Twenty years of cold chain

This was Hu Shutong's second visit to the Refrigeration Exhibition since its opening, and this time he toured almost all the equipment manufacturers' booths. The afternoon hours had the fewest visitors, but even so, the Chunrong Hall remained bustling with activity.

Hu Shutong sat down in a public rest area, seemingly sitting quietly with nothing on his mind, but his brain was actually working at a rapid pace.

With his memory and understanding of the technology, the entire refrigeration exhibition gradually became clear in his mind. He was good at categorizing things like information technology, intelligent systems, hardware refrigeration, and storage materials. These topics seemed to be intertwined among various equipment manufacturers, but each company actually had its own focus, though not a particularly strong one.

Specialized exhibitions on cold chain technology are still in their infancy in the country.

The participating manufacturers also lacked practical experience.

This has led to every household liking to "stack" things.

Regardless of the level of competition, bring out the best ones first.

"This must be Mr. Hu from Tongxing, right?"

Engrossed in his thoughts, Hu Shutong was unaware that someone was greeting him until a pair of brown trousers came very close. He looked up and saw a man in front of him, like a male fashion model, with one hand in his pocket and a cup of coffee in the other.

"Excuse me, are you Mr. Hu from Tongxing?"

"It's me. And who are you?"

"I am Dou Shaojie."

"So it's Dr. Dou. I've heard so much about you."

Hu Shutong's expression and tone were so calm, it was as if he had just offered a bowl of noodles when he wasn't really hungry. His coldness surprised Dou Shaojie. Dou Shaojie first gently put down his coffee, then sat down opposite Hu Shutong with a faint smile.

"I've heard some of Mr. Hu's story with Tongxing, and to be honest, I admire him from the bottom of my heart. It's amazing that one person can do so many things at the same time. In the domestic cold chain industry, Mr. Hu is definitely a role model."

"I don't deserve such praise; I'm just running a business."

Although Hu Shutong had never met Dou Shaojie,

Dou Shaojie smiled slightly, crossed his legs, and slowly took a sip of coffee. "Mr. Hu, have you ever personally seen an overseas refrigeration exhibition?"

Dou Shaojie emphasized the word "with my own eyes." This person's untimely behavior disturbed Hu Shutong's thoughts, and coupled with his air of being able to give all the advice, it had already made Hu Shutong somewhat unhappy. "The farthest I've ever been is Mingjiang."

For a moment, Dou Shaojie's gaze became distant. "It's been more than ten years since I first attended an overseas refrigeration exhibition. The new product corridor is the most eye-catching place. People can see the technological innovations and trends just from this corridor. This big focus is the core of the refrigeration exhibition. But the domestic refrigeration exhibition has been turned into a street food stall. It's too chaotic."

"Dr. Dou must have misremembered the date. The new product gallery started at the 03 Madrid Refrigeration Exhibition. If I remember correctly, the new products at that time included technological products such as environmentally friendly refrigerants and low-noise heat pumps."

All Chinese companies combined were only given 1,000 square meters of exhibition space, whereas now...

We're all in the same venue spanning tens of thousands of square meters. How can you call it a mixed bag? This is about moving forward.

Dou Shaojie blinked quickly, realizing that the person in front of him had read many foreign academic journals and was knowledgeable about many things on paper, so he immediately stopped dwelling on the topic.

Dou Shaojie was facing the bustling Chunrong Pavilion. Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he looked at the place as if admiring his own work. With the striking contrast of the surrounding area, it was truly a pleasure to be the center of attention.

"Mr. Hu, look at the bustling scene in this venue. What's the reason? What I see everywhere is the thirst for technology among domestic companies. They desperately need a strong boost. Unfortunately, many people in China who should be working in technology have instead started their own businesses."

These words immediately conveyed a strong sense of targeting. Hu Shutong realized that Dou Shaojie wasn't there to make friends, but rather to gauge public opinion. He must have already formed certain perceptions of himself and was using this occasion to test them.

The current situation can be described as Chunrong suppressing Daye. If even the leader of Tongxing is weakened, the subsequent situation will be even more worry-free, and it may even make people think of a magnificent scene that they never thought of before.

"How much is 'a lot'? Thirty to fifty percent, or less than ten percent? Dr. Dou, could you be more specific?"

Dou Shaojie paused, and Hu Shutong continued, "Farmers in China who grow vegetables can at least tell you how many acres and how many acreages they have irrigated, and how many hundreds or thousands of kilograms they will harvest. But no one ever waits for a truck to come and tells people that they have a lot."

Hu Shutong's sharp wit is never a cause for concern. His incredibly down-to-earth approach, compared to the data-driven pronouncements of professionals, only made Dou Shaojie blush slightly. Dou Shaojie's words held no sway with Hu Shutong, because he understood what Hu Shutong wanted. Being blinded by a single leaf isn't always short-sighted; it can be a fatal flaw. At this moment, Tongxing, that single leaf, was not only the largest but also the only one.

"In Dr. Dou's view, business and technology seem to be like fish and bear's paw. In your foreign countries, if a person who works in technology sells equipment, should they be considered a technologist or a businessperson? Or do you think that people who work in technology should be sitting in a dark room eating corn and looking at blueprints, and once business and money are involved, they are no longer pure technologists? Or do you feel uncomfortable if you don't play double standards?"

This barrage of questions was deadly, and Dou Shaojie couldn't answer a single one properly. "Ridiculous! You're misinterpreting things! Different people do different things! Can the talent pool in China compare to that in other countries?"

"What's the difference between saying 'everyone should do what they're supposed to do' and 'when you're tired, you should sleep'? What we value is that everyone does their job well. In your eyes, there's no order anywhere in China, but to us in the cold chain industry, getting salmon from the East, durian from the South, and beef and mutton from the North moving around is what we call 'getting things moving.' I once read Dr. Dou's paper on mechanisms in an academic journal, and I found it very reasonable. But you're just talking without doing anything, making empty promises. Today it's zero, and three to five years from now it'll still be zero."

It has to be said that Dou Shaojie had never experienced such a blow in all these years. Even in the overseas environment, he was an elite figure, and the experience he had gained since returning to China was like that of a mentor. But the current scene made him feel utterly hopeless, as if he had been struck by lightning and was bursting with anger.

Words are one aspect, but what truly stood out was Hu Shutong's composed demeanor throughout the meeting, a sense of unwavering stability amidst any upheaval. If one were willing to interpret Hu Shutong's resume from a different perspective, this wouldn't be surprising.

Dou Shaojie knew that he couldn't continue talking about these unimportant things. The framework set by Hu Shutong was like a tight band. After calming down, he stopped talking about those distant matters with Hu Shutong. Things were right in front of him, and he felt fearless here.

"Mr. Hu, saying 'one' or 'zero' is just to make your logic consistent. The power of technology will soon make you forget your current confidence." As he spoke, Dou Shaojie looked at Chunrong Pavilion again.

Hu Shutong slowly turned around, his gaze falling on that spot.

"Dr. Dou, it's too early to say some things now."

……

I've loved cold chain logistics for twenty years.