Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 408 The Early 90s (Today is a Great Day)

Xiao Wei stood up, turned on the exhaust fan, and said, "Let's go sit in Xiao Hui's office. Let the waiter clean up here so as not to disturb their departure."

The three of them stood up, grabbed their things, and headed towards Chen Hui's office. Chen Hui signaled to the waiter that they could start packing.

Once inside the office, the three of them turned on the exhaust fan, lit cigarettes, and sat down. Xiao Wei said, "Old Xia has a point. We need to find a chance to talk to Fifth Brother about this. Let's wait until we get back. I'll have a drink with Fifth Brother when we return."

Xia Maosheng and Chen Hui both laughed. Xiao Wei was stunned and asked, "What's so funny?"

Chen Hui said to Xia Maosheng, "Let me tell you a joke. Xiao Wei has to go drinking with someone." Hahaha, the two of them burst into laughter.

Xiao Wei cursed and laughed. Looking around at the group of acquaintances, he realized that Xiao Hong and Chen Xiao could both drink more than him.

After laughing for a while, the worries about the secret recipe dissipated a lot. Xiao Wei said, "We really need to think about this. There's always a way. And it's not just the secret recipe; the store manager is also a big deal. How can we run the business without a manager? They need to be capable and reliable, which is hard to find. Our foundation is too weak."

Chen Hui said, "Forget it, let's not think about it anymore. Let's get the Antong branch up first, one branch at a time. By the way, we can open one near your brother's place too, he'll be overseeing it. We'll talk about other places later. Actually, there's no rush. How many places can match Fengtian's spending power these days? If the spending power isn't there, we'll lose money."

Xia Maosheng said to Xiaowei, "He's acting all high and mighty again. He's the one who's always shouting that he wants to start, and now he's the one who's not in a hurry."

Xiao Wei said, "Xiao Hui is absolutely right. Opening a business in a place with low consumer spending power will only result in losses. How many suitable cities are there in our province? Andong is barely acceptable, Beixi, Anshan, Dalian, and where else? So there's really no rush."

Chen Hui said, "What about other provinces? At least the provincial capital should be able to handle it, right?"

Xia Maosheng took a puff of his cigarette and said, "Huanglong and Bingcheng, do you dare to enter the pass? These days, if we try to enter the pass, people will chew up our bones. Small-scale operations will be ignored. You should forget about opening a restaurant of this caliber. It will be gone after a few days. Don't try to give money away."

Xiao Wei asked, "Who are you sending the money to?"

Xia Maosheng said, "When your business grows big and you make money, people will get envious. When they come to ask for a share, will you give it to them? Like this shop, if they give you 50,000 yuan to take half, would you agree? If they give you 100,000 yuan to take 80%, would you agree? When you're on someone else's turf, they have plenty of ways to ruin you. They can bankrupt you in no time."

Chen Hui nodded and said, "That's the truth. Xiao Wei, you don't know this unless you've been in contact with someone like me. Last year, an acquaintance of mine started a business in Xiangping, which wasn't even as big as our shop. Then someone started targeting him and gave him 20,000 yuan to split it in half. Anyone would refuse in that situation. Then the industry and commerce bureau, tax bureau, health bureau, police station, and neighborhood committee all came and investigated every day."

My acquaintance had some connections, so he managed to get through it, but guess what happened? The government couldn't handle it, and a few days later, the gangsters showed up, causing trouble every day. In the end, their shop was smashed, and my acquaintance got beaten up badly. He tried to sue, but the gangsters were more connected to the police station than he was. In the end, he couldn't keep the shop open, and he came back with a broken arm after all the beating. And this was within the same province!

Xiao Wei said, "What good would it do him if he smashed up your shop and made it impossible for you to continue operating?"

Xia Maosheng chuckled and said, "You're doing a good job and making a lot of money, but it doesn't benefit others at all. You're too naive."

