amaotonovel Chapter 1491 1987
Chapter 1491 1987
Chapter 1491 1987
"Why are you in Shenzhen instead of working on the Taishan Township project?" Qin Hao asked with a smile as he sat down opposite Yang Shumo, his gaze sweeping over Yang Shumo. Yang Shumo looked much more mature than he had in the few months since they last met.
Yang Shumo smiled somewhat embarrassedly: "You knew all along?"
"Can you really keep what Old Xie knows a secret?" Qin Hao picked up his water glass and blew on it gently. "The moment he mentioned it at the airport that day, we all knew. You're something else, managing to secure such a big project without making a sound."
"Well, there's nothing I can do about it." Yang Shumo scratched his head, a hint of smugness on his face, which then turned into helplessness: "I was thinking of showing off my achievements to you after I finished the project. Well, now you know about it before it even started."
Qin Hao chuckled: "Your smugness hasn't changed. So, what's the matter?"
Yang Shumo's expression turned serious. He put down his water glass and leaned forward: "Hey, I'm here to urge them to pay. You know how little I have, barely enough to fill a gap between my teeth. The project is only able to keep running thanks to the money from those Hong Kong investors. But they don't pay in one lump sum; it's in stages, depending on the progress of the project. That's why I'm here, trying to urge them to transfer the next phase of payment as soon as possible."
Qin Hao paused in his pouring of water. He refilled Yang Shumao's water tank, then slowly sat back down in his chair, his tone becoming serious: "Da Mao, there's something I still need to remind you of. Jia Shifa is no pushover. If you cooperate with him, be careful not to get dragged into it. Losing money is a minor issue; what if it involves breaking the law..."
He paused, and seeing that Yang Shumao's expression hadn't changed, he continued, "Making money in business is important, but safety is even more important. There are some bottom lines that can't be crossed."
Upon hearing this, Yang Shumo's expression turned serious, and he sat up straight. "Thank you, Lao Qin. I know you're doing this for my own good. I've been wary of him doing this for a while now." He picked up his briefcase, took out a document, and handed it to Qin Hao. "Look, this is the contract I signed with the Taishan Township government. It's all in black and white, clear and simple. All the terms are compliant and legal."
Qin Hao took the contract and quickly glanced through it. Indeed, as Yang Shumo had said, the contract was signed directly with the township government, with standardized terms and clearly defined rights and obligations. Furthermore, the contract clearly stated that Yang Shumo's company was the sole developer, and Jia Shifa was not mentioned in the contract.
"Furthermore," Yang Shumo added, "I have no financial dealings with him whatsoever. All funds are transferred through the company account, and every transaction is recorded. He was merely an intermediary who introduced us and facilitated the cooperation, nothing more."
Qin Hao frowned and returned the contract to Yang Shumo. If what Yang Shumo said was true, then Jia Shifa hadn't gained anything from this—so why did he encourage Yang Shumo to sign the contract with the township government? Had he truly reformed and was now wholeheartedly dedicated to the development of the township?
This doesn't fit Jia Shifa's character. That old bastard is greedy, selfish, and cunning; he won't do anything without a reason. Would he really be so kind as to help for nothing?
But in Yang Shumo's presence, Qin Hao couldn't press further. After all, Yang Shumo was no longer his subordinate; he was now his own boss, with his own judgment and decisions. These questions involved trade secrets, and further inquiry would be inappropriate.
"Okay, as long as you understand." Qin Hao finally just nodded: "If you need any help, just let me know."
Yang Shumo breathed a sigh of relief, and a smile returned to his face: "Old Qin, I knew you were a true friend."
The two chatted for a while longer, until noon. Qin Hao originally planned to treat Yang Shumo to a meal outside and catch up. However, Yang Shumo was in a hurry to collect payment and only ate a few bites of food at the construction site canteen before leaving.
Yang Shumo stood at the entrance of the construction site, shook hands with Qin Hao to say goodbye: "Once this project is completed, I'll treat you to a big meal, and you can choose the place."
"Okay, I'll be waiting." Qin Hao smiled and patted him on the shoulder: "Be careful on the road."
