2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 613 People Change Every Year

"See you after the New Year, Mr. Tan."

"I saw President Ying after the New Year. Please don't mind if I didn't entertain you well today."

"That's too polite. I'll be going now, so as not to keep you from getting back to work."

After exchanging greetings, Ying Jianren was about to leave. He had genuinely made time to attend the ceremony, and he certainly didn't lose out, as he had also handed out quite a few business cards during their previous interactions.

Tan Jincheng asked his assistant to deliver it and then paid no more attention to it. After the signing press conference, he was indeed much busier than before.

Many reporters stopped Tan Jincheng, trying to extract more useful information from him.

In addition, Tan Jincheng also had to give an exclusive interview to Zhejiang TV with Chang Zeyu, and that's how his day ended at the Sheraton.

Meanwhile, in Beicang, Zhang Xupeng, vice president of Shanchi Group and executive president of Jinpeng Industry, was busy arranging the staff to stay on duty after the holiday. President Tan didn't have time to deal with these things, so he had to do it himself.

He had never actually served as the group's vice president; he had only ever managed Jinpeng Industrial. Since Tan Jincheng had been busy lately, he decided to let him take over some of the group's affairs.

The group's official holiday date is the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month. There are still two days left, and the holiday arrangements for various regions have already been reported. Zhang Xupeng is having a huge headache.

I used to think Xiaotan's job was easy, but after I became her agent, it was a completely different story. I couldn't even finish reading all the documents every day.

The difference between the head office and the branch office is surprisingly large.

"If we have a holiday on the 26th of the twelfth lunar month, we can probably spend two more days at Wangjiang Industrial Park, which is mainly frequented by locals. We'll just have two days off before the Lunar New Year. I can talk to Xiaotan about it next year."

After observing for a few days, Zhang Xupeng also had some thoughts of his own. 80% of the grassroots employees in Wangjiang Industrial Park are from the county and other townships, so it doesn't matter if they have to take two nights off.

Jinpeng's garment factory in Wangjiang will close for the holidays two days later than the factory in Beicang this year, and he arranged all of this.

"Then President Tan will probably say you're heartless, since he didn't see the plan this year."

Li Yanning replied with a smile that as Zhang Xupeng's assistant, she also had to help handle these matters.

"It's not that bad. I know Xiao Tan. He's not a saint. It's okay for him to work a few extra days within the rules."

Last year, Qin Junchao dealt with the issue of whether or not to give holidays at Dexian Electronics with a strong attitude, and nothing happened. Xiao Tan, who is so cunning in business, is willing to pay more wages, but the amount of work that needs to be done is by no means less.

Besides, working near home isn't unpaid; working a few extra days means more income, and nobody would be unhappy about that.

He did his research before he dared to do this.

Compared to the previous two years, this year's Flashpoint Group annual meeting was very low-key. Each branch arranged its own meal and distributed bonuses based on their respective operating performance. Even Flashpoint Technology, which had just gone public and held a large amount of cash, was unusually low-key.

The bonuses were substantial, but the company required employees not to boast about them excessively, to keep a low profile, and not to publicize them online.

In this extraordinary year, Flash Group has accomplished so much; it's best not to provoke jealousy over such trivial matters.

Flash Group weathered 2008 smoothly, but that doesn't mean other companies did too. In fact, many companies faced unprecedented crises in 2008.

Taking the group's apparel and foreign trade businesses as an example, many companies have suffered from a large backlog of inventory due to insufficient response. When business is bad, many companies' first reaction is to lay off employees.

The media's pursuit of popularity and extensive reporting has exacerbated the reluctance of ordinary people to spend money. The actual impact is far greater than what is seen in the news. For example, in Ningbo, many construction sites have suspended operations.

In their previous life, Tan Jincheng and Zhang Xupeng closed their lunchbox stall in 2008, also due to this factor: rising prices and a shrinking consumer base. With profits declining, it was only natural that they didn't want to continue.

My parents and sister have all gone back to their hometown. I called Qingqing and she was still at the company. Tan Jincheng didn't go home after finishing his work in the city.

Orange Technology's three-story office building remains the busiest area in the Flashpoint Building.

All employees of Orange Technology have received an internal email announcing that CEO Gu Qingqing will officially step down on February 1, 2009, and former CTO Cheng Hao will take over as CEO.

Cheng Hao's appointment is actually a strategic shift for Orange Technology. In the future, Orange Technology will pay more attention to technological accumulation, and making money will be secondary. This can be seen from the newly established company.

Just after New Year's Day, Chengyue Co., Ltd., Jinqing Holdings and Orange Technology established a new company named Orange Cloud.

In addition, during the same period, Weilai Auto quietly established a new company called Weilai Intelligent Driving. The two companies hold cross-shareholdings and will cooperate more in cloud computing, cloud storage and intelligent driving in the future.

"What does it feel like to step down? Are you reluctant to leave?"

When Tan Jincheng pushed open the door and entered, Gu Qingqing was diligently organizing documents.

February 1st was the eighth day of the first lunar month, and also the first day back to work after the New Year. Gu Qingqing stepped down from her position on that day, which meant she would no longer need to come to Orange Technology's office after the New Year.

