January 1, 2006, Sunday, the second day of the twelfth lunar month.
New Year's Day, a new year begins, another new cycle, flowers are similar year after year, but people change with each passing year.
Although the apartment in Liren Garden is not large, Tan Jincheng spent a fortune on its decoration.
The exterior might seem ordinary, but once inside, it's a completely different world, equipped with advanced facilities such as a fresh air system and floor heating.
Especially in winter, the interior is exceptionally comfortable.
I remember seeing a post online in my previous life where the questioner asked why wealthy people and celebrities don't bundle up in thick down jackets like ordinary people in winter.
The fundamental reason lies here.
Those with good conditions stay in spring-like warm indoors for extended periods and travel in luxury cars, so they simply don't need clothes like down jackets.
In his previous life, Tan Jincheng would bundle up thickly when selling his wares in the dead of winter at this time of year, but he would still be frozen like a dog.
However, in this life, he no longer has to suffer this hardship.
Apart from inspecting the factory, Tan Jincheng rarely has the chance to wear a down jacket.
At nine in the morning, in the warm, spring-like room, Tan Jincheng awoke from his sleep.
Seeing Gu Qingqing still sound asleep beside him, he couldn't resist getting a little handsy again.
Hmm, this time it was the master bedroom.
Since breaking through the final barrier, the young couple's relationship progressed rapidly, spending several nights together each week.
Before long, Gu Qingqing was woken up by Tan Jincheng.
"Hey, hey, what are you doing? It's so early in the morning, let me sleep a bit longer."
"It's past nine, still sleeping? Aren't you hungry?"
"I'm not hungry. If you're hungry, go eat by yourself. I want to sleep a bit more; it's much more comfortable here than my dorm."
"Then come and stay more often when you have time. But you can't sleep now; I'm not hungry, but Little Tan is."
"Stop it, stop it, don't be a hooligan; Oh, brother, I was wrong."
Young bodies, passion easily ignited.
Soon, the room was filled with spring; past 10 o'clock, both, their energy depleted, started hearing their stomachs rumble.
"Get up, let's eat something. The new store is opening today; we'll go join the fun later."
"Mm, okay, but I need to take a shower first, I'm all sweaty."
"Together then."
Shanchi Technology Beicang Brand Flagship Store, after nearly two months of preparation and a week of trial operation, officially opened today.
Coinciding with the New Year's Day holiday, the scene was bustling with excitement.
The brand store is located near Xindalu Night Market, currently the most popular district in Beicang.
It covers an area of over 500 square meters and can accommodate approximately 1000 electric vehicles.
For an electric vehicle specialty store, naturally, the more electric vehicles there are, the grander it appears.
Tan Jincheng didn't expect this store to be highly profitable; its primary purpose was to be a brand display space.
Therefore, no expense was spared on the store's area and decoration.
The store was not rented but purchased outright.
The overall decoration style leans towards post-modernism, somewhat similar to the styles of future Apple and Xiaomi phone brand stores.
It is very simple and bright, making it quite unique and eye-catching in an era that preferred flashy designs.
With the new store opening, promotion was naturally indispensable.
Besides TV stations, traffic radio, taxi lights, and local forums, male and female part-time staff were scattered at the storefront and throughout the surrounding district, distributing promotional flyers to passersby.
Today was New Year's Day and also a Sunday.
Although the weather was cold, fortunately, there was no rain.
This street block has various clothing stores, large mobile phone outlets, and even the Yiwu Small Commodities City.
It's already the primary shopping area for Beicang people, and with numerous residential communities nearby, it naturally sees heavy foot traffic on weekdays, which intensifies during holidays.
In those years, there were almost no "head-down" phone users; people shopping were genuinely shopping.
The continuous flow of people on the streets felt full of life and vibrancy.
Tan Jincheng wasn't in a hurry to go to the Shanchi brand store.
Hand in hand with Gu Qingqing, he strolled along the pedestrian street.
First, they found a place to eat, and after a satisfying meal, the two walked and browsed along the street.
Near a large mobile phone store, a promotional flyer was slipped into his hand; it was for their own flagship store.
"Renowned actress Liu Yifei passionately endorses Fengchi Electric Vehicles, launching nationwide to offer you a unique travel experience; Grand opening special, experience price of 2599 yuan, plus a gift package valued at 599 yuan."
Below was a line of smaller text, stating that the gift package included a luxury five-piece electric vehicle set, warm gloves, a scarf, a moisturizing cup, and other assorted items.
"Are these gifts really worth that much?"
Gu Qingqing asked, looking at the promotional flyer in her hand with some curiosity.
"Of course not,"
Tan Jincheng chuckled.
"It's promotional language. But if you actually bought them, it would probably cost two or three hundred yuan. I'm not really sure of the exact amount."
Having had the previous Shanchi offline promotion plan, Tan Jincheng didn't pay too much attention to the Fengchi offline promotion plan this time, letting the marketing department formulate it independently.
The current marketing department was no longer the one from the company's early days.
If a promotion plan for a single offline store still required Tan Jincheng's personal involvement, it would be a bit unreasonable.
However, Tan Jincheng did suggest adding more female-oriented gifts to the small gift items.
