2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 399 The Shadow of the City

"Speaking of which, it should be a good thing to find a marriage partner early. I got married right after I was discharged from the army. If I hadn't gotten married right after being discharged and had someone to keep an eye on me, I probably would have ended up as a good-for-nothing with my restless personality."

Although he served in the army for 5 years, he was only 22 years old when he was discharged. As soon as he returned home, he was introduced to a blind date, and they fell in love without even realizing it. They got married shortly after.

He was only about a year older than Tan Jincheng is now when he got married.

For a man, having a good wife or a like-minded partner is very important. At least that's what Dong Jinggui thinks now. When he got married, he had nothing but a muscular physique.

His wife accompanied him back to Wuxi, where he had served in the army. They worked together in the same factory, opened a restaurant, a motorcycle parts factory, and sold complete motorcycles. They went through all sorts of hardships together.

Strictly speaking, Yadi is also a husband-and-wife factory. That's how business is these days. You either trust your brothers, or your father and son, or your husband and wife.

Therefore, they find it difficult to understand the capitalist mindset of the internet industry.

We didn't know each other before, but just because of a proposal and a few talks, he was able to throw millions at me to get things done?
The same goes for entrepreneurs. Can you just take anything from anyone's house? Aren't you worried at all about how clean it is, or how much stuff they want from you?

These two completely different business models had a significant gap in their early development stages at the beginning of the century. Haier's CEO couldn't accept Pony Ma promoting QQ at the annual economic figures gala, which is seen as arrogance in retrospect.

But in 2004, wasn't that also his true inner thought? You think he could make money from something that can't be seen or touched?
Many older people really can't accept this thing. Even though Happy Farm is so popular, and it keeps claiming that it invests profits in projects to help farmers increase the sales of their agricultural products, it's still hard to suppress the criticism.

Due to the limitations of the times, many entrepreneurs in the electric vehicle industry, including Dong Jinggui, actually envy Tan Jincheng. Perhaps it is because his youth allows him to accept more new things, which is why he is able to succeed in the internet sector.

When strangers are around, Tan Jinyue is quite well-behaved. She doesn't fuss at all while eating, and she eats whatever her brother feeds her without being picky.

Dong Jinggui was extremely envious.

The meal went quite harmoniously, and Dong Jinggui expressed his satisfaction. Being able to sit at home with a competitor, enjoying a family dinner and quietly chatting about everyday things, was something that would seem a bit outrageous if word got out.

For some reason, Dong Jinggui always had a strange feeling. Xiao Tan was making waves in the electric vehicle market, and the competition seemed fierce, but he always felt that Xiao Tan didn't consider them as his rivals.

He talked to Lao Zhang, and Lao Zhang had the same feeling, as if he were looking at the market from a different perspective.

If only he had this feeling, it could be considered an illusion, but if others also have it, then it's not an illusion; it's truly strange.

Slightly tipsy, Dong Jinggui staggered back to the hotel to rest, and by the time she woke up, night had already fallen.

After declining Tan Jincheng's invitation for the evening, Dong Jinggui strolled casually through the streets of Beicang with his assistant. It was a weekday, and it was almost time to leave work.

BBA and Zhongtai are the types of private cars he sees most often on the road. This is a city where the rich are very rich, but the poor don't seem to be poor at all.

The prevalence of BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi (BBA) is due to the fact that Zhejiang Province, with its predominantly private economy, has many large and small business owners in Ningbo, a city with a highly developed industrial sector. Whether they are rich or poor, they all want to buy a nice car to enhance their image.

The small Zhongtai is commonly seen on the streets of Beicang, purely because of Shanchi. At the annual meeting, more than 80 Zhongtai cars were given away to Beicang employees in a lucky draw, which brought more than just 80 Zhongtai users.

This world is never short of followers. Flash's big-spending acquisitions and promotions have made not only themselves famous, but also many peptides.

Rumors circulated in the automotive industry that the actions taken at the Flash Motors annual meeting brought a tangible boost to Zhongtai's sales after the New Year, especially in Beicang, where young people with some money who wanted to buy a car surprisingly chose Zhongtai as their first choice.

There's no other reason than following the trend and offering discounts. Just like the electric vehicles under Shanchi, Tan Jincheng also provides considerable support to employees of Tan Jincheng's industries, whether they are in Beicang or other cities.

If you are interested in purchasing the Zhongtai 2008, in addition to the existing services at the 4S store, you can get an extra 12 free car washes. At one wash per month, that's enough for a year, which means the car wash fee is covered by Mr. Tan.

However, the money wasn't paid by Boss Tan, but by Zhongtai. It was an order for 100 cars for the annual meeting. Although there was a discount, the money still had to be collected. At that time, Lao Ying and Lao Wu knew that this was a good opportunity for publicity.

