Chapter 22: Situation in the Mainland
The short-haired beauty looked at Yue Ning and asked with interest, "Is this your girlfriend?"
Hearing this, Yue Baohua, who was a little tired from walking, suddenly quickened his pace. The short-haired beauty asked in surprise: "Uncle Hua, why are you here too?"
Yue Baohua looked back at Yue Ning who was standing there, waved and called out, "Ningning, come here!"
Yue Ning had adjusted his mood. When he approached, he heard Qiao Junxian call the man "Uncle Cui" and the woman "Second Lady".
Yue Ning walked over to Yue Baohua, who introduced them: "Boss Cui, Miss Cui, Second Madam, let me introduce you to my granddaughter Yue Ning. Ningning, Boss Cui and his family have always been frequent customers of Baohualou, and they are our old diners."
"Granddaughter?" Boss Cui was stunned for a moment. Yue Baohua has always been alone, where did the granddaughter come from?
"My son and granddaughter were sent to the northwest. Zhirong has passed away for many years, leaving behind this child. Boss Qiao helped me and asked the second young master to accompany me to bring Ningning back."
Boss Cui knew that Yue Baohua had been looking forward to the country opening up so that he could be reunited with his son. He couldn't help but sigh: "It's good that the child is back."
Yue Baohua turned to Yue Ning and said, "Ningning."
Yue Ning walked to Yue Baohua's side, and Yue Baohua said to her: "This is Boss Cui, Second Miss Cui, and Second Madam Cui."
Second wife? In the previous life, those rich and powerful people had three wives and four concubines. As long as money could settle it, they would arrange them according to the number. In Hong Kong, it was even more blatant. So she was someone's mistress?
"Hello, Boss Cui!"
"Okay!" Boss Cui responded to Yue Ning, then turned to Yue Baohua and said, "Brother Hua, your grandson is so beautiful! I admit my age, and we have been friends for many years. Let Ningning call me 'Uncle'."
Yue Baohua smiled and said, "That's because you think highly of me."
"Uncle Hua, you are being polite. Other families value recipes more than their lives. My elder sister wanted to ask you to provide her with brilliant roast meat, but you said that roast meat tastes better when eaten hot, so you gave her the recipe directly." The short-haired beauty walked to Yue Ning's side, "You can call me sister like Jun Xian did."
This sister has a very forthright personality, so Yue Ning said, "Sister Huiyi."
She called out again, "Uncle Cui."
Yue Ning looked at the second wife Cui, who was staring at her in a daze. Yue Baohua didn't ask her to change her words, so Yue Ning said, "Second wife is good."
The second wife was in a daze and did not respond to Yue Ning immediately. It was Boss Cui who reminded her: "Wanmei, Ningning is greeting you."
The second wife came back to her senses and looked at Yue Ning: "Ning Ning..."
The voice was a little complicated, and Yue Ning looked at her with a puzzled look. Er Tai immediately put away that expression and said, "Hello."
Boss Cui slapped Yue Baohua on the back and said, "Brother Hua, let's stop standing at the door. Let's go in and sit down and talk."
Yue Baohua and Boss Cui walked side by side, and Qiao Junxian and Cui Huiyi walked side by side. Qiao Junxian stopped and said, “Yue Ning, come here.”
Yue Ning walked forward, and Qiao Junxian waited for her to catch up. After the three of them were side by side, he continued to talk to Cui Huiyi: "Sister Huiyi, why did you come to the mainland?"
"How could it be possible? I've been here for almost a month. I've been to Shanghai, Wuhan, and Chengdu, and just came here to meet up with my dad." Cui Huiyi said, "I came to the mainland to investigate the instant noodle market and wanted to find a factory for joint venture. But I found that the tastes in different places are so different that I doubt whether I can open up the market."
"Indeed, I also went from Guangdong to Shanghai, then to Beijing, and then to the northwest. The food in each place is limited to the local area. Outside of that place, the taste is very different. The reason why Japanese Qingzai noodles can quickly become popular in Hong Kong is that the taste in Hong Kong is similar to that in Japan, both of which are light in flavor with sesame oil."
"This is exactly what gives me a headache. I want to develop products in a targeted manner, but I have no direction at the moment. The market is too chaotic and complicated."