Seeing items like moisturizing cups, warm gloves, and scarves, Tan Jincheng knew these people had listened to his advice.
"What if they really were purchased at 599?"
"How could that be? Although I haven't bought these things myself, I'm not completely out of touch. I still know roughly how much they're worth. Besides, getting money requires my signature. Of course, I won't manage it too strictly; a little bit of petty gain is fine."
In reality, some of these small gifts were left over from the previous Shanchi promotion, and their actual procurement cost was not much.
For each electric vehicle, after deducting these small gifts, it's probably equivalent to a two or three hundred yuan discount on the 2599 yuan base price.
Fengchi was finally priced at 2599 yuan, a result derived from market research.
Compared to the Shanchi economy model, Fengchi's costs were identical except for an additional baking paint cost and diverse color costs for exterior parts.
With almost identical costs, one product sells for 1999 yuan and another for 2599 yuan.
This is a positioning-based premium.
The beautiful appearance and agile design are worth this premium.
In some regions, it can even be given as a dowry for weddings, which is not uncommon.
Wedding dowry items have included the "three major items" of the last century, including bicycles, followed by motorcycles, electric vehicles, and eventually cars.
During the era when motorcycles were popular, they were used as dowry.
After the motorcycle ban, a significant number of regions have replaced motorcycles with small electric scooters, and the previous ground promotion teams had already provided feedback on this.
Terminal merchants in some regions felt that Fengchi was very suitable for wedding items and even suggested adding this point to the promotions.
As for the additional cost of Fengchi, it had been perfectly resolved by Tan Jincheng by partnering with Mingcan Mould through an equity investment to establish a new company to serve Shanchi Technology's plastic parts business.
The new company was named Mingcheng Industrial Co., Ltd., with a registered capital of 10 million yuan.
Shanchi Technology invested 3 million yuan, accounting for 28% of the total shares, becoming its second-largest shareholder.
Zhang Mingcan was entrusted with the preparatory work for Mingcheng Industrial.
Its future operations would also be fully managed by Zhang Mingcan.
As a reward for Zhang Mingcan's work and in anticipation of Mingcheng Industrial's future business development, Zhang Mingcan's stake in Mingcheng Industrial was increased from 70% to 72%.
After both parties signed the cooperation agreement and Shanchi Technology's funds were received, Zhang Mingcan began preparing for Mingcheng Industrial's preliminary work, including company registration, site selection, contacting equipment suppliers, and recruiting employees.
Influenced by the Shanchi Industrial Base, Beicang District Government's electric vehicle industrial park plan has been officially approved and is currently in the investment attraction phase.
In addition to attracting external capital, there are also certain preferential policies for enterprises within the district that intend to relocate to the industrial park.
It was against this backdrop that Mingcheng Industrial became one of the first enterprises to settle in the Electric Vehicle Industrial Park.
Zhang Mingcan, nearing 40, thus experienced a second spring in his career.
Like Zhang Haiping last year, he entered a busy state before the New Year arrived.
Every sip and every peck has its destiny.
Without this year's generosity, Zhang Mingcan might still be guarding his Mingcan Mould, worrying about business orders after the motorcycle ban, or perhaps after a few years, Mingcan Mould might have seen its factory scale shrink more and more due to not transforming in time, eventually leading to closure.
It's impossible to say which state of life is better.
After all, even if the factory truly closed, with Zhang Mingcan's accumulated wealth, he could still live a prosperous life.
But Tan Jincheng believed that Zhang Mingcan, who had been in business for most of his life, at around 40 years old, had no thoughts of retirement.
To make his business stronger and larger was his truest desire.
The two walked and stopped along the way, and before long, arrived at the entrance of the Shanchi Brand Flagship Store.
As soon as they entered, Gu Qingqing couldn't help but exclaim,
"Wow, the store design is so beautiful! It looks so bright."
Rows of electric vehicles looked very spectacular.
As a locally grown Beicang brand, this was the first official appearance of Shanchi and Fengchi brands in the Beicang market.
For this new store opening, Shanchi Technology's marketing department and other relevant departments were fully prepared.
A total of 488 Fengchi models in various colors were brought in, along with 200 Shanchi luxury models and 200 economy models, totaling 888 vehicles, symbolizing prosperity.
The store was purchased directly, and the electric vehicles were supplied directly by the local factory, making transportation costs almost negligible.
Previous calculations showed that after deducting labor, utilities, taxes, and other costs, a Shanchi economy model priced at 1999 yuan could yield a profit of about 600 yuan, which is quite substantial.
The cost of Fengchi was almost comparable to the economy model, making the profit per vehicle even more impressive.
However, to promote the brand, Fengchi offered relatively larger subsidies, earning about 1000 yuan for each vehicle sold.
With good business, the store's annual turnover and profit could actually be considerable.
As a directly operated store located locally, costs could truly be controlled very well.
Of course, when calculating net profit, the initial costs of purchasing the store, renovation, and promotional expenses must be deducted.
"Mr. Tan, congratulations on the grand opening of the new store!"
Just as Tan Jincheng was introducing the store's situation to Gu Qingqing, a congratulatory voice came from behind him.
(End of Chapter)