1988: Back to the human world for a few years

Chapter 651 White Card
As an overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia, Chen Bingyi, who has visited many countries and regions, has always felt that Texas is an interesting place, and it is always full of many interesting people.

For example, Lu Yingying in front of us.

Having stayed in Texas for nearly a year, he certainly knew that according to internationally accepted rules, this rustic girl in front of him could definitely be considered a small wealthy woman... Not to mention that she received several salaries and subsidies at the same time, her shares in those companies alone amounted to a very considerable sum.

But she looked no different from an ordinary country girl. She wore the most ordinary, rustic clothes, ate the most down-to-earth pancakes and noodles, and even wore a ridiculously old electronic watch.

He originally thought that this person was deliberately keeping a low profile. After all, there were many wealthy people in the world who liked to keep a low profile, and people in the domestic system were even more particular about this. It was just that the girl in front of him was too low-key and even didn't care about food.

But later I gradually realized that this girl really had no money... To be precise, all her salary subsidies and dividends were used other places, leaving only a small portion in her hands for living expenses.

Well, there are also some wealthy businessmen abroad who like to use the funds in their hands to the fullest extent in the early stages and invest every penny they get. Therefore, although this kind of thing is not common, it cannot be said to be very strange.

However, it would be strange if the money was not used for investment, or in other words, it was not used for investment projects as understood by the world.

However, the girl enjoyed it and never got tired of it.

It was hard for Chen Bingyi to imagine that a de facto wealthy woman, a beautiful young girl who had Yang Mo as her backer, and who even had to take good care of her face in the city, actually liked to run to the countryside every day under the scorching sun, and then spared no effort to do things that seemed ridiculous or even meaningless to him.

Yes, beautiful.

It is not easy for this word to come out of the mind of Chen Bingyi, the second generation of the family who is well-informed.

After all, there is no shortage of beauties in Southeast Asia, and Hong Kong at this time is home to many top beauties.

But he just felt that the girl in front of him was very beautiful... To be more precise, she had a beauty and temperament that was completely different from most young women.

Well, although Tugou is indeed a girl who is pleasing to the eye and has a very good foundation.

However, after nearly three years of wind and sun, not only has her skin become darker and rougher, but her face also has a few traces of the blush unique to northern girls. In addition, her rustic temperament and hands that are not slender and fair, no matter from which aspect, there is a considerable gap between her and the real top beauties.

But Chen Bingyi always felt an indescribable sense of pleasure when he was with this girl.

He couldn't help laughing when he recalled the scene half a year ago when this girl stood on a stool, drinking with a table of young and old men, pounding the table and arguing with them. "Miss Lu, I have asked the chef to re-fry these steaks. Try it and see if it is cooked now?"

Lu Yingying chewed it hard: "Well, it's cooked this time...but it's hard to bite!"

She actually wanted to ask if she could have a scallion. Although the steak was delicious, it always felt a little bland in her mouth. However, when she thought that this was a high-end Western restaurant and it was unlikely to provide such a embarrassing thing, she endured it.

"By the way, Mr. Chen, why did you suddenly invite me to dinner this time? Is there something going on?"

After swallowing the well-fried beef cubes with some difficulty, Tugou glanced at the pink electronic watch on his left wrist and asked.

Northerners are used to being straightforward in many matters, and she has been very busy lately, and the Chen family is an old friend, so she didn't want to beat around the bush.

Chen Bingyi sighed inwardly with some regret. It stands to reason that when dining in a Western restaurant, it is not appropriate to talk about topics that may spoil the mood... such as work.

Isn't it nice to chat about strangers, hobbies, movies or music?
But after spending a year here, he also realized that although Texas has the reputation of being the second center of northern music because of the popularity of Chinese-style pure music overseas, the people here actually have nothing to do with terms such as romance and petty bourgeoisie. Instead, the earthy atmosphere is becoming stronger.

Moreover, although the girl in front of him was just a formal employee of the drilling company, not even a clerk, her work was busier than those section chiefs. Therefore, after getting along with her for some time, he got used to her habit of talking about work every other sentence.

