Road to Revival

Forty minutes later, the Coaster stopped in front of the Donghu Real Estate Building.

This was Lü Qi's first visit to the renowned Donghu Industrial Headquarters, located at the western end of Xinjian Road in the northern part of the city. The three beige buildings, two low and one high, arranged in an arch, appeared solemn and imposing. In front of the gate was a white marble platform with two flags flying on it. One was naturally the national flag, and the other was the Donghu corporate flag with a white background and a black eagle, giving people a domineering and fierce feeling.

Lu Qi and Zuo Yun hid in the back, but they could clearly see the leaders of Donghu, headed by Tang Yikun. These people were all super-rich people who were famous in Pingquan.

"I'm so sorry, but unfortunately, Mayor Shangguan summoned us, and President Qi and I have to go to the city," Tang Yikun said, shaking Tao Tang's hand. He had already introduced Tang Yiwei and Wei Shegang to Tao Tang. "The group's board of directors has reached a consensus on our cooperation. Since cooperation is mutually beneficial, let's strengthen our collaboration and strive for a win-win situation. The specific details will be discussed with you by the two of them. I'll try my best to get back and have a drink with you. Shegang, I'll leave things here to you."

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it." Wei Shegang, the president of Donghu Mining Company, who wore gold-rimmed glasses, was refined and cultured. "No problem, leave this to me."

Tang Yiwei, who was a head shorter than Tang Yikun, didn't look like a big shot at all. When he shook hands with Tao Tang, he grinned and said, "Brother Tao, you probably don't remember me, but I remember you very well."

"I really don't remember," Tao Tang said with a smile. "Now you're a big shot who can make Pingquan tremble with your stomp. Amazing."

"You overestimate him. My third son's Donghu Machinery manages dozens of factories, big and small, but the integration isn't truly complete yet, and there are still many problems. He'll need to consult you on many things," Tang Yikun said with a smile. "Chairman Tao, I'm really sorry, I really have to go now. But it's alright, those two won't let you come for nothing. By the way, Xue Dong, come here," he beckoned to a young man, "President Tao, this is my secretary, Dai Xue Dong. He's here for you, mainly to take good care of Hongxing's VIPs."

"You're too kind." Tao Tang smiled, shook hands with Qi Zhen, and then extended his hand to Xiao Dai.

After settling Tao Tang in, Tang Yikun spotted Lü Qi and, ignoring the rest of the Red Star group, went over to shake her hand. "Oh, beautiful Lü, this is your first time here. We must have a good drink at noon." He then cupped his hands in apology to the Red Star cadres. "I apologize for neglecting you all." He turned and got into his Mulsanne and left.

"President Tao, President Li, and other leaders, please come in." Wei Shegang gestured for them to enter.

"Please, Mr. Wei." Tao Tang and Wei Shegang stepped onto the marble steps side by side.

"Your classmate is really impressive," Zuo Yun said, watching the Mulsanne drive away. "A Bentley Mulsanne, that's a luxury car worth several million. It's absolutely unique in Pingquan, and even in Bei'an, it would turn heads."

"Just a nouveau riche." Lü Qi curled her lip.

"Jealous? Look at their style, they're way beyond the nouveau riche level." Zuo Yun had been to the East Lake headquarters before. "In terms of strength, they're definitely stronger than us."

"It's not necessarily true in terms of background." Lü Qi glanced at the back of the person walking ahead and said in a low voice, "The brother-in-law and younger brother are in charge of the power, typical characteristics of nouveau riche."

"They're a private company, who else would they use if not their own people? I've experienced Wei Shegang's shrewdness firsthand... We may be from all over the country, but with each new emperor comes a new court, everyone is insecure and living hand to mouth. How can they stand firm in the long run like them?"

Zuo Yun's words were loaded with meaning. Lü Qi understood Zuo Yun's implication; she was referring to the complex internal factions within Hongxing. Everyone knew that with Tao Tang's rise to power, Hongxing would once again face a power reshuffle. Zuo Yun was on Song Yue's side, a pawn Song Yue placed in the marketing department to restrain Li Luo, and for this, she had always been ostracized by Li Luo. Because Song Yue was ultimately the top leader, Li Luo couldn't go too far with Zuo Yun. Now that Song Yue had fallen, Zuo Yun was naturally apprehensive. She wasn't highly educated, only a vocational school graduate, but Lü Qi knew Zuo Yun was capable; otherwise, she wouldn't have recommended her to Tao Tang yesterday morning.

Tao Tang had clearly recognized Li Luo's threat; otherwise, she wouldn't have asked her about capable but suppressed cadres within the marketing system. She wondered if Tao Tang had personally selected Zuo Yun for this visit, and wanted to ask Zuo Yun about it, but decided against it.

