local government, just like that large supermarket in Xuchang in the past, which attracted a large number of tourists from other places to visit because of its good service and attitude towards its employees.

A supermarket is more popular than most tourist attractions, and the sheer volume of visitors alone brings a lot of revenue to Xuchang.

Due to its corporate nature and the era it has been around, Flashpoint doesn't know it can do that, but its average salary level after the company-wide pay raise is already top-tier among private enterprises in Beicang.

Recently, some employees in the Flash office were poached. After Tan Jincheng intentionally or unintentionally leaked this information, Chen Jinwen's recruitment work became much easier, and resumes poured in.

In addition, frontline employees have recently shown a much higher willingness to work overtime.

Therefore, the problem of companies having difficulty recruiting employees does not actually exist. It's not that employees are unwilling to work; it's just that there is a large gap between the psychological expectations of companies and employees.

Gu Qingqing sat properly on the single sofa, while Tan Jincheng lay on the large sofa without any regard for his image. Tan Jinyue would occasionally climb onto her brother, tug at his hair, fiddle with his clothes, and play with him.

The sight before her made her smile knowingly.

Just as the family was chatting, Zhang Qingliang and his family arrived. Zhang Qingliang was carrying a cake. As soon as Xiao Jinyue saw the cake, she abandoned her brother and hugged her uncle's leg, asking him to eat the cake.

"Wait a bit, we'll eat when it's time to eat. Jin Yue, eat something else first," Zhang Qingliang said with a smile, patting little Jin Yue's head.

"Wenzuo's here! School starts in just over ten days. Are you nervous?"

With his uncle's family arriving, Tan Jincheng naturally couldn't stay in bed any longer, but his first words were cutting.

Zhang Wenzuo came here at the beginning of this year. He had taken a half-year break from school. Tan Jincheng found him a few tutors to help him catch up on his studies. Usually, this kid had a pretty tough time. It was only recently during the summer vacation that Shanchi set up a daycare center for left-behind children, and he was allowed to go there to have some fun, which made him feel a little more relaxed.

Eleven-year-old Zhang Wenzuo was used to being wild in the countryside. When he first arrived in Beicang, although he was with his parents, he was not as comfortable as he was in his rural hometown. Every day, he did nothing but study. He also knew that his cousin had brought him here.

My cousin, who used to be pleasing to the eye and whom I would often buy delicious food and fun toys for when I went back to my hometown, is now someone I can't stand at all.

As soon as I walked in, I told myself that school was about to start, and kids hate being asked about their studies.

Zhang Wenzuo had a bitter face, which made Tan Jincheng burst into laughter.

Tan Jincheng's attitude towards his younger siblings is different now than in his previous life. Zhang Wenzuo is a poor student, and Tan Jincheng actually enjoys teasing him.

Zhang Wenzuo will still be in fourth grade next semester. Although he has been taking extra classes for more than half a year, his foundation is still too weak. In addition, the learning methods in the two places are different. If he is promoted to a higher level without proper preparation, it will be difficult for him to keep up with the learning pace and will not help him build self-confidence.

The educational environment in rural areas is not comparable to that in Beicang. Fortunately, this kid is still in primary school, so he can still be helped. It would be much more difficult if he were in junior high school.

"Wenzuo, ignore him and come drink some soda," Gu Qingqing said with a light laugh.

When Zhang Qingliang's family entered the house, Gu Qingqing got up to get drinks from the refrigerator, acting like the lady of the house. Having been the CEO for more than a month, Gu Qingqing's demeanor was quite different from when she was in school.

Wu Lamei took the bottled water from Gu Qingqing and couldn't help but secretly admire the girl; she was getting prettier and prettier.

"Thank you, cousin," Zhang Wenzuo replied, bowing his head, somewhat embarrassed to look at the beautiful woman.

The way they address each other in the Tan family is a bit strange. The term "sister-in-law" doesn't appear between sisters-in-law and brothers; they're usually called "elder sister," which sounds more intimate. "Buying a cake is enough for the family to have a little fun. You're his elder, why did you bring a gift?" Zhang Suzhi scolded, staring at the bag Zhang Qingliang handed her.

“It’s not for Jincheng. Lamei bought you a dress. It’s a mother’s day of suffering on her son’s birthday, so why buy him a gift?” Zhang Qingliang said with a smile.

Zhang Suzhi's eyes lit up: "You bought this for me?"

