Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 142 Guidance from a Friend

Xiao Wei sat down at the table, lit a cigarette, and said, "Okay, which of you two will invest? It's such a big room, we'll need a projector for karaoke, right? Let's buy the cheapest equipment, say 75,000. Laser discs are a little over 300 each, 12 songs per disc, let's not buy too many, but at least 300 songs, right? 25 discs, let's not be specific, 10,000 yuan each, okay? 85,000."

Are you renovating? Do you need heating? Will you install air conditioning in the summer? What kind of tables and chairs will you use? What kind of tea will you brew? Will you serve other drinks? It's not a lot, just 100,000 yuan. Who's going to pay for it?

"And the billiard hall, can it fit ten tables? Let's not go all out, just ten. We'll buy Star brand billiard cues, 18,000 each, that's 180,000. And the cues? A bunch of stuff, let's say 200,000. That's 300,000 in total. You guys put that up and we'll get started. I won't take a cut, no rent, no utilities, I'll take care of everything for you, how about that?"

Back then, there were no VCDs, only LDs and laser disc players. The cheapest one, a Japanese Matsuka, cost over ten thousand yen. The laser era didn't end until VCDs appeared in 93. And it wasn't until after 95 that disc players became more affordable and entered ordinary households.

Here I must mention our national hero, Wanyan Electronics. With its forward-thinking vision and outstanding creative technology, it surpassed the rest of the world by realizing the storage and playback of hard disk animations and producing the world's first VCD. Then, without filing any patents, it simply waved its hand and invited countries around the world to visit, study, and take samples. And then, that was it. The Chinese VCD market was 99% occupied by foreign brands, and the patents and standards all belonged to them.

This naturally includes our proud and magnanimous leaders.

……

"Damn, that's right, we really have this much money. What are we going to do?" Xia Maosheng said to Chen Hui after doing some calculations.

Chen Hui blinked for a moment, then asked Xiao Wei, "Doesn't a dry rice shop need this much?"

Xiao Wei didn't even glance at him: "How would I know what you're planning to do?"

Chen Hui said, "Just set up a place downstairs and do it, what else?"

Xiao Wei stared at him and asked, "If you set up a place downstairs, why would anyone partner with you? Why would they exchange their technology for a 30% stake? How much are you planning to give them in dividends each year?"

Xia Maosheng said, "Old Wu runs his own shop here now, and he can easily make over 100,000 yuan a year. If you think like that, you'd better not go and talk to him, or you might get into a fight and get beaten up."

Xiao Wei sighed, waved his hand, and said, "Forget it, let's not talk about it anymore. I acted impulsively and oversimplified things. It's my fault. I'll apologize to Uncle Chen tonight and let him scold me a bit. That's all for now."

Chen Hui stared blankly for a while, then turned to Xiao Wei and said, "Xiao Wei, I understand why you're angry. I'm sorry, I oversimplified things. Damn, I'm suddenly under a lot of pressure. Do you have any paper or a pen? Li Wen, could you get me a pen and some paper?" He had gotten to know everyone quite well by now; actually, his personality was quite suitable for working outside.

Li Wen handed over paper and pen, which Chen Hui took and said, "Thanks, I'll treat you to dinner sometime."

Li Wen rolled her eyes, turned around and left. That was such a lack of sincerity.

Chen Hui handed the paper and pen to Xiao Wei and said, "Brother, I was wrong, and I really don't know anything about these things. Can you calculate it for me? Don't worry, I can learn, I'll definitely get it done. Just tell me what to do, okay, Brother Cheng?"

Xiao Wei looked at Chen Hui, then at the paper and pen, and took them from him. He said, "I was just thinking that your personality is suitable, and you want to make money. To be honest, Chen Xiao has money, and it would be embarrassing if you didn't have any. Your dad also has connections, so I was thinking of helping you find a viable business. With restaurants, if you have some connections and a good chef, you're sure to make a profit."

"If you open a small restaurant, you won't be able to go up in terms of class. How are you going to use your dad's connections? Are you going to get high-ranking officials and cadres to come here and drink with a bunch of workers? If you can't use those connections, there's no point in running this restaurant. You're just relying on ordinary people to come here for a few meals here and there. You might as well get some tape recorders from Chen Xiao and sell them. But what I didn't expect was that someone as smart as you didn't think of that. You had to open a small eatery instead."