……
A few days later, one evening, Qin Hao had just finished dinner at the construction site canteen and was about to return to his dormitory to handle some documents when he heard someone calling him from outside.
"Old Qin! Is Old Qin there?"
The voice sounded familiar, tinged with drunkenness. Qin Hao stepped out of the dormitory and saw that it was Xie Laozhuan. He was standing unsteadily in the courtyard, holding a wine bottle in his hand, looking completely lost and disoriented.
"Old Xie? What are you doing here?" Qin Hao quickly stepped forward to support him. "No, what happened to you? Why are you so drunk?"
Old Xie turned and looked up, his eyes red, whether from drinking too much or crying, it was hard to tell. He looked at Qin Hao, his lips trembling a few times.
Qin Hao was taken aback for a moment, then teased, "What's wrong? You look so dejected. Did Jia Xiaoying dump you?"
Old Xie's eyes widened as he pointed at Qin Hao: "How did you know..." He immediately realized he'd let something slip and quickly corrected himself: "Pah! Who got kicked! I was the one who kicked her!"
"Come on, you're kidding me." Qin Hao helped him walk towards his dormitory. "With your condition, you dare to kick someone? Alright, stop pretending. Tell me what happened."
Once inside the dormitory, Qin Hao poured Xie Lao a glass of water and gave him a damp towel to wipe his face. After a while, Xie Lao calmed down a bit and began to recount what had happened.
“In March,” Old Xie took a big gulp of water, “Jia Xiaoying asked me to go back, saying that she had opened a trading company in Beijing and wanted me to come back and work with her. How could I just leave like that? I refused outright.”
He paused, then continued, "Then she called again in April, saying she wanted me to come back and marry her. Can you believe it? Marriage is such a big deal, how can you just do it like that? Do you think I'd just marry her like that? I refused again."
Qin Hao sat opposite him, listening quietly without interrupting.
"Yesterday," Old Xie's voice lowered, "she called me again yesterday, giving me an ultimatum, saying that if I didn't marry her immediately, she would break up with me. What kind of talk is that? It's like she's forcing me into marriage! Do you think I can let her get away with that? I shut her up on the spot."
"And then they broke up?" Qin Hao asked.
"Ah." Old Xie nodded, then emphasized, "It's because I didn't want to marry her, so I was the one who dumped her! Remember that, I was the one who dumped her!"
As he spoke, his eyes reddened again, and his voice choked with emotion. Qin Hao could tell that although Old Xie spoke with a tough exterior, he was actually very sad inside.
"Alright, alright, I know, you're the one who kicked her." Qin Hao patted his shoulder. "It's okay, out with the old, in with the new. I'll keep you company tonight, we'll drink until we drop. I still have two bottles of good wine here, I haven't been able to bring myself to drink them, I'll open them tonight."
Upon hearing this, Old Xie looked up at Qin Hao, his eyes filled with emotion: "I have to say, Old Qin, you're a true friend. In this world, brothers are the most reliable, women... humph!"
As he spoke, tears welled up in his eyes. He hugged Qin Hao tightly, wiping his snot and tears all over Qin Hao's clothes.
"Hey, hey, hey, if you're going to cry, just cry, but don't wipe your snot on my clothes!" Qin Hao pushed him away in disgust.
……
The next afternoon, Old Xie finally woke up. He rubbed his aching temples, looked at Qin Hao sitting opposite him drinking tea, and said somewhat apologetically, "Old Qin, I... I caused you trouble yesterday."
"You knew you were causing trouble, yet you still drank so much?" Qin Hao glared at him. "Alright, hurry up and wash your face and eat something."
After washing up and eating, Old Xie felt much better. His self-healing ability was indeed very strong; after a night of heavy drinking, he was like a completely different person the next day, returning to his usual carefree self.
"Old Qin, I'm going back to Guangzhou this afternoon." After finishing his meal, Old Xie said, "There's a lot of things waiting for me there."
"Okay, be careful on the road." Qin Hao didn't say much, just patted him on the shoulder.
