My Lord, you need to stand up!

Chapter 819 But being too old makes one a leader
Because they were just sitting in the courtyard meeting room for a short while, Wei Dong was able to see the map of the capital that had been laid out.

It is indeed a very special unit that is unique to only a few cities such as Pyeongsang; there is no such situation in other places.

There aren't many properties or shops scattered around like that, and their areas aren't particularly large.

Since ancient times, the area around the imperial city has always been a gathering place for delicacies from all over the country, all vying to become tribute items.

In ancient times, once someone made a name for themselves and achieved a certain scale, no one would not want to enter the palace.

Then, various masters and time-honored imperial cuisine establishments would emerge from the palace.

There are many sayings that Empress Dowager Cixi liked this, and Emperor Shunzhi was particularly fond of it.

Therefore, Pyeongkyo has indeed gathered all the best food brands in the country.

Those who didn't come weren't good enough.

Therefore, after liberation, they would definitely all be jointly owned by the public and private sectors and would be under the jurisdiction of this place.

That's where the unique features come in.

Shanghai also has many time-honored brands, but the style there is to grow bigger and stronger once they become famous, and develop into enterprises.

Either sell nationwide, or make money from foreigners.

Therefore, most of the earliest national entrepreneurs appeared in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, and their businesses were quite large, which was the foundation for Shanghai to become the strongest industrial city in the country.

That's how he got the nickname "Master Hu".

They have always considered being able to supply the imperial kitchen as the highest honor, and they don't care about becoming bigger or bothering with that effort.

To be authentic, you have to get the hang of this.

After liberation, almost all of these time-honored brands were workshops.

They are also scattered throughout the city.

Due to limitations in early transportation and commercial flow, the main supply was to the surrounding areas of Pyeongkyo.

It was roughly the size of the sanitary napkin factory in Weidong Hutong.

The management is having a really tough time. These old workshops are finding it hard to expand on their original scale, and there's no room left for welfare housing allocation!

The desire to relocate also means that the existing residents are unwilling to move to the suburbs or countryside.

The problem was that similar issues at the Pyeongkyo Automobile Factory were broken down into numerous smaller units and scattered throughout the city.

The difficulty of restructuring has increased many times over.

Wei Dong gradually stopped paying attention to You Qili's complicated gaze beside him.

Focusing on practical work: "The first step is to establish a real estate company to manage all the properties..."

Indeed, Wei Dong now possesses a very clear leadership quality.

It's not that he's putting on airs, but rather that he's become accustomed to speaking with conviction, and even to expecting responses and reactions when he speaks.

From his eyes to his tone of voice, he was clearly a lord.

Everyone around him was taking notes, and Wang Zhiwen skillfully pulled out a small notebook from his pocket to write and draw.

Even just that one sentence gave many people around him a truly "holy crap" feeling.

Would a manager of an ordinary food company or a pickle factory think like that?

But it's easy to understand, and it can even become a source of ideas for who they turn to express their thoughts.

"Only by managing all properties in a unified manner can we identify which ones can be exchanged, merged, relocated, or demolished. After completing this step, we can then consider rebuilding, expansion, and adjustments to the nature of use, ultimately merging the scattered small properties into large properties."

Then came a series of questions: "How do I merge them into a large real estate development?"

So Wei Dong was really forced into the real estate path step by step: "It's a two-step process. First, ask the higher authorities for policies and support, then acquire land in the suburbs to build factories and expand production. Now we can try to get as close as possible, right? Then, if the land is bigger, we can build dormitory communities outside the operating and production land. Just visit our industrial park on Airport Road and you'll see."

Everyone nodded: "We've seen it all. But what about those who don't want to relocate to the suburbs?"

The employees of state-owned enterprises are all powerful figures; they will be the main force for square dancing and sightseeing for the next few decades, so it's impossible to impose strict requirements on them.

Rang Weidong naturally presented an example: "Pingqi doesn't have that many comrades who are unwilling to relocate to the suburbs, so let's demolish a certain plot of land in the city, build a community with two or three high-rise buildings first, and then gather the employees of several small factories. The ground floor can be used as a commercial space to sell various products, which will also be considered their job. Then, the completely vacant land can be used to build a commercial center, providing a large number of jobs, and then we can use all the employees in the city."

Then everyone suddenly realized that this was the core of Pingqi's housing reform.

So how do you build skyscrapers?

Wei Dong was so annoyed by the "toothpaste being squeezed" approach that he laughed in exasperation: "I'm not a building repairman, you guys go find the urban construction department yourselves."

However, it is clear that state-owned enterprises in the 1980s did not have such a clear division of labor.

Just like all third-line factories, they all had their own infrastructure departments and construction teams.

The line of thinking here is similar: "We already have a real estate company, so why do we still need to go through an urban construction company to build houses? You know how inefficient they are. I heard that Pingqi hired your urban construction company to build the houses?"

Wei Dong has finally discovered that your true colors have been revealed!

He now realizes that this company will definitely be one of the main players in Beijing's real estate market in the future!

Because there are too many small properties in prime locations. The more bustling and commercialized the area, the more numerous places like Dashanlan and Wangfujing become.