"Yes, sister, try them on in a bit and see if they fit."

"Then I'll go give it a try, and Lamei will come in too," Zhang Suzhi said happily.

Zhang Qingliang is good at handling things. He hasn't wasted his years working outside. He needs to maintain relationships with relatives and can't just keep taking from them. It's fine for an uncle to buy a gift for his nephew's birthday, but his nephew isn't short of money. Even if you buy him the best gift, he might not appreciate it.

It would be better to buy my sister a gift; that way, I can express my feelings without seeming to be trying to curry favor.

After the start of the school year, my wife stopped working in the cafeteria and was given a cleaning job with flexible hours, which makes it easier for her to take our son to and from school. My nephew takes care of all of this.

While her mother went to try on clothes, the doorbell rang again. Gu Qingqing couldn't help but wonder, "Is anyone home?"

Today was just a family gathering; we didn't invite anyone else.

Tan Jincheng was also a little puzzled: "Is it Old Zhang? He's not in Beicang. Could it be that he's back?"

Old Zhang was referring to Zhang Xupeng, who has been even busier than Tan Jincheng lately, traveling all over the country and buying up storefront properties to prepare for GXG's offline stores.

Before Taobao's Double Eleven shopping festival, GXG's sales were mainly offline. This was partly to build brand awareness, and partly because houses were cheap these days, and owning some storefronts was part of the company's investment.

When the apparel business becomes difficult in the future, companies can still maintain their daily operations by selling storefront properties, as seen with Metersbonwe.

Aside from him, his two assistants, and his driver, only Gu Yanning had visited once, and not just anyone could enter Liren Garden.

Tan Jincheng was right; Zhang Xupeng was the only one who could get home directly, as he was also a resident of Liren Garden.

The moment the door opened, Zhang Xupeng's dark face appeared, grinning broadly: "Surprised? Unexpected? Look who I brought back for you."

After saying that, he reached out and slapped the corner of the wall.

"Dad, what brings you here?" Tan Jincheng said with some surprise.

It was Tan Lihua. I don't know how Zhang Xupeng persuaded him. Not only did he not give prior notice, but he even hid in the corner and cooperated with Zhang Xupeng's performance.

“Pengya just happened to be passing through Yicheng, so I came with him to take a look.” Tan Lihua said with a smile as he walked into the room.

Tan Jincheng, who was following behind him, punched Zhang Xupeng: "You little rascal, you're still trying to surprise me? What brings you back today?"

“I made the trip and came back to sort out my thoughts. I can’t be too impulsive. Also, the factory in Wangjiang is progressing too slowly. I estimate I’ll have to stay in Wangjiang for a long time to keep an eye on things, so I brought your dad over for a family reunion.”

Tan Jincheng nodded: "Indeed, the progress over there is too slow. My logistics center is hardly moving. Fortunately, we don't need it now."

"You're at Versailles again, aren't you? You don't need to brag to me about how well your products are selling," Zhang Xupeng said, displeased.

"I'm telling the truth. We don't really need it right now, so let it be. It doesn't matter if it's built a couple of years later."

"Sigh, the efficiency of a small county town really can't compare to that of a big city," Zhang Xupeng sighed.

It wasn't that Wangjiang wasn't putting in the effort, but rather that the infrastructure was too poor, and the project's progress was consistently slow. To be honest, Tao Qinian was more anxious than Zhang Xupeng, but this was something he couldn't control.

“Then you can choose another piece of land in Beicang, or just buy a company and upgrade the production line. That would be much faster. My suggestion is to just buy a factory.”

Acquiring a factory is indeed the fastest way for GXG to enter the industry. The factory in Wangjiang is progressing too slowly, and it's uncertain when it will be completed and put into production, which will delay making money for a long time.

"We're broke. We've bought a lot of shops recently, which has drained Jinpeng's cash flow. We still need to renovate and hire sales staff."

“You don’t have to open all those shops at once. You can rent out some, mortgage the rest, and I can also help you connect with Beicang. What business doesn’t need a loan?”

"Alright, Pengya finally came back, all because of loans. You can talk about it at the company. Don't talk about work today," Tan Lihua interrupted, unable to bear it any longer.

This son of mine is a complete waste. He came to Beicang and all he did was give a quick greeting and that was it.

More importantly, after not seeing each other for several months, even his daughter is no longer close to him!

(End of this chapter)