Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 715 Going to Xidu

Xiaowei picked up Xiaohui and said, "Xiaohui and I are going to Xidu tomorrow. We'll stay for a few days, then come back and go to Andong and Dalian. Do you want us to bring anything?"

Geng Hui shook her head and said, "No need, I don't need anything right now."

As Chen Xiao wiped his hands, he said, "You two should just run. Drive or take a bus? Take a bus, that incident with Xiao Wei driving last time was terrifying, take the train."

Xiao Wei said, "Yeah, I'll take the train. What are you bringing?"

Chen Xiao thought for a moment: "What should I bring? There doesn't seem to be much there. Can I bring seafood?"

Xiao Wei said, "I can't do it without a car; it'll all smell bad by the time I bring it back."

Geng Hui said, "Isn't Xidu about buying land? What does Dalian do? Buy houses."

Chen Hui said, "Yes, Xidu got someone to help him get a piece of land. They said it's been approved, and he'll go pay the money and get the paperwork. Construction will start next year. Da Lian looked at a few places in the autumn and will buy them if they're suitable, and then start preparing for the new year."

Geng Hui said, "Buying it is fine, but I don't think we're in a rush to set it up. Things aren't finished here yet, and there's still a lot of construction going on. It's too much of a stretch. In my opinion, we should get everything settled in Fengtian first, open all the shops, and then move on to other areas."

Xiao Wei thought for a moment and said, "That works too. If everything is set up in Fengtian and the stores in Longcheng and Fengtian are open, there will be more places for internships, and we can get more people out of the factory faster. If we open more stores elsewhere, at least we won't be in such a shortage of people."

Chen Hui said, "If we buy it now and finish cleaning up in the spring, it will be the second half of next year. The stores here will be open by then. So, the stores here will have two store managers. When we need staff, we'll split them up. The food factory here will start recruiting students. Before recruiting, we'll make it clear that it's for our own use and that they will have to work here after graduation."

Chen Xiao said, "What if someone doesn't want to work and just wants to open their own shop? Would you not hire them?"

Xiaowei handed Xiaoxiaohui to Chen Hui and said, "It's not realistic to open a shop immediately after graduation. We can talk to them and say that if they work here for two or three years after graduation and want to open their own shop, we can help them. For example, we can open the shop and they can run it. It's like a contract. They pay a certain amount of money each year and the rest is theirs."

Geng Hui thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "I think this plan is acceptable. In fact, it's more cost-effective than hiring a store manager."

Chen Xiao didn't understand and asked, "How can it be a good deal? The majority of the profits go to the other party, and the store is still our investment. Isn't that a loss?"

Geng Hui said, "He has to pay a contract fee, and he can also make a profit from material distribution. Most importantly, this store is still ours, you understand?"

It's like we're partners with him in opening this store. He's the boss, so how could he not do his best to run it well? If the store is well-run, the profits will be high, which creates a virtuous cycle, and our brand will become stronger and stronger.

"That's it, all the workers in the shop belong to him. We don't need to worry about their wages, and we don't even need to handle the business registration and taxes. It saves us so much trouble! We just need to buy a place, tidy it up, and we'll never have to worry about anything again. We just need to supply the materials. Isn't that a good deal? In the end, the house is ours, but the shop is still really ours."

Chen Xiao looked at the group of people who were thinking, and after a while said, "I don't quite understand it yet, but I trust you guys. If you say it's a good deal, then it is. I'll think about it slowly."

Xiao Wei said, "You just suddenly realized this, and you'll understand once you think about it."

……

The next day, Xiaowei and Chen Hui had breakfast, went to the train station, bought tickets, and boarded the train to Xidu.

The train from Fengtian to Xidu is very convenient, with trains running 24 hours a day.

At noon, the two arrived in Xidu.

Xidu still looked rather old in 91. There weren't many tall buildings, and the city was mostly filled with old buildings. The roadsides were lined with lush poplar or pine trees, and there was a huge flowerbed right outside the station. It was completely different from Fengtian.

Chen Hui looked around and asked Xiao Wei, "Should we eat first or contact them?"

Xiao Wei said, "Let's eat. After we eat, let's find a place to stay, and then we'll contact you. We definitely can't get anything done today."

Chen Hui said, "How about we go to the palace this afternoon? We've never been there before."

Xiao Wei glanced at Chen Hui and said, "What's so interesting about that? It's just a name. You can easily imagine what it looks like."

Chen Hui said, "We're here now, it's just a quick trip. Let's go, where should we eat?"

Xiao Wei bought a map from a nearby newsstand, looked at it for a while, and said, "Let's stay at the Changchun Hotel. It should be the best place around here. We can eat there afterwards, okay? Or should we call the other two over to join us?"

Looking at the map, Xiao Wei said, "Let's take a taxi. It's a bit far, several kilometers away."

The two walked to the edge of the square, waited for a while, and then took a taxi to Changchun Hotel.

In 91, Changchun Hotel was a three-star hotel catering to foreign guests, and it was the most upscale hotel in CC City. It was located on the north side of Jinshui Road, which is now the east side of Yuhuayuan Park.

Many tourists visiting Xidu will find something strange: the Puppet Emperor's Palace Museum and the Imperial Garden are quite far apart, only four kilometers apart as the crow flies. Meanwhile, the Puppet State Council and other government offices are all located near the Imperial Garden, next to the Nantou Cultural Square. The Puppet Manchukuo Military Ministry, the Eight Ministries, and the State Council are all clustered together in this area. The residence of the Puppet Manchukuo Prime Minister is also near the Imperial Garden.

Does this mean that ministers work here and then drive several kilometers to meet them when they need to? No.

The entire area from Cultural Square to the Imperial Garden, including the Chaoyang Campus of Jibei University in the middle, was originally planned as the new palace of the puppet Manchukuo regime. However, the planned project was too large, and the regime was liberated before it was completed. On the other hand, the other military garrisons were completed and put into use first because the projects were smaller.

The current location of the Imperial Garden is the site of the original planned inner palace of the imperial palace. It was once occupied by the military and various units. Later, the Xidu government re-planned the area according to historical records, relocated the occupying units, and built the Imperial Garden Park.

Nestled amidst lush greenery, the Changchun Hotel is a collection of irregularly shaped old buildings, originally constructed 35 years ago as the club of the Central Bank of Manchukuo. It features a typical Japanese garden-style architecture, with nearly ten buildings of varying sizes arranged in a harmonious and varied manner. The artificial lake ripples gently, and graceful willows line its banks, while pavilions and springs complement each other, creating a delightful garden landscape.

The area from Cultural Square to Imperial Garden was the city center of Xidu, which was planned by the puppet Manchukuo regime at the time, and there are many old buildings from that period.

On the west side of Changchun Hotel is a nationally renowned organization, Yilin Magazine.

"What are you doing?"

"Just checking into a hotel. What can you do here?"

"Let me see your work ID." After getting out of the taxi, the two were stopped outside the hotel.

I've been moving these past couple of days to a major city 600 kilometers away. It's not settled in yet, and I don't have any drafts saved. I'll only be updating twice a week for now, and I'll finish once I'm settled.

(End of this chapter)