Hong Kong Tycoon: Starting from Delivering Dongfeng Express

Chapter 124 Chen Yongren's Faith Shakes

"Officer Qi, we'll be relying on you for support in Guangzhou from now on with Dongfeng Express!"

"Mr. Ye, rest assured, we always treat Hong Kong businessmen well, especially your shop! Please feel free to come to me if you need anything in the future!"

Ye Dongsheng and Qi Wei both intended to make friends with each other, so the meal was extremely pleasant, and they had a very enjoyable conversation.

A few days later, Ye Dongsheng stood at the entrance of the Dongfeng Express store and instructed Jimmy:

"Jimmy, I'm leaving things in Yangcheng to you. Contact me if anything happens. If there's any emergency that you can't handle, you can go to Officer Qi."

Jimmy quickly assured him, "Don't worry, Brother Sheng, I will definitely manage the stores in Guangzhou well and won't let you down!"

Ye Dongsheng smiled and nodded. Since arriving in Guangzhou, Jimmy had become increasingly proactive, fully mobilizing his initiative. Ye Dongsheng had noticed his performance during this period, and it was indeed quite impressive.

Therefore, Ye Dongsheng is quite at ease handing over the several stores in Guangzhou to him.

As the vehicle carrying Ye Dongsheng gradually disappeared from sight, Jimmy's heart remained burning with excitement.

He used to think that the mainland was inferior to Hong Kong in every way, but this Canton Fair made Jimmy realize that it is indeed a much wider world!

Previously, he had only encountered gangsters like Lung Gen on Hong Kong Island, but here, he was meeting wealthy businessmen, government officials, and people who truly held power and resources in society!
Making something of himself here is a hundred times better than his previous gangster days in Hong Kong!
This time, Ye Dongsheng went back with Wang Jianjun in the delivery truck, to check if there were any problems with the whole process.

After the truck arrived in Guancheng, Ye Dongsheng stayed at the main store in Guancheng for half a day.

Ye Dongsheng watched from the entrance of the Guancheng store. Nowadays, all the deliverymen in Guancheng are riding the "red roosters" provided by the store. They push the start lever, twist the throttle, and they shoot off.

Although it's said to be company-provided, it's actually considered as if they bought it themselves. These deliverymen have installment contracts with the store, paying 333 yuan per month, and they can buy the car in 3 months.

When a peak period of deliverymen arrived to pick up their packages, Ye Dongsheng went over with a smile and asked, "Brothers, how's this work going? Any problems?"

The deliveryman, seeing that Ye Dongsheng, this big boss, was addressing him as a brother, repeatedly said he didn't deserve it. These days, mainlanders generally look down on Hong Kong businessmen, let alone their own boss!

Ye Dongsheng smiled and said, "Anyone who is hardworking, reliable, and willing to work in Dongfeng Express is one of my brothers!"

He's setting an example for Dongzi, so that Dongzi decades from now can learn how to treat his employees like brothers!
The group of deliverymen were immediately delighted to hear this. It was such a prestigious thing for a big boss from Hong Kong to be on friendly terms with them!
Moreover, this greatly increased the sense of belonging among the deliverymen. They were all brothers, so the boss would definitely not treat them badly!
The group waved their hands repeatedly: "No problem! The company gives us such good benefits, what could be a problem!"

"Yes! He rides the motorcycles our company provides around town every day, and everyone in our town is so envious!"

"Boss, the company treats us well, so we're not afraid of any hardship or fatigue!"

Seeing how enthusiastic the group of people were, Ye Dongsheng nodded and smiled, thinking that people's hearts were indeed won over!

He then asked, "How many packages can you deliver each day?"

"I delivered 25 yesterday!"

"I have 18!"

"I have 22!"

"I have 36!"

The guy who reported 36 immediately felt the envious looks from everyone around him, and proudly puffed out his chest.

Ye Dongsheng thought to himself that the difference was still quite significant; this 36-year-old was twice as tall as the 18-year-old!
However, Ye Dongsheng was unable to adjust this situation.

With 4000 factories and more than 30 towns in Dongguan, seven to eight hundred express deliveries are generated every day, averaging more than twenty deliveries per town.

However, the development of different towns is definitely uneven; some towns have many factories, while others have few.

In Guancheng, a responsibility-based contracting system is implemented, meaning each courier is responsible for their designated town, and most couriers are selected locally. Therefore, unlike Jinghai, the division of areas cannot be dynamically adjusted. The number of orders a courier receives depends entirely on the number of factories in the town and their output.

This leads to significant differences in the number of orders delivered by couriers in different towns.

