2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 647 The Young Man's First Home
P.S.: We're still a few dozen monthly tickets short of 2000. Any brothers want to help us out?
"If you don't want to publicize it extensively, then just publicize it within the district. Have the local media send a few reporters to cover the event. Your side can cooperate. It's always a good thing."

"Alright, I'll get the publicity department to cooperate."

Tan Jincheng was somewhat helpless. He couldn't refuse such a good thing from his superior, but he really didn't want to promote it. With future housing prices rising too much, Shanchi didn't want to build a large-scale residential community.

If the houses can't be sold cheaply by then, not only will the new employees be dissatisfied, but they will also be easily put on a pedestal. Moral blackmail is always the most terrifying thing.

Take Fatty for example, his treatment is considered good, but if it weren't for certain internet celebrities trying to gain traffic and other reasons pushing him forward in recent years, he wouldn't be known throughout the country.

In fact, there are many companies like Pang Mou Lai in many places. They all adhere to the same philosophy: they don't want too many people to know about them, they just want to make a fortune quietly and keep the company stable.

Leader Gu also realized that Tan Jincheng's so-called busyness was probably just an excuse, and that he actually didn't want to publicize the situation: "Are you worried about anything?"

"It's not really a concern. Mr. Xie must have told you that Flash has no intention of getting into real estate. I'm just wondering what we should do if we don't have enough properties to sell to our employees at low prices now, given how well we're promoting it."

The Flashpark residential complex is planned in three phases, which should be enough for the employees in Beicang District. However, Flashpark Group's businesses are not limited to Beicang District. Tan Jincheng simply doesn't have the inclination to build houses for employees all over the country.

Are you worried that the impact will be too great?

Leader Gu quickly understood Tan Jincheng's meaning; to be honest, he couldn't help but admire the young man's clear-headedness, doing practical things while not wanting to be bound by empty fame.

He has a very good grasp of what should be promoted and what shouldn't be promoted.

"Pretty much. It's not scarcity that's the problem, but inequality. The leader should understand what I mean."

"Okay, I understand. I'll tell them to stop. But if reporters come knocking on our door, don't go too far. Let them do what they want."

Unless officially promoted, the level of interest will not be very high.

"Of course, I will make arrangements when I get back, don't worry, boss."

Tan Jincheng, a media outlet in Beicang District, was confident that no one would dare disobey him, as he had instructions from above and knew exactly who to write about.

On May 1st, Tan Jincheng took his family, Cheng Linfeng, and a group of staff to Dandong. The three-day holiday wasn't very long, but it was still a holiday, especially for little Tan Jinyue, who had already suffered so much from kindergarten.

Tan Jinyue, who has been frequently taken to the company by her older brother since she was little, and even on business trips, and occasionally out to play, has a special longing to travel. They have never been to the Northeast region yet.

With the whole family together, Tan Jincheng didn't need to take special care of them; they knew how to find places to play on their own.

"President Tan, welcome, welcome; this must be President Gu, you two are a perfect match."

They had arranged the trip with Li Xianjin in advance, and when the group was picked up and taken to the hotel, Li Xianjin was already waiting for them.

Gu Qingqing stood quietly beside Tan Jincheng, holding the hand of little Tan Jinyue, who was full of curiosity and looking around.

"I'm sorry to trouble you, Mr. Li. Not only will you have to work overtime during the May Day holiday, but you've also brought so many people to bother you."

The hotels here were all arranged by Li Xianjin and his group. This time, Tan Jincheng brought quite a few people, including his family of five, two drivers who also acted as bodyguards, and five or six staff members.

"What are you saying? There's no trouble at all. Since Mr. Tan and his family are coming to visit us, I, as the host, certainly have to entertain them."

Li Xianjin said nonchalantly, "Northeasterners are very hospitable to their friends. Even if you're not doing business, just say you want to travel here, and Li Xianjin will definitely make all the arrangements for you."

He doesn't need to make any arrangements himself; someone will take care of it for him with just a word.

In addition, Shuguang Auto's stock price performed very well after the resumption of trading, and their company also repurchased 5.07% of the shares from Tan Jincheng, which actually increased their net worth.

With this additional 5.07% stake, the management team can control 19.56% of the shares. Combined with the concerted action agreement signed between Tan Jincheng and them, the total stake reaches 24.5%, which essentially eliminates the risk of the company changing hands.

After this incident, Li Xianjin and the management team did consider increasing their shareholding, but unfortunately, they didn't have much money of their own. The company had made a lot of money over the years, but the amount distributed among so many people was not much for them.

It would be somewhat difficult to ask them to use their own money to increase their shareholding, especially considering their age.

Therefore, they made up their minds to cooperate well with Tan Jincheng. With such a wealthy and influential person as the second largest shareholder, anyone who wanted to covet Shuguang Auto's shares would have to think twice.

But this guy is really shrewd; he only holds 4.99% of the shares.

He holds all the power; if he's ever unhappy, he can simply terminate the agreement on concerted action and then liquidate all his shares.

