Wu Dahuo had only one requirement, which was that the workplace could not be too far from Renmin Hospital. As for salary, he did not mention it, but he was currently earning sixty yuan a day cooking on the construction site, easily making eighteen hundred a month. In an era when sanitation workers were earning only eight hundred yuan per month, this salary could be considered quite high.
Cooks like Wu Dahuo, who were capable of preparing communal meals, were in high demand no matter where they were, otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to earn sixty yuan just for preparing two meals.
Unfortunately, even a mountain of gold and silver could not cover the overwhelming medical expenses. Wu Suowei was diagnosed with uremia in the year 2000, and in a short span of three years, the savings of more than a hundred thousand were squandered, ultimately forcing the sale of his house. (There’s a plot inconsistency here; Li Mei Juan’s fried skewer stall was already generating a monthly income of three to four thousand.)
"Grandpa, when the time comes, please try to improve the duck neck flavor a bit. I think it’s still a tad too spicy," Zhong Wenqing said on the phone.
"All right, all right~ I won’t chat with you anymore, girl. I still have to cook. Just have Xiao Yu’s mother call me when you need my help!" Wu Dahuo said in Mandarin tinged with a Chuanyu accent.
"Deal!" After hanging up the phone, Zhong Wenqing happily high-fived everyone present.
Regarding the venture of opening a chain of duck neck stores, she was growing more and more confident by the day.
Xu Qingfan brought Zhong Wenqing to Zhang Chunxue’s home at the agreed time.
Since this was serious business, neither Zhang Yiyi nor Lin Wanning were at home.
"Auntie, this is Sister Wenqing, our homeroom teacher’s college roommate," Xu Qingfan said, entering the house with familiarity and taking out a pair of new slippers from the shoe cabinet for Zhong Wenqing to change into.
Zhang Chunxue was dressed in an Alexander McQueen suit that day, adapted for working professional women, with slightly curled long hair, naturally parted to reveal her forehead and a confident, elegant, and composed demeanor in every smile and gesture.
"Snow Sister, hello. Zhong Wenqing," on the first glance, was so stunned by her unique aura, she greeted her stiffly with a nod.
"Auntie, you two have your chat, I’ll go make tea!" Xu Qingfan, acting as if he were in his own home, went into the kitchen to boil water for tea.
"Wenqing, hello. Xiao Fan has told me about you. Let’s sit down and talk," Zhang Chunxue said with a smile, looking at Xu Qingfan reprovingly before extending her hand in invitation.
Fortunately, Zhong Wenqing had also spent two years working in an agency and was not a newcomer to society. She quickly adjusted and took out the chain duck neck business plan she had printed earlier from her handbag.
"Snow Sister, please take a look. These are some of my ideas," she said.
"Hmm," Zhang Chunxue smiled and nodded, taking the paper and beginning to read.
The business plan Zhong Wenqing wrote was an expansion of Xu Qingfan’s original idea, detailing market research for the duck neck store, including target audience, average customer spend, profit margin, competitors, and so on.
In addition, there were also plans for store location selection, employee training and management, company strategic planning, and marketing methods for the products.
Zhong Wenqing arrived with full confidence, believing that she had never written her university thesis with as much dedication.
After reading the business plan, Zhang Chunxue gave a satisfied nod, "There’s basically nothing wrong with it. Since Xiao Fan is willing to trust you, I’m also willing to trust you," she said, setting down the plan.
Zhong Wenqing didn’t quite know how to respond but managed to say, "Thank you for your trust, Snow Sister. I definitely won’t let you down!"
"If something as tasty as these duck necks still loses money, might as well go jump into the Pearl River!" Xu Qingfan cut in, lightening the atmosphere with a joke.
"Have you thought of a name for the company? I can get someone to register it right away, it can be done in a day," Zhang Chunxue asked, patting Xu Qingfan’s head.
"Xiao Fan suggested Delicious Duck Neck, which I think is quite good," Zhong Wenqing responded.
"Delicious Duck Neck?" Zhang Chunxue said in Cantonese, "The name is not bad. Then let’s use what Xiao Fan suggested. I’ll have someone design a few logos for you to choose from later."
"Auntie, Yiyi and I already designed it!" Xu Qingfan said, pulling a folded piece of paper from his pocket.
When Zhang Chunxue unfolded it, it was a design of a duck extending its white wings in a welcoming pose, which would be, in a few years, the logo of Juewei Duck Neck.