Qiao Junxian turned to Yue Ning and said, "Yue Ning, Sister Huiyi is amazing. After returning to Hong Kong, she followed Cui Shibo to manage the family food factory."
"I can't help it. If I don't take care of the property left by my grandfather, who will take care of it?"
As soon as Cui Huiyi said this, Boss Cui looked back at her. Cui Huiyi simply turned her head to look at Cui Ertai next to her and glared at her with the same look.
The second wife, who had remained silent, received a look of annoyance for no apparent reason.
"Grandpa must love Sister Huiyi very much." Yue Ning said from another perspective.
"Yes! Grandpa loves my mom, and of course he loves us sisters too."
When they arrived at the entrance of the coffee shop, Qiao Junxian said, "I'll go ask if my grandfather is back. You guys go sit in the coffee shop for a while."
"Go ahead!"
As soon as Qiao Junxian left, Cui Huiyi naturally walked to Yue Ning: "Ningning, have you been in the northwest?"
"I went to the northwest with my father when I was five years old and grew up in a small mountain valley."
Cui Huiyi looked at her carefully and said, "Not really! I've traveled a lot this time, and to be honest, most of the girls I saw on the streets of Shanghai and Beijing don't have as much temperament as you."
Yue Ning held out her hand, and Cui Huiyi didn't understand what she was going to do. Yue Ning said, "Give me your hand."
Cui Huiyi put her hand on Yue Ning's, and Yue Ning gently stroked her hand: "Does it feel like touching the bark of a tree?"
Although it's a bit exaggerated to say that it feels like touching tree bark, Yue Ning's hands are covered with thick calluses and her skin is indeed as rough as sandpaper. Looking at her face again, her features are beautiful, but her skin is wheat-colored and rough. But her unique temperament makes people ignore these.
A few people went to the coffee shop on the ground floor. After Yue Ning sat down, the waiter brought the menu. Cui Huiyi took it and looked at it, then said, "Uncle Hua, the Biluochun here is very good. Would you like a cup? Dad, too?"
"OK!"
"good."
She handed the menu to Yue Ning again: "Ningning, what about you?"
Yue Ning looked at the menu and her eyes lit up. There's Coke? Never mind. She said, "Milk."
Cui Huiyi said to the waiter, "I want a can of Coke."
After ordering, she put the menu in front of Mrs. Cui Er, without even looking at her, and turned to Yue Ning and said, "You are so good, drink your milk."
"Grandpa said he wanted to make me plump and white as soon as possible." Yue Ning looked at Yue Baohua and regretted not ordering a Coke just now.
Only then did Cui Huiyi realize that this was truly an innocent little sister who had not seen much of the world.
"Brother Hua, now that the child has been found, that Ding Shengqiang is making a big fuss. If he only borrowed your reputation, it would be fine. But now he is acting like it's either you or him. If you were ten years younger, if your son was still alive, if..." Boss Cui looked at Yue Ning, "If it was a grandson, then I would accompany you to the end. But now, don't bother, just buy Baohua Real Estate. I know you can't sit still, how about coming to Huihuang to be a consultant for me? When your daughter finds a boyfriend and gets married, you will feel relieved."
"What you said makes sense, but..." Yue Baohua looked at Yue Ning with loving eyes, "Her father hopes that she will be a good cook, and she also likes cooking. Granddaughters and grandsons are the same. If she wants to cook, I will take her with me."
"It was only after I opened a restaurant that I realized how tiring this business is. I have two daughters now, so I can tell you the truth. Once a woman gets married and has children, her mind will naturally be on her husband and children." Boss Cui said helplessly, "Why did you open Huihuang? Wasn't it Huiwen who wanted to open it? It was doing well at the beginning, but in the past few years, I gave birth to two children in a row. How could I have the energy?"
Yue Ning almost rolled his eyes when he saw Cui Huiyi leaning on the sofa and listening to her father talking.
Yue Ning looked up and asked innocently, "Uncle Cui, since it was Huihuang that had problems, why didn't you sell Huihuang, but let my grandfather sell Baohua instead?"
Cui Huiyi suddenly perked up. She didn't know if the girl's question was straightforward or tricky. She put away her crossed legs and sat up straight.
