Courtyard House: Is Xu Damao a childless man? Let me help.

Chapter 369 Advantages and Disadvantages

As a result, cheaper pirated versions will take away some of Master Ye's original market share, so it is quite normal that Master Ye's sales have continued to decline.

In fact, this situation began when Master Ye first started his snack business. From the traditional snacks he made at the beginning, such as the Nine-Times-Preserved Tangerine Peel Fruit Leather, to the various other things he made later, almost all of them were copied by others.

However, before those guys could even copy the product, Ye Jianchuan launched a new product, and all of Master Ye's resources were redirected to the new product.

Because the promotion shifted to the new products, the sales of the new products naturally increased significantly. While the older products still had a certain sales volume, the proportion of "Sanwuling" in Master Ye's sales revenue had decreased considerably.

So in the past, this 'plagiarism' situation didn't affect Master Ye much, but now that nearly a year has passed and no new products have been launched, the impact of this 'plagiarism' has become apparent.

Fortunately, after a busy year, Ye Jianchuan was finally free. He had finally emptied his mind of all the ideas he had, and he could no longer come up with anything new regarding the application and development of batteries.

Since Ye Jianchuan had already given his all, the higher-ups naturally wouldn't make things difficult for him. So, after Ye Jianchuan signed a confidentiality agreement, they let him go home to continue his business.

As for the battery-related matters, the final allocation was very simple. For the military use, the country naturally chose to 'get it for free,' and Ye Jianchuan had no objection to this.

However, in the civilian battery sector, although the business is still led by higher authorities, Ye Jianchuan is able to take a cut from it.

Moreover, the scope of this civilian use is actually quite extensive, including the construction of power generation devices and energy storage equipment used by the country itself, from which Ye Jianchuan can profit.

Of course, the profits from this part of the business in China are relatively low, since the business is actually done according to the instructions from above, so the prices are also set according to the arrangements from above.

Ultimately, it's highly likely that the government's procurement price is the cost price, meaning there's no profit generated, and Ye Jianchuan naturally has no way to profit from it.

It might seem like Ye Jianchuan would be at a huge disadvantage, but it doesn't matter. Ye Jianchuan isn't actually particularly interested in the amount of money that China is investing in batteries.

Because the system had already provided Ye Jianchuan with corresponding subsidies for this part of the 'profits,' what Ye Jianchuan valued more was the profit distribution when selling batteries and related technologies and products to external parties.

On this issue, the higher-ups were quite generous. Although all subsequent steps were arranged and developed according to the standards of state-owned 'secret technology,' Ye Jianchuan was able to directly receive one-third of the profits generated from the sale to foreign entities.

Don't underestimate this third. You have to understand that Ye Jianchuan only provided the battery technology and concept. The subsequent actual research and development, production, and even the commercialization and signing of export orders, were all handled by Ye Jianchuan without him having to think about anything.

Furthermore, with the country as his backing, Ye Jianchuan had no need to worry about any threats that might arise if foreign countries found out.

In short, Ye Jianchuan used nearly a year of his time to acquire one-third of the profits from all battery-related technologies and products exported worldwide, excluding those from China.

This... without much calculation, it should be obvious that it will be an astronomical figure.

Putting everything else aside, the Tesla electric cars that will be built in the future will directly propel Musk to the position of the world's richest man!

In the past, building electric vehicles might not have required any related 'licenses', but now Ye Jianchuan owns all the battery-related patents, so the 'patent royalties' alone will be a huge sum of money.

Therefore, for Ye Jianchuan, this deal was actually very worthwhile.

Moreover, although Master Ye's sales declined somewhat during that year due to the lack of new product launches, Ye Jianchuan's achievements in other industries were entirely different...

First, there's Ye Jianchuan's winery business. In the past, although Ye Jianchuan was considered a "respectable" figure and a talented individual in the eyes of the higher-ups, his talent level wasn't high enough to make Ye's winery's wine a "national wine."

However, after the battery controversy, Ye Jianchuan is no longer just a "talented person," but also a "meritorious official." So, although he can't say that he can directly defeat Maotai and become the only national wine, he can already be on par with Maotai and become one of the wines used in state banquets.

Aside from the winery, another company under Master Ye, but not the snacks department but the beverage department, also received good news.

After a year of development, Iced Tea has successfully become the second beverage under Master Ip's brand to be exported overseas.

This stuff is very cheap, and to be honest, it doesn't taste as good as you might imagine, but it's cheap, so what can you do?

