The Birth of Shanghai's First Conglomerate

The group's strategic conference lasted for two full days.

During this period, a series of issues concerning the direction of development after the new year were determined through various discussions.

For example, Chang Fu proposed that Xinteng Live should cooperate more deeply with Tenghui Department Store.

There are generally two ways to make money through live streaming: one is by receiving gifts.

One way is to sell products and earn the price difference. Obviously, the income from selling products is much higher than that from receiving gifts.

Moreover, its development direction is even more far-reaching.

As a super department store chain that develops offline, Tenghui Department Store has a huge distribution channel.

They went deep into all walks of life.

Xin Teng wants to quickly establish his own sales channels through live streaming.

Partnering with Teng Hui Department Store is undoubtedly the fastest option.

Both sides jointly formed a product selection team and an online sales department.

Besides these two collaborations.

Boiling Sheep also wants to further cooperate with Tengsheng Fresh.

To put it simply, now that the group has grown to its current size, many of its various brands can share resources.

Like a trainee competition, fifty contestants will go through continuous elimination.

These eliminated girls were all exceptionally beautiful and talented.

If you can't get into the entertainment industry, you can directly sign with Xin Teng's live streaming platform to become a live-streaming e-commerce host.

In general, strategic conferences are about setting goals and directions for the new year.

The group's annual meeting is in a few days.

Chu Qiuyan and her friends decided not to return to Shanghai. She is now very famous among college students.

She will definitely be giving speeches at various universities during the spring recruitment season in March and April.

As the most inspiring girl among the new generation of college students, she already has a high level of popularity and generates a lot of discussion.

Chen Pingsheng invited them to his home for dinner.

His courtyard house also had a dedicated banquet hall and reception hall.

Two elderly ladies also cook.

Liu Fen also made several million yuan from Bobo Milk Tea, having followed him to buy at the lowest price.

They've already made a small profit of two or three million.

She no longer needed any financial assistance from Chen Pingsheng; she was making more and more money by investing in stocks.

As for Peng Ying, her family had everything they needed and there was hardly anything to spend money on.

The two elderly women's daily routine consists of taking good care of Chen Xinyi.

The little one will be two years old in a few months; his chubby face is very cute.

She doesn't like to cry, but she wants to hug her dad whenever she sees him.

After Chen Pingsheng held her in his arms, the little brat burst into uncontrollable laughter.

There's always a lollipop in his mouth.

"Daddy, where's Mommy?"

"Your mother is still at work and won't be back until noon."

The little one can't say much yet, but he can understand what adults say.

She puffed out her cheeks and nodded very seriously.

I held her for a while, and then she wanted to get down and walk on her own.

She followed behind him, swaying from side to side.

Chen Pingsheng invited Chu Qiuyan and the others to his tea room for tea, as Yang Qian was due to give birth in a few months.

In two months at most, he will take over Deer Antler Coffee himself.

Thinking about it, I'm quite busy. This year, the Lunar New Year is especially early, on the eighth day of the second lunar month.

After the annual meeting, even the third-grade kids were on winter break.

Chen Pingsheng asked them, "Are you going back home for the Spring Festival this year?"

Yang Qian was pregnant and didn't want to move around. "No, Chang Fu and I will stay in Shanghai and go home after the baby is born next year."

Chang Fu had a similar thought to her. "I've already called back home to invite the old man to Shanghai for some fun. By the way, your sister just had her wedding, and all the relatives from your hometown have come over. It doesn't seem like you need to go back this year, does it?"

"There's really not much need for that."

Chen Pingsheng took a sip of hot tea and said, "Do you know how many people have called me? The town mayor and the county magistrate, I can ignore them all, but the key is my grandfather and his family. They're getting old, and they'll have fewer years to live each year. And my wife's grandfather isn't in good health this year either, so I still have to go back."

Only children like celebrating the Chinese New Year.

At their age, Chinese New Year is really about going home to see their elders.

If possible, he would like to invite his elders to come and live in the capital.

It's a pity that as people get older, they become more reluctant to leave their hometown.

Chang Fu would definitely have gone back if his wife hadn't been pregnant.

Besides, his Xin Teng live streaming business has just started, so it's not convenient for him to leave.

"It's good that you're going back; you can bring me some things home."

Chang Fu asked him, "You've donated quite a bit of money to Wangcai Village. You're not going to give out even more money when you go back this year, are you?"

"Not anymore."

