1988: Back to the human world for a few years

Chapter 351 Yang Mo's Small Team
To be honest, Dezhou in the 1980s and 1990s was not a place with interesting living. During holidays, if you didn’t have the courage to walk into the department store, then probably only the Children’s Playground and Xinhu Park were worth visiting... In fact, this is also one of the main reasons why Commercial Street 1, which does not have an advantageous geographical location, is so popular.

However, for those who work on Commercial Street, going into the city to relax every weekend is a good choice.

Xinhu Park, Mingyue Bridge, under the shade of a tree at the corner.

A few people who looked like ordinary tourists out for an outing were sitting on the grass, attracting the attention of passers-by.

This is not to say that these people sitting on the lawn violated any public order and good morals. In these days, there has never been such a saying as "forbidden to trample on the lawn" in Qi and Lu. Moreover, Xinhu Park is one of the must-go places for Texans to go for an outing, and there are many small mats on the lawns everywhere.

The reason why these people are so eye-catching is that the snacks they put on their small mats are really novel. Seven out of ten of them have never been seen before, and the packaging is extremely fashionable.

Secondly, the images of these people were too outstanding. The men had a calm temperament and serious expressions, and the aura of a leading cadre could be smelled from ten meters away. The two young girls were even more outstanding in appearance, and their invincible youthfulness and charm directly suppressed all the female creatures in the park.

In short, anyone who sees such a strange combination will inevitably take a few more glances. If it weren't for the temperament of this group of people, there would probably be a lot of people stopping by and secretly watching for various reasons.

………………

Qin Xin naturally felt uncomfortable as he was constantly being stared at like a monkey.

But there is no way. As the core backbone of Yang Mo's faction, they have been too busy recently, so busy that they can't even guarantee six hours of sleep.

But as the helmsman, Yang Mo rarely participates in the specific work. However, there are obviously dozens of large-scale projects that need to be promoted. However, he forces his subordinates to strictly follow the national regulations, work six days a week and rest one day, and absolutely no overtime is allowed on weekends.

They even put it in a nice way: there is no end to work, don't confuse work with life, it will not be worth it if you ruin your health.

Although I am grateful that this guy doesn't treat his subordinates like mules, but at this moment when every second counts, how can they, the backbones who are responsible for the success or failure of several or even dozens of projects, really have the mood to rest?
So there was no other way. Since their boss had given the order and working overtime in the Dahua Industrial Park would easily be discovered, they could only move the temporary meeting place to Xinhu Park in the name of a spring outing... They were all colleagues and comrades-in-arms, so there was nothing wrong with getting together for an outing, right?
Sighing helplessly, Qin Xin picked up a box from the mat and distributed a bunch of colorful candies: "According to Boss Yang's plan, relying on the first commercial street and the commodity trading market, Dezhou needs to try to make industrial breakthroughs in cotton textiles, Chinese patent medicines, and semiconductor accessories; while Lanling, which lacks minerals and large state-owned enterprises, needs to try to make industrial breakthroughs in food processing, medicine, and small commodity wholesale... Especially Lanling's food processing industry is the focus of opening up the rural-urban industrial connection there."

"Although we have a direction, there are indeed considerable difficulties in implementing it."

"What you have in your hands is the purple candy produced by Lanling according to Boss Yang's original suggestion. However, the performance of this project in the C-end market of Commercial Street 1 is not good. When we contacted investors later, they were also very hesitant. Although they did not directly refuse, their interest in this project has become less and less after several subsequent contacts."

"So everyone should try it and give some suggestions for improvement, and strive to make this product perform better in the C-end verification market of Commercial Street 1 after adjustment, so as to promote the implementation of related investments."

As the deputy section chief of Momo Baitou, Qin Xin, a section-level cadre, naturally took on the responsibility of hosting this informal meeting. Although Yan Laoxi, Sun Jian, Tugou and others who attended the meeting might have a higher status than him in Yang Mo's mind, they still had to be formal in occasions like this.

The others nodded when they heard this, peeled the candies in their hands without any hesitation, put them into their mouths and tasted them carefully.

The role of Commercial District 1 has now begun to emerge. Anyone who can pass the test in this C-end market, with it as the core, can at least gain recognition from consumers in other areas within a 500-kilometer radius... This is the conclusion reached by many investors after multiple market surveys after obtaining samples.

Don’t underestimate the radiation range of just 500 kilometers. Today is not the unified market of later generations, and there is still some time before the information age. It is already a remarkable thing for a product to verify its market suitability within a radius of 500 kilometers without paying high sunk costs and opportunity costs.

