2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 57 Second Entrepreneurship Plan
As winter comes and goes, the period before the end-of-year holiday feels especially long for office workers.

"Damn, I feel like I've become your driver lately," Tan Jincheng complained to Zhang Xupeng in the back seat as he started the car.

"You have the nerve to say that? When you arrived at their factory, you went to the office to have tea with the boss, while I worked in the workshop as a driver. What's wrong with that?"

"You can come to the office for tea too. It's your own fault for insisting on working in the workshop. What does it have to do with me?"

Zhang Xupeng said somewhat speechlessly, "I'm just trying to finish this quickly so I can go home for the holidays a couple of days earlier. My parents have already asked, and I don't believe your parents haven't asked either."

This is Jinpeng Trading's last shipment before the Spring Festival. After all the processes for this order are completed, Jinpeng Trading can almost take a holiday. The holiday is scheduled for February 1st, the 2rd day of the twelfth lunar month.

People in Ningbo celebrate the Little New Year on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, but people in Yicheng celebrate it on the 24th. They set off for home on the 1st and were able to celebrate the Little New Year on the 2nd. This was a little later than the first year they went ashore and returned home in their previous life, when they returned home around the 15th day of the twelfth lunar month.

Since the last time Zhang Xupeng borrowed money to buy a house and wanted to return some of his shares to Tan Jincheng, the relationship between the two brothers has improved, and they have had a long talk.

In fact, it is generally taboo for brothers to go into business together; money is a powerful motivator, and few people can resist the temptation of a large sum of money. Tan Jincheng had considered this as well.

However, considering that the two of them had withstood this test in their previous life, Tan Jincheng felt that they could give it a try in this life.

However, it is undeniable that just like in the previous life, the peaceful division of the family will eventually happen in this life, and Tan Jincheng has his own plans for the future. He will not give up such a large share of the shares in his next business venture.

Besides the apparel and textile industry, which we are currently working in, the two fastest-growing industries in import and export trade are the electronics industry.

Unlike the apparel industry, the electronics category has a longer cycle, and even in 2023 it still has a considerable market share, making it one of the industries with the deepest capital involvement.

That's right, Tan Jincheng has already set his sights on the electronics category. Since he wants to make his fortune and accumulate wealth by earning US dollars, he naturally can't let go of the electronics industry.

Starting a second business naturally means going it alone, just like in my previous life.

The two brothers had an open and honest talk. Tan Jincheng also mentioned that he had plans to start a second business in the future. Therefore, he would not only not accept Zhang Xupeng's share transfer, but might even transfer some shares to him in the future to cash out and use the proceeds as start-up capital for his second business.

Zhang Xupeng was also very shocked when he learned that his best friend had such ambitions.

After thinking for a long time, Zhang Xupeng said, "I can't be sure what will happen in the future, nor can I be sure if I can keep up with the pace, but I will definitely support you because you are ambitious."

“If you ever consider starting a second business in the future, I will definitely not hold you back and will help you maintain Jinpeng Trading. Even if you fail, we will not lack money.”

For Zhang Xupeng, what Tan Jincheng said had a great impact on him. After he went ashore and decided to go into business, Zhang Xupeng's dreams were not actually that big.

Zhang Xupeng's initial motivation for starting a business was to be his own boss and make some money without having to study; he never thought about how long he would do it or how much money he would make.

Zhang Xupeng never expected that Xiao Tan would have such a clear plan for the future. He even thought it was a bit strange and that she was thinking too far ahead. Who can predict the future? Isn't it best to live in the present?
However, after witnessing Xiao Tan's series of peculiar behaviors after coming ashore, Zhang Xupeng no longer found it strange, simply assuming that Xiao Tan had developed a talent for doing business.

Speaking of which, Xiao Tan's family certainly has no shortage of business talent. I remember Xiao Tan has a cousin who went out to make his way in the world before even graduating from junior high school, and I heard that he's now worth several million. There are quite a few other people in the family who run businesses, big and small. I guess it's just a family trait. But Xiao Tan seems to be even more impressive. He might even surpass his uncle's wealth next year.

"How did your parents do with the house they looked at? Did they agree?"

“They agreed. They’ll buy it in their names. I’ll pay the mortgage every month. Hehe, I won’t even have to pay the down payment. I didn’t expect my parents to have saved so much money.”

The Tan couple were quite shrewd, but since they were both state-owned enterprise workers, it was much more convenient for them to buy a house in their hometown under their own names than to do so themselves.

According to Tan Jincheng's requirements, a three-bedroom, two-living-room apartment would cost around 20 yuan.

"However, I can't return the 8 yuan you owed me yet. I'm planning to buy another apartment here."

The complete renovation of both houses should be enough to keep us busy until September, right?
"Suit yourself. There's no reason to take back what I've lent you. But why are you buying so many houses?"

“My fourth uncle works in the decoration industry in Northeast China. The wages there are too low. His family is building a house this year. Let’s find a way to help him earn more. We can also ask them to help us out if we need temporary workers.”

"That's a really weird reason of yours. Buying two houses just for this? We know a lot of bosses, can't we just introduce you to a job?"

This reason is indeed quite bizarre, but Tan Jincheng couldn't think of any better one. He had already mentioned the reason that house prices would rise, but he couldn't say the real reason.

“My mom is closest to my fourth uncle. She asked me before if there was any way to get him to live closer to home. After thinking about it, this is the only way. Anyway, the house is there. If we need money, we can mortgage it or sell it.”

"Hey, you have a lot of relatives, which can be quite difficult to deal with sometimes, especially since you're a junior." Zhang Xupeng chuckled.

"Don't worry, if my relatives want to help, I'll try my best to help them personally, so it won't affect the company."

"That's not what I meant. What I was thinking was that if you make a lot of money in the future, many relatives will ask you for help, and you'll have a lot of trouble then."

"We'll talk about that later. Right now, our company is so small, we don't need to worry about that."

This is unavoidable; I've encountered it before in my past life. I'll just deal with it as it comes. Besides, I have decades of memories with me, and I know exactly which relatives are reliable, or even if they're unreliable. There's no need to worry at all.

As for Zhang Xupeng, we'll see how he handles it. Things are different now than in his previous life, hehe.

Today we went to the packaging factory. After parking the car, Zhang Xupeng went to the workshop to keep an eye on the packaging factory and help out as well, while Tan Jincheng went to the office to drink tea as usual.

After sitting and chatting for a while, Tan Jincheng would go home first, and then come back to pick up Zhang Xupeng in the evening, which really made him seem like a driver.

(End of this chapter)