Boss Cui thought that he said these words because he had known Yue Baohua for many years. When his eldest daughter wanted to open a restaurant, everything was ready, but the roast meat chef tried many and was not satisfied. In terms of the taste of roast meat in Hong Kong, Baohualou is definitely among the top three. He gave his daughter an idea at the time to order the roast meat for the restaurant from Baohualou.
The daughter went to find Yue Baohua, who immediately said no. Since it was a high-end restaurant in Repulse Bay, the roast meat would be brought in from Baohualou and would be cold on the way and then heated up, so the flavor would be bad. Yue Baohua asked Cui Huiwen to send the brilliant roast meat chef to Baohualou to learn.
Roast meat is one of Baohualou's signature dishes. Yue Baohua just handed over the recipe and even instructed their roast meat chef to choose ingredients more carefully than Baohualou's, after all, their prices are higher.
Huihuang also reciprocated the favor by labeling Baohua roast goose and Baohua barbecued pork on the menu, indicating that the barbecued pork was cooked by Yue Baohua. If ordinary people could not afford Huihuang's high-priced dishes, could they not afford Baohua's roasted meat? For a time, people from Hong Kong Island did not mind the distance and lined up to buy roast goose and roasted meat. Even a talented Hong Kong scholar, who was also a gourmet, wrote an article praising Yue Baohua's craftsmanship and Huihuang's honesty and respect for people, which became a good story.
It is because of this friendship that Boss Cui can say such heartfelt words. But he did not expect to be questioned by Yue Baohua's granddaughter. It is a good thing for a little girl to be sharp-tongued, and she will not suffer small losses. However, if she is sharp-tongued without understanding the cause and effect, she will suffer a big loss when she goes to Gangcheng. Boss Cui does not want to argue with the little girl, and there will be people who will teach her when she goes to Gangcheng. It's a pity that Yue Baohua is so popular!
Before he finished his sigh, he heard Yue Ning's crisp and innocent voice say, "It's obvious that Uncle loves his daughter and knows that it's not easy for her. He wants to find a reliable helper for Sister Huiwen when she's in the most difficult time. It just so happens that Baohua Building is in crisis now, my grandfather is old, and my father is gone. I'm the only granddaughter like you, and I guess I've lost my fighting spirit, so you came up with this best of both worlds."
Being praised by Yue Ning for loving his daughter, Boss Cui was overjoyed: "You can guess what I'm thinking, but some people don't understand at all."
"As a daughter for so many years, how can I not understand my father's feelings? I say I dislike him, but I can't bear to see the child I have loved since childhood suffer." The waiter brought the drinks, Yue Ning took a sip of the milk, "But even if Uncle Cui loves me like a mountain, I can't let grandpa go. Baohualou is grandpa's life's hard work. He has always had a dream to create a family business for his son and hand over Baohualou to his son. Now, my father is gone, but my father has me, and I can't let grandpa's dream go unfulfilled, so I will take over Baohualou and be filial to my father."
This little girl is really smart! She is only a few years old, but she can even say no so comfortably. Boss Cui smiled and said, "Brother Hua, good fortune is yet to come!"
Cui Huiyi, who had been sitting on a chair beside them and had been watching them quietly without saying a word, opened a can of soda, took a sip of Coke, and sneered, "The restaurant he opened has been booming for five consecutive years. As soon as they got married and had children, his biological father immediately sent his concubine in, saying that she was there to assist, but in fact she was bossing around. This is really a father's love that is as heavy as a mountain, overwhelming..."
"Huiyi, what occasion is this?" Boss Cui knocked on the glass coffee table.
Cui Huiyi looked at Cui Ertai, then turned back to ask her father: "You also know what kind of occasion this is? Why did you bring her to such an occasion? The factory is dirty, the cafeteria is dirty, the food is unpalatable, the toilet is dirty, and everything is disgusting."
"Isn't what your Aunt Wan said true?"
"In order to investigate the mainland market, I traveled all over the streets and alleys of several cities and wrote a report of more than 20 pages. Wasn't this included in the report? I called you to explain it. You asked all kinds of questions. I asked you to come and see it in person, to get in touch with the people here, and to solve the problems that needed to be solved."
"Didn't you say that both Japanese companies felt that the conditions of the joint venture were too poor and that they would need to invest too much energy in the later stages, so they gave up? That's why I asked you to think about it carefully. Am I asking the wrong question?"
