1982 Started from Hong Kong

Chapter 479 Reunion
The private room finally quieted down.

Zhai Yuan slumped into the chair, his shirt collar pulled askew, revealing half of his firm breasts.

To be fair, Mr. Zhai has always maintained a good physique.

Xue Wan'en's gaze lingered on his chest, where his masculine features were, for two seconds. Then, as if thinking of something, she pursed her lips and picked up her teacup again.

"You crazy idiot! I'm a respectable businessman, the kind my father personally selected. How about it? Let's play sumo wrestling!"

Facing Peng Jiayan, Zhai Yuan was no longer as serious as he had been when he was talking to Secretary Fu. He muttered something under his breath and reached out to tidy his messy hair, which had been turned into a bird's nest.

"For Senior Sister Xue's sake, I'll let you off the hook for now!"

Peng Jiayan gulped down a mouthful of cold tea without any manners. Her appearance was much more presentable than Zhai Yuan's. Apart from her carefully styled short hair being messy, her clothes were in perfect condition.

It's clear that although the outburst was brutal, CEO Zhai still showed mercy.

Of course, there are also reasons why they are not in the right.

In order to unite with the grain stores in the city and prevent the farmers of Xiawan Village from obtaining the land, General Manager Zhai made an empty promise.

Peng Jiayan was also blinded by greed and was easily persuaded to start her own business, plunging headlong into the deep waters of the food industry.

To my shame, the only help Zhai Yuan gave Jia Yan throughout the entire process was to have Nishiki Iwao take her to the food factories of several Japanese companies, including Iwatsuka Confectionery, Kameda Seika, and Sanko Confectionery, to inquire about patent licensing issues.

"The most valuable asset in business is the information gap!"

Zhai Yuan straightened his shirt collar, still self-righteous: "If I hadn't told you that Japan has confectionery technology, you'd still be relying on secondhand channels from Taiwan. Haven't I helped you enough?"

Peng Jiayan, holding up a makeup mirror to fix her hair, flared up again upon hearing this: "How dare you say that? If it weren't for your instigation, I would have had such an easy life as a rich second-generation! I could even dabble in making a couple of movies in my spare time. Now I have to go to the factory every day to oversee production, and I don't even dare to wear nail polish. I go out in work clothes all the time. Do you know what my old friends call me behind my back? They call me 'factory girl'!"

Zhai Yuan exclaimed dramatically, "Wow! You can be friends with someone like that? Cut ties with him!"

Peng Jiayan sighed softly, "That's about it. Since I started my own business, my old friends have gradually gone their separate ways. They want to go clubbing all night, go to concerts, and travel the world. If they can't get you to go twice, they just give up."

"This is the price of growing up. Sister Nancy, you've finally grown up."

Zhai Yuan said in a deep voice, glanced at her chest, and added, "I'm talking about personality."

"You're going to die!" Peng Jiayan grabbed a pack of tissues and threw it at Zhai Yuan in a fit of anger.

With a faint smile on her face, Xue Wan'en listened to the conversation between the two and asked Peng Jiayan, "What are the differences in transitioning from a graduate to a boss?"

"Life is tough, Senior Sister!" Peng Jiayan wailed, pulling Xue Wan'en aside to complain: "That scoundrel Zhai Yuan tricked me. Making snacks requires calculating costs everywhere; it's not as easy as he makes it out to be. Last month, the price of seaweed powder and leavening agent went up, and I woke up at three in the morning to redo the budget..."

Zhai Yuan glanced at Peng Jiayan.

As this flat-chested girl spoke, she threw herself into Xue Wan'en's arms, looking as if she had suffered a great injustice, but in reality, her eyes hadn't even turned red. It was clear that she was more interested in taking advantage of her than complaining.

"Heh~" Zhai Yuan chuckled, "Since it's so hard, then don't do it!"

Peng Jiayan wrapped her arms around Xue Wan'en's neck, her tone immediately turning annoyed: "Shut up! I'm the victim now. If I don't do it, what will happen to my production line, all my raw materials, and my dozens of workers?"

Zhai Yuan rolled his eyes and asked, "Then stop babbling and get to the point: when do you plan to open?"

Peng Jiayan reluctantly climbed out of Xue Wan'en's arms, feeling fragrant all over, and thought to herself that it was no wonder men were attracted to beautiful women with good figures.

Keep playing the victim next time!
Peng Jiayan's eyes flashed with a smug glint, then she sat up straight and said, "It will be officially launched next month, which is why I asked you and Sister Wan'en to meet today to help me with the distribution channels."

Then, through Peng Jiayan's explanation, Zhai Yuan learned about her entrepreneurial journey over the past two years.

