Chapter 245: Chapter 245: Wonderful in Their Own Ways
'Ding-ding-ding,' as the electric bell rang, the quiet campus immediately came to life. Xiao Zhijie rubbed his slightly sore eyes and waved his hand to indicate Wang Changning, who was walking out of Class 3 and 3. 'Over here!'
The two of them leaned over the corridor and looked down at the first-year children, who were using the ten minutes of recess to play a few rounds of football.
'They really have a lot of energy!' Wang Changning said with a smile.
'It's getting a bit cold,' Xiao Zhijie said, stretching his head forward as far as he could to get some more sun. 'How was the last mock exam?'
'It was the same as usual. How about you?' Wang Changning pushed him back a little, afraid that he might really fall over.
'Well, it wasn't very good. I did all the exercises that Yiping sent me. If I had more time, I could have come up with the answers, but a timed exam, heh, that was really tough.'
'Yiping was right when he said that we don't have a good grasp of the knowledge points, and we're even less familiar with the question types. The only way to improve is to review more and do more exercises. I think we should rent a place after the New Year, just like when we were in junior high, and sleep late at night and get up early in the morning.'
'Then let's rent it. We'll study hard for another six months, and then it'll be easier when we go to university next year,' Xiao Zhijie said with a hint of resentment.
'Yes, university is strict in the beginning but lenient at the end,' Wang Changning said, repeating the idea of university that Feng Yiping had instilled in them, and also began to think about the happy life that would begin in the second half of next year.
'How are things with Yu Lian?' Xiao Zhijie changed the subject to something lighter.
'It's the same as ever. She's almost finished her studies, but she doesn't want to go back to the village. And there's no way she can get a place in the county hospital.'
'What hospital? With just a diploma from a junior college, she'll never get anywhere in the village. I think we should tell Yiping to recruit Yu Lian to the provincial hospital too. And then, in the second half of next year, we can all go to the provincial hospital together. Wouldn't that be great?'
'Alas, the main thing is that her family doesn't agree, always wanting to find her a secure job at the county hospital. Never mind, let's not talk about that. What about you, are you going back to see Qiuling this week?'
'What's the point of going back? She goes home every weekend, and she doesn't let me go to her school, saying it would be bad for her image. Last time I went back, the two of us just had a meal together.'
'Then it'll be even more troublesome next year, with the provincial capital and the town even further apart. Have you thought about that?'
'We have thought about it. I want to get into a good university and go home with him,' Xiao Zhijie said.
'I said, why are you working so hard now? It turns out that you have this plan in mind! I said, aren't you afraid of Vice Principal Zhang now?'
'I don't know how I will do in the exams next year. If I do well, I won't be afraid. Alas, Yiping is still the best!'
'Yes, Yiping is still the best!' Wang Changning sighed.
Mei Yiliang has been in high demand recently. To be honest, he never thought that he would have a government official treating him to a meal and giving him gifts one day.
Jia Sheng Decoration's business is getting bigger and bigger every day, and the staff is also growing. This year alone, they have recruited twelve professionals with intermediate titles to fill various departments.
Now he rarely has the opportunity to go to the site, and spends more time dealing with various documents and attending meetings. There is also a key task, which is to arrange the few people in the office and supplement and amend the corporate system in light of the actual situation at work.
Feng Yiping said that this year, various companies have recruited too many people, and many things are not standardized. Next year will be a year of standardization, a year of rectification, and a year of laying a solid foundation. It will take half a year to a year to make sure that the company and employees are standardized.
He is a person who always stays in the office, and sometimes he can't help but take some time out to go back to the furniture factory in the van to make return visits, although of course not as often as before.
Cai Hong is still in charge of the furniture factory's retail store. He originally wanted to hire a nanny to take care of Hui Hui, but Cai Hong refused, and set aside a small space in the store where she and a few other girls could take care of Hui Hui while doing business.
Unexpectedly, this had a positive effect. Many customers who brought their children with them also left their children in that corner. Now that corner had become a children's paradise, not only did it make customers who brought their children with them feel more at ease when choosing things, but it also sold more furniture related to children, such as cribs.
When he thinks of his son, Mei Yiliang's face lights up with a smile. This little guy, although he doesn't bring much, is the closest thing to him. Every time he sees him, he doesn't ask for his mother, but says in a baby voice, 'Daddy, carry me!' which makes Cai Hong a little jealous sometimes.
This kind of life was quite fulfilling and peaceful. Last week, Feng Yiping talked to him for a long time, saying that he wanted to invest more than 50 million to build a hotel, and let him take charge of the preliminary work, which completely disrupted his rhythm of life.
When Cai Hong took Hui Hui back to see Lao Cai, Cai Hong said something at the dinner table, and Lao Cai was stunned for a long time. 'More than 50 million! It's only been a few years.'
The second son and his wife were also surprised, looking at his sister-in-law in wonder. His sister-in-law was also confused. She thought that her family had almost emptied their savings by setting up a factory in the town, and now this was at least 50 million again!
'In 1993, when he first came to the provincial capital for the summer holidays, didn't you ask me to buy him a mountain bike? It's only been five years or so,' Cai Hong said the exact time.
'Yes, it's been more than five years since I first met Yiping. I knew then that he would definitely become successful, but I never imagined that in just a few short years, he would become so successful. By the way, how did he make all this money?'
'It seems to be from stocks. Yiping has been to Hong Kong several times in the past two years,' Mei Yiliang spoke vaguely, of course, he was not sure of the specific details.
'Apart from your eldest brother, you are all here today, and I would like to share my thoughts with you.' Lao Cai glanced at his son, daughter-in-law, and daughter and son-in-law, 'In fact, I have been thinking about it for some time, whether to merge our furniture factory into Jiasheng Kitchen as a whole, or to let Yiping invest some money in the furniture factory as well, it doesn't matter if he takes the majority, what do you think?'
Cai Lei's daughter-in-law agreed, 'I think this is a good idea. Over the years, the Yiping family has let us take advantage of them a lot. So many noodle shops use our stuff. The styles that have sold well in the factory's development over the past few years have almost all been provided by Yiping. If we can get him to put more thought into it, the factory's future development will definitely be better than it is now.'
'What do you think?' Lao Cai asked his second son, Cai Xin, and his second daughter-in-law.
'Of course you say that, sister-in-law. Your brother is now the general manager over there.'
Cai Xin said with a dejected expression, 'I'm afraid they're not interested.' He also very much hoped that Feng Yiping would not be interested.
Lao Cai's proposal did not bear fruit that evening, but the next day, Director Wang of the street office approached Mei Yiliang with a business recruiter.
This time, he approached Mei Yiliang to establish a relationship, talking about his friendship with Lao Cai and the dealings he and Feng Zhenchang had had in the past. The result was that there was only one thing to discuss: the street had quite a few plots of land suitable for building hotels, and he hoped that Mei Yiliang would give priority to his proposals, so that in the future, if there was anything on his turf, there would be someone to look after it.
The investment promotion officer who followed him was very good at getting things done. He left him a document with the preferential terms and conditions in a branded briefcase, and said that from that day onwards, whether it was business or personal matters, if there was anything he could do to help, he could just give him a call.
Next, an endless stream of people came to see Mei Yiliang, all from various investment promotion offices. freewebnσvel.cѳm
This investment of 50 million is a delicious piece of fluffy cake for the investment promotion system. Whoever can get it is going to have a great political achievement. What's more, this investment is said to be from a foreign company, using US dollars, which is even more attractive than an average investment.
Finally, not only did the people from the provincial investment promotion office come knocking, but also people from several nearby cities. He received several of those expensive cowhide briefcases that are worth more than several large oxen.
These days he is very busy. During the day, there are always cars waiting outside the company. He takes the people he has recruited, gets out of one car and into another, going from house to house to see the sites they have recommended and listen to increasingly favourable conditions.
In the evening, the officials would invite him to dinner again. He had met several district chiefs before, whom he had never been able to see even through connections, and they had all offered toasted him during the meal. Not only had he gotten back all the humiliation he had suffered when he and Feng Zhanchang had asked for favours, he had also made a lot of extra money.
Of course, he didn't get carried away. Feng Yiping made it very clear to him that in the preliminary work, he would definitely get to know a lot of powerful people in the province, and he must take the opportunity to get along with them, and he mustn't get cocky. These days, the rich can't always outplay the powerful. Right now, because the investment hasn't landed, they are the ones who need you. Once the investment is settled, there will be plenty of times when you need them.
So, he was also very humble. The other party invited him, so he arranged a return invitation, and went to a karaoke bar with a district chief and two bureau chiefs to sing a few times. That's how the friendship was formed.
Of course, this has not yet been decided. Their funds can be in place at any time, but the location of the hotel is not the same as that of the noodle shop and convenience store. It is a very critical project that requires scientific and systematic consideration of many factors.
The Merchants Bureau was not finished yet, and other units came knocking on the door again. First, a vice president of Chen Xuefeng's former unit found him through Chen Xuefeng. In order to give Chen Xuefeng face, he went to a banquet. Then several design institutes from the provincial government also came to establish relationships. Those who worked the hardest were still those private and foreign-funded design companies, whose attitude was no worse than those in the Merchants Bureau system.
Then, various construction companies also came knocking on his door, each one bigger than the last, with several of them bearing the national prefix. Even some private construction companies came knocking on his door.
What's even funnier is that several decoration companies also came knocking on his door to do preliminary work. Come on, I run a decoration company, okay? I'm still hoping to use this project to upgrade my company's qualifications!
He now understands a truth: knowledge is power. He doesn't quite understand this, but he now understands very well that capital is power.
This is of course true. Later, wherever Li Chaoren went, whether or not there was any investment, he was always accompanied by the top two officials of the province. This is really nothing compared to the power they have now.