Volume 5: The Age of Storms Chapter 0612 Pride and Prejudice
"I plan to set aside this area on the first floor and introduce a supermarket."
Yang Kaiyan said: "Is it a foreign supermarket? If it is the Wufu Self-service Supermarket on Xie Street or the Shanghai Grain, Oil and Food Self-service Supermarket, it's a bit out of place."
"It is not the right time to introduce foreign supermarket chains now, so it is better to choose domestic ones."
Yang Kaiyan was surprised and said, "There are no chain supermarkets in China."
"There wasn't one before, but there is one now." Nan Yi said with a smile, "How about setting up a chain supermarket brand under Genzhengmiaohong?"
Yang Kaiyan thought for a moment and said, "I think it's too early to plan a chain supermarket in China now. The market is not mature enough, the potential consumer group is not large enough, and the supply channel is also a big problem. If we enter now, the cost of cultivating the market will be too high.
I think it would be more appropriate to wait a few years until the market matures a little, then acquire or invest in a foreign supermarket chain and then introduce it to China.”
"I completely agree with your idea, and your thinking is not wrong." Nan Yi said, standing up from his seat, "Come with me out."
Nan Yi took Yang Kaiyan to the corridor outside, pointed outside and said, "Kaiyan, you overlooked one issue - the differences in national conditions.
Our economic reforms have learned from advanced foreign experience, and in many places we can even say that we are imitating it, but our actual situation is different from that of other countries, and we must take a path of economic reform that suits us.
If you work in an industry, you must understand the industry; if you open a supermarket, you must understand the supermarket's operating model.
Do I know about supermarkets?
I dare not say that I am an expert, but I can say that I know supermarkets very well. Whether it is Piggy Wiggly, the originator of supermarkets, King Coulomb, the world's first modern supermarket, or the development history of Walmart, I have studied them clearly.
I am also very clear about the introduction of supermarkets as a new type of retail business form into the country.
Starting from March 1981, when the Yangcheng Friendship Store opened the first self-service shopping mall in China, by the end of 1983, a total of 40 self-service shopping malls had been opened in Beijing, Yangcheng, Hubei and other provinces and cities, among which the development speed in Beijing was the fastest.
In 1982, Beijing first opened the Sanlitun and Haidian self-service shopping malls, which are the Wufu self-service shopping malls you just mentioned. By the end of 1983, there were 25 self-service shopping malls in Beijing. Most of these self-service shopping malls were rebuilt on the basis of the original non-staple food and vegetable stores.
As of now, the number of self-service shopping malls in Beijing has increased to 39, and the number is about 126 nationwide.
As you said, these self-service markets are a bit of a misnomer, they can’t be considered supermarkets at all, but have you ever thought, if you want to learn, why not just learn it right away?”
Yang Kaiyan said without hesitation: "Change requires a process. All aspects of the situation need to be considered, and the actual situation of China must be considered. It is impossible to achieve it in one step."
"Yes, in fact, what you are talking about is the national situation. You and your cousin Yang Shanqing competed with me for the old factory building of Changhe Woolen Textile. The conditions you offered were not as good as mine, but why did you get the old factory building instead of me?"
Yang Kaiyan: "Relationships. My cousin used his connections to put pressure on Changhe Woolen Textile."
"China is a society based on personal connections. Relationships are indispensable in everything. I know what a supermarket is, but I only half understand what a Chinese supermarket is. You are the same. We all need time to learn. Our chain supermarkets need time to learn and to break through the gap of personal connections.
Kaiyan, when doing business here, you must be close to the government and stay away from politics, because personnel are politics." Nan Yi turned around and pointed at his office chair, "I am sitting on this chair now, but you may sit on it in the future. My friends may not be your friends, and my relationships may not be your relationships.
Things change over time. This is the case with this chair and other chairs as well. If you want to last long, you cannot bind the person sitting on it, but bind the chair.
In this land, the best solution will never be the one that saves the most money, the least effort, or the most reasonable one.
Logically speaking, with your family's profound academic background, you should understand these things better than me. It's just a pity that the Chinese thinking is deeply rooted in your mind. But you came back to do business, which makes you feel a little uncomfortable with the local environment.
I, Elizabeth, have long since put aside my prejudice against you. You, Darcy, should also put aside your arrogance and stop thinking about things in the United States. Be less high-handed and more approachable. "
“Pride and Prejudice, a book I like very much, especially its ending.”
The ending of "Pride and Prejudice" is that Darcy puts down his arrogance and Elizabeth puts down his prejudice, and the two finally get together. Yang Kaiyan said that she liked the ending, which was implicitly telling Nan Yi that she accepted Nan Yi's advice.
"I'm responsible for making the budget?" Yang Kaiyan asked.
"You get to choose the name, too."
"OK."
After finishing talking with Yang Kaiyan, before Nan Yi walked back to his office, he saw Li Jin appear in the yard below.
Li Jin also saw Nan Yi. He waved to Nan Yi and shouted, "Old Nan, I'm here."
"This is an important office. Why are you yelling? Come on up."
Li Jin stomped up the stairs and soon stood beside Nan Yi. He said in a playful manner, "You knew I was coming, so you waited for me here."
"Why don't I remember ever asking your grandfather to do something for me?" Nan Yi said a little puzzled.
"What does that have to do with anything? When did you ever ask my grandfather to do anything for you?" Li Jin said in confusion.
"Yeah, I didn't ask for it, so why do you feel like your face has gotten bigger? Wait for you, wait for nothing."
"Fuck, you are such a stupid foreign bitch."