However, this situation was not caused by Dongfeng Express, and the deliverymen will not be dissatisfied with the company because of it. If anyone is to blame, it is their own town's development speed, which is slower than others.

However, this is only a comparison within their company. If compared within the town, even a courier with only 18 deliveries can earn 36 yuan a day. After deducting 2 yuan for fuel, he can still earn over a thousand yuan a month, which has already made many people in the village extremely envious!
Although the overall income of couriers in Guancheng is not as high as that in Jinghai, earning over a thousand yuan a month is still a job that people would fight tooth and nail to find these days!
Ye Dongsheng was really good to his deliverymen, paying them 2 yuan per delivery – a per-delivery wage that many deliverymen in later generations still don't earn!

In later generations, deliverymen increased their total income by increasing the number of orders they handled.

After chatting with these frontline deliverymen for a while, Ye Dongsheng came to Xiao Fu's side.

"Xiao Fu, has anything unexpected happened?"

The situation in Dongguan is different from that in Jinghai and Yangcheng. It's far away, and all the transportation is done by motorcycle. Ye Dongsheng was worried that something might happen.

Xiao Fu smiled and shook his head: "One person tripped and fell on the village road and got a minor injury, but it wasn't serious. He didn't rest and finished delivering all the packages!"

Ye Dongsheng sighed inwardly, thinking to himself that everyone has their difficulties. He was afraid that if he rested for a few days to recover from his injury, someone else would take his place as a courier.

However, he didn't say anything. The speed of riding the bike and the physical condition are things that the courier has to judge for himself. Dongfeng Express pursues timeliness, and it's impossible for them to wait for you to rest for a week or two before coming back.

He has already given them a high income, so it's impossible for him to sacrifice the company's interests to do everything perfectly.

Ye Dongsheng then asked, "Have any motorcycles been stolen?"

Even if it's just a motorcycle worth 1000 yuan, it would still be a valuable item nowadays, and it would definitely attract the covetous eyes of some people with bad intentions.

"I specifically told them to keep the motorcycle in sight while delivering packages, and so far there have been no cases of the motorcycle being stolen."

Unlike in later years, Dongfeng's deliverymen don't deliver packages upstairs. They usually meet with customers at the factory gate to exchange packages, so they can ensure that the motorcycle is always within sight.

After discussing various aspects with Xiao Fu, Ye Dongsheng took the afternoon's freight train to Jinghai.

Arrangements are mostly made in Guangzhou. With Jimmy there and Xiao Fu in Dongguan, he can return to Hong Kong with peace of mind. Both he and Wang Jianjun have women in Hong Kong, so they naturally need to come back and comfort them. Let Xiao Fu, this bachelor, focus his energy on work!

However, he also instructed Xiao Fu to keep an eye out for talented people in the store who could take over his job, since Xiao Fu couldn't be tied to Dongguan forever.

……

Jinghai, Sea Lion Restaurant.

While eating, Ye Dongsheng listened to Xu Jiang's report on the recent situation at the Jinghai store.

"Brother Sheng, I've hired a few more shop assistants these past few days. I've set up a special area in the back warehouse, mainly to handle the transshipment work."

Although Xu Jiang is now officially in charge of the Jinghai Luohu store, his responsibilities have already extended beyond the store's express delivery business itself.

With the opening of services in Dongguan and Guangzhou, the Luohu store has now become an important transit base for Dongfeng Express's mainland business. Expresses from Guangzhou and Dongguan need to be stored and transited at the Luohu store before being shipped out.

One or two locations might be fine, but as Dongfeng Express expands its services to more and more regions, with two to three stores in each region, it will definitely become chaotic if a few dedicated staff members aren't assigned to clearly define the areas, which will greatly hinder Dongfeng Express's operational efficiency.

Ye Dongsheng smiled and praised, "Not bad, you were able to think of these things and prepare in advance. You've made progress!"

Xu Jiangxi said happily, "Haha, it's all thanks to Brother Sheng's teachings!"

At the next table, Fat Cat was eating a roasted duck leg with his mouth dripping with oil.

As he chewed, he asked Chen Yongren beside him:

"Ren-ge, why do people say that the mainland is not as good as Hong Kong? The mainland is just as good, and the food there is much better than what I eat in Hong Kong!"

Chen Yongren smiled and said to Fat Cat, "Because we have a good boss!"

Fat Cat nodded quickly and said, "You mean Brother Sheng? He's really good to me! He gives me a job to earn money and feeds me such delicious food. My godfather even told me to remember his great kindness!"

