2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 614: Causing trouble during the Chinese New Year?

Yiwu.

"It's already the New Year, and there's still no peace and quiet. This is really something else."

Looking at Tan Jincheng, who was slumped on the sofa with slurred eyes from drunkenness, Li Jinzhen said with some heartache, "This son-in-law is good in every way, except that he has a very low alcohol tolerance. And there are some occasions where he can't refuse."

Gu Qingqing was wiping Tan Jincheng's face with a hot towel, and said with a wry smile, "We don't get a holiday so early. We only came home because something came up here."

She is still the CEO of Orange Technology. Orange Technology has a large warehousing center in Yiwu, and its logistics and transportation are centered in Yiwu. From the perspective of Orange Technology's strategic position, Yiwu is no less important than Beicang.

Taking advantage of the few days before the Lunar New Year to inspect the warehousing center and logistics transfer center was also part of Gu Qingqing's itinerary.

To deal with people at all levels of the government, and considering that the logistics industry is relatively unsavory these days, Gu Qingqing's status is no match for Tan Jincheng's. Moreover, as a woman, she is relatively vulnerable. If there is time, Tan Jincheng will definitely help her keep things under control.

She was well aware of this; Flash Group was also very busy at the end of the year, but he simply handed it over to Zhang Xupeng.

"It's a good thing you're about to step down as CEO, so Xiao Tan will suffer less in the future."

Li Jinzhen was still feeling sorry for her son-in-law, grumbling incessantly that women from Yiwu didn't mind going out to work and earn money, that they could endure hardship, and that they could shoulder the burden of the family when necessary.

She could do that herself, but she couldn't stand seeing her juniors do it.

This is probably the mentality of many parents: they can endure hardship and suffering themselves, but they can't accept it when their children suffer even a little bit.

"It's okay, Mom. I didn't drink too much, I'm just a little dizzy. It's also my fault for having such a low alcohol tolerance."

Once he was a little more sober, Tan Jincheng took the towel from Gu Qingqing's hand. This mother-in-law was very good to him. If it weren't for her, things wouldn't have gone so smoothly when he and Qingqing first started dating. At that time, Tan Jincheng was just a small business owner and nothing. There was a lot of gossip among her relatives.

A proper college student with excellent grades, whose future seemed limitless, ended up marrying a small, uneducated boss of a shell company. It would be a miracle if any of his relatives had anything good to say about him.

Mr. Gu and his wife initially faced some pressure.

"You have a low alcohol tolerance but you still drink, and you don't take care of your health. You don't feel it now that you're young, but you'll suffer when you get old."

Gu Hongshun laughed and said, "Even if you say you won't drink, you can still drink. There are some things you can't decide for yourself. If you ask me, you two should just say you're trying to conceive, then no one will tell you to drink."

Li Jinzhen's eyes lit up: "Yes, yes, that's a good reason. You two should really start trying to conceive. While Xiao Tan's mother and I are still young, we can help you take care of the child. Anyway, you two don't have time to take care of the child."

If Gu Hongshun was just making up an excuse, then Li Jinzhen was taking it seriously.

"Haha, I'm fine. Let's see what Qingqing has to say."

Tan Jincheng doesn't object to having children; in fact, the earlier the better. If they're not raised well, there's always a backup plan. Take Tan Jincheng and Gu Qingqing, for example; one is 24 and the other is 22.

Five or six years later, when they're around 30, you'll be able to tell whether the child is good or bad. There's plenty of time to train them.

Gu Qingqing slapped Tan Jincheng with some annoyance: "Just play the good guy in front of my parents."

The elderly couple smiled at each other. They didn't usually spend much time with the young couple and didn't know how their relationship was after marriage. But it seemed that their relationship was quite good. You can't fake what you see in someone's eyes.

The son-in-law called her "Mom" with remarkable naturalness.

“I’m not pretending to be a good person. I’m serious. If you agree, let’s start trying to conceive after the New Year. Mom is right. We don’t have time to take care of the baby anyway, so we might as well let them help us while they’re still young.”

"Besides, if we mess it up, we can just play a new account while we're still young, just like my parents did."

Tan Jincheng's words were quite amusing, causing the elderly couple to burst into laughter. Li Jinzhen repeatedly agreed, saying that it was right and that all that was missing was for the two of them to have a child right now.

If you have money, it doesn't matter if you have more children. If possible, Tan Jincheng would like to have two or three children, so that there will be both Tan and Gu families, and they can take over the Flash series and the Orange series respectively.

Their trip to Yiwu was also very tight; they wouldn't be able to stay for more than a few days before the Tan Jincheng couple had to leave for Yicheng on the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month.

Liu Suman and Li Yaohui were also sent home by Tan Jincheng. Their official positions were not bodyguards, but drivers. Taking them back to their hometown during the Chinese New Year was somewhat inhumane.

Although Lai Yiu-fai accepted his boss's kindness and is now a wealthy man, he couldn't go home last year and wants to return in glory this year. However, Lai Yiu-fai also understands that everything he has comes from his boss.

Meanwhile, Lai Yiu-fai, who was still on secondment to the Flash Security Department, did not forget his responsibilities. He selected two single, skilled individuals, a man and a woman, from the security department and sent them home with their boss.

Actually, Lai Yiu-fai was overthinking it. Apart from being careful on the highway, there was absolutely no need to worry about Tan Kam-ching's safety once he got home.

With his current status, if Tan Jincheng were to return to his hometown, any trouble he caused would bring down a number of people. Not to mention that he has investment plans worth over 10 billion yuan in his hometown county, the local government would do everything in its power to protect Tan Jincheng and his family so that these investments could proceed smoothly.

