The Birth of Shanghai's First Conglomerate

Chapter 49 Tengying Entertainment
Even after the payment system was discontinued, Chen Pingsheng did not intend to give up his fruit business.

The main thing is that he has already figured this out.

Even if we can't make huge profits through random multiplication in the future, we can still make profits through steady, long-term growth.

However, the plan could not keep up with the changes.

After the recharge promotion was suspended, the previously agreed-upon share allocation plan for management had to be changed.

This is actually quite normal. His decision to grant 49% of the shares to the management team free of charge was based on the recharge event.

This might be hard to understand, but it becomes much easier to understand if you look at it from a different angle.

For example, he invested one million in one of his stores.

Within three months, the process went from attracting customers to generating revenue through opening and customer acquisition.

He completed a cash top-up of three million.

Besides breaking even, this three million also yielded a large profit.

This store, having received millions in prepayments from customers, now has a debt of two to three million.

He can certainly offer free stock options to the management of a store that has already broken even but still has millions in debt.

Without this debt, the store's profits would undoubtedly be many times higher.

The return on investment will naturally be much slower.

In this case, the management can still enjoy 49% of the shares.

It just needs to be purchased at the original investment price.

To this end, Chen Pingsheng even held a special meeting to issue a notice.

Stores that have already topped up their accounts will remain unchanged.

Future fruit stores will not accept prepaid top-ups, and management will need to purchase shares at the original investment price.

However, he considered that most of the management team members were still very young and their family conditions were not very good, so it would be difficult for them to come up with so much money all at once.

It can be deducted from your salary in advance.

In other words, management can pay half upfront and then enjoy their full share of the profits.

The remaining half will be deducted from your salary.

This was the best he could offer his employees.

The business cannot stop operating; once it stops, the career advancement opportunities for employees will also disappear.

This greatly affected employee morale.

The pace of opening new stores will not be as fast in the future; we will add about five to eight stores each month.

Based on their experience in the fruit industry, the stores they open in the future are unlikely to lose money.

The goal for the coming year is to gradually expand from the Fourth Ring Road to the Second Ring Road.

If he were to open one or two hundred fruit stores in Beijing, he would not only accumulate more management experience.

Even Tengsheng Fruit's annual profit will never be less than a small target.

He continues to work slowly toward this goal.

Everything else remains the same; things will continue as before.

From now on, he will probably take out three million from his own pocket each month to open the shop.

The other shareholders at headquarters will contribute another three million, and the store management team will contribute about the same amount.

They'll probably use that money to keep opening stores.

The reason we don't use profit margins is that it's too slow.

Secondly, his wife, Song Yanxi, will be unable to receive any profits from Tengsheng Fruits for a considerable period of time.

The amount of money wasn't much, but it could easily affect her mood.

That's not good.

So he thought about it and decided to take the money out of his own pocket.

A well-run fruit supermarket can operate for decades.

If nothing unexpected happens in the future, it may all end up in Chen An'an's hands.

After finalizing the arrangements for Tengsheng Fruits, Chen Pingsheng decided to formally establish Tengying Entertainment Investment Company in the Second Ring Road area.

Investing in the entertainment industry is like having a golden touch; it's definitely more profitable than investing in fruit that can't be done through recharge.

He's basically just going wherever the money is.

……

October 25th.

After finishing with the Tengsheng Fruit business, Chen Pingsheng officially drove to the Second Ring Road.

Beijing has forty to fifty film and television shooting bases of varying sizes, among which the most famous are the August 1st Film and Television Base, Hengdian World Studios, and Putuo Film and Television City.

Hengdian World Studios, the largest film and television shooting base in China, is located in Zhejiang.

He even took a rideshare fare on his trip.

If we're talking about the hottest startup projects right now, it has to be the internet.

They can easily reach a valuation of tens of billions within a few years. Unfortunately, he can't even figure out how to use a computer, let alone start an internet business.

Just to avoid being eliminated, I should try to make as many connections as possible.

He switched to driving a Mercedes Brabus every day, the one that's a big van.

The main reason was to take care of my pregnant wife. Besides, this is an MPV that costs over two million yuan, and the driving experience is quite good.

