The Birth of Shanghai's First Conglomerate

Chapter 63 Hot Pot Restaurant

Time flies.

It’s mid-November in the blink of an eye.

This was another day for Tengsheng Fruits to distribute dividends, because they had held a large-scale recharge event in October.

The profit from this month's distribution is particularly high.

Of that, 9.6 million ended up in Song Yanxi's personal pocket.

By the time it came to Zhang Tao and Liu Jing, they each had over a million in their pockets.

It's a pity that the recharge event was stopped in mid-October, otherwise it would definitely have reached more than ten million.

Song Yanxi felt much relieved, as she already had little savings left after buying a house for Zhao Liying.

Now that nearly ten million has suddenly been allocated to my husband, I must reward him with a big gift.

The spendthrift woman secretly bought him a watch.

Her family didn't usually do these things; she only started to learn about them after opening a high-end beauty salon.

Besides cars and houses, watches are also a standard accessory for wealthy families.

This time, I bought him a Patek Philippe Nautilus.

It costs over 800,000.

Chen Pingsheng felt uncomfortable wearing it on his wrist; this was a small apartment of about 200 square meters in Shacheng.

"When did you start researching these luxury goods?"

After everyone had divided the money in the headquarters office, they held a small meeting the next day.

"I can't afford to research airplanes and yachts, but these watches are what you should have received. You can't be missing a single one."

Song Yanxi didn't buy it herself; she still wears the Longines watch that costs over 10,000 yuan.

She felt it was already pretty good.

Her husband gives her all the profits from the fruit shop every month. Besides investing in real estate, he spends most of it on buying her gifts.

Chen Pingsheng didn't pay much attention to these things and instead said, "Everyone can still get a large share this month, but starting next month, that will definitely be gone. From now on, we can only rely on hard work."

"That's fine too."

Song Yanxi said, "The profit margin was already quite high after the price increase of fruit. In addition, our business is good, the turnover rate is high, and the loss has been completely reduced. We can still live comfortably every month based on the profit."

"That's good."

Chen Pingsheng said with a smile, "The Legend of Lu Zhen that I invested in has finished filming and is now in the final editing stage. It is expected to be broadcast on local TV stations next year. If it can be broadcast on Hunan TV, then Zhao Liying, whom we invested in, will definitely see her value rise."

"I'll call her over to give Tengsheng Fruits a free advertisement, and then have her go to Shuiyunjian for a few treatments. That way, the brands of Tengsheng Fruits and Shuiyunjian will be fully established in Beijing."

Song Yanxi's eyes lit up. "Honey, should I start preparing in advance?"

“You can definitely start preparing now.”

Chen Pingsheng said, "Let's open one in the Second Ring Road too. Don't be afraid of a big investment. With beauty products, if a product costs a thousand yuan, it can sell for a hundred thousand yuan. I really can't imagine how it could possibly lose money under such a huge celebrity effect."

High-end beauty services are undoubtedly extremely profitable.

Each project costs several thousand dollars. The costs are just a small fee for the beautician's work, the cost of the products, and the management's salary.

If he can't grasp this kind of highly profitable cash flow industry, then he'll be a complete failure.

Song Yanxi is eager to try; this is the advantage of being rich.

Even before the first Shuiyunjian had started to turn a profit, they dared to invest in the second one.

It's just a loss of about a million in the early stages, there's no pressure at all.

On the contrary, such a store is doing well.

Annual profits will not be less than ten million, and some can reach forty or fifty million.

His wife has money in her pocket, so why not spend it all to prepare for the future?

"Old Chen, you're planning to expand the beauty business, what about our fruit business?"

Zhang Tao asked curiously as well.

Chen Pingsheng explained, "I also suggest that you expand to the Second Ring Road as soon as possible. I'm not kidding. I have a feeling that Xiao Zhao will become a big star after the broadcast of 'Legend of Lu Zhen,' and my Tencent Entertainment will further deepen its influence in the entertainment industry."

