Return to 1958 and build a century-old giant

Chapter 950 The Explosive Success of the First KFC

Although he doesn't place much importance on the zoo industry, since he already has one, expanding it domestically is a good idea.
This industry is quite large. Chimelong in its previous life was a company worth hundreds of billions. In particular, it can form integrated projects with hotels, theme parks and other facilities, which complement each other. In this way, even with the arrival of the Internet era, it will not affect the business.
Director Shao asked in surprise, "Mr. Yang, are you thinking of investing in a zoo in China?"

Yang Wendong continued, "Not just zoos, amusement parks are also acceptable, but that shouldn't be under your jurisdiction. I'll arrange for someone to apply for it myself."

If we're going to do it, let's do it right the first time.

Director Shao thought for a moment and said, "Mr. Yang, this matter is of great importance and cannot be decided by my department. However, from my personal perspective, I would very much like to welcome your investment in the zoo."

However, according to domestic requirements, achieving foreign exchange balance will likely be difficult. After all, even if our zoos have overseas tourists, the foreign exchange won't actually reach us, and that small amount of foreign exchange probably won't be enough.

Yang Wendong said, "That's easy to say. Some of my businesses operate domestically and have a strategy of reinvesting the profits in RMB. The central government has agreed to this, so I think there shouldn't be much of a problem with them on this matter."

Other foreign companies, regardless of what they invest in China, whether they are wholly-owned or joint ventures, as long as they make money, they all want to convert it into US dollars and leave as soon as possible.

This is actually normal. After all, in this era, the level of trust in the RMB and the US dollar is worlds apart. Even if Tokyo University controls the global industrial chain decades later, it will still be very difficult to challenge the US dollar in terms of currency internationalization.
However, it doesn't matter to him. Not to mention that he knows the future, he will still need to continue investing in China in the future.
Therefore, he will also reuse the RMB he earns domestically, for example, by investing in infrastructure, which is something the government encourages.

“Alright, then the biggest problem is solved.” Director Shao thought for a moment and said, “Here’s what I’ll do: I’ll go back now, prepare the relevant report, and give you a reply as soon as possible.”

Other foreign investors are very concerned about foreign exchange, which is why many domestic projects fail.

But for Yang Wendong, this problem was no problem at all, and the other problems became much simpler.

Yang Wendong said, "Okay, thank you very much, Director Shao."

After the two left, Yang Zhiwen put away his notebook and asked, "Dad, when you bought the South China tiger in China, was it all for this day?"

"No, I really just wanted to save this species as a side effect," Yang Wendong said, shaking his head.
He really didn't think that much about it at the time. In the mid-70s, although his wealth was far less than it is now, even if he just lay down and his descendants didn't gamble or start businesses too much, they would still have more than enough to last ten lifetimes.
He treated the South China tiger purely out of personal interest and a hope to save the tigers for the Chinese people.

The South China tiger becoming a rare species is not something that only started this year. In fact, the international community and China had already discovered this problem around 80 years ago. Others wanted to buy it from Yang Wendong's company, and the prices offered were not low, but he refused them all.

Yang Zhiwen laughed and said, "It seems that Daddy's kindness back then has actually been rewarded enough today."

"I can only say that at our level, there are just too many opportunities," Yang Wendong said. "It's partly about luck, and partly about ability. If it were an ordinary person, even if they had saved the South China tiger back then, they would only have been able to sell it for a high price today."

Many companies grow to a certain size, then encounter numerous opportunities, and eventually develop into giants.
For example, the most famous penguin company in its previous life, its founder Pony Ma probably couldn't have imagined the future scale of penguins in its early days.

Yang Zhiwen said, "Yes, it is thanks to Daddy's hard work over the years that our Yang family has the opportunity we have today."

"Hmm," Yang Wendong nodded and said, "The Yang family will have to rely on you from now on. Keep an eye on the zoo matter from now on."
This industry won't make you a lot of money, but it's stable. Decades from now, people will be visiting the zoo.

The future internet era will likely be changed by his existence, so even he isn't entirely certain whether he can accurately invest in future internet giants.

