Sometimes, you have to admit that wealth can indeed change a person's demeanor.
Several months later, upon seeing his son again, Tan Lihua noticed that his son felt somewhat different to him.
Traces of childishness could still be vaguely seen on his face, but his well-dressed appearance, increasingly sturdy physique, and the invisible aura he exuded were quite similar to the leaders at his own workplace.
Just take the interaction Tan Lihua observed when Xiao Zhang came over with him: Xiao Zhang was in front, he was behind; when Xiao Zhang spoke, he would subconsciously turn his head sideways, while Tan Jincheng would naturally nod and smile.
His son certainly didn't think of Xiao Zhang as a subordinate, but having long issued directives for various decisions, the mindset of a superior had unconsciously formed in his mind.
Seen this way, his venturing out to start his own business might not be a bad thing.
If things continued this way, his friendship with Xiao Zhang might eventually run into problems.
No man wants a good friend he grew up with to constantly maintain a superior posture over him.
And you have to admit, if you put him in a jacket and add a pair of glasses to obscure his age, walking on the street, he really gives off the vibe of a leader on inspection.
"Your uncle told me that you and Xiao Zhang are running a big operation. Your Uncle Zhang and I were worried, so we came to check it out,"
Tan Lihua said, getting up and extinguishing the cigarette in his hand.
Zhang Guolong, beside him, echoed,
"Yes, I didn't know until I came, and I was startled when I did. You two kids are doing very well now."
"Uncle Zhang, you're joking. I've just started. What if it goes bankrupt someday? I'm still counting on Pengya's company to support me,"
Tan Jincheng laughed.
Tan Lihua also nodded,
"Pengya has indeed been very good to you. With all the busy work these past few days, the debugging of his machines wouldn't have been so smooth without him."
Tan Jincheng glanced at Zhang Xupeng, who raised an eyebrow proudly.
"Exactly, that's why I brought Pengya a gift back, just to thank him properly."
"What is it?"
Zhang Xupeng eagerly asked upon hearing there was a gift.
"We'll talk about it when we get back. Uncle Zhang, Dad, let's go eat first. It's not easy to come all this way, so dinner's on me tonight."
The airplane meal from midday had long been digested.
Just thinking about things, he hadn't felt that hungry, but now Tan Jincheng was starving.
He should have accepted Gu Qingqing's suggestion earlier.
Sigh, what was he pretending for? Building a factory wouldn't be delayed by a day or two.
Tan Lihua and Zhang Guolong each got into their respective sons' cars.
If they hadn't seen Tan Jincheng's car, they would have already returned home.
"Dad, where are you staying? Are you staying in the apartment we rented?"
Tan Jincheng asked after starting the car.
"Yes, Xiao Zhang said he would find us a hotel, but we figured since you weren't here anyway, we'd just make do. We're only staying for a few days."
"What about tonight then? Shall I book two hotel rooms for you?"
"No need, we've already discussed it. Guolong will stay with Xiao Zhang tonight, and I'll stay with you. We'll make do for one night, and we'll go back tomorrow."
"Going back so soon? I just got back, aren't you staying a couple more days?"
Tan Jincheng asked, surprised.
"We came on leave; we don't have time to stay longer. Let's have a good chat tonight."
Often, it's better to visit in person than to overthink at home.
In the days since arriving in Beicang from Yicheng, Tan Lihua followed Zhang Xupeng whenever he went out to handle business.
After a few days of observation, Tan Lihua felt much more at ease.
The atmosphere here is indeed different from home.
Not only is efficiency much higher, but there aren't many people making things difficult for you.
The sub-district office even actively offers assistance.
Currently, it seems that as long as they operate honestly and don't resort to dishonest practices, asset safety is not an issue.
The government's attention is driven by a win-win cooperation and economic development mindset.
This isn't just evident in the factory; Jinpeng Trading, which has made a lot of money in just over half a year, is also treated the same.
No one will fixate on your small gains; as long as you conduct business honestly and pay taxes diligently, you can do business steadily.
Why did Tan Lihua know this?
Because he and Zhang Guolong had asked Zhang Xupeng to show them Jinpeng Trading's operating costs.
Entertainment expenses could be faked in terms of naming, but the actual costs couldn't.
The bulk of Jinpeng Trading's operating costs were in procurement and logistics.
Even the travel expenses for the Canton Fair were higher than the entertainment expenses, which could almost be ignored.
When they saw the accounts, both men found it a bit hard to believe.
For this, they specifically questioned Xiao Zhang, who swore that in the past six months, no government official had come to extort money, and the few routine inspections they had received involved no bribery or demands.
The business environment was so good that the two old fathers found it hard to believe.
They knew that doing business back home, this aspect was an unavoidable business cost; some small businesses even chose to close down because they couldn't afford it.
With these worries gone, Zhang Guolong was relieved.
Anyway, Jinpeng Trading was operating with light assets currently, and on paper, the money earned was basically enough for his silly son to live comfortably for half a lifetime.
But Tan Lihua's concerns had not yet been dispelled.
His son was playing too big; not just anyone can build cars, even electric scooters involve a lot of technical aspects.
Therefore, Tan Lihua wanted to take this opportunity to have a good talk with his son and understand his plans for the future.
His son could make money and knew how to make money; he had fully realized this since coming to Beicang.
But whether he could hold onto this wealth, Tan Lihua, though without a say, hoped to have the right to know.
It's not surprising that Tan Lihua and Zhang Guolong had such thoughts.
Having risen from the lowest ranks through education step by step, both had witnessed too many dark sides of society.
"Alas, in the end, it's because I, your old man, don't have the ability to protect you,"
Tan Lihua sighed suddenly when his son didn't speak.
