I have few friends, but many childhood sweethearts.

Chapter 141. Delicious Duck Neck
After trying Li Meijuan's braised duck necks, duck hearts, and vegetable dishes like lotus root, edamame, and kelp knots, Zhong Wenqing felt even more confident about his entrepreneurial journey.

Before coming to Hong Kong, her father called her to his study for a talk, gave her a savings book with 380,000 yuan in it, and earnestly told her that this would be her dowry.

Zhong Wenqing naturally understood what her father meant. He simply wanted to tell her that the family property was to be left to her younger brother, and he didn't want the siblings to have a falling out over the property after he passed away.

She never really expected anything from her father's fortune anyway. As a graduate of a top-tier university in the 1990s, she still had to maintain her pride.

Zhong Wenqing gladly accepted her father's money, and with her savings from two years of work, she had exactly 500,000 yuan.

After living off her parents for a year, she was under a lot of pressure. On one hand, her family was pressuring her to go on blind dates and get married, and on the other hand, she was subjected to sarcastic remarks from relatives and friends, such as, "Really? Really? A top student from a 985 university can't find a job?"

She didn't want to get married early and just drift through life, nor did she want to take off her long gown and do some labor-intensive work. Since she was already at rock bottom, no matter which way she went, it would be upwards. That's why she agreed to Xu Qingfan's suggestion without hesitation.

On the day he left Yanjing, Zhong Wenqing silently recited the great man's poem: "I vow to leave my hometown and not return until I have achieved fame!"
"Hmm~"

The group sat at the entrance of the convenience store eating pork chops that Li Meijuan had just fried. After taking a bite, Zhong Wenqing's pupils dilated and he exclaimed in surprise.

"Teachers, please eat. I'm so grateful for your care of Yu'er while she was in Yanjing," Li Meijuan said, bringing out freshly fried vegetables and chicken legs and placing them on the table.

"Thank you, sis! Your fried skewers are amazing!" Zhong Wenqing said, giving a thumbs up.

"Hehe~ I'm glad you like it. Eat more, I won't charge you!" Li Meijuan returned to the shop with a kind face and a cheerful smile.

Since her family's situation improved, Li Meijuan seems to have become ten years younger and has regained her vitality.

With plenty of sleep and less fatigue than before, and after being persuaded by Yao Jinping to cut his graying hair short and dye it black, he was full of energy, looking just like the head e-commerce guru on WeChat Moments in his previous life.

“How can I not accept the money?” Zhong Wenqing quickly declined. To avoid giving the other person a chance to respond, she hurriedly added, “Sister Juan, are you free right now? I need your help with something.”

Distracted by her words, Li Meijuan focused her attention on the second half of the sentence, stopping her steps to return and asking, "Teacher, what is it you need? There aren't any guests right now." She assumed Zhong Wenqing was also a teacher at the Experimental Primary School, hence her address.

"Sister Juan, please sit down first, let's talk slowly." Zhong Wenqing got up and moved a small red plastic stool from the opposite table, gesturing for Li Meijuan to sit down before continuing the conversation.

"Okay, Yu'er, go back and help me watch the stall." She said to Wu Lingyu after sitting down.

"Okay, Mom!" Wu Lingyu nodded obediently and got up to go back into the shop.

Because she often helps her mother, Wu Lingyu, who is only in the second grade, has mastered the skills of frying skewers. She often helps out at the shop when Li Meijuan is cooking.

Xu Qingfan very tactfully poured Li Meijuan a glass of cola.

"Sister Juan, it's like this." Zhong Wenqing recounted her plan to open a duck neck shop with someone in detail, and everyone listened quietly beside her.

After a long while, seeing that Zhong Wenqing remained silent, Li Meijuan finally spoke up: "No problem, you can just take the recipe and open your shop. However, I sold it for a while before, and business wasn't very good."

"How could this be? Sister Juan, your braised duck necks are so delicious!" Zhong Wenqing found it hard to believe.

Li Meijuan helplessly shrugged, "Teaching you how to make duck necks is no problem, but I learned all of this from my grandfather. I can't do what you call a food research and development engineer."

"Who is Grandpa?"

"He's my husband's father. The recipe for these fried skewers you're eating was also devised by his grandfather," Li Meijuan explained.

Zhong Wenqing's eyes lit up. "Where is Grandpa now? Can I ask him to come to the shop to help out?"

“Grandpa is currently cooking for people at a construction site in the port city. Teacher, I'm not afraid to tell you the truth, my husband has had uremia for several years and needs someone to take care of him. Grandpa probably can't leave.”

"Huh?" Guan Bianyue and Zhong Wenqing looked surprised.

"Sister Juan, I'm sorry, I didn't know your husband..."

"It's alright, it's alright. I'm already very content with the life I have now," Li Meijuan said with a cheerful smile.