Therefore, he has recently been investing in industries that are not affected by the internet.

“Okay.” Yang Zhiwen paused and said, “Daddy, I seem to have too much work on me lately. I’ve been staying up late to look at documents. I’m worried that something might go wrong.”

"What I'm teaching you isn't about working all night, but about how to manage your time," Yang Wendong said. "What you're taking over now is only a part of my work, but do you see me working all night?"

Not to mention now, even when he was younger, he rarely stayed up late;
Health comes first, this is Yang Wendong's ironclad rule. He can earn less money, since he can't spend it all anyway, but health is absolutely the most important thing.
According to his conversations with nutritionists and doctors of both traditional Chinese and Western medicine, he also learned a proverb: A person's health depends 30% on exercise, 70% on diet, and 90% on sleep.
Many diseases are caused by staying up late;

Yang Zhiwen said, "I understand Daddy's style of doing things, but I can never be as confident as Daddy. I need to confirm many things in detail."

"Take it slow, you have a lot to learn in the future." Yang Wendong thought for a moment and said, "But remember, don't stay up late anymore. Your health is more important than work. Later, you will learn from me how to delegate. Give the right things to the right people."
Even if someone else makes a mistake and causes some damage, that's inevitable, because we can't do everything ourselves. Besides, we might make mistakes even if we did it ourselves.

"Yes, Daddy," Yang Zhiwen nodded.
Yang Wendong continued, "Alright, there are only a few days left until DYB. You can rest for a couple of days and stop looking at the data. Come with me to climb the Great Wall tomorrow."

After a lot of mental work, the best way to rest is through moderate physical exercise.
Yang Zhiwen said, "Okay."

In the following days, Yang Wendong led a group of people to climb the Great Wall, visit the Forbidden City, and also take a walk around Tsinghua and Peking Universities.

On September 30, Yang Wendong and his family arrived at No. 9 Zhengyang Street, Qianmen, Yanjing. Early in the morning, the place was already packed with people and bustling with activity.

"Rumble~~~~"

The sounds of dragon and lion dances came from ahead. Standing on tiptoe, they could see several teams performing energetically, along with many balloons. "Daddy, Mommy, this KFC is really lively!" Yang Zhiwen said curiously. "In America, KFC is just an ordinary fast food restaurant."

Yang Wendong laughed and said, "It's still different. In China, people still regard KFC food as good food. The social environment is different, which creates different demands. High-calorie food is junk food in Europe and America, but in mainland China today, it is top-notch nutritional products."

In later generations in mainland China, high-calorie foods were called junk food, but in essence, they were not junk. If they had been sent to China a few decades ago, I wonder how many adults would have risked their lives for them.
There's a saying online that goes, "If someone traveled back to ancient times and could guarantee that their subordinates ate KFC every day, they'd definitely be crowned emperor."
Su Yiyi, dressed like a wealthy woman, said, "It'll be just like instant noodles. So, Dong Ge, are you planning to make KFC a luxury brand in China? Like in Southeast Asia?"

“Yes, we’ll operate it as a luxury brand for now.” Yang Wendong nodded and said, “Once the mainland economy no longer lacks food, we can return to normal operations.”

He acquired KFC very early on; he had been thinking about opening stores in mainland China since the reform and opening up period.

However, the mainland side did not agree, and there were many reasons for this. Yang Wendong did not ask further, as he could not possibly negotiate with the mainland's high-level officials on such a matter. He could only wait.
Last year, the domestic attitude towards reform and opening up seemed to be stronger, and with considerations for balancing foreign trade, some overseas food companies were allowed to conduct pilot operations in China.
However, many other brands did not pay attention to the mainland market, while Yang Wendong arranged for KFC to open a pilot store in Yanjing first;

As for whether to operate it as a regular brand or a luxury brand, there is really no choice. When society has a demand for high-calorie foods, such products will inevitably be welcomed.
The original KFC opened in 87 and was regarded as the most luxurious restaurant by the citizens of Yanjing. In an era when the average monthly salary was only a few dozen yuan, a few yuan's worth of fried chicken could generate a daily turnover of 30 yuan.
There are even wealthy people who hold their wedding banquets at KFC. If this were in mainland China in later years, it would be a laughing stock and go viral. But in this era, everyone thinks that person is really rich and generous.