"Huh? Dad, why are you suddenly saying this? Isn't everything fine now?"
"It's nothing, just a sigh. We're going back tomorrow. Do you have anything you want to bring back for your mother?"
"No need. Tomorrow isn't Sunday anyway, and I can't do what I need to do tomorrow. I'll take you back tomorrow."
"Won't that delay you?"
"No, it won't."
Dinner was a small gathering of Yicheng folks in Beicang.
Tan Lihua and Zhang Guolong were quite adept at social graces; they had already informed Zhang Qingliang to bring the renovation workers from back home to dinner.
A few drinks and a few words easily dispelled the workers' previous resentment towards Tan Jincheng's strict demands.
The office construction was entering its final stage, and next were Tan and Zhang's two apartments.
With one matter out of the way, these workers would move on to renovating the residential buildings after the office renovation was complete.
This time, the construction period would not be as tight.
However, safety still needed to be strictly emphasized.
Even if his father didn't drink, the same demands, when spoken by his father, seemed more acceptable than when he said them himself.
He learned something today.
This was probably the art of language.
—
Late at night, in Tan Jincheng's room, father and son sat opposite each other, eyes meeting.
Tan Lihua wanted to hear his son's plans for the future.
In Tan Lihua's view, this conversation was an equal one.
Psychologically, as a father, Tan Lihua still saw Tan Jincheng as a child.
But judging by what he had accomplished in the past six months, he could no longer be treated as a child.
Planning a factory with an annual output value of nearly 100 million yuan, Tan Lihua didn't believe it was merely his son's impulsiveness; there must have been long-term planning involved.
"Then let's talk about it, but some of it involves commercial secrets, Dad, just listen to it yourself. No one else knows about it yet."
"Then pick what you can say. For topics involving commercial secrets, try to avoid them as much as possible."
Tan Lihua wasn't going to take that responsibility.
If more than two people knew something, it wasn't a secret anymore.
At least with his wife, Tan Lihua had no defenses, what if he accidentally let it slip someday?
This kid was probably trying to use this to hide his unwillingness to talk.
"It starts with our trip back home for the Mid-Autumn Festival last year. Dad, do you remember my eldest uncle taking us back to the village on his tricycle?"
"Yes, I remember. You were spacing out in the car for a long time back then. I still recall that."
"Yeah, at that time I was thinking, if I started a factory to make this kind of transportation vehicle, would there be a market? But I didn't have that much money back then. The money I had wasn't even enough to produce these, not even enough to open a shop selling tricycles and electric scooters."
Tan Lihua also nodded.
These past few days, he had heard from Boss Zhang Mingcan that setting up such a small electric scooter assembly plant, even a black market one, would require hundreds of thousands to start, and a normal initial investment of several millions was child's play.
Subsequent expansion would definitely involve investments in the tens of millions, so it was normal for the sub-district office to take it seriously.
"What to do without money? Well, you can only make money first. Pengya and I spent over a year at sea, and we didn't just earn 100,000-odd yuan in wages. Cruise ships are not like some ocean freighters that pull cargo; various people come and go, and we could also hear some news."
Tan Jincheng then eloquently laid out his entrepreneurial plan, starting with the garment export business to accumulate capital, then moving on to the factory construction plan.
Originally, there was no need to rush, but last year, Guo Jia's policies changed significantly.
The development of any industry is inseparable from policy promotion.
This is true for manufacturing, for the internet, and even for stock trading.
Since policies had changed, there was no need to wait until everything was fully prepared to start, as that would mean losing the first-mover advantage.
Tan Jincheng did not mention his future plans to manufacture cars.
It was too early to talk about such things now; it would be too empty, and he himself wasn't sure if he could even reach that stage.
Currently, his biggest ambition was to become a top electric scooter manufacturer within a few years.
Xinri was currently the market leader, but electric vehicles were still a newly emerging industry that had just begun to develop.
In an emerging market, being the current leader doesn't necessarily mean a huge advantage.
From historical processes, one can see why Aima and Yadi could emerge successfully, while Shanchi and Fengchi could not.
Starting next week, Tan Jincheng planned to create a five-year plan for Shanchi Motors, aiming to become an industry leader within five years and make the brands Shanchi and Fengchi known to the public.
The electric scooter market should still have a long way to go before truly entering a bottleneck.
In the future, even if the domestic market becomes saturated, they can still focus on exports.
By increasing brand recognition and output, they could attract capital attention, thus creating opportunities to realize his car manufacturing dream.
Building a car is not a simple matter; relying solely on his own financial resources is destined to be insufficient.
As Tan Jincheng described his vision for the future of Shanchi Motors, Tan Lihua suddenly interjected,
"Then if you expand production capacity and need to build new production bases, what should you do if people from your hometown come looking for you?"
"Uh, Dad, isn't it too early for you to be thinking about this?"
Interrupted suddenly, Tan Jincheng was momentarily unsure how to respond.
"It's not early. Without looking far ahead, let's just say if you establish a firm footing this year, you will face this problem."
Assuming production starts in June, there will be half a year until the end of the year.
On the premise of establishing a firm footing, Shanchi Motors could roughly produce 15,000 electric scooters, with an output value of about 40 million yuan.
An output value of 40 million yuan in half a year is not negligible even in an industrially developed city like Yongcheng, let alone the industrial environment of their hometown.
Don't doubt these people's sources of information; Tan Lihua could guarantee that if his son established a firm footing in the electric scooter industry this year.
Then, during Chinese New Year this year, their home would definitely be very lively.
So, considering this issue now would not be too early.
(End of Chapter)
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