Chapter 189 Su City Industrial Park
"Mr. Cui, why don't you go up and talk? Lü Gan is here too." Lin Ruoyan was interested when she heard about the project in Su City. After all, the Hangzhou branch couldn't just have projects in Hangzhou. This was her southern region, and the economy was developing more rapidly than in the north. Perhaps there would be new opportunities.
The money in her account could sustain her for several years, and she also had to lay the groundwork for various projects in advance. As her business grew and went smoothly, her ambitions gradually grew.
Lin Ruoyan called the driver and told him to continue waiting for her, and she and Cui Xuan went back upstairs.
Lu Gan had just returned from Yicheng. Although Qin Shuang's name was still attached to the project manager there, everything was now under the jurisdiction of the Southern Region. After the actual launch, much of the work involved marketing, and Qin Shuang also had to take care of matters in Beijing, so he definitely offered any assistance he could. He rushed to the company as soon as he got off the plane and kept track of progress.
Because the work in Yicheng is finished and summer vacation is coming soon, the boutique hotel in Yuhang is about to open. This is not about selling houses, but about selling hotel products. Not all the newly recruited sales staff are experienced.
He was in a meeting discussing the preparatory work before the opening of the boutique hotel. He looked up and saw that General Manager Lin had returned, followed by Cui Xuan. He immediately asked his subordinates to discuss it first, and he followed General Manager Lin to his office.
The office layout here is the same as that in Beijing, and the furniture is almost the same. As the boss of a real estate company, Lin Ruoyan's office must be preserved, even though she may not come here once a month.
The three of them sat down, and Cui Xuan told them the project information he had just heard.
It turned out to be Suzhou, which is close to Hangzhou. There is an industrial park there that was started in 1994. It is a national-level park located in the east of the old city, on the shore of Jinj Lake, which is equivalent to the CBD of Beijing.
After nearly a decade of construction, the initial development zone has begun to take shape, and further efforts and investment are needed. Initially, the area was primarily industrial, with office buildings and industrial parks scattered throughout. There were also some residential facilities, but they were few and far between. Furthermore, the architectural style was largely 1990s-style, lacking a modern feel.
After returning from a global tour, the local management committee leaders wanted to attract investment and transform the region. In addition to increasing supporting facilities, they also wanted to develop tourism. After all, with such a valuable resource like Jinj Lake, it would be a waste to focus solely on industry.
In the near future they will release some plots of land for high-end residential, supporting commercial and hotel projects.
Lin Ruoyan's first thought was, of course, to replicate a city complex there. But then, calming down, she realized that the area wasn't described in the book, and Cui Xuan wasn't a character mentioned there. There was a real gap between the book and the real world Lin Ruoyan had experienced. She needed to see the site first before deciding what was appropriate.
Cui Xuan's classmate served on the Suzhou City Administrative Committee. He himself was a Z University graduate. Lu Gan had originally approached him simply to ask about his daughter's college entrance exam major at Z University and to inquire about project news. He hadn't expected Cui Xuan to have such strong connections, even having connections in Suzhou City.
His classmate had very close connections and told him that many plots of land would be launched soon, so he asked him to help introduce a capable developer to come and inspect them.
Since both parties had needs, he acted as a go-between and the deal was made right away.
Lin Ruoyan and Lu Gan brought people from the design department. According to the agreed time, it took less than two hours to drive from Hangzhou to Suzhou. It was very convenient to make a trip and they could go back and forth on the same day.
When they arrived at the industrial park, Cui Xuan finished the introduction and did not leave, but accompanied them throughout the whole process.
Lin Ruoyan rented a luxury car in Hangzhou, but she didn't use that car when they went to Suzhou. Instead, she took Cui Xuan's car to get a deeper understanding of his views as a "local" on the economic development of surrounding cities.
The people Lu Gan brought with him were definitely using the branch's own cars. When the company was first registered, before the office address was decided, he had already bought a business car and a sedan, which were mandatory requirements for him.
The high-speed rail has not been built yet, so driving is the most convenient way to travel within the city and to surrounding cities.
Along the way, Lin Ruoyan learned that Cui Xuan's family was also in business, and they were in foreign trade. Upon asking around, she found out that they only made slippers.
