The Birth of Shanghai's First Conglomerate

The night passed uneventfully until the next day.

The chickens at Grandpa's house next door started crowing before seven o'clock, and Uncle's big black dog also barked incessantly as dawn broke.

After getting up in the large room on the second floor, Chen Pingsheng finished washing up.

In the dead of winter, you can only wear thermal underwear, thermal leggings, and then a thick down jacket.

Song Yanxi was no exception; her belly was already showing. The two of them were going to visit the Tenghui Department Store Times Square in the village today.

As for the big kid in the other room, she gets up earlier than the chickens and goes to bed later than the dogs.

If you ask her what she's doing, she's thinking about how to make two more super cool entrances for the villagers.

Actually, they were practicing dance.

Chen Pingsheng went downstairs and cooked a few bowls of noodles, and also stir-fried a bowl of chili and pork to add to the noodles.

If you think about it, it's been a while since he's cooked.

With more than ten days until the Lunar New Year, most young people have not yet returned.

Only some elderly people and children remained in the village. After breakfast, the family took a car to visit Tenghui Department Store.

This place cost him 50 million to build, and the businesses inside are all planned out.

For example, the first floor is mostly filled with various electrical appliances and supermarkets.

The second floor is entirely dedicated to shoes and hats, while the restaurant is located on the third floor.

Further up are tea rooms, billiard halls, and arcades.

At the top are a KTV and a movie theater. Because the storefronts are free, quite a few businesses in the town have moved here.

It's mainly lively, and this place quickly developed into the largest shopping center in the surrounding area.

Compared to the top-tier shopping malls in the city, this place is naturally a bit more chaotic, and there aren't many large brand-name clothing stores.

It is even less attractive to Western fast food chains like KFC, which are most popular with children.

Ultimately, it's not about achieving profit targets.

Instead, it's about improving the consumption environment of the entire village. Compared to the city, what rural areas lack most is a better consumption environment.

Education and healthcare come second.

Without a good consumer market, people have money but nowhere to spend it, so who would want to stay in the countryside?

Naturally, they all had to go to the city to work.

This is the first rural Tenghui Department Store they opened, and they might open ten or a hundred more in the future.

Until it becomes self-profitable, everything is still being explored slowly.

"The Chen family member has arrived."

"Everyone, come out and see!"

"Who is it? What's all the commotion!"

"Who else could it be? Look at all the cars parked outside. Even the Wangxian Village Committee has come. Chen Pingsheng has returned to his hometown."

"How come there's been no news of him returning to his hometown?"

"If they don't want you to know, you can't just go to Old Chen's house and ask them."

"This is the internet age now. If you haven't seen the news recently, it's all about Tencent Pictures."

"This man from the Chen family is the founder of Tengying Group."

“Our Wangcun village has truly produced a remarkable figure.”

“Who says otherwise? Look at him, he’s building schools and clinics, and now he’s invested 50 million to build this huge super plaza. We play mahjong here every day, and he doesn’t charge any rent.”

“They’re doing a charity project to give back to their hometown, why would they care about your rent?”

"Isn't that his wife, Song Yanxi, next to him wearing a snow-white down jacket? My husband is from their area. I used to see this girl often when she was little. She's so enviable now."

"Don't just be envious. When she married her husband, she had nothing. She only became rich quickly afterward. Over the years, Old Chen's husband has treated his wife extremely well."

"The kind of thing that no one can find fault with."

Chen Pingsheng and his family were still touring the first floor, as well as the shops on the second, third, and fourth floors.

They were already standing by the stairwell, watching intently; he might be coming up soon.

To the small businesses and households in the village, Chen Pingsheng was nothing short of a legend.

Every time he returns to his hometown, it causes a great stir. This has nothing to do with his high profile, but only because of his status.

At 10 a.m., the county secretary's secretary came over in person, hoping to invite him to the county.

Chen Pingsheng did not go.

At noon, the Shacheng Municipal Party Committee called, not to say anything specific, but just to ask when he would be going to Shacheng.

At 1 p.m., his secretary contacted him personally, hoping he could find some time to visit the government office.

The Party Secretary wants to see him.

The main reason is that Tengnong Breeding set up its headquarters in Shacheng and successively established its own extremely strong agricultural and breeding technology team.

They also have a dual R&D team dedicated to supporting farmers, and have invested more than 3 billion yuan in the southern province.

It also recruits a large number of graduates from major agricultural universities, making it one of the largest public welfare projects for helping farmers in the southern province.

The fact that such a project was initiated by a private company is quite embarrassing.

The secretary didn't make a big fuss about inviting him; instead, he first set a time to meet.

Then, at this time, I asked Chen Pingsheng about his overall plans for Tengnong aquaculture.

Chen Pingsheng brought his wife along to participate.

After chatting with the secretary for more than an hour in the afternoon, he also spoke publicly and positively for the first time about his expectations for the future of Tengnong Breeding and the ultimate significance of its establishment.

To put it bluntly, Tengnong Breeding embodies Chen Pingsheng's two hopes.

