Brilliant Years 1991

Chapter 165 This Deal Is Not Easy

The next morning, Cao Yukun called in advance to make an appointment and then rushed to the Bank of China Building.

No matter whether he is willing or not, admits it or not, he is Chinese capital, and Jin Zhijian is now the big brother and leader of Chinese capital. There is no harm in dealing with him more. What's more, since they met, on the one hand, Jin Zhijian values ​​Cao Yukun very much and takes good care of him, and on the other hand, Cao Yukun doesn't mind hugging his big thick legs at all.

In this case, even if you don't need any help, it is the right thing for the younger brother to check in and say hello to the big brother before taking any action - so that you can ask for help if you encounter difficulties in the future.

In fact, Jin Zhijian was obviously very happy about the fact that Cao Yukun came to his office almost every week - he really admired Cao Yukun, a young man who graduated from a high school in the mainland and dared to come to Hongkong to start a business, and he did a lot of cool things and succeeded in one go, so he was willing to promote him.

The key is that Cao Yukun is a very good person and knows how to do things. You will always feel that when he has nothing to do, he is very close to you. Sometimes he even acts like one of his own children or nephews and will act like a spoiled child to you. But once you ask him something, he will take it very seriously and respect your opinions - in short, he is very considerate!
Much more caring than one’s own children.

However, he was very happy to come here. Jin Zhijian was even willing to put his work aside and sit there to chat with him. But when he suddenly heard about Aijia Electric Appliances, he sat up straight and reminded him, "This company is finished. No one is willing to take over now. If you want to take over, it will be a mess. And the key is that its products are outdated and can't be sold!"

Well, rice cookers certainly have great potential for further improvement and technological upgrades, but the problem is, they are just something that cooks rice, so how much of a qualitative improvement can they achieve by further upgrading?
And in the low-end market, are your advanced technologies really needed?

Be it Jin Zhijian or the current Hongkong business community, of course they are looking at its performance in the Hongkong market, but to be honest, Cao Yukun firmly believes that the fact that Aijia Electric's products cannot be sold in the Hongkong market is not really a problem with the products themselves. To be frank, it is more to blame Aijia Electric for making their products too durable. People buy them home and use them for ten years without breaking down. How can they be replaced?
If we don’t change, where will the sales come from?

It would be strange if he could make money just by selling a little to Southeast Asia, and he didn't do any serious marketing or branding himself. He just relied on local merchants to wholesale some and sold it locally as a miscellaneous brand. If I hadn't come to Hongkong to open up the market for my drinks, wouldn't I only be able to sell orange soda all day long in the area near Fuping County?
Change your thinking, change the battlefield, and it will still be a good thing!
If I can make money by selling beverages produced in the mainland to Hongkong, I can also make money by shipping the "brand-name products" produced in Hongkong back to the mainland - or even make more money.

"Please help me, Brother Zhijian, I'm really interested!"

"Want to ship it to the mainland to sell?"

"Hahaha, Brother Zhijian really saw through my little thoughts at once! Yes!"

"No, Akun, this company's products can't beat Fuso's products at all! In the field of electronics and electrical appliances, we have to admit that Fuso is still powerful, the world's number one, and you are on the right track by making beverages! If you want to make food or something, I won't say a word and will definitely support you! We have an advantage in light industry. But if you want to make electronics and electrical appliances, the gap is really too big, we can't win!"

"We have to give it a try! You know, Brother Zhijian, I'm best at marketing and selling things! I don't ask for much. Even if I work for a few years and can revitalize the assets of this company, I can still make a profit by reselling it!"

"Oh, you young people are really...Okay, okay, I'll call HSBC...ha, I'll introduce someone to him to take over this mess. He will be so happy and will thank me!" "That's great, thank you too!"

In front of Cao Yukun, Jin Zhijian directly called HSBC Bank. Sure enough, when they heard that someone on the other side of the bank was interested in Aijia Electric Appliances, they immediately said they were willing to talk.

After hanging up the phone, Jin Zhijian said to Cao Yukun helplessly: "Well, young man, go and give it a try. Go directly to HSBC's boss. He must be worried about this matter right now! A mess worth one or two hundred million!"

So Cao Yukun thanked him obediently, went out and went straight to HSBC, and then, without much effort, he met the so-called "boss" of HSBC, Pu Weishi, at the headquarters building of HSBC.

An old Scottish man who looked to be around sixty years old.

Cao Yukun had heard many rumors about him a long time ago - for example, his attitude towards the mainland was not friendly, and he was not even friendly towards Hong Kong and Chinese capital in the red sky.

For example, this spring, he angrily denounced the mainland's Yangcheng government in an interview. He had personally gone to Yangcheng to collect debts and demanded that Yangcheng pay off the money it owed to HSBC, but was rejected. He was naturally angry when he heard this rejection coming from his own mouth, which triggered another round of panic among local British and Hong Kong investors.

According to him, the prefect of Yangcheng, Li, said that as long as you agree to three conditions, he will give you all the money within three days: first, HSBC is not allowed to do business in Yangcheng in the future; second, no unit in Yangcheng is allowed to borrow money from HSBC; third, if anyone from HSBC comes to Yangcheng or passes through Yangcheng in the future, the Yangcheng government will send people to "protect" them throughout the journey!
Theoretically speaking, this is indeed a bit of a cheating move, because the mainland government is really poor, and it is estimated that they were forced into a desperate situation by Pu Weishi, and they really cannot come up with the money to repay their debts, so they made such harsh remarks.

Although Pu Weishi had to give in in the end and agreed to the Guangzhou government to pay the money back slowly, the interview transcript he gave to a British media after returning to Hong Kong did indeed slander the mainland again.

His approach on this point was exactly the opposite of that of his predecessor, Sir Stephen Smith, who was probably the most famous boss in the history of HSBC. Stephen Smith was famously friendly to Hong Kong and Chinese capital, and during his tenure as boss of HSBC, he led the large-scale withdrawal of British capital, which actually did help support Hong Kong capital, eventually making the latter bigger and gradually becoming the dominant force in the Hong Kong business community.

Perhaps it is for this reason that his successor had to "overcorrect"!

However, business must be done.

No matter how difficult it is to deal with someone, you still have to deal with them.

(End of this chapter)