Today's flight was slightly delayed, and it was already nightfall when Tan Jincheng arrived at the hotel.
The neon lights on the street were already on, tables were set up outside small shops, and the bustling street was exceptionally lively.
Tan Jincheng took in the street view as he headed towards the hotel.
Zhang Xupeng and others had already bought food and were waiting for his arrival at the hotel.
"Knock, knock, knock"
"Creak."
The hotel room door quickly opened, revealing Zhang Xupeng.
The two brothers exchanged a smile.
After entering the room, Sun Yuming and Liu Wenbin both greeted Tan Jincheng, who nodded in response.
"How have things been? Nothing happened these past few days while I was gone, right?"
Tan Jincheng asked, putting down his backpack and chatting with Zhang Xupeng, who followed him in.
"We just go from two points every day, what could happen? Let's not talk about that for now, come, let's drink."
Barbecue skewers, including various meat and vegetable skewers, were laid out on the table, along with canned Budweiser.
Hearing this, Sun Yuming and Liu Wenbin quickly opened their cans.
"Cheers!"
"Cheers!"
A gulp of ice-cold beer relieved much of the heat.
It was already a bit hot in Yangcheng at the end of April.
"Is everything settled at home? What did Zhang Haiping say? Wasn't he overjoyed to see so many orders?"
"Absolutely, he was worried about that when I went. What about you? How many orders did you three get after I left?"
"Not bad, not bad. Although it can't compare to you, going to Guancheng for a trip was no problem."
Zhang Xupeng said, looking pleased.
"Oh? Did you develop a new client or receive an order for 200,000 US dollars?"
"Cough, cough! Couldn't it be both?"
Hearing this, Tan Jincheng looked at Zhang Xupeng with some surprise and said,
"You've got some skills! When did a 'lying flat' player like you become so serious?"
Zhang Xupeng had never heard the term 'lying flat' and didn't know what it meant, but from the literal meaning and Tan's tone, it probably wasn't a good term:
"I'm one of the company's bosses, after all, so of course, I have to contribute to the company."
"Alright, alright, not bad; what about you two?"
Tan Jincheng then looked at Sun Yuming and Liu Wenbin.
"We're also doing alright; we've taken some orders, and with Boss Zhang's, we estimate we've received 400,000 US dollars in orders these past few days."
Tan Jincheng nodded.
Two days traveling back and forth, three days at home, a total of five days.
These three took 400,000 US dollars in orders, averaging 80,000 US dollars a day.
For business novices, this was considered a relatively good performance.
Especially Zhang Xupeng, who actually managed to complete the task.
Tan Jincheng was somewhat surprised; when he taught them initially, Zhang Xupeng was the least serious listener.
It seemed that the statement about bosses needing to grasp the lifeline of the company's business had an effect.
In any era, there are always some micro-companies where the boss works with one or two employees, paying them a few thousand yuan in salary, but the company still manages to thrive.
The boss is often not in the company, and the employees are almost omnipotent, doing all sorts of tasks.
After a year or so, the employees figure out all the processes, believing they can ditch the boss and take over his clients to work independently.
However, things ultimately don't go as planned.
Even if employees lower prices, they cannot steal the boss's clients; that is where the boss's ability lies.
Tan Jincheng didn't expect Zhang Xupeng to have such abilities; he only hoped that Zhang Xupeng would have a client base that could help him stand on his own, so that he wouldn't be unable to function without Tan Jincheng.
If that were the case, Jinpeng Trade would lose its meaning for him.
It's good that Zhang Xupeng could realize this in time and take on his due responsibilities.
This is good for Jinpeng Trade, Tan Jincheng, and himself.
If he had known Zhang Xupeng could grow, he wouldn't have needed to come over, after all, round-trip tickets are really expensive.
---
After dinner, Sun Yuming and Liu Wenbin thoughtfully cleared the table and returned to their own rooms, leaving the space for Tan Jincheng and Zhang Xupeng.
Having traveled all day and had some drinks, Tan Jincheng wasn't in the mood to chat.
He quickly took a shower and went to sleep.
Seeing this, Zhang Xupeng could only reluctantly play on his phone.
The next day, the four packed their samples as usual and went to the exhibition hall.
At nine o'clock, the exhibition hall opened on time, and crowds began to pour in.
There was only one week left until the end of the exhibition.
The visitor traffic at the Canton Fair was slightly less than at the beginning, with the apparel, textile, and footwear exhibition areas showing the most significant decrease.
According to official data, export volumes for apparel, textiles, and footwear are all likely to trend downwards this year, with footwear already clearly expected to decline.
Furthermore, the expected decline is significant, making this year quite tough for footwear businesses.
The main purpose of this return was to see if these three had the ability to take orders.
If they hadn't received any orders, or if the order volume was very small, during the days he was away, then there would be no choice but for him to transform back into a salesperson himself.
However, from their accounts last night, Tan Jincheng felt things were quite good.
So starting today, he wouldn't interfere too much and would let them perform freely.