A logo’s quality could be subjective, but since her own daughter had contributed to the design, of course, it was excellent in Zhang Chunxue’s eyes!
"Not bad, not bad, Xiao Qing, take a look at this and if there are no issues, we can use it as our trademark," Lin Wanning said.
"Sister Xue, I’ve already looked at it before, and I think it’s great!" Qingfan replied.
After finishing the discussion about the trademark, they moved on to talk about the shares.
Before coming, Xu Qingfan had already discussed with Zhang Chunxue, agreeing to leave 5% of the shares for Xiao Yu’s family, and any excess from the shares would be jointly covered by the two of them.
After purchasing Apple stocks, Xu Qingfan still had about twenty million in his bank account, and he planned to invest two million at once.
Since real business isn’t as speculative as stocks, Zhang Chunxue didn’t insist on her principle of not putting all eggs in one basket and agreed to Qingfan’s request.
In reality, the most crucial factor was that Chunxue knew real estate had become a pillar industry of the country since the year before last. Urbanization was like an endless gold mine, and in the coming decade, housing and land prices were bound to experience a surge.
However, because her family was still in power, even though she knew there were profits to be made, she didn’t consider touching that piece of cake. After all, the money in the world is endless.
"Let’s move on to talk about the shares then," Zhang Chunxue said gracefully after taking a sip of tea from her ceramic cup.
"Sister Xue, I’ve put together some money from home this time, a total of five hundred thousand. Starting a business is still new to me; I hope you won’t hesitate to teach me," Zhong Wenqing said sincerely.
"Based on the business plan you mentioned, opening a hundred direct stores in two years using the strategy of purchasing properties, which is capital-intensive, and considering the current average housing price in Hong Kong, a thirty-square-meter shop costs about one hundred thousand, plus twenty thousand for renovation..."
"We would need around four and a half million, not including advertising expenses and equipment purchases," Wenqing had already made the calculations before coming.
As long as the duck neck store could produce a stable, substantial monthly profit, Wenqing was confident that she could use the four and a half million to leverage seven to eight times of the amount and complete the entire process of "using a borrowed chicken to lay eggs."
"Alright, let’s round it up. Xiao Fan and I will put in four and a half million, Xiao Qing, you’ll contribute five hundred thousand. Since you’ll be the legal person and manager of the company, I’ll count an extra 10% of shares for you. Xiao Qing, your investment of five hundred thousand will get you a 20% stake, Xiao Yu’s mother is counted as a technical shareholder with a 5% stake, and Xiao Fan and I will split the remaining 75%. What do you think about this arrangement?" Zhang Chunxue said unhurriedly.
"Ah... no problem, no problem at all!" Zhong Wenqing nodded repeatedly. As the executor, she had thought about asking for an additional 5% of shares before coming. She never expected Zhang Chunxue to generously offer her 10%.
"Then that’s settled for now. Xiao Qing, leave your phone number, and I’ll notify you when to transfer the money into the company’s account."
Zhang Chunxue was overall very satisfied with the candidate Xu Qingfan had found for the company. The quality of a company’s products may not matter much, but it was essential to have someone who was savvy with finances, and Zhong Wenqing was just that, a finance major from a top 985 university.
For example, if the company’s profit was ten million this year, according to tax laws, the company would have to pay 25%, which is two and a half million, in corporate income tax, leaving seven and a half million. If you wanted to pocket this money, you’d have to pay another 20% in personal income tax, ending up with only six million.
But if you purchase a batch of shops and equipment in advance when tallying the finances at the end of the year, you could offset the profit completely. The equipment and shops could then be mortgaged to the bank, and the money would circulate right back into the company’s pocket.
This is only the simplest tax avoidance technique; one can imagine the importance of a good financial officer to a company.
Thanks to Zhang Chunxue’s connections, Delicious Duck Neck Food Co., Ltd was officially established two days later.
When Zhong Wenqing took a white file to Li Meijuan for her signature, the latter didn’t know what shares were and signed her name on the document in a daze.
By the time she realized what had happened, Meijuan was already a millionaire.
After completing this matter close to his heart, Xu Qingfan felt indescribably relieved.
[Could it be that I’ll become a billionaire before even starting college!] Thinking of the development of Juewei Duck Neck in his previous life, he indulged in wild fantasies.
"From the ground up, a towering building rises, glory can only be achieved by oneself, Sister Qing, keep it up!" During the celebration for the establishment of Delicious Duck Neck, Xu Qingfan raised his cup filled with Sprite and cheered.