I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

Fulinxuan, Wangyue Hall

This is a private room tucked away in the back. It's not the biggest, but it offers good privacy. Once the door is closed, the sounds of other private rooms, the hallway, and the food being served outside all fade away.

The private room was warmly lit, and only three people were sitting at a round table that could seat twelve, making it seem a bit empty.

A circle of cold dishes was already laid out on the table, with a freshly opened bottle of Moutai in the center of the turntable, its neck still tied with a red cloth strip. The antique-style screen by the window was half-closed, and a tea tray sat on a small table next to it, the steam on the tray already thin.

Liang Siyuan sat in the main seat, with his back against the screen.

He was under fifty years old, rather thin, wearing a gray-blue shirt with the cuffs rolled up to two fingers below his wrists, and frameless glasses. He didn't look like someone in marketing; he looked more like a university statistics professor.

To his left was Lu Lan, about thirty-five or thirty-six years old, with short hair and two small pearl earrings. In front of her was a black notebook with several lines of writing already on it, the handwriting small and dense.

To Lu Lan's right is Gu Jinhua.

At that moment, Liang Siyuan was using serving chopsticks to pick up a piece of cold wood ear mushroom salad. Before eating, he spoke first: "Manager Gu, is your nephew a classmate of Shen Kang from the An family?"

They had only just learned the name "Shen Kang".

The story begins just now when Gu Jinhua and Zhang Demin went to the restroom.

……

ten minutes ago

After Gu Jinhua and Zhang Demin returned from the restroom, Zhang Demin became noticeably quieter, lost in thought.

Zhang Demin was thinking about the boy who looked familiar to him at Gu Jinhua's nephew's table, the one with two books in front of him.

But he wasn't thinking about who that person was.

While he was urinating in the bathroom, he remembered who that person was—Shen Kang, the general manager of Anjia Household Services.

Zhang Demin was thinking about something else now—whether or not to tell anyone about it.

Just as Zhang Demin was lost in thought, Liang Siyuan, seeing his expression, joked, "Old Zhang, you went to the toilet, how come you left your soul in there?"

Lu Lan and Gu Jinhua laughed.

Zhang Demin also came to his senses, first forcing a smile, then glancing at Gu Jinhua, and decided to tell her what had happened.

"No, it's just that when I went out with Manager Gu just now, we ran into Manager Gu's nephew having dinner with some classmates here. Among Manager Gu's nephew's classmates, there was one male classmate who looked familiar to me, and I was wondering who that person was."

Liang Siyuan picked up a slice of cold beef salad, not paying much attention, and casually said, "Oh? Old Zhang, you know Manager Gu's nephew's friend? Do you remember who it is?" Then he put the beef in his mouth.

Zhang Demin nodded and said, "I remember now, it's General Manager Shen Kang from Anjia Household Services."

Liang Siyuan chewed a few bites of beef, swallowed, and asked, "Anjia Housekeeping?"

:

He was temporarily transferred from the Xia Hai headquarters to handle some business and was not familiar with the situation in Yangcheng.

Zhang Demin then explained, "Well, Anjia Household Services is a household service company that opened in Yangcheng last year..."

Zhang Demin gave a detailed introduction to Anjia Household Services.

They even specifically mentioned Anjia Home Services, which sold smart rice cookers in the second half of last year.

Liang Siyuan stopped eating vegetables.

He put down his chopsticks and looked at Gu Jinhua.

Gu Jinhua nodded and added, "Indeed, Anjia Housekeeping is the largest housekeeping company in Yangcheng right now, with a lot of clients. They did start selling smart rice cookers a few months ago, and they're still selling them now. I heard they're selling quite well; they should have sold around 10,000 units. Director Liang, I was originally planning to talk to you about this later."

"I just didn't expect that the CEO of Anjia Housekeeping was at that table just now?"

As she spoke, Gu Jinhua turned to Zhang Demin and said, "Old Zhang, are you sure you haven't mistaken someone for someone else? That table is full of Xiaofei's friends and classmates, probably all college students."

Zhang Demin thought to himself, "Sure enough, Gu Jinhua, as a local strongman in Yangcheng, knows the situation there and has thought of this too. Even if I didn't bring it up, Gu Jinhua would have brought it up anyway. Now that I'm bringing it up myself, I still have some initiative."

Then, Zhang Demin nodded, his tone very certain, "I'm sure. Niu Haisheng showed me a group photo, and Mr. Shen from Anjia Household Services was in it. Niu Haisheng even introduced Mr. Shen in detail at the time, saying that he was very young and was still a college student, so I remember him very well. When I saw him just now, he looked familiar, but I had only seen him once in the photo, so I couldn't remember him right away. It's only now that I've remembered."