Therefore, the investors who have gathered in the commercial demonstration zone have basically reached a consensus on the fast-moving consumer goods sector: "Don't invest in products that cannot be sold well in the first commercial zone."

Therefore, instead of spending a lot of energy on public relations to persuade those investors, it is more direct and effective to improve and adjust the products so that they can achieve results in the first commercial area.

"Sweet, too sweet, so sweet that it makes me choke!"

Student Tugou was the first to express his opinion with a bitter face.

To be fair, purple candy is essentially similar to peanut crisps in later generations, except that it has some nuts such as hazelnuts added to it and a layer of chocolate on the outside. It can be considered a candy that is easily loved by women.

But the problem is that this purple candy is too sweet, so sweet that even a greedy cat like Lu Yingying, who secretly hides malt candy in her bed all day long, can't stand it.

"Yes, it's too sweet. I personally think that this level has exceeded the upper limit of what women in most regions of the country can accept... This directly limits the audience!"

"Also, the peanuts and hazelnuts are not crispy enough and are too hard. I personally think that when processing, these nuts should be fried until crisper, so that the taste will be better... I suggest that you lower the sweetness and increase the crispness of the nuts, produce some samples for free and test the reaction of consumers."

Sun Jian nodded, indicating that he agreed with Tugou's opinion.

Yan Laoxi, who was frowning at the sweetness, said nothing and carefully looked at the ingredients on the package. After a while, he said, "Qilu is rich in peanuts, so using peanuts as the main filling nut can effectively reduce costs and benefit the entire peanut industry. However, Qilu does not produce hazelnuts or cocoa... The combined proportion of these two raw materials exceeds 30%, which will not only greatly increase costs, but also make the selling price so high that most people hesitate, thereby reducing the circulation of the product."

Perhaps it is because different people value different things. In Yan Laoxi's mind, liquidity is always the first priority, which is directly related to whether the upstream industrial chain can be revitalized and whether rural people can subsidize their household income by expanding the planting of cash crops.

Therefore, he gave the following advice: "I suggest removing the outer layer of chocolate. After all, as far as I know, the current domestic cocoa butter substitute technology is not mature and the taste is offensive. If we want to maintain our reputation, these chocolates must be imported from abroad at the cost of foreign exchange. This will not only increase the cost, but also increase the burden on the country."

After a pause, Yan Laoxi continued, "In fact, I suggest that the manufacturers in Lanling remove the hazelnuts that have no cost advantage and only use peanuts and maltose as raw materials. This way, the cost and selling price can be reduced by at least half... Qilu is also a major wheat producing area, and there is no shortage of maltose. In addition, some raw material supporting industries can be developed at the grassroots level in rural areas."

Qin Xin frowned. Although the plan proposed by Yan Laoxi was indeed feasible and did bring into play the raw material advantages of Qilu, it would just be another product.

Just as he was hesitating whether to try both methods at the same time, his disciple Bai Mengmeng, who had been tasting the food with his eyes closed, suddenly said, "I think you probably misunderstood my master's meaning... I feel like this thing is not prepared for China at all."

As he spoke, facing everyone's surprised gazes, Bai Mengmeng rummaged through the bag beside him for a while, then took out two candies with strong exotic packaging, and placed them on the small mat: "There are only two left, share them."

Li Jun looked at the familiar packaging, took one in front of him with some surprise, and read the Russian words on it: "Huh? Is it Alioka from Red October?"

Red October?

Alyka?
The others looked at the eye-catching doll head on the packaging with some confusion.

Li Jun explained, "Red October is a very famous candy manufacturer in the Bear Country with a history of more than 100 years. Almost every Bear countryman grew up eating Red October candy. It is no exaggeration to say that it is the maker and guide of the candy flavor rules in the Bear Country. "

"Alyoka is a chocolate candy launched by Red October in the 60s. The name comes from the little girl on the package... It is said that the little girl is Gagarin's daughter, so it was wildly sought after by the entire population of the Bear Country as soon as it was launched."

After briefly introducing the origin of the candy in his hand, Li Jun looked at Bai Mengmeng with some uncertainty: "Assistant Bai, these two pieces of chocolate candies are... given to you by Section Chief Yang?" After being reminded by Li Jun, everyone reacted and looked at Bai Mengmeng in unison.

Bai Mengmeng looked at Tugou with a guilty look on his face. "Well, this is what Master put in the cabinet in his office. There are several boxes... He doesn't usually eat candy, so he obviously bought them just for samples, so when I was hungry, I took a few... Just don't take all of them."

