I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

After entering Fang Tianming's study, Shen Kang looked around and thought it was quite nice for a leading cadre's study.

Fang Tianming's study was small but tidy. One side had a solid wood bookshelf, through which one could see publications such as "Seeking Truth" and "Xinhua Digest." On the other side was a mahogany desk.

On the wall directly opposite the desk hung a calligraphy scroll that read "Seek Truth from Facts," next to a group photo taken when Fang Tianming went to conduct research in a prefecture-level city. In the photo, he was standing on a paddy field ridge, surrounded by several local officials in shirts, with vast rice paddies in the background. They didn't look like officials from the Department of Commerce; they looked more like officials from the Department of Agriculture.

"sit."

After closing the door behind him, Fang Tianming pulled up a chair and placed it in front of the desk. He gestured with his hand and said this to Shen Kang. He then went to get the thermos and poured two cups of tea.

Shen Kang reached out and took the cup before sitting down at the desk. He glanced at the desk and saw several documents in the middle, a computer on the right, and a stack of documents on the left.

The window was ajar, and the night breeze blew in through the crack, causing a stack of documents to flip slightly at the corner.

"These are some things from the domestic service industry."

Fang Tianming sat down behind his desk, put down his teacup, tapped the documents in the middle of the desk, and then smiled, "Your Anjia project is progressing very quickly; you've already received quite a bit of subsidies from us."

Shen Kang said, "It just so happens that we are expanding to other cities in the province and urgently need a large number of personnel, which is why there are so many applications for personnel training subsidies."

Fang Tianming nodded. "Don't worry. The more you take, the happier we are, because it means this work is progressing effectively."

He only remembered Shen Kang a few days ago, so he had someone bring over the relevant documents to take a look. He was quite satisfied with the results, as Anjia solved the employment problems of many township staff.

"You've settled down in Yangcheng, and I don't think there's much room for development there. Now, no matter which district I go to, I can see your people riding electric bikes through the streets and alleys. It's time for you to go out and explore."

After first affirming Anjia Housekeeping's work, Fang Tianming said, "The global financial crisis in the second half of last year didn't seem to have any negative impact on Anjia. On the contrary, a company went bankrupt, which allowed you to pick up a batch of their inventory at a low price and start selling rice cookers."

At this point, Fang Tianming laughed, "Housekeeping companies are starting to sell rice cookers? I've never heard of that before. And you've not just sold them once, now you're selling electric toothbrushes too. Are you planning to sell TVs, refrigerators, and washing machines next?"

Shen Kang pondered the meaning of Fang Tianming's words for a moment, and then said, "I dare not think about it now. The investment in these big projects is quite substantial. However, when the time is right, we may really sell them."

Fang Tianming looked at him and asked, "If it really comes to that, will it still be like this electric toothbrush incident, where you make your own, use your own brand, and sell them yourselves?"

Shen Kang nodded. "Mm."

Fang Tianming nodded, remaining silent for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. After a brief pause, he smiled and sighed, "You young people are really quick-witted. I never imagined before that housekeeping could be more than just housekeeping; you could even sell things."

"With the current global financial crisis and difficulties in foreign trade, there is a great need for domestic demand growth. There are some ideas and policies from the government that are being prepared for implementation, one of which is consumption upgrading."

At this point, Fang Tianming paused and said, "You only need to know what I'm saying yourself."

Shen Kang nodded. "Understood."

He not only "understood" Fang Tianming's meaning that he should keep it to himself and not spread it around, but he also knew exactly what Fang Tianming meant by "some ideas and policies." Among them, the most familiar to ordinary people like him was the "home appliances to the countryside" program.

That's a real piece of the pie. However, the "Home Appliances to the Countryside" program involves provincial applications and central bidding, so not just anyone can participate. Anjia, at its current size, only sells electric toothbrushes, so it wouldn't qualify for this program.

"The so-called consumption upgrade,"

Fang Tianming continued, "Specifically, it means enabling wealthy families to upgrade their quality of life. For example, if you have an old-fashioned semi-automatic washing machine that you bought a few years ago, you still have to manually take the clothes out and put them into another drum to spin them dry, which is quite troublesome. If you are relatively well-off, you can buy a new fully automatic one, so you don't have to do anything yourself, and your quality of life will be greatly improved."

