Chapter 204: Be enterprising, not conservative

On the lakeside avenue on the east bank of West Lake, near the provincial party committee, there is a lakeside building. This lakeside building was only built last year and is currently the most advanced skyscraper in Hangzhou City and even Binjiang Province. Due to its proximity to the provincial party committee, the rent here is also very expensive.

However, this is no problem for Zhou Ming's company, which makes congee. When the company came to Binjiang Province to choose a location, Zhou Ming didn't even look at the options, just listened to Su Han's introduction, and then chose the newest Lakeside Building with a single stroke of the pen. There was no choice. Having money means being a bit more wilful. Of course, from another perspective, being close to the authorities makes things a bit easier.

At 10am, a black Santana drove into the Lakeside Building and parked in the building's open parking lot. Since the Lakeside Building was newly built, not many companies had moved in. In addition, since Hangzhou's economy was taking off in this era, parking spaces were not as tight as in later generations. Only a few cars were sparsely parked in the large parking lot.

Zhou Ming and Su Han got out of the car and walked directly into the building, taking the elevator to the 17th floor where the Baobao Congee Company was located.

As soon as they got out of the elevator, they could see the sign for Lin Yang Congee Company. Although they had now acquired the brand Baby Smile, Lin Yang Congee had such a high market share in the country that it was a very cautious choice to change the brand name at this time. Also, Li Qingyuan had not yet made any achievements in the new congee company, so the company was still called Lin Yang Congee Company, with the Baby Smile Company sign added next to it.

Walking down the long corridor, Zhou Ming and Su Han entered the Hangzhou Company. The receptionist instinctively wanted to say 'Hello, sir,' but she froze there with only half of the greeting out, staring at her big, dark eyes and blankly asking Zhou Ming, 'Please...are you Boss Zhou Ming?'

Zhou Ming nodded and said, 'I'm Zhou Ming. Could you please notify Manager Zhao Jun and have him and Manager Li Qingyuan come to the meeting room for a meeting?'

As he spoke, Zhou Ming walked straight towards the meeting room with Su Han. The two receptionists watched as Zhou Ming left, and then the girl who had greeted Zhou Ming exclaimed excitedly, 'That's Boss Zhou! He's so young, so handsome, and so imposing. Look at what he just said, directly asking our general manager to go to the meeting. And our company is just one of his many branches in so many provinces across the country. This is amazing, this is what a man is like!'

But the other girl said, 'Don't be infatuated. Can't you see the woman he's with? She's so pretty, and I hear she's the national general manager of our company!'

The girl shrugged her shoulders and said, 'So what? If I were in the same place as Boss Zhou, I would cling to him no matter what, and I might even be the national general manager now.'

It was fortunate that Zhou Ming and Su Han had already left the reception desk at this time, otherwise Su Han would definitely be angry if she heard these comments from the two receptionist girls. As for Zhou Ming, as a man, he was always very happy to be evaluated in this way by girls.

However, despite his happiness, Zhou Ming was still very dissatisfied with the reaction of these two girls. After all, he had been to this branch before, so why did they still look so surprised? If this was the way they acted in the future, when leaders from the city and province came, Zhou Ming could hardly imagine how well they would perform, even though this was only a branch office.

When they arrived in the meeting room, Zhou Ming did not hurry to sit down, but went to the window, opened the sunshade, and looked out the window, exclaiming, 'Not to mention the great location of this building, across Hubin Avenue is West Lake. On a day like today when the weather is nice, you can see the Broken Bridge and its remaining snow directly across the lake from here. I just wonder if Bai Suzhen met Xu Xian on it a thousand years ago.'

'Zhou Ming, did you just say "The Legend of the White Snake"? I have a vague recollection,' Su Han asked, "If you really like it here, we can develop a commercial building here. I heard that the Hangzhou municipal government is planning to rezone this area.'

'That's not necessary, but if possible, we can buy the land when the Hangzhou municipal government buys it. In ten or twenty years, we'll make a fortune. I predict that Hangzhou will have the highest housing prices in the country in the future, given its potential," said Zhou Ming.

While Zhou Ming and Su Han were discussing land prices, Zhao Jun, the general manager of the Hangzhou branch, and Li Qingyuan, the marketing manager, walked into the meeting room. Zhao Jun took the initiative to greet Zhou Ming, 'Hello, Mr. Zhou, why didn't you give me a heads-up that you were coming? I would have come down to pick you up. By the way, you mentioned the low prices in Hangzhou City just now. Are you planning to do real estate projects in Hangzhou City in the future?

'It's fine to set up a real estate company to hoard land, but I'm not interested in selling commercial housing,' said Zhou Ming. "All right, let's not talk about that for now. Manager Zhao, Manager Li, let's sit down first. I'm here because I have something to discuss with you.'

Zhou Ming said this while inviting Zhao Jun and Li Qingyuan to sit down. After everyone had sat down, Zhou Ming cut to the chase without any further pleasantries: "Manager Zhao, I heard that recently we have had some problems with the shipping company's order?'

