My Lord, you need to stand up!

Chapter 750 Keep your head down and move forward; you will eventually become great.

This year, 1987, seems quite different from the one Wei Dong experienced.

Of course, in the years since his hand was broken, Wei Dong hadn't even left the compound much, just working as a security guard and had little awareness of the outside world.

But this change of everyone wearing jeans on the street must have been brought about by him, right?

Even in May, when temperatures began to soar, there were more men and women wearing fashionable T-shirts in Jiangzhou than in Yuezhou.

It's cheap, and everyone knows there's a souvenir market near the zoo where you can buy T-shirts for three to eight yuan each.

Quite a few people would buy more and then bring it back to factories, schools, and towns to sell for an extra two or three yuan.

The rudiments of buying and selling were thus formed.

It was obvious that Wei Dong could have sold at a higher price, or directly used his own sales team to flood the entire Jiangzhou and even eastern Sichuan region, but he didn't.

Therefore, Jiangzhou now has two major commodity trading areas: the wholesale point near the zoo and the wholesale market near the dock.

Besides locally produced goods from Jiangzhou, the goods also come from the free market near the dock, which has a lot of trendy items imported from eastern Guangdong.

This was also a characteristic of goods sold across the country in the late 1980s.

The difference lies in the proportion of local products sourced from both the local area and the coastal areas of eastern Guangdong. Jiangzhou definitely has the highest quality of local products.

Shampoo, cosmetics, casual clothing, and sanitary napkins were inexpensive and of good quality, and the rationing system that was required in various places had long been broken.

Cameras are out of the question, since they're not everyday consumables.

So even Sister Duan was worried about what to sell in such a large supermarket spanning several thousand square meters.

She herself started out as a self-employed individual in the free market in the city center, and she knew very well what those counterfeit and shoddy products, mainly from the coast, were like. Wasn't Chi Shiming originally making huge profits by selling electronic watches with plastic movements?

If you open a large shopping mall of several thousand square meters, you wouldn't dare sell these kinds of products.

Their own stock is enough to create a lively scene at the zoo, but filling such a large shopping mall would be a challenge.

With a pained expression, he came to report the goods list to Wei Dong.

Even branch offices from all directions are sourcing goods from this area:

"At first I was quite excited, there were six or seven hundred kinds of goods, such as sesame candy, rice wine, calligraphy brushes, tea, and porcelain. But when I actually put them on the shelves, I was surprised to see how many there were, and the inventory was terrifying..."

Each provincial branch organizes a few or dozens of local products, with individual orders ranging from several thousand to tens of thousands of yuan.

They easily secured millions in payments for goods.

At this point, it's impossible to withhold payments from suppliers; all purchases are made with our own money or through advance payments from branch offices.

It's all thanks to their substantial family wealth and willingness to spend.

Even though Wei Dong had never run a supermarket, let alone a large shopping mall, no matter how much he looked around or took photos in Hong Kong and Japan.

It's impossible to see the underlying operational logic.

It's a bit of a headache to flip through the list; you don't even need to think to find that it's almost entirely focused on local specialties.

Tea, embroidery, earthenware, straw and bamboo weaving – it should just be renamed a local specialty products store. If it weren't for the inadequate preservation techniques in various places, it would surely be able to organize a lot of roast duck, roast chicken, stinky tofu and other delicacies.

This fully highlights the current predicament of China having very few industrial products.

Moreover, even their own large supermarket is in such a sorry state, so no one is sure if anyone will rent the shops on those two or three floors.

Walking into the basement level next to the commercial center plaza via the sloping staircase, the dim lighting made him frown: "We're trying to make it brighter, it's not like we can't afford light bulbs or pay the electricity bill."

Sister Duan also complained bitterly: "The power supply is insufficient. It has all been allocated to the air conditioner on the roof. When you were here, the district always flattered us. But lately... Lao Hong and Lao Geng both said that we should be self-reliant and not use your name to ask people for favors all the time."

Wei Dong immediately understood that no matter what the city's considerations were or what stance it took, the lower levels might not have the same strategic vision.

They don't even consider the significance of the business center itself, or what kind of performance it will bring them.

They immediately became short-sighted.

He was ruthless. He turned to Xie Chengbin behind him and instructed, "Contact Hongyan Factory and buy a high-powered generator set from them. Summer is coming, and if there are consecutive days of high temperatures and sunshine, the air conditioner cannot be turned off."

It's just burning oil, right? Wei Dong's idea is that as long as we can get through the sweltering summer, it'll be fine.

Besides, he doesn't think he'll be in this situation forever.

When Sister Duan heard that her boss was using generator sets to support his business, she was both happy and worried. Wei Dong, not one to act like a calculating tycoon, even offered a bad suggestion: "I remember reading an article that said if there's a power outage, you can use a lot of mirrors in the operating room to increase the brightness. Why don't you try it?"

Sister Duan quickly jotted it down, but kept the main point in mind: "The main problem is the shortage of goods. Boss, you must think of a solution."

Everyone is making things based on the photos he took, with categories such as food, clothing, household goods, and home appliances.

Wei Dong noticed something: "The goods need to be piled up. When shampoo arrives, there are dozens or even hundreds of bottles piled up to show that we have a lot of goods and can sell them openly. Clothes are all hung up. Even if there are fewer types of goods, they can still be piled up. Appliances... we should arrange more guards to act as service staff and protect the goods."

