The Red Era: Starting from a Truck Driver

Chapter 327: The Not-So-Simple Manager Zheng

After staying in a hotel near Tsinghua University for two days, Jiang Zhaozhao and her classmates packed their things. Jiang Cheng bought sleeper train tickets for everyone back to Changcheng.

Jiang Cheng and Zhou Lingying drove back, after all, they drove here. When they slowly drove back to Changcheng, Jiang Zhaozhao had already started working with his classmates.

The previous Director Liu could only say that he was born at the wrong time, and when he wanted to expand, he did not get Jiang Cheng's support. Now Jiang Cheng's daughter is in charge, although she was only the deputy director at the beginning, but Director Liu understands his responsibilities. He is still the director now, but he is just slowly handing over the management rights of the factory to Jiang Zhaozhao.

Although Director Liu had intended to continue expanding, his goal was the local market and surrounding markets. He had never thought about brand management, and his goal was to expand nationwide.

Director Liu, who does not have a professional background in economics and management, cannot keep up with the pace of the new era.

Jiang Zhaozhao served as deputy factory director, and her classmates also took up positions in cadre management. The first thing they did was to add departments, recruit employees, and rename the soy sauce factory and design a trademark logo.

When Jiang Cheng came back, Jiang Zhaozhao and her classmates came up with a lot of names and wanted him to decide which one to use. Jiang Cheng has trouble naming, otherwise he wouldn't have chosen his children's names so hastily.

The name of the company is also borrowed from a certain company in later generations, and its products are not subdivided by brand name. Unlike those companies that produce bottled water and beverages in later generations, each product has a name. Each product will be created with an independent brand.

Jiang Cheng has no talent for business, and he became rich by borrowing some information from later generations. Under normal business conditions, he can only take the lead at most. He may not be able to compete with those brands that have appeared in history.

Just like running a bottled water business, Jiang Cheng knew that he could make money by selling water in the future. Even if he didn't sell it himself, it would be good to occupy a high-quality water source and provide it for his family to use.

However, Jiang Cheng does not have the ability to develop bottled water and set up an internal sales system.

The mineral water he produced became famous in Hong Kong by accident. He used free products and his influence in Hong Kong to get banks and some important departments to use the mineral water he produced.

In China, although the mineral water and bottled water of Jiangdonglai are not sold on the market, they are provided free of charge to many important local departments, and when doing public welfare, they also use the water produced by themselves.

It was because he felt that the domestic market could not afford the price of bottled water. After all, in the past, a bottle of beverage only cost about 20 cents, so Jiang Cheng really didn't know how to price a bottle of water.

If it’s too cheap, Jiang Cheng won’t be interested in making the fuss. If it’s too expensive, he might as well not sell it.

Laoshan mineral water has been around for a long time. It is a state-owned enterprise and is not sold to the outside world, but the Great Hall uses it for water, making it the royal mineral water.

Jiangcheng has been giving away free water for years, and the bottle packaging is good. It has been nearly ten years of hard work, and it has been recognized by many places and departments.

Anyway, if some departments did not receive free bottled water, it would prove that your department is not strong enough. Some county leaders went to a department in the city for a meeting and got a few bottles of "Jiangdonglai" mineral water, which they could show off when they brought back.

As for deciding the name for the soy sauce factory, Jiang Cheng shirked the responsibility by saying that he was not well educated and did not understand the matter. Then he drove to Shenzhen, saying that he was going there to get foreign exchange.

In the end, Jiang Zhaozhao had to make the decision. Because it was brewed by traditional crafts, the name "Jiang Niangfang" was chosen. Then the promotion method was mainly based on "niang", and the product packaging was designed with an antique traditional brewing soy sauce pattern.

Jiangdonglai's soy sauce has changed its trademark, so it should not be placed in the self-operated brand area. Jiangdonglai does not mean that it does not sell other brands of soy sauce because it produces its own soy sauce. Instead, some of its own products will be set up in a separate area.

