In 2004, the main urban area of Guangzhou was not very large; Zhujiang New Town, famous in later generations, was still a desolate vegetable field at this time.
Who could have imagined that after only a dozen years, everything would have changed so drastically?
Perhaps, even the city's designers hadn't anticipated such rapid and immense changes?
At this time, the Canton Fair only had the Liuhua Complex, which was a small venue, looking far too small compared to the new complex built later.
Hotel prices throughout the city were three times the usual rate.
To save costs, some exhibitors arranged accommodation in nearby Foshan, commuting morning and evening.
Some frugal bosses even arranged for their sales staff to stay at friends' homes in Guangzhou, with four or five people cramped together, making do.
All of this was told to Tan Jincheng by Uncle Cheng.
Uncle Cheng's full name is Cheng Yongjun, a name with a strong sense of the times.
This was his third time participating in the Canton Fair.
The first time Uncle Cheng exhibited, he also just found a random place to make do, to save on expenses.
In his words,
"It was very hard, very tiring, but everything was worth it."
What Uncle Cheng remembered most vividly was an African ajumma, who looked like she weighed as much as two of him, dressed flamboyantly, and also in the clothing business.
This African ajumma, with a small assistant, was right next to their booth at the time, and one order was for nearly 3 million T-shirts.
Recalling his previous two experiences, Cheng Yongjun couldn't help but exclaim,
"Young man, work hard. As long as you can produce good products, you won't have to worry about orders."
In fact, this also applied to himself.
If he hadn't first heard about such an exhibition and plucked up the courage to attend, his company wouldn't have developed so quickly.
If he had been deterred by the booth fees back then, perhaps he would still just be a mold maker, working day and night with a few workers to process orders for others, earning a meager living.
Opportunities are often like this; when you inadvertently seize one, your future life may undergo earth-shattering changes.
Outside the venue, it was truly a sea of people; even having lived two lives, Tan Jincheng had never seen so many foreigners in China.
People of various skin colors gathered here.
The building hosting the exhibition hall looked quite grand, but from the perspective of later generations, it would seem somewhat insignificant.
"Let's go. I'll take you to find the Ningbo delegation. Our symbol is a rattle drum; we can look out for each other if we stick together."
Seeing Tan Jincheng seemed stunned by the scene, Cheng Yongjun couldn't help but smile, recalling how he had the same expression during his first exhibition.
Tan Jincheng had a sweet tongue and could speak Ningbo dialect.
Having lived two lives, he had seen quite a lot and knew how to chat with these middle-aged men and win them over.
Furthermore, with his Ningbo dialect skills, Cheng Yongjun, who loved to chat, spoke very cheerfully along the way.
In his good spirits, he even paid for Tan Jincheng's travel fare.
Even having arrived here, Cheng Yongjun didn't mind accompanying this young man a bit further; after all, his salespeople were already waiting at his end, so arriving a little earlier or later wouldn't matter.
"Thank you, Uncle Cheng. If you hadn't shown me the way, I might not have found it for a while. There are too many foreigners; my eyes are starting to blur just looking at them."
"Haha, you'll get used to it after coming a couple more times. Let's go."
"Okay~"
The place Tan Jincheng was heading to was near the Ningbo delegation.
At the Canton Fair, the Ningbo delegation was quite strong; many provinces formed delegations by province, but Ningbo formed a delegation as a city-level unit, which showed its significance.
"Since it's your first time in Guangzhou, if you have nothing to do, you can go explore. There are many varieties of electronic products here, which you young people should like, or you can go to Shenzhen, buy some things to take back."
"As for safety, you don't need to worry during the exhibition; it's very strictly managed. However, you still need to be careful about pickpockets; don't lose your wallet."
Cheng Yongjun explained to Tan Jincheng as they walked inside.
Tan Jincheng nodded with a smile, occasionally observing the passing exhibition booths.
Losing wallets was indeed a major characteristic of those years, requiring special attention everywhere.
Especially on buses.
When he was in Beicang, Tan Jincheng was extremely careful every time he took the bus.
Losing money was a small matter, but losing his ID card would truly make it impossible to move an inch.
This made him deeply miss QR code payments from his previous life, where he could just go out with a mobile phone.
In a sense, the widespread adoption of QR code payments significantly reduced petty theft and crime.
Reducing social crime rates, in this regard, thanks are due, more or less, to the two entrepreneurs surnamed Ma.
Before long, Tan Jincheng found the target booth, pointed to the spot, and said to Cheng Yongjun,
"Uncle Cheng, I've found the place."
Cheng Yongjun glanced, didn't recognize it, and so had no intention of going over.
He nodded to Tan Jincheng and said,
"Alright, you go ahead. If you need any help later, give me a call. When you're away from home, we're all family."
"Okay, Uncle Cheng, if you have any difficulties with translation, you can also find me. My English is quite good."
"Haha, you young man; I know, but don't just focus on being a translator. Try to sign an order; you'll earn much more than just translating."
"Understood. Thank you, Uncle Cheng, for your guidance along the way. When I return to Beicang, I will definitely visit your company, and then I'll ask Uncle Cheng to do me the honor of letting me treat you to a meal."
"We'll talk about it when we get back. I'm leaving now."
"Walk safe, Uncle Cheng."
For Cheng Yongjun, meeting a pleasant-speaking young man during the journey, whether to alleviate travel loneliness or satisfy his slight inclination to be a mentor, offering some guidance was merely a casual matter.
But for Tan Jincheng, Cheng Yongjun was indeed his benefactor.
What was discussed during these few hours helped him clarify his thoughts.
Unlike stock trading, the inertia of history will not change.
While Kweichow Moutai's stock price might deviate slightly from his memory in the future, it would ultimately be largely similar.
Buying stocks and waiting until a certain time would yield good returns; all that was needed was time.
However, doing business, starting a venture; even if you know the general trend, one wrong step could ruin your future.
In booming industries, not every pig can fly.
This is why countless successful grassroots entrepreneurs often mention benefactors in their early entrepreneurial stages.
Ordinary people don't have so many opportunities to learn from failure.
Having a benefactor who systematically analyzes how to survive in an industry can save you many detours.
In this era, Tan Jincheng was like an outsider.
Doing business in different time periods required different methods.
The few hours of communication today allowed Tan Jincheng to smoothly clarify his thoughts, integrate into this era, and feel the pulse of the times.
"No wonder so many transmigrators like to trade stocks. It's purely results-oriented; the process matters little. Just buy low and hold."
Compared to stock trading, doing business is much harder.
If there's no one to guide them, and no one buys this batch of clothes, Tan Jincheng and Zhang Xupeng would really have to set up a street stall.
(End of Chapter)
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