Old Xie turned and drove away. Qin Hao stood at the construction site gate, watching the car disappear into the distance, but his mind was preoccupied with something else—could Jia Xiaoying's sudden pressure to marry be related to her father, Jia Shifa? Or perhaps, to the project in Taishan Township?
……
Time flies, and October is here in the blink of an eye. Autumn in Beijing is crisp and clear.
October 1st, National Day, was also the day Burger King officially opened its first store in Beijing. The store is located on Qianmen Street, a prime location, and its facade is also impressively decorated.
On opening day, Shi Xiaona made thorough preparations. She not only invited Liu Xiaoqing, currently one of the hottest stars, to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony, but also invited Chen Peisi and Zhu Shimao to perform a skit. These two are currently enjoying immense popularity across the country, and their arrival attracted a large audience.
Although the venue was simple—just a makeshift stage set up in the open space in front of the store—the two put on an exceptionally enthusiastic show. Chen Peisi sported his signature bald head and his classic worn-out suit; Zhu Shimao, on the other hand, was dressed in a formal cadre's uniform. The moment they stepped onto the stage, before they even uttered a word, the audience erupted in laughter.
"Fellow villagers, today we two..."
"Wait a minute, wait a minute, who said 'the two of us'? Do I even know you?"
"How can we not know each other? Aren't we partners?"
"Who's going to partner with you? I'm a guest here for the ribbon-cutting ceremony, and you're here to perform a skit. How can we be on the same level?"
The two bantered back and forth, turning the makeshift stage into something resembling a Spring Festival Gala performance. The audience below roared with laughter, applause, laughter, and cheers rising and falling. The atmosphere was incredibly lively.
After the performance, Shi Xiaona personally gave Chen Peisi and Zhu Shimao each a red envelope containing 1,000 yuan. This was a huge sum of money at the time, equivalent to two years' wages for an average worker. The two pretended to decline for a moment, but eventually accepted it.
"President Shi, please call us anytime for similar events in the future," Chen Peisi said sincerely, shaking Shi Xiaona's hand.
"Of course, thank you both, teachers," Shi Xiaona replied with a smile.
Thanks to the wonderful performances of Chen Peisi and Zhu Shimao, a huge crowd gathered in front of Burger King, blocking the entire street. Many passersby stopped to watch and ask what was going on.
However, only a minority actually go inside Burger King. Most people just peer through the glass windows at the entrance, their eyes filled with curiosity, but their feet seem rooted to the spot, afraid to go in.
The reason is simple—Burger King looks too "stylish".
Bright glass doors and windows, clean and tidy counters, uniformed staff, and foods they'd never seen before—hamburgers, fried chicken, fries, and cola. Everything seemed so unfamiliar, so "high-end," making ordinary people hesitate to enter.
Some people mustered up the courage to go in, but immediately came back when they saw the price list on the wall.
A hamburger cost 3.8 yuan, a fried chicken leg 5.5 yuan, and a meal set 8.8 yuan. In Beijing in 1986, the monthly salary of an average worker was around 50 yuan. That is to say, eating at Burger King would cost them a week's wages.
This is too extravagant. The vast majority of families cannot afford it.
This made Shi Xiaona wonder if Burger King's pricing was too high.
She called Qin Hao, her voice filled with anxiety: "Is there a problem with our pricing? Should we adjust it?"
On the other end of the phone, Qin Hao remained calm: "Don't rush, let's wait and see."
"But..." Shi Xiaona wanted to say something more.
"Trust me, wait three days." Qin Hao interrupted her, "If it's still like this after three days, we'll adjust our strategy."
Shi Xiaona was skeptical, but she had no choice but to comply. She instructed the staff to continue providing standard service, maintaining smiles, ensuring hygiene, and preserving the quality of the food.
As a result, a miracle happened.
In the following days, sales continued to climb. What surprised her even more was that customers didn't complain about the high prices; instead, they praised the food and service.
By the seventh day, queues were still forming at the store from time to time. Although the queues weren't long, there were indeed people willing to wait in line.
This left Shi Xiaona completely baffled. She called Qin Hao again, this time her tone full of doubt: "What's going on? A few days ago no one dared to go in, but now there's a queue."