There are a lot of confidential documents in Yang Mo's office, so he usually doesn't let people from the administrative department come in to clean it. Instead, he lets his own apprentice sort it out.

Since they are master and apprentice, and Yang Mo is a lazy person, Bai Mengmeng naturally gets along with her master very casually. Therefore, it is normal for her to open her master's cabinet when she is hungry and dig some snacks out of it... Anyway, Yang Mo has backup keys for most of his cabinets, and as long as she doesn't eat all the samples, Yang Mo will never let his little apprentice rummage through the cabinets in front of him.

When everyone heard this, they suddenly realized what was going on. They all knew that Yang Mo was not interested in snacks and alcohol. Since he had specially placed several boxes of chocolates from the Bear Country in the cabinet as samples, the intention was naturally obvious.

"What I mean is that the main purpose of the purple candy produced by Lanling is actually to be exported to the Bear Country. However, for some reasons, Boss Yang is not willing to let those investors know about this now?"

Qin Xin touched his chin, then immediately broke off a small piece of Alyoka and put it in his mouth.

Sure enough, the same amount of crushed peanuts, the same amount of hazelnuts, and the same choking sweetness.

Bai Mengmeng nodded: "Although my master didn't specifically mention this, I think it should be so, otherwise he wouldn't have bought a few boxes of Red October samples as a taste benchmark... We don't know anything about the Bear Country, so copying is undoubtedly the wisest choice in the early stage."

This was actually a project prepared for Miss Mu. Those investors were simply trying to attract investment to expand production. However, the preset scale of this project was a little high, reaching 740 million. It was a big burden for Yang Mo, whose funds were already tight, so he wanted to try to find a sucker to pay.

Everyone guessed Yang Mo's plan at once.

The trade between China and the Bear Country has been going on for several years. They naturally know that it may be easy for China's traders to pull various materials over to sell in small quantities, but it is far from easy to obtain a trade line with a stable and continuous supply. If investors know that this purple candy project mainly follows the route of foreign trade with the Bear Country and it is difficult to obtain additional resources, they will naturally be even less interested.

Well! It was all in vain. This is obviously a self-funded project... at least it was a self-funded project in the early stages.

After complaining about Yang Mo, Qin Xin was a little worried: "The situation in the Bear Country is getting worse and worse this year. I heard that the people's livelihood and economy there are in a mess. This can be seen from the increasingly cheap goods sold by those dealers... If all the chocolates are made from natural cocoa powder, the cost of this purple candy is not low. Can it really be sold there?"

The dog classmate who had been choking and had been pouring water into his mouth continued: "Don't worry about that. Yang Mo said that it's very cold in the Bear Country. The hotter the product, the more popular it is. In addition to vodka and vegetables, things like candy are also semi-essential products there...Sugar is very addictive. Once the body becomes dependent on it, the taste will only become stronger and stronger. It's not so easy to quit sugar. This is why this purple candy is so sweet that it makes you choke. If you're not sweet enough, people won't like it."

"Although the cost and price of this purple candy are a bit high for us, it is not expensive for the people of Bear Country... At least it is much cheaper than the same kind of candy from Red October. After all, there is a huge gap in income levels between the people of the two countries."

"So, when their domestic economy is already in great trouble, there is suddenly a national-grade candy substitute product with similar taste but much lower price. If things go as expected, this purple candy should easily seize the low-end and mid-end market in the bear country... And it is not in the form of raw material/OEM export, but it is possible to seize it in the form of self-owned/cooperative brands, and gradually develop it into a long-term brand. Everyone should know the huge difference between these two."

At this point, Lv Yingying emphasized: "Yang Mo once said that among the three strategic elements, the factor of timing is the most important and the most difficult to encounter. Right now, the livelihood and economic circulation of the Bear Country is almost stagnant, which means that theoretically, all categories of goods in their country can be replaced in this tide of consumption downgrade;"

"Of course, theory is just theory. Given the actual situation between the two countries, it is obviously impossible to really do it. But in some non-sensitive areas, it is obviously possible to try to make a substitute... And the candy industry, after Yang Mo's evaluation, is obviously considered worthy of a try."

After a pause, Tugou looked at everyone and said, "Although the purple candy project can be turned into self-investment after the second quarter revenue of Qingfeng Food and Laoliu Chicken Breeding Institute arrives, there is a gap of two months in between. If the project launch and production stages are taken into account, the time gap will be extended to more than half a year."