And it's not just cheap; the most important thing is that the recipe actually includes a tiny bit of peppermint powder. This tiny bit of peppermint doesn't really make a difference when you drink it. 2.5

However, if it's summer and the drink is frozen, then the stimulating sensation from that little bit of mint is instantly amplified.

It was precisely because of the 'icy sensation' brought by this mint that iced tea instantly became a hit in the entire Southeast Asian market during the summer of the year Ye Jianchuan was busy at the research institute, and within just one month of its popularity, it quickly spread to Latin America.

Even... because this beverage doesn't compete with the two traditional powerhouses, it has surprisingly gained a considerable following in Europe and America.

Although most people mistakenly believe it's from the brand Master Ye, and are therefore unwilling to buy it, the situation is at least much better than Master Ye's Coca-Cola's situation in Europe and America.

Chapter 370 Various industries are 'rising'

The rise of iced tea was actually an accident, but the rise of another industry on Ye Jianchuan's side was inevitable.

Over the course of a year, that 'independent clothing brand' that had been slowly developing within Beijing finally began to make a name for itself.

Actually, this was largely thanks to Ye Jianchuan's early explanation of the development plan for the clothing brand. As a result, during the year Ye Jianchuan was in the research institute, the development of the independent clothing brand was not affected at all.

Initially, it was handled like a regular clothing store. However, once the factory produced a batch of clothing with its own 'logo', the brand's manager immediately started advertising on radio and in newspapers.

Because these were all mass-produced garments, they weren't very popular at first.

However, as the reputation for the excellent quality of the clothing gradually accumulated, Ye Jianchuan's independent clothing brand finally gained a foothold in Beijing.

This would significantly reduce the difficulty for independent brands to further expand and promote themselves. Even if subsequent promotions are not very successful, Ye Jianchuan can still use the markets around Beijing as a foundation to gradually and steadily build up his business.

Similar to the clothing brand, Ye Jianchuan's film company on Hong Kong Island was also involved in the filming of the first installment of "Fight Back to School" before he left.

After returning to China, Ye Jianchuan spent several more days producing several movie scripts. In addition to the movie scripts, Ye Jianchuan also compiled a lot of songs as the company's 'backup music library'.

These music libraries are all used to promote newcomers. As for those contestants who have already made a name for themselves? Since they already have a reputation, it shouldn't be too difficult for them to find suitable songs on the market, right?

Of course, besides these things, Ye Jianchuan did the most important thing: he made a list and then had the company's people sign up the 'newcomers' on the list without hesitation.

This list includes future goddess-level contestants such as Zhang Min and Qiu Shuzhen. Coincidentally, both of them debuted in 87 in their original career paths.

If Ye Jianchuan hadn't left behind such a list, they would probably still have followed the original trajectory, been discovered by someone, or participated in beauty pageants or something similar.

However, now that Ye Jianchuan has intervened, their experiences have naturally changed.

In this way, without Ye Jianchuan's oversight, the company successfully signed several more star athletes who were destined for great success in the future.

Meanwhile, the company's first film investment, just as Ye Jianchuan had hoped, became a dark horse at the time, not only dominating the box office but also helping Stephen Chow win the Best Newcomer award in the same year.

The things Ye Jianchuan left for the company were enough for them to establish their 'status' in the industry, and as for the money they made... it was naturally not a small amount.

Moreover, and most importantly, apart from the first installment of Fight Back to School, the scripts that Yip Kin-chuen left for them were all classic scripts.

Needless to say, Fight Back to School 2 is a success story. Building on the success of its predecessor, the second installment, with the same cast and crew, still achieved remarkable results.

Besides the Fight Back to School series, Yip Kin-chuen also made a parody of Tricky Master. Although this movie is not the most classic among Stephen Chow's many future works, it was still widely circulated and achieved outstanding results.

Of course, there is another difference in this movie, which is that it should actually be considered a movie with two male leads.

As for Ye Jianchuan's film and television company, apart from Zhou Xingxing, a top male actor, most of the actors they discovered later were actually actresses. Whether it was Wang Zuxian, Zhang Min, or Qiu Shuzhen, they could all be considered future goddess-level actresses.

For this reason, Ye Jianchuan's film company ultimately had to seek cooperation for this film.

Fortunately, the final result was quite good. With the success of the two-part series on skipping school as a stepping stone, finding collaborations was very easy.

With the release of the three films, nearly a year had passed since Ye Jianchuan left, and the film company had successfully made a considerable amount of money from these three films.

Meanwhile, on Hong Kong Island, apart from the film and television companies' booming business and healthy development, Ye Jianchuan and the Lou family's real estate company also began their money-making journey.

