Twenty years of cold chain

"Pah! What a bastard company! They look down on people! Trash! No wonder they got chased and beaten up, useless! A bunch of useless trash!"

The car door slammed shut, and the thin-skinned car shuddered.

The driver realized this was a serious matter; judging from the situation, it wasn't just a closed door, it was like being beaten with a stick.

"Mr. Yang, what's next...?"

The driver was actually puzzled as to why his boss was becoming increasingly unreasonable. Things were getting worse every day; he could barely afford to rent a car worth over 100,000 yuan anymore, yet he kept picking and choosing big locations. In a large industrial park like Chunrong, frankly speaking, it was already a favor if they even bothered to look at him.

"Keep going north! I refuse to believe it!"

The speaker's voice had a "deep, jagged quality," and when he spoke angrily, it was more deafening than sharpening scissors or chopping knives. Looking at his appearance, he was the kind of person you wouldn't dare mess with at first glance. It wasn't because he had a gold chain with a blue dragon tattoo, but because he was not only bald, but also had a pointed head like an upright mango.

What's even more frightening is that this person has triangular eyes, no eyebrows, and his features naturally exude a fierce look. His neck is covered with bumps, like burns.

This man is named Yang Chenghai, 38 years old this year. In Qingning, he is a person who has appeared in newspapers and news many times. His reputation in the industry can be described as "thunderous".

Back in 09, third-party logistics was gaining momentum, and logistics was increasingly consuming businesses' energy. Distribution costs were also a major expense, leading many companies to seek logistics outsourcing. So, this Mr. Yang came up with a "brilliant strategy": to focus solely on transportation, excluding warehousing. Since it had nothing to do with storage, it was simply a matter of vehicles.

Yang Chenghai saw a brilliant path forward. Leveraging his considerable network of contacts, he built an exceptional third-party logistics company, delivering orders instantly and providing precise, on-demand service. Many investors recognized the strong demand for such services, and with Yang Chenghai's persistent lobbying, he ultimately secured a total of 30 million yuan in funding.

After receiving the funds, Yang Chenghai's actions were truly bizarre in the industry. Despite being a third-party logistics provider, he didn't even have a storefront. It's said that he only had a "dispatch center" in a residential building. He focused his efforts on renting vehicles and routes, and then remotely controlled everything.

When customers had needs, he would dispatch rented refrigerated trucks to the companies and deliver goods according to optimized routes. Surprisingly, this approach worked smoothly for a time. In Yang Chenghai's view, third-party logistics wasn't that complicated; it was essentially just running errands for companies. Moreover, in this way, trucks were rented, goods arrived, and all the needs of various companies were taken care of.

Yang Chenghai had his own plan: first, expand the business, and then focus on building customer loyalty, so he spent a lot of money on this. In the early days of third-party logistics, he considered branding delivery companies to be nonsense. He believed that competitors were enemies, and once a leader started to rise, there would be people lurking around stirring things up.

Therefore, this will take time. The problems of arbitrary charges, unauthorized job postings, and excessive fines have been long-standing, and coupled with ever-increasing oil prices, which directly account for nearly a third of costs, profitability remains elusive. Furthermore, at this critical juncture, car rental companies are facing acquisition and restructuring, which means their upstream supply chains are also experiencing problems.

Just as Yang Chenghai was trying to turn the situation around, those who had invested in him years ago became restless. This illogical operation had long been a source of deep concern for the investors.

Many people asked him for money, but the car rental company kept a portion of his money, and another portion was invested in the security deposit for cooperation with businesses.

"A shell company running a delivery service, completely deceiving investors"—when news like this appeared in the newspapers, Yang Chenghai had become a complete negative example. He couldn't get his money back from either side, and they even denied any cooperation with him. As a result, he still carries several unresolved lawsuits, caught in the middle of various disputes. So, when someone like him suddenly reappears, people would rather avoid him than use him.

As we drove along, we arrived at Tongxing around dusk.

Most people in Tongxing have heard of Yang Chenghai, and as the outside world portrays him, they regard him as an "industry bully." Therefore, it is particularly important to be cautious when such a person suddenly comes to visit.

This day marked the official launch of Phase II of Yuncheng. Hu Shutong went to Yuncheng last night and participated in a series of ceremonies earlier today before returning to Tongxing at dusk.

Hu Shutong knew Yang Chenghai's legendary story. After the storm of that year, the man disappeared. He never expected that Yang would swagger back into the public eye and even come directly to Tongxing's door.

In Hu Shutong's view, if Yang Chenghai had entered this large field a few years later, the outcome might not have been so disastrous. That period coincided with the peak of exorbitant road and bridge tolls, fines, and arbitrary checkpoints, problems that have been gradually eliminated or reduced since the implementation of the "Eight Measures for Logistics." Nowadays, people have a more macro-level and rational understanding of third-party logistics, and the overall environment is more mature; it's no longer as unsettling as it was back then, with rumors and misinformation causing widespread anxiety.

Yang Chenghai was notorious among the people, but Hu Shutong had no opinion about him. People with vested interests often deliberately find a way to speak, and there's no need to think too much about such things.

The composition of a route is far more complex than simply going from one point to another. It involves the combination of routes and network points, and the interaction between overall planning and proximity. This is not easy, and even a PhD like Li Zhou is working hard to optimize it.

Upon entering the meeting room, Yang Chenghai, whom Hu Shutong saw, was completely different from the man in the car. He sat upright, hands on his knees, his gaze fixed quietly ahead. But as Hu Shutong entered, he immediately and nimbly stood up, like someone waiting for an interview.

"Mr. Yang, it's an honor to meet you."

Yang Chenghai forced a smile. To be honest, he was most afraid of people saying those three words to him, because they were often accompanied by a mocking expression. But Hu Shutong's smile remained steady, and his gaze was open and honest, without a trace of sarcasm.

Hu Shutong brought over a can of tea, dragged over a chair and sat opposite Yang Chenghai. Soon, the sound of boiling water could be heard.

Yang Chenghai narrowed his eyes slightly. This was quite different from other companies. At least this person was willing to sit down and have a proper talk with him. Elsewhere, most of the time he wouldn't even get a meeting with a middle manager before being dismissed. Worse still, before he even left the building, he could hear people in the room just now angrily exhaling a sigh of displeasure.

The more turbulent the car, the more timid the house.

Essentially, he was someone seeking an opportunity.

……

I've loved cold chain logistics for twenty years.