The two of them have to go to Yiwu tomorrow, stay there for two days, and then go back to Yicheng together for the Chinese New Year.

Today was actually Gu Qingqing's last day officially working at Orange Technology. "A little bit, I guess. We've watched the company grow bit by bit over such a long time, from registering it to recruiting, so it's definitely hard to leave."

She watched the company grow little by little. Although she didn't spend much time at the company for a while due to her studies, she would come over every weekend to check on things like who had been newly hired, what equipment had been added, and what games had been launched. Gu Qingqing saw all of this.

Compared to Tan Jincheng, Gu Qingqing has a deeper emotional connection to Orange Technology, as it is the first startup she has directly participated in.

Orange Technology also brought her immense fame, transforming her from an unknown college student into a nationally renowned star entrepreneur, along with wealth.

The US stock market is going through a small bottoming-out period. Orange Technology's stock price has rebounded relatively quickly due to increased holdings by its major shareholder. It has now risen to $11.15, and its market value has returned to $10 billion.

The 3% stake that was previously repurchased is held in a trust institution, and the money came from the trust. It can also be considered as belonging to Gu Qingqing. In this way, he actually still holds 4.25% of Orange Technology's shares.

With a 3% share price, the difference between selling and repurchasing is approximately 1 million yuan. In the three rounds of financing before the listing, Gu Qingqing cashed out 360 million yuan, 1200 million yuan and 2.896 million yuan respectively!

With an initial investment of 3 million yuan, the cash-out alone exceeded 4 million yuan, and the current shareholding is worth more than 300 million yuan.

With an investment of 300 million, the cash-out alone reached 4 million RMB. Despite Tan Jincheng holding a large number of shares, if we were to talk about who the biggest winner of Orange Technology is so far, it would definitely be Gu Qingqing.

She cashed out during every round of financing.

"It's alright. We can give you a title like honorary president. You can come back and visit whenever you want. Besides, Orange Cloud is currently under our company."

Both Orange Cloud and Weilai Intelligent Driving are managed by Tan Jincheng as general manager and Gu Qingqing as deputy general manager. Neither company currently has much revenue-generating capacity and relies on financial resources to support their research.

The scale is not large, but we can take it slowly. Once the scale is larger and there is a certain ability to generate revenue, Tan Jincheng plans to merge the two companies and Dingding into one company to form a new cloud computing company.

Gu Qingqing smiled and said, "No, thank you. It's more appropriate to come and visit when you have time. Since you've stepped down, don't interfere with President Cheng's work. It's just a pity that I didn't live to see the Orange Technology headquarters building completed."

The plot of land near the Flashpoint Building, which was the site of the former Yintai City, was eventually acquired by Orange Technology, which designed a technologically advanced headquarters building for Orange Technology.

The final budget for Orange Technology's headquarters building is 5.11 million yuan. The completed building will have a floor area of ​​approximately 4.19 square meters and is expected to accommodate 3000 to 4000 office workers.

After acquiring the land in November 2007, and following a series of preparations including bidding, design, and other steps, the project was expected to be completed around February 2010.

"What does it matter? They're all around here. At worst, we can just move Cheng Ziyun and Wei Laizhi over there."

Currently, both companies have few employees and are temporarily operating from the Flashpoint Building.

The purchase of Flashpoint Building was definitely a good deal. Tan Jincheng, who was used to running his own small business, put all sorts of subsidiaries inside. Even companies like Orange Technology and ByteDance Engine, which are not officially part of the Flashpoint system, still have to pay rent.

This means there are no middlemen taking a cut.

He glanced at the time; it was already 11:30 PM. "Let's go back. Don't think about it so much. Leave what's not finished to President Cheng and your cousin. It's not like we're never going to see each other again."

Gu Qingqing thought about it and agreed; she had to go home tomorrow.

Liu Suman was sent home by Gu Qingqing. Tan Jincheng had a few drinks. As the two entered the parking lot, they heard Zhang Xupeng's voice behind them.

"Xiao Tan!"

In the empty parking lot, Zhang Xupeng's voice sounded particularly loud.

"Why haven't you gone back yet?"

"I haven't finished the work you gave me, and the holiday is coming up soon, so I have to work overtime."

"Hello, Mr. Tan. Hello, Mr. Gu."

Nie Ruoxi, standing behind Zhang Xupeng, also greeted him timidly. It was quite embarrassing to have been caught by President Tan and his wife in the middle of the night.

Nodding to Nie Ruoxi, Tan Jincheng looked at the chuckling Zhang Xupeng and said, "Now you know why I said I had a lot of work before, huh? You little brat, you even said I was being dramatic."

"Ha ha ha ha."

Zhang Xupeng was a little embarrassed, but just laughed it off.

"What are you laughing at? Go back now. Drive carefully on the road. I'm going to Yiwu tomorrow. I'll go straight back to my hometown from Yiwu. You two should plan your trip back home."

"I know, you guys drive slower too."

It's Chinese New Year! Another new year is here.

(End of this chapter)