2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 86 One Shop Supports Three Generations
After the turn of the millennium, cities developed rapidly, and the real estate industry ushered in a golden age of nearly two decades, including commercial real estate.

In 2005, shops on any pedestrian street were in high demand, not to mention the super sought-after shops in Yiwu International Trade City.

When doing import and export business, one cannot ignore these things; Yiwu International Trade City is also one of the gathering places for foreigners.

Not long after founding Jinpeng Trading, Tan Jincheng had the idea of ​​renting a shop in the trade city to display samples and expand the market, but after learning more about it, he gave up on the idea.

The reason is simple: I can't afford to rent it.

A shop of 10-20 square meters in the commercial city costs at least 20 yuan! Yes, you heard right, at least 20 yuan. The rent for a small shop in one year is equivalent to the income of an average worker for 10 years!

Even at this price, it's still difficult to rent; good locations are even more expensive. Moreover, the rent is significantly higher in villages near the commercial city.

The idea of ​​one shop supporting three generations is truly achievable nowadays!
Gu Qingqing's family actually owns a shop in the commercial city. They easily earn at least several hundred thousand yuan a year. No wonder they can easily afford a laptop worth more than ten thousand yuan. They wouldn't dare to do that without some family wealth.

"I knew you were a little rich, but I didn't expect you to be this rich. Your family even owns a shop in the commercial city," Tan Jincheng said, somewhat speechless.

"Boss Tan also knows about the shops in the commercial city?"

"Of course I know. A single room there can easily cost hundreds of thousands a year. You can make money just by lying down. I even thought about renting one there, but unfortunately I didn't have the money."

"I wouldn't call myself a rich girl. My parents give me a fixed allowance every month, otherwise I wouldn't be doing part-time jobs to earn pocket money."

"It's all the same, it's all yours anyway." Looking at Gu Qingqing again, Tan Jincheng couldn't help but ask curiously, "Why did you decide to apply to be a fashion model? People would have some misunderstandings about that. How could you, a freshman, dare to come here?"

"It was mainly introduced by my senior sister. She's related to my family, so I trust her a lot," Gu Qingqing said with a smile. "My senior sister said the boss is reliable, the clothes are legitimate, and he makes a lot of money."

That's right. One day is equivalent to several days of regular part-time work, and the workload isn't as heavy. You can earn some pocket money by taking two weekends off each month.

Freshmen have a heavy workload, and Gu Qingqing definitely couldn't do part-time jobs that require frequent trips outside of school or even skipping classes.

"Oh, it's her." Upon hearing this, Tan Jincheng remembered the girl who did shop design back then.

"As for whether the shop rent will be affected, when e-commerce becomes fully popular, it will definitely have some impact. However, the impact on the commercial city will not be significant. The impact will be greater on the street-front shops, as the two are different in nature."

The decline of the commercial city was not really related to the downturn in the real estate market; the main factors were the global economic downturn, the difficulty in import and export trade, and the cumulative effect of the three special periods of that time.

By then, almost every industry will be like this, what can you do?

"Oh, I see. Then I'm relieved. My parents don't have regular jobs, so they'd be very worried if the rent dropped drastically."

"Don't worry, there won't be any major impact for now. Your school has economics classes, right? If you have the chance, you can go and listen in. That way, you'll be able to understand the underlying logic of the commercial city's economy."

No matter how much it is impacted, it should be completely unaffected until at least 2008. Given the size of Zhejiang Province's economy, how far can the impact go?

Judging from Gu Qingqing's words, her parents didn't have regular jobs, so they were probably people who had received compensation for their land expropriation. Why would people who received compensation for their land expropriation bother with all this fuss? The more they bother, the sooner they'll squander their money.

Honestly collecting rent is better than anything else.

"Mr. Tan, you know economics?" "I don't, but we're in business, so whether we know it or not isn't important. Knowing some new terms to brag about is always good."

"I didn't realize Mr. Tan was so humorous, but you certainly have the right to boast," Gu Qingqing said, looking at Tan Jincheng with sparkling eyes.

At the age of 20, through his own efforts, he owns four Taobao stores and his own trading company, which is something to brag about.

"Not at all. If my family owned a shop in the commercial center, I wouldn't bother doing business."

"I do not believe."

"why."

"I don't know, I guess it's just a feeling."

Tan Jincheng couldn't respond to Gu Qingqing's words, and the two fell into a brief silence. Fortunately, this silence was soon broken by Li Yanning, who came to knock on the door.

Li Yanning came to ask about the lunch arrangements; it's already past 11 o'clock, almost lunchtime.

"You two eat, no need to bring me any, we'll eat out."

Before we knew it, we had been chatting for more than two hours.

"Let's go. You treated me last time, now it's my turn to treat you," Tan Jincheng said to Gu Qingqing as he stood up.

After lunch, Gu Qingqing didn't linger and left Beicang with the sample brochures; when she got back, she would have to ask Boss Tan if anyone was willing to take on the same part-time job as her.

As for filming, it will have to wait until the middle of next month, as the Canton Fair is about to begin, and Tan Jincheng doesn't have time to deal with it for the time being.

On March 29, Zhang Xupeng and two salesmen arrived in Guangzhou ahead of time to handle the exhibition setup. If they had any questions, they could ask the staff of Tu Yongjun's company. Tan Jincheng had already arranged all of this for him in advance.

Cheng Yongjun agreed to temporarily assign two staff members to assist Zhang Xupeng with the exhibition setup. Tan Jincheng also had some other matters to attend to and would join them in a few days.

"Don't wander around at night when you get there. Safety is the most important thing. Try not to hang your bag around your neck."

Tan Jincheng instructed Zhang Xupeng and two other business associates to be taken to the airport.

The last time Tan Jincheng went to Guangzhou, he didn't encounter any trouble because it was during an exhibition, and the surrounding security environment was naturally different. This time, however, he went to set up the exhibition half a month in advance, so he couldn't say what the security environment was like.

This was Zhang Xupeng's first time going to Guangzhou, and the two salesmen were also novices with little business travel experience. He was worried that they might wander around out of curiosity in a new place and cause trouble.

These days, employee safety is extremely important. Many small business owners who are starting out are doing very well may have their factories go bankrupt due to an accident. Such fragile risk resistance is commonplace in this era.

"Okay, we'll be careful. Come over as soon as possible; there are many things we need you to arrange," Zhang Xupeng said sullenly.

Seeing Zhang Xupeng's half-dead expression, Tan Jincheng grabbed his shoulder and pulled him aside, whispering, "Cheer up, I'm still the big boss of Jinpeng Trading."

(End of this chapter)