2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 594 A Lively Wedding Banquet

Beicang, Tiangang Hotel.

The parking lot was filled with all sorts of luxury cars, a dazzling sight. The most numerous were Audi A6s; one might mistake it for an Audi auto show.

"Oh, Mr. Zhang is here! Long time no see. How's business lately?"

"Haha, isn't this Mr. Zhao? You've made quite a bit of money these past two years."

"Hey, we're not as glamorous as Boss Zhang."

Business owners of all sizes sat in the lobby of the Tiangang Hotel, chatting quietly. The first group to enter were mainly local Ningbo business owners, who were the closest to the entrance.

Zhang Haiping and Zhang Mingcan were the most successful among this group.

As Flash Group rapidly developed, the assets of the two individuals who worked as OEM manufacturers for Jinpeng and component suppliers for Flash Group also expanded rapidly.

Two years ago, the small business owner had to grit his teeth to buy an Audi, but now his company is growing bigger and bigger, and he is no longer limited to the small place of Xiapu.

These two, whose wealth has skyrocketed, are now quite portly and exude an air of importance.

But today, he willingly took on the job of a waiter, helping to greet guests, pour tea and serve cigarettes, looking very pleased with himself. Anyone who didn't know better would think that there was a happy occasion in his family.

Tan Jincheng has booked the entire Tiangang Hotel today, and company security personnel have been stationed around the perimeter.

The wedding planning company employees were all a little nervous. When had they ever done a wedding for a wealthy person of this caliber before? It was said that the boss's hands were trembling when he received the order. However, if they did a good job this time, the company's reputation would be established.

Liren Garden.

Gu Yanning looked at Gu Qingqing, who was putting on makeup, and asked softly, "Are you nervous?"

A relationship that no one believed in when it was first announced has finally come to fruition, which is truly remarkable.

“A little,” Gu Qingqing replied softly in return.

At this moment, she was neither a CEO nor an outstanding graduate of Ningbo University; she was simply a young woman about to be married, her emotions a mixture of joy and nervousness.

This is a large, single-level apartment of over 300 square meters in the first phase of the project. It was bought by Gu Hongshun as Gu Qingqing's dowry and also their place of residence in Ningbo.

I can't always stay in a hotel when I come to Ningbo, and staying at my son-in-law's house is a bit awkward.

At this point, this house was considered Gu Qingqing's maternal home, and she got married from here.

"Your sister is already married, you need to hurry up too, don't just focus on work."

Li Jinzhen was also in the room. Her eldest niece was a bridesmaid today, and several of her daughter's classmates were also there as bridesmaids, making it quite lively.

The other bridesmaids were getting their makeup done in another room.

"Hey, you should talk to Qingqing about this auntie and tell her not to assign me so much work." Gu Yanning shifted all the blame onto Gu Qingqing.

Gu Qingqing completely ignored the argument: "You can't blame me for this. I'm busy too. Besides, I'm stepping down at the end of the year. Good luck to you."

In another room, Xu Manli, Zhao Wenjia, and Chen Yanan were also chatting excitedly about the wedding banquet.

Meanwhile, in the villa area, Tan Jincheng and his entourage were all ready to go and pick up the bride. Tan Jincheng's groomsmen were few in number and all of them were his subordinates. Apart from the Zhang Xupeng brothers, there were Sun Yuming and Zeng Jixiang.

Unfortunately, most of Boss Tan's friends are middle-aged entrepreneurs, he has lost contact with his high school classmates, and his younger brothers are too young. It's really hard to find a few suitable people for him in the short term.

The downside of becoming rich too early is this, but there are also advantages. As a self-made man, Boss Tan has a very high seniority, and most second-generation rich kids really don't dare to show off in front of him.

When accompanying an elder to meet Boss Tan, if you encounter a rigid person, you'll inevitably be forced to call him "Uncle."

"Haha, I never expected that Xiao Tan would be the first among us to get married. Damn, who would have thought that he would be the youngest?"

Zhang Xupeng looked at his friend, who was dressed in a suit and tie, and couldn't help but find it amusing. The groomsmen were all members of the original startup team, and even Zeng Jixiang, who arrived the latest, was one of the founding team members.

On such a joyous occasion, everyone was quite relaxed.

"Old Sun, you're the oldest, you need to work harder, and so do the rest of you; damn it, a lot of our group's senior executives are single dogs, people will laugh at us if they get out."

"Haha, that's true. Mr. Zhang, Mr. Sun, and Secretary Zeng, you all need to work harder."

The visiting bosses and their subordinates burst into laughter. Flash Group is truly one of the most bizarre companies. The proportion of single people among senior executives, middle managers, and even grassroots employees is just too high.

It's both a good thing and a bad thing. Young people are passionate, but with such a high percentage of single executives, they are more likely to be coveted, especially by gold diggers.

The group of "gold diggers" has always existed. After the large-scale development in the last century, they appeared in the form of mistresses. After the large-scale real estate development, even a large number of mistress communities appeared.