Chen Pingsheng said, "After my father became the village chief, he also suffered a lot of grievances. The key is that Wangcai Village is the same as most villages in the world. Young people cannot be retained, and the elderly have no source of income other than raising some fish and farming some land."

“My dad once told me some statistics that the elderly in the village, whether they farm or raise fish, can't even earn 20,000 yuan a year. Even if I go back to the village every year and bring tens of millions of yuan, I still can't change this poverty.”

Why are you still thinking about this kind of thing?

Chang Fu asked in surprise, "Isn't that something a local business owner should be thinking about?"

"It's not that I deliberately think about it, but sometimes I inevitably think about these things."

Chen Pingsheng said, “You know, when a company or group gets big, it inevitably has some social responsibilities. I often talk to my father on the phone, and he told me that a young man in his twenties in front of us wanted to marry a girl from a single-parent family in the village. He asked for a dowry of 300,000 yuan, not including the three gold items, a house and a car.”

“This amount of money is nothing to us, but the young man’s family are just ordinary farmers. It took three generations of them to scrape together the dowry money, and they also helped him buy a car on installment.”

"Damn it," Chang Fu couldn't help but mutter.
"Last year, it was already shocking enough that a divorced woman with a child received 180,000 yuan in betrothal gifts. This year, they actually managed to get 300,000 yuan. Isn't anyone in the village saying anything about it?"

"What are you talking about? Don't you see what the situation is like now? The male-to-female ratio is completely unbalanced."

Chen Pingsheng said, "The ratio of three men to one woman is already high. If women don't marry multiple times, there will only be more and more bachelors. I estimate that the bride price will continue to rise in the future, even more exaggerated than housing prices."

"If things continue like this, where is the way out for rural areas?"

That makes sense when you think about it.

The older generation hopes their sons will become successful, but after raising them with great difficulty, they often find that...

It's getting hard to find a wife.

He emptied the wallets of three generations to marry a wife, but now he still has to live in constant fear of others bringing up divorce.

That's absolutely infuriating.

Chu Qiuyan and the others felt quite pressured listening to Chen Pingsheng talk about these things.

Those who weren't born in rural areas simply can't experience the current state of rural life.

It's true that life is getting better, but it's also getting harder.

Nowadays, when a girl from a rural area gets married, you'll give her a 500-square-meter rural villa.

It's not as good as a two-bedroom apartment in the city.

There's no exaggeration, only more exaggeration.

Chu Qiuyan couldn't sympathize with those single men in the countryside; she herself had been extremely poor before.

My parents have been gone for so many years and I still haven't heard from them.

In this situation, they are either buried in some remote mountain valley or trapped abroad and unable to return.

Regardless of the outcome, she has made it through all these years.

Now that everyone lives in top-tier cities and enjoys the best medical and educational facilities, they inevitably become concerned about their true place of origin.

"The most pressing issue to address in rural areas is still the problem of low income."

"Yes."

Chen Pingsheng agreed, saying, "The biggest advantage of rural areas is that they have a large land area and plenty of vacant land. As long as we make good use of this advantage, there is still room for development."

"I'm afraid relying solely on farming won't be enough, will it?"

Chu Qiuyan asked curiously.

"Relying solely on farming is definitely not enough. Nowadays, city dwellers prefer to eat pesticide-free vegetables. I'll go back this time and see if I can try to start one."

Pollution-free vegetables are those that have never been sprayed with pesticides since they were young.

The same head of cabbage that has been sprayed with pesticides can only sell for two yuan per kilogram.

Those that haven't been hit can still sell for twenty.

The difference is simply the consumption patterns of an ordinary group versus those of a wealthy group.

Their family prefers to eat pesticide-free vegetables.

Price is not an issue; these vegetables sell quite well at Tengsheng Fresh.

If you want to make money through animal husbandry, you certainly can't grow the cheapest crops.

The only solution is to focus on these high-end consumption areas.

Sometimes, doing these things isn't just about making money; it's about genuinely wanting to help the people in a particular area.

We chatted for quite a while until we started eating.

Most people eat in a special banquet hall, where a huge round table can seat twenty people.

The home-style dishes won't be too lavish; just a simple chicken hot pot, a large fish hot pot, and over fifty Datong Lake hairy crabs.

Add seven or eight more home-style dishes.

The group's annual meeting is in a couple of days, and it's sure to be a very lively event.

