Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 107 Jianye's Business

At that time, Jianye's GDP was slightly lower than Fengtian's, but Yan Hui found that Jianye was more dynamic and always seemed to have something new. However, after discussing the business models in the market with his cousin, Yan Hui found that they were a bit too simplistic.

Yan Hui talked to his cousin about this issue, and also mentioned the person who came today.

"He paged me, and I called him back. They want me to invest in their timber business in T country. Really... how can I afford to invest?" My cousin shook his head and pointed to the market outside. "I'd be lucky if I could even figure this out."

"They've all started doing business overseas?" Yan Hui asked, somewhat surprised.

"Yes, Putian is the best in the timber industry. They started doing timber business in the early 80s. In the very early days, Putian people traveled all over Northeast China. Everyone knows about the Greater and Lesser Khingan Mountains, as well as Mudanjiang, Manzhouli, and so on. Putian people have traveled all over Northeast China. Yeah, probably countless times. I heard from the locals that there are at least 20 Putian people in the timber business." My cousin is one of the few "outsiders" in the market who knows Putian well.

Both being from southern Fujian, Yan Hui also runs a timber business, but it's still far behind Putian.

"20 people!" Yan Hui was shocked.

"Yes, that's what I heard."

"So how did they save up their first sum of money in the early days?" Yan Hui asked curiously.

"Weaving steamers," my cousin said, speaking the Putian dialect, so he naturally understood the people of Putian very well.

Back in the 80s, in order to make a living, a large number of people from Putian left their hometown and traveled to the streets and alleys of the country. With their hardworking hands, they wove bamboo steamers to sell, earning three to four thousand yuan a year.

Once they had some money, dozens of Putian people would often charter a whole train car and start selling.

Anyone who has done business knows that the more people involved in a project, the more chaotic it becomes; dozens of people sharing a single freight car is even more prone to problems. But the people of Putian, relying on the constraints of their clan, can easily complete such businesses.

Many people doubled their assets after doing it a few times, and then they had the ability to book a whole train car with 10 people or 5 people, eventually becoming bosses.

“It’s 1997 now. Some Putian business owners have been doing business for 15 years. Of course, it’s hard to see such business owners in our market. These business owners basically have their own factories and don’t do anything personally anymore,” my cousin said to Yan Hui.

"So what are these big bosses doing now?" Yan Hui was more interested in more advanced business models.

“Look at the person who contacted me today. He works for a big boss. In reality, he probably knows I can’t invest with them, but he still brought it up with me. If I can’t keep up, it’s my own problem. It’s not his fault. If he gets rich in the future, that’s his own ability.” My cousin sighed as he said this, seemingly blaming himself for wasting the past few years.

My cousin has been working at Jianye for several years, but he hasn't accumulated any assets quickly; he's in a situation where he earns one dollar but spends eighty cents.

In the market as a whole, his cousin was considered to be living a relatively carefree life, and therefore had many friends. From this perspective, whether it was a good thing or a bad thing, Yan Hui couldn't say for sure.

In the 80s, the timber market in Northeast China was just beginning to emerge, and people from Putian were among the earliest merchants.

In recent years, the timber market in Northeast China has faced enormous challenges due to the impending logging ban. People from Putian, always at the forefront of the times, have already begun to expand overseas.

Some people have already gone this far, hoarding land, buying forests, and even laying railways.

My cousin said that the first group of people who made their fortunes had rapidly expanded into wealthy businessmen thanks to the major events in the north six years ago. At this moment, a significant portion of the vast land in northern Heilongjiang Province, including forests, already belongs to people from Putian.

"Wow, that's amazing!" Yan Hui suddenly felt his own insignificance.

"It has nothing to do with us. We can make money just by doing distribution!" My cousin said dismissively, thinking those investments were too risky. "That's true," Yan Hui nodded.

Although Yan Hui felt that such an investment was necessary, his small amount of money was completely unrelated to investment. Not to mention the lack of basic trust, even if there was, the return cycle of the investment was relatively long, and Yan Hui's small amount of money was not enough to do anything.

"By the way, bro, whose Steyr truck was that today? Do you know?" Yan Hui asked.

"He's a construction site boss, I heard his surname is Teng? Anyway, some people call him Boss Teng. I don't know exactly what he does." My cousin shook his head.

Does he come here regularly?

"Never seen you before. What's wrong? Do you want to meet me?" My cousin asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Of course I'd like to get to know him," Yan Hui said. There was no need for Yan Hui and his cousin to hide anything.

"Knowing him is useless. He's a boss who contracts freight cars, he won't pay attention to us, and you'll never even run into him," his cousin told Yan Hui, telling him not to be too ambitious.

“That’s true.” Yan Hui didn’t explain anything.

The overall timber price in Jianye's market is relatively high, which is due to the supply of goods. If we can find a large customer like Mr. Teng, we can try to find suitable sources of goods in Northeast China and ship them here.

Although a truckload of goods would cost 100,000, Yan Hui could ask his fourth uncle or Lao Guo and the others. The solution is fixed, but people are flexible.

The two chatted for a long time before a customer finally came to their door wanting to buy timber.

This is for building his own house, and he mainly wants to find a main beam.

Upon hearing this, my cousin immediately knew who to contact and took the client to negotiate the price.

Yan Hui locked the door, went with his cousin to find a source of goods, and then communicated with the customer for about half an hour, and the deal was closed.

After the client left, my cousin remarked again, "Have you really never done business before? I'm surprised by your client-facing skills."

My cousin wanted to say that Yan Hui spoke better than he did, but he was also somewhat unconvinced.

"I worked as a middleman in the timber market for a year and a half," Yan Hui briefly recounted his time as a middleman, and once he started talking, he couldn't stop for more than ten minutes.

"Ah? No wonder! Your job is even harder than mine!" My cousin suddenly realized.

Yan Hui had previously recounted his experiences in Fengtian, but his cousin hadn't listened closely. He always thought Yan Hui's work consisted of manual labor and small-scale business, never imagining he'd also worked as a middleman.

Being a middleman is no easy job!
Of course, if Yan Hui told his cousin that he had more than 30,000 yuan, his cousin would be shocked. But there's no need to say that; it's not a matter of trust.

"It was really tough back then. This client came to us because most of the shops around were deserted. We had a storefront and a company name, so the client had a basic level of trust. We were really working hard to find clients before." Yan Hui recalled that experience vividly.

Without realizing it, he had mastered so many wood-related skills.

(End of this chapter)