Chapter Thirty-Three