chsdbacks Chapter 956 The Old Relic Striving for Self-Improvement
Chapter 956 The Old Relic Striving for Self-Improvement
How to do how to do.
This idiot can't even do such a small thing right. Chen Yifeng will find out sooner or later that something is wrong with the things in the house...
After Wu Yan left, Zhang Xuan anxiously held her head in her hands.
Before she could think any further, she heard the sound of a car outside.
"Click".
A few minutes later, Chen Yifeng opened the door.
Looking at the woman lying on the sofa watching TV, he couldn't help but sneer: "She just lies there like a salted fish all day, doesn't she care about the child?"
"Didn't you say before we got married that I wouldn't have to do anything after we got married?" Zhang Xuan continued to lie there like a corpse.
"Then you should set a good example for your children. If they follow your example, they will all become useless."
"What, do you think I'm useless? You used to call me 'baby' all the time."
“You…” Chen Yifeng slammed his briefcase heavily onto the table.
When we went up to the second floor, my son was playing with my daughter.
"Playing, playing, playing, just like your mother every day. You'll only ever be able to lie on the sofa and sponge off your parents in the future." Chen Yifeng glanced at the two little ones.
"Dad's home!" the boy ran over, sniffling.
"How many times have I told you not to wipe your nose with your sleeve? And you need to sit properly, walk properly, and speak clearly. Look at the words you just spoke, it sounded like you had a rotten peach stuffed in your mouth... Ugh, never mind." Chen Yi was very annoyed and went straight to the study to turn on the computer.
He uses computers frequently, but he's still a complete novice when it comes to them.
Normal tasks are fine, but when it comes to something complicated, they're completely lost.
"What the hell is this? Why is my computer so slow? Didn't I install 365 Security Guard? What the hell is this, popping up so many ads? 365 Loans? Are you kidding me? This is such rogue software!" His home computer hadn't been used for a while, and its sudden slowness was hard for him to accept.
Enduring the lag, he directly accessed the company's homepage.
This website was quite advanced more than a decade ago, offering various languages and a full range of functions.
However, with the development of the times, many people no longer look at the company's homepage, so neither Chen Caiyue nor other managers usually focus their promotional efforts on the website.
"Oh my, Huade's website is still a classic among classics. No wonder I had a professional design it back then."
Chen Yifeng muttered to himself, then took out a small notebook and opened an email account using the username and password written on it.
"Are you kidding me? How come these are all emails from so long ago?" He stared blankly at the dates in his inbox.
The reason for his sudden interest in Huade is the loss of senior management such as Chen Caiyue. Coupled with the poor performance of the financial company, Chen Yifeng plans to step back and revive Huade.
"Why don't customers contact the company via email? How do they usually contact the company? By phone?"
Chen Yifeng stared blankly at the computer screen.
Aside from knowing that WeChat is a social media app, he knew nothing else about it.
My mind is still stuck in the idea that everyone abroad only knows how to communicate via email, text message, and phone.
"With so many WeChat users now, foreigners must be using the international version! Hmm, I need to download the international version too... Wait, how do I download the international version? It seems like there's only one WeChat app in the app store." Chen Yifeng stroked his chin, deep in thought.
In the past, he would ask his son for help whenever he encountered something he didn't understand. Later, when his son went abroad, he would initially communicate with him, but later he would ask Zhang Xuan when he couldn't understand something.
However, Zhang Xuan was not as familiar with foreign countries as he was; she was a complete novice.
"Let's leave the client's matter for now, we'll ask others when we get back to the company. Let's take a look at Huade's advertisement first..." As he spoke, Chen Yifeng opened Baidu again to search.
"I remember that we used to advertise on some equipment websites to contact domestic buyers, but now we rarely see advertisements anymore?" I searched and searched, but all I found were old advertisements.
The fact that the contact person listed was a former employee made him frown again.
Huade's sales network in China has offline outlets, covering almost all large, medium and small cities across the country.
But Chen Yifeng hasn't gone down to inspect for a long time, so he has no idea what the current situation is like.
He could have made a phone call to ask, but that would have been too embarrassing, so he ignored it.
"Sigh." He picked up his phone, intending to mock Chen Caiyue and then try to entice her to come back.
After thinking for a long time, he finally shook his head. Meanwhile, inside the Xinlu Municipal Building...
Songquan was sitting in a chair drinking tea at that moment.
"This Chen Yifeng is ungrateful; he thinks he doesn't know who he is just because he's made some money."
"Exactly, everyone else treats their leaders with utmost respect. But he treats us like his subordinates."
