1994: Starting with unpaid leave

The people in the courtyard looked over and saw a tall, thin man walk into the courtyard.

He was wearing a dark blue polyester shirt, with the cuffs turned up just wide enough to reveal his Seagull watch.

The man wore cropped khaki corduroy trousers and high-top Warrior sneakers with gleaming edges.

His overly elaborate attire caused the women to overlook his face.

But Dong Jianguo noticed that the man had a horse-like face with high cheekbones, some of which were even sunken, making him seem unapproachable.

"I am Dong Jianguo, and you are... Cunyi, right?"

"Um."

Zhang Cunyi didn't even have a smile on his face when he spoke; his lips habitually turned to one side, revealing a hint of contempt.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming? Welcome, welcome!"

Dong Jianguo smiled and gestured for him to sit down and talk.

The problem of sourcing goods has now been solved.

Not only did he not suffer any loss, but his supply volume also surged. Dong Jianguo felt there was no need to make things difficult for this distant relative who came to "steal" his business.

After all, his second uncle had helped him, and now that he was sharing part of the business, he should do his best in the handover so that his second aunt wouldn't have any objections.

"I'll just sit."

"My aunt told me that eggs will be delivered to my house starting next week, and she asked me to come over and ask you for advice."

Zhang Cunyi flicked his wristwatch, looked Dong Jianguo's small courtyard up and down, and said with a disdainful expression, "But I feel like there's nothing to learn here."

Before Dong Jianguo could even wipe the smile off his face, he heard what the other person said, and for a moment he felt a little embarrassed, like he was being snubbed.

Zhao Hongmei noticed his embarrassment and helped smooth things over, saying:

"You can't say that. There are a lot of tricks to this small business..."

"Who are you? Did I speak to you?" Zhang Cunyi rolled his eyes and glared at Zhao Hongmei.

"I……"

Yueyue suddenly jumped over and stood in front of Zhang Cunyi: "You're not allowed to talk about my mother like that!"

Zhang Cunyi glanced down at Yueyue, then chose to ignore the little brat.

Dong Jianguo frowned, somewhat displeased:

"Cunyi, Sister Hongmei is my employee. If you have something to say, say it directly. Don't be sarcastic. If you want to do business, you need to change these bad habits."

Zhang Cunyi raised an eyebrow: "Employees? For a business this small, do we need to pay people to work?"

"I heard from my aunt that you even hired a group of workers to help you sell eggs on tricycles...tsk tsk tsk."

"Jianguo, if you want to make money, you have to be ruthless. You always let the profits go to outsiders, no wonder you can't make big money."

He turned around and looked at Dong Jianguo with a look of utter disappointment, as if he were looking at a hopeless spendthrift.

Dong Jianguo became interested: "Oh? So how do you plan to make money?"

Zhang Cunyi smiled:

"Of course, I'll have my mom and sister come and help! They're family, and they're just sitting around doing nothing anyway. What's wrong with them coming out to help? That way, we don't have to pay employees, and all the profits are ours."

He became more and more excited as he spoke, as if he could already see his future of making a fortune every day:

"Besides intercepting it, I also want to open source it."

He leaned closer to Dong Jianguo, lowered his voice, as if imparting some ultimate secret: "I plan to talk to those farms later and drive down the purchase price. Tell them, take it or leave it, there are plenty of others who will. Push the price down to 1.2 yuan, or even 1 yuan! That's the way to do business!"

"And those tricycle drivers need rules too. If they want to make money selling eggs, they should pay a deposit first. Whoever sells the fewest and slowest should have their deposit deducted! Isn't that pure profit?"

By listening carefully to the underlying meaning of Zhang Cunyi's words, Dong Jianguo was able to discern Zhang's true intentions from just a few sentences.

This isn't doing business; this is blatant thuggery.

It's nothing more than exploiting one's own family members and turning kinship into cheap labor.

They squeeze suppliers and low-level workers to the extreme, maximizing profits.

Regardless of whether this style is right or wrong, it at least contradicts Dong Jianguo's business philosophy.

The reason why Dong Jianguo was able to gradually build up his business in Shenzhen was not only because he made a living, but also because he made others live.

This isn't about being a saint; it's about the most practical business considerations.

If one person monopolizes all the profits across the entire business chain, why would anyone else want to cooperate with them?

No farmer will supply you with good eggs, and no worker will be willing to work hard for you. Even if you have great skills, you will starve to death.

But clearly, Zhang Cunyi, who has a university degree and a high opinion of himself, doesn't understand this principle.

He only cares about numbers, not human feelings;

There is only profit, no morality.

Looking at the arrogant man in front of him, Dong Jianguo suddenly felt sorry for him.

However, Dong Jianguo did not argue with him.

Since the other party has his own ideas and seems quite arrogant, it's pointless to talk to him.

Dong Jianguo chuckled and said, "As expected of a top student trained by a university, this whole array of abacus beads has truly broadened my horizons..."

"But I still want to tell you that the supply from the four farms is quite substantial right now, with deliveries every two days, each time around 3000 to 4000 catties (1,500 to 2,000 kilograms). These eggs need to be sold as soon as possible, otherwise it won't be good if they pile up at your house..."

Zhang Cunyi waved his hand dismissively, his nostrils flaring: "You don't need to worry about that. My yard is huge; even twice the size would fit. As for sales, I, Zhang Cunyi, am in high demand wherever I go. Why would I be afraid of not being able to sell them?"

Looking at his arrogant demeanor, Dong Jianguo had already made up his mind.

He walked up to Zhang Cunyi, patted his crisp Dacron shirt, and said calmly:

"Okay, since you're so confident, I wish you good luck. The truck driver will be at your house at 9 a.m. tomorrow to deliver the goods."

After saying that, Dong Jianguo found the ledger on the table, tore off a blank page from the back, and wrote down the landline numbers of the four farm secretaries:

"These are the contact details for the secretaries of those farms. You can call them if you want to discuss supply prices."

"As for my place... try to come here less often in the future, okay?"

Zhang Cunyi took the paper, and it took him a while to realize what was happening:

"Come on! What do you mean?"

Dong Jianguo smiled:

"My business style is different from yours, and seeing you makes my blood pressure rise... Besides, I don't like to associate with people who don't know how to respect others, whether they're college students or whatever."

"I think a guy who doesn't even respect people probably only cares about money and has no feelings."

"Working with this kind of person will only lead to your own downfall sooner or later."

Seeing Zhang Cunyi's eyes widen, Dong Jianguo patted him on the shoulder again:

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not targeting you..."

"I'm talking about you and people like you..."

After speaking, Dong Jianguo smiled and turned to look at Zhao Hongmei, whose eyes were slightly red:

"Sister Hongmei, please help me see the guest out!"