The Birth of Shanghai's First Conglomerate

Chapter 825 Development Conference
When people are young, they often like things that are new and exciting.

In middle age, people prefer a stable and regular life, while in old age they tend to prefer a leisurely and carefree life.

Without a doubt, Chen Pingsheng is now living this happy life on Jingyan Island.

The first thing I do every morning, besides practicing Tai Chi in the yard to nourish my body, is to brew a cup of tea in my study facing the sea, drink a couple of sips, read a book, and then go to work at 9:30.

The headquarters of the Institute of Economic Research is a magnificent circular building, with the flags of nine countries hanging at the entrance.

Once inside, the work environment is very relaxed.

Everyone found a place to drink tea and chat. Apart from the staff in cheongsams, everyone else was very relaxed.

Even after Chen Pingsheng came in, he still had to stand up and call out to the dean.

"Dean Chen, are you going to be living on the island for an extended period of time from now on?"

"Pretty much, then I'll have more time to play chess with you guys."

The two people who greeted him were both members of the advisory group: one was a retired professor of finance from Tsinghua University, and the other was a professor of economics from Peking University.

These are both well-known figures in society. These two have not only been professors, but have also served as consultants for several companies.

I've been with Tencent Group for five years now, and since then I've been living on the island with my family, rarely returning to the outside world.

When people reach a certain age, as long as they have family by their side, they won't crave the hustle and bustle outside too much.

In addition, they have everything they need, and the residents are all highly educated people, so they have endless topics to talk about every day when they get together.

Don't expect someone of this professorial level to be able to have a good conversation with an ordinary person; the difference in their understanding is quite obvious.

In addition to researching global industrial development and related policies, the Economic Research Institute's primary task is to ensure the steady development of all groups under the Tencent Group.

Chen Pingsheng has a professional secretarial team on the island, consisting of nine people in total, four women and five men.

These nine people were all carefully selected before being sent to his side, one of whom was the youngest daughter of the Tsinghua and Peking University professor.

She is only twenty-eight years old and has been strictly raised by her family since childhood. It would be difficult for someone from such a scholarly family to find a spouse outside the home.

Whether they are the children of government officials or the children of top-tier wealthy families, they are all considered well-matched in terms of social standing.

She'd be perfect with anyone.

There are three types of prominent families: those who are public officials, those who are scholarly families, and those who are wealthy.

The nouveau riche have no place here.

Everyone usually has their own projects and industries to be responsible for, but the one-hour Economic Research Island Industry Development Conference every day is the most important work of the day.

These meetings are held every day, and people can choose to attend or not.

An An is still giving speeches at the university, and the stock price of Tengying Group has been rising for more than half a month since the news of Chen Pingsheng's return to the helm.

It remains popular to this day.

Today's island industry development conference was almost full, thanks to Chen Pingsheng's participation; everyone who was supposed to come was there.

The person in charge of hosting the speech and report was his chief secretary on the island, Lin Wanqing.

Her father was a renowned professor in the Department of Economics at Tsinghua and Peking Universities, and Lin Wanqing went to the Economic Research Island after graduation.

In conjunction with what was mentioned earlier, their current investment criteria are mainly aimed at improving the income and livelihood of industry practitioners.

Lin Wan said in a clear voice, "At Dean Chen's suggestion, the core theme of our meeting today is still the study of the service industry."

"According to statistics, the service industry has the largest number of employees, without exception. However, the salary and benefits in the service industry have consistently ranked among the lowest in China, and even on a global scale, they are at the bottom. Whether it's food delivery, catering, or technical industries like hairdressing, the working hours in the service industry are generally more than ten hours a day, while the monthly rest days are less than six days, with an average rest time of about four days."

"The average wage in the service industry is only around 6,000 yuan. After deducting the necessary rent and food expenses each month, there is very little money left to save."

Lin Wanqing continued, "It is said that children from poor families have three treasures. In the past, these were hairdressing, auto repair, and cooking. Due to limited parental resources, most rural students who dropped out of junior high or high school could only choose these three industries with no barriers to entry. This has led to severe competition within the industry. With such intense involution, the income of people working in these industries is generally below average."

In its early years, the Dream Fund invested in a large number of small projects within these three industries in order to develop and improve them.

In order to find the best solution to all of this in the shortest possible time.

Persistence pays off; they did find a decent method, but they couldn't promote it nationwide.

The main problem is the excessive disorderly competition within the industry, such as in the hairdressing industry.

Normally, a barber needs two to three years of apprenticeship to become a qualified professional before he can reasonably charge 35 yuan for a haircut.

The haircutting process requires the cooperation of the receptionist, the hairdresser, and the person washing the hair.

In other words, it takes an hour and three people to provide the service, and only then can they receive 35 yuan from the customer.

The commission for hairdressers is only about 12 yuan, while the commission for hair care specialists is 8 to 10 yuan.

The receptionist also needs to earn more than three thousand yuan a month.

These people typically work more than twelve hours a day, and their average salary is around four thousand.

With only four days off a month, this is already an unimaginable reality in the industry, yet countless clever people in the industry still go and make those ten-yuan quick haircuts.

The industry is so competitive that profit margins are unimaginably thin.

If it weren't for the fact that Tengying Group has its own ideals and beliefs, the industry would be in such a state that even a dog wouldn't go in.

This isn't just true for the hairdressing industry; it applies to many other basic service industries as well.

Chen Pingsheng is gradually shifting the profits he has accumulated in large industries, including technology projects, into these basic service industries.

High-tech talents are a minority everywhere; those working at the grassroots level are the true masses.

What they find most difficult to change right now are these grassroots industries.

Just like when he first entered the food delivery industry, ensuring that delivery workers had basic social insurance and housing fund benefits was only a basic task.

The most important thing is to shorten working hours and increase wages.

And improved security.

This requires the platform to make continuous efforts. Chen Pingsheng firmly believes that the value of human resources is paramount.

Labor should not be cheap either. If we don't increase the income of these people, we will not be able to truly achieve a domestic consumption cycle in the post-real estate era.

Everyone has no income, and the money in their pockets is only enough to live on each month. How can they afford to spend it?
The best way to boost consumption is always to increase income.

If consumption doesn't pick up, everyone will just be struggling in an endless cycle of competition.

Unless you can make money from all over the world.

Unfortunately, with the exception of a very few technology industries, most companies cannot earn money from overseas.

So, Chen Pingsheng was not only saving others, he was also saving himself.

(End of this chapter)