"That's right, I heard he used to give all sorts of... orders when he was out in public. Can you just say things like that so casually...? Even if what he said wasn't false, you can't just use someone else's authority to bully others. Now look what's happened, he's lost his imperial robes. Yet he still carries that attitude, he's utterly arrogant!"
Several leaders sat in chairs, spitting as they spoke.
They used to be somewhat wary of Chen Yifeng, but now...
Song Quan spat out a mouthful of tea leaves and said, "Alright, there's no use talking about this now. What we need to do now is to develop Xinlu and increase local tax revenue. We should have the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission identify and invest in projects with potential to make money. I think Wulin City, the capital of the neighboring province of Zhejiang, is doing quite well. Their internet companies are springing up like mushrooms after rain. Influencer economy, traffic e-commerce, live streaming sales—these things generate billions in revenue. Wulin City can make a name for itself in the tertiary industry with these things, so why can't Xinlu do the same?"
“That’s right. Wulin City is all about speed right now. The sales of a top livestreamer in one night can even equal the annual output of a medium-sized machinery factory here. This kind of asset-light, high-return digital economy is exactly the kind of tool we need to boost domestic demand and tax revenue.” Someone chimed in.
“But Xinlu is not Wulin City after all. They have established internet giants and industrial clusters, while we can’t even find a decent MCN agency here. If the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission really pours money into this field, and in the end it doesn’t even make a splash, it’ll be hard to explain to the accounts.” Another man wearing glasses shook his head slightly, looking troubled.
"This is the problem of rigid thinking. If there are no conditions, create them. Xinlu was able to use its capital investment to build a foundation for high-tech manufacturing back then, and today it can use the same approach to carve out a new world in the e-commerce field. We can designate a special digital e-commerce industrial park, offering rent reductions and tax incentives. We can have the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of China (SASAC) take the lead in establishing a special guidance fund to connect with those leading traffic platforms. As long as the supply chain and incubation base are built, ambitious young people will naturally flock here." Song Quan said confidently.
The atmosphere in the office building has become lively again.
Half an hour later, only Song Quan remained in the office.
Just then, the secretary knocked on the office door. Upon seeing this, Songquan immediately stood up and greeted him with a smile: "It's our first meeting, Mr. Chen, you are truly young and promising!"
Chen Xi also politely shook hands with the other party.
"You flatter me, leaders. We just happened to catch the good times of the development of the Internet and logistics and did some insignificant small business."
"My goodness, the scale of the internet and logistics industry is quite impressive now, ranking among the top in the country. Mr. Chen, please don't be modest. The main reason I've invited you here today is to discuss the city's upcoming major initiatives. With the rapid pace of technological development, we need to focus on heavy industry, but we can't neglect agriculture, rural areas, and farmers, or emerging industries. The city plans to launch a set of support policies to guide capable technology companies to cross over into modern technology-driven animal husbandry. For example, the currently popular multi-story, vertical pig farms with fully automated feeding and manure cleaning—managing livestock with the mindset of managing factories."
The two sat down and started chatting.
Chen Xi didn't reply, but just quietly looked at the other person.
“Our local chicken-farming tycoon has chickens sold all over the country now; he’s a very successful example. But all their energy is focused on the poultry market, and they neglect other meat sectors. The city hopes that Mr. Chen can step in and fill the gap in technology-driven farming. Once the supply chain for hauling goods is established, you’ll definitely reap the benefits of land and policy incentives.” Song Quan picked up his white porcelain teacup and used the lid to stir the tea leaves on the surface.
"We do have plans to pick up goods in the fresh food cold chain sector, but farming and logistics are two completely different tracks, and the gap is too big." Chen Xi avoided the topic.
"Cross-industry collaborations are where the sparks fly. It's not just about aquaculture; it's also about the sales channels for modern agriculture. Your strawberry and silverfish production bases in Xinlu have significantly increased yields thanks to technological improvements. But problems have arisen as well. Despite the bumper harvest, the purchase prices outside are very low, leaving a large amount of produce stuck in farmers' hands, which is a huge burden on everyone's minds. I see that in Wulin City in Zhejiang Province, thanks to digital e-commerce and influencer bases, they can sell out an entire county's agricultural products in just one night. The live streaming section of the Tianya Forum is very popular. If Mr. Chen could establish a live streaming e-commerce park in Xinlu and use the traffic to connect with these specialty agricultural products, it would be a great thing that brings both fame and fortune."