"Well, when I saw you walking towards me just now, I was wondering what the hell that thing was. You walked with a swaying motion, not like a dog or a pig. When you got closer, I could see clearly that it was a swan. "
"Look at your temper." Li Jin scolded with a smile: "I want to ask you for help today."
"What's up?"
Li Jin asked, "Are you planning to prepare only ten cars at Yaqing, or will you increase the number in the future?"
"Wow, not bad, you've set your sights on our Asia Qing so quickly. According to my original plan, we will definitely have to increase the number of vehicles. After all, both Asia and Qinghe International will have heavy transportation tasks in the future.
However, we don’t have to do the transportation work ourselves. If you, the Liangyaoguai freight company, can give us a favorable price, I can consider outsourcing part of it to you.”
"The price is certainly negotiable. How much is the portion you are talking about?"
Nan Yi said, "How can we say that now? When we open for business, you two can come over first and try it out. After a while, we can get used to each other. If the cooperation is good, we can sign a long-term outsourcing agreement. As for the scale, we will see when the time comes."
"The full name of our company is the 217th Army Highway Transport Service Company. Do you still want to try?"
"Come on, I know you are a member of the army, and I also know you are a business of the army. I believe our army can fight big and hard battles. But my comrade, we are doing business now. If you don't try, how can you know whether our Yaqing's work is easy to do? If you don't try, how can you know what price to give us to be considered a favorable price?
So, we have to give it a try. If you are not happy with the result, I will pay you the money and we will pretend that we have never discussed cooperation. If both parties are satisfied, we will sign a long-term contract. "
"What you said doesn't make sense to me. What do you mean by easy or difficult to do? If we two can't do it, you won't find anyone who can. There is no job in this world that we can't do." Li Jin said in a strong and powerful voice.
"Tsk tsk, I'm talking to you. You don't normally look like a soldier, but now that I need you to highlight your identity as a businessman, you're using this trick on me again. Okay, let's not talk about whether to give it a try or not.
Go talk to our Transportation Section Chief Qiu Heping, find out how we will do Yaqing's transportation work, and then give me a cooperation plan and quotation as soon as possible."
"That's good enough. Which office is Qiu Heping? I'll go find him now." Li Jin said with satisfaction.
"On the first floor, there's a sign on the door, check it out for yourself."
"Okay, I'm going to go down. Let's have dinner together tonight. It's my treat. Let me flatter you."
"Beating sex."
Nan Yi cursed with a smile.
From the very beginning, Nan Yi never thought of the Transportation Department taking on all of Yaqing's transportation tasks. At the beginning, he asked Qiu Heping to buy ten vehicles first. In fact, there was only a first and no later. The Transportation Department would have ten trucks and would not add one more.
Nan Yi had many considerations for establishing the Transportation Department.
One is that it is required for Yaqing's transportation mission, and the other is to lay a foreshadowing that in the future the transportation department is likely to become independent and become a transportation company.
Outsourcing transportation was originally a move that Yaqing needed to make. Handing over most of the transportation to Liang Yaoguai was actually in line with Nan Yi's wishes and Yaqing's needs. Even if Li Jin didn't talk to him about this today, he would take the initiative to discuss it later.
The army’s transportation company is responsible for transporting the goods. The safety of the goods is guaranteed, and the transportation speed is also guaranteed. Even if it is a little more expensive, Nan Yi will choose Liang Yaoguai, not to mention that the price can be negotiated.
Of course, in addition to considering Yaqing's interests, Nan Yi also wanted to make some small contribution to the army.
…
After having dinner with Li Jin, Nan Yi returned to the old villa and took his son and Liu Zhen out for a walk.
"Did Mr. Chen ask you to write a paper?"
After walking for a while, Nan Yi and Liu Zhen leaned against a popsicle cart and chewed popsicles. Nan Wuwei's little eyes looked at the popsicle in Nan Yi's hand with sparkling eyes, as if he was trying to identify what it was.
"Yes, he asked me to think of a topic myself, and I haven't decided what to write yet." Liu Zhen said as he took a sip of the popsicle.
"The problem of cross-debt between enterprises has already shown some signs. Why don't you write your paper on this, explain the problem, and then propose a solution, such as introducing your bank and giving full play to the bank's functions to sort out the debts between enterprises."
"Your topic is interesting. I'll think carefully about how to write it." Liu Zhen said after thinking for a while.
"Don't think about how to write it first, think about how to collect information first."
"You don't even need me to tell you. I will definitely consider it. I will take out the corporate loans from our bank and find out the company's debt situation first." Liu Zhen smiled and said, "I have a topic. What about yours? What are you going to write about?"
Liu Zhen has become a graduate student under Chen Heling. Nan Yi also has a teacher, but he is a graduate student in Massachusetts, and his teacher is Robert Merton.
Both of them got in through the back door, but Nan Yi's was easier. In addition to teaching, Merton was also involved in over-the-counter options operations and had some friendship with Scarlett.
Liu Zhen's side is more troublesome. Nan Yi asked a lot of people for help to get Liu Zhen the status of a registered disciple. Whether he can become a formal disciple and introduce himself to the outside world as Chen Heling's disciple depends on Liu Zhen's own efforts.
"I had thought of the topic several years ago. Guess what I'm going to write about."
"If you ask me to guess, I'm sure there will be some clues revealed to me." Liu Zhen thought for a moment and said, "It's too late for the yen to appreciate. Are you going to write about the ruble, or a bigger topic, such as the economic problems of the Soviet revisionists?"
