Back to 2008: I Helped My Dad Become the Richest Man

Li Yan didn't quite understand what Luo Xiyuan meant by "starting a fire," but she trusted this young boss. She did whatever Luo told her to do.

The next day, a small blackboard was hung at the entrance of the "Luo's Safe Meat" specialty store, with the words written in beautiful chalk: "Our store's special offer: Master Sun's handmade rose dew sausage, limited to ten catties per day, priced at 68 yuan per catty, with a limit of half a catty per person."

Sixty-eight yuan per jin.

In 2009, this price was five or six times more expensive than regular pork in a small county town.

"Are you crazy? What kind of sausage is this, selling for such a high price?"

"I mean, is it edged with gold or something?"

When passersby saw the price, their first reaction was to gasp in astonishment and bewilderment.

But soon, some well-informed people, or those with relatives in the city, started talking about it.

"Hey, you guys don't know, do you? This sausage is the one from the New Year's gift box at the Golden Bay Hotel in the city! My cousin's company gave it to him, and I heard it's incredibly delicious!"

"Really? It's that legendary sausage? My classmate who works in the city mentioned it to me, saying they can't even buy it!"

"Oh, so that's what it is! Sixty-eight yuan a pound doesn't seem too expensive, considering it's a special supply for five-star hotels."

Human psychology is truly wondrous. Once something is associated with words like "scarcity," "high-end," or "special supply," its value is elevated in people's minds.

Soon, the first person to try it appeared.

A wealthy woman in a mink coat walked into the store and said directly to Li Yan, "Young lady, give me half a pound of your most expensive sausage. I want to try it and see how delicious it really is."

"Okay, madam, please wait a moment." Li Yan quickly weighed half a jin for her, wrapped it in exquisite oil paper, and handed it over.

The wealthy woman paid, picked up the sausages, and left satisfied.

Once there's a first one, there's bound to be a second.

People started buying the sausage with all sorts of motivations—curiosity, showing off, or simply wanting to try something new.

As a result, everyone who tried it was completely won over by the taste.

"Luo's" sausages became a hard currency in the county town.

"Hey, have you tried the Luo family's sausages that cost 68 yuan a pound? No? Then you're way behind the times!"

"Let me tell you, the taste is no exaggeration! My son used to be a picky eater, but now he can eat two bowls of rice in one meal, with that sausage!"

Every morning, before the store even opens, there's already a line outside. The limited-edition ten pounds of sausages are usually sold out within half an hour of opening.

Many people who were unable to buy the goods were filled with regret and demanded that the store increase the supply.

But Li Yan simply smiled and explained, "I'm so sorry, these sausages are all handmade by Master Sun, and production is limited. We really can't keep up with the demand. Please come back early tomorrow."

Luo Xiyuan's marketing strategy was a great success.

The "Luo-Sun Master" brand sausage became an instant hit in the county town.

Its fame even surpasses that of Roche's safe meat itself.

But new problems also arose.

That day, Wang Defa called again.

"Xiyuan, you've really put me in a lot of trouble!" Wang Defa's tone sounded helpless on the phone.

"What's wrong, Uncle Wang?" Luo Xiyuan's heart tightened.

"What else can we do! Your sausages are all the rage among our hotel's clients! Lots of big customers are specifically asking to buy them. The 500-jin order I gave you is already sold out! Now we get calls every day asking when we'll have new stock. Hurry up and send me another 1,000 jin! I'm in a real hurry!" Wang Defa said.

"A thousand catties?" Luo Xiyuan smiled bitterly. "Uncle Wang, it's not that I don't want to give it to you. It's just that our production capacity really can't keep up. Our small processing workshop can only produce a thousand or eight hundred catties a month at most, and that's only if Master Sun and the others work non-stop."

"That won't do!" Wang De exclaimed anxiously. "Xi Yuan, let me tell you, the market waits for no one! Your products are good now, and you've built a reputation. This is the perfect time to strike while the iron is hot. If you can't keep up with demand, and customers' enthusiasm fades, or other substitutes appear on the market, then this opportunity will be wasted!"

Wang Defa's words were exactly what Luo Xiyuan was worried about.

Of course she knew this.

After hanging up the phone, she immediately convened another family meeting.

"Dad, Mom, Master Sun, Grandpa Liu, we must, immediately, expand the sausage production scale tenfold!" Luo Xiyuan said firmly.

"Expand it tenfold?" Luo Xinde clicked his tongue. "Then...then it won't be a small workshop anymore; it'll be a proper food factory!"

"Yes! I want to build a food factory!" Luo Xiyuan wrote the three words "food factory" heavily on the blackboard.

"My goal is to build a modern food processing plant with an annual production capacity of over 50 tons within six months! We'll not only produce sausages, but also develop a series of deep-processed products such as cured meat, braised meat, and meat floss! We want to make Roche a true meat product brand!"

Annual production of fifty tons.

This goal put pressure on everyone present.

"Xiyuan, isn't this a bit too big a leap?" Even Mr. Liu, who had always supported her, was a little worried. "Going directly from a small workshop to a food factory is a huge leap. If management, technology, or funding can't keep up, it will cause big problems."

"Grandpa Liu, you're right. So we have to take it one step at a time," Luo Xiyuan said. "We can plan the factory construction slowly. But right now, there's one thing we have to do immediately."

"What is it?"

"Apply for QS certification."

"QS? What's that?" Luo Xinde asked.

"That's the mark for a food production license," Luo Xiyuan explained. "Several years ago, the government stipulated that all food produced and sold domestically must have this QS mark. Without this mark, it's considered a substandard product and is not allowed to circulate in the market. Our small workshop can produce a little bit secretly now. But if we want to produce on a large scale, get into supermarkets, or go through legitimate channels, we must have this license."

"So... is this certificate easy to obtain?" Li Minxia asked.

"It's not easy." Luo Xiyuan shook her head, her expression serious. "It's extremely difficult."

She had encountered this in her past life. She knew that in those days, QS certification was very difficult for small and medium-sized food enterprises to obtain.

"Applying for QS certification places very high demands on the hardware of the production workshop." She began to educate her family, "It requires that the production workshop must be strictly divided into clean work areas, semi-clean work areas, and general work areas. There must be isolation between each area. There must be dedicated channels and disinfection facilities for the entry and exit of personnel and materials."

"The walls, floors, and ceilings of the workshop must be made of non-toxic, corrosion-resistant, and easy-to-clean materials. There must be no gaps or dead corners."

"It also requires companies to establish their own laboratories! These laboratories must be able to conduct routine physicochemical and microbiological tests on raw materials and finished products. For example, moisture content, protein content, total bacterial count, E. coli, etc. This means we not only need to buy various sophisticated testing instruments, but also hire professional lab technicians!"

"In addition, there is an extremely complex quality management system document to be written. From raw material procurement to finished product delivery, every step must have standard operating procedures and records."

Luo Xiyuan explained the requirements for QS certification one by one.

Everyone present was stunned.

They felt that this was not a food factory, but a high-tech laboratory!

"How much...how much will this cost?" Li Minxia asked, trembling.

"I've done some calculations," Luo Xiyuan paused, "to build a workshop that meets QS standards, plus the equipment for the laboratory, it won't be cheap at least 500,000 yuan."

Five hundred thousand.

The moment the number was announced, the living room fell completely silent.

They worked hard and finally managed to save up a few hundred thousand yuan.

This time, not only will we have to put all the money in, but it might not even be enough.