On the other end of the phone, Qin Hao laughed: "It's actually very simple. Although spending a week's salary to eat at Burger King once in a while is indeed a bit of a luxury for an ordinary family, don't forget how big Beijing's population is; there are still quite a few wealthy people."
He paused, then continued, "Right now, there's only one Burger King in Beijing, so people who want to eat there have to go to that store. A few days ago, people were still observing and hesitating. Once someone tries it and finds it delicious and novel, word spreads, and naturally more people will come to try it. Moreover, for those who can afford it, 8.8 yuan a meal is not an unacceptable price."
Shi Xiaona suddenly realized: "I understand! Our target customer group already existed, I just didn't realize it before."
“That’s right,” Qin Hao said. “So what you need to do now is not to lower prices, but to expand your scale as quickly as possible.”
Hearing this, Shi Xiaona was taken aback again: "But if that's the case, will our plan to open a new store next month have to be postponed? The business of this store is just starting to pick up, and we should focus on making it a success."
"Quite the opposite," Qin Hao said decisively. "We need to get going as soon as possible, the faster the better."
"Why?" Shi Xiaona asked, puzzled.
"It's very simple," Qin Hao explained. "Once the novelty wears off, not so many people will be willing to travel a long way to eat fried chicken and hamburgers. If we don't open branches near these customers as soon as possible, we may lose these customers forever."
He emphasized, "Most importantly, I've heard rumors that KFC is already planning to enter the mainland market. We must gain enough advantages before these international giants do."
"Like in Hong Kong?"
"Pretty much, but the timing isn't right for food delivery in mainland China yet, so you need to try to secure as many stores in prime locations as possible."
Shi Xiaona replied with great enthusiasm: "Okay, I know what to do."
After hanging up the phone, Shi Xiaona was full of energy. She immediately gathered her team and readjusted the store opening plan, changing the original goal of opening two stores by the end of the year to opening four.
In the days that followed, Shi Xiaona was extremely busy. She not only had to oversee the construction of the Langfang chicken supply base, but also travel all over Beijing to find suitable store locations; recruit and train staff; and coordinate renovations and equipment procurement…
Busy days always fly by. In November, two new stores opened simultaneously. Business at these two stores was exceptionally good. Although they couldn't compare to the flagship store on Qianmen Street, their monthly sales reached between 60,000 and 80,000 yuan.
Shi Xiaona did the math: the total investment for a store is around 50,000 yuan. A store's monthly sales are 60,000 yuan, with a gross profit of around 30,000 yuan. In other words, a store can break even in about a month and a half.
This data greatly boosted Shi Xiaona's confidence. She worked even harder, and by the end of December, Burger King had opened six stores in Beijing.
Although the revenue of each store is not particularly high, it adds up to a considerable amount. More importantly, the Burger King brand has already made a name for itself in Beijing and has a stable customer base.
……
Meanwhile, in Shenzhen, after a year of construction, the second phase of the "Jinxiu Garden" project is basically completed. Rows of residential buildings are rising from the ground, their exterior tiles gleaming in the sunlight. The roads within the community have been paved, and the landscaping is largely finished, with only some lawns and trees still being transplanted.
Compared to the success of Phase 1, Phase 2 was even more popular. With pre-sales already largely completed and the reputation established by Phase 1 established, Phase 2 attracted considerable interest from Hong Kong investors as soon as it opened for sale.
Of course, this is also due to the surge in Shenzhen's housing prices this year. At this time last year, the average housing price in Shenzhen was around 1500 yuan per square meter, but by the end of this year it had risen to 1800 yuan per square meter. And for boutique residential communities like "Jinxiu Garden," the increase was even more dramatic, rising directly from 2000 yuan per square meter to 2800 yuan per square meter.
The reason for such a high price increase is mainly due to the lack of competing products in the market. While other developers are still producing shoddy work and only caring about building and selling houses, "Jinxiu Garden" is far ahead in terms of both apartment design and surrounding amenities.
It is no exaggeration to say that in 1986, there were only two choices when buying a house in Shenzhen: one was "Jinxiu Garden" and the other was everything else.