From initial research and development to mass production testing, Peng Jiayan did almost everything herself. Despite her complaints about the hardships, this girl is actually quite tenacious. Sometimes she would stay in the factory for half a month at a time. In order to understand the technical differences between the major Japanese confectionery companies, she would be on the production line one day and then drag her suitcase to Japan the next day. She went back and forth for several months and managed to thoroughly understand the ins and outs of the confectionery companies.

“Our factory now produces six types of snacks, with even more sub-flavors. During the first half of the year, I lived in Thailand and conducted market research on about 100,000 people in several locations. I even staked out and investigated convenience stores near Pattaya’s red-light district.”

Peng Jiayan smiled confidently: "In terms of acceptance, our products are 15% more popular than local bestsellers. When the same batch of Want Want rice crackers entered Thailand, the sales were basically on par. It would be difficult to make a breakthrough in taste, so what remains is distribution channels and promotion."

Zhai Yuan looked slightly surprised, not because he was shocked by the sales figures, but because he didn't expect Peng Jiayan to put her snacks in Thailand as a pilot program in advance.

Confidence is one aspect. If the product quality is up to standard, once it is officially launched, snacks comparable to Want Want will suddenly appear on the market. Other competitors will not even have time to react. Apart from price reductions and promotions, they can only watch helplessly as it divides up the market.

"Sister Jia Yan has even learned about military strategy now." Zhai Yuan grinned, then asked after a moment's thought, "What's the brand name? Do you need me to help with the design?"

Design and packaging were also among the conditions that Zhai Yuan had promised Peng Jiayan, but he had long since forgotten about them.

"How could I dare to trouble you, Mr. Zhai?" Peng Jiayan sneered sarcastically, raising her chin triumphantly: "As the person in charge of the company, after careful consideration, I have created my own brand, and the name is—Reunion!"

The atmosphere in the private room fell silent for a moment.
Peng Jiayan did not receive the praise she had expected.

Ten seconds later, Sister Nancy's confidence waned, and she asked hesitantly, "Is something wrong?"

After a moment's thought, Xue Wan'en said, "The idea is fine, but it sounds a bit awkward. Also, these two characters are difficult to write, which is not conducive to children's spread. Right now, Hua En's best-selling product is still Want Want, which is more conducive to promotion in terms of both pronunciation and writing."

Xue Wan'en naturally speaks from the perspective of Hong Kong people writing traditional Chinese characters. Compared to the 14 strokes in the two characters of "Wangzai" and the 27 strokes in the two characters of "Tuanyuan," snacks are sold to children. In brand marketing, simplicity will inevitably have a decisive impact on consumer perception, communication efficiency, and market promotion.

I could spot the problem at a glance.

Peng Jiayan's face immediately fell. If Zhai Yuan had said those words, she might have argued back, but it was Senior Sister Xue's suggestion...

How did you come up with the idea of ​​using this brand name?

Like Xue Wan'en, Zhai Yuan also saw the problem and paused before asking.

Peng Jiayan rolled her eyes at him, annoyed: "Isn't it you who told me that the brand name must have a good meaning? We Chinese talk about two things: wealth and people. Now Want Want has taken the word for wealth, so if I make Reunion, won't I take the word for people? It's about family reunion!"

"That makes sense," Zhai Yuan smiled and said, "Then let's use simplified characters!"

Peng Jiayan frowned: "Is simplified Chinese characters acceptable? I have no objection, but the public outside is still using traditional characters, and there's also the Taiwan market..."

"The combined market size of Hong Kong and Taiwan is not as large as the future mainland market."

After Zhai Yuan finished speaking, he added, "In addition, there are Chinese people in Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. Nowadays, very few people still use traditional Chinese characters, so I don't think this is a big problem." Peng Jiayan's eyes lit up.

Zhai Yuan continued, "However, some changes are still needed. Sister Wan'en's pronunciation is awkward. These two words together do have this problem. They are rarely used except in written language."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Peng Jiayan waved her hand, signaling Zhai Yuan to stop, then took out a notebook from her bag and asked, "How do I revise it?"

"Wow, you're suddenly so serious?" Zhai Yuan smiled and said, "It's not that complicated. Tuanyuan doesn't sound right, so let's change it to two brands, Tuantuan and Yuanyuan. Don't you still have beverages on your production line? In the future, Tuantuan will be the snack category, and Yuanyuan will specialize in beverages."

Peng Jiayan frowned: "Wouldn't it be too expensive to create a separate category for beverages?"

Trust me, selling water is very profitable!

Zhai Yuan smiled meaningfully, then asked, "Have you done any brand design sketches?"

"Yes, I designed the brand image myself."

Peng Jiayan quickly jotted down the key points on the paper and then drew out the IP image of her self-created brand—two swallows circling, resembling a tai chi symbol, with the two characters for "reunion" in the middle.