Putting down his knife and fork, Chen Bingyi wiped his mouth politely before answering, "Actually, I invited Miss Lu to dinner today to celebrate the official opening of my restaurant and to try out the chef's cooking skills."

"Secondly, I have some good news to tell Miss Lu."

Chen Bingyi did not keep the other person in suspense, but smiled and said, "Three days later, our Chen Group's investment company in Hong Kong will officially open. This investment company will not only monitor the real-time prices of the global futures market, but also study the development trends and directions of fast-moving consumer goods in Northeast Asia, the mainland, Southeast Asia and other regions."

"In view of the good cooperative relationship between us, after obtaining the family's consent, our Chen Group agrees to share this information with you."

Picking up the wine glass and toasting gently, Chen Bingyi's expression was indescribably calm and calm: "This can be regarded as a small gift from me personally to Miss Lu... I wish your white-label plan can be carried out smoothly."

When Lu Yingying heard this, her eyes widened. She looked at the young man in front of her in disbelief, and her voice was a little out of tune: "Really!?"

It’s no wonder that she lost her composure. The gift from Chen Bingyi was really too important to her.

The so-called "white label" is a concept introduced by Yang Mo to later generations. To put it simply, it is a self-operated brand created by large distributors.

For example, Walmart’s Huiyi, George, and Wojixian; JD.com’s Baxiangshi and Hommy are all white-label brands.

These white-label products are often more likely to be purchased by consumers thanks to the distributors' own reputation, strong quality control, good cost-effectiveness, and good after-sales service... After all, compared to manufacturers who are nowhere to be found, large terminals that are only one step away from consumers are more trustworthy.

Well, this sounds like a practice of “competing with the people for profit”;

In fact, the emergence of white-label products has indeed made it difficult for many manufacturers who lack brand awareness and channel distribution to survive. Some of them may even have to rely on large channel dealers and become OEM manufacturers.

But at the same time, it also has quite a lot of positive effects on governing some industry chaos, and sometimes it is even more useful than the standards and regulations issued above.

Take the most famous Pang Donglai in later generations as an example.

The reason why his white-label "Jiamu Donglai" caused shock and even panic in the entire tea industry is simply because it took advantage of its own brand credibility, directly penetrating the information asymmetry and quality uncontrollability of the entire industry, and using the market siphon effect and information diffusion generated by this credibility, coupled with the benchmark comparison role of its products, step by step forced some tea merchants to abandon their original deceptive and false model...especially Pu'er tea and oolong tea.

As we all know, tea is definitely one of the industries with the least transparent information and the most muddy water among all daily commodities. Even some chaos in the tea industry can be penetrated by Pangdonglai's white label, let alone other industries?
In fact, in addition to tea, beer, gold and silver jewelry, jade, purple clay teapots, and even some OTC drugs show signs of being penetrated by Pang Donglai, but many of them have not become white-label, so the shock to the industry is not that great.

Even so, whenever Pang Donglai doesn’t put a certain type of fresh vegetable on the shelves for a few days in a row, the corresponding agricultural products in the local area and even in several nearby areas will always experience a big or small earthquake, which shows the power of its white-label products. (Although Pang Donglai does not currently sell white-label products in the fresh food field, it is generally accepted by all walks of life that this is the white-label product of Pang Donglai that is not white-label.)
So do you understand? If the traditional product brand is a point, then the white-label products made by large distributors, especially those with a good reputation, are a line or even a surface. If they are really open to doing it, the actual effect may be more exaggerated than most people think.

As a cross-regional distribution brand that is endorsed by Dahua Company and Zuantan No. 1 Company and has in-depth cooperation with supply and marketing systems in various places, is Momobaishou qualified to be a white-label brand if the quality of its products is guaranteed?
Have!
However, if you want to make white-label products, you need to overcome quite a lot of difficulties.

The reason is very simple. After nearly two years of rapid development, the number of terminals of Momobaishou, which adopts the Class A terminal model, has exceeded 80. The number and scale of its outlets have initially qualified it to be a white-label brand. Although its credibility is not as good as that of Walmart in the past and Pangdonglai in later generations, it is barely enough.

however……

To make white-label products, it is not enough to just have good quality and a good reputation.

