The Birth of Shanghai's First Conglomerate

Chapter 180 Summer
Summer in June.

The warm morning sunlight streamed through the balcony into my small room.

Today is Children's Day, and Chen An'an, the big kid, has a performance at school. He and Song Yanxi both got up quite early.

Perhaps it was because they knew they would be transferring schools soon.

Chen An'an had prepared diligently for her final performance at Shijingshan Elementary School for a long time.

She even pulled her father aside and played the guitar for her.

The couple drove their Bentley SUV to school while their little one was still asleep.

If she gets up too early, she'll be listless all morning.

When we arrived at Shijingshan Elementary School, there were many parents there, and the roadside was full of parked cars, blocking the way from a distance.

Chen Pingsheng simply let them walk over first, and he would find a parking spot anywhere.

If the traffic police come, then we'll fine them.

Since it couldn't be moved, it was parked on the side of the road.

The school had long ago built a special performance venue, and the parents sat on the playground.

After Chen An'an went in and changed into her performance costume, Chen Pingsheng and Song Yanxi were seated in the front row.

He doesn't rely on his grades, but only on having a little money.

Many people greeted him, and Chen Pingsheng responded to each one.

The performance started on time, and teacher Shen Qing took the stage to host.

Chen An'an's show is no longer the exaggerated and funny one of the past; instead, she seriously reads a short essay she wrote about Shijingshan.

"Ah~ I'm leaving."

"Sob~ I will miss you all."

My writing skills for short essays are as poor as ever...

"Ah~ Without you guys, I'll never finish all my snacks."

"Waaah~ I really have to go."

As she spoke, she even shed a few tears.

Perhaps this is something every transfer student will encounter.

Chen An'an was no exception; according to her parents, she was clearly more suited to attending an international school.

The tuition fees there are high, and the teaching methods are completely different from those of traditional primary schools.

Many classmates were also reluctant to part with her, but in the end, they still had to say goodbye.

The children's friendship is very genuine.

Chen An'an, the second-grade leader, is leaving, having managed to survive on just a few bags of snacks.

She was still sullen when she got home.

There are still two weeks until the holiday. Once these two weeks are over, they will move to a courtyard house in the Second Ring Road area.

Back home, Chen An'an, bored, took her little one out to play.

The one-year-old can already walk normally and can say "mama" but not "sister".

Chen An'an also taught her every day.

By June, Chen Pingsheng himself had a lot to do.

First, there's Boiling Sheep, which just secured 4.5 million yuan in funding and is now rapidly opening stores in Guangdong.

It is expected that this sum of money will not be fully spent until September, and the new stores of Boiling Sheep will not be able to open until July.

On the other hand, Tengsheng Fresh, which was recently spun off, accelerated its development in Beijing after receiving 100 million yuan in financing from its own company.

However, they will deliberately avoid Tengsheng Fruit, because it's no fun competing with themselves.

Fresh food stores are mostly located near large residential communities. With an investment of 100 million yuan, you can only open about 25 to 30 stores.

The investment for a single store is between three and four million.

As for Zhang Tao, he has already taken his team to Ningxia.

After conducting the site visit, we plan to invest tens of millions of yuan to build a desert melon breeding base in Ningxia.

Watermelon is an absolute star product in the fruit industry. In the summer, countless small fruit shops rely mainly on watermelon sales to survive.

This year, Tengsheng Fruit's goal is to expand into two major conventional varieties: watermelon and apple.

Ningxia desert melon is just one variety of watermelon; the best-selling one is still the Meidu seedless melon.

It has a sweet taste and a crunchy texture.

This year, the investment in these two watermelon farms is expected to be no less than 100 million yuan.

As for apples, there are even more varieties. Apples can be stored for a long time, as long as they are kept in the freezer.

Tengsheng Fruit's goal in recent years has been to open stores while simultaneously developing its own breeding farms.

The goal is to break into the top five domestic fruit brands within three years.

We don't seek to go public, but rather to maintain stable, long-term high growth and stable revenue.

As for fresh food stores, they are not as easily replicated as milk tea shops.

Opening a fresh food store requires waiting for the talent to be properly trained.

These people are mostly not highly educated; they are all native rural residents who have been trained from the most basic service staff to management personnel.

It will take a long time.

Even if only 100 million yuan is invested, it is estimated that it will take at least half a year to digest it.

This is the trouble with dried fresh food.

Chen Pingsheng went to Tencent Entertainment, since all the artists there had gone to film movies or variety shows.

Bai Xin, the secretary who was left behind, simply organized the company employees to dance the square dance for the elderly.

Twisting your waist in the morning and wiggling your bottom at noon, and you'll happily finish get off work.

Chen Pingsheng told her to prepare for the broadcast of "The Legend of Hua Qiangu," and that there was no need for any pre-broadcast promotion.

Mango TV spent nearly 500 million yuan to buy the show, so there's no way they'd let it flop.

The preliminary publicity has already been in full swing.

Even Zhao Liying has appeared on Happy Family several times.

During prime time when there are many viewers, they promote "The Legend of Hua Qian Gu" every day.

What they need to do here is mainly a series of capital operations centered around Hua Qiangu.

For example, Bobo Milk Tea held a national franchise recruitment conference in mid-July.

Yang Mi will personally participate and cooperate with Bobo Milk Tea's offline promotion.

Currently, Bobo Milk Tea has opened 138 directly operated stores in four major first-tier cities.

Businesses can be good or bad, but there's no such thing as losing money.

Yang Mi's influence is still enormous, and coupled with the fact that their milk tea is priced reasonably, it is a mass-market consumption level that young people can afford.

The taste is alright, and they're constantly doing online marketing campaigns.

If we release a collaboration product after the broadcast of "The Legend of Hua Qian Gu", it will truly be a resounding success.

The national franchise recruitment conference held in Shanghai in mid-July was therefore particularly important.

Collecting franchise fees is only one aspect; the key is to rapidly expand into the national market.

This is the most crucial step in the process of achieving a backdoor listing.

As for Hua Qiangu's related toys, they are already available online, and those toys have already been mass-produced.

They can start selling the products as soon as the show airs, which will allow them to make a small profit.

Tencent Pictures started cooperating with various online promotional platforms, and as they got busier, the impact naturally emerged.

On June 9th, "The Legend of Hua Qian Gu" officially premiered.

The entire company watched the show online, and even Song Yanxi, who was at home, turned on her 100-inch TV to enjoy this most important investment by Tencent Video.

To be fair, TV dramas are actually more effective at driving the fan economy.

The main problem is that the movie is too short; after watching it, all that's left is a couple of lines that might become famous.

That's basically it after you've finished watching it.

Unlike movies, TV series have dozens of episodes and a much wider audience.

It can take a month or even two months to finish watching it.

The fan effect generated at this time is incomparable to that of movies.

This is why Tencent Pictures links its commercial projects to TV series, rather than movies.

Movies, frankly speaking, are all about making money at the box office; it's hard for them to generate much economic benefit later on.

Previously, we could sell genuine CDs, but now we can't even sell CDs anymore.

Box office revenue is the primary source of income.

The drama "The Legend of Hua Qian Gu," which only aired two episodes on June 9th, has been somewhat popular but hasn't yet achieved a significant impact.

The main problem was that it was too short. It wasn't until Hua Qiangu became a long-running series that it truly gained popularity.

By the eighth episode, Hua Qiangu had become a massive online sensation.

(End of this chapter)