"If Japanese companies don't invest, we won't invest either? We are Chinese. I sent so many reports for your reference and to discuss with you how to solve the problem, not for you to veto." Cui Huiyi stood up and strode out.
At the door, Qiao Qiming walked in, saw her and asked, "Hui Yi."
"Grandpa Joe."
Qiao Qiming smiled kindly: "Why are you angry?"
"My father said that the domestic conditions are not good and not suitable for investment. I had an argument with him." Cui Huiyi, who was furious just now, looked aggrieved, as if she had found a backer.
Qiao Qiming patted her shoulder and said, "Let's go in together."
Qiao Junxian and another middle-aged man followed them in.
Yue Ning stood up with her grandfather and went to meet him. She finally saw this Boss Qiao, who was thin. She didn't know what the old man was obsessed with, because he was almost bald, but he still insisted on leaving a few remaining white hairs.
Qiao Qiming walked up to Yue Ning, looked her over carefully, then turned to Yue Baohua and said, "I can tell at a glance that this is your child. She's just a little thin. She'll be prettier if she gets fatter."
Cui Huiyi laughed secretly on the side: "Uncle Hua has already started raising his granddaughter, Ningning is so well behaved that she only drinks milk."
Yue Baohua nodded happily: "Let's raise them when we get back, and they'll have meat."
"Grandpa, Uncle Hua, are you planning to raise Yue Ning like a piglet?" Qiao Junxian said.
Yue Ning pretended to be angry: "If you want to say I'm a pig, just say it. Do you think everyone else is the same as you?"
"Ningning." Yue Baohua called his granddaughter, signaling her to be more restrained in front of Boss Qiao.
"Let the kids quarrel with each other," Qiao Qiming said to Yue Baohua.
Qiao Qiming looked at Boss Cui as if he were an elder and asked, "Jiachang, why are the father and daughter arguing?"
"Ever since the last cocktail party, when she heard you and Boss Yu talking about the opening up of the mainland, she has been thinking about coming back to invest," said Boss Cui.
"That's no problem! We old guys have been looking forward to the country's doors opening. This was also her grandfather's last wish." Qiao Qiming said.
"Yes! I am not saying that I want to invest blindly. I have done sufficient investigation for the investment..." Cui Huiyi told Qiao Qiming about her experiences during her visits to several cities in the mainland, and the more than 20-page report she submitted, which detailed the situation of food sales in the mainland.
"I'm not against your investment," Cui Jiachang said. "Your report is full of problems. The food factories here have poor infrastructure, the market is not open, and there are big problems in the circulation link..."
Cui Jiachang listed the problems one by one: "She asked me to come and see. I came here to meet her yesterday and went to the food factory together. The situation on the spot was indeed very bad. On the way, I told her that we could wait for two years to give the mainland some time to improve. When the foundation here is better, can't we come back?"
"We are Chinese. What we need to do is to help those in need, bring in business ideas from outside, and help mainland companies improve. If improvements are made, China has a population of one billion. Wouldn't Japanese, European and American companies be scrambling to come in? The purpose of writing these reports is that we need to know what we will face in the future. I am not saying that we cannot invest. I am willing to be based in Beijing or Shanghai after the joint venture." Cui Huiyi looked at her father, "I invited you here to discuss with you how much investment we should prepare and how much support you can give me, but what about you? You brought your concubine here to travel, and your concubine despised me in every way. I grew up in Hong Kong and she didn't despise me. She ran away from the mainland, I don't know what she despises?"
Sitting on the side, except for occasionally looking at Yue Ning, Cui Ertai, who had almost no presence, said aggrievedly: "Second Miss, I don't know why you are targeting me. I went with you to visit the food factory today. The workshop was stained, the workers were lazy, and the bathroom was so irritating. You told me that such a place is a food factory? And the food here is really not delicious, as if the chef can't cook without the sauce. I'm just expressing my opinion."
Cui Huiyi looked at her with eyes like knives: "How could I not know this? You want me to tell you? If you think this place is not good, you won't go to Paris or Milan?"
"You..." Mrs. Cui lowered her head and stopped arguing with the second young lady. The second young lady was completely unreasonable.
Cui Jiachang couldn't stand his daughter's arrogance: "If you don't take these things seriously, then what's the point of visiting?"