"The reason I didn't mention this to you is mainly because I'm afraid you won't have enough funds, and also because the funds for the store management staff won't be enough."

This is true.

It's easy to push it over; fruit supermarkets aren't a high-barrier-to-entry industry.

You can open one if you have money.

If we calculate based on 20 companies, with an average investment of 1.5 million per company, that would amount to 30 million.

After distributing half of his shares to the on-site management, Chen Pingsheng now actually only owns 26% of the company.

Zhang Tao and Liu Jing also received a 50% discount.

It's not a big problem for these people to come up with the money; the real problem is that the store management can't come up with the investment. If they don't invest, the store's management standards will plummet.

Fruit shops are a cash flow business.

Chen Pingsheng doesn't plan to pursue a capital-driven model; he always wants to keep a few assets that can consistently generate stable profits.

It's good to have more options for the future.

This applies to Tengsheng Fruits, and it also applies to Shuiyunjian Beauty.

Therefore, instead of rushing into large-scale expansion.

It's better to operate steadily and methodically.

Opening five to ten fruit supermarkets every month is not a problem at all, and management will not be disrupted as a result.

He can now focus on running the hot pot restaurant and Tencent Entertainment with peace of mind.

No rush, no rush.

Everything must be done according to plan; only by being steady can we achieve rapid development.

Prudence should be the top priority.

We must not emulate Jia Huiji.

Zhang Tao and Liu Jing aren't short of money anymore. Gao Hu has been back in Shacheng for half a month, and the two of them have been asking about his situation.

Chen Pingsheng knows this very well.

"He just sold those two shops the day before yesterday for about 1.8 million yuan. They should be here in the next couple of days."

"Old Chen, where are you planning to open your hot pot restaurant first?"

"Of course it's still in Shijingshan, this is our base camp."

Chen Pingsheng said, "The location has been chosen. We're just waiting for him to come so we can discuss the specifics of the renovation. The investment for a single hot pot restaurant will be around two million. The location will either be in a large shopping mall or on a prime street."

"I plan to invest ten million to open five stores before the end of the year."

"So fast?" Zhang Tao was a little surprised.

Chen Pingsheng laughed and said, "Things are different now, brothers. If we're slow and sluggish when we start a hot pot restaurant, how are we going to make big money in the future?"

"This is just the investment plan for this year. If things go smoothly next year, the hot pot restaurant will need to invest at least another 100 million yuan."

I was originally considering investing, but now that I hear it's completely unprofitable.

With the little money they have, how can they undertake such a big project? They can't possibly ask Lao Chen to advance the funds for them.

The fruit supermarket is okay, but the hot pot restaurant is definitely not.

Suppressing their ulterior motives, the two decided without hesitation to abandon the idea of investing.

Their main business is to honestly run Tengsheng Fruit well.

Don't be greedy for other things.

You have to admit you don't have Old Chen's business acumen.

Their terrifying management skills are slowly becoming apparent; look how well they manage to run so many things now.

This is what they don't know...and have to admit it.

Less than two days later, Gao Hu, that show-off, arrived with a large group of men.

They are all the elites in his store.

The original cast and crew were brought directly to the capital.

Chen Pingsheng, of course, greeted them warmly, and for this reason, he had to stock up on several apartments in Shijingshan to serve as employee dormitories.

The matter of buying a house was naturally left to Song Yanxi.

He allocated ten million yuan to buy four sets at once.

It's just right for a few dozen people.

The flamboyant Gao Hu had just made a small fortune by selling his shop, but before he could even show it off, he was dealt a crushing blow.

Look, this is my brother who grew up wearing the same pair of pants as me.

They don't even rent out employee dormitories; they just buy four fully furnished apartments, each over 100 square meters.

What does it mean to be arrogant and domineering?

That's it.

Actually, Chen Pingsheng was just doing this as a precaution.

Even if the hot pot restaurant doesn't do well, they still have to make money from the employee dormitory.

They're incredibly shrewd, they just don't say it outright.

So as not to affect morale.