The newcomer was a tall, handsome man with black hair and blue eyes. Upon seeing Ke Meiyu, he couldn't help but exclaim in amazement, praising her in fluent Chinese, "Miss, are you an angel? I have never seen such a beautiful and exquisite girl as you..."
Ying Yan's face darkened. He stepped in front of Ke Meiyu and said calmly, "Of course I know how beautiful my wife is. My wife and I invited you here to learn about the project you submitted and see if there's any possibility of investment."
Upon hearing this, the other person nodded repeatedly, sat down happily, and introduced himself: "My name is Charles. My parents and grandparents are from four different countries, so my appearance is a combination of features from several countries."
"However, I grew up with my grandfather and have a deep longing and love for China. So I will follow his last wish and return to this land he loved whenever I have the chance, to make a difference, and even if it is just a small contribution, I will do my part to help China's development and construction!"
"But I'm not a particularly bright person. People who are proficient in physics, chemistry, aerospace, and navigation can cook, while I can only cook a little, and I'm good at foreign fast food. I think there's an old saying in Xia Hua's book, 'There are 365 professions, and every profession can produce an expert,' right?"
"Therefore, I took the initiative to negotiate with the Jian brothers to acquire the independent operating rights of Hanks in China. I only needed to pay them a very low usage fee for the brand and recipe to bring this globally popular food brand to China."
“I thought it would be difficult to obtain, but they agreed without hesitation. I then signed a long-term contract for fifty years! And I also have the right of first refusal to renew.”
“But,” he sighed helplessly, “my idea is good, but my relatives and friends abroad, the Jian brothers, and the comrades here all don’t think highly of my project. They say that there are plenty of delicious foods in China, and the people won’t buy into it.”
"Furthermore, the supply of raw materials and the level of residents' consumption have not yet reached the right time to open a store, otherwise the Jian brothers would not have waited until now to make a move and let me pick up a big bargain!"
There weren't many foreign guests this time, but they brought a lot of projects. Some were overseas Chinese who genuinely wanted China to take off, while others were foreign businessmen who had sensed business opportunities.
Each project isn't something that can be simply written down; it requires careful consideration, market research, and thorough planning of every aspect before it's finalized. It can be said that they approached the comprehensive development and construction of Xiahua's economy and technology with ample confidence and immense enthusiasm.
They also carry an innate sense of superiority and vanity, and cannot allow themselves to fail.
Therefore, food-related items were the fewest, since, as far as they knew, Xia Huaguo was still in an era of strict rationing, where meat, grains, and non-staple foods all required coupons. In other words, apart from a very small number of people who were exempt from these coupon restrictions, the rest simply couldn't afford to eat meat every day, and some might not even be able to afford it for a whole year…
Even if Hanks sells very well in China, can meat, as a raw material, be mass-produced?
For various reasons, foreign cuisine has remained outside of China, and many bigwigs are taking a wait-and-see approach. The Jane brothers even jokingly handed over power to Charles.
Others might not recognize the business opportunity, but Ke Meiyu knew very well that Hanks was the top foreign restaurant brand in China, available in every city, and widely loved by young people and children.
Although Hanks entered the Xiahua Kyoto market in the late 1980s as a trial, the results were exceptionally good. This was simply because the Xiahua people were extremely enthusiastic about saving face. Even the most expensive foods like hamburgers and fried chicken have a price cap; ordinary workers could still afford to splurge a little each month or year to treat their children.
The chicken farming business in Luofeng Village is booming. They can bring this model to the outskirts of Kyoto and have no worries about the source of ingredients.
Most importantly, Charles and the Jane brothers treated each other like fools and signed a long-term contract that was extremely advantageous to China, or rather, to Ke Meiyu.
The more Charles spoke, the more dejected he became. "I was just full of enthusiasm back then, but I didn't think too much about the practicalities, and I forgot to come to Xia Hua to investigate. It seems that the shop won't be able to open, and I may still be burdened with a large amount of usage fees to the Jian brothers every year."
The contract he signed seemed to be self-serving, but that was only under the condition that Hanks sold very well. After all, the Jane brothers only charged a fee for borrowing and using the brand, formula, and management model. However, the contract had one restriction: how much sales volume had to be achieved each year!
The more sales, the greater the profit for the operator. If Hanks were to open stores nationwide, it would be tantamount to each store hiring one or two chefs.
Ke Meiyu couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Charles, may I take a look at the contract you signed?"
"By the way, how many types of food does Hanks have? Have you calculated how much capital you need to open a store?"
Charles nodded, then listlessly pulled a stack of documents from his bag. "This is the contract we signed. I don't know if you can read foreign languages, madam. I can help translate it."
"These are the data I collected in the two weeks I've been in Xiahua, such as how often and how much meat ordinary workers eat each month, how people allocate their wages, the budget for a monthly splurge... Anyway, all sorts of things are here, and it's much different from what I imagined before I came to Xiahua."
Ke Meiyu fully understands that Chinese people have a very conservative consumption concept.
Frugality is ingrained in their bones; even eating meat is something to celebrate. However, if they go out to eat during holidays, people will say they are greedy and don't know how to manage money.
The most popular items at state-run restaurants were steamed buns, vegetarian dumplings, and clear soup noodles, all with a budget of less than 50 cents, truly just to fill one's stomach.
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