"The electric toothbrush that Anjia is selling now replaces the traditional toothbrush, which also improves the quality of life."

Shen Kang seemed to understand why Fang Tianming had called him over today. "Brother, can our An family also be included in this consumption upgrade list?"

Fang Tianming couldn't help but laugh and cry at the kid. He had said he would call him "Big Brother" before, and now he was actually doing it.

However, he didn't dwell on this point. He nodded and then shook his head: "In terms of products, you definitely can't get into all categories right now, but you can get into a single category, it's just that you're not qualified enough."

At this point, Fang Tianming made a joke, giving an example: "It's like when I went to Qiqi's parent-teacher conference to see who was being considered for the 'Three Good Students' award. I wanted Qiqi to get it, but she only scored around 60 points in each subject, so I was too embarrassed to ask. Even if I forced myself to ask, I couldn't convince the teacher."

Upon hearing this, Shen Kang felt a little puzzled.

Although Fang Tianming didn't explicitly say what the benefits would be of being included in the list of companies undergoing consumption upgrade, he knew with his own eyes that there would definitely be plenty of benefits, probably various subsidies, the kind that would allow companies to make a profit even if they sold at a loss.

He had already tasted this benefit once: his settlement was funded by government subsidies. For every person trained here, the government would provide a subsidy, which was roughly equivalent to the government spending money to train his personnel.

This explains why Shen Kang and Kang Zhengyang were confident enough to launch attacks on 10 cities simultaneously without needing Shen Kang's other businesses to provide financial support to Anjia Household Services.

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If the training subsidy for domestic workers is a "blood transfusion" for Anjia Domestic Service, then this consumption upgrade quota might just be a "blood transfusion" for Anjia Technology.

Therefore, Shen Kang was quite interested in this list of companies involved in consumption upgrades.

What puzzled Shen Kang was why Fang Tianming seemed so eager to let him in.

I've only met Fang Tianming a few times, and most of the time I've just been taking advantage of him without ever transferring any benefits to him.

If it were Fang Shiqi's side, that would be even more impossible. He had clearly expressed that he had no interest in Fang Shiqi and even kept his distance from her. Fang Tianming couldn't possibly not have understood that.

So, what exactly is the reason?

Shen Kang couldn't think of anything for a moment.

But that's not important; Fang Tianming's attitude is enough.

Shen Kang then asked, "How many points does my niece need to get before you can apply for an 'Outstanding Student' award for her?"

"..."

Fang Tianming's face twitched.

Earlier at the dinner table, when this kid told me he was an orphan, I felt a little sorry for him. But I didn't expect him to be so eccentric sometimes, calling someone his "niece," which was both funny and exasperating.

"Alright, let's not talk about your niece anymore."

Fang Tianming glared at the kid, annoyed. "Get straight to the point. I think that Anjia Technology they're working on is quite interesting, but when people hear 'Anjia,' their first instinct is to think of a housekeeping company. If I say I'm adding Anjia to the list, what will people think? That I'm putting a housekeeping company on this list just because they temporarily opened a shell company? First impressions are fatal."

"Therefore, we need something that can 'intimidate' others."

Fang Tianming looked at Shen Kang and said, "For example, isn't this the Spring Festival? If in the electric toothbrush market, brands like Philips or Oral-Bee can't outsell a local company from Yangcheng, that would be surprising."

Shen Kang understood Fang Tianming's meaning: he wanted Anjia to boost its sales during the Spring Festival season. Even if Anjia couldn't outsell the other two companies nationwide or over a long period, as long as Anjia could temporarily surpass one of them in sales during Yangcheng and the Spring Festival, Fang Tianming would have a reason to suggest adding Anjia to the list of companies focused on consumption upgrades. "Never mind the long-term, large-scale perspective," he thought, "just ask yourself, right now in Yangcheng, aren't Anjia's electric toothbrush sales exceeding Philips'? This shows the company has great potential!" And so on and so forth…

Shen Kang did not respond immediately.

After thinking for a moment, he said this.

"Just exceeding one company is enough? It still doesn't feel quite safe. How about exceeding the sum of two companies? I feel like that would be more 'intimidating' and safer."

As everyone knows, he has always been a cautious person who prefers to play it safe.

