Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 225 Stubborn Investors
The following day, when Yu Chunyin called, Chen Xuebing had already landed in Zhengzhou.

"Wow, you're going all out! Are you building a miniature bird's nest?"

Yu Chunyin's first words were one of astonishment.

Chen Xuebing casually tossed two cans of beer from the shelf in front of him into the shopping cart that Ren Ying was pushing, and laughed: "The Bird's Nest is over 200,000 square meters, with a steel frame structure beams, tens of thousands of tons of special steel twisted into a pretzel shape, and it cost over 3 billion yuan. What I'm doing is nothing."

"Where did you know? Isn't the Bird's Nest supposed to be a secret? It's already open to the public?"

Chen Xuebing paused for a moment, then suddenly remembered that the Bird's Nest was supposed to be kept secret until the day of the Olympics, and coughed, "I heard, I heard."

“Well, this isn’t small either! The people from Jiaotong University have already come up with an exterior design, with a front panel and a rear panel, and a silver fluid cover on top. They say it’s a relatively cost-effective solution. But when I had Tang Qiankun assess it, he said it would cost at least 3,500 yuan per square meter. 70,000 square meters would be 245 million yuan. And that’s if we do it ourselves. If someone else did it, it would cost more than 300 million yuan. The cost is too high, and the difficulty is too great.”

"This is just an appetizer. If you can't even finish this, the company won't be able to continue operating. Don't worry, just organize your workforce first and recruit some skilled construction workers. I will make the payments in installments to ensure the project is completed. Once construction begins, I will personally oversee the process."

"So you're saying that from now on, design work will be left to Chongqing Jiaotong University? We won't train our own people?"

"It's not just design; there are too many specialties involved in engineering. We also need to supplement our own talent pool, but we have to consider the cost. In the future, we will have our own real estate development projects. We will train construction teams first, and the talent for other specialties will come gradually with the projects. There's no need to rush."

"Aren't you stressed about money? That's a bank loan, and you're spending it way too fast."

Chen Xuebing smiled.

"This little bit of money is nothing. You'll see in a while. Send me the exterior design to my email so I can take a look. Bye."

After putting down his phone, Chen Xuebing took Ren Ying to stroll around the largest lifestyle plaza in Zhengzhou, Pangdonglai.

When I came in, there was an emergency service desk at the entrance where you could charge your phone battery, inflate your bicycle tires for free, and get your shoes repaired.

In the seafood section, everything was drained before being weighed, and the ropes binding the crabs were even untied before weighing, and then retied after weighing.

This was the first time Chen Xuebing had ever seen anything like it. In his previous life, when buying crabs, the rope was almost heavier than the crabs themselves.

In the vegetable section, the scallion heads had all been cut off and wrapped in plastic wrap.

Some people even took instruments to the milk section to measure the temperature.

He didn't understand the prices, as he hadn't bought many daily necessities since his rebirth, but he noticed that the customers around him all had smiles on their faces and the sales assistants were very polite.

There's also a little note on the shelf: Don't get angry if you encounter any problems. Contact our staff, and they will definitely handle it for you promptly. Love at Pang Donglai!

After looking around, apart from the floor being only so-so and having some blind spots in cleaning, there was almost nothing wrong with it.

Chen Xuebing decided to stop browsing and headed towards the manager's office he had just seen.

Ren Ying quickly pushed the cart and followed behind.

Unexpectedly, a supermarket sales assistant, seeing Ren Ying in such a hurry, stopped them at the door of the manager's office.

"Hello, miss, is there anything I can help you with?"

“Uh…” Ren Ying looked at Chen Xuebing.

Chen Xuebing chuckled: "I'm a card-playing buddy of your boss Yu. I've come to play cards with him. Is he here?"

He couldn't find the management's phone number online, and he was just gambling here today. Pang Donglai doesn't have many large stores, and this Life Plaza is the largest store in Zhengzhou. He could only come here to find someone.