Upon entering the conference room on the second floor of the main building, guests and hosts took their seats. After introductions, Wei Shegang spoke first: "President Tao, President Li, President Jiang, and leaders of Hongxing, on behalf of Donghu Industrial, I welcome you all. Chairman Tang discussed strengthening cooperation with Hongxing Company with me the day before yesterday, which I fully agree with and strongly support. In fact, we have always maintained close cooperation. Hongxing has always been Donghu's most important partner in the province. In fact," Wei Shegang smiled slightly, "many of Donghu's middle management, let's use your usual titles, and technical backbone personnel come from your side. Chairman Tang has said many times that without Hongxing, there would be no Donghu today. Chairman Tang is a descendant of Hongxing and has a deep connection with Hongxing." "A deep bond exists. And Chairman Tao is Chairman Tang's classmate. You might not believe it, but Chairman Tang has mentioned you many times in front of us, expressing great admiration for you. Yiwei can attest to this. Haha, after saying all this, the point is simple: Donghu is willing to strengthen our cooperative relationship in all aspects. Chairman Tao, I originally thought today would be a small-scale, high-level, informal discussion. Chairman Tang originally intended to speak with you personally, and he specifically called Yiwei and me back. I didn't expect you to attach such importance to this, suggesting a comprehensive meeting, which Chairman Tang and we all completely agree to. What we discuss today, and how we discuss it, we'll follow Chairman Tao's lead. Unfortunately, Chairman Tang has urgent business and cannot accompany you… Please forgive us if some things cannot be decided on the spot."

"Mr. Wei, you're too kind." Mr. Tao picked up his teacup and took a sip. "Although I'm from Hongxing, I left Pingquan early on. I've heard of Donghu's reputation for a long time, and I'm very proud of the rise of such an excellent private enterprise as Donghu in my hometown. Although I've only been back for a short time, I've heard Donghu and the praise from my friends and colleagues more than once. Today, I'm fortunate to be here, which has only increased my admiration for Donghu. To be honest, Donghu has already surpassed Hongxing in the vast market. Although Donghu's history is shorter than Hongxing's, in terms of management, efficiency, and contribution to its hometown, Hongxing is far superior."

Tang Yiwei chimed in, "President Tao, you're too modest. I've seriously studied your experience in implementing lean management in Binjiang, and I feel I've benefited immensely. My machinery company tried to imitate you and started implementing a lean strategy, but we haven't quite grasped the essentials. We've been wanting to learn from Binjiang for a while, but haven't been able to make the trip. I didn't expect President Tao to be back; this is wonderful! I'll definitely seek your advice in person today, and if there's time, I hope President Tao can come to my place to provide on-site guidance..."

Despite his seemingly rough and boorish appearance, Tang Yi didn't mince words when it came to saying a few polite things.

"Mr. Tang, you're too kind. I'm unworthy of such praise. I've only scratched the surface of lean management. Although I haven't personally studied Donghu's management practices, I know that over the past thirty years of reform and opening up, a large number of private enterprises with distinctive management styles have emerged. Their experiences are very valuable for state-owned enterprises, especially for long-established and burdened ones like Hongxing. Furthermore, Mr. Wei's mining company is Hongxing's main client, my bread and butter. My visit is twofold: first, to sincerely hear Mr. Wei and Mr. Tang's opinions on various aspects of Hongxing's products and services; and second, to hope to deepen and broaden our cooperation..." Tao Tang paused for a moment, then continued, "Mr. Wei just said he'd follow my arrangements today, haha, I'm here to secure orders. I want any product Hongxing can produce. As long as this requirement is met, whatever you ask for, Hongxing will comply." He then pointed to the two people sitting beside him... To my subordinates, "My arrival at Donghu without prior notice is a kind of on-site assessment of my departments. Currently, Hongxing is essentially profiting from Donghu; you are my major customers, my godson. Regarding any issues in our cooperation concerning quality, technology, and service, please feel free to point them out so we can improve our management and services. Furthermore, I'd like to expand the scope of our cooperation. Hongxing's current scale is around 100 billion yuan. If we exclude Donghu's pillar industry, real estate, this scale still allows for deeper cooperation with Donghu Mining and Donghu Machinery. When I reported to Hongxing, I was fortunate enough to meet with the city's main leaders, thanks to the support of the headquarters. They told me that Hongxing is Pingquan's largest state-owned enterprise, while Donghu is undoubtedly the largest in terms of scale. There's no reason why our two companies shouldn't join hands for a win-win situation."

