Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 604 Bashu Hot Pot

Xiao Wei nodded and said, "Yes, it's sold in Northeast China."

After glancing at his watch, the department head walked over, sat down, and asked, "Have you ever sold cars before?"

Xiao Wei said, "We didn't have this before. This is just the beginning. We just signed a contract with Tianjing Xiali. We figured we'd sell to one company or several, so we came to inquire. Your bread is quite popular in Northeast China."

The section chief asked, "Which Xiali model are you planning to sell?"

Xiao Wei said, "Xia Li and Da Fa, together."

After thinking for a moment, the department head asked, "What's the terms of the payment? How much will be withdrawn at once?"

Xiao Wei said, "The payment will be settled immediately; I won't extend credit, but the price must be as low as possible. We've agreed on a minimum order of fifty units, and no less than three hundred units per year."

Director Jing leaned back, thought for a moment, and said, "There's no precedent for this. It's hard to say. You all sit for a while, I'll go ask." He got up and left. Xiao Wei asked Xiao Huang, "What does Director Jing do?"

Xiao Huang said, "He's the head of our factory's finance department."

Xiao Hong said, "Why are we still hanging around if they don't want to talk to us? Didn't we get the bread truck?"

Xiao Wei said, "Chang'an's products are a bit more high-end. Their bread comes with air conditioning, and the market price is almost twice that of Dafa. Also, Chang'an has small trucks, which are better in style and performance than Songhuajiang. Xiao Hui said that these small trucks should have a market, as there are more and more people in the transportation industry now."

Xiao Hong said, "The car has air conditioning? So you just let it blow cold air in the summer? Is it really that useful? I don't think it's hot where we are."

Xiao Wei said, "The car is different from home, so it's still useful and more comfortable. It's not like you've never had the air conditioning on in a car."

Xiao Hong's eyes widened: "The air conditioner is the same as the one in our car?"

Xiao Wei said, "How could that be? That would cost so much. It's just a cold breeze; it certainly won't be as effective as the one in our car."

Xiao Huang asked from the side, "Which manufacturer's car do you drive? Is your air conditioning better than ours? Our factory's is the best in China. That's impossible." The little girl has quite a strong sense of collective honor.

Xiao Wei said, "I drive an imported car."

Xiao Huang said, "Ours is also imported; it's a Suzuki from Japan."

Xiao Wei said, "My family owns a sedan, an Opel. Have you ever heard of a Zorro?"

Xiao Huang shook his head and asked, "How much is that car?"

Xiao Wei said, "Over 500,000 yuan, imported cars are all quite expensive."

Little Huang stared in astonishment, mouth agape, before finally saying, "You're ripping me off! How come you're so rich? How do you make money? What do you do?"

Xiao Wei said, "I want to open a restaurant, a food factory, or make bread and cakes. Do you have any cream birthday cakes here?"

Xiao Huang shook his head and said, "There's bread and cake, but what's a cream birthday cake?"

Xiao Wei said, "It's the cake I eat on my birthday."

Xiao Huang shook his head: "For birthdays, you just have a banquet. What kind of cake do you eat? It's not tasty."

Around 91, cream birthday cakes already existed in the Sichuan-Chongqing region, but they were very rare and not yet popular. Luo Hong of Holiland was the first person to open a store for this purpose, in Ya'an.

Moreover, at that time, hot pot was not yet popular in Sichuan and Chongqing. At that time, Sichuan hot pot was still a food for the lower classes who were struggling, and ordinary people looked down on it. In the mid-to-late 1990s, with the establishment of Chongqing as a municipality, Sichuan and Chongqing hot pot suddenly became popular. At the same time, hot pot's counterparts, skewers and mala tang, also became popular.

When talking about the rise of Chongqing hot pot, one cannot help but mention a woman, He Yongzhi, the founder of Little Swan Hot Pot.

Back in 91, He Yongzhi was still running her family-style hot pot restaurant at Chaotianmen Wharf. The run-down little shop had only a few tables, and it was usually frequented by porters looking for food.

Bashu hot pot was invented by these common people. They would pick up discarded offal leaves from the market, wash them, and cook them in a red broth. Because boiled food didn't absorb flavor well, dipping sauces were created. At that time, hot pot restaurants were concentrated around the docks and markets, catering specifically to these laborers, as it was cheap and convenient, making it very popular with them.

He Yongzhi is a bold, meticulous, and enterprising beauty. She was truly stunning in her youth, which is one of the reasons why her restaurant was so popular. She replaced the charcoal stove with a gas stove, making the hot pot cleaner, and also introduced a buffet style, which is now the dining style for Sichuan and Chongqing hot pot. She also invented the yin-yang pot and the mother-and-child pot.

In the early 90s, China's franchise market was already booming. At that time, the most popular and authoritative business magazine in China was called Business World, which was a local magazine in Chongqing. The magazine's publishing house was located in a dilapidated old building at the entrance of Caiyuanba Dongzikou.

In 94, He Yongzhi received investment from Jing Yunhan, a businessman from Tianjing, and launched the nationwide franchise GG, promoting Bayu hotpot and her business model across the country. She succeeded. Sichuan-Chongqing hotpot also succeeded, becoming a signature industry of Sichuan and Chongqing, and a high-end catering industry.

One person created an entirely new industry, turning a roadside stall into a regional brand known worldwide, and successfully pioneered the franchise model in the domestic industry, benefiting many.

As for Qin Ma and the others who followed suit, they were just copying.

Back then, in the business world, typing "GG" (a Chinese internet slang term for "good luck") would get you money; it was incredibly blatant. By 03, various fraudulent companies, fake franchises, and shell companies were proliferating, and the credibility of the business world began to be questioned. They slowly collapsed, having enjoyed a period of great success.

Anyone who's been to Chongqing has surely visited Hongyadong, right? Hongyadong's night view is a national 4A-level scenic spot. But in reality, back in 91, Hongyadong was just a place name, a poor residential area. It was He Yongzhi who poured her entire fortune into transforming it into the Hongyadong we know today, another iconic landmark of Chongqing. This woman was not only beautiful but also incredibly capable. Truly admirable and worthy of emulation.

However, to be fair, these older women in Chongqing are truly remarkable: He Yongzhi, Wu Yajun, Yan Qi, Peng Lei, and Xu Xin. Chongqing is the only place in China with a strong feminist culture. The traditional notion of men being the breadwinners and women staying at home simply doesn't exist here. It's a genuine feminist world. They say women hold up half the sky, but in Chongqing, they hold up 99%. They leave one out to prevent arrogance.

In Chongqing, most businesses, big and small, are run by women; the men there are called "pa er er" (耙耳朵).

……

Growing impatient, Xiaohong said, "Let's go, what are you doing sitting here?"

Xiao Wei said, "We're already here, we're here to ask them for help, they must be really powerful, let's wait a bit longer."

Xiao Hong said, "What difference does it make whether we sell it or not? We're living off it!"

Xiao Wei felt neglected, and Xiao Hong automatically activated her "frizzy mode".

(End of this chapter)