2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 38 Parental Teachings
Hometown is a haven for everyone's soul. Many people say that when you embark on the path of entrepreneurship, you should try to go back to your hometown as little as possible, because it will make you lazy.

But often, one's hometown is also a source of recharge.

The weathered city, the old buildings, and the care for one's family are all sources of inspiration.

After delivering Zhang Xupeng's gift to his home after dinner, Tan Jincheng quickly returned home and once again urged his mother to go to the hospital to prepare for childbirth as soon as possible.

Each generation has its own way of thinking. The views on childbirth held by Tan Jincheng's mother are still stuck in the last century.

Even now, many people don't have the concept of going to the hospital in advance to prepare for childbirth. Most people only rush to the hospital when they are about to give birth.

His son spoke with great confidence, but Tan Lihua asked with some doubt, "Why do I feel like you know more about childbirth than I do?"

That's not much older than you. 38 plus 19, so I'm actually a bit older than you now.

"Don't worry about these things. Just go to the hospital to prepare for childbirth tomorrow, so you won't be caught off guard later."

"Let's not talk about that. How's your business? I heard you went to Guangzhou on a business trip last time. I heard from the people I work there that it's pretty chaotic there. I hope nothing bad happened."

"What could possibly happen? I don't go running around. I'll just hide in a hotel after the exhibition ends."

"Isn't it said that most people over there don't speak Mandarin? How do you communicate?" Zhang Suzhi asked curiously.

"I went there to participate in an exhibition, so I didn't have much contact with the locals. Most of them spoke Mandarin," Tan Jincheng said with a smile.

In fact, Zhang Suzhi was right. Not to mention the Guangdong and Guangxi regions, even among the locals of Ningbo, there are relatively few people who can speak fluent Mandarin these days.

When Zhang Haiping is in business, he occasionally slips into a few words of local dialect because he doesn't know how to describe some of the words in standard Mandarin.

Among young people, there are quite a few who speak broken Mandarin.

Language barriers are indeed a unique obstacle in this era, but with economic development, large-scale infrastructure construction, and more frequent personnel movement, these problems no longer exist.

"So how's your business going? I heard you and Pengya started a company. How many people are in the company now?"

"The company currently has four full-time employees, including Pengya and me, and a few part-time employees. Business is not bad. I just sold nearly one million worth of goods before I came back."

Tan Lihua glanced sideways and said, "You've already sold a million worth of goods in just over a month? Is business that easy?"

"The foreign trade industry is booming right now. We settle in US dollars, so it sounds intimidating, but in reality, it's not a very large-scale operation. However, it's still quite profitable."

Then Tan Jincheng added, "Mom, do you remember asking for your ID number last time? I was too lazy to find a way to deal with some of our company's leftover stock, so I started a website. I'll sell as much as I can, and it's in your name. I'll give it to you as pocket money."

"Yes, I know that. Pengya's mom said the same thing."

“Dad, you have some connections here. Find an opportunity to re-register the business with Pengya’s family.”

"Does starting a website require business registration?"

"Just register it as a sole proprietorship. After all, it's just selling clothes, so you don't need to manage it. I've found someone to take care of it."

There's no rule against state-owned enterprise workers opening shops, especially since this shop is online and located in another city, so it's not a big deal. However, the necessary business registration is still required.

Tan Jincheng originally wanted to handle it himself, but then he thought that his words would definitely not carry as much weight as his father's back home, so he simply left it to him.

"Can you even make money selling things online? You might as well sell them cheaply. Why bother with all this trouble?" Zhang Suzhi said with some doubt.

What's more, you have to pay someone to manage it. "It's alright, I sold over 100 orders before I came back, which should amount to a few hundred yuan. Consider it as adding a few dishes to your menu."

"As for hiring people, we didn't hire them specifically. The company's clerks did it on the side, so there was no need to invest any additional costs."

In the living room, the family of three sat on the sofa. Tan Lihua and Zhang Suzhi listened to their son recount his work experience over the past month, their eyes filled with pride.

The small apartment, illuminated by incandescent bulbs, appears bright and cozy.

From their son's few words, the couple could easily tell that the business was gradually getting on track; in less than two months since opening, it had a turnover of 100 million.

Neither of them had ever run a business before, and they didn't know how much profit a turnover of 100 million yuan would generate.

But the figure of 1 million was enough to shock the two of them. Last year, the average income of employees in Yicheng was less than 100 yuan per year. The couple worked for a top state-owned enterprise in the area, and their income was slightly higher than the average.

However, it won't be excessively high.

The couple couldn't believe that their son's sales in less than two months were equivalent to the income of an ordinary worker over several decades.

However, judging from his tone and expression, he didn't seem to be lying.

How to describe 100 million yuan in 2004? Tan Jincheng naturally knew this better than his parents.

One million yuan in 2004 was roughly equivalent to six to eight million yuan in later times, and in terms of purchasing power, it could even be up to ten times that amount.

In 2004, 100 million yuan could buy a house of about 300 square meters in the best location in Beicang, but in 2023, it can only buy a little over 30 square meters.

In Yicheng, the situation is even more extreme, but overall purchasing power is about the same.
The couple weren't completely clueless. One million yuan was a lot, but not unacceptable. Many businesses started this way, and besides, this was just the turnover.

It's a good thing that my son is successful; as long as he does things honestly and responsibly, there's no problem.

My heart, which had been hanging in suspense, can finally be put down a little.

In fact, many parents are like this; they will accept it as their children gradually become wealthy.

What's hard to accept is the sudden appearance of enormous wealth, as it creates a sense of insecurity.

"Once the business is doing well, don't get carried away. Also, you need to handle money matters well with Pengya. You two have such a good relationship, you can't let money cause a rift between you," Tan Lihua said earnestly.

"Yes, you two are as close as brothers, and we don't object to you doing business together, but you can't let money cause any unpleasantness. Remember that."

"Don't worry, even close brothers should keep clear accounts. We've already discussed the equity agreement and profit sharing, so there won't be any problems."

Following that, Tan Jincheng added, "The same applies to online stores. We sell our company's surplus stock to the website, which is equivalent to the website purchasing goods from our company. We also share the cost of these goods equally."

"That's right. It's best to discuss things in advance. If you two brothers disagree on something, you must resolve it amicably. It's not easy to have a good friend from childhood to adulthood in one's life."

This conversation didn't happen in his previous life; Tan Jincheng only returned after his younger sister was born.

In my past life, I was busy selling boxed lunches right now, working myself to the bone every day.

Unexpectedly, his parents were not concerned about how much money he could earn, but rather told him not to have any conflicts with Zhang Xupeng, which was somewhat unexpected for Tan Jincheng.

(End of this chapter)