Big bosses would buy up entire neighborhoods, or even develop their own, and fill them with their mistresses. After the turn of the century, money became easier to earn, and these gold diggers set their sights on newly rich men, small business owners, and executives of major companies; at this point, the term "mistress" became common.

These two periods had little impact on ordinary people, so societal awareness was very limited. It wasn't until the emergence of the "simp economy" that gold diggers began to gradually come into the public eye.

Tan Jincheng was eager to get married partly because he didn't want to have too many romantic entanglements and wanted to settle down early, which would benefit both his relationship and career. On the other hand, he also wanted to set an example for other single executives.

In companies like FlashRace, where the founder's genes are very strong, the employees and the company culture are used to imitating the founder, and whatever the boss does can easily lead to a bandwagon effect.

For example, Boss Tan's attitude towards foreigners is a perfect legacy that is reflected in Flash and Orange.

"It's almost time, let's go pick up the bride."

A group of people were fooling around in the living room. There were no superiors or subordinates today, so they could chat freely. However, it was almost time, and Zhang Suzhi came over to remind them.

Zhang Suzhi is very happy today. Her son is getting married, and so many relatives and friends have come. She has never had such a lively occasion in all the years she has lived in Beicang.

"I want to go too. I want to go too."

Little Tan Jinyue has been jumping around and having a great time these past few days. She got up early today because she didn't know why her older sister hadn't been staying at home these past few days, but she had heard that she was going to pick her sister up today.

"Okay, okay, you go too," Zhang Suzhi replied somewhat helplessly.

If we don't bring her along, she'll definitely throw a tantrum. We can't let her cause trouble on this joyous occasion.

Zhang Xupeng, who was in charge of creating a lively atmosphere today, waved his hand when he saw that it was almost time: "Let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go steal the bride!"

The wedding was both luxurious and understated. The luxury was evident in the abundance of luxury cars, and the presence of employees and investors from Flash Group and Orange Technology, as well as many business leaders and celebrities from various industries.

There were even reporters secretly waiting outside the villa, trying to film the wedding process, acting like they were celebrities.

However, the customs and habits are all based on ordinary folk practices, which are quite down-to-earth and low-key.

The convoy of cars set off from the villa area, circled the Beicang urban area, and headed towards the Liren Garden community. Watching the convoy drive away in rows, Zhang Suzhi turned around and called out to her relatives at home, "Let's go, let's go to the hotel first."

There are two minibuses left here, both transferred from the company, for reception purposes.

My relatives back home were really impressed today. They saw plenty of luxury cars and people who had appeared on TV. I heard that people from the city and county came to give them gifts.

Upon arriving at the hotel, they were even more astonished to find that such a large hotel had been completely booked out.

Several imposing-looking men greeted Tan Lihua and his wife with smiles, while a group of young men in uniforms also came forward.

"That young man from the Tan family is truly remarkable. What's that saying again? He exudes an aura of nobility, doesn't he?"

A few distant relatives whispered that they had only seen this scene in TV dramas, and now they were experiencing it firsthand. They had to admit it was truly shocking.

"Is this what life is like for the rich? They only associate with the common folk. It's really embarrassing for us to come here," Zhang Qingying said to her younger brother Zhang Qingliang with a wry smile.

The maternal uncle is from the maternal family and holds a high position, but they were genuinely intimidated by today's scene.

Following behind my sister and brother-in-law, they introduced me to this boss, that secretary, or at the very least, a representative from so-and-so's family. Even Ji Ji, one of the celebrity spokespeople, came.

"Don't overthink it. You're the uncles, and you're sitting at the head table today. These people are just going through the motions; they're very busy and won't be here for long," Zhang Suzhi comforted her in a low voice.

She was actually a little uncomfortable with the scene, but she just put on a brave face.

The son had previously said he didn't want to do it, but the others disagreed. Now it seems that it was really better not to do it. Tan Lihua was also a little scared. They were just ordinary state-owned enterprise workers. Even though they had gained a lot of experience over the years, they were still people at the bottom of society.

Fortunately, Tan Jincheng was thoughtful and sent Zhao Xinyi over to help them with guidance and introductions.

During the National Day holiday in 2008, Beicang, an industrial city and a tourism desert, surprisingly saw a visitor flow that reached that of a typical tourist city, much to the delight of Beicang's tourism department, which had been virtually invisible.

"A wedding has changed the tourism landscape of an entire district; sigh, why is Boss Tan so low-key? He should have had a grand wedding."

"Release some more press releases to promote it. If that doesn't work, just rewrite the press releases from Flashpoint and Orange Technology and repost them. Do it quickly, and you can get some traffic."

"Hahaha."

Tan Jincheng's dog-like mannerisms were somewhat contagious in Beicang. In an open city, some things can have a real effect, and it's really easy to learn them quickly.

Mr. Tan, who was drunk again today, never expected that the Beicang Tourism Bureau would pull such a stunt on him.

Although I got drunk, I had a happy day.

(End of this chapter)