The mall also promised that if there are problems with the products produced by Jiangdonglai, compensation will be paid first and then the problem will be solved.

The current 'Jiangdonglai' is not the 'Moudonglai' of later generations. It has its own testing department and its own thresholds for the safety issues of many products.

Jiangdonglai is currently just a large shopping mall. If there is a problem with the goods in the mall, it will be responsible, but it will shirk some responsibilities. Some compensation will be paid immediately, but some other compensation will only be paid after the third party is held responsible.

Now that Jiangdonglai has established its own brand of soy sauce, Jiang Zhaozhao and her team are worried about this issue: Will Jiangdonglai remove Jiangniangfang soy sauce from the shelves along with other brands?

For this reason, Jiang Zhaozhao also called Jiang Juan, the general manager of the domestic "Jiangdonglai" head office, and told her about this matter.

Jiang Juan was of course "informed" about the situation of her cousin's soy sauce factory. It was her uncle Jiang Cheng who got into the business of selling products in the mall by driving for the Hong Kong boss of Jiang Dong Lai.

Jiang Juan is no longer a young girl who has just entered the society. She has long understood her identity as a college student. Without the care of her uncle Jiang Cheng, she would not be able to serve as a trainee store manager during her internship.

As a college student, there are indeed many exceptions to the rules in this era, but when she was doing the internship, Jiangdonglai had already gained a great reputation in China. It is a well-known foreign company, and it is not difficult for college students to get a management position through internship, but to become an intern store manager directly, you must be a graduate of a key university and have been very outstanding in school.

Not to mention that after working as a trainee store manager for more than a year, he went straight to Shenzhen to become the general manager. This was more than a triple jump.

On one side are the interests of the company, and on the other side are the kindness of relatives.

In the end, Jiang Juan violated the rules by asking Jiang Zhaozhao to change the trademark first and sell it in the domestic "Jiang Donglai" first, and then she would report to the headquarters.

Even if Jiangdonglai re-establishes its own soy sauce products and does not allow Jiangniangfang's soy sauce to be placed in its own sales area, as long as it is delayed for one or two months, it will be of great help to the Jiangniangfang brand.