"Live-streaming e-commerce can indeed alleviate current inventory pressure, but this model does not improve farmers' actual net income. On the surface, tens of thousands of orders sell out instantly, and the backend data looks good, but what follows is high slot fees and commission rates. In order to attract attention online, prices must be driven down to the lowest possible level. After this whole process, the bulk of the profits are taken by the platform and those top influencers. Farmers work themselves to the bone, and the net profit they receive is even lower than before when wholesalers went to the countryside to buy goods in bulk. This short-lived prosperity created by buying volume at low prices does not provide any substantial help to the long-term development of local industries."
Song Quan's smile faded slightly, then he burst into laughter again and waved his hand.
"President Chen's view is too one-sided. Economic development always involves a process of exploration and trial and error. Some things can't be calculated by focusing on small, localized gains; we have to consider the overall macro picture. As long as we bring traffic and influencer bases to Xinlu, the supporting warehousing, express delivery, and packaging industry chains can take root locally. With the support of these flows, the local tax revenue and various economic indicators will see growth. What the city values is Tianya Network's sense of social responsibility. Young people can take bigger steps and contribute more to the development of their hometown." Song Quan's words were evasive, full of macro indicators and data.
Chen Xi looked at the smiling man in front of him.
The other party was only interested in the huge cash flow of Tianya Forum and the taxes that could be included in their work report.
“Whether it’s multi-story pig farming buildings or top-tier live-streaming bases, they are essentially high-density capital and technology that absolutely exclude labor. A fully automated pig farming building, with system-controlled temperature and feeding, allows one person to manage tens of thousands of pigs, which does significantly improve production efficiency. However, the total meat market in the province is only so big. These behemoths crush the market with extremely low marginal costs, and the thousands of ordinary farmers in the surrounding areas who rely on raising a few pigs to supplement their income will immediately lose their space to survive. As for live-streaming e-commerce, the traffic is highly monopolized in a few top live-streaming rooms, which not only takes away the already meager profits of farmers, but also collapses traditional offline wholesale markets and small retailers. On the surface, a few internet celebrities who make a fortune every day are born, but behind them are the bankruptcies of countless small physical vendors. This model does not create new social wealth; it only completes a cruel redistribution of wealth, completely stripping the grassroots of their ability to withstand risks.” Chen Xi looked at the blue and white porcelain teacup on the table.
The smile on Song Quan's lips gradually faded.
“Mr. Chen, your theory might hold water in an academic report, but from a practical management perspective, the coordinates for viewing the problem are different. The traditional, backward small-scale farming economy has a truly low ability to withstand risks. A swine fever outbreak or a cold wave can bankrupt an entire family, ultimately requiring government relief. Modern agriculture and commerce must follow the path of large-scale and intensive development; this is an irreversible trend. What you call unemployment or career changes is called the rational transfer of agricultural population to secondary and tertiary industries in development economics; it's an unavoidable phase of growing pains during urban transformation.” Song Quan picked up his teacup, took a sip, and moistened his throat.
"As a manager, I can't just focus on the gains and losses of a few individual businesses. If Xinlu doesn't take the lead in establishing a modern industrial cluster and doesn't keep digital e-commerce and high technology locally, we will be left far behind by other provincial capitals in future urban competition. Survival of the fittest. What we need to do is build a higher and more stable platform so that capable young people can find secondary employment through warehousing, transportation, and supply chain, instead of clinging to outdated practices and treating backward productivity as a treasure." Song Quan's expression returned to its usual composure.
Looking at the leader in front of him, who had a big-picture view, Chen Xi understood that in the face of this macro narrative and tax figures, the hard work of the grassroots had long been diluted into insignificant decimal points on the reports.
Seeing that he remained silent, Songquan spoke again: "I just talked to your father. He's old-fashioned and his perspective is inevitably limited to short-term gains and losses. You're still young, and you have a long road ahead of you. You can't learn his kind of complacent thinking. Have you forgotten what that person repeatedly emphasized at the conference? Life never favors those who are conservative and complacent, nor does it wait for those who are unambitious and seek only to reap the rewards. Instead, it reserves more opportunities for those who are good at and courageous in innovation. In this industrial revolution, whoever can master new models and new business formats first will dominate the next decade."
In fact, Chen Xi understood that what Song Quan said made sense.
Rural issues are not so easy to solve. For example, if live-streaming e-commerce were not available, farmers' income would remain the same as before.
Live-streaming e-commerce can indeed make some rural people rich, but it cannot make everyone rich.
In the future, will these farmers who have become rich first be able to help other farmers become rich as well?
Chen Xi didn't know the answer to this question. (End of Chapter)