"College student?"

Liang Siyuan looked on with interest and smiled at Gu Jinhua, "Manager Gu, Yangcheng is truly a place of outstanding people and resources. College graduates can start companies? And on such a large scale as you described?"

Gu Jinhua chuckled and said, "I only found out today that the CEO of the An family is actually a college graduate. I was quite surprised too."

Liang Siyuan smiled and didn't say anything more, just remained silent, seemingly deep in thought.

After a moment, he spoke up: "It's always good to make another friend. Since we've run into each other, there's no reason not to say hello. Old Zhang, why don't you go over and invite that Mr. Shen over for a couple of drinks, so everyone can get to know each other."

After saying that, he glanced at Zhang Demin and added, "Old Zhang, the market in Yangcheng is still your market. Philips has no precedent in China for bypassing distributors and directly distributing goods; it never has in the past, and it won't happen today."

This was exactly what Zhang Demin was worried about, and it was also what Liang Siyuan wanted to hear.

"Understood, understood. I'll go invite Mr. Shen over for a couple of drinks right away."

With that, Zhang Demin got up and left his seat.

……

Let's go back to the present.

"Manager Gu, is your nephew a classmate of General Manager Shen from the An family?" Liang Siyuan asked.

Gu Jinhua put down her cup and said, "I'm not really sure, but I guess so. I did see him when I passed by just now, though I've never seen him before."

"How is he?"

:

Gu Jinhua thought for a moment: "He looks quite quiet, sitting there without making a sound, and there are two textbooks on the table. He doesn't seem like someone who likes socializing."

"There are two textbooks here?"

Liang Siyuan was somewhat surprised, but he didn't pay much attention to it. He was more concerned about something else right now.

"Has the pilot program for consumption upgrading in Yangcheng been finalized?"

The consumption upgrade pilot program mentioned by Liang Siyuan is a policy actively promoted by many local governments under the four trillion yuan stimulus plan after the global financial crisis.

Simply put, the government provides subsidies, and consumers can enjoy price discounts when purchasing pilot categories through designated channels, thereby stimulating domestic demand to a certain extent. Specific subsidy policies and amounts vary among the provinces planning to implement the consumption upgrade pilot program, but the overall direction is largely the same.

To put it simply, the government gives money and subsidies to the selected companies.

The relevant companies naturally all want it.

Gu Jinhua also pulled her thoughts back from the matter of "Xiao Fei's friends including President Shen" and quickly adapted to Liang Siyuan's way of thinking, saying, "It's not finalized yet, but with Philip's brand, it should be pretty much settled."

Liang Siyuan didn't nod, but said, "The company's brand is good to rely on, but Manager Gu, you can't slack off. Don't think that just because the situation is settled, you can stop moving. You still have to do what needs to be done. Otherwise, you might make a fool of yourself."

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Gu Jinhua nodded repeatedly, looking enlightened: "Indeed, Director Liang is right. Director Liang, what you said makes me think of something. It's just in time for the Chinese New Year, and our Spring Festival promotion is about to start, right? I'll get everything done, and then, with the momentum of the Spring Festival promotion and the reports, I believe we can more smoothly finalize the pilot program for consumption upgrade."

Seeing that his simple words had inspired Gu Jinhua, Liang Siyuan nodded in satisfaction.

Of course, as a leader, I should still offer a few more insightful suggestions.

"It's not just about the Spring Festival sales; it's also about focusing on key areas."

"What is consumption upgrade? In essence, it's just a means for the government to boost domestic demand in the context of the current global financial crisis. But customers already have many things at home, so how do we get them to buy new ones? That's where consumption upgrade comes in."

"Therefore, during the Spring Festival promotion, you should pay special attention to these kinds of products. For example, electric toothbrushes are a key area to focus on. If customers have old toothbrushes at home but switch to our electric toothbrushes, that's consumption upgrading. Once you present this relevant data, it will be very convincing for the achievement of the consumption upgrading pilot program."

Gu Jinhua listened and nodded. After listening, she remarked, "Director Liang's thinking is indeed crucial; I understand now."

After saying that, he added, "However, in Yangcheng, when it comes to electric toothbrushes alone, we can't outsell Oral-Bee."

Liang Siyuan waved his hand, "Oral-Bee is not important. They only focus on oral health. Even if they get a spot in the consumption upgrade pilot program, it's just a single product category."

The pilot program for consumption upgrading is also divided into single-category and multi-category programs.

For companies like Oral-Bee, even if they get a spot by switching to oral care, it's currently limited to electric toothbrushes. But Philips is different.

