Reborn in 1985: From Selling Braised Duck to Becoming the World's Richest Man

Including his income from Xiangmanlou and the steel mill, his total income today is 1061.2 yuan.

This was in the mid-80s, when the average monthly income was less than 40 yuan!

An average person works hard for a year and only earns a little over 400 yuan.

Liang Ming's daily income is equivalent to that of an ordinary person for three or four years.

"At this rate, I'll soon be a millionaire."

"Once I have the money, I can start planning to build a house and invest in a factory," Liang Ming thought to himself.

Setting up a stall to sell braised duck was just the first step in his entrepreneurial journey. To make big money, he needed to invest in building a factory, recruiting workers, and having his employees make money for him.

While pondering, Liang Ming once again drove the mule cart to the Second Sports Equipment Factory in the county town.

"Young man, who are you looking for?"

As soon as Liang Ming's mule cart arrived at the gate of the Second Sports Equipment Factory in the county town, it was stopped by the gatekeeper, who asked him questions.

"I'm looking for Director Qin from your logistics department. This is my letter of introduction," Liang Ming said with a smile, taking out the letter of introduction Liu Ming had given him.

As he spoke, he even took out a pack of Bai Tou Li Qun cigarettes and handed one to the doorman.

In those days, it was impossible to cooperate with state-owned enterprises without a letter of introduction.

Upon hearing this, the old doorman did not immediately accept the cigarette. Instead, he took out his reading glasses and carefully examined the cover of the letter of introduction.

Only after seeing the seal of the county's Third Steel Plant on the letter of introduction did he accept the cigarette and say casually:

"So it was a comrade introduced by the Third Steel Plant. Our Director Qin should be at the logistics warehouse right now, taking stock of production materials. You can just go and find him there."

Upon hearing this, Liang Ming thanked him profusely, lit a cigarette for the gatekeeper, and then carefully inquired about the location of the logistics warehouse.

After taking a couple of puffs of Bai Tou Li Qun cigarettes, the doorman looked rather content.

Normally, he only smokes dry tobacco; he wouldn't buy cigarettes like this.

The doorman, in a great mood, casually pointed out the way to the logistics warehouse to Liang Ming.

Liang Ming pulled the mule cart and soon arrived at the logistics warehouse of the Second Sports Equipment Factory.

From a distance, he saw a middle-aged man who looked like a logistics director leading his employees in taking inventory of the warehouse materials.

Liang Ming's appearance also caught their attention.

"Young man, this is the logistics warehouse of our sports equipment factory. Outsiders are not allowed to come in at will. What do you need?"

Director Qin glanced at Liang Ming, his face serious, and said in a deep voice.

"Director Qin, I was introduced by Liu Ming, the canteen director of the Third Steel Plant. I have a batch of duck feathers here. I wonder if you would buy them?"

Liang Ming got straight to the point.

When Director Qin heard that Liu Ming had introduced him, his expression softened somewhat.

He took the letter of introduction and quickly read through its contents.

"So it was Lao Liu who introduced you. Your duck feathers came just in time; our factory is short of this kind of raw material."

Director Qin said to Liang Ming:

"However, our Second Sports Equipment Factory has very high requirements for the quality of materials, so I need to check the quality of the duck feathers first!"

“If you don’t meet the standards, even if you were introduced by Lao Liu, I won’t accept you.”

Upon hearing this, Liang Ming nodded and said, "Of course!"

After this conversation, Liang Ming gained a better understanding of Director Qin of the logistics department of the county's second sports equipment factory.

While working with this person also depends on relationships, he is a principled individual with his own standards and bottom line regarding product quality.

Liang Ming likes to work with people like that because as long as the product quality is good, business deals are easy to close.

As they were talking, Liang Ming led Director Qin to the mule cart, opened the sack, and poured out the duck feathers for the other party to inspect.

When he ordered duck feathers from Zhang Wen yesterday, he had already made his request: he only wanted high-quality duck feathers, and he absolutely refused any that were bald or messy.

Therefore, the duck feathers collected today are all in excellent condition.

Director Qin glanced at it a few times, and a look of satisfaction appeared on his face:

"Brother, may I ask your surname?"

"Director Qin, you're too kind. My surname is Liang, and my given name is Ming. If you don't mind, you can just call me Xiao Ming."

Liang Ming said modestly.

The middle-aged man in front of me controls the procurement power of the logistics department of the sports equipment factory, which is one of the largest state-owned enterprises in the county.

If a cooperation can be reached with Director Qin, it will definitely be beneficial to Liang Ming's business future.

"Brother Liang Ming, the quality of your duck feathers meets our factory's standards. I wonder what price you're planning to sell them for?" Director Qin asked with a smile.

Upon hearing this, several logistics staff members standing beside him showed expressions of surprise.

Normally, Director Qin is always serious and unsmiling when dealing with external material suppliers.

Now, why are they being so kind to this young man in front of them?

If it weren't for the fact that just a few minutes earlier they had been severely reprimanded by Director Qin for not organizing the warehouse materials properly, they would have suspected that the Director Qin in front of them was an imposter.

"Director Qin, to be honest, this is my first time dealing in duck feathers, and I don't know much about the market price!"

Liang Ming said modestly:

"Furthermore, it's already an honor for me to be able to study with you. As for the price, you can decide!"

Director Qin naturally didn't believe Liang Ming's claim that he didn't understand the market price of duck feathers.

This mule cart carries at least six or seven hundred catties of duck feathers. The young man in front of me must have known about the market price of duck feathers beforehand to dare to buy so many at once.

Saying this now is just to flatter him.

However, as the saying goes, flattery will get you everywhere!

The use of terms like "cooperative learning" in Liang Ming's speech certainly made him feel comfortable.

"You've got a good tongue, kid." Director Qin shook his head and chuckled, saying:

“If you trust me and let me set the price, I certainly won’t let you suffer a loss. If we go down to collect ordinary duck feathers, the market price is about 5 cents per pound.”

“The duck feathers you’ve brought are of good quality, and you even delivered them in a mule cart, so we can’t leave out the cost of the mule’s feed.”

At this point, Director Qin paused for a moment, then said seriously, "How about this, I'll charge you 7 cents a pound for your duck feathers, what do you think?"

Upon hearing this, Liang Ming's face showed a look of surprise: "7 cents a pound?"

His mule cart had 700 jin of duck feathers on it.

At 70 cents a pound, that's 490 yuan, but he only spent 7 yuan to buy these duck feathers from Stone Village.

There's a profit margin of 700% here!

"Brother Liang Ming, are you not satisfied with this price?"

Seeing Liang Ming's reaction, Director Qin assumed that the other party was not satisfied with the acquisition price, and his expression tightened.