For this reason, even if Jiang Juan might be punished, she was willing to do it.

~~~
Shenzhen, the climate here is very warm now, people who are used to living here are unwilling to live somewhere else. Especially in winter, you don’t need to wear too thick clothes.

In the evening, Jiang Juan drove back to her home after get off work from the head office.

The car was provided by the company, and Jiang Juan learned to drive in the second year after coming to Shenzhen. When she returned to the parking lot of the building, Jiang Juan saw a small truck parked in the corner and smiled warmly.

Jiang Juan now earns a lot of money in the company, more than 8,000 yuan a month. And her old junior high school classmate Liu Li works in the same company as her, so they can look after each other.

Liu Li's salary is now more than 6,000, which is a very high salary in China. But Liu Li told Jiang Juan that the salaries of senior executives in Hong Kong are exaggerated.

However, the pace of life in Hong Kong is fast and the prices are high. In China, earning 8,000 yuan a month is considered to be among the top people, but in Hong Kong, when Liu Li was doing internship many years ago, doctors there were earning tens of thousands of yuan.

Jiang Juan's high salary is nothing compared to her husband's contract for the factory canteen, and he earns hundreds of thousands a year.

The key is that Jiang Juan’s husband Xu Kai has always been very good to her over the years. It may also be because his uncle would give him a scolding every year when he came to Shenzhen.

Xu Kai contracted the canteen, but he didn't necessarily need to cook. He just needed to understand the structure of the canteen kitchen and what kind of members were needed. He could just recruit some people to do the work. When Xu Kai came to Shenzhen, his father also came with him.

Except at the beginning, Xu Kai and his family also took his two brothers-in-law Jiang Lin and Jiang Yang to do it themselves. Now the canteen is run by hired people, and Xu Kai and his father only need to take a look at the situation.

When Jiang Lin and Jiang Yang followed their sister and brother-in-law to Shenzhen, according to Jiang Cheng's suggestion, Jiang Lin would get 30% of the profits and Jiang Yang would get 10%.

Jiang Yang gave less because he was young at that time. When Jiang Yang turned 18, he was given an additional 10% of the profit.

That is to say, half of the profits of the canteen contracted by Xu Kai through his wife's uncle were distributed to his two brothers-in-law. This year, they can share a lot of money, but Xu Kai and his family know that they should not forget their roots. If it weren't for Uncle Jiang Juan, Xu Kai, his father and his brother might still be working as chefs in restaurants. In Changcheng, earning 500 to 600 yuan a month is considered a very good skill.

How could they earn hundreds of thousands of yuan a year now? Jiang Juan gave birth to a son for Xu Kai, and there was a nanny to take care of him at home. Sometimes Jiang Juan went to other cities to check on the situation of the branches, and Xu Kai could go with her.

As for Xu Kai, at least he fulfilled the promise he made to his uncle Jiang Cheng. It didn't matter how much money he earned, he must take good care of Jiang Juan.

There are commercial housing in Shenzhen now, but the house Jiang Juan lives in is a building she built on a piece of land she found ways to obtain.

"I knew you were back when I heard the car. Why are you a little late today?"

"Hey, didn't I tell you a few days ago that my sister took over my uncle's soy sauce factory and gave it a name of her own? Recently, she is planning to advertise on TV and wants to use the reputation of 'Jiangdonglai' to promote it. She just called me and talked to me about it for a long time."

Jiang Juan sighed and said that she had violated the rules of the self-established brand a few days ago. However, there was no movement in Hong Kong at present. Now her cousin Jiang Zhaozhao wanted to use the reputation of "Jiang Donglai" to appear in TV commercials.

It is said that they want to compete with a company called Haitian for the soy sauce market, and as a new brand, Jiangniangfang wants to borrow some strength.

This matter has put Jiang Juan in a difficult position. She doesn't know what the Hong Kong headquarters will say about the issue of the soy sauce factory becoming independent.

But this is her cousin's business, which is also her uncle's family's business. Even though Jiang Juan is very embarrassed, she plans to report it.

After returning home, Xu Kai immediately went to the kitchen and brought out a bowl of chicken soup.

"You should talk to Manager Zheng from your Publicity Department about this matter. Her identity must be no simple one." Xu Kai said after handing the chicken soup to Jiang Juan.

"Manager Zheng? That's true. She's in the company right now, so we can go find her." Jiang Juan nodded and said.

At the domestic head office, it stands to reason that no so-called executive president or other senior executives have been arranged to come, and Jiang Juan, the general manager, is the one with the highest position.

Even if the Propaganda Department wants to do anything, they have to consult her as the general manager.

But the publicity department of Jiangdonglai is too complicated, according to Jiang Juan's good friend Liu Li. Before she came to Shenzhen to serve as general manager, the publicity department was completely integrated with the corporate department.

