The Birth of Shanghai's First Conglomerate

Summers in Guangdong are truly hot.

Eating too much barbecue can cause internal heat. We finally got a table of customers, but they only ordered a few servings of fried rice and a small eggplant.

In places like urban villages, very few people come out to spend money except around payday.

Many young people get paid in the middle of the month, enjoy themselves for two or three days, and then eat instant noodles for the rest of the time.

If you have enough money to last a month, you're already doing pretty well.

Those who can save a few thousand are usually either married or young women.

These factory workers nowadays really don't have much of a concept of saving money.

Unsurprisingly, his barbecue restaurant's daily revenue wasn't even enough to cover his wages, no wonder Xiao Jiye was so anxious.

"Grandpa, how about we set up a stall outside and make fried rice with eggs?"

"I'm afraid that won't work. Your grandfather is already this old; how many servings of fried rice can he still cook?"

"If that doesn't work, we can sell watermelons."

It seems that Xiao Jiye really wants to earn money for his family. As for his mother, well, she doesn't even know how to bargain when buying things.

His grandfather didn't have much of a knack for business. He managed to run a barbecue restaurant to such an extent that he should have just stayed and worked as a driver.

On such a hot day, watermelon sales must be booming.

There are many sellers, especially fruit shops. If you set up a stall in front of someone's door, the city management officer will call you immediately and fine you 200 yuan and confiscate your tools.

Chen Pingsheng thought his grandson had a bright future; at such a young age, he already knew how to think of his family.

Thinking about it carefully, he actually started out selling durians at a street stall.

It doesn't seem like a big deal to sell a watermelon now.

At most, I won't put it in front of other people's doors; putting it in front of my own door won't have any impact.

"Jiye, selling watermelons in the summer seems like a pretty good business, doesn't it?"

"Of course, everyone eats watermelon in the summer."

"This thing seems to have a better future than a barbecue restaurant?"

"Absolutely!"

Xiao Jiye went with him to his house to push the tricycle. Since they wanted to sell watermelons, they naturally had to go and buy the goods first.

Of course, there are now many companies that specialize in fruit delivery. The advantage is that it's convenient, but the disadvantage is that the price is much higher than if you buy the fruit yourself.

It's understandable that middlemen make a profit from the price difference.

When he talks about selling watermelons, he thinks of his first business, Tengsheng Fruit.

He has already handed over this top ten domestic fruit brand to Zhang Tao's two sons.

Consider it a small compensation to them.

Chen Pingsheng contacted a fruit delivery company and had a truckload of watermelons placed in front of the barbecue restaurant.

The people inside were dumbfounded; were they selling watermelons or having a barbecue?

Xiao Jiye really likes making money; he hangs a sign on himself to attract customers.

"Uncle and Auntie, look at my watermelon, it's big and sweet."

"Big sister, you're so pretty! Let's buy two watermelons to take home..."

"Wow, you're so handsome! Buy three watermelons!"

Xiao Jiye calls out to everyone he sees; he's really quite courageous.

Almost everyone who lives in the urban village knows Xiao Jiye. Since the little guy is so enthusiastic, most people will buy one for themselves.

Anyway, we eat watermelon in the summer.

When An'an rode over on her bicycle, she almost slipped and fell. Her son was wearing a sign around his neck and shouting everywhere, "Uncles and aunties, buy watermelons!"

What is her father doing? An'an parked her bicycle to the side. "Dad, what are you doing?"

"Little Jiye saw that my barbecue shop wasn't making money, so he suggested selling watermelons instead. Isn't that amazing?"

"If he says he wants to sell watermelons, you should just let him."

An'an rolled her eyes and said, "Dad, shouldn't we tell him that our family has a little bit of money?"

"There's no need for that. I think Jiye is doing just fine now."

Chen Pingsheng found someone to collect money for Jiye, while he himself sat at the cashier chatting with his eldest daughter, feeling utterly bored.

"Jiye is sure to have a bright future."

“Dad, we are all second generation, he is third generation. More than 80% of the second generation who want to be successful end up falling back into poverty in the third generation. People outside say that the harder people like us work, the poorer we become.”

"While this is the general situation, it doesn't represent the entire group."

Chen Pingsheng said lazily, "You should know about your brother's situation. He only spends a few hundred thousand yuan a month and invests the rest. He wants to make money from money and work for a few years so he won't need any more money from his family. I used to not understand this brat, but now I think he's pretty good."

“My brother Chen Lu is already quite good.”

An An rested her chin on her hands and said, "As long as he doesn't surpass your ideas, he's already surpassed most rich kids. Now he's so down-to-earth that he doesn't seem like a super rich second-generation at all. Dad, I don't know whether to say your education was a success or a failure."

"Let's see. There's no fixed standard for success or failure."

Chen Pingsheng took An'an with him to help Xiao Jiye sell watermelons. It was almost time for the factory to close, so there were naturally more people coming and going in the urban village.

There are also many office workers who have to take the subway to get around. Not to mention their working hours, the time they spend commuting alone is at least two or three hours.

The helplessness of ordinary people.

If possible, who wouldn't want to work close to home and earn more money?
When it comes to those who are truly willing to spend money on food, drinks, and entertainment, it has to be the factory boys.

Since we're all living paycheck to paycheck anyway, the days when we don't need to save money are the happy ones.

Well...that's why fewer and fewer people are willing to get married.

Perhaps it's because love is hard to find.

An An is usually quite busy at the company, but she still makes a lot of time to spend with her child.

Life shouldn't consist of only work and no family.

Xiao Jiye was quite happy that evening, perhaps because he had made a lot of money selling watermelons.

Chen Pingsheng even went home to cook for him as a reward, but in the sweltering summer heat, there was nothing to be happy about.

The comfort of family is the most soothing thing.

When Erpiya arrived, Xiaojiye called her Auntie.

Every time Er Ya came over, she would bring him a small gift. The generous aunt and the poor mother showed such different treatment that Xiao Jiye admired his dear aunt very much.

Er Ya didn't really like children, but after seeing Xiao Jiye, she thought it wouldn't be bad to have one or two like him.

After Xiao Jiye went to hawk watermelons again, Er Ya said, "Dad, I'm going to Hong Kong to stay until the baby is born before I come back."

"Isn't it too early to go now?"

Er Ya is close to giving birth, so she's now happily preparing to go to Hong Kong to give birth.

"I don't think so. Anyway, I can handle my work over there. I still prefer to stay in Hong Kong."

Compared to Shenzhen, the super-rich in Hong Kong are relatively more free and easy.

This is one of the reasons why many wealthy people like to buy property in Hong Kong.

He wasn't surprised at all that Er Ya was going to stay there for a few months.

Their family also has a top-notch private medical team in Hong Kong.

After giving birth, she will need to rest for two more months, so it's estimated that Er Ya won't be able to return to Shenzhen until the second half of the year.

(End of this chapter)