Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 903 Acquisition of Equity

The name was chosen by Chen Hui and Geng Hui.

Xiaowei originally suggested calling it Fuyingmen Life Self-Service Shopping Mall, as a small store under the Fuyingmen Supermarket. He wanted to open one in each of his own residential buildings, which would not only supplement the large shopping mall but also serve as a form of GG promotion.

Chen Hui said, "Calling it 'life' is too broad a concept. These small shops only provide convenience for residents. It would be better to call them 'convenience self-service stores'."

Just then, Geng Hui was talking to the two of them. After listening, she said, "It's too small. Calling it a self-service store is easy for people to confuse it with a big store. It's just a small shop. Why not just call it a shop? Xiao Hui said this 'convenience' is good. Why not call it Fuyingmen Convenience Store? People will know at a glance that this is a small shop of Fuyingmen Supermarket. Even if the goods are not complete, they won't say anything. They'll remember it well."

So the name was decided, and it was registered and taxed separately, making it an independently accounted department under the supermarket, supplied and managed by the supermarket.

Historically, the term and concept of convenience stores were introduced and popularized from Japan, and the first community-based mini-supermarket in China was also a Japanese brand. That all happened after 2000.

The old man and his stepmother have been very happy these past few days, learning how to use and maintain the equipment. As mentioned before, when people say that the stepmother is lazy, they mean that she doesn't want to work in the fields, not that she is really lazy in life. Her personality is more suited to living in the city.

Xiao Wei's grandfather just figured out how the surveillance system worked, while his aunt had already mastered all the equipment, including payment processing, monitoring, changing videotapes, and basic operation and maintenance of simple programs.

Just like driving, people who can't drive can't see things clearly through the rearview mirror, which feels very awkward. Surveillance is similar, especially since the equipment in this era is really outdated.

This is actually quite extravagant.

Supermarkets emerged in 93 and 94, but they were not in the form of supermarkets in later years. They were still counter-style sales, but with a wider variety of goods and lower prices. All the cash registering and accounting were done manually. It wasn't until the late 90s and early 00s that the model of modern small supermarkets was officially established, and computerized POS systems and monitoring systems began to be adopted.

Initially, supermarkets in China were mostly small, with very few exceeding 1,000 square meters. It was only after foreign supermarkets like Carrefour entered the market in 1996 that the development of large supermarkets in China was spurred. From the appearance of the first supermarket to the establishment of large supermarkets, it took us nearly ten years.

Actually, there's another reason for this. We've always been learning from Japan and Hong Kong, where small stores are the main business, mainly because they all lack land.

The old man's shop was actually quite large, several hundred square meters, which would be considered a large shop in later generations.

Behind the cashier at the entrance, on the wall, hang licenses, tax registration certificates, health permits, tobacco sales permits, special industry permits, employee health certificates, a "Three Guarantees" notice board, and public place safety regulations. A sign on the door reads "Electronic surveillance inside, thieves will be handed over to the police," and similar signs are displayed inside the store, reminding people not to have any ulterior motives.

The glass windows are already covered with GG language stickers, mainly introducing the types of products sold in the store.

Next to the old man's convenience store is Xiaowei's mom's specialty shop, which currently only sells local mountain products and Mongolian specialties, but will gradually add more items in the future. Of course, this shop is really just for Xiaowei's parents to have fun with, so that Xiaowei's dad doesn't have to worry about being idle, and Xiaowei's mom has a child to play with.

Originally, I wanted to open a shop for Xia Maosheng's parents, but the old couple didn't want to. Old Xia has a retirement pension, and Xia's mother wants to take care of her grandson. Their children are all doing well now, and they are ready to enjoy their retirement and don't want to worry about anything.

Chen Peng rented a storefront and opened a telecommunications equipment and electronics store, also offering home appliance repair services.

Chen Xiao, Xiao Hong, and Geng Hui opened a clothing and footwear store together. They hired people to sell the goods, and the merchandise was selected from Director Liu's shop, which made things much easier.

Shunzi and Liangzi's families opened a restaurant together, and with Xia Erjie's mother-in-law's pancake shop, this row of shops was finally put to use. The second and third floors were still empty, but the group wasn't in a hurry; they figured they could use them eventually.