All the real estate accumulated by those long-established brands belongs to this company.

Looking at the office packed with people, he suddenly became wary: "I don't participate in any of your work. I'm from Pingqi, and I don't get involved in these real estate projects. This is just an exchange of work experiences between Pingjing units!"

He made it sound simple and easy, but little did he know that these steps were actually mature methods that had been gradually accumulated over more than ten or twenty years.

Even when he spoke casually, he only briefly mentioned the most crucial points.

Where will the money for building these houses come from? Who will take responsibility for such a large-scale project? Most importantly, how can you expect to make money just by talking about commercial developments?

This is a technical job.

If simply clearing out an empty plot of land could turn it into a commercial center that makes money and creates jobs, then anyone could become a millionaire.

I don't have that ability, okay?

More importantly, this model is completely different from the previous one, and the more one is within the system, the less one dares to overstep it. Do they really think everyone has the same determination and vision as Lao Fang?

The more easily and simply Wei Dong spoke, the more hospitable the people around him became.

"Comrade Weidong, you're too kind. Please try our fermented bean curd and pickled vegetables, which are our newly launched products. Have lunch here at our restaurant; we'll have some newly arrived pickled cucumbers. We'll also have a meeting this afternoon, where we'll invite all the leaders in charge to study the major policies in depth and focus on practical work to solve problems."

Wei Dong was already thinking of running away: "I still have to go to work. I need to communicate with... the car company and the real estate company myself. I really have something to do. I was just dropping off a friend on the way!"

It would have been better if they hadn't said anything, because it immediately made people notice that You Qili was standing to the side with absolutely no Beijing accent.

The branch company's subordinate unit leader quickly introduced: "This Mr. You has unique insights into reform ideas and strong organizational and management capabilities. He is currently trying to take over our convenience food research center."

Just by looking at the expressions of the leaders here, Wei Dong realized that he was being forced to endorse You Qili!

I shouldn't have said I was giving a ride to a friend; I was just hitchhiking or using a ride-hailing service!

He quickly softened his stance before the other party could make a decision: "It's a partial operating right; we hope to assist the Convenience Food Research Center in exploring business operations to increase profits."

Because at this point, saying anything is useless.

The only option is to weaken or reduce the impact.

Sure enough, the raised hand immediately fell to the ground: "Good, you see, Comrade Weidong has joined our food industry and is contributing to the food work for the people of the whole country. This is a very serious and important real estate reform project. We should learn from Pingqi Factory, which has taken the first step in exploring new paths, and borrow their experience..."

Wei Dong covered his head, saying, "It wasn't me!"
But he also knew he might still have some leverage over Yu Qili.

The others were completely fooled by him.

He could only look at You Qili, and both of them knew that this was a viable option: "Then why don't you stay and work out the contract for the management rights in detail? I still have some work to do here, and we'll talk about the real estate development later."

Wei Dong deeply regretted his actions, thinking, "Why the hell did I come to Pingjing right now?"

It feels like there are fuses everywhere, and there's a strong demand for housing reform everywhere.

That's like going all out right up close.

As a result, the second deputy director said that he would keep a close watch on Wei Dong, and that Wei Dong had already received a lot of praise from the leaders for developing that industrial park near the airport, so they wanted to prevent him from being snatched away by other units. They said they would send two comrades to follow him, and he had to come back for the meeting this afternoon!
The funniest part was that several middle-aged male and female leaders looked at Wei Dong and Wang Zhiwen, and even though they were trying not to laugh, they gave them special instructions: "Arrange for two young female comrades to follow up, and make sure the work is handled smoothly."

Seriously, this never happened at a car manufacturing plant before.

The production line workers there are mostly men; the few women are mostly from support staff and aren't particularly attractive.

Why would car manufacturers need such pretty girls?

This is a storefront that sells groceries, candies, pastries, pickles, and fermented bean curd.

Next door is Wangfujing, a bunch of shops with lots of pretty women.

But it's too late for anyone else; the office staff are already scrambling to get married. Even if we don't talk about marriage, it's obvious that going out to broaden one's horizons is better than staying in the office.

They were incredibly enthusiastic; some girls even started pulling and tugging at each other.

Wang Zhiwen's expression twitched. Has he become this fierce since starting work?

Tell Wei Dong to stop arguing and get away as soon as possible.

He didn't even need to give any instructions to an old hand like You Qili; he just nodded and left.

Sure enough, when I came out, no one gave me a ticket, criticized or educated me for illegal parking.

Given the cramped seats, the two slender and quick-witted girls jumped onto the back seats and set off amidst the nagging instructions of a group of middle-aged women.

Just as Wang Zhiwen took out a cigarette and tapped it twice on the cigarette pack, the girl behind him lit it with a kerosene lighter.

So the senior boys had to ask you guys if you wanted some. The girls were surprised that his cigarettes were pretty good, and they all lit them up happily.

There was absolutely no sense of criticism like that would arise decades later.

Wei Dong felt as if he were driving a roaring, smoking steam locomotive.

But when he arrived at the television production building, he realized that he really should have burned some incense before leaving home that morning.

The rhythm is totally wrong!

(End of this chapter)