Chen Hui licked his lips and said, "I've thought about it, really. I was just thinking that once I open my business, my dad would bring people over to eat. I didn't think about the level of service or anything."

Xiao Wei was too lazy to reply. He picked up a pen and wrote on a piece of paper, saying, "We've all been to Fengtian. Putting aside other things, we've been to a few high-end restaurants, so we have a general idea of ​​what's good. At the very least, it has to be a two-story building, right? The decor has to be decent too. The main hall has to be grand and bright, and the private rooms have to be adequate. Can this place be too small? Let's not talk about rent for now. Your dad will definitely have a solution. Let's just talk about direct investment."

First, there's the renovation. Second, there's the purchasing of all the furniture and supplies, inside and out. There are five chefs, but let's not even talk about that yet. And what about ten waiters? This place is huge! Where will all these people live? They need a place too, right? For such a big restaurant, we need a vehicle for grocery shopping, right? And a vehicle needs a driver, right? We need people to carry things and run errands, right? General laborers. Business is built up little by little. When you first open, you need to advertise, and that costs money, right? We need to prepare everyone's first month's salary, right?

"With just a few moves, wouldn't it cost at least two or three hundred thousand to get anything done, Lord Chen?"

Chen Hui asked, "Does Lao Wu still need to be paid a salary? Aren't they partners?"

Xia Maosheng said, "Of course we have to pay. One thing at a time. You can't get paid by asking someone else, can you? If you go to work, you'll get paid too."

Xiao Wei said, "I haven't finished yet. You need a manager to oversee things, right? You also need finance and purchasing. The manager needs to be capable and knowledgeable, but actually, you can hire someone from outside. If they don't do a good job, they can be fired. You have your dad's resources, so that's not a problem. The finance and purchasing positions must be your own people, at least trustworthy. Both of these involve dealing with money. Take purchasing, for example. If a pound of meat is 50 cents more expensive, that adds up to tens of thousands a year, you understand? Actually, the hardest thing to find for a big restaurant is the waiters. Ten or so of them all have to look pretty much the same, right? They need to have good personalities, right? They need to be good at talking, right? They can't be greeting guests with a long face all day, right?"

Xiao Wei threw his pen on the table and said, "These are the most basic things. Think carefully about whether you can do it."

Chen Hui also became serious, picked up the messy paper that Xiao Wei had written on and looked at it carefully. After a while, he said, "Xiao Wei, you write so well, why don't you write properly? This is so ugly."

Xiao Wei tilted his head and looked at Chen Hui, saying, "Can you please focus your attention on the right thing?"

Chen Hui chuckled a few times, shook the paper in his hand, and said, "Do I need to think about anything? With this, I just hand it over to my dad, and then I can just wait to collect the money."

Xiao Wei said, "Chen Hui, do you just want to rely on your dad for the rest of your life? What will happen to your dad when he gets old? You have to do something serious yourself, right? Doing things isn't like going to work, where you can just relax and play around because your dad's protecting you. You have to show some attitude when you do things, you have to think, you have to figure things out."

Xia Maosheng nodded and said, "Yes, Xiaowei is right. Actually, I don't understand much either, so I just listen to Xiaowei and learn. You can't rely on your family. You can use family connections, but if you rely entirely on family connections and don't work hard yourself, you won't get anything done."

Xiao Wei said, "Relationships are built up little by little by your parents. You have to use them wisely; the more you use them, the thinner they become. Besides, why should others help you if you're not capable yourself? Your parents help you because you're their son; do you think outsiders owe you anything?"

Chen Hui scratched his head and said, "My dad is more powerful than them, so they wouldn't dare not help."

Xiao Wei said, "This makes it even more important not to use this relationship lightly. It's not even a real connection; it's all about your dad's status. What if your dad retires? Believe me, this kind of person will turn against you faster than you can squander your fortune. You believe that such a favor can turn into an enemy with just one word from your dad?"

Chen Hui was stunned for a moment, and after a long while said, "That can't be, right? That's too scary."

Xia Maosheng said, "I've been in contact with these people since I was a child. What Xiaowei said is the truth, and I believe it."