Facing Zhou Ming's question, Zhao Jun subconsciously glanced at Li Qingyuan, but quickly averted his gaze and replied, 'Mr. Zhou, the thing is, we are not very competitive for this order, so my idea is to join forces with Hangzhou Supply and Marketing Cooperative to get it, so that we can ensure that we get our share of the order.'

Zhou Ming's expression did not change: "How much?'

'If we're lucky, it should be around 200,000 yuan," Zhao Jun replied.

'If? A little luck? Should? Only 200,000? Manager Zhao, if I understand correctly, this order is for one year,' Zhou Ming said.

'Yes, Mr. Zhou, this order is indeed for one year, but it is for the shipping company's ocean-going freighters. They need a very wide range of things, which we cannot provide...'

Zhao Jun's words were mercilessly interrupted by Zhou Ming: 'Okay, Manager Zhao, I understand all the reasons you have mentioned. Let's hear the marketing manager's opinion.'

Zhou Ming said, turning his attention to Li Qingyuan. Li Qingyuan immediately sat up straight when he saw Zhou Ming looking over at him and said, 'Mr. Zhou, I think we are fully capable of taking this order on our own!'

At Li Qingyuan's attitude, Zhao Jun frowned at the time: 'Manager Li, I would like to ask you a question, do you think it is possible for the seafarers on ocean-going cargo ships to eat our eight-treasure porridge every day?'

'Manager Zhao, I only said that we are capable of taking this order on our own, I didn't say that we would give away all of it as eight-treasure porridge when the order is completed. That would be ridiculous,' said Li Qingyuan. 'First of all, as a food manufacturer, we have connections with farms, which means we can provide channels for fruits and vegetables. Of course, we can also do it indirectly by handing some of the orders to others.'

Li Qingyuan concluded: 'But no matter how it is done, the premise I am talking about is that we must first have the order in our hands.'

'How confident are you?' Zhou Ming asked.

'One hundred percent!' Li Qingyuan replied.

'What if you can't get the order?' Zhou Ming asked again.

'I will bear all the losses the company suffers as a result!' Li Qingyuan said.

Zhou Ming nodded silently and then stood up, beckoning to Zhao Jun: 'Manager Zhao, let's go to the next room and talk.'

Zhou Ming led Zhao Jun to the next room and closed the door before Zhao Jun said, 'Mr Zhou, it is simply unrealistic for us to win this order alone. We are only a company that makes eight-treasure porridge and do not have the ability to independently supply ocean-going cargo ships. Therefore, it is most reasonable for us to join forces with Hangzhou Supply and Marketing Cooperative and rely on them to get our own share of the order.'

'A few million dollars' worth of orders for 200,000 yuan?' Zhou Ming asked.

Zhao Jun was speechless at the counter-question, because the figure really didn't sound convincing.

'Manager Zhao, I know that what you are doing is very prudent. Of course, I am not against being prudent, but in the business world, all benefits cannot be waited for, and they must be actively pursued by oneself, including this multimillion-dollar order.' As Zhou Ming spoke, he reached out and forcefully tapped the table a few times.

'So, Mr. Zhou, are you saying that you believe Manager Li?' Zhao Jun asked.

Zhou Ming smiled and said, 'Manager Li is an employee of our company, so why would I not believe him? The same goes for you, Manager Zhao.'

'Manager Zhao, do you know why I want to acquire the Doll and Smile company?' Zhou Ming said, "It's because our company is in its infancy and what we need is not conservatism, but bold and decisive action. Even after the founding of the country, we not only need to defend our territory, but also recover the open territories. How can we just lie back and sleep on our laurels?'

'Therefore," Zhou Ming concluded, 'since you are not yet ready for this shipping order, let someone who is ready go for it.'

Zhao Jun let out a breath and nodded silently, while Zhou Ming stood up and patted his shoulder in a show of support before saying, 'Manager Zhao, let's go out.'

With that, Zhou Ming took the lead and left the room, while in the conference room outside, Li Qingyuan was waiting nervously. He didn't know what decision Zhou Ming would make, and although he believed in Zhou Ming's vision and enterprising spirit, Zhao Jun was after all a veteran of the company. If he really just opposed, Zhou Ming would have to take care of his emotions no matter what.

It was precisely for this reason that Li Qingyuan was so nervous. He was afraid of losing this opportunity, for if that happened, he would not have another chance to prove himself so soon. What would Boss Zhou decide?

Zhou Ming also saw Li Qingyuan's nervousness. He walked over to him and asked, 'Manager Li, let me ask you this: if you fail to win this order, the company will need to take back a certain amount of your shares to make up for this loss. Of course, if you succeed, you will not lose a single penny of your commission. Are you willing?'

'I'm willing!' Li Qingyuan replied firmly.

This answer was within Zhou Ming's expectations. He smiled and said, 'Very well, from now on, this order will be handled by you, Li Qingyuan. I'm waiting for good news from you.'