The Birth of Shanghai's First Conglomerate

The health and wellness industry is poised for explosive growth.

In fact, as early as two years ago, many top billionaires had already bet on this track.

The main reason is the aging population. It should be noted that the period when the population was most concentrated in China was the 1950s and 1960s after the founding of the People's Republic of China.

There were many cases in the 1970s, and it wasn't until the 1980s that family planning was implemented.

How old are people born in the 1950s and 60s now?
As people age, they develop more illnesses. With so many people entering old age, it's easy to see that the health and wellness industry will be a major trend.

That is, the next big trend.

That's not all. If that wave of infections in Wuhan had broken out, the consequences for the greater health sector would have been unimaginable.

This is also the main reason why Chen Pingsheng took out 10 billion yuan and encouraged his wife to start her second business.

To put it simply, the market is large enough, perfectly aligning with the second wave of entrepreneurial opportunities in Shuiyunjian.

Time flies, and it's already the end of December.

Chen Pingsheng kept an eye on Wu City every day, although news from there hadn't spread widely yet.

But he was well aware that there were ways to keep track of things in real time.

How would you describe Wuhan right now?

It can only be said that the people inside have started to tremble with fear, dare not go out, and panic is even spreading.

It hasn't been that long, and it's already developed like this over there.

If this continues, a city lockdown will become inevitable.

Not only was he paying attention, but the entire Tengying Group was watching that side.

Anyone who still holds shares in the catering industry or has invested in tourism companies is selling them off.

The same applies to hotels; an unprecedented upheaval is about to occur.

Chen Pingsheng had already sold off all the relevant stocks, and he was now reminding his senior executives.

Don't harbor any illusions; prepare for the worst-case scenario.

This thing spread so fast it's unprecedented in history.

If it cannot be contained in Wushi, there is no doubt that it may soon spread throughout the entire country.

If such a situation occurs, it won't just be a matter of downgrading consumption; it will be a catastrophic blow.

No industry affected by it will be spared.

When Chang Fu came to see Chen Pingsheng again, he reluctantly brought up Gao Hu's old friend.

"This guy is completely out of luck right now. Although his Friends is super popular right now, I estimate that the catering industry will be the first to fall when this wave of the epidemic hits."

Without his reminder, this was undoubtedly the case.

Friends is too big; large stores are more likely to survive, especially in times like these.

"It's very difficult, extremely difficult."

Chen Pingsheng himself was actually alright, after all, he had prepared so much money to deal with this special crisis.

However, it's true that the catering industry will definitely be hit.

Many companies are now starting to sell off their restaurant stocks, and it's a big question whether countless listed restaurant companies can survive.

Companies with insufficient cash flow will definitely be the first to go under.

Not to mention that Gao Hu's business is still in its early stages; if no one lends him a hand, it will inevitably fail.

But... how do I help him up?
Once the opportune moment is gone, how much money would it take to fill the gap by relying solely on human resources?

This is why Chen Pingsheng said it was very difficult.

Gao Hu has indeed changed a lot this time since starting his business. He no longer plays around with women. It's a pity he's so serious about being a chef.

"Old Chen, tell me the truth, what will you do if Gao Hu can't hold on?" "There's nothing we can do. We business people know what it means to go with the flow. My suggestion is to sell Old Friends directly to a big company right now. Maybe we can get a good price."

Chang Fu shared the same opinion; he was worried that Gao Hu wouldn't listen to them.

If he tries to go against the trend, not only will he not make any money, but he'll also end up with a mountain of debt.

Chang Fu was helpless; he actually shared the same thought as Chen Pingsheng.

He has already given Gao Hu 100 million, and if he sells now, he might make a huge profit, especially if things escalate in the martial arts market.

It's too late for anything.

When Changfu couldn't make up his mind, he liked to consult Yang Qian. Yang Qian herself was also very worried about this illness.

Deer Antler Coffee has more than 6,000 directly operated stores in China alone.

You think she'll have an easy time? She still has to make a big shift to food delivery.

Coffee shops are certainly better than large restaurants, but when snowflakes fall, no one can remain completely untouched.

"Hey Lao Chang, are you out of your mind? How many employees does Gao Hu have? How many employees does Tengying Group have? Do you know how many employees are unemployed just from the evacuation of people from Wushi?"

"Of course I know that, I'm just afraid that Gao Hu will repeat Zhang Tao's mistakes."

Chang Fu said, "No matter what, Old Chen has a large and powerful family business. You don't really think he'll be in any crisis, do you? You're underestimating him. I'm sure that even in the worst-case scenario, if all the employees of Deer Antler Coffee don't open for three years, don't work, and don't earn a single penny, he'll still pay you your salaries in full."

"It's not about how much money he has."

Yang Qian said, "But everyone is under pressure right now. Tengying Group has too many employees. Guangming alone has over 600,000 employees. Do you think that if we really consider the worst-case scenario, all 600,000 people need to be paid salaries? Take a calculator and do the math yourself. How much money would that cost?"

"That doesn't make sense. Didn't he say at the group's general meeting three years ago that each company should build its own cash flow reserves?"

"I did say that, but who could have imagined that things would get this bad in Wushi? Even Tengying Entertainment, which has the highest cash flow, will have to close down if it doesn't open for two years. Other businesses, including my Deer Antler Coffee, can only last for six months at most."

"Six months" means assuming the store is closed and unable to operate.

The shop still needs to pay rent as usual, and the employees still need to be paid their wages as usual.

Every day when I open my eyes, I see thousands of shops' rents, all of them prime locations, and tens of thousands of people whose salaries I need to pay.

The pressure is terrifying just to think about.

So don't think that just because Chen Pingsheng has a lot of money, it's okay.

He has a lot of money, but he has even more employees and offline stores. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to cash out 40 billion yuan in such a short time.

To put it bluntly, there are just too many things involved.

Moreover, no one can accurately predict how significant the impact will be.

Gao Hu only has a few stores, so closing them down or selling them won't have a big impact.

Even the slightest movement on his end could affect the meals of tens of thousands of people.

At a time like this, forget about helping Gao Hu; just being able to save yourself would be a stroke of good fortune amidst misfortune.

Chang Fu called Gao Hu and told him about the current situation.

In short, even Lao Chen himself was unsure about the outcome of this crisis.

It's impossible to make an accurate judgment, but he has already instructed the entire group to prepare for the worst.

The so-called worst-case scenario, the first principle is to do everything possible to ensure that employee wages are not reduced and that there are no layoffs.

In other words, the actual interests of employees come first.

If the situation really gets that bad, given the size of Tencent Group...

We can't get by without tens of billions in cash.

Old Chen's exact words were: "Sell it as soon as you can, don't hesitate."

(End of this chapter)