You also have to make your products meet the needs of consumers in terms of function, appearance, packaging, USP, pricing, etc., and even be at the forefront of trends.

Don't forget, this was the 1990s, a time of rapid social change. If quality could represent everything, the supply and marketing cooperatives across the country would not have almost disappeared from the public's view a few years later.

Therefore, it is very difficult to make white-label products in this era.

The biggest difficulty lies in the lack of information flow, the lagging understanding of industry trends, and the lagging understanding of emerging demands of consumers, especially overseas consumers and coastal consumers who are at the forefront of trends.

So, there is no need to say more about what it means that the Chen Group’s investment company based in Hong Kong is willing to share this cutting-edge information, right?
Seeing Lu Yingying's surprised expression, Chen Bingyi's mood also inexplicably improved.

Of course he knew that the reason why Momobaishou was going to implement the white-label plan despite so many practical difficulties was not just to improve the profitability and competitiveness of the project.

In fact, behind the white-label plan of Mo Mo Baishou are countless small and medium-sized village collective enterprises in the incubation stage, which are based on villagers' groups... Because the cultural level in rural areas of Qilu is not high at that time and the vision is even narrower, the most appropriate method is to combine the actual situation of those villagers, leave enough profit space, and gradually guide them to grow step by step through a high-standard OEM production model.

........................

Tugou raised his fists generously and drank the sour red wine in the glass in one breath: "I am very grateful for this, Mr. Chen. Thank you for this. After I am done with this, I will ask Lao Sun and Lao Yan to set up a table and treat you to a good drink!"

Have a good drink?

Chen Bingyi's eyes couldn't help but twitch.

To be honest, he grew up in Malaysia and really can't drink the strong liquor from Shandong. Last Lantern Festival, he drank a bottle with a bunch of guys from Xialiu Distribution Agency, and they were forced to drink it under the table in less than half an hour. It was a nightmare memory.

Seeing his frightened look, Lu Yingying couldn't help but chuckle a few times, but then she straightened her face and said, "Mr. Chen, although I am very grateful for your help, we have to make it clear in advance that friends should help each other. If it is within my ability, I will definitely help, but if it is beyond my ability, then I can only help you at my wits' end!"

Chen Bingyi was stunned: "Ms. Lu, why don't I understand what you are saying?"

Lu Yingying's expression became a little tangled. After a long pause, she said in a low voice with an awkward look on her face: "Um, Mr. Chen, aren't you an overseas Chinese?"

"Recently, the Guo family's Wilmar International and the Huang family in Java have been making big moves. Even when I met Executive Ye last time, I heard that the fourth son of the Xie family in Thailand also wanted to expand into China."

"Your Chen family is a well-known patriotic overseas Chinese. Mr. Yang and the city also respect you very much. But let's be honest. If you have any questions, just talk to Mayor You and Mr. Yang directly... I'm just a small employee who knows nothing. There's no need for you to go through me for some things, right?"

Guo family?

The Xie family of Thailand?
The fourth son... Xie Guomin? Chen Bingyi was stunned, then he understood something.

I shook my head with a somewhat amused look on my face. So you thought that I invited you to dinner and gave you a big gift because I wanted to ask for your help in making a request!
But on second thought, it’s no wonder that Lu Yingying would misunderstand.

After all, the big families in Southeast Asia have begun to enter the country to grab land. With the momentum of the southern tour speech, the Chen family should not be left out.

After all, although the Chen family cannot compare with super wealthy families like the Guo family, the Huang family, and the Xie family, their strength should not be underestimated.

In addition, the Chen family and Yang Mo have always had a good relationship and have even had several close collaborations. It is reasonable for the Chen family to not sit idly by and watch such a good opportunity.

The most interesting thing is that since Yang Mo invited the Chen and Lin families to settle in Texas last year, in order to express his respect for the patriotic overseas Chinese, he personally said that they were free to participate in all non-sensitive projects... Although the scale and influence of Dahua Company at that time were far less exaggerated than today, the sincerity was full.

But what's interesting is that apart from building a water park in Texas as agreed and investing in a large-scale vending machine production and processing plant, the Chen and Lin families have not made any large-scale investments... This is a normal industrial investment, the kind that will be welcomed wherever it goes, which is equivalent to wasting the promise made by Yang Mo himself.

