With the help of the Wu and Chen families, Sheng Xiping's trip south went very smoothly.

He signed a supply agreement with the feed mill, and then approached the relevant departments to discuss transportation issues.

Once all the passes in the south were cleared, Sheng Xiping and his party immediately returned to the Northeast.

The Northeast is an important grain production base, known as the granary of the world. The corn that the feed mill needs can be easily solved.

With Chen Ruiqing's guarantee and Sheng Xiping's principal of over 100,000 yuan, large quantities of corn were continuously transported to Shenzhen.

From April to October, Sheng Xiping spent most of his time dealing in corn, and occasionally some timber. Starting in October, he began to try something new.

At that time, most of the investors in Shenzhen were businessmen from Hong Kong.

One of the merchants' fathers was diagnosed with a terminal illness. A doctor prescribed a medicine that included ginseng, specifically ginseng that was over a hundred years old. This medicine was said to extend the old man's life by three years.

The other party offered a high price, seeking to purchase the ginseng at great expense.

At that time, most of the investors in Shenzhen were Hong Kong businessmen, and the news reached Sheng Xiping's ears from those Hong Kong businessmen.

Sheng Xiping had ginseng in his possession, and it was old enough, so he used this ginseng to establish a relationship with the other party.

Then, through an invitation letter from the other party, Sheng Xiping took Wu Yucheng and Liu Yuhe to Gangcheng, where they completed the formalities and registered a Tengyue Trading Company.

It's basically just renting a small office, setting up two telephones, and hiring three or four people from Hong Kong to guard the place.

When needed, they are assigned tasks; when not needed, they simply look after properties in their office.

Afterwards, Sheng Xiping and his team rented an office in Shenzhen, which was then registered as a branch of Gangcheng Trading Company.

In recent years, with the reform and opening up, people's living standards have improved, and their demands for material life have also increased year by year.

In many places, the three most popular wedding items a few years ago were "bicycle, radio, and watch".

Now, the demand for home appliances has quietly shifted to televisions, washing machines, and refrigerators, with people's demand for these appliances experiencing an explosive growth.

The home appliance industry, especially in Northeast China, is very underdeveloped due to various reasons.

Occasionally, a batch of black and white televisions would enter the store, and they would be snapped up in no time.

Even with the need for industrial vouchers and the exorbitant prices, nothing could dampen people's enthusiasm for buying.

Sheng Xiping saw this point and thus conceived an idea.

He planned to purchase a large number of home appliances, such as televisions, washing machines, refrigerators, and tape recorders, under the guise of employee welfare.

Then the timber was transported back to Northeast China and supplied to various forestry bureaus in the form of timber barter.

Then he will transport the timber to various parts of the south and supply it to timber merchants.

The forestry bureau is currently in its most prosperous period. The workers have money in their hands, but there is a shortage of supplies, and they can't buy anything they want.

Especially after winter sets in, many young people are getting married and have an urgent need for various household appliances.

With the help of Chen Ruiqing and Zhou Mingyuan's connections, Sheng Xiping made contact with all seventeen forestry bureaus in the province.

When they heard that Sheng Xiping wanted to exchange various household appliances for wood, the other party was overjoyed. It was like a pillow being given to someone who was sleepy.

Go ahead and exchange them. The Forestry Bureau may not have much else, but it has plenty of timber. Exchange as much as you can, as much as you can.

"Xiping, let me tell you, this time you have to reserve two hundred color TVs, five hundred black and white TVs, at least three hundred washing machines and tape recorders for our bureau, and a little less, around one hundred refrigerators."

Wang Jiachuan called Shenzhen directly, urging Sheng Xiping to reserve more appliances for him.

The weather in Northeast China is cold and winters are long, so refrigerators are not very useful and the demand is low.

Because winters are long and it gets dark early, people have nothing to do and who wouldn't want to sit on a warm kang (heated brick bed) and watch TV comfortably in the dead of winter? So the demand for televisions is very high.

Wang Jiachuan didn't dare to report too much, fearing that Sheng Xiping wouldn't be able to purchase that many appliances.

If we follow the opinions of everyone in the bureau, we need at least 500 color TVs and at least 1,000 black and white TVs.

"Uncle, you've ordered quite a lot. There are a lot of orders now, and I don't have that many on hand."

How about this, I'll give it to you in batches, okay? I'll make sure I get enough before the New Year.

Sheng Xiping held the phone, listening to Wang Jiachuan's shouts on the other end, and couldn't help but laugh.

"Alright, it doesn't matter how many times it's divided, we must gather this number before the end of the year, no more, no less."

"Don't worry, I'll pick the best wood for you. Your uncle isn't one to shirk his responsibilities," Wang Jiachuan shouted from the other end.

"Okay, okay, okay, Uncle, don't worry, I will definitely do my best to meet your requirements." Sheng Xiping hung up the phone with a smile.

The phone had just ended when it rang again. These were orders from various forestry bureaus, who had compiled their demand and were now sending them to Sheng Xiping.

Of course, some companies really ask for an exorbitant amount, demanding both young and old, so Sheng Xiping inevitably has to bargain with them.

The corn business itself tied up a portion of the capital, and the remaining two million was invested in the home appliance business.

This appliance was purchased in exchange for timber, and it will take some time to process the timber and recoup the funds.

Therefore, Sheng Xiping could not provide a large quantity of goods at once; he had to leave some room for maneuver.

Besides, he's not only doing this for one year, he can take it slow.

The seventeen forestry bureaus in Quang Kyi province employ nearly 200,000 people; it's simply impossible to supply them all.

"Second brother, is there nothing to do at home right now? Tell eldest brother to come over as soon as possible."

Ideally, we should find a few more young and strong people with whom we have good relationships, as we are currently short-handed.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!