But neither of them expected the publicity effect of Flash, or rather, Tan Jincheng's popularity to be so high, with so many young people supporting him.

What are we waiting for? Let's strike while the iron is hot! Tan Jincheng's businesses now involve light industrial manufacturing, clothing, and electronics, scattered all over the country, with a total of nearly 5000 employees.

How many people can these 5000 people influence? It's just a few car washes, they can afford it.

Tan Jincheng didn't care. Anyway, you paid for it, and I got a good reputation. Do whatever you want.

During rush hour, the roads are teeming with electric scooters, a diverse array of men and women riding them, some speeding, others moving slowly. Among them, the most prevalent are naturally those from brands under the Flash Motors umbrella, such as Flash Motors and Fengchi Feiyi, which make up a significant proportion of the fleet.

The buses and bus stops, as well as the neon lights on the tops of taxis, are all covered with advertisements for Kaixin.com and Kaixin Farm.

Play Happy Farm and get free fresh fruit! Free shipping to your door!

Log in to Kaixin.com and make friends happily!

The bus was plastered with an advertisement for Kaixin.com, complete with a large promotional photo featuring Liu Yifei, the spokesperson for the Shanchi Feiyi series. Hmm? Isn't this copyright infringement?
The advertising slogans are corny and lack any cultural depth, but when paired with large photos of celebrities and beautiful women, they give the impression that you can make friends with the stars. The Happy Farm advertisement is even more simple and crude.

Come on, come have fun! I'll deliver fresh fruit to your door, all you have to do is eat.

It has to be said that Tan Jincheng really knows how to do marketing. His aesthetically pleasing advertising slogans will appear repeatedly in the daily lives of the people of Beicang as buses and taxis travel by, just like brainwashing.

Even someone like Dong Jinggui couldn't resist wanting to find out more when she saw such tempting or opportunistic advertising slogans.

The internet is geared towards young people, and it's unlikely that many people would reject Kaixin.com or Happy Farm in such a long-term brainwashing environment.

Looking up at the sky, the highest point in Beicang is the Flash Motors building, its lights already on, illuminating the city. Many of the electric vehicle shops along the street mainly sell Flash Motors electric vehicles.

Not to mention Yadi and Xinri, even the old brand Lvyuan from Zhejiang Province seems to have disappeared from this city.

This shows how quickly Flash has taken over the city, with a very high market share, and its stronghold is well-managed.

The next day, I went to their new factory with Tan Jincheng.

With a land area of ​​150 acres, equivalent to 13 football fields, it is indeed a large area. It may not seem like much to Flashcar now, but in the early days of its development, the fact that Beicang District was able to approve such a large piece of land meant that it was no exaggeration to say that Beicang District was Flashcar's "father".

"I prefer a minimalist style, so this year all the factories we built across the country are based on a black and white color scheme."

"I can see that your home's decor is quite simple," Dong Jinggui nodded.

Last time I came, I just attended the opening ceremony and went through the motions. I didn't have an in-depth tour, and to be honest, I didn't see anything special.

"Speaking of which, the employees from the factory we initially rented have already moved here. This year, we plan to acquire some more land in the surrounding area and move the employees from the export processing zone here as well, which will make management easier."

The Beicang area is also undergoing continuous improvement. Flash Technology plans to build upon the existing industrial park and continuously optimize and develop the surrounding area to establish a Daqi industrial base cluster, placing all electric vehicle businesses in Daqi.

No factory can be built in one step; they all develop step by step. The site that Flash has chosen now is actually the Lingfeng Industrial Park in the future. Nobody wants this place right now.

There was no other way. Before 08, there was still a lot of usable land in Beicang. Small businesses couldn't handle this terrible place, and large businesses like Shenzhou didn't even want it.

Tan Jincheng chose this location precisely because of these advantages: it will be very convenient for land acquisition in the future, and it will also be the gateway to Beicang in the future. The newly built highway exit leads directly to Yinzhou District, which is extremely convenient.

Some important person might visit here in the future, but who knows if they will ever come back.

If they come, that would be a real stroke of luck. Oh, that person is currently in Zhejiang Province.

Tan Jincheng didn't hide his plans. Other large companies in the vicinity can no longer come here, but it's possible for supporting small businesses to move in.

"From now on, this place will be a row of white houses, which will definitely look a bit strange, but it's okay, this is the effect I want."

"At that time, the red houses in Beicang will represent Shenzhou, and the white houses will represent Shanchi, hehe."

Making no attempt to conceal his ambition, Dong Jinggui looked at the spirited young man and recalled what he had seen while shopping last night. The shadows of Flash and Orange Technology could be seen everywhere on Beicang Street.

Clothing, electric vehicles, lithium batteries, the internet—at just over 20 years old, Tan Jincheng has plenty of time to plan. In the future, this city may indeed be filled with his presence.

(End of this chapter)