Real estate companies, in theory, shouldn't be able to make much money, since although property prices in Hong Kong Island have risen somewhat, the increase hasn't been particularly significant.

Therefore, if Ye Jianchuan and Lou Jiahe's 350 joint venture real estate company wants to make money, it is obviously not advisable to rely solely on selling the land and buildings they have.

But besides selling houses, do real estate companies have no other ways to make money? Of course not!

In fact, during the period when Ye Jianchuan was not involved in the company, the real estate company rented out many of its vacant buildings through leasing, and the rent alone was enough to easily pay off all the bank interest.

In addition to recovering some costs through leasing, real estate companies have also developed a new way to make money, which is to acquire prime locations!

This method of operation is not so easy to do. As the name suggests, "land grabbing" means buying up all the land in an area at a relatively low price, then using any means to increase the land value of that area, and then reselling it.

This situation can generally be divided into several different scenarios. The first scenario is the "unexpected good news" type, where the higher authorities have carried out a planning initiative, directly designating an area that was originally considered a "remote area" as a "special zone".

Chapter 371 Money Really Makes Money!

Since it was a 'special zone', the land price in this area was naturally self-evident. The best example is the later famous 'Xiong'an New Area'.

This situation is basically like a windfall; it's virtually impossible to manipulate or "speculate" on such an opportunity. Even with Ye Jianchuan already knowing the news, he couldn't guarantee success.

Because... if you knew the news in advance and bought up a lot of land in that area at a low price, when the developers inspect the new district, they might not be willing to build there.

After all... the division of such areas involves more than just geographical factors; money is also a factor. Although it's kept strictly confidential, who knows if someone has made a small investment in that area beforehand?

If you manage to get all that land, then what will happen to everyone else? So, trying to speculate on land this way is basically impossible.

However, besides this method, there are several other locations where prices can increase instantly after the news is announced.

The first type is that once large shopping malls, parks, and other public facilities are planned, the price of land in the vicinity will increase to some extent.

The second type... refers to areas designated for public transportation development. For example, a place that was originally very remote might suddenly have a subway station built right next to its entrance, thus eliminating the remoteness issue and naturally increasing the price.

As for the third type, it is very common and widespread, which is the legendary "school district housing" method.

These three methods, compared to the one mentioned at the beginning, will slightly reduce the degree to which the land value will increase, but they still offer some opportunities for manipulation.

Ye Jianchuan and the Lou family's real estate company carried out such an operation, acquiring several seemingly barren plots of land in advance. As a result, during the year Ye Jianchuan went to the research institute, it was announced that a new subway line and the Third Construction School would be built next to one of the plots.

As a result, the piece of land that was originally bought at a relatively low price has now instantly become a school district property along the subway line, with the price soaring by more than five or six times.

Ye Jianchuan and his group had no intention of building their own houses at all. After receiving the news, they contacted another real estate developer and transferred the land to them at a high price.

In this way, the company instantly reaped several times the profit. Moreover, since the initial investment was not large and there was no need to consider sales issues such as selling houses, this method, although it could not fully extract the value of the land, was still the best money-making solution for Ye Jianchuan and the Lou family.

These are some of the minor changes that have occurred in Ye Jianchuan's businesses during the nearly one year he was away.

It has to be said that when a person becomes rich enough, even if they don't put any effort into managing their business, their business will still have a certain degree of 'self-regulation ability'.

To put it bluntly, when someone has a certain amount of money, it really does generate more money on its own!

Since these industries were able to 'grow and thrive' on their own while Ye Jianchuan was away, their progress will naturally be even faster now that he has returned.

The first to be affected is Ye Jianchuan's snack division, the only one among his businesses that has slightly declined.

As mentioned before, because the speed at which new products were released was relatively fast, those pirated snacks could not take away too much of Master Ye's market share. In that case, wouldn't it be better to just release some more snacks after Ye Jianchuan returns?

It's worth noting that during this year, Ye Jianchuan received a number of system rewards, including some popular snack types.

The most important type of snack is undoubtedly the legendary "spicy strips". Some small workshops have already "invented" this product, but because the production process is relatively simple and the sales channels are relatively closed, it has not been able to achieve nationwide popularity.

However, it's a different story for Master Ye. With a complete sales chain across the country, it would be incredibly easy for Master Ye to promote spicy strips, a snack that later became popular even overseas.

So, Ye Shifu Spicy Strips was put on the agenda in the first week after Ye Jianchuan's return, and then it took another week to pass on the recipe and the necessary equipment.

Ye Shifu's snack factories across the country quickly improved their production lines, which had been shut down due to poor sales, and turned them into production lines for spicy strips.