2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 435 Taking advantage of the situation
The attitude towards a son-in-law returning home is naturally warm and welcoming.

Ordinary people may view certain departments as arrogant, but different people have different attitudes towards them, and naturally, their attitudes towards large entrepreneurs who have investment intentions will also differ.

Their attitude towards industry leaders has changed even further.

Given Tan Jincheng's current status, it would be normal for him to be received by a deputy in charge of the economy or even the second-in-command when he goes to a prefecture-level city. This would be even more true for county-level cities or counties.

Wherever he goes, he inevitably has to attend various social engagements, which has become an important part of Tan Jincheng's business trips.

In terms of business layout, Tan Jincheng's businesses are more or less related to nepotism. He chose Beicang as the location for starting his business because of his past life experience, and he was familiar with and trusted the place.

The largest industrial base for electric vehicles is currently located in his hometown, while lithium batteries are located in Luzhou. Now, Orange Technology's most important warehousing and distribution center is located in his girlfriend's hometown.

In terms of personnel, Tan Jincheng also prefers to hire people he trusts. This is a common problem among grassroots entrepreneurs, and Tan Jincheng is no exception. However, Tan Jincheng does not think there is anything wrong with it. If you have connections, why not use them?

Besides, there's nothing wrong with using people you trust or relatives. If even your relatives would lie to you, then you wouldn't be able to do business with anyone else either; you'd just keep lying the same way.

The warehousing center in Yiwu is a three-way collaboration. It's quite large and not far from Gu Qingqing's hometown. Tan Jincheng isn't very familiar with Yiwu itself, and the land plots aren't very relevant. He'll just go with whatever the government plans for.

Anyway, as long as the transportation is convenient, this thing is not picky about the location and can be placed anywhere. It would be better if it were not far from Gu Qingqing's hometown, so that she could quickly go home to visit when she came to inspect.

"In the future, we still need to develop in the direction of informatization. Warehousing and logistics can also be made very intelligent. The construction of logistics management systems needs to keep up."

Intelligent warehouse operation is the future direction. Orange Technology can learn from SF Express in this regard. SF Express has advanced logistics and warehousing experience, and as a partner, Tan Jincheng knows how to leverage this advantage.

Leveraging its network of contacts and partners, does Flashcar have any core technologies developed independently? Strictly speaking, it doesn't currently have any, except for electric vehicle body styles and some clothing designs.

The lithium battery technology was developed in collaboration with the Institute of Physics, and they deserve most of the credit. Hangxin Energy is essentially the buyer, and incidentally, it also leverages the Institute of Physics' influence to cultivate its own R&D team.

In terms of power battery development, we are leveraging the strength of Guoxuan, while battery testing and future vehicle manufacturing are leveraging the strength of Zhongtai. On the other hand, Orange Technology is leveraging the strength of SF Express for warehousing and logistics technology.

As for Kaixin.com and Kaixin Farm, they benefited from the advantage of knowledge gained from his previous life. If it weren't for those memories, Tan Jincheng's surfing experience might be passable for marketing, but starting an internet company would be a stretch.

If you don't have the technology, you need to understand the product and human nature in order to sell it. Otherwise, you need to study the technology and achieve breakthroughs at the technical level in order for the company to eventually achieve success.

The truly unique core elements of Flash Motors are the original clothing styles and the exterior design of the electric vehicles. Although these elements borrowed a lot from later styles and aesthetics, they were really created by Tan Jincheng himself, bit by bit.

Take clothing styles as an example. At the beginning, Jinpeng Trading couldn't even afford a full-time clothing designer. It was Tan Jincheng who used his ugly drawing skills to draw them bit by bit, and then discussed and modified them step by step with the designer.

The same applies to the exterior design of electric vehicles. The appearance is much more complex than clothing styles, which Tan Jincheng could not draw. The first design was to buy a batch of electric vehicles from the market, then gradually combine them, and then modify them according to Tan Jincheng's ideas.

When these two designs were first created, both the part-time fashion designers and Wang Chao's team had a serious generation gap with Tan Jincheng in terms of ideas.

They even thought that their boss, Tan Jincheng, was a bit crazy. Wang Chao and the others regretted coming to Flash, because the boss knew nothing about business and kept coming up with strange or impossible ideas. It was really torturous.

Initial communication was very difficult, but after the success of the first product, communication became much smoother. Tan Jincheng was more experienced in handling the subsequent projects for Kaixin.com, Kaixin Farm, and Orange Products Club.

The programmers at Orange Technology, whether they were newbies or not, were easier to talk to than the designers. Designers could be incredibly arrogant at times, and although Tan Jincheng respected them, they could be quite infuriating at times.

Programmers are different. Although they can be incredibly skilled at times, they still get the job done, make changes when necessary, and work overtime when required. They are very dedicated, which is something Tan Jincheng appreciates.

Being able to obey discipline is probably one of the greatest strengths of programmers; no matter how bitter it is, they have to work overtime even with tears in their eyes.