These weren't high-end brand slippers, custom-made ones, but rather cheap plastic slippers that few people in China wore. During the planned economy era, Cui Xuan's father was the director of a slipper factory. Later, when the economy was restructured, his father borrowed 300,000 yuan to buy the factory, earning him considerable scorn. At the time, the factory and its inventory were worthless; he spent so much money to retain his workers.
However, slippers are something that requires no technical skills and can be made and imitated by anyone. If you go for the high-end version, it is easy to be copied. If you go for the low-end version and produce large quantities, you can't compete with everyone else making the same thing within a ten-mile radius.
"That year, I just graduated from the Department of Architecture at Z University. I always wanted to work in a large design institute in Shanghai and become an architect. But I had high expectations but low skills. Those large design institutes required quick written exams for recruitment, and I failed them, so I went to a small design company. I didn't have the strength to take the postgraduate entrance exam, and I was even less confident in taking the civil service exam. My foreign language skills were too poor, and my family was poor and couldn't afford to study abroad. My dad said that with the high cost of living in Shanghai, I might as well go back to Yiwu to help run the family factory." Cui Xuan sighed while driving a luxury car.
"His factory was barely surviving at the time, and since I wasn't a management major, I didn't go back. If his factory had been profitable, I definitely wouldn't have studied so hard to get into university."
Lin Ruoyan knew that during the period in the book, the real estate industry was booming, and it was possible for designers to make a fortune. If they didn't work for a large design institute but for a foreign or private company, earning a million dollars in a few years wasn't a dream. "You've only graduated for less than five years, haven't you? You can drive a luxury car. Is it because you're good at design, or is it?"
If the other party is a designer, and is accompanying her throughout the entire process, she thinks he is trying to get a business deal. It is also possible to find a local design firm to cooperate with the project.
Unexpectedly, Cui Xuan laughed and said, "I don't have that ability. I didn't know my own limitations at the time, and I had a big fight with my dad and didn't go home to inherit the family business. But in small design institutes and private design companies, those who are less talented are just assistants. Luckily, I met my wife at that time. She studied English and works in foreign trade, selling goods to Africa.
She came to our design company looking for someone to decorate her villa. Somehow, she fell for me and started pursuing me. Her tactics were subtle, though: asking me to help her run her shop. She didn't have a factory, but she did have a small shop in Shanghai, barely a few square meters, that only did foreign trade displays, importing all her goods from Yiwu. I thought she was after my youth and good looks, my family's factory, and the free labor I'd offer her. Who knew she had more money than me? With her own earnings in three years, she could buy a villa in full, not to mention a luxury car.
Lin Ruoyan had only heard that foreign trade was quite profitable during this period, with clothing and small commodities offering particularly high profits, but she had never met anyone in this field. Now, she was fascinated by what she heard. She also thought, even before e-commerce, Yiwu's small commodities were already famous. Not only did first-tier cities have dedicated wholesale chains, but they could also be shipped overseas, not only for OEM production in developed countries, but also for export to underdeveloped regions like Africa and Latin America.
But she still remembered that she only sold slippers, so she asked curiously, "Then how did you end up selling only slippers? It's so hot in Africa, don't people need to wear shoes?"
"You're absolutely right. Africa is very hot, and proper shoes are uncomfortable to wear. Walking barefoot is even more uncomfortable, so slippers are very popular. There's basically no light industry there, and all shoes are imported. I stumbled upon the opportunity. It was too troublesome to distribute so many categories, so I consolidated my channels and expanded to selling only slippers. I even registered a local company and gave them a foreign name to print on their slippers.
Didn't I study design? Designing slippers is much simpler than designing a house. Basic shower slippers are standard, but there are also all sorts of fancy designs that women love. They're all affordable and brightly colored. They're cheaper than those high-end European and American brands, and they look great, so they're a huge hit.
My family's slipper factory became a hit, my father retired with honor, and I built it up. We've now moved to the Suzhou Industrial Park. My wife has given up her job and is dedicated to selling slippers with me. Our customer service staff are all graduates from prestigious universities with management degrees who speak a foreign language. In Africa, people speak languages like y, f, x, and p. We're now a major brand in the slipper market there.
When Lin Ruoyan heard this, she immediately called Hua Mengmeng to ask her whether the slippers of her homestay and hotel should be unified under the brand of the factory opened by Cui Xuan.
Cui Xuan smiled knowingly. The "information fee" that Mr. Lin paid back was better than he expected.
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