Tan Jincheng himself sat at the back of the exhibition area, checking whether there were any issues with the contracts they had signed.
Standardized contracts, translations, and additionally, Tan Jincheng had contacted his previous lawyer, instructing Zhang Xupeng and the others to consult the lawyer if any problems arose.
Basically, before leaving, he had explained everything he could think of.
The Canton Fair brings together merchants from all over the world.
Apparel is a major category, and even with an expected decline, the purchasing volume is not small.
With such concentrated purchasing, if they can't even get a sip of soup, then they're truly too amateurish.
According to official data, from April 15th to April 24th, a total of 10 days, the entire apparel category saw a transaction volume of 1.57 billion US dollars, equivalent to approximately 12.86 billion RMB.
The apparel category has a daily transaction volume of approximately 1.3 billion RMB.
This is not a small figure, but it's just an average given by officials; the actual accounts cannot be calculated this way.
For example, multinational giants like Carrefour and Walmart, when they purchase from a well-known enterprise, the figure is enormous and can easily exceed the average daily value.
Large-scale enterprises take the lion's share, while grassroots trading companies like Jinpeng Trade get to "drink some soup."
Zhang Xupeng and the other two managed 400,000 US dollars in orders over five days, which isn't a small amount, but it can't be called excellent.
Strictly speaking, it even falls short of the passing threshold.
"The next few days will still be mainly up to you guys, keep it up; counting from today until the fifth, there are still seven days. How about you three try to get another 700,000 US dollars in orders?"
"What about you then? What will you do?"
Zhang Xupeng asked.
Tan Jincheng: "I'll help you with logistics. I just said you'd be the main focus, not that I wouldn't take orders."
"You're trying to slack off, aren't you?"
"Slack off? I'm training your order-taking ability. If you're capable of getting many orders, we won't even need to attend the autumn Canton Fair, saving hundreds of thousands, which would be enough for you to buy a new car."
Then, Tan Jincheng said earnestly,
"I'm going to open a factory later, and the energy I can spare will definitely be limited. You'll need to support the company. If my factory goes bankrupt, with you around, I wouldn't end up sleeping on the streets, right?"
This was the first time this year Tan Jincheng had explicitly mentioned to Zhang Xupeng that he would no longer spend much effort on Jinpeng Trade in the future.
Previously, it had been an unspoken understanding between them.
For a moment, Zhang Xupeng was silent.
After a while, Zhang Xupeng smiled and said,
"Alright then, I promised to hold down the fort for you, and I'll keep my word. Go ahead and do your thing confidently. If it really goes bankrupt, I'll have your back, bro."
"That's right, when brothers are of one mind, they can break through metal."
"Exactly! But speaking of which, when we get back, you have to let me drive your new BMW for a few days. You scoundrel, the new company hasn't even earned a penny, and you're already driving a BMW. I think you're getting too carried away."
"Haha, sure, no problem. I'll let you drive it for a few days when we get back. I'll look at some documents first."
Tan Jincheng burst out laughing.
"Alright, you go ahead."
Zhang Xupeng also smiled and nodded.
In fact, Tan Jincheng didn't want to look at any documents at the moment.
Instead, he had thought of the news yesterday about Mahua selling its company for millions.
He hadn't seen it before and now wanted to search for it online.
He remembered it being something from the early 2000s, but why hadn't he seen it?
The Canton Fair's information services were quite good this time, with dedicated areas for internet access.
Tan Jincheng arrived at the designated area with his laptop.
Many people needed internet access; the connection speed was a bit slow, but it was usable.
After entering various keywords, Tan Jincheng couldn't find the results he wanted.
Could it be that he remembered it wrong?
No way, news about a big company facing setbacks is something the public loves to see.
There's only one reason he couldn't find it: it hasn't happened yet!
Immediately after, Tan Jincheng carefully examined his QQ.
The biggest discovery was that QQ Zone, once popular but almost abandoned in later generations, had only just launched its internal beta this month!
This year, the internet's biggest stars weren't 'the two Mas,' but Sina and Shanda.
Even Sohu, which would decline in later generations, was far stronger than QQ.
"The internet is still in its initial stages, it seems to be the era of portal websites,"
Tan Jincheng sighed inwardly.
Oh, and there's Feixin.
Everyone says it's such a pity, but he doesn't know why.
It seems quite popular now, but Tan Jincheng hasn't used it.
Mainly because users' habits in later generations had already been established: if not WeChat, then QQ, or simply calling and texting.
"Interesting, interesting. So Pony Ma isn't considered a big shot yet? Huh? It's already listed?"
Tan Jincheng exclaimed, refreshing various news articles about QQ.
Oh, it was listed on June 16th last year.
How did he not notice that before?
"Holy crap!?"
He checked QQ's current stock price, and Tan Jincheng was shocked!
Today's real-time stock price was 5.4 Hong Kong dollars!
Damn, that cheap?
Wouldn't he get rich?
(End of chapter)
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