"The door's open, shall we go in and take a look?" Yang Zhiwen suddenly asked;
Yang Wendong said, "Let's go in and take a look. Don't disturb the staff inside. Let's just treat ourselves as ordinary customers and experience it."

“Great, it’s quite lively. I haven’t felt this way in a long time.” Su Yiyi said, “I haven’t queued much in Hong Kong or even Europe and America in recent years.”

Yang Wendong laughed and said, "Then let's experience the life of an ordinary person."

Given the Yang family's status, they would naturally dine or shop at top-tier venues. These places would not be crowded, and there would even be more waiters than customers, providing one-on-one or even multiple-to-one service.

"Mm." Su Yiyi nodded;
Then, the group lined up like ordinary people, but they were still not careless about security, as there were still some bodyguards around them, and they all lined up with them.

They waited for almost an hour before it was their turn. They ordered some chicken nuggets and hamburgers, and luckily, they managed to snag a seat near the window.

"Brother Dong, your KFC is huge! It feels much bigger than the one in Hong Kong!" Su Yiyi said while eating chicken nuggets.

Yang Wendong said, "Yes, the mainland only gave us one pilot quota, but there was no limit on the area, so naturally I had to build a bigger one. This building is also mine. I deliberately bought a lot of old houses around here, and then demolished them to build this new building."

Under normal circumstances, foreign investors are not able to purchase properties in China, except for projects with special central government approval, such as the China World Trade Center.

KFC obtained the qualification to open a store, which naturally meant it had the right to purchase property. This was an added benefit. Therefore, Yanjing's specialists, who were well-versed in the essence of the Hong Kong real estate industry, naturally purchased a considerable area.

After finishing her meal, Su Yiyi glanced at the people around her and said, "Judging from this, it's bound to be very popular in the future. It seems that KFC will have a huge new market in mainland China in the future."

“Yes, the demand for food in the mainland will still be very high in the future.” Yang Wendong smiled and said, “Watsons will also fully enter the mainland market in the future. The only restriction is the law. When the law restricts foreign investment less in the future, I will definitely do my best to develop the mainland market.”

Su Yiyi said, "I never imagined there would be so many wealthy people in the mainland."

“Wealth is unevenly distributed everywhere,” Yang Wendong shrugged. “Let’s not worry about that. Let’s just focus on doing our own business well.”

In fact, even if all the world's wealth were distributed equally to everyone one day, ten years later, wealth would still concentrate in the pyramid.
This is a problem that human civilization has studied for thousands of years without being able to solve.

The next morning, Yang Wendong and his family went to visit DYB. The scale of the event was beyond words.

Aunt Guo was also specially brought over from Hong Kong. She looked at the army, various weapons, airplanes in the sky, and tanks on the road in front of her.

His eyes immediately welled up with tears, and he said, "Ah, if only we had these weapons back then. When I was a child, there was war, and I was bombed by planes and had to run around everywhere. Now China has its own fleet of aircraft."

"I hope that there will never be another zz on the land of China again," Yang Wendong thought to himself.

He certainly didn't experience the political crisis, but given the advanced internet in his previous life, he still knew some things. However, TV dramas and movies may have romanticized it, and the reality was probably hundreds of times worse.

On October 2nd, Yang Wendong also received the sales figures for the first KFC store in the past two days, which were 430,000 and 390,000 RMB respectively.

"The domestic market truly offers endless business opportunities," Yang Wendong said. "Even if these funds aren't transferred out, they can be used to invest in infrastructure domestically. It seems we need to invest even more in the service sector."

The domestic service sector is not very open to foreign investment;
This is to prevent foreign investors from earning RMB and then converting it into foreign currency;

However, if he can promise to keep the funds in the country, then perhaps there will still be some chance.

PS: Please give me a monthly ticket
(End of this chapter)