All shops have to pay rent, as well as utilities and sanitation fees, including the shops owned by Xiaohong, Chen Xiao, and Geng Hui.

……

"Xiao Wei, not busy today?" Liang Gaoyou, carrying a briefcase, turned around from the corner of the building.

Xiao Wei was standing by the roadside talking to his father and the old man, explaining some business-related matters to them.

Xiao Wei's father and the old man turned around and greeted Liang Gaoyou: "Lawyer Liang."

Liang Gao nodded and called him "Uncle" and "Grandpa," then said to Xiao Wei, "The results are in. The shares of Rose Hotel belong to us, and Changyun has withdrawn unconditionally. The value of its shares will be used to compensate for the funds they misappropriated and the losses they caused."

As he spoke, Liang Gaoyou took out a document from his bag and handed it to Xiaowei: "This is a document from the State Administration for Industry and Commerce. With this, you can go to the Provincial Administration for Industry and Commerce to complete the change procedures and change the shareholders. But our Sino-foreign joint venture brand will also be removed at the same time, and the tax and other policies we used to enjoy will be gone."

Xiao Wei took the document, looked at it, and asked, "Will this affect our star rating and our international relations?"

Liang Gaoyou said, "For matters involving foreign affairs, it depends on the province. The industry and commerce department doesn't handle this. As for the star rating, it has nothing to do with whether it's a joint venture or not. As long as our hardware and software meet the standards, that's fine."

Xiao Wei nodded, handed the document back to Liang Gaoyou, and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Brother Liang."

Liang Gaoyou said, "That's to be expected. Also, part of the People's Bank of China's review results involved the Trade City. They also checked the Trade City's accounts and found some minor issues. They gave me the documents along with them, and I only saw them last night."

Xiao Wei asked, "What's the problem? Is it serious?"

Liang Gao smiled and said, "Actually, it's not really a problem. It's just a slush fund in the trade city. All government units have one. They keep a portion of the hidden profits for internal welfare. It involves a few million, less than five million. This should be a legacy issue from before, and it doesn't involve embezzlement or misappropriation. You and Xiao Hui can decide how to handle it."

Xiao Wei nodded and asked, "Brother Liang, do you think it's better for the finances of the lower-level staff to be consolidated or to keep their own accounts separate from each other in the future?"

Liang Gaoyou said, "It depends on how you pay taxes. If the head office calculates and pays taxes uniformly, then all the finances have to be submitted together. A large finance department has to be set up at the head office, and accountants have to be sent to the lower-level units. If each company pays taxes separately, then the finances have to be truly independent. Each company has its own finance department and only submits profits to the head office. There are advantages and disadvantages to both."

Xiao Wei asked, "What if we operate under independent accounting, but the accountant is still assigned by the company? Is that acceptable?"

Liang Gaoyou said, "Actually, the essence of independent accounting lies in the company's auditing system. You need to build a capable auditing team. Whether the accountant is dispatched or hired individually doesn't make a big difference. Of course, dispatching someone makes you feel relatively more at ease. Are you planning to implement a rotating accounting system?"

Xiao Wei nodded and said, "It was my mother-in-law who suggested that accounting staff in various companies and units should rotate their accounts every three years."

Liang Gaoyou said, "You also need to think about companies in other provinces. Will it be a transfer within the province or within the group? How will it be handled? Accountants are usually older, how will they solve their family problems? Take Aunt Wang as an example, would it be feasible for her to stay in Harbin for three years?"

Xiaowei's father said, "It's definitely not going to work. Experienced accountants who can handle things on their own are all in their thirties or forties, with families, children, and elderly people to take care of. It's impossible for you to rotate every three years. It won't work. People will lose heart by then."

Let me give you a suggestion. Think about it: improve the benefits and compensation of lower-level managers and accountants. Higher incomes mean more stability and less dissent. Also, like Xiao Liang said, establish a dedicated audit team to conduct thorough and rigorous audits every year. With these two measures combined, there shouldn't be any major problems. And when you find something wrong, be ruthless.

Liang Gaoyou said, "Uncle is right, I think it will work. I'll also review the financial system with Manager Geng."

(End of this chapter)