Chapter 170: Chapter 170: Sorting things out
Everyone agreed on the money-spending matter, but when it came to the other matter, Mei Qiuping and Feng Yuxuan just couldn't be happy about it.
It was still the noodle shop.
Feng Zhenchang had also come to some understanding, and since they couldn't stop it and the family couldn't do the business alone, it was better to take a step back now, as their son had suggested, and plan for the future.
No one wants to suffer while others make money. But if you pay a little and let others make money, you will get some rewards and your reputation will also be enhanced.
During their time in the provincial capital, Mei Qiuping and Feng Yuxuan had actually figured this out as well. They just couldn't accept it emotionally. To put it bluntly, they didn't want others to benefit from their good fortune for no reason.
When they were poor and couldn't even make ends meet, no one took them in and made money with them!
Of course, she has to accept it now, even if she doesn't want to. If she doesn't agree to her second cousin's request this year, the public opinion of the Mei couple in Meichuwan will definitely be extremely bad in the future.
There are many people who prefer the rich to the poor. There are also many people who will turn around and call you heartless the moment they turn their back after flattering you a moment ago.
Unless their family stays outside all the time and never interacts with the people from their hometown, these problems cannot be avoided.
As a last resort, under Feng Zhenchang's auspices, the family got together and thought about it one by one. They couldn't just teach everything to someone else and then let them come back and compete with them. If you rely on other people's moral character in business, then you're in for a world of hurt!
However, none of the three of them had been exposed to such things before, and many of the things they said were off the mark. Feng Yiping looked a little anxious. After discussing it for half a month, they couldn't come up with anything useful.
It's just about joining a chain. He has no experience of joining a chain in the fast food industry, but he is familiar with joining various internationally and domestically renowned manual, pneumatic and electric tools. The industries are different, the surfaces are different, but the core is more or less the same.
So he volunteered, 'Dad, mum, I have read books on these subjects in the provincial library. Why don't I draft one first and you can make changes?'
On this New Year's Day, Feng Yiping stayed at home all day, sat by the fire and wrote out the agreement, then revised it several times, taking great care.
There was no choice; this was probably the first formal, programmatic business document produced by their family, determining the direction and development of the noodle shop for at least the next few years. The more perfect it was now, the less he would have to worry about in the future.
On the fourth day of the Chinese New Year, Uncle Si used the school's mimeograph machine to print out a few copies. Feng Zhanchang called the people who had asked him to the house and handed out copies to everyone. 'I, Feng Zhanchang, am a nostalgic person. Once I've earned some money, I will never forget everyone. You want to open a noodle shop, and I fully support you. But business is business, and there are rules to be followed if you want to do it well. So I have drafted these terms and conditions. If you agree to them, I will teach you and help you as much as I can.
The people present were also seeing detailed terms on so many pages for the first time, but they couldn't understand many of them. In later words, they felt a little overwhelmed. After reading a few of the terms, they put them aside and said they would read them in detail later. They all knew that Feng Zhenchang would never take advantage of them in any way in the terms on the paper.
One person asked the most important question: 'Uncle, as long as you teach us how to run the business, we'll do whatever you say. It's just that this shop requires tens of thousands of dollars to get started, and we don't have that kind of money. What do you think...?'
'I really can't help you with this. Don't look at me like I've made a lot of money. In fact, when it comes to debt, I'm one of the highest in the village. Those who work in the store know that I currently owe the bank more than 100,000 yuan in loans alone, which I have to pay back in the second half of the year. There's also the rent for this store, which adds up to a large sum. I really don't have any spare money.'
Hearing him say this, the faces of most of the people present darkened. The fact that he owed the bank more than 100,000 yuan had been rumoured in the village for the past two days, and many people had privately said that their family was pretending to be rich when they were really poor.
But as Feng Yuxuan had said, at this time of year, not many people in the village could come up with tens of thousands of yuan at once. To be honest, many of them were thinking of asking Feng Zhenchang for help.
'You still have to find a way to get the money yourselves. Go back and mobilise your relatives and friends. If one family is not enough, ask ten, and if ten are not enough, ask twenty. Everyone chip in a sum. This year, you go ahead and open a shop. Once you've made money, that money can help the next family to open a shop. If this continues, in a few years' time, all these families will be able to go out on their own.'
In this regard, I have to admire the people in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Many of them came from average backgrounds. When they first started their businesses, they had to borrow from many relatives to get enough capital. But they were very united. They pooled their resources one at a time, with those who made money first helping those who were just starting out.
It seems like a very simple and beautiful thing, but it cannot be replicated in many places. There are too many people thinking about themselves, and too few people willing to take a step back.
For example, why should he be the one to open the shop? Why can't I go first? Everyone is thinking the same thing, and it's normal for a year to pass without a result. Maybe in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the shops would have already opened by now.
Feng Yiping really wanted to take this opportunity to get the villagers in the village to develop this habit.
Then someone else asked, 'But what if it loses money?'
Fourth Uncle, who was sitting next to him, couldn't stand it anymore at this point, 'What can you do? You have to bear the burden yourself. You can't expect other people to help you out!'
'No, that's not what I meant. I'm worried that if I lose, I won't be able to pay back the money, and my relatives will drive me to my grave.'
'That's something you have to figure out for yourself. There's no such thing as a business that never loses money. You have to take risks to make money. All I can say is, do what I've told you, and it's just a matter of whether you make more or less. You shouldn't lose, but of course no one can guarantee that. That said, just like growing crops at home, we have all encountered situations where the crops were about to be harvested, but then it rained heavily for several days in a row, causing the wheat to sprout.
'Exactly, how can there be such a good thing? If you want to make money and don't want to take risks, even if you marry a wife, there is still the possibility of divorce. What should you do, just remain a bachelor?' Uncle Si's words were actually somewhat argumentative, but the reasoning was sound.
'Okay, I'll do what needs to be done. If you're willing, come to the province to sign the agreement with me, and spend a few days in the store learning. We'll definitely teach you everything step by step. But I'll be upfront: we're all from the same village. If you don't even say hello and just open a business based on my family's model, don't blame me for not being friendly.'
'Of course not!'
'Exactly, no one would do such a thing.'
Anyway, this is the end of the story. Feng Zhenchang has acted with style and done what he could. How it will develop next depends on how many people in the village dare take the risk and how many can find a way to come up with the money.