Times have changed, and things are different from before, but many essential things have not changed, and certain privileges still exist.

The same applies here in Yiwu. Tan Jincheng is treated very well. When it comes to drinking, only those who don't know any better dare to toast him. Those who actually know anything wouldn't dare to offer him a toast indiscriminately. The newlywed daughter of the Gu family has returned home, and when the relatives hear this news, they all want to come and get to know her and get closer to her.

Compared to Tan Jincheng's relatives, Gu Qingqing's relatives are much more powerful. Apart from the government, most of them are mainly engaged in business.

The benefits of the government helping to secure a project are obvious, but for business people, the benefits are even more direct. Flash Group has major industries such as foreign trade, clothing, two-wheeled electric vehicles, automobiles, and lithium batteries. Even a small part of the industrial chain is enough to make them rich.

Take Gu Yanning's brother, Gu Yuxin, for example. He does make a lot of money selling clothes in Sijiqing, but the cost of the clothes is a problem. With Tan Jincheng's introduction, he was able to access a better OEM factory than his counterparts in Sijiqing.

They also have an advantage in terms of product styles, and their business is booming.

Jinpeng Trading also receives a share of the profits from its exported clothing. These clothes are popular and of good quality, so they sell very well domestically.

Export overstock has always been a particularly good seller in recent years, especially since what was given to Gu Yuxin wasn't even overstock.
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On the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, the bodyguards arranged by Li Yaohui arrived, and Tan Jincheng and Gu Qingqing prepared to return to their hometown.

"Big brother, I'm leaving now. Thank you for your help these past few days."

Early in the morning, Gu Qingqing and his uncle's family came to see him off. Gu Yanning also came back for the New Year. Tan Jincheng shook Gu Yuxin's hand, saying that he had really benefited from him these past few days.

Gu Yuxin is definitely worth tens of millions, but during the few days Tan Jincheng stayed in Yiwu, he acted as Tan Jincheng's driver, following him everywhere. He was very good at handling things, and it was already quite remarkable that he was able to put aside his status to do this.

Gu Yuxin laughed and said, "You're too kind. I should be thanking you. I've seen a lot of the world thanks to you."

He learned that Tan Jincheng and his wife were back from his sister. It was Chinese New Year and Sijiqing was closed for the holidays. Gu Yanning's idea was to have her brother look after them while they were at home. As his assistant, she knew that Tan Jincheng and Gu Qingqing hadn't brought a driver home.

To be honest, this assistant is quite competent. After handling the company's affairs, Gu Yanning also took her computer and went back to her hometown.

Also accompanying her was He Jia, the same He Jia who wanted to do a live stream last time.

Before the IPO, Tan Jincheng's live streaming was quite successful. His advanced concepts not only impressed his peers but also inspired He Jia to create his own live streaming business.

After more than half a year of preparation, He Jia actually launched the project, named Orange Live, which covers sports, entertainment, outdoor activities and more.

The only problem now is how to make Orange Live famous. He Jia is quite stingy and doesn't want to spend too much money on a spokesperson for the time being, so he thought of his boss.

Tan Jincheng's live stream really shocked him; a live stream that was just chatting and answering questions could generate such a high level of popularity.

Why not take advantage of this existing popularity?

"Boss, please agree to my request. The trial broadcast on our live streaming website went quite well. All we need now is some buzz. How about you ask President Gu to approve some funding for me to hire Jay Chou as our spokesperson?"

"Get lost! You want to invite Jay Chou? Do you think your crappy website can afford that?" Tan Jincheng said with a laugh.

Orange Live didn't provide many resources, and they were struggling financially. Hiring Jay Chou as a spokesperson was a joke and unnecessary.

"Then please promise me, boss, that you can livestream your Chinese New Year celebrations and show everyone how a big boss celebrates the New Year. Don't worry, our team will try our best to protect your privacy and prevent excessive exposure."

"Come, come, take a look at this proposal."

Afraid that Tan Jincheng would leave, He Jia blocked the car door, took out the proposal from her bag, and stuffed it into her arms without caring whether the boss was willing or not. The relatives from the Gu family who came to see her off were dumbfounded.

Gu Yanning wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear. It was so embarrassing. She really shouldn't have agreed to let him come along.

Tan Jincheng remained calm. Many people sought investment from him, and there were many who were even more shameless than He Jia.

After a brief look, the plan was actually quite simple: follow him in a live stream, and let Tan Jincheng improvise as he sees fit, without compromising his privacy or company secrets. It could be filmed indoors or outdoors.

"Good heavens, from the 30th of the twelfth lunar month to the fifth of the first lunar month, six days! Not only do you not pay me, but I also have to feed you!"

"Hehe, it's alright, it's alright. Just make sure we don't go hungry for our work meals. As for accommodation, we'll take care of it ourselves and won't trouble you, boss."

"There is one problem: how do you solve the signal problem in rural areas?"

The signal strength in rural areas is incomparable to that in cities. In his previous life, Tan Jincheng used a China Unicom mobile number, which, combined with an iPhone, made him virtually invincible in the countryside.

However, these words greatly encouraged He Jia. The boss did not refuse, but instead discussed the issue of signal propagation, which meant there was hope.

"Don't worry, boss. We've already thought of that. We're a professional live streaming website, and we guarantee we can solve the signal problem."

P.S.: It's mid-month, has anyone used their monthly passes? Give some to the kids!

(End of this chapter)