The publicity department of Jiangdonglai in China was completely led by manager Zheng Ke. Although the department employees all had so-called salaries, the activity funds and salaries of the entire department were actually integrated. Liu Li had never seen such a situation in Hong Kong or China.

What this means is that if the Propaganda Department has a monthly budget of 200,000 yuan, then within this budget, Zheng Ke will have the final say on how much of the budget the department uses to recruit as many people as necessary, as long as it does not exceed the 200,000 yuan.

It seems independent, but the early funding was paid by domestic companies.

Not long after Jiang Juan was transferred to Shenzhen, the publicity department was completely out of the control of the company. Manager Zheng could go to disaster relief when he wanted to, or to charity performances when he wanted to. Manager Zheng also had the final say on how to recruit people.

However, if the company plans any activities or carries out any promotions, Manager Zheng will also actively cooperate.

The key point is that all expenses of the Propaganda Department are not paid from the company’s finances. The finance department is only responsible for helping to calculate the salary expenses of the Propaganda Department’s employees.

There is another separate account for salary payments, and the Propaganda Department also has another account for purchasing supplies for disaster relief.

In addition, Manager Zheng goes to Hong Kong many times every year. Now even a fool can understand that Manager Zheng must have a lot of connections at the Hong Kong head office.

Xu Kai asked Jiang Juan to ask Manager Zheng for help because Manager Zheng was very enthusiastic about them when they first came to Shenzhen. He also took good care of Jiang Juan in the company, which made Jiang Juan feel a little strange, but she had to say that Manager Zheng was really an enthusiastic and good person.

After Jiang Juan finished drinking the chicken soup, she had almost finished talking to Xu Kai about the company's affairs.

"Juanzi, you have to talk to your brother Jiang Lin. Jiang Yang is a good guy. At least he cares about him now." After Xu Kai and the nanny served the food, he couldn't help but speak.

"Well~~, uncle doesn't want to take care of him anymore." Jiang Juan frowned before responding when she heard her husband Xu Kai talking about her brother again.

There are some things that Jiang Juan is reluctant to discuss even with her husband.

When Jiang Lin and Jiang Yang first came to Shenzhen, they were indeed very honest. Anyway, they followed Xu Kai and got money no matter what they did. At that time, Xu Kai also went to the vegetable market to buy vegetables and meat in person, and he took the lead in everything.

But Jiangdonglai has so many units in Shenzhen. If we want to rely on Jiangdonglai to take over other canteens, we have to manage them in multiple cities. The key is that other cities only have shopping malls and supermarkets.

There are also many employees in shopping malls and supermarkets, but compared with factories, they don't earn much money. It would be nice to contract a few more canteens in shopping malls, but Xu Kai doesn't have that much energy to take care of Jiang Juan.

Now Xu Kai is teaching Jiang Yang how to manage a canteen. He will still give him 20% of the profits here and plans to let Jiang Yang contract the internal staff canteen of the "Jiangdonglai" shopping mall in another city.

To contract the canteen, you just need to hire someone, and kitchen management is not difficult. The key is that others have no connections to contract it, and Jiang Juan is the general manager, and she is everyone's biggest connection now.

As for Jiang Lin, he had been honest for two years, but now that he had money, he became more arrogant. At the beginning, he listened to Xu Kai, but now, for some reason, he looked down on his brother-in-law.

I think Xu Kai just married his sister, and then his uncle used his connections to let him contract the canteen. I think without his sister and uncle, Xu Kai is nothing.

This is a combination of working seriously and doing it casually. As Jiang Lin was working on it, he didn't want to do it anymore.

In the early 1990s, Shenzhen was already a city of decadence and revelry.

If you have money, you can sleep with women, even very young ones, in Shenzhen.

Jiang Lin, this guy, shamelessly found a female classmate he didn't like after graduating from high school and coaxed her into taking off her pants just to take a look and touch her.

Later, whenever I saw a woman, I would easily have evil thoughts, but I was too timid to do anything wrong, because in the past, if men and women were caught having affairs, the punishment would be severe.

The world is different now, people in Shenzhen have started to laugh at the poor rather than the prostitutes. After Jiang Lin paid for the experience once, he couldn't stop.

When Jiang Lin's family in his hometown was looking for a partner, he still looked down on rural women. The key reason was that there were few beautiful women in rural areas.

Grandpa, grandma and Jiang Juan's mother also wanted to ask Jiang Cheng to help Jiang Lin find a partner, but after Jiang Cheng knew that his nephew Jiang Lin loved to visit prostitutes, he didn't want to cheat other women and did not agree to introduce him.

Now that Jiang Lin's canteen dividends have not been cut off, Jiang Cheng is taking care of his nephew. Of course, Jiang Lin is also afraid of cutting off the dividends, so he often goes to the canteen to pretend to work, but he doesn't work anyway.

(End of this chapter)