Rebirth of the courtyard, the start is 80s

After listening to Lou Xiao'e's words, Cao Zhiqiang nodded thoughtfully.

"I understand. To put it simply, you think Zhu Lin is a scheming girl who plans to get involved with me, and then you are afraid that I will not be able to resist the temptation and be deceived by her, and then my reputation will be ruined, which will delay our future cooperation. Is this what you mean?"

"Absolutely." Lou Xiao'e nodded, "However, I really don't want anything to happen to you, regardless of whether we can further cooperate in the future."

After smiling slightly, Lou Xiao'e continued: "You are very good, and it was a pleasure to cooperate with you before. I also hope to continue to cooperate with you in the future, but it does not mean that I have to cooperate with you.

Without you, my business will still go on without any hindrance.

After all, I don’t lack funds and connections, nor do I lack experience or patience.

But you are different, Zhiqiang.

Don't blame me for being too big.

I think, Zhiqiang, although you are capable, you are still too young after all, and you cannot see through some things, or you don't care.

Maybe you think that the relationship between a man and a woman is a small matter, but in fact, sometimes, it is a big deal.

Especially for a woman with a complicated situation like Zhu Lin, once she gets involved, it is very difficult to get rid of her.

As your elder, I don't want to see you jump into the fire pit, so I came here to remind you. "

After a brief pause, Lou Xiao'e continued: "Don't tell me that you and Zhu Lin have nothing to do with each other. I've been here before, and I can see through all the issues between men and women at a glance.

Although Zhu Lin concealed it well, the way she looked at you and her attitude when she mentioned you were obviously different.

In addition, although you concealed it very well, what you did to Zhu Lin was already a bit over the top, and you were too concerned.

So, there must be something wrong with you two! "

Cao Zhiqiang raised his eyebrows, neither admitting nor denying it. Instead, he asked about Lou Xiao'e:

"Aunt Lou, since you are so sane in the world, I don't understand why you still go to my stupid uncle?

Why do you still want to reunite with him?
Why did you not hesitate to rob her when you knew he already had a wife, and even paid a lot of money to open a restaurant for him?

From a business perspective, this is simply a loss-making transaction, right? "

"Who said this is a loss-making business?" Lou Xiao'e smiled slightly, "For me, this is a very profitable business."

"Oh?" Cao Zhiqiang raised his eyebrows again, "I would like to hear the details."

Lou Xiao'e picked up the teacup and took a sip, and then collected her thoughts, then put down the teacup and said:

“First of all, Silly Zhu is a top cook, comparable to the top chefs here.

The monthly income of a top chef here is quite high, but my expenses for Silly Zhu are actually not high, at least much worse than here.

By taking down the silly pillar, I spend very little money and get a top chef. Why not? "

Cao Zhiqiang smiled: "Of course I know this, but the problem is the capital, not Xiangjiang. The conditions in the two places are different. You can't compare Xiangjiang's prices to the capital, right?"

"Of course I understand this." Lou Xiao'e smiled.

"However, the income of chefs in the capital is not low, and you know the value of a good chef without me having to explain, especially to a restaurant.

Silly Zhu belongs to the kind of buried gold. In the past, he had been working in a state-owned enterprise and ignored his true value.

And if Silly Zhu is willing to step out and use his skills to support a restaurant, it will be more than enough.

In fact, I had this idea before I planned to find Silly Zhu, but I didn't expect that you would get there first, discover his true value first, and open a restaurant before me and let him work as a chef there.

But fortunately, you opened Food is the Heaven, which saves me a lot of trouble.

After all, with Silly Zhu’s mentality, if I directly offered him money to open a restaurant, given his temper, he might not agree. "

Cao Zhiqiang nodded: "That makes sense, but what about the second one?"

Lou Xiao'e was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said: "Secondly, Shazhu has a very good relationship with the big leader.

Although I also know that the big leader has retired now, but you know the situation there. Although he has retired, his connections and prestige are still there.

What's more, I think that the great leader back then saved so many people overtly and covertly, including our family of course.

Nowadays, most of these people are already in high positions. This network of relationships itself is a huge force.

If you want to develop in the capital, you must have a strong background and connections, otherwise it will be really difficult.

As a Hong Kong businessman, theoretically speaking, it is not too difficult to establish some relationships on my own.

But the problem is, I don’t like those people, because many so-called leaders have hurt me and our family back then.

If you don't look for those people, you can only look for those people the big leader saved back then, as well as his disciples and former officials.

However, if I go to that person directly, I'm afraid they may not give me face again.

Therefore, finding Silly Pillar is the best way.

Silly Zhu and that person have been friends for many years. Even now, the relationship between the two is very good.

Through Shazhu, I can get back in touch with that person and get his care.

And with that person's care, I won't have anything to worry about when doing business in the mainland.

If there are any monsters who come to trouble me again, as long as that person says a word, it will be no problem.