The first thing he wants to do is to use his own strength, and then take advantage of the Tengnong breeding platform.

To ensure that most elderly people living alone or in rural areas can truly have someone to rely on in their old age.

The second point is to enable the rural wasteland to achieve genuine secondary utilization through his personal large funds and professional team.

They can grow safe, healthy, and organic vegetables while also raising a range of the best chicken, duck, and fish.

Tengnong Aquaculture relies on funding from Tengying Group for its development.

He has no plans to make a profit, not even for the next five or ten or twenty years.

One thing that is certain is that Tengnong Livestock will receive another 5 to 8 billion yuan in support funds in 2017.

Over the next three years, no less than 15 billion yuan will be invested again.

By then, Tengnong Aquaculture will definitely be the number one public welfare project in Southern Province.

The secretary was somewhat surprised, because logically speaking, when companies do charity, it's either for fame or for profit.

There are definitely some ideas behind it.

However, the Tengnong breeding project is truly working for the benefit of farmers and the local people.

Putting aside everything else, every year they have to pay more than ten times the market price to lease those barren lands in the countryside.

God knows just how big the risks are.

This is unlike a one-time donation, which eliminates any worries about the future.

Tengnong Aquaculture truly teaches people how to fish, ensuring that the people of this land will forever benefit from its benefits.

This is thousands or even tens of thousands of times more difficult than simply making a donation.

It is no exaggeration to say that if Chen Pingsheng donated all 3 billion yuan to the Southern Province...

He could have immediately become a leading figure here, but instead he chose a much longer and more difficult path.

The aim is to use Tengnong Fresh, a super agricultural and breeding group, to continuously help rural families or empty-nest elderly people for the next ten or even several decades.

This is true benevolence.

That very evening, the Party Secretary convened a meeting to discuss Tengnong's aquaculture efforts and proposed to provide it with all possible assistance.

This is no empty talk; after all, the person who said this is no ordinary person.

Everyone agreed that the suggestions were valid.

The main issue is that this project is purely a public welfare project, let alone one that can generate profits.

It would be a miracle if it didn't lose money.

Especially since this project needs continuous investment to continue, it requires constant financial input.

As for the returns, they won't see them anyway.

The main problem is that the rent is set too high, and he also has to hire villagers to help him raise the animals, and then pay them salaries no less than the average urban income.

It seems like it will be four or five years before we actually turn a profit.

Even if we continue investing like this and eventually make a profit, who knows how long it will take to break even?

Taking all the above factors into account, Tengnong Breeding can be classified as a large-scale, purely charitable project to support farmers, rather than a commercial project.

This coincides with the government's long-standing advocacy of poverty alleviation and assistance.

It is rare to find a true entrepreneur in China who is rooted in the foundation of agriculture.

They naturally had to protect and support this project.

At least ensure that the unreasonable behavior of the Liu family doesn't happen again.

...Let's talk about philanthropy among entrepreneurs.

Many people are doing it, but the meaning or purpose of doing it is very different.

Some people do it to avoid taxes, while others do it purely to enhance their reputation.

Of course, regardless of the purpose.

Charity itself is good, but it should be based on the premise that employees of companies have sufficient salaries.

The income of employees at Tengying Group has always been among the highest in the industry, if not the highest.

It's the same for both Fei Yang Yang Catering and Deer Antler Coffee.

He sees a boss who attempts to gain high profits by exploiting his employees' labor as a crime.

They should all be eliminated by history.

However, the easiest way to gain a good reputation in charity is to donate to one's alma mater, that is, a university.

Unfortunately, his highest level of education is junior high school.

If he were to donate one or two hundred million to Wangxian Junior High School, the principal would be driving a Mercedes-Benz in less than a month.

As a result, most people, both at different levels, will become extremely wealthy.

In small places, money is vetted down through multiple layers of checks, and only a tiny fraction actually reaches the intended recipients.

Donating money is actually a very simple thing; you just need to spend a sum of money.

But teaching someone how to fish is different.

This allows ordinary families in the village, and even the elderly, to earn a living from the rent they receive for five, ten, or even twenty years from these few acres of land.

This is similar to the concept of "one shop supports three generations".

Chen Pingsheng naturally wouldn't spend all his money in Wang County, or even in the Southern Province.

That would have too little impact, and the massive agricultural output would also affect the income of other places.

He needs to develop in a balanced way, which is destined to be a long road.

He attended two meetings in Shacheng, but every afternoon or evening he would still rush back to be with his parents and grandparents and have a reunion dinner.

January is drawing to a close, and the year-end is fast approaching.

Chen Pingsheng boarded his private plane and returned to the Southern Province whenever he wanted.

The routes can be approved in the fastest way.

His younger sister, Chen Qi, didn't go with him; she had to stay home for the New Year before leaving.

I went home in a hurry, and I left in a hurry too.

The old lady didn't leave either; she planned to stay at home until after the Lantern Festival.

Then, a private plane can come and pick them up.