Tao Tang picked up his cup, took a sip of tea, and continued, "Since I haven't actually visited and learned about East Lake, what I say may not be entirely accurate. However, theoretically, there's always another possibility. Some of the products we deal in might be more suitable for you to handle, and some of our products could be entrusted to you for production. If this idea is realized, it will definitely deepen our cooperative relationship and truly achieve joint development. I wonder if General Manager Wei and General Manager Tang agree?"

This suggestion came as a surprise. Hongxing had been seeking markets and orders in Donghu, and now Taotang wanted to cede a portion of that market. Hongxing's guests, especially several from the marketing department, found this difficult to accept.

"Chairman Tao is truly remarkable. It seems that Chairman Tang was absolutely right." Wei Shegang maintained a warm smile throughout. "I completely agree with Chairman Tao's suggestion. Let's proceed as Chairman Tao intends. How about this: the rest of us—me and General Manager Tang, you and General Manager Li and General Manager Jiang—will discuss the overall principles of our future cooperation. The rest of you can stay here and discuss specific business issues individually. There's still room in the conference room; you can also split up and meet separately."

"I agree," Li Luo said quickly.

"President Tao, I see that President Wang from the mining company is here too. Why don't I talk to President Wang about some new products? It's a rare opportunity," Jiang Shangyun said to Tao Tang.

"It's a rare opportunity to understand the situation, so I think we don't need to talk about principles," Tao Tang said, looking at Wei Shegang and Tang Yiwei across from him. "The principles for both sides have actually been determined. I understand it to be this: under the premise of striving for a win-win situation, what is suitable for Hongxing to do will be handed over to Hongxing. What is suitable for Donghu to do will be transferred to Donghu."

"Chairman Tao's summary is excellent. I completely agree." Wei Shegang glanced at Tang Yiwei. "Then let's stay here. What's next? Chairman Tao, could you give some instructions?"

"I think we should do this. Today, I'd like to hear from Donghu about the problems with Hongxing's products and services during the initial cooperation, especially regarding development and quality. Mr. Wei, Mr. Tang, you don't need to hold back, speak frankly." Tao Tang turned around and asked Zhang Xingwu, who was sitting behind him, for a pen and notebook, then opened them and made a gesture of taking notes seriously.

"Shall we bring it up? Xiaoru, you speak?" Wei Shegang said to his deputy, Wang Xiaoru. This was the same Wang who Jiang Shangyun had just mentioned, the vice president of Donghu Mining in charge of outsourced parts.

Lü Qi also opened her notebook. She didn't actually have any specific tasks. She couldn't understand why Liu Xinjun had dragged her here. If she had to talk about business with Donghu, she was only involved in contract management. But it was only symbolic management, because the signing of contracts was handled by the marketing department; the development and planning department was merely responsible for review and filing. Because of Li Luo's domineering nature, the marketing department never took other units seriously, including the development and planning department, which included the company's first division. But today, Tao Tang seemed to be causing trouble for the marketing department. Lü Qi noticed Li Luo's gloomy expression and was a little worried for Tao Tang.

"Then I'll speak..." Vice President Wang Xiaoru took out a stack of papers. "Chairman Tao, let me clarify first that what I'm saying are all actual problems. I won't talk about the positive aspects, because the scale of the cooperation proves it's the mainstream. Since Chairman Tao wants to hear the truth today, I can't let him down. Currently, Hongxing provides hundreds of supporting products to the mining company. There are two main impressions: first, they're rough—the product quality always has various minor flaws, which don't affect overall performance, but are still unpleasant. Second, they're slow, especially in new product development; almost none of them can pass the test on the first try within the stipulated time..."

Li Luo, Jiang Shangyun, Liu Shulin, Li Meng, Chen Yongliang, and others were all speechless.

Wang Xiaoru completely ignored the expressions of the Red Star people and began listing examples. With each example, Li Luo's face darkened further, and even Jiang Shangyun, whose hair was almost entirely white, became restless. Lü Qi took the opportunity of pouring water to glance at Tao Tang, who was engrossed in taking notes, his face expressionless.

Li Meng, Liu Shulin, and Ren Liansheng from the technical department felt extremely uneasy.

Wang Xiaoru's "complaint" lasted one hour and fifty minutes, and she recounted more than thirty "cases".

Liu Shulin finally made it to the end. During the process, he tried to interrupt Wang Xiaoru several times to explain, but he was startled when he occasionally met Tao Tang's eyes and didn't dare to interrupt. At this moment, he had to explain, otherwise, he would be held responsible for two-thirds of these failed cases.

"Mr. Wang, let me explain. Some things aren't as you described..."

"Explain what?" Tao Tang interrupted Liu Shulin. "I'm asking you, is what President Wang said true?"