From this perspective, Silly Pillar plays a huge role, don’t you think? "

Cao Zhiqiang chuckled and nodded: "That makes sense, but what next?"

"Then?" Lou Xiao'e frowned, "Isn't this enough?"

"Not enough, far from enough." Cao Zhiqiang shook his head, "At least not sincere enough."

Then, Cao Zhiqiang smiled and said: "Aunt Lou, although the two points you said seem reasonable, in fact, they are not of much use to you.

First of all, you are mainly engaged in import and export trade, not restaurants, so the quality of the cook is of little importance to you.

On the contrary, if you open a restaurant in the capital, it will also drag down your energy. From a certain perspective, you are not doing your job properly.

I'm not saying that traders can't run restaurants, but for you now, expanding your trading company and expanding trade volume is the most correct way, rather than expanding into other industries now.

Expanding into other industries is often something that large companies whose main business is about to come to an end have to do when there is no room for greater profit in the main business. But you are different.

Now that the country has just reopened, there are opportunities everywhere, especially for small and medium-sized companies like yours that engage in import and export trade. This is simply the best time to make money.

What you have to do now is to do your best to develop your trading company, transport more goods, and make more money, instead of wasting precious cash to invest in a hotel.

Although restaurants also make money, the speed of capital circulation is actually far inferior to that of people like you who engage in entrepot trade.

The reason is simple. If you spend the same amount of money on a restaurant, it will take at least three months to get back the money. This is after my restaurant, Shiweitian, has already become famous.

But if you use this money to do re-export trade, instead of going far away, you can do business between the mainland and Xiangjiang, which is relatively close. And even if you only do grain business, you can at least double your profit in three months. !
In three months, we went back and forth, importing grain from the mainland to Hong Kong and exporting electronic products from Hong Kong to the mainland. The profits of two or three times were small.

You haven't done this business once or twice. Before, without the care of a big leader, you were still doing well.

Therefore, in theory, you don't need to go to that person anymore. After all, asking that person for help is just the icing on the cake, just another insurance.

Therefore, I can say with certainty that without Uncle Sha, your business will still be prosperous and will not be affected in any way. On the contrary, if you find a stupid uncle, it will take up part of your precious funds.

Although those funds are not too much for you now, if you consider profit maximization, you are the most short of funds now.

With more funds, you can get more goods. You must know this truth.

Therefore, Uncle Silly's role is not small, whether it is as a top chef or the background behind him, but not now.

After at least a year or two, there will be more people coming here to do re-export trade, there will be more competition, and the profits will not be that big. It will be most appropriate for you to allocate some funds and try to open a restaurant business.

Aunt Lou, we are all smart people. You say what I say, right? "

Sure enough, after Cao Zhiqiang said this, Lou Xiao'e fell silent.

In fact, just keep silent, because everything Cao Zhiqiang said is true.

Historically speaking, although after the reform, business opportunities were everywhere in the mainland, the most profitable years were actually in the first few years of the reform, strictly speaking, before [-].

Because before this, the country had just begun to open up, many laws and regulations were immature, local governments had great power, people had a lot of savings, and the country had a particularly strong demand for imports and exports.

To put it simply, before [-], the country was truly barbaric and there was a blue ocean everywhere.

Interestingly, during this period, the country actually had very strict restrictions on domestic people.

For example, normally speaking, before 1984, there were no private companies in China, and at best, one could only be self-employed.

There are also some bulk cargo transactions that private individuals are not allowed to do normally, but the demand for the circulation of materials, especially foreign exchange, is very urgent in various places.

However, in order to attract foreign investment, there are very few restrictions on foreign businessmen in the country.

For example, many restricted bulk goods transactions, such as grain, cloth and minerals, can be conducted by foreign investors.

Many Hong Kong businessmen who entered the inland during this period were mainly engaged in the trade of grain, cloth and minerals, and only a few invested in industry.

Of course, in theory, this kind of behavior is not allowed, but it cannot stand up to the strong power of local governments, so local governments open back doors.

Normally, during this period, neither private individuals nor state-owned enterprises can do import and export business directly. If foreign businessmen want to do grain trade in the country, they must go through various levels of approval, which is usually operated through the foreign trade bureaus of various places.

For example, if someone wants to import domestic raw silk during this period, they can go directly to the raw silk production area and negotiate with the relevant local departments.

Foreign businessmen only need to clearly explain the quantity and quality of the raw silk they want to import, and negotiate the price and payment method. The Foreign Trade Bureau will organize the supply and transportation of the rest.

During this period, relevant laws and policies must be followed, such as import quantity restrictions, tax rates, etc.

Of course, you can also conduct private transactions directly between individuals without going to the Foreign Trade Bureau. In this way, you can avoid a lot of tedious procedures and make more money. However, in this case, it is considered a parallel import.

The problem is that during this period, many local relevant departments turned a blind eye to parallel imports, because this way they can avoid many policy issues and get more benefits.

It is precisely because of this that Guangdong, a place close to the Xiangjiang Port, has become a famous re-export base in the country.