"Sister Qingqing, when you open your duck neck shop in Gangcheng, you can ask Grandpa Xiaoyu for help!" Xu Qingfan interjected from the side.

“That’s right!” Zhong Wenqing nodded repeatedly. “Sister Juan, could you please tell Grandpa that we’ll definitely give you shares if we open a shop using your family’s recipe? And Grandpa’s salary is guaranteed to be higher than what he earns on the construction site!”

Li Meijuan, a woman with only a primary school education, had no idea what shares were, and was too embarrassed to ask in front of her child, so she could only reply to the previous sentence, "Then I'll call him and talk to him about it later."

Li Meijuan immediately called the landline at the construction site where Xiaoyu's maternal grandfather worked. It happened to be cooking time, and Wu Dahe was quickly called over to answer the phone.

Upon learning that he was going to help Teacher Yu'er, Wu Dahe agreed without hesitation. He hadn't had a chance to thank her for the extra few hundred yuan in the apple when he visited her in the hospital last time, so he felt even more favorably toward Teacher Yu'er.

Wu Dahe had only one request: his workplace couldn't be too far from the Provincial People's Hospital. He didn't mention salary, but he could earn 60 yuan a day cooking at the construction site, easily making 1,800 yuan a month. In an era when sanitation workers only earned 800 yuan a month, that was considered a high salary.

Cooks like Wu Dahe, who can cook large meals, are highly sought after everywhere; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to earn sixty yuan for just two meals.

Unfortunately, even mountains of gold and silver can't cover the costs of medical treatment. Wu Suowei was diagnosed with uremia in 2000, and within just three years, he had squandered all of his family's savings of over 100,000 yuan, ultimately forcing him to sell his house. (There's a bug earlier: Li Meijuan's fried food stall now earns three to four thousand yuan a month.)
"Grandpa, could you please adjust the flavor of the duck neck a bit? I think it's still a bit too spicy," Zhong Wenqing said on the phone.

"Okay, okay~ I'm not talking to you anymore, little girl. I still need to cook. Just ask Yu'er's mom to call me whenever you need my help!" Wu Dahe said in Mandarin with a Sichuan-Chongqing accent.

"Done!" After hanging up the phone, Zhong Wenqing happily gave everyone present a high five.

She is becoming more and more confident about opening a chain of duck neck stores.

the next day.

Xu Qingfan brought Zhong Wenqing to Zhang Chunxue's home at the agreed time.

Since it was a serious matter to discuss, neither Zhang Yiyi nor Lin Wanning were at home.

"Auntie, this is Sister Zhong Wenqing, our class teacher's college roommate." Xu Qingfan, acting all familiar, entered the room and took out a pair of new slippers from the shoe cabinet for Zhong Wenqing to change into.

Today, Zhang Chunxue wore a professional women's suit by Alexander McQueen. Her long, slightly wavy, thick black hair was naturally parted in the middle, revealing her forehead. Every smile and gesture exuded confidence, elegance, and composure.

"Hello, Sister Xue." Zhong Wenqing was immediately captivated by the unique aura emanating from her, and nodded stiffly in greeting. "Auntie, you two chat, I'll go make you some tea!" Xu Qingfan went into the kitchen to boil water and make tea for the two of them, just like she was at home.

"Hello Wenqing, Xiaofan has mentioned you to me. Let's sit down and chat." Zhang Chunxue gave Xu Qingfan a reproachful look and extended her hand to invite him.

Fortunately, Zhong Wenqing had two years of experience working in government offices, so she wasn't a complete novice. She quickly adjusted and took out the business plan for a chain of duck neck restaurants that she had printed out earlier from her handbag.

"Sister Xue, please take a look. These are some of my thoughts."

"Mm." Zhang Chunxue smiled and nodded at her, then took the paper and began to read it.

Zhong Wenqing's business plan was an expansion of Xu Qingfan's original plan. It detailed market research on duck neck shops, including target audience, average order value, profit margin, and competitor information.

In addition, there are store location selection, employee training and management, company strategic planning, and product marketing methods.

Zhong Wenqing came with full confidence, admitting that she had never written her undergraduate thesis with such care.

After reading it, Zhang Chunxue nodded with satisfaction. "There are basically no problems. Since Xiaofan is willing to trust you, I am also willing to trust you." She put down the plan in her hand and said.

Zhong Wenqing didn't know how to respond for a moment, so he could only say, "Thank you for your trust, Sister Xue. I will definitely not let you down!"

"If you can lose money selling such delicious duck necks, you might as well jump into the Pearl River!" Xu Qingfan joked when he saw the awkward atmosphere.

"Have you decided on a name for the company? I'll have someone help you register it; it should be done in a day," Zhang Chunxue asked, patting Xu Qingfan's head.

“Xiao Fan suggested calling it ‘Good Taste Duck Neck,’ and I think that’s fine too,” Zhong Wenqing said.