In addition to the people from the Beijing headquarters, there were also people from the Shanghai headquarters.

This also includes the management of offline stores such as Boiling Sheep, Bobo Milk Tea, and Deer Antler Coffee.

After a year of hard work, it's impossible for the group to hold its annual meeting without including them.

On the day of the annual meeting, all the nearby hotels were booked by Tengying Group.

Around 20,000 people from all over the country came here to attend the annual meeting.

What is pomp and circumstance? What is imposing presence?

That's it.

Zhang Wanyi and Liu Qing were both interns, and like the other interns, they arrived quite early.

They entered the group's annual meeting venue in an orderly manner. Of course, they couldn't sit in the front row, as those were reserved for the group's senior executives, including the big boss.

The entire annual meeting was held inside the National Stadium.

Tencent Group had already set up the stage here.

You don't know until you come here that your group has grown to this size.

From left to right: Shuiyunjian, Feiyangyang, Bobo Milk Tea, Deer Horn Coffee, Tengying Entertainment, etc.

It's fair to say that if the group hadn't held such an annual meeting, they themselves wouldn't have known that their group had already spanned so many industries.

The most eye-catching company at the event was Tencent Entertainment. On the day of the group's annual meeting, it didn't matter if you were an actor or director of any level.

They all have to return to Beijing.

Yang Mi, Zhao Liying, Bai Lu, Wu Jing, Shen Teng, Chen Sicheng and others all sat in the front.

It can be said to be dazzling.

The group's annual meeting also prepared a lot of programs, but the most outstanding one was naturally Tencent Entertainment.

They're originally from the entertainment industry, so these are things they excel at.

However, after all the performances were over, it was still the turn of the big boss, Chen Pingsheng, to take the stage.

A year has passed, and he has given very few speeches or presentations within the group.

This has never happened before in the outside world.

When he went on stage, the applause from below was enormous, and Chen An'an, that big-breasted kid, kept screaming from below.

It can be as exaggerated as it gets.

I just wanted to get more pocket money during the Chinese New Year.

Chen Pingsheng carried a microphone; his voice wasn't loud, but it could be clearly heard in every corner.

So much so that at the annual meeting of 20,000 people, he became the brightest spotlight.

"Three or four years have passed since the group started to develop."

"The reason we've gathered everyone together for this group's annual meeting is mainly to tell you about our development to this point and our future development goals." "At the beginning of January, I don't know if you saw it, but the entertainment industry released a shocking list of artists' income. Among the female artists, the highest-paid were two artists from our Tencent Film Studio, namely Yang Mi and Zhao Liying."

"Let's not talk about Yang Mi. Before she came to our Tengying, she was the queen of traffic in the industry. Zhao Liying was my first neighbor. I got to know her because she asked me to move and I asked her for a thousand yuan for moving expenses."

“I believe that at that time, she certainly did not expect to receive more than 500 million yuan in personal pre-tax income in 15 years.”

The whole audience was shocked.

Zhao Liying also stood up with a big smile to greet everyone.

She indeed reaped tremendous rewards in 15 years.

Whether it's the listing of Bobo Milk Tea or the successful IPO of Boiling Sheep.

All of this led to her earning far more than her actual status in the entertainment industry that year.

She has already surpassed the former top female celebrity, the wealthy Bing.

The four leading actresses were completely overwhelmed.

She herself really didn't expect this day to come, so it was a pleasant surprise.

Chen Pingsheng continued, "I remember when I first founded Tencent Entertainment, I didn't know anything. At that time, I believed that if I didn't know something, I should leave it to the professionals. In addition, we adopted a unique win-win cooperation model in the entertainment industry."

"Three years have passed, and look at us now. Our family is full of stars, not only the best actresses, but also the best directors today."

"From now on, Tengying will never change its way of cooperating with everyone. As long as you are with Tengying Entertainment, you are your own boss."

"In addition, we will continue to focus on Tencent Entertainment's traffic as the core and create more listed companies like Bobo Milk Tea."

"At the same time, we will open up our investment channels and try our best to cooperate with everyone for mutual benefit."

Despite being a big boss, he doesn't act like one at all.

No matter what he says, he always positions himself in a relatively humble position.

This made Wu Jing and Shen Teng feel very good about it.

The same goes for Yang Mi and Zhao Liying; both of them are very happy at Tencent Film Studio.

They also have a small share in Deer Antler Coffee.