"How about it?"

"That's not really going to work either."

Zhai Yuan looked at the design drawings and shook his head.

It's clear that Nancy Peng wanted to use the phrase "new swallows returning to their nest" to align with the brand's theme of reunion, and it may also have incorporated the brand effect from her own name.

But in the end, it all boils down to three words: it's not good-looking.

Xue Wan'en glanced at it and said, "Compared to the popular cartoon characters nowadays, this one is indeed less memorable."

Peng Jiayan felt deeply hurt and could only look at Zhai Yuan with longing eyes once more.

Zhai Yuan lazily stretched his neck, took out a cigarette, and dangled it in his mouth.

Peng Jiayan's face darkened: "Hey, don't go too far!"

Zhai Yuan said slowly and deliberately, "I don't care, it's not like it's my own company anyway."

Peng Jiayan gritted her teeth, got up, grabbed a lighter, and reluctantly held the flame up to Zhai Yuan's face.

"Hey~ good girl!" Zhai Yuan patted her hand with a smug smile, ignoring her biting glare, exhaled a puff of smoke, and said leisurely, "If swallows don't work, then let's try other animals~ Let me test you, what's the most popular animal right now?"

Peng Jiayan immediately replied, "Mickey Mouse!"

Xue Wan'en nodded in deep agreement.

"Damn! You want to create an original brand? Do you really need to buy the copyright from Disney?"

Zhai Yuan rolled his eyes at her, biting his cigarette butt, and said, "Of course it's a panda! Do you even know what a national treasure is? Go to the mainland, get a commercial license for a panda, then find an illustrator at my anime site, and they can design dozens of cartoon characters in no time. Do you understand?"

In 1988, the birth of panda Huan Huan at Ueno Zoo in Japan attracted 50 people to queue up for a visit, which can be regarded as the most successful cultural export of soft power in the early days of China's reform and opening up.

At that time, there were already brands such as Panda cigarettes and radios in mainland China, and commercial licensing had not yet been tightened.

As Zhai Yuan spoke, he took the paper and pen from Peng Jiayan's hand and sketched out the IP characters of "Panda Department Store" and "Kung Fu Panda" with a few strokes.

"Here, that's about it." Zhai Yuan tossed the paper to Peng Jiayan and said casually, "You got a good deal, Jiayan. If 91 Entertainment ever makes a panda-themed cartoon in the future, we'll consider selling the license to you first."

Looking at the pattern drawn by Zhai Yuan, Peng Jiayan noticed that although the style was rough, it was clearly more impressive than the two swallows she had designed herself.

“Great, I’ll add more investment. Get the movie out as soon as possible.”

Peng Jiayan, as if she had found a treasure, stuffed Zhai Yuan's draft into her bag and said with a smile, "I'm going out to make a phone call and tell everyone that we don't need to discuss the design anymore, we'll just use your version!"

Peng Jiayan rushed out with the phone in her hand.

Zhai Yuan watched her retreating figure and smiled. The rich girl who used to film Category III films with him was now gradually becoming independent.

Xue Wan'en was silent for a moment, then raised the corners of her mouth and said, "It's Jia Yan's first time starting a business, I didn't expect her to be able to persevere."

"Yes, but with us helping her with the distribution, the risk has been minimized."

After saying this with a smile, Zhai Yuan then put on a serious face and sighed, "On the contrary, ordinary people like me, without power or background, can only rely on myself to start from scratch. This journey has been truly arduous."

Xue Wan'en: "..."

She felt that it was fine for others to talk about their hardships, but the man in front of her was simply unconvincing.

"It's difficult!"

Zhai Yuan wiped his eyes and, mimicking Peng Jiayan's earlier actions, threw himself straight into Xue Wan'en's arms.

Xue Wan'en looked stunned for a moment, her body stiffened, and then a helpless smile appeared on her face, as if she had acquiesced, or perhaps sighed.

Zhai Yuan whispered in Xue Wan'en's ear, "My Jurassic Park on the outlying island is about to open. I'll take you there when I have time."

Xue Wan'en hummed in agreement, then added, "Okay."

Neither of them spoke.
Zhai Yuan gently rested his chin on Xue Wan'en's shoulder, his breath carrying the faint fragrance of her hair. Xue Wan'en's body was initially a little stiff, but it gradually softened as Zhai Yuan breathed.

Letting Zhai Yuan lean against her, Xue Wan'en wore a serene smile, her fingers unconsciously stroking the hair behind his head.

blah blah blah!

Peng Jiayan burst into the private room again, only to witness the silent scene before her. The excited expression on her face froze instantly, and her pupils dilated violently.

So much so that she dropped her older brother's phone on the ground, just like the heart of a girl filled with admiration for her senior.
Broken.

(End of this chapter)