Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 840 Small Business, Big Deal

A large executive desk, with a bookshelf on the wall behind it.

Li Na said, "Oh my, you've set up such a big bookshelf. I don't even know how many books you can fit in it. It's hard to even pretend to be something you're not."

Xia Maosheng and the others burst into laughter.

Xiao Wei said, "It's really big now. The books in my house can only fill about one-fifth of the space."

Chen Hui said, "Who says a bookshelf has to be filled with books? Documents, books, contracts, all sorts of random things can't be put there! Do whatever makes you feel comfortable, even cigarettes and alcohol are fine."

Sister Jin said, "Oh my god, don't set up a place for cigarettes and alcohol! What would that look like? A restaurant bar?"

Xiao Wei said, "Let's set up some of our products: champagne, red wine, whiskey. We haven't thought about cigarettes."

Chen Hui said, "The beer equipment will arrive in a few days. Where should we put it? Where are you planning to produce it? We haven't even set up the packaging or labels yet. There's so much to do. I'm realizing that if this continues, sooner or later we'll all be too busy to keep up."

Xiao Wei scratched his head and said with a smile, "It's my fault. Things just happened one after another. Besides, how much of it was you scratching? You think everything is fine. If we had listened to you, we would have even set up a tobacco and liquor stall."

Chen Hui said, "Doesn't doing business require constant thinking? Am I not quick-witted? Don't they say small businesses can lead to big successes?"

Xiao Wei said, "That makes sense. Big businesses often start with small ones. How many people would even consider a few cents' worth of buttons? They were one of the first industries to reach a value of over 100 million. When will clothes need buttons too? But is that what you meant? Small businesses and big profits don't mean you should just do whatever you see."

Chen Hui said, "It means don't look down on any business. In fact, every business has its reason for existing. No matter how big or small, high or low, as long as you can buy and sell and make a living, that's good, right? If it suits you, if you can establish yourself in a certain area, and if you can make your family live smoothly, that's good, right? Who doesn't understand that? It's just about persistence, focusing on doing it well, and even a small business can grow big."

Liu Hongliang said, "Brother Xiaohui's theoretical knowledge has really improved."

Chen Hui threw his head back and laughed heartily: "I might not be able to beat you guys in a real fight, but I can fool you!"

Xiaowei said, "Actually, Xiaohui is right. Focus on quality. Even if you're just steaming cornbread, if you can make it look special, different from others, with a better taste and appearance, you'll definitely make a lot of money. That's why there used to be businesses that lasted for over a hundred years."

Besides, looking at it now, these aren't big businesses. Making tofu, ear picks, scissors, kitchen knives, or clothes would be considered big businesses, right? The An family has been passing down their business for five or six generations—just a pot of soup, Goubangzi roast chicken, and Laobian dumplings. What are they passing down? Honestly, could people's tastes a hundred years ago be the same as they are now? What they're passing down is the heart."

Xia Maosheng said, "Just focus on one thing and work hard at it. Don't think about anything else, just concentrate on doing this well, and do it differently."

Liu Hongliang said, "You have to choose the right direction. If you're someone who's naturally suited to farming but insists on going into steelmaking, you'll never succeed no matter how hard you try."

Xiao Wei said, "Yes, you have to figure out what suits you. Women are afraid of marrying the wrong man, and men are afraid of choosing the wrong career. If you go astray, the harder you try, the less successful you will be."

Chen Hui said, "I can understand an individual pondering something for years, decades, or even longer. But I truly admire and respect a family that dedicates generations to the same thing. However, I can't understand it. To be honest, after decades or even centuries, isn't there any other possibility? Isn't there anything better that could be done?"

Xiao Wei said, "This is about sticking to what you know and not doing what you don't. In the past, the risks of changing careers were much greater than they are now. The social structure and the essence of life are different from the past. The pace is also faster. Once something is new, no one remembers it after a few days. In the past, it was different. A person's social circle was only so big. Unless there was a major disaster, there wouldn't be much change. So reputation and brand were especially important."

Therefore, in the past, businesses focused on quality, substance, and reputation, and did their best to make things good. I feel that this is what we should inherit and learn the most.

These days, everyone's chasing quick money and new trends. Nobody thinks about what's a few years from now. Sure, you can make a killing if you seize the right opportunity, but then what? Nothing. And everyone's copying this, so things get superficial and turn into scams. Everyone's looking for a chance to get rich quick, and nobody's doing anything worthwhile anymore. I feel like this will lead to serious problems.

Everyone wants to earn more and earn faster, but is that possible? How do you do it? There are only so many new things: health products, brand names, and so many hot items. There are even more scams. Basically, the whole country has been fooled several times over, and the people have all figured it out.

Moreover, it's mostly traditional industries. How do traditional industries make more and faster profits? By having low costs and high selling prices. For example, lamb skewers are smaller than they were two years ago, but the price is higher.

I saw on the news that fewer and fewer lamb skewers are made with real lamb. Meanwhile, Liuhuang steamed buns, sausages, and fried buns are made with gutter oil and water-injected pork. As long as they make money, nobody cares if they die or not. This kind of mentality, like that of scam companies, has become normal. Even if they get caught, they don't feel anything is wrong; people just say, "You were unlucky."

There was a moment of silence in the room. Xiaowei said, "Whenever I have free time lately, I've been thinking a lot about what kind of company we want to build in the future. We're pretty much set now in terms of money, and our business isn't small either. So what will we do in the future? Just keep making more and more money?"

Xiao Wei shook his head and said, "I feel we should still focus on our work. We need to have a main business, and if we do it well and sustainably, and make things good, then I think we won't have wasted our time, and at least we'll have something to show for it."

Chen Hui said, "It's definitely for building houses. That thing will still be there decades or even centuries later, and people can live in it and look at it. This was built by our brother company."

The group fell silent again, deep in thought.

Xiao Hong and Geng Hui walked over: "What are you all doing? Everyone's looking around, what are you doing sitting here?"

Xia Maosheng said, "I won't be in this room anymore, what's there to look at?"

Xiao Wei said, "I'll be staying in this room for who knows how long, so what's the rush?"

Liu Hongliang said, "His room is definitely bigger than mine downstairs, why would I bother looking at it?"

Chen Hui said, "Who said that? Ours are all about the same size, and the layouts are similar. I arranged them all, so what do I need to look at?"

Xiao Wei said, "Yeah, Xiao Hui has put in a lot of effort here. He's been keeping an eye on things since the beginning of the project, and he's been running around more than I have. This is the most diligent period he's had in the past two years."

Xia Maosheng said, "That's because this building is the tallest in Fengtian, even taller than Uncle Chen's. He wanted to show off when it was finished."

Everyone burst into laughter. Chen Hui really was that kind of person; that was true.

(End of this chapter)