As the name suggests, ride-sharing is all about making the most of your journey.

It is very popular among young people and is much cheaper than a regular taxi.

It's about 20 kilometers from Shijingshan to the eastern part of the Second Ring Road.

A normal taxi ride would cost at least 70 or 80 yuan, and if there's traffic, it could easily cost close to 100 yuan.

Ridesharing is different; it's a fixed price of 25 yuan.

Didi is still in its promotional phase, and the platform offers various subsidies.

It only costs a little over ten yuan.

Chen Pingsheng had taken on a few orders before, so he was familiar with these rules.

When he arrived at the passenger's destination and didn't see the girl with the shoulder bag, he took the initiative to call her.

"Hey, I've arrived, where are you?"

"I was right under the tree, but I didn't see your car."

Her voice is quite pleasant; she's probably a young woman.

"A black car with a 'B' badge, it's pretty conspicuous, how come you can't see it?"

"Ah~ are you that big black car with its hazard lights on?"

Bai Xin was stunned for a moment; she was no young girl who had just entered society.

On the contrary, she was a top student at the Beijing Film Academy.

How could such a car possibly be out picking people up? Brabus V-Class is usually the private chauffeur car of top celebrities.

At a glance, you can tell he's a luxury car driver who's secretly out doing private hire.

I just don't know who his boss is.

Bai Xin is as beautiful as her name suggests, fair-skinned and pretty.

She wore a pair of tight light blue jeans and a white jacket over them.

The temperature in Beijing is currently in the teens (Celsius), and you need to wear a jacket when you go out normally.

She didn't sit in the front passenger seat, but in the second row.

Chen Pingsheng asked her, "Girl, are you going to the film studio to shoot a movie?"

"Yes, sir, I already know you're the driver."

Bai Xin blinked her beautiful eyes and said, "Your eyelashes are quite long, and they look rather cute when you blink."

The meaning is clear: don't try to flirt with me, I'm not going to fall for a driver.

Chen Pingsheng said awkwardly, "Miss, don't misunderstand. I'm also a part-time entertainer. Maybe we're in the same industry."

"Are you also in the entertainment industry?"

Bai Xin's eyes lit up. "Your boss isn't some big celebrity, is he?"

"Zhao Liying, have you heard of her?"

"Her?" Bai Xin asked in surprise. "Your boss is Zhao Liying? That shouldn't be the case. She's been playing minor roles for several years, and it seems she only found a big investor to invest in her and become the lead actress this year. However, the low-budget TV series she filmed before was a great success after it aired on a local TV station."

"It's a pity that the local TV station has too little influence. If she were on a high-rated TV station like Hunan TV or Beijing TV, she might have become an overnight sensation. But right now she's filming the female-centric drama 'Legend of Lu Zhen'."

As expected, she's from the entertainment industry.

"Uncle, since you're her driver, you should know the sugar daddy behind her, right?"

Bai Xin asked with some curiosity, and Chen Pingsheng smiled faintly: "What, you also want to get him to invest?"

"No way, I just heard that her sugar daddy is an outsider, and he has a good reputation for investing. At least he doesn't sleep with the leading lady after investing money like some other people do."

Chen Pingsheng asked curiously, "In your line of work, is it that you can sleep as long as you put in money?"

Bai Xin shook her head: "No, not really. At least some roles are not suitable. Those are roles that can guarantee viewership ratings. If you can't guarantee making money and you don't put in some effort, why should you be the lead actor?"

"Uncle, although the entertainment industry is full of beautiful women, don't be envious. It's not an easy place to make it."

Bai Xin may seem a bit cold, but once she starts talking, she's like a chatterbox.

We can chat about anything and everything.

She was at the Beijing Film Academy, so she heard a lot of gossip about the entertainment industry.

In the entertainment industry, it's not just beautiful women who are subjected to unspoken rules; even incredibly handsome male celebrities are not immune.

The main reason is that many big names in the industry have niche preferences.

With the resources poured in by those big shots, many male celebrities inevitably had their private parts violated.

Chen Pingsheng felt a chill run down his spine upon hearing this, and secretly sighed, "The entertainment industry is a deep and murky place."

(End of this chapter)