"However, time waits for no one. No one knows what the situation in Bear Country will be like in half a year, whether economic circulation will return to normal, and whether the candy market will be taken over by other substitute products... In other words, the opportunity is fleeting. This seemingly insignificant two-month time difference may very well become the key to competing for Bear Country's candy substitute market!"

"So I propose..."

Lv Yingying took a deep breath and her eyes became determined: "I suggest that, just like the previous edible rose planting project, since no external investors are interested in this project for the time being, why don't we mobilize the masses and try to rely on existing resources to get each village, or even other units with good cooperative relations, to invest in and incubate this project!"

"As for the improvement plan proposed by Mr. Yan, I think it can be tried. However, unlike the purple candy, I personally think that the improved product can be tried in the domestic market, so it is not impossible to use it to attract social capital... But no matter what, after the improvement plan is optimized by the technical staff, it will be put on Commercial Street to test the consumer response first."

As soon as these words came out, a gleam of light flashed in everyone's eyes.

Yes, why not let everyone raise funds and incubate this project on their own, just like the 3,000-acre Pingyin rose planting project?
You know, the project with a target of 1200 million yuan, after being transformed into a self-raised incubation project, the actual funds required were reduced by more than half. Relying on Yang Mo's resource docking capabilities, it only needs the funds accumulated in the early stage of a dozen villages to start it up. The efficiency of this incubation model is simply incomparable to the current mainstream investment model.

You have to know that in the past six months, Yang Mo and his group have directly or indirectly cooperated with hundreds of villages in Dezhou and Lanling, and there are more than a dozen villages that have the ability to raise more than 40 yuan.
The most crucial thing is that even though nearly half of the villages with a mass base are still unable to raise enough funds on their own, in the past year, many local units in Linyi have made money relying on a series of actions of the drilling company. As long as we give a greeting here, those units may rush to send money over!

Thinking of this, everyone became happy.

I was wondering why Boss Yang never took Dahua Company's financial control seriously after the commercial demonstration zone was established. After all this fuss, there are treasures all around him... If it weren't for the agreement with the DZ city's competent authorities, and the need to open up channel resources across the country, if it was simply to start the project, he could have done it with just this set of retro methods.

Everyone knows that Tugou has a unique relationship with Yang Mo, and that Tugou is also the first person to receive Yang Mo's selfless teaching. Therefore, everyone only thinks that this resource integration incubation model was taught to Tugou by Yang Mo. However, they did not expect that this method, which actually has a sense of history, was actually figured out by Lu Yingying herself.

Seeing that it was meaningless for everyone, Tugou did not explain that this method actually had nothing to do with Yang Mo. He just took out a notebook to record the project, then raised his hand, indicating that Qin Xin would continue to the next project topic.

Qin Xin did not shirk his responsibility and picked up another item from the small mat: "The next project, like the previous purple candy, is also a food project in Lanling. The [Feng Gao] that you see now is a snack originally created in Yishui County. In the past 100 years, it has received quite good market response in Quancheng, Lanling, Qingdao, Tianjin, and even the imperial capital. However, how to transform it from a snack product that is made and eaten immediately into a fast-moving consumer product that can be circulated is currently facing obstacles to market commercialization... After all, if Feng Gao is to be sold as a chain of stalls, the execution and management difficulties are extremely high, and it also has no moat at all. Only when the product is commercialized and circulated can this project be worth investing in."

"So, unlike the purple candy just now, investors are optimistic about the Fenggao product, but they have concerns about its commercialization and improvement form... The investor has expressed his opinion that as long as this problem can be solved, he will immediately sign the contract with a total investment of 320 million."

Looking at the stick-shaped object fried with glutinous rice flour and covered with a layer of maltose that Qin Xin distributed to everyone, everyone quickly began to think about it.

Bai Mengmeng took the already cold Fenggao and looked at it, then picked up the square-shaped "first generation improved product" wrapped in red paper, which was the same as the traditional pastry. She gently bit the still soft Yishui delicacy, opened the red paper and tasted the improved product, which did not lose much flavor.
The young apprentice looked at the maltose sticking all over the red paper thoughtfully, and after reaching out to touch the maltose that was stuck on his hand...

"Well... I have an immature idea here."

Although Bai Mengmeng was timid in front of his master, like an elementary school student who knew nothing, he was very confident in front of outsiders.

Oh?
Any ideas?

Everyone turned their eyes to look over, full of expectations for this little girl who had been studying with Yang Mo for half a year...

(End of this chapter)