Chen Yongren smiled. Fat Cat was simple-minded and only remembered that the food was delicious. He was even more shocked when he arrived at the Sea Lion Restaurant!

The same buffet meal would cost HK$100 on Hong Kong Island, but here it only costs HK$1! What does that mean? A 100-fold difference!
At that moment, Chen Yongren's first thought was, "Is the socialist system really that superior?"
Chen Yongren only breathed a sigh of relief when he later learned that the restaurant was owned by Ye Dongsheng and that they were only able to enjoy the 1 yuan special price because they were employees of Dongfeng Express, while the price was 10 yuan per meal to outsiders.

It's not 100 times, but 10 times, which seems acceptable?

Accept what?!
Chen Yongren was truly shocked by the price difference between the two places; many things were five times more expensive.

Especially for fresh produce like vegetables and fruits, the price difference is really more than ten times!

It was only after arriving on the mainland that he learned that for so many years, much of the food and even water resources in Hong Kong had been supplied by the mainland. After crossing the border, the cheap goods on the mainland were marked up many times by Hong Kong merchants.

This overturned many of Chen Yongren's views. The Hong Kong government accepted cheap goods from the mainland and could sell them to the public at low prices. Why did it allow merchants to raise prices so much and make a fortune?
Or is this something orchestrated by the Hong Kong government? Is the Hong Kong government truly acting in the best interests of the people of Hong Kong Island?

Chen Yongren quickly shook his head. He was still a Royal Hong Kong Police officer and couldn't question the Hong Kong government like that.

The reason why Chan Wing-yan was willing to go undercover all along was because he believed that his actions could eliminate the triads in Hong Kong and allow the citizens to live a better life.

But what he saw and heard had already planted a seed in Chen Yongren's heart, and a thought was vaguely in his mind: was such a Hong Kong government really worth his loyalty and sacrifice?

Just then, the deliveryman at the same table said:
"Fat Cat, although the food here on the mainland is good, there are some aspects that absolutely cannot compare to Hong Kong!"

Fat Cat looked at Archie sitting opposite him curiously: "What?"

Archie gave a slightly lewd smile: "Of course, it's pretty girls!"

He stretched out his hands and made a grasping motion in the air, then said with great enthusiasm, "Here on the mainland, there aren't even any saunas, let alone nightclubs. Unlike Hong Kong Island, Portland Street is full of busty beauties!"
"Fat Cat, look how much you've earned, you should learn to enjoy life a little!"

Fat Cat shook his head repeatedly and said, "No, no, all the money I earn must be kept by my godfather!"

Archie choked for a moment, then his eyes darted around, and he began to tempt the fat cat:
"The saying goes, 'When you're full, you think of women.' Fat cat, you've eaten so much, you must really be thinking about women, right?"

Have you ever been kissed by a girl in your life?
How about I take you out for a real treat tonight? Let you experience what it's like to be a real man!

The fat cat blinked its small eyes: "Want a woman? I really want one..."

Hearing Fat Cat's words, Archie felt smug. Even a mentally challenged person would think about women! He was taking Fat Cat to become a man for Fat Cat's own good!
But the next moment, the fat cat whimpered, "I miss my mom so much!"

As he spoke, the fat cat's eyes became misty, he put the duck leg aside, stopped eating, and was about to burst into tears.

Chen Yongren smacked Archie on the head: "Hey, what nonsense are you spouting to Fat Cat? Don't corrupt him!"

Seeing Fat Cat's reaction, Archie gave an awkward smile: "Ren-ge, I just wanted to play a joke on him~"

Chen Yongren quickly comforted Fat Cat, saying, "Don't be sad, Fat Cat. You have a godfather who cares about you now, and Brother Sheng takes good care of you too. You've made new friends and colleagues, and you're eating so well. Your mother will be happy for you when she finds out!"

After hearing this, Fat Cat stopped crying: "Brother Ren, you're absolutely right! Godfather, Brother Sheng, and Uncle Shrimp are all so good to me! Mom's happy, and I'm happy too!"

Then he smiled at Chen Yongren:

"And Ren-ge, please take care of me too. I really enjoy being friends with you!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Yongren laughed heartily: "I also like being friends with you!"

Although Fat Cat isn't very intelligent, he's innocent and carefree, and being around him is truly a joy! Chen Yongren is really happy now!
After the meal, Ye Dongsheng, Wang Jianjun, and the group of deliverymen crossed the border and returned to the Hong Kong Island store with the goods.

Meanwhile, on Portland Street, a young man in a black leather jacket appeared. He was Chan Ho-nam from Hung Hing!

(End of this chapter)