The Tan family will still stay in the house that Gu Hongshun and his wife prepared for them. If nothing unexpected happens, this house will most likely become Gu Qingqing's dowry. As for Gu Qingqing, she will naturally go back to live there.

Wearing a white dress and with her hair in small pigtails, Tan Jinyue had some memories of this place and Gu Hongshun and the others, but not very clearly; children's memories are strange, some things are remembered vividly, while others are forgotten in the blink of an eye. However, since she could understand most of what people were saying, she knew that this time she was going to travel with her brother to many places and play for a long time, which made her very happy.

In terms of work arrangements, Tan Jincheng and Gu Qingqing would usually attend banquets together. Tan Jincheng would bring Li Yaohui or Zeng Jixiang along, and Liu Suman would be in charge of their travel arrangements when they went out to play.

In addition, staff members will be arranged to accompany them in shifts. Considering that these staff members are not familiar with Zhang Suzhi, Tan Jincheng wanted to ask Gu Hongshun and his wife if they were free since they came to Yiwu first. If they were, they could go out and have some fun together.

Summer isn't a particularly good season for travel, but going out and having fun is always better than staying cooped up at home. In addition, this time we can also visit Tan Jincheng's hometown and see where he grew up.

During dinner, Tan Jincheng mentioned this to Gu Hongshun and his wife. The couple were somewhat interested. Going out to play would certainly be fun, and with so many people accompanying them and the itinerary clearly arranged, it would definitely be much more comfortable than going on a group tour or traveling independently.

"I'd like to, but the agritainment business is doing quite well right now, and it would be a bit of a hassle to just leave," Gu Hongshun said, rubbing his face.

You know what, this agritainment business of his was originally set up by Tan Jincheng to annoy Tencent. Now, with Gu Qingqing's growing fame in Yiwu, it's almost certain that the CEO of Shanchi Group, one of the top 500 private enterprises in China this year, will become his son-in-law in Yiwu.

As a farmhouse restaurant opened by my future father-in-law, it's hard for the business not to be booming. This farmhouse restaurant, which was opened in a haphazard way, has actually become a famous restaurant in the area.

Besides relatives who occasionally bring guests to support the event, people from the political and business circles also visit from time to time.

Some departments even hold their dinners and business meetings here. Isn't that outrageous? Why not go to a fancy restaurant and instead choose a remote farmhouse?

Gu Hongshun never expected that this run-down farmhouse would become so popular. He wasn't short of money; he had just set it up casually with the intention of helping his daughter and son-in-law. But now, not only his own relatives were coming to support it, but also these high-profile figures.

Now he had no choice but to do a good job. He was a businessman, and he couldn't let himself and his daughter and son-in-law down. From researching the dishes to ensuring the freshness of the ingredients and the fun aspects, Gu Hongshun did everything himself.

Damn it, he's middle-aged, and his daughter is already in her twenties, yet he's still starting a second business. This time, he's not really in it for the money; he just wants to do his best to run the agritourism business well and maintain good relationships with his family.

Gu Hongshun also knew that apart from his own relatives and business connections, the others were not there for him, but for the sake of his daughter and son-in-law. Maintaining good relationships with these people and making them feel that they were getting their money's worth was more important than making money.

Normally, Gu Hongshun would have agreed without hesitation. Who wouldn't be happy to go out and have someone serve them? It's hot? It's even better when it's hot, because they can see long legs.

But now he's really taking QQ Farm, which he previously considered a run-down agritourism spot, seriously.

This name doesn't sound like a farmhouse inn at all, and it's not very good either. If it weren't for these two young people in front of me, I'd be surprised if it could even stay open for two years.

Sure enough, the rich have a different way of making money than ordinary people. Even if they just set up a random business or seize an opportunity, they can turn a run-down farmhouse that even the owner himself dislikes into a successful business.

“It’s alright, you can leave the farmhouse to your uncle for now. It won’t be long anyway, and you can come back if there’s any emergency.”

The eldest uncle is Gu Yanning's father. Gu Yanning works at Orange Technology and also has shares. Her father is hardworking, and like Gu Hongshun, the eldest uncle is also a GA (government-related) layoff after the demolition and relocation, with nothing serious to do.

Running a farmhouse restaurant is really just about service. Make sure the food is fresh and the service is upscale. These days, there are relatively few farmhouse restaurants that genuinely cater to the average working-class person.

If I were to compare it to places for singing, these days, farmhouses are more like clubs, while restaurants in the city are more like karaoke lounges. In an era where eating KFC or McDonald's is considered a luxury, karaoke lounges are clearly more popular than clubs these days.

"Okay, I'll talk to him and see if it works."

"Yes, no rush. We'll stay in Yiwu for a few more days to talk to the city officials. Please take care of my mother and sister these next few days."

"We're family, so let's not talk about whether it's troublesome or not."

(End of this chapter)