"Huh?" The sales assistant laughed, pointed outside and said, "Are you talking about Mr. Yu Donglai? I think he was at the door just now, didn't you see him?"

Chen Xuebing glanced outside, but there were so many people that he couldn't see anything. So he asked Ren Ying to pay the bill and quickly walked outside.

When I got to the door, I saw someone leaning over the emergency service counter that I had seen when I came in, pointing at the people behind the counter and saying, "Give me this, give me this!"

"Eek—you idiot! I'll do it!"

As he spoke, he walked behind the counter.

Chen Xuebing recognized that voice and that profile all too well.

His eyes crinkled when he laughed, he had big nostrils, and he kept tilting his head forward when he spoke.

I didn't recognize him earlier because he was wearing a big straw hat.

"General Manager Yu," Chen Xuebing called out.

"Hey, hey?" Yu Donglai turned around, looking for someone. "Who called me?"

Chen Xuebing approached, glanced inside, and chuckled, "Playing cards?"

Yu Donglai grinned: "Ah! Xinyang Black Seven! How about a game?"

Without pausing for a moment, Chen Xuebing replied with great interest:

"I don't know how, can you teach me?"

"Alright! Come on! Four of us can play. You wait until he logs off, and I'll teach you!"

Yu Donglai actually led Chen Xuebing behind the counter, then looked at him and smiled, "Judging from your accent, you're from out of town?"

"Yes, I'm from Chongqing. I came here specifically to buy things."

"Really??" Yu Donglai's expression became more animated: "Really? Have people in Chongqing heard of Fatty Donglai?"

"Really? Really!" Chen Xuebing laughed. "I heard you were doing well, so I came to check it out."

Yu Donglai was taken aback: "A fellow professional?"

"No, I just want to buy things."

"Oh, oh! Really a customer? Even if you're from the same industry, it doesn't matter. I'll have someone show you around! Xiao Zhang!"

Yu Donglai called out to the distance, sounding very enthusiastic.

Chen Xuebing smiled enigmatically and said, "Don't bother calling anyone else. I can't buy what I need from anyone else, so I can only ask you."

What to buy?

"Equity." "Hehehe, what are you joking about? Really." Yu Donglai raised his honest smile again and punched Chen Xuebing in the chest.

He looks like a submissive, honest person. You can't tell at all how brave he was eight years ago when he clashed with a notorious local gang of thugs for a female employee.

"I'm not kidding, do you have a computer with internet access here?" Chen Xuebing asked.

"??"

Yu Donglai scratched his head.

Supermarket, manager's office.

Yu Donglai sat in front of the computer, craned his neck to look at the photos of the BOE news report on the screen, then looked at Chen Xuebing, and then at Ren Ying standing behind him.

"It really is you? The big shot who invested 8 million! Mr. Chen!"

Chen Xuebing, sensing that he still seemed a bit doubtful, laughed and said, "Look up Gu'an Group online. The company's phone number is listed. You can call and ask them."

Being famous is bad, not being famous is bad either, and to make matters worse, I don't have a wide network of connections. When I go to Henan to invest, I still have to prove "I am who I am".

"No, no! That's not what I meant!" Yu Donglai waved his hands repeatedly. "I just heard you say you wanted to invest? Our supermarket doesn't sell! We really don't sell. I'm doing just fine, I don't need the money!"

"It's not about buying a supermarket, it's about inviting you to open a supermarket in Chongqing."

Chen Xuebing then gestured for Ren Ying to take out a land purchase contract and hand it to Yu Donglai.

"I bought a piece of land and plan to spend 300 million to build a building. I'd like you to open a Pang Donglai restaurant there."

"What?" Yu Donglai exclaimed in surprise, glancing at the contract: "Three hundred million? To build a building? How big a building?"

Chen Xuebing walked to his computer, logged into his email on the webpage, and found that the exterior design had already been sent.

Click to open.

