Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 347 Anton's Store

Xiao Wei paused for a moment, then asked, "Selling it? How much?"

Chen Hui said, "Selling it. Liu Sui found the director of the grain bureau. It's an old building of the grain bureau, and the blueprints and everything are gone. He valued it at 150,000. Liu Sui asked if it was okay, saying he'd find another way if not. I think it's a bit expensive. That two-story building isn't that big. What do you think?"

Xiao Wei paused for a moment, "150,000? A two-story house?" He said, "Are you sure? If you want it, 150,000 it is, I'll buy it. But you said the blueprints and everything are gone? How do we get the permits then?"

Chen Hui said, "Buy it? You think it's not expensive? The blueprints are a small matter. Just pay the money, transfer the property, and then get the certificate. We can just find someone to measure it and make some blueprints. It's no big deal. You really want to buy it?"

Xiao Wei frowned and said, "Are you sure this will work?"

Chen Hui said, "It will definitely work. For a government unit, selling things is just a matter of the top leader's word. Don't worry."

Xiao Wei slapped his thigh and said, "Buy it, buy it right now. You tell Liu Sui first thing tomorrow morning to get the paperwork done quickly. If we need to go, I'll go tomorrow."

Chen Hui was clearly startled by Xiao Wei's urgency, and after a long pause, he said, "Why are you in such a hurry? Damn, what good thing has happened to you again? Okay, I won't ask anymore. I'll call Liu Sui first thing tomorrow morning. Actually, this price is really expensive. 150,000 can buy a really big piece of land now. How much does a house cost in Fengtian?"

Xiao Wei gradually calmed himself down and said, "Nonsense, those are storefronts facing the street, how can they be the same as residences?"

Chen Hui said, "I know, you don't understand unless you're in contact with government agencies. These kinds of shops used to all belong to government agencies. It's only in recent years that private individuals have started buying them. Let me tell you, 150,000 yuan can get you a lot of things now. A house on the street in Taiyuan was only around 100,000 yuan last year. Think about it. I guess Liu Sui probably doesn't have much of a relationship with this bureau chief, so he just casually quoted a high price."

Xiao Wei said, "Okay, I really don't understand these things as well as you do. Just handle it as you see fit, and make sure nothing goes wrong. By the way, when are you going home?"

Chen Hui asked, "What for?"

Xiao Wei said, "I've wanted to talk to your dad about Xiao Hong's dad's matter several times, but I've been so busy that I forgot. Could you ask him for me if it's possible to get my father-in-law's job here?"

Chen Hui asked, "What's your father-in-law's rank?"

Xiao Wei said, "What rank does he have? He's from a small county town, just a section chief."

Chen Hui laughed and said, "What's a section-level cadre? The lowest level in our country's civil service system is the section-level. It's easy. I'll talk to my dad. Higher levels are hard to get, but no level is easy. I thought your father-in-law was some kind of division-level cadre."

Xiao Wei said, "Only county-level officials are at the level of division chief; a county only has a few division chiefs."

Chen Hui chuckled and hung up the phone. Xiao Wei put down the phone, sat for a while, and then went back to his room to sleep.

The next morning, Xiao Wei entered the cafeteria through a side door and watched the trainees eating breakfast noisily. It was a bit crowded, but there was enough food, and they seemed satisfied with the breakfast. Only then did he feel relieved. Food and accommodation are important matters and troublesome to resolve. He was afraid that something might go wrong in this regard.

The interns started their jobs here, and the second phase of classes began there. Xiaowei went up to the second-floor office to find Xie Xiaolong.

Previously, all of the food factory's products were sold to external distributors. Now, the product range has been adjusted and finalized. The specific sales plan will depend on Xie Xiaolong's ideas, which is a big deal.

The biscuit production has already started. We've found three experienced workers, and with the help of a few trainees, the biscuit machines will be running smoothly. The old-style biscuits don't have such high requirements, so it's a good opportunity for the trainees to practice. When Xiaowei arrived, the experienced workers were explaining the machines to a few trainees. One experienced worker guiding several trainees—they were actually quite happy with it, getting paid without having to do any work, which was great.

Xiao Wei glanced at the document and went straight to Xie Xiaolong's office, knocked on the door a few times, and then pushed it open and went inside.

Xie Xiaolong was sitting behind his desk, writing something with a pen and paper. Hearing a knock, he looked up and saw Xiaowei. He smiled and stood up. Xiaowei said, "Sit down, why are you being so polite? What are you writing?" He pulled out a chair in front of his desk, sat down, and took out a cigarette.

Xie Xiaolong sat down and said, "I've been visiting all our previous sales outlets these past two days, trying to figure out how to manage them. I feel like we can't just close all of them. My idea is to expand our sales network and then gradually build our own directly operated outlets, taking it one step at a time depending on the actual situation. I found that some of these outlets are selling quite well; I've never managed these kinds of sales outlets before."

Xiao Wei handed a cigarette to Xie Xiaolong, lit one for himself, and said, "Back then, we rushed to set up the factory. We had no market for our products, so it was Sister Shang who organized the production. Sister Shang and Hong Liang found the sales outlets one by one. We've been selling for several months now. Last month, it seems we've sold about 200,000 yuan worth of goods through all the outlets. That's not bad. And that's only less than 30 outlets. I think we should be able to cover 50 or 60 outlets throughout the city without any problem, right? What do you think?"

Xie Xiaolong glanced at the reports, occasionally making a note in his notebook. He said, "I think it's going well. Some of the outlets are selling really well. Once the products are adjusted and all the outlets are replaced, it should improve sales even further. But I'm worried about the stability of these distribution points. What if another factory poaches one? We'll be finished. Then we'll inevitably have to lower prices and reduce our own profits. Gradually, they'll control the distribution channel, and we'll have to be subservient to them, understand?"

Xiao Wei thought for a moment, nodded, and said, "So you mean we still have to build it ourselves?"

Xie Xiaolong said, "We'll keep the existing sales outlets and even increase the number where necessary. However, I'd like to sign contracts with them, for example, five-year sales agreements. After five years, if they reach a certain total sales amount, they'll receive some kind of bonus, with several reward levels. Then we'll gradually build our own outlets and slowly establish a presence in areas with high sales volume. As long as we secure those high-volume locations, we won't have anything to fear."

Xiao Wei nodded and said, "Okay, let's go that way then. How do we handle the wholesale in Fengtian?"

Xie Xiaolong shook his head and said, "There aren't many new products we've decided on that can be wholesaled right now. Bread and cakes are all fresh and easily damaged by pressure or spoilage. We can't consider Fengtian for now. Let's wait until the new biscuit varieties come out. If we want to go to Fengtian, we still need to produce bread and cakes there. That can't be rushed. Let's wait until things are more stable here before considering it. What do you think?"

Xiao Wei said, "Alright, you're an expert in sales, so I won't get involved. However, I'm planning to open a cake shop in Fengtian in the second half of the year. Think about it and see if you can coordinate. It'll be something you can do on the side. Oh, by the way, a cake shop can bake bread, right?"

(End of this chapter)