So it's really necessary to get along well with this young man.

"Haha, no need for formalities, we'll meet again someday."

Tan Jincheng was not one to dawdle. He then introduced his family members to Li Xianjin one by one. In terms of age, Li Xianjin was already of the same generation as Tan Jincheng's grandfather, and he himself came from a state-owned enterprise.

Tan Lihua and Zhang Suzhi both respected this man very much, and little Tan Jinyue even called him "Grandpa".

The little guy's upbringing was far superior to most of his peers. He was chubby-cheeked with a baby face, and his sweet voice made him look incredibly adorable. Li Xianjin laughed heartily, "President Tan, this isn't some old man taking advantage of you."

"Haha, how could that be? You are our elder. If you don't mind, I can call you Grandpa."

When it comes to being thick-skinned, Tan Jincheng has never been afraid of anyone.

"Haha, I wouldn't dare. There aren't many people in the business world who would dare to ask you to call me grandpa, Mr. Tan. Let's go eat first, and I'll take you to try some authentic Northeastern cuisine."

That makes perfect sense. Given Tan Jincheng's current status, few businessmen would dare to act superior in front of him.
-
Beicang District.

Xu Xinglei and his wife got up very early this morning. They had actually gone to bed very late last night, but even so, they were both very excited when they woke up this morning.

They finally have a house that is entirely their own.

After getting married, most young people don't like living with their parents anymore. This is a common consensus among most young people. In fact, older people don't necessarily like living with their children either. The difference in living habits makes it too troublesome to adjust.

"Honey, go buy some breakfast. I need to double-check the documents and contract I need for the handover."

After washing up, Zhang Lijuan called out to Xu Xinglei in the bathroom.

The couple lived in company-provided dormitories, which were divided into single-couple rooms and rooms shared by two couples. If a couple wanted to share a room, they would need to pay extra rent.

However, Xu Xinglei is not included. He is now a celebrity at FlashTech, as he is the one who personally accompanied the boss to the Shanghai Stock Exchange to ring the listing bell.

The administration department provided the couple with a dormitory room that was not large but had a very nice layout.

"Okay, I'll go right away."

Actually, they had prepared all the necessary documents for the handover last night and checked them countless times, afraid of missing anything. But it's their first house, so who wouldn't be excited?

Looking back three or four years ago, Xu Xinglei never dreamed of buying a house in Beicang District.

After quickly washing up, Xu Xinglei hurriedly left the room. As he walked out, he noticed that the dormitory area was unusually lively this morning, with many people getting up early like him to buy breakfast. He couldn't help but smile.

Today is the May Day holiday. Normally, the dormitory corridors would be quiet right now, but today is different.

"Brother Lei!"

As Xu Xinglei was walking out of the building, someone called out to him from behind. It was his good brother, Zhao Xinbin.

"Buying breakfast?"

"Yeah, Brother Lei, are you one too?"

"Haha, you're right. Look at all these people getting up early. They must all be for the same reason as us. Did you have trouble sleeping last night too?"

Zhao Xinbin laughed heartily, his face beaming with joy: "It would be a miracle if you could fall asleep."

The two are good brothers. They met in a temporary factory in the Xiapu Industrial Zone. Although Zhao Xinbin is not as successful as Xu Xinglei, he is not bad either. Like Xu Xinglei, he also bought a house in the company community with a mortgage.

Everyone who got up early today had the same goal: to get to the handover site as soon as possible so they could get the keys sooner.

"Come with us in a bit, I'll give you a ride."

"I called you here to talk about this." Although their statuses were somewhat different now, Zhao Xinbin didn't stand on ceremony with Xu Xinglei.

He doesn't own a car, and he still has a mortgage to pay off after buying a house. He simply doesn't have the ability to buy another house in the short term. People like him may have the opportunity to buy a house, but the down payment is actually raised by borrowing money from relatives and friends.

Besides paying off the mortgage every month, I also have to repay money to relatives. I never used to feel that my salary wasn't enough, but now I immediately feel the financial pressure and I don't dare to spend money recklessly.

The two walked and talked, and every now and then people like them would greet them, and some were already getting ready to go over.

For employees living in the dormitory area, buying a house is their first home.

"Sigh, it'll be even farther to commute after we move in. Lei, you're lucky you have a car, but for us without cars, commuting by electric scooter in the winter is quite uncomfortable."

Zhao Xinbin was both happy and conflicted. According to company regulations, employees who bought houses had to move out of the employee dormitory as soon as possible to make room for new employees.

Xu Xinglei comforted him, "Hey, it's no big deal. Living in your own house is definitely more comfortable than living in a dormitory. You can just get up half an hour earlier."

"That's true. I wonder how much the boss's car will cost. If there were a car that cost 1 yuan, I could buy one to drive to and from get off work, haha."

"You're dreaming. This piece of junk costs tens of thousands. Where are you going to find a car for ten thousand? Even a used one would cost more."

(End of this chapter)