Philips has expertise in multiple related fields, including consumer electronics, personal care, and home appliances, so if he gets a quota, he'll likely get quotas for multiple product categories.

"Of course, it looks better if you bite as close as possible."

"I see."

:

Gu Jinhua nodded again, finally finding an opportunity to steer the conversation back to "Anjia Housekeeping," saying, "Director Liang, speaking of electric toothbrushes and Oral-Bee, I think we should have a good talk with President Shen who's coming over later. If we can secure the Anjia connection, I think it will be very helpful for our future plans."

Liang Siyuan glanced at Gu Jinhua. "Manager Gu, you seem to value Anjia quite a bit?"

Gu Jinhua also glanced at Liang Siyuan, unsure of his thoughts.

However, after thinking about it, he still spoke his true thoughts: "Director Liang, to be honest, I think Anjia is quite interesting. Our Philips retail channels in Yangcheng have already reached their limit, and it will be difficult to increase sales volume further. On the other hand, Anjia's family customers are a new growth point for us."

As she spoke, Gu Jinhua took out Oral-B again for comparison.

"Oral-Bee's strength lies in various hospitals and dental clinics; those are their advantageous channels. We at Philips don't have such advantageous channels. If Anjia can join us, that will be an advantageous channel for us compared to Oral-Bee."

"And it's not just electric toothbrushes. They've sold rice cookers before, so they can definitely sell other things too. We can sell all of Philip's other products through this new channel as well..."

Gu Jinhua spoke at length.

In conclusion, let me end with a single sentence.

"...Director Liang, I think we absolutely must secure this Anjia Housekeeping contract!"

It's clear that Gu Jinhua is indeed very interested in Anjia Household Services as a sales channel.

After listening, Liang Siyuan nodded. "That's why I said this person is interesting."

His tone was flat, revealing little emotion, as if he were commenting on a freshly served cold dish.

Gu Jinhua sensed something was amiss, but still gritted her teeth and tried again: "Director Liang, I still think that Anjia Housekeeping is indeed very important to us."

Liang Siyuan smiled and said, "Manager Gu, I understand your feelings, and I agree with them, but your vision is still a bit narrow. You're only focused on Yangcheng, while I'm looking at the whole country. No matter how good Anjia is in Yangcheng, can they help me get into Xiahai? Can they help me get into the stores in Yanjing?"

Liang Siyuan felt that these managers in small places were truly short-sighted and narrow-minded, lacking any real understanding. They made a big fuss about seizing a new local sales channel, completely oblivious to the limitations of the word "local" and showing absolutely no national or international perspective.

Gu Jinhua opened her mouth, but couldn't find the words to refute.

Liang Siyuan continued, "And it's not that I'm unwilling to talk about it, otherwise I wouldn't have asked Lao Zhang to call that President Shen over for a couple of drinks. It's just that you didn't handle the situation well."

"This home service is just icing on the cake. It's good to have it, of course, but you can't put all your hopes on a local housekeeping company. That's putting the cart before the horse."

"Ultimately, what has enabled Philips to achieve its current success in China? It's the distributors and stores. But judging from your attitude just now, it seems like you'd rather not even need distributors and stores after having Anjia Home Services, haha."

Lu Lan smiled in response.

Gu Jinhua paused for a moment, then smiled apologetically, "Director Liang is right."

Liang Siyuan softened his tone, offering a sweet remark after the initial harsh criticism: "I'm not trying to discourage you. The fact that you can see the value of Anjia shows that you're thinking about growth, which is excellent."

"But we can't focus on one thing and lose another, picking up sesame seeds and losing watermelons. The focus should still be on distributors and stores. Having a home is good, of course, but if you don't, don't panic. You need to grasp this balance."

Gu Jinhua nodded. "I understand."

:

He didn't mention An Jia again.

Liang Siyuan didn't mean they didn't want to settle down, but he set a "limit" for them.

Gu Jinhua felt that since everyone still wanted to cooperate, Anjia Household Services would eventually join Philip's group. He couldn't think of any reason why Anjia Household Services wouldn't get on Philip's big ship when Philip had already taken the initiative to reach out. In this way, his goal would be achieved, and there would be no difference.

Therefore, there's no need to emphasize to Liang Siyuan how much he values ​​the An family.

Seeing that they had reached a consensus, Liang Siyuan was quite satisfied.

Next, we stopped talking about work and started chatting with Gu Jinhua about some tourist attractions in Yangcheng, looking for places to visit in the next few days.

They hadn't been chatting for long when someone knocked on the door. After a "Come in," Zhang Demin pushed the door open and came in, followed by a boy with two books tucked under his arm, looking like a student who had wandered into the wrong classroom.

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