In the future, he will create more brands, supported by a good entrepreneurial team, and add traffic.

The goal is to create more listed companies.

Chen Pingsheng did not speak passionately; on the contrary, his tone remained calm and even.

He also firmly opposed to the cult of personality within the company and was extremely opposed to any unhealthy practices within the group.

For example, if a leader goes out to eat with a subordinate and it is discovered that the subordinate is the one paying the bill, the leader will be immediately punished.

Furthermore, anyone found accepting gifts from subordinates in private will be immediately dismissed.

In short, they are not a monopoly.

Then we absolutely cannot maintain bureaucracy.

Once that kind of atmosphere emerged, he felt that the company was not far from bankruptcy.

Always maintain a sense of awe for the market and a high degree of self-reflection within the company.

Only in this way can we avoid blindly and excessively dragging down such a new group.

In the end, Chen Pingsheng still brought out a gift for everyone.

"I have prepared 20,000 shopping cards, each worth 5,000 yuan. This is a gift for your parents. I also hope that when your parents come to the city to visit you again next year, you can buy them some decent gifts."

"As I always say, while your parents are alive, you should worship gods and Buddhas more often, and go and pay respects to the parents who raised you until you were eighteen."

"They are the gods you should worship for the rest of your life."

"In addition, the group has selected one hundred of the best store managers, and I will personally present you with medals."

"In addition, I will personally fund the purchase of a Mercedes-Benz E300 for each of you. It is thanks to your hard work that our physical stores have been able to develop better and better."

The 100 outstanding store managers were selected in advance by him from within the group.

This includes store managers from various outlets such as Bobo Milk Tea, Deer Antler Coffee, and Boiling Sheep.

Shuiyunjian was immediately ruled out.

Their store manager started out driving a Porsche.

The next one is also a Mercedes-Benz or BMW worth over a million.

The selection of these 100 individuals serves as a benchmark.

Their annual income is only two or three hundred thousand.

Delivering a Mercedes-Benz E300 to them would be incredibly inspiring.

This can have a significant impact on the minds of ordinary employees as well.

……

Chen Pingsheng was very generous when it came to awarding prize money.

He firmly believes that those who support the development of a group are often the grassroots cadres.

Therefore, he personally took out 100 million to reward their parents.

A shopping card worth 5,000 yuan can be used to make any purchases at Teng Hui Department Store.

They have everything over there.

The other one hundred Mercedes-Benz E300s were also paid for by him personally.

All of this was given to those grassroots cadres who were willing to grow together with the group.

It's just a small reward.

I hadn't received any prior notice, but suddenly I was called up on stage to take a photo with the big boss and receive my Mercedes keys.

It was very unexpected.

The entire annual meeting lasted about five hours, with three hours dedicated to performances.

In the other two hours, the presidents of various companies will be responsible for explaining their plans and development directions for the coming year.

As for Chen Pingsheng, his main responsibility was to distribute rewards.

The group's growth has not been easy, and every step we take in the future must be taken steadily and carefully, so as not to disappoint the expectations of so many people.

After the annual meeting ended, the entire city of Beijing became a gathering place for the "Boiling Sheep" fans.

Chen Pingsheng accompanied the group's senior executives, and only went home after drinking with them.

Fifteen years have passed just like that. If you were to say you have any regrets...
There are quite a few, but most of them are looking forward to the future.

They want to go back earlier this year, and also come here earlier.

Chen Pingsheng simply didn't bring anything, while Da Piwa wore sunglasses and carried her own little erhu on her back.

Only the elderly woman, Peng Ying, seemed to have a lot of things to bring, yet she also seemed unsure of exactly what to bring.

The key is that there's nothing lacking back home.

Moreover, they won't be staying long this time, mainly because Song Yanxi's grandfather is getting old and they have to go back.

The same goes for Liu Fen and her husband.

So many people are still taking the Coaster home, and even without stopping in between, it only takes one night to get home.

The customized Coaster has 12 seats, with the driver in the front row.

As always, there was an Alphard escort vehicle at both the front and rear to prevent accidents.

It has to be said that people value life more after they become wealthy.

In the past, as long as you could make money, who would care about anything else?

Not to mention that when I go home, I have two cars protecting me from the front and back.

The Coaster is quite comfortable to sit in, and everyone chooses to leave at night so they can get home after a good night's sleep.

That would be so awesome.

Chen Pingsheng flattened the two middle rows, making it quite comfortable to sleep on.