Fang Tianming remained silent.

"..."

He didn't know what to say. After a moment of silence, he could only sigh, "They're just young people, so impetuous."

Shen Kang instinctively quipped, "What kind of young person isn't spirited?"

These days, although the TV series "Conquest" has been around for a while, this overused trope isn't popular yet. Fang Tianming hadn't even thought of this TV series, and just smiled, "That's true. If you're not spirited, what kind of young person are you?"

Then he nodded, "If you can do that, that would be even better. But as I said before, as long as you can surpass either of the two companies, I'll have something to say."

"Okay, I'll give it my best."

After finishing their business, the two of them drank tea and chatted idly.

Fang Tianming asked about the Canon CEO, Mr. Li, whom he had introduced to Shen Kang before, and how their cooperation was going. Shen Kang replied that everything was going very well. The conversation then turned to studies, and Fang Tianming asked him how he expected his final exam results, given his busy work schedule. Shen Kang said he had a good chance of getting a scholarship.

After chatting for a while, Shen Kang saw that it was almost time and tactfully took his leave.

"...It's getting late, I should go back to my studies. Brother, please let my niece come back too, I'm afraid she'll get skin irritated if she swims any longer."

As he left, Shen Kang couldn't suppress his gratitude and asked Fang Tianming, "Brother, why are you helping me so much? I've never given you any gifts. Could it be that you were the one who abandoned me at the orphanage back then?"

Fang Tianming laughed and scolded, "Nonsense."

He paused, then added, "After all, you are a local company in Yangcheng, and in terms of creating jobs, you have made a greater contribution than some larger companies. Perhaps that's the reason."

Then, in a rather irritable tone, he said, "Alright, alright, let's go."

After the couple saw Shen Kang to the door, Luo Liqing went back to the living room to watch TV as the elevator doors closed. Fang Tianming, however, stood at the door without moving, pondering for a while before laughing.

If it were someone else, like Liang Siyuan or Gu Jinhua, saying those random things to him, it would definitely be inappropriate. But Shen Kang is just an 18-year-old kid, and these random things actually make him feel closer to him.

Even without Qiqi's connection, the two of them are now considered friends.

As for the reason for helping Shen Kang, there were still some things he didn't say: he felt that this young man, Shen Kang, had a bright future, and perhaps in the future, his Anjia Technology would develop into a comprehensive home appliance enterprise in the province.

While this idea seems a bit far-fetched at the moment, who knows? After all, when Shen Kang first started working at Anjia Housekeeping, no one expected him to go into the home appliance business; when he was scavenging other people's surplus stock and selling rice cookers, no one imagined that six months later he would be developing his own electric toothbrushes. At this rate, maybe next we'll see electric fans, refrigerators, televisions…

Just one company, Anjia Household Services, has created so many jobs for Yangcheng. If Anjia Technology truly develops, Anjia Household Services will certainly develop in tandem, creating even more jobs for Qianlin Province. And how many more jobs will these people support through their local living and consumption?

Giving opportunities and resources to a company like Anjia is clearly better than giving them to a company like Philips that takes profits elsewhere.

Of course, for now, Philip needs to be retained and given resources; the province of Chien Lin still needs him. However, there's no conflict; there's more than one spot available, so everyone can apply together.

It's just that they added the name "Anjia" to it.

Thinking of Philip, Fang Tianming recalled Shen Kang's earlier comment about "more than the sum of the two companies," and couldn't help but smile.

He was young once too. When he was young, it was the end of the space race between the two major powers. He was influenced by it and was confident that he would become the first Chinese astronaut to leave Earth.

As it turns out, China has now produced its first astronaut in space, but he's not one of them. He's just a minor deputy director-general in Qianlin Province.

The other end

Shen Kang drove back to Shenlan Waterfront. As soon as he went upstairs and entered the house, he went straight to the bedroom.

On the way, they passed through the living room, where Zhou Man and He Qiuzhu were watching TV with a fruit plate in front of them. Zhou Man called out to him, "I just bought some fruit, come and have a piece."

"I'm busy."

Shen Kang waved his hand dismissively, turned around, and headed straight for the bedroom: "I'm busy waging a business war with Philip and Oral-Bee."

"..."

Zhou Man rolled her eyes, wondering what was wrong with him this time.

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