We are all reborn, who wants to be the richest man?

Chapter 638: Zhonghua Bookstore
In April, Far East CEO Jack Welch visited the capital for both personal and business purposes.

"How was your trip to the capital?"

“I can only describe it as deeply impressed. Every time I go to a city like the capital, Shanghai, I am amazed. It is developing so fast.

After more than a year, the capital city feels unfamiliar to me when I go there again.

I remember the last time I went there, there were not many cars on the road and not many tall buildings.

Looking at it now, there are a lot of private cars on the road.

There are also many more buildings, both residential and commercial, and the speed of development is incredible."

"Hahahaha" Luo Nianzhong laughed, "This is just the beginning. If you go to those faster-developing coastal cities, the changes will be even more astonishing."

Take for example the time when Luo Wang Yunhua brought the women and children in his family back to his hometown Puning to worship their ancestors. After returning, Luo Laosi excitedly told Luo Nianzhong about the earth-shaking changes in Puning.

The last time Luo Laosi went to Puning was the first time he went back to trace his roots. Later, Luo Wang Yunhua took his family back twice, but Luo Laosi was delayed every time due to various things.

When he saw the changes in Puning this time, Luo Laosi was really shocked.

"I heard that the negotiations went smoothly? I guess Caroline will be busy next."

Talking about his wife, Welch looked bitter, "She used to take care of all the big and small things at home alone, and I was always worried that she would have problems due to lack of social interaction. Now, I am alone, and I go home to a cold room every day."

Their children have grown up and graduated, and now the couple is living a life that they are fairly satisfied with. Although they don't have much time to meet, it's still pretty good.

"You haven't told her the news yet?"

"No," Welch shook his head. "I was planning to give her a surprise on her birthday."

If Welch hadn't said it, Luo Nianzhong would have really forgotten about this matter, because Caroline's birthday was coming soon.

Unlike Western-style birthday parties, neither Welch nor Luo Nianzhong likes to hold this kind of banquet.

For example, in the Welch family, only Caroline’s fifth or tenth birthday would have a party, and all other birthdays would just be simple gatherings with family and close friends.

The Luo family's affairs were even simpler, as they were all hosted by the women's social circles. The Luo family had never held such a thing, and even Luo Nianzhong himself had never celebrated his birthday.

It’s not like the women in the family had not wanted to take care of the family before, but Luo Nianzhong had always refused. In his words, it was unnecessary and it only reminded him that he was one year older.

"Tell me about what happened this time."

"The entire Zhonghua Bookstore will be split off to form Zhonghua Bookstore Co., Ltd. We will help them to open up overseas markets and help them to raise funds and go public in Hong Kong."

That’s right, one of the things Welch did when he came to Beijing this time was to invest in Zhonghua Bookstore.

Many people may not know that the Zhonghua Bookstores, which are now located in every city and village across the country, are actually losing money.

But you would never imagine that 30 years later, the Zhonghua Bookstore, which you thought was in decline, is actually very profitable.

Do you know what the best-selling book in the world is? It is not Harry Potter or The Little Prince, but the Chinese Dictionary.

You won’t know until you hear it. Once you hear it, do you think you can accept it? It’s actually quite reasonable.

No one knows that since it went on sale in 1953, the Chinese Dictionary has sold more than million copies worldwide.

If we move forward another twenty years, this number will be 600 million.

What’s interesting is that in the age of intelligent artificial intelligence, everyone thinks that the Chinese Dictionary has become a dusty memory, but the sales of this book have skyrocketed overseas, and this is all due to a strong motherland.

Whether now or in the future, Zhonghua Bookstore is the real boss of the book industry. According to statistics after 2020, the revenue of Zhonghua Bookstores across the country has repeatedly set new highs, all of which are over 35 billion yuan, and the profit exceeds billion yuan. It has issued and sold more than % of the country's book publications.

What does this mean? It is almost equivalent to ten Dangdang.coms.

Is this beyond the understanding of many people? Because everyone thinks that fewer and fewer people read books, and even if they do read books, they buy them online.

The number of people who read traditional paper media is even rarer, so offline bookstores are having a hard time.

But it is different for Zhonghua Bookstore. It has always maintained more than 10,000 outlets and can be found in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and remote villages.

The reason why Zhonghua Bookstore has such tenacious vitality is due to its two secret weapons.

The first is textbooks. Zhonghua Bookstore has been responsible for distributing textbooks since the very beginning.

I dare say that the most books most people buy in their lives are textbooks and tutorial books, right?
For books like this, some people may buy pirated copies, but more people prefer genuine copies, especially when parents are purchasing them.

For example, under the Zhonghua Bookstore there is a Zhonghua Wenxuan, which is the only company in Sichuan Province that can publish textbooks, and it later went public.

Basically, the leading textbook publishing company in each province is owned by Zhonghua Bookstore. This is why many schools have a very small Zhonghua Bookstore next to them, with walls full of textbooks.

Books are not too expensive nowadays, and due to the high shipping and labor costs, there is no profit.

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However, in another ten years, this secret weapon alone will be enough to ensure that Zhonghua Bookstore will never have to worry about food and clothing.

Its second secret weapon is even more powerful, just like McDonald's, which is its real estate.

Many people say that McDonald's is a real estate company, but compared with the Zhonghua Bookstore, it is really dwarfed.

Unlike McDonald's which is small and in a messy location, this Zhonghua Bookstore is not only large but also occupies a core location, such as People's Square in Shanghai and Wangfujing in the capital.

The Zhonghua Bookstore is part of the education system and has infrastructure attributes. Therefore, when each city was first planned, the Zhonghua Bookstore was planned in as early as the post office, police station, etc., and occupied the city center in the city center.

It would be better to say that it is a library rather than a bookstore. Many people have gone to the Zhonghua Bookstore to read books but never bought any.

Because of its large area and large customer flow, Zhonghua Bookstore can rent out stalls and earn rent.

As for the layout of the bookstore, Luo Nianzhong also mentioned it in passing when he visited Shanghai last time and saw the Zhonghua Bookstore under renovation in Pangu Shanghai Star.

It would be a shame if such a good bookstore with such excellent assets did not go public to raise funds and enter the overseas market.

But the speaker may not have intended it, while the listener may have taken it to heart. The matter soon spread to the higher-ups, and when the people from the Hong Kong China News Agency found Luo Nianzhong to explain their purpose, they were all stunned.

But since the business has come to my doorstep, I must do such good business.

However, Luo Nianzhong did not take the 5% stake that Zhonghua Bookstore gave for himself, but gave % to the Welch family.

Caroline is a lover of literary books and will definitely like these.

Welch did not engage in excessive politeness because it was unnecessary given the relationship between the two families.

“120 billion RMB, although this valuation is a bit high, it is definitely worth it.

After the financing, Zhonghua Bookstore will focus on developing the European market. We have the international advantage, which is a great advantage for Zhonghua Bookstore."

This is also the reason why the higher-ups are willing to push this matter forward. Li International is the largest publishing group in Europe, and the Luo family is the dominant force in the global media industry.

Through the cooperation between the two parties, the Luo family will increase its media influence, and Zhonghua Bookstore will enter the Western market, which will enable it to better promote and export Chinese culture.

(End of this chapter)