"It is a fact, indeed..."

"Then there's no need to explain."

"President Tao," Li Luo had to speak up. Tao Tang was clearly going to target the marketing department. If he didn't speak up, he would lose the first round of this competition. "President Wang pointed out the problems in our work, but some situations require joint responsibility from both sides. For example, the lack of smooth information transmission, the fact that the contract has been signed but the technical agreement has been delayed... and the inconsistency in inspection standards..." This explanation was difficult because the "roughness and slowness" pointed out by the other party were real facts. The delay of new products could be attributed to the changes in the other party's technical status, but the issues of quality and delivery time could not be shirked. If he pushed it to the quality department and the production department, it would damage his prestige.

"That explanation is weak. Isn't it? The prevailing business philosophy is 'customer-centric.' We must manufacture the products our customers want, and deliver them whenever they want them. What's there to explain?" Tao Tang flipped through his notebook. "General Manager Wang listed 33 problems, which I think is only a small part of the list, but eight of them are about untimely after-sales service. How do you explain that? Comrade Liu Shulin, you're not going to tell me that after-sales service is the responsibility of the research institute's technical department or the branch factory, are you?"

Wei Shegang hurriedly spoke up, "Chairman Tao, as Xiaoru just said, he didn't mention the good aspects, only listed some problems. I believe your company will make improvements... It's getting late, and I've already arranged lunch. Shall we have lunch first, rest a bit, and then talk again in the afternoon?"

Tao Tang glanced at his watch. "There's no need for a banquet. I'm sure Donghu has a staff canteen, right? We've been reorganizing our canteen management recently, so we can learn from them. Don't stand on ceremony with me, and don't mention Old Tang. If Chairman Tang has any complaints about you two, just blame it on me."

"How can this be allowed?" Tang Yiwei exclaimed.

"Why not? Didn't President Wei just say I'd arrange it? Besides, let's skip the lunch break and keep going. But President Wei and President Tang don't need to come along; I know you're both busy. After lunch, I want to resolve a specific matter: the contract signing. According to my people, we still have nearly 4 million yuan worth of agreements that haven't been formally signed. I think we should get this done if there aren't any major problems. If we have enough time, I'd also like to visit one of my younger brothers' machinery companies to learn a bit; I have a feeling we have a basis for cooperation. If we don't have time, then let's forget about it and find another opportunity. We're in the same city; it's not a big deal to come and go whenever we want."

"Okay," Wei Shegang said immediately. "The main reason the contract wasn't signed is because of disagreements over the price; there don't seem to be any other obstacles, right?" He turned to ask Wang Xiaoru.

"Yes, mainly the price," Wang Xiaoru said after a moment's thought, nodding.

"Price shouldn't be the main issue. Mr. Li, is the price difference significant?"

"The price is calculated by finance, not marketing. If finance doesn't approve it, there's nothing we can do..."

Lü Qi knew, and everyone else besides Tao Tang knew, that Li Luo's main rival in the team was the chief accountant, Han Zhiyong, and he still didn't let this opportunity slip by...

"Director Zuo," Tao Tang suddenly asked Zuo Yun, "are you clear about the pricing for this part of the order?"

"Basically clear."

"Alright. If the difference is no more than 10%, then we'll sign the contract based on Donghu's quote. If it's more than 10%, we'll recalculate. Mr. Wei, the recalculation shouldn't take more than a week."

"Good, Chairman Tao is very straightforward." Wei She had just noticed something amiss. "I'll also make a statement. If there's a big difference, we'll redo it. Xiao Ru, you'll be in charge. Make as many suggestions as you can. Even if we don't care about the monk, we should at least consider Chairman Tao, who is a good friend of the boss."

Wei Shegang had his own calculations; a few million in profit was insignificant compared to the grand scheme of things at Donghu. Since Tao Tang was so eager to secure the order, then so be it. "Chairman Tao is so generous, I can't be stingy either. My brother-in-law gave me some instructions; his exact words were that Hongxing is no longer the same Hongxing. So, I've prepared another order here, not within the original three hundred million. If Chairman Tao is interested, you can take a look."

"That's great! In short, thank you."

"You're too kind, Mr. Tao. I think you shouldn't worry about these specific matters this afternoon. My brother never does. You should learn from him, haha," Tang Yiwei grinned. "How about coming to my place?"

"Alright, Mr. Li, I'll leave the contract matters to you this afternoon. I'm going to learn from Mr. Tang's Donghu Machinery. You organize the signing of the contract." After instructing Li Luo, Tao Tang turned to Jiang Shangyun and said, "Mr. Jiang, we shouldn't let Mr. Wei's kindness go to waste."