Sister Duan's notebook was full of questions: "They steal things. We steal quite a lot when we're setting up our stalls. This place is so big, how can we keep an eye on everything? And those unreasonable guys, even if we catch them, they'll make a scene!"

Oh, so this touches on the security guard's specialty: "Installing surveillance cameras, a stack of TVs in the monitoring room with a bunch of people watching, if they spot someone, they use walkie-talkies to contact and detain them, if there's a disturbance, they call the police to arrest them, there's evidence. Yes, at first you really can't pile up too much stuff, try to pile it up as much as possible to make it convenient for us to operate, and then gradually add more goods once everyone gets used to this new thing..."

At this point, he had already confirmed: "Don't expect to strike it rich with one stroke. Supermarkets are a new thing. We need to get people used to taking things and paying at the checkout, and then gradually enrich the product range. I'm not asking you to make a lot of money. The goal is to cultivate the market. Open on June 1st to stabilize the market first, and then you can participate in the Autumn Sugar and Wine Fair. By then, you will know what products you need and can order goods in a targeted manner. There are plenty of options there."

Sister Duan didn't even know about this Sugar and Wine Trade Fair.

Wei Dong described it as being just like when we organized that auto expo; all his inspiration came from there. For details, you can call Han Guobin; he's now increasing his dealings with Sichuan Winery, so he definitely knows when the next expo will be held.

This is the first time we've moved the spring event to Chengdu, and the autumn event will likely be held in the north; we'll need to get assistance from the branch office there.

Only then did Sister Duan feel reassured, and she quickly went to arrange for someone to install the mirror.

Wei Dong wandered around for a while and came out. He saw Xie Chengbin, who had called Hongyan Factory, craning his neck to the side. Following his gaze, he saw that the little Taoist priest had happily set up his fortune-telling stall by the roadside!

Damn, this is openly promoting feudal superstition and you'll get arrested. And those two Taoist priests are standing solemnly next to the junior sister, acting as her protectors.

Passersby must have stopped and gathered around as if drawn by a magnet.

Do they really think they can do whatever they want with this land just because it's theirs?

It's fine for fortune tellers to do it in the Taoist temples on the mountain, but how can you do it like this on the street?

He quickly signaled to the driver and Xie Chengbin to go and invite the Taoist priests back.

He picked an inconspicuous corner spot in the shop: "Put away that Bagua and Feng Shui banner. You'll get arrested for doing that in the city. Here, I'll give you a computer to continue your computer-based future predictions, but don't mention any feudal superstitious terms like fortune telling!"

The female Taoist priest pouted, but did not refute.

The two senior brothers listened respectfully to the mountain master's instructions, but raised their hands as if to argue: "The Dragon-Tiger Elixir Method is a unique treasure of Chinese Taoism, seizing the power of heaven and earth. It has been rare to encounter and hear of since ancient times. Those who obtain this true transmission..."

Wei Dong gets a headache whenever he encounters academics: "Stop, stop, stop. You guys on the street aren't practicing the Dragon Tiger Elixir Method, or even that Iron Fan Sect. You're just using the theory of Bazi and Feng Shui to make some money, right? Don't talk to me about how lofty it is. Your goal is to make money. In order to make money legally and legitimately, you need to be original. Marriage, career, wealth, and Feng Shui can indeed be more acceptable if they are given a scientific veneer."

He had long realized that Cheng Lang's rhetoric was essentially a feng shui theory that offered guidance but then demanded that the wealthy do good deeds, with moral cultivation at its core.

It must be a set of tactics that have been refined and evolved over the decades in Hong Kong.

It's much more appealing than the old tricks on the mountain where people wear Taoist robes and wield peach wood swords to draw talismans.

The Taoist method of self-training, which involves external physical conditioning and internal cultivation of the dantian, certainly has some merits. However, cultivation also requires food, clothing, and other necessities. Incidentally, it has also developed a set of practices that can earn offerings. It is not unreasonable for it to help the general public by acting as a psychological counselor.

But to make the latter your main focus and neglect your cultivation is to put the cart before the horse.

This is how Wei Dong felt after practicing for a week or two.

The Taoist priests must have reported this to their grandmaster upon their return.

It was clear that Cheng Lang was telling them to do as he said.

So the six adult Taoist priests changed into T-shirts, jeans, and sneakers, and took turns following them around.

The young Taoist priest got a jacket similar to the later Tai Chi performance costumes, tied his hair in two buns, and sat on a blue cloth with white lettering decorated with psychological counseling, emotional prediction, financial advice, and scientific embellishments. He started practicing in the factory's food street.

Cheng Lang personally sat beside him and taught him.

After all, he was in Hong Kong, so he really knew about professions like psychologists, relationship experts, and financial advisors, as well as the scientific principles of feng shui arrangement.

And sure enough, the long queues never stopped, and even Lhamo Drolma secretly took her pocket money to have her fortune told!
The six senior brothers and sisters quickly helped their junior sister make various beads, calming talismans, and lucky bags by hand.

Wei Dong was sent to the construction site every day, accompanied by two Taoist priests who stood behind him, observing the surroundings while weaving beautiful colorful ropes.

It made it seem like Wei Dong had brought out a superstitious squad from Qingcheng Mountain.

In the evening, he practiced the same martial arts technique with Fengchu again. He had no problem with the various movements, breathing techniques, and mental exercises, but he resolutely refused to take any pills.

She's so young, she doesn't even need elixirs, Dong Xueqing is already satisfied.

(End of this chapter)