Chen Hui said, "I still remember last year, the one my dad took over as Director He, the one who took the blame for his son. His son, He Jun, was actually doing this kind of thing. He hung out with a few rich kids from the province and city, always looking for people to invest and collect protection money. In the end, when things got out of hand, they threw him out. Those guys were from the province and city, and they got away with it in no time and continued to live a carefree life. Jun's family had to pay money to settle things. In the end, Old He really had no other choice, so he brought back some money from Longjiang. But it was too rushed, and he didn't handle things properly. He got into trouble himself too."

Xiao Wei licked his lips and said, "So, what about here?"

Chen Hui laughed and said, "We're fine here. He Jun went off to hang out with some shady characters and got into trouble, so he got dumped. Since you're not part of the same system, who's going to protect you? We're different. We're doing legitimate business. Whether it's the province or the city, do you think anyone would dare to mess with us? Do they think my old Chen is just a figurehead? Take those guys who cheated He Jun, for example. Even though their fathers are the second-in-command in the province and the top dog in the city, if they dare to mess with us, my dad would cut off all their electricity to the provincial and municipal governments, you believe it? We could go straight to the central government. They're just using their family's money to cheat people, but they're not stupid. They can figure things out. Don't worry."

Xia Maosheng nodded and said, "That's right. If we do business honestly without cheating or swindling, no one will dare to mess with us. We'll make them envious. Hehe, our school has been targeted before. His father is a member of the Standing Committee in Longcheng. He went directly to my aunt and asked to invest and do business together. My aunt told him that Chen Hui was in charge of this matter and that it was no use coming to me. He said he had to go to Director Chen of the Northeast Bureau, and that was the end of it."

Chen Hui slammed his hand on the table and said, "Damn it, you're trying to intimidate me by using my name. Hurry up and bribe me."

Xiao Wei and Xia Maosheng chuckled together.

Chen Hui stubbed out his cigarette, stretched, and said, "These days, it's not easy. There are so many things we don't see. It's really not easy for ordinary people to earn a living. Without connections, it's hard to do anything. If you don't work, you won't have food to eat. If you do well, people will have their eyes on you. You don't even have to do well. Whatever business you get into, you'll have to bleed money. A small tax bureau can make you half dead."

Xiao Wei said, "Then why are there still so many people doing business?"

Xia Maosheng said, "What will we eat if we don't work? Nowadays, besides state-owned enterprises, how many companies can still pay wages normally? We can't survive, can we? It's better than not working. Besides, we're all just trying to make a living, and we all have a few acquaintances here and there."

Xiao Wei said, "Is that really true? You two are making society sound so dark. There are so many out-of-province people doing business on Er Ma Road, like that Xiao Wen guy. People from Jiangsu and Zhejiang are everywhere. How do they manage? Taiyuan Street, Zhongjie Street, Xita, Nanta, and Wu'ai—aren't they all doing business?"

Chen Hui said, "Not all businesses are attractive to people; you have to be qualified. Small businesses encounter petty thieves, while big businesses face the devil. A small shop owner might get a pack of cigarettes every now and then, nothing serious. A small restaurant owner might occasionally treat someone to a meal as a way of making friends. But when a business grows big, it's a different story—it's like bleeding money. Ask around and find out who runs these big businesses and who owns the shares."

Xia Maosheng said, "Many businesses are cut off by outsiders because they can't be done. Transportation, passenger transport, large-scale wholesale—try doing that. If you start today, someone will come to your house and attack you tomorrow. Those are all fought for; who doesn't have blood on their hands?"

Chen Hui said, "The bigger the city, the more chaotic it is underneath. Smaller places are better; people don't care about that little bit of money there."

Xia Maosheng said, "It's all the same. Take Xiaowei's county, for example. If you don't believe me, go and ask around. See who's running the big businesses in your county. If the place is small and the people don't have money or connections, they can't afford to run big businesses."

Xiao Wei stared blankly at Xia Maosheng and Chen Hui, and said, "Then, should ordinary people just give up on life?"

(End of this chapter)