“Delicious Duck Neck?” Zhang Chunxue said in Cantonese. “The name is not bad either. Let’s use the one Xiaofan mentioned. I’ll have someone design a few trademarks for you to choose from later.”

"Auntie, Yi Yi and I have finished designing it!" Xu Qingfan took out a folded piece of paper from his pocket.

When Zhang Chunxue opened it, inside was a duck with outstretched white wings making an invitation gesture, which would become the logo of JueWei Duck Neck a few years later.

Zhang Chunxue couldn't say whether a trademark was good or bad, but since her daughter had participated in its design, it was of course excellent!
"Not bad, not bad. Xiaoqing, take a look. If there are no problems, let's use this as the trademark."

"Sister Xue, I've already seen it, and I think it's great!"

After discussing the trademark, the next step was to talk about the shares.

Before coming, Xu Qingfan had already discussed with Zhang Chunxue that 5% of the shares would be left to Xiaoyu's family, and the two of them would pay for any extra shares.

After buying Apple stock, Xu Qingfan still had about two million yuan left in his bank account, and he planned to take out two million yuan at once to invest in the company.

Because real businesses are not as speculative as stocks, Zhang Chunxue did not continue to adhere to her principle of not putting all her eggs in one basket and granted Xu Qingfan's request.

The most crucial point is that Zhang Chunxue knows that real estate has become a pillar industry of the country since the year before last, and the process of urbanization is a gold mine with no end in sight. In the next ten years or so, housing prices and land prices will definitely see a surge.

However, because her family members were still in positions of power, even though she knew there was potential for profit, she never considered taking a bite out of the pie; there's no end to the money in the world.

"Then let's talk about the shares," Zhang Chunxue said, taking an elegant sip of tea from her ceramic cup.

"Sister Xue, I brought some money from home this time, a total of 500,000 yuan. I'm still a novice when it comes to starting a business, so I hope you can give me some guidance," Zhong Wenqing said sincerely.

“I read your business plan, which mentions opening 100 directly operated stores in two years, all of which are capital-intensive operations involving self-purchased properties. Based on the current average housing price in Gangcheng, a 30-square-meter shop would cost about 100,000 yuan, plus 20,000 yuan for renovation.”

"It will cost about 450 million, not including advertising and equipment purchases," Zhong Wenqing had estimated before coming.

As long as the duck neck shop can generate stable and considerable monthly revenue, Zhong Wenqing is confident that he can leverage 450 million yuan to achieve the entire process of "borrowing a chicken to lay eggs" (i.e., using capital to generate profits).

“Okay, let’s round it up. Xiao Fan and I will contribute 450 million, and Xiao Qing, you will contribute 50. Since you are the legal representative and manager of the company, I will give you an extra 10% of the shares. Xiao Qing, you will contribute 50 for 20% of the shares, and Xiao Yu’s mother will contribute 5% as a technical contribution. Xiao Fan and I will split the remaining 75% of the shares equally. Do you think this is acceptable?” Zhang Chunxue said calmly.

“Ah, no problem, no problem!” Zhong Wenqing nodded repeatedly. As the executor, she had thought before coming that she could ask for an extra 5% of the shares, but she did not expect Zhang Chunxue to be so generous as to give her 10%.

"That's settled then. Xiaoqing, leave your phone number, and I'll let you know when to transfer the money into the company account."

"Okay okay."

Overall, Zhang Chunxue was quite satisfied with the candidate Xu Qingfan had chosen. It didn't matter if the company's product quality was poor, but the person had to be proficient in finance, and Zhong Wenqing happened to be a top student from a 985 university majoring in accounting.

For example, if a company's profit this year is ten million, according to tax law, it should pay 25%, or 250 million, in corporate income tax, leaving 750 million. If it wants to pocket this money, it should also pay 20% in personal income tax, ultimately leaving only 600 million.

However, if you purchase a batch of shops and equipment in advance when you are tallying up your finances at the end of the year, the profits will be offset immediately. After purchasing the equipment and shops, you can then mortgage them to the bank, and the money will eventually return to the company's pocket.

This is just the most common tax avoidance method; the importance of an excellent financial officer to a company is self-evident.

Thanks to Zhang Chunxue's connections, Delicious Duck Neck Food Co., Ltd. was officially established two days later.

When Zhong Wenqing took a white paper to Li Meijuan for her signature, Li Meijuan had no idea what shares were and signed her name in a daze.

By the time Li Meijuan realized it, she was already a millionaire.

Having accomplished something that had been on his mind, Xu Qingfan felt an indescribable sense of joy.

[Could I have become a billionaire before even going to college?] He daydreamed, thinking about the past development of Jue Wei Duck Neck.

"A tall building rises from the ground, and glory can only be achieved through one's own efforts. Go, Qingqing!" Xu Qingfan shouted, raising a glass of Sprite at the party celebrating the founding of Delicious Duck Neck Company.

"Hahaha~"

"come on!"

(End of this chapter)