Before leaving, Chen Pingsheng allocated another 1.5 billion yuan to Tengnong Livestock to further expand agricultural production and livestock breeding.

Without his support, this project would never have been able to develop into the number one agricultural public welfare support project in the country.

To date, he has allocated 45 billion to this project.

It benefits hundreds of thousands of people in rural areas.

Unlike Wangxian, Shanghai is a true world city.

Everywhere it displays its elegance, as well as its rampant materialism.

In this place, as long as you have money, you can sleep with countless beautiful girls and school beauties.

I don't know when it started, but those beautiful loves that were once most worthy of praise have become so vulnerable in the face of money.

16 was destined to be an extraordinary year for Tencent Film Group.

Their family rose to prominence in the business world, successively defeating Huayi and the popular TV show "Business Myth".

While ascending to the top of the entertainment industry, he also firmly established himself in the technology sector.

It has become the fastest-growing super-large group in China.

The first thing to deal with upon returning is the five-star staff hotel that their family invested 300 million yuan to build in Jinshan, Shanghai.

It's open for business.

Chen Pingsheng did not go to the ribbon-cutting ceremony; instead, he sent Yang Mi instead.

With the opening of the five-star hotel for employees, it means that employees' parents who come from afar no longer need to spend money to stay in hotels.

All employees can stay in the staff-run public welfare hotel for free and enjoy a complete package of free meals and accommodation.

The main reason Yang Mi was chosen to cut the ribbon was because of her fame.

The recent actions of Tencent Video Group in leveraging public opinion to quickly push forward an investigation into ReTV have already drawn widespread dissatisfaction.

Even many retail investors blamed Tencent Group for all of this.

At this time, it was essential for him to vigorously promote public welfare projects.

It is also used to dispel some "people" from having inappropriate thoughts.

To put it bluntly, Tencent Film Group has a large number of shareholders, including many big names in the capital world.

Furthermore, there is the strong support of a family with equally deep roots, such as Tong Zhelan's, as well as the investment from a large number of top wealthy women in Beijing.

They are not afraid of minor troubles at all.

As the saying goes, the bigger the waves, the more expensive the fish.

He used Yang Mi to cut the ribbon for the Tengying Charity Hotel, which was also a way to preemptively dispel the dissatisfaction of some important figures with the Tengying Group.

Along with the opening of the Jinshan five-star hotel, a private primary school built with an investment of 500 million yuan in Beijing has also opened.

They called Zhao Liying over there to cut the ribbon.

The internal private primary school also includes facilities such as a kindergarten, which are also provided for employees.

The simultaneous opening of two mega-scale public welfare projects still caused quite a stir in China.

Including the Shuiyunjian Public Library, which he invested 800 million yuan to build last year, and the public welfare hotel that he also has in Beijing.

In two years, they have actually invested 2 billion yuan in charity and public welfare.

This company looks like a conscientious enterprise.

In stark contrast to his glamorous life, Hua Yi's situation was particularly dire during this period.

At the last moment, Jia Yueting, who was returning to China next week, completely knocked him over the wall.

Few would disagree that he was the most miserable person of 2016.

In just one week since he returned, Huayi's stock price has completely fallen below its market value of 10 billion.

Compared to his former hundreds of billions, it's like comparing heaven and earth.

Now he doesn't even need to make any moves; Huayi has been pinned to the wall by Hot TV.

If Huang Zhongshi fails to repay the bank mortgage loan in February, his Huayi headquarters building, his super villa in Hong Kong, and his huge courtyard house in Beijing will all be subject to foreclosure auction.

He'll definitely go and join in the fun then.

As for now, let's focus on taking care of the immediate matters first.

……

Time flies, and the New Year is finally approaching.

Instead, only their family remained in Shanghai; everyone else had gone back home for the Lunar New Year holiday.

While making dumplings at home, Chen Pingsheng also prepared a few main dishes.

The big kid was helping out, while the little girl, sticking out her little bottom, was trying to cause trouble.

Her sister dragged her aside and made her stay there obediently.

"Dad, could you make some fried rice with egg later?"

"Why make fried rice with eggs when there are already so many dishes?"

"I want to eat it! It's been so long since I've had your fried rice!"

“Okay.” Chen Pingsheng asked her, “Where’s your mother? Why isn’t she coming down to cook?”

"She was doing the accounting up there, and she was drooling as she did it."

Chen An'an chuckled, feeling that her mother was even more greedy than she was.

Only about half of the 20% stake in Tencent Pictures has been cashed out, which adds up to about eight or nine billion yuan.

Song Yanxi didn't even know how to spend the money.

"Go and call her. What's the point of arguing about such a small amount of money?"

Okay... Chen An'an quickly ran upstairs, since Song Yanxi didn't have much to do right now.

The entire company is on holiday, and Shuiyunjian is also on 15 days of annual leave.

I will come back to work on the ninth day of the Lunar New Year.

Most people work hard all year just to have a good New Year, so they need to have plenty of vacation time.

After all, many people will have to spend a day or two on their way back.

(End of this chapter)