Covering yourself with a small blanket would be much more comfortable than flying.

"Dad, the New Year is almost here. Look how well I've behaved this year, shouldn't you...?"

Chen An'an rubbed her chubby little hands together, her lips curving upwards at a 45-degree angle.

We're all adults, so let's not spell it out too clearly.

"Tell me, how much do you want?"

"Dad, talking about money will hurt our relationship. Just lend me your card with no spending limit, and I'll pay you back after the New Year."

"Heh." Chen Pingsheng turned and glared at her. "Are you saying talking about money hurts feelings? It's clearly talking about the credit limit that hurts feelings."

"It's the same idea, Dad. There's no need to worry too much about these little details."

Chen An'an stretched out her chubby little hands to show him, "Dad, look, when you gave your speech at the annual meeting, my hands were red from clapping, and my voice was hoarse for three days. If I hadn't clapped so enthusiastically, the atmosphere definitely wouldn't have been so lively."

“Chen An’an, I knew you wanted money the other day when you kept yelling nonsense. Go find your mother.”

Chen Pingsheng turned over and went to sleep, with Song Yanxi sitting right next to him.

Chen An'an turned to her mother and said, "Stepmother, Dad said you should give me a card with no spending limit."

"I was right next to him, how come I didn't hear it?"

Song Yanxi was also sleeping under the covers. She was on a long bus ride late at night. What else could she be doing if she didn't sleep?

Only a fat girl like her can come up with all sorts of ways to swindle money.

"Didn't you hear? He clearly agreed just a second ago. You can ask Dad if you don't believe me."

"Alright, alright, here you go. I'm warning you, don't waste your money."

Song Yanxi took out a bank card from her bag and handed it to her; she knew the PIN herself.

It's her birthday.

Chen An'an happily went to sleep.

There weren't too many people on the bus, and the key issue was that there were only four seats where you could sleep upright.

You can't sleep upright in the last row.

Peng Ying and Liu Fen then took Chen Xinyi and sat in the Alphard in the back.

The night passed uneventfully until dawn.

I opened the electric curtains and looked again; the road sign showed that we had arrived in Shacheng.

I'll be home in a little over an hour.

He always felt that the so-called RVs in China were particularly useless, and apart from a pitifully small toilet and kitchen, they were really worthless.

It's nowhere near as comfortable to lie down in a Coaster like this.

He had no interest whatsoever when others recommended he buy it.

Song Yanxi also got up, looking rather lazy, with her hair all messy.

After looking in the mirror, he simply lay back down.

Chen Pingsheng patted her on the shoulder, "Get up, you lazybones, what are you still sleeping for?"

"Why are you getting up? Call me when we get home."

Song Yanxi shifted her body and decided not to move.

Chen Pingsheng urged her to look at the beautiful scenery outside, but the chubby girl suddenly turned her head towards him, her hair disheveled.

I definitely had to slap her.

"Dad, you hit me again."

"Who told you to come here so early in the morning and scare people?"

"No."

Chen An'an said with a keen eye, "Dad, look at that mountain ahead!"

"What's the matter?"

There are quite a few mountains outside, but they are all small, low hills.

Chen An'an's eyes lit up: "Dad, do you think we could buy that big house, dig a big hole inside, and build a paradise for our family? When you get old, you can go there to cultivate immortality. What do you say?"

Chen Pingsheng looked at her very seriously, and Chen An'an thought her idea was very good.

He patted his wife on the shoulder and said, "You heard what Big Kid was thinking, right? I suggest you confiscate her unlimited card and give her five million to spend however she wants."

Chen Pingsheng turned around and went to sleep. If he talked to the fat girl for even a few more words, he would feel the urge to hit her.

She's no ordinary kid; she has an unlimited card in her hand, meaning any idea she has could potentially come true.

If he lets her mess around like this again, he really thinks that when Big Paw goes back to the village, she'll use the card in her hand to hire someone to dig up the Forbidden City under the village.

How to dig her out is none of her concern; whether or not she can dig out anything is not something a nine-year-old girl should be thinking about.
Just dig.

Song Yanxi snorted and decisively confiscated the Infinite Card from her hand.

Then give her a card with a monthly spending limit of five million.

Chen An'an was dumbfounded. All she had done was offer a small suggestion.
How could they confiscate her card?

Before I even had a chance to go back to the village and show off, it was all gone!
(End of this chapter)