Many times, other places in the country transport goods, such as grain, from the north to a certain place in Guangdong in the south in the form of domestic trade, and then export them to Xiangjiang or other countries in some illegal way. .

You may say that this kind of prohibited transaction is wrong, but if everyone violates it, it won't be a problem.

Therefore, from this perspective, this is the best time for foreign businessmen to do import and export trade, because the profits are the largest and the biggest risks are basically borne by relevant departments in various places.

Why? Because even transportation is handled by relevant departments in various places.

Take Lou Xiao'e as an example. If she wants to import a batch of grain in China at this time, she doesn't have to travel anywhere. She only needs to find someone in Guangzhou and say she wants to import a batch of grain, negotiate a good price, and pay in Hong Kong dollars or US dollars. , then there is no need for her to put in any effort at all, someone will take care of everything.

At that time, Lou Xiaoe only needs to pick up the goods at Xiangjiang Terminal, and she does not even need to consider the issue of transportation ships.

This kind of trade has now become a mature trade chain.

The so-called Qiongdao car incident is just the tip of the iceberg of this trade chain.

In fact, there are already quite a lot of parallel imports in China, after all, the demand is huge.

If nothing else, let's just talk about the capital city. If you just take a stroll, you will encounter small vendors selling imported tape recorders and imported clothes on the roadside.

However, normally speaking, the only places where you can buy imported goods now are special places such as friendship stores and foreign-related hotels in various places. If you want to buy imported goods in these places, you must use special foreign exchange coupons to purchase them.

For example, Cao Zhiqiang, the reason why he can enter and exit foreign-related hotels at will and stay in foreign-related hotels for a long time is because he spends foreign exchange coupons.

However, Cao Zhiqiang's foreign exchange coupons were exchanged in RMB, and they were exchanged directly by foreign hotels.

Of course, this kind of RMB exchange for foreign exchange rolls is illegal in theory, but in fact it has always existed.

As long as you give enough money and are willing to spend it, it is very easy to exchange foreign exchange coupons.

Especially for foreign-related hotels like Jianguo Hotel, if you really need it, they can also provide reversal business privately, but you can't make it public, and they are only responsible for introducing scalpers for reversal.

This is similar to some bathing centers in later generations. They are pure green, but if guests have special needs, they can also provide call services. This means that they only provide bathing and accommodation, and other businesses have nothing to do with the bathing center.

In the same way, the same is true for foreign-related hotels at this time.

If foreign-related hotels do not provide remittance services, how can foreigners still play in the country?

After all, normally speaking, foreigners and overseas Chinese who come to the country to visit relatives or do business at this time can only exchange foreign exchange coupons first and go to designated places to spend money. If they want to experience local characteristics, such as going to some places where only RMB is consumed to eat, drink and have fun. , you must exchange currency.

Foreigners don't know scalpers, so they have to look for hotels. Therefore, over time, these foreign-related hotels provide this service, but they can't say it explicitly.

Domestic people can also exchange currency through hotels, but the starting point is very high. If it is within a few hundred yuan, it is impossible.

Only if there are tens of thousands of people will they be willing to talk to you.

Having said that, the imported goods in China that can be purchased from vendors or small shops all over the country for RMB are 100% parallel imports.

It's just that the relevant national departments, such as the public security, don't pay much attention to this kind of thing.

Obviously, the trade that Lou Xiaoe is doing now is similar to this situation, which is also a common situation at this time.

Think about it, you only need to pay and wait to receive the goods in Xiangjiang. You can earn two or three times every time. Who wouldn't be happy with such a good thing?
But this kind of thing won't last long after all.

Once you come to your senses, you will have to straighten things out sooner or later.

By then, Lou Xiaoe will no longer be able to make such easy money.

Only then can Lou Xiaoe consider starting other businesses, such as trying to invest in industries such as restaurants, and make money in this way.

Therefore, from this perspective, Lou Xiaoe's decision to find and invest in Fuzhu at this time is definitely not from a commercial perspective, at least most of them are not.

And judging from the plot in the TV series, this is indeed the case.

Cao Zhiqiang remembered that the first time Lou Xiao'e brought her children to see Sha Zhu. Although she did mention investing in a restaurant, her purpose was very clear, which was to get Sha Zhu to divorce and live with her.

After being rejected by Sha Zhu, Lou Xiaoe left decisively.

It wasn't until two or three years later, probably around 1986, that Lou Xiao'e came back, started looking for Sha Zhu again, and invested in him to open a restaurant.

When watching the TV series before, Cao Zhiqiang didn't quite understand it.

It wasn't until he came to this world and understood some of the specific conditions of this world that he suddenly realized it.

To put it bluntly, Lou Xiao'e didn't really want to invest in restaurants at this time. After all, trading was more profitable than investing in restaurants.

Therefore, at this time, Lou Xiao'e invested in Sha Zhu to open a restaurant. The only explanation is that she wanted to take advantage of the corner! (End of chapter)