It's a bit rough, but the silver round fluid cap is quite nice, and the fan-shaped white glass front is exactly what he wanted. He even added the "DL" logo to the door.

Yu Donglai's eyes widened, like a child watching a science fiction movie.

"Wow, it really is our trademark Tiangong! It's so beautiful!"

Chen Xuebing frowned: "Brother, can you speak Mandarin?"

"Yes, I'm just speaking Mandarin!"

"."

"What do you think? If you agree, I guarantee that I will build this building and hand it over to you within a year. The location is excellent and it will definitely make money. I will give you five years of rent-free rent and use this condition to invest 20% of your shares."

Despite its numerous stores, Pang Donglai is actually renting out its shops everywhere. Despite its high turnover, its profit margin is low, and it likes to share profits with its employees.

Currently, there are only two large stores with an area of ​​over 20,000 square meters.

Before Chen Xuebing arrived, he conducted an assessment: Pang Donglai's goods, working capital, and the value of its self-operated factory amounted to two or three hundred million yuan.

It could be even lower.

Of course, there is also brand value, but currently it is limited to the local market.

If his building is built, the annual rent will be over 20 million.

Yu Donglai hesitated for a moment, but still shook his head.

"No, I can't handle it. The supply chain from other places is difficult to manage. If I force it, the local people won't benefit, and even if you invest in me, you'll lose money."

Chen Xuebing hesitated for a moment, sensing that he was making excuses.

Maybe they're just lazy and don't want to travel around.

"How much foot traffic can a 70,000 to 80,000 square meter shopping mall generate? Chongqing is a major city in terms of population, with four to five times more people than Zhengzhou. A store this size would generate more foot traffic than your stores in Zhengzhou and Xinxiang combined. You can make it work in Zhengzhou, but you can't do it in Chongqing?"

"Your shopping mall is too high-end, I don't even know how to use it! We're all small businesses, I could only handle a small one."

Before he could finish speaking, Chen Xuebing interrupted, "Then let's open another small one, one big and one small. I'll rent the space for you and pay the rent. You can go there sooner to get the supply chain sorted out. I still only want 20% of the shares."

"."

Chen Xuebing continued to tempt him: "Having more stores is great, with more spacious areas and better service. Haven't you already established quite a few self-operated brands? You can put those tea shops, clothing stores, shoe stores, and so on inside. You can even set up a dedicated cold storage for fresh vegetables, and there's room for product testing equipment. As long as you want to improve your service, if you don't have enough money, I can provide you with financing or even a loan."

A glint appeared in Yu Donglai's eyes; he had probably already imagined this before.

Then, he became conflicted again.

"No, brother, if you take a 20% stake, I'll have to make money for you. To be honest, don't be fooled by the number of people in my shop; we don't really make much money! We just offer good quality at low prices, providing affordable goods for ordinary people! You're saying that if you take a share and we don't make money, you'll scold me, and my conscience won't allow it! You insist that I listen to you and raise prices, so should I or shouldn't I?"

At the very end, Yu Donglai finally spoke his true feelings.

"I will never participate in your management. Do whatever you want," Chen Xuebing said firmly.

Yu Donglai had never met someone so stubborn.

"That 20% is way too much!"

"Then 15%."

".What?"

Chen Xuebing chuckled: "Your shop really doesn't make much money. I don't care whether I have shares or not, but you have to agree to two conditions. I have 127 companies. When you go to Chongqing, help me renovate them and make them your suppliers. Also, when I open a commercial plaza in the future, you open a supermarket wherever I open a plaza. I'll waive the rent for you for three years."

Yu Donglai was stunned.

What are the conditions?
A money-bringing boy?

There are still 127 companies?
Chen Xuebing smiled and said, "If you agree, I can give up my position as your shareholder, and the conditions will remain the same. However, I must remind you that it's not easy to find a shareholder with my strength. With me behind you, I can help you solve most of your problems."

(End of this chapter)