As a result, not only Hong Kong investors, but also many mainland business owners have joined the rush to buy properties. Some of these people are business owners, and some are leaders in their organizations. They have money and are optimistic about Shenzhen's development prospects, so they have all made purchases.
This has led to a strange phenomenon: while other developers are still racking their brains over who to sell their completed houses, the second phase of "Jinxiu Garden" was already almost sold out before the handover even began. All that's left are some premium units and leftovers.
Qin Hao stood on the top floor of the tallest building in Phase II, overlooking the entire community. Zhao Yajing stood beside him, holding several sets of keys in her hand.
"This apartment is nice, I want it!" Zhao Yajing snatched a bunch of keys without hesitation and held them in her hand.
Qin Hao laughed and scolded, "This is for myself. You're practically robbing me."
"Hmph, you have the nerve to say that." Zhao Yajing pouted, "You left yourself such a nice house, but didn't even leave one for me. I've been working hard in Shenzhen for so many years, and I don't even have a place of my own. It's only right that I take it from you."
She knew Qin Hao had definitely kept more than one unit. As a developer, it was perfectly normal to keep a few good apartments for his own use or to give them away.
Qin Hao waved his hand, feigning helplessness: "Grandma, I can't afford to offend you, alright? Here, take the set, are you satisfied now?"
"That's more like it." Zhao Yajing happily took Qin Hao's hand and began to imagine how to decorate their new house: "I want to paint the living room light yellow and the bedroom light blue. The furniture should be solid wood, and the sofa should be genuine leather..."
As she talked, she pulled Qin Hao around the empty room, pointing and planning what to put here and there. Qin Hao just listened with a smile, occasionally agreeing with a few words.
Sunlight streamed through the window, which still lacked glass, and bathed the two of them. At that moment, the fatigue of a year's work seemed to vanish.
……
New Year's Day arrived in the blink of an eye. With the Spring Festival just around the corner, only some finishing touches remained at the construction site. The workers began to panic—they worried that after the New Year, there would be no work left on the site; where could they find such a good boss and such good benefits again?
These days, contractor Lao Zhang always has a frown on his face, hovering around Qin Hao as if he wants to say something but doesn't.
That day, Qin Hao was processing documents in his office when Old Zhang came in again. He stood at the door, rubbing his hands, looking troubled.
"What's up?" Qin Hao looked up.
"Um... Mr. Qin..." Old Zhang stammered, "The workers... all asked me... if I... would come back next year..."
Qin Hao put down his pen, looked at Old Zhang's expression, and said irritably, "Alright, stop putting on that long face for me. Tell the workers to come over next year and work hard, and I guarantee they'll have work to do."
Old Zhang's eyes lit up: "Really? Mr. Qin, you're not kidding me, are you?"
"When have I ever lied to you?" Qin Hao glared at him. "Next year, we'll not only have work, but big work. A project even bigger than 'Jinxiu Garden'."
During that year, Qin Hao naturally didn't focus all his energy on the construction site. Through Director Liu's connections, he acquired another piece of land. This land, located in Nanshan, was even larger than "Jinxiu Garden," but it wasn't intended for residential construction; rather, it was for building an industrial base.
This project operates under a government-sponsored cooperation model: the government provides the land, and Qin Hao is responsible for constructing standard factory buildings, warehouses, office buildings, and other facilities. After completion, rent is shared according to a set ratio. This is a long-term, stable income project; although the profit margin isn't as high as real estate development, the returns are consistent.
"Well..." Old Zhang rubbed his hands together, a fawning smile on his face, "Are there still New Year's red envelopes...?"
Qin Hao looked at him and suddenly laughed: "Everyone else has it, but you don't."
"Huh?" Old Zhang's smile froze.
"What are you 'ah' about?" Qin Hao laughed and scolded, "Aren't you going to get to work? If you keep dawdling here, you can forget about your bonus this year."
"Oh, oh, I'll go right away, I'll go right away!" Old Zhang quickly turned around and jogged out of the office.
Qin Hao watched his retreating figure, then shook his head with a smile.