This confuses many people.

Some people think that the Chen family does not think highly of Texas and thinks there is nothing worth investing in.

But this argument is obviously untenable, not to mention that Dezhou has now surpassed Quancheng and become the fifth largest city in the north exporting to Northeast Asia after the imperial capital, Tianjin, Dalian and Qingdao;
Moreover, if we exclude the three-in-one and mineral raw materials that have large scale but little profit, the ranking will move up by at least two places. It can be said that it is full of gold. The export volume of beer alone exceeded 1000 million US dollars last year (the island country's beer import volume is actually not large, but South Korea is a super beer importer. Since the 90s, the annual beer import volume has never been less than 3 million US dollars), and beer is one of the key industries of the Chen family.

Some people also believe that the Chen family is waiting for a good price. After all, with the establishment of the industrial manufacturing cooperation framework of Shandong, Henan and Hebei, the reconstruction of the North China Chemical Belt, the opening of the Tianjin-Dezhou oil and gas pipeline, and the rapid development of the local chemical industry cluster in Dezhou, Yang Mo’s promise has become more and more valuable - good steel always needs to be spent on the blade!
Obviously, the girl in front of him also thought so... People in Texas are often a bit stubborn, and they have some stereotypes about the second generation of these families. They think that apart from interests, they can't tolerate anything else.

This stereotype has become increasingly solid as a businessman named Huang has been aggressively acquiring shares in and buying up high-quality companies in the country.

As for why Lu Yingying misunderstood that he wanted to ask for something through her...

In fact, the reason is not complicated.

The Dahua Company today is no longer the same as it was a year ago, and Yang Mo's identity and status have also changed dramatically. Although the other party did make a promise before, if he asks for a huge sum like Mr. Huang, Yang Mo will have ten thousand reasons to evade him as long as he doesn't want to admit it... The simplest point is that due to policy reasons, the project library that was originally opened to the Chen and Lin families did not include projects of strategic value such as rubber factories and petrochemical smelting, which are the most valuable things in Texas today.

Therefore, the value of the only childhood friend who could talk to Yang Mo was highlighted at this time.

Rumor has it that Yang Mo has never refused anything that Miss Lu Yingying asked for personally.

Thinking of this, seeing Lu Yingying looking at him with some caution, Chen Bingyi couldn't help but smile bitterly.

After shaking his head, Chen Bingyi caught Tugou secretly glancing at the electronic watch on her left hand again. Knowing that she was very busy at work, he suddenly spoke up: "Actually, I do have something I would like to trouble Miss Lu for help."

Lu Yingying was stunned for a moment, and then her expression became a little nervous: "Mr. Chen, what do you want me to help you with?"

Seeing this, Chen Bingyi smiled and said, "It's too strange to always call me Mr. Chen. How about this, Miss Lu, from now on, call me Mr. Chen in private."

After that, regardless of whether the other party agreed or not, he continued to talk: "Ms. Lu also knows that our Chen Group has invested in a large vending machine production and processing plant in Texas."

"Originally, the vending machines produced by this factory were specifically exported to the island country. The original designed production capacity was 5.8 units per year... The contract signed with the company in the island country also had a similar number."

"However, I must admit that the quality and hard-working spirit of the workers recruited from the grassroots in rural areas in Dezhou really exceeded my imagination. After three months of learning and running-in period, the work efficiency of these workers even exceeded the original design expectations."

"So far, without deliberately reducing the speed of the assembly line, the monthly production capacity of our vending machines has increased to about 5500 units, and the yield rate has increased to 97%... Although this yield rate is still lower than that of foreign counterparts, it is already very high in China, and I believe that as the skills become more sophisticated, there is still room for improvement in this area;"

"So, the problem now is that if the current situation remains unchanged, the number of vending machines that meet the quality standards that we produce each year will exceed 6.5. However, given the behavior of island companies, before we deliver this year's orders on time and in quality, other companies will just wait and see and are unlikely to sign new orders with us."

"So, how to arrange these extra 7000 vending machines has become a headache... After all, there seems to be no habit of using such equipment in China, and if we put them all in the warehouse, it will greatly increase our operating costs."

At this point, Chen Bingyi pretended to be distressed: "So what I want to ask of you is... Everyone says that Miss Lu has a quick mind and knows the situation in various places in Texas very well. How about you help me think of a solution that will not hurt the relationship?"

In fact, with the rapid increase in Texas' per capita GDP and the gradual improvement of Dahua's commercial channels at all levels, it is really easy to solve the problem of excess production capacity of these vending machines.

But the so-called "not to hurt the harmony" simply means that we don't want other units to be taken advantage of, and besides, Tugou students have always been stingy.

Therefore, how to smoothly digest these at least 7000 vending machines while maximizing their comprehensive value is something that requires careful consideration.

So when he heard that what Chen Bingyi wanted to ask of him was this, Tugou breathed a sigh of relief, but he immediately started thinking with his small bag of melon seeds.

Looking at the girl in front of me biting her fork and thinking hard.

Chen Bingyi couldn't help laughing.

For him, thousands of vending machines are not a big deal and there are many ways to solve the problem.

The reason why I entrusted this matter to Lu Yingying...

There is no other way. If I want to stay with this girl who jumps around all day, this is the only way.

………………

An hour later, Lu Yingying walked out of the western restaurant heartlessly, with a silly smile on her face, as if she was extremely proud of having come up with a best of both worlds solution for those thousands of vending machines.

He greeted Chen Bingyi while pushing his bicycle, then got on the bike with a dashing stride. After riding for less than 50 meters, the smile on Tugou's face gradually faded.

She is already 24 years old, and in another half a year, she will be 25.

No matter how noisy she is, she is still a girl after all; at her age, she understands many things that she should understand.

How could she not feel that Chen Bingyi was interested in her?

This young man is very good-looking.
The family background is excellent.

Excellent temperament,

The warm breeze blowing through Nanyang Tuntun also brought out a very good personality.

But so what?
The winter wind in Qi and Lu is bone-chilling.
The hot summer sun in Qi and Lu is also very strong;

No matter how good the warm wind from the South Sea is,
This girl...

dislike!
Thinking of this, Tugou snorted proudly, but a sense of grievance inexplicably surged in his heart.
I don't know why, but my eyes suddenly turned red.

Just when the sourness that came out of nowhere began to invade my eyes.

With a glance, I suddenly saw a familiar figure standing on the side of the road with a smile on his face.

"Eh? Yang Shidan, why are you here?"

Lu Yingying stretched out her eye-catching long legs and stepped on the brakes beautifully.

Suddenly, the second-hand women's bicycle that was bought from somewhere was parked steadily on the side of the road.

Yang Mo, who had just returned from a meeting in the city, looked at her teasingly: "Oh, it's only been over a week since we last met, and you've become darker again... Did you just go on a trip to Africa?"

Lu Yingying jumped off the bike and kicked him angrily: "You just went to Africa for a stroll... Hurry up and pedal!"

Yang Mo patted the dust off his butt and looked at the girl with a puzzled look: "What kind of bike are you riding?"

Tugou looked at him with disdain: "You're here at this hour, and I know you're planning to skip work... Since you have nothing else to do, follow me and carry the things!"

Yang Mo, who was being pushed around, reluctantly got on the women's bicycle and turned around to ask, "What are you carrying? You have to force me to be a soldier."

Tugou sat down on the back seat and rolled his eyes at him. "The projector and rubber rings! I borrowed them from Dezhou TV with great difficulty. They have been doing training in the countryside for a while. I've been listening to you for several days. I have to take a break... We are going to Niujiatun to show a movie tonight. Do you want to go?"

Training in the countryside?

Is it the activity that forces all the young and old in the village to attend classes every day and "actively" learn various skills and knowledge?
Thinking of the tragic experience he had in the classroom when he was young, Yang Mo couldn't help but shudder. He turned his head and looked at the threatening look on the girl's face, then gritted his teeth and said, "Go!"

Upon hearing this, Tugou suddenly became happy. He put his left hand around the guy's waist and waved his right hand vigorously: "Let's go!"

(End of this chapter)