"Know where we have to start. Tell me, we are lacking people, equipment, management methods, money, and a good business environment. It will take time from now until the joint venture is approved, right? Then we should prepare from these aspects." Cui Huiyi said confidently.
"You are so stubborn." Cui Jiachang scolded.
Cui Huiyi's eyes were as big as bells, and tears were shining in her eyes: "Yes! I am Chinese, can this be changed?"
Qiao Qiming smiled and reached out to ruffle Cui Huiyi's short hair: "Good girl."
"There is no shortage of people in the mainland." Yue Ning suddenly interrupted.
Cui Huiyi had just calmed down a bit, and when she heard Yue Ning's words, she smiled: "Silly sister, when I say we are short of people, I don't mean we are short of people who can do the work, I mean we are short of talented people."
"I'm talking about talented people." Yue Ning turned sideways and said, "Qiao Junxian, even in the remote Xiaoyanggou, can you select workers for an electrical appliance factory?"
Qiao Junxian, who was ordering drinks, looked up. He asked for a can of Coke, handed the menu to the waiter, turned around and said to Cui Huiyi, "Sister Huiyi, I had the same idea as you at first. After going to Xiaoyanggou and interacting with Yue Ning and the local villagers, I found that people in remote mountain villages are generally ignorant and backward. Let's take this mountain village as an example, leaving Yue Ning aside."
Yue Ning was anxious: "Why do you want to leave me behind? I grew up in Xiaoyanggou, how can you leave me behind?"
"Not leaving you out? Then I think you can build a factory by yourself with a group of people." When Qiao Junxian said this, everyone didn't understand what he meant, but they couldn't help laughing.
Yue Ning helped him to take stock: "Our brigade secretary can read books and newspapers, has great prestige in the village, can control situations, and can be a factory director. My Aunt Chunmei and Uncle Zhongyi are honest and reliable. Although Ah Fa is not very consistent in doing things, at least he has studied in high school. And my Uncle Agen..."
After counting these people, Yue Ning said, "The candidate for sales will be either you or the big brother I met that day."
Qiao Junxian mentioned the railway station employee they met at the hardware and electrical appliance store, and Yue Ning added: "There is also the female salesperson at the hardware and electrical appliance store. She is also suitable for sales. She and the railway station employee can be the sales director and the salesperson respectively. In addition, you only saw a small number of people in Xiaoyanggou. You see that Xiaoyanggou Primary School is shabby, but you don’t know that with such a simple primary school, the younger generation in the village can basically read a newspaper. These people can go to the electronics factory to screw in screws, right? A small mountain village can gather the employees needed for an electrical appliance factory, not to mention big cities like Beijing and Shanghai, where there are so many literate people."
Yue Ning paused and looked at Cui Huiyi: "So, talent is not a problem at all. The key is how to select the right talents. When setting up a joint venture, we can't let the food factory send all the people, otherwise they will squeeze in all their relatives and friends, and then we won't be able to drive them away. So what can we do? So the first thing is to conduct strict screening, and the second is to recruit externally. Suppose the current food factory is a stagnant pool of water. Your joint venture is like injecting a stream of fresh water, and the capable people recruited from outside are even fresher. I think Sister Huiyi will always have a way to revitalize the situation."
Cui Huiyi opened her mouth slightly and looked at Yue Ning, her eyes full of surprise and admiration. Yue Ning continued, "It is true that we lack equipment and money, so we can only rely on your investment. We have plenty of land and manpower here. The same is true for management methods. Anyway, we know that we are lacking in this area, so you experts from outside, no matter what management method you adopt, we support it. Why not just copy the management model of Gangcheng? But I don't know much about the business environment."
Yue Ning knew that he couldn't act like he knew everything, so he left some topics unanswered.
"There are just too many restrictions! This needs approval, that can't come in, and there's no redeployment plan yet." Cui Huiyi said.
“Is the approval process slow and the deployment plan inadequate?”
"Yeah! This... is really frustrating." Cui Huiyi said, "The efficiency is too low."
"We are all Chinese. As long as there is a gap in the policy, the enthusiasm of the Chinese people can be mobilized, and the economy will naturally become active..."
As Yue Ning was talking, he saw Qiao Junxian take the Coke from the waiter, open the can, and gulp down the drink. He couldn't help but show an envious look...
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