Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 422 Returning Home (Part 1)

Yan Hui and his boss chatted without needing to avoid Jiang Yutong. Jiang Yutong sat there, listening to fragments of Yan Hui's experiences, becoming more and more astonished as she listened.

She always thought Yan Hui was a rich second-generation. Yan Hui was only four years older than her. When she first took this job, she thought Yan Hui was just going out to play. She only dared to come along because the middleman was very reliable.

She studied at Beijing Foreign Studies University and had seen plenty of rich kids. However, she gradually realized that things weren't like that at all. Yan Hui wasn't just a self-made millionaire; he was a self-made millionaire who had been knocked down from his initial success and then succeeded again. Although she didn't know the specifics of what happened to Yan Hui, she could hear some thrilling stories from snippets of conversation.

"Fifth brother, next time there's any road repair or ancestral hall renovation in the village, let me know in advance. I want to donate some money and have my dad's name engraved on it." The eldest brother chatted with Yan Hui all the way, and finally sighed, "To be honest, nowhere is as good as home. No matter how much fun we have here, it's still boring. Brazil is different from other places. The time difference is too long, and it's difficult to even make a phone call home."

The bosses are used to calling at night or in the early hours of the morning, so Yan Hui is the only one they can communicate with during normal working hours.

"No problem," Yan Hui said with a smile. "You've been here for five years, and you still have these kinds of feelings?"

“I’ve been here for quite a while, settled down for about five years. I’ve dated several people here, but none of them led to marriage. Many people here have children but don’t register the marriage; almost everyone who gets married is from the same hometown. In a foreign land, there are some hardships that outsiders can’t see.” The eldest brother looked at Yan Hui, “How are you?”

"I'm fine," Yan Hui said confidently, but gently shook his head.

"Okay, just take good care of yourself. I'm planning to settle in Brazil, and I'll be relying on you for a lot of things back home from now on."

"Then call me anytime." Yan Hui nodded.

During his trip to Brazil, aside from resting, Yan Hui spent most of his time chatting with his boss and reminiscing about the past.

Looking back on the past 13 years, it seems like only a moment has passed. The two boys, who were sixteen or seventeen years old, are now 30 and Yan Hui is 29.

During the time that followed, when no one else was around, the two of them mostly talked about things in the village, until Yan Hui boarded the plane.

"Please give my regards to the second brother and the others when you get back. Since you're going to Germany this time, I won't ask you to bring anything back for me, but this is a gift for you, so keep it. I've noticed you always wear your bracelet, so I got you a new one these past few days." At the airport, the eldest brother handed Yan Hui a box.

"What is this?" Yan Hui took it and looked at it, and found that it was all gemstones, and each one was different.

“This one is a natural Paraiba tourmaline. The others aren’t worth much, but it’s not easy to find a matching set. I’ll probably live out my days alone in Brazil. You can give it to the right person sometime,” the eldest brother said.

"Okay, I'll take it, thank you." Yan Hui thought the bracelet was quite pretty, so he put it on his wrist.

However, Yan Hui did not expect that although his eldest brother said he would live a lonely life, he got married a little over a year later and held a grand wedding in his hometown.
After concluding his trip to Brazil, Yan Hui took a half-day flight and landed smoothly in Frankfurt. In any case, Yan Hui wasn't exactly a professional technician, so his gains from his trip to Germany were limited; his main goal was to broaden his horizons.

Chen Jian found very reliable people, and the tour group came from all over the world, following a standard tour route. While they didn't see anything confidential, the level of reception was high; the staff communicated entirely in English, and Yan Hui's translation was competent.

Yan Hui had many thoughts after visiting Henkel, and he even took a lot of notes.

First, Yan Hui discovered the shortcomings of his company's "two-pronged" business model. Henkel focused on B2B projects, supplying adhesives to various enterprises; on the other hand, it owned consumer brands like Schwarzkopf, engaging in B2C business. Yan Hui even purchased several Henkel consumer-grade adhesives, intending to show them to Chen Jian and Song Zhiyuan.

In contrast, Heng Hui Chemical's brand is very ordinary, especially its consumer brand, which is almost non-existent. The public is unaware of the company, and no one buys Heng Hui's retail adhesives. This is clearly not comprehensive or stable enough.

Secondly, there are extremely stringent quality control standards. Many areas are off-limits to visitors as they cannot enter the production line; they can only be viewed from the outside through glass. The internal temperature, humidity, and dust control systems are highly advanced, demonstrating a very high level of commitment to environmental protection.

Moreover, Yan Hui had met some technical personnel here and found that people here have great respect for technical personnel and for "doctors." Anyone who has obtained a doctoral degree is always addressed as "Doctor."

Finally, there's the issue of industrial layout capabilities. Henkel's products also cover many other areas, such as diapers and washing machines, and its reputation in environmental protection allows its products to be used in many high-value-added fields.

This trip was very rewarding for Yan Hui. In his early days running a chemical plant, he learned many concepts and terms from Chen Jian. Now, after personally visiting world-class companies, he quickly came up with many operating models that could be implemented in China and that belonged to him.

This kind of endeavor is not something that can be accomplished overnight; it requires gradual innovation. In general, once Chen Jian and his team successfully develop a new polyurethane adhesive with special properties, he will launch the next phase of their commercial plan.

I won't go into the details of the trip, but about a week later, Yan Hui landed safely in Beijing, where his driver was already waiting for him at the airport.

"Thank you so much for this trip," Yan Hui said to Jiang Yutong after getting off the plane and collecting their luggage. "I plan to travel abroad every year from now on. If it's convenient for you then, I might contact you again."

"Yes, please feel free to contact me anytime. I'd be happy to help you." Jiang Yutong was exhausted, but also very excited.

After nearly two weeks away, circling the globe, she was truly exhausted, but also incredibly happy. Traveling with Yan Hui broadened her horizons immensely and completed her first round-the-world trip. She couldn't wait to treat her classmates and friends to a meal and share her experiences.

"If anything else comes up, feel free to call me. I have a lot to do. Now that I've arrived at the Capital Airport, you're finally home. Goodbye for now." Yan Hui extended his hand, shook hands with Jiang Yutong, then said goodbye and left with the driver.

Jiang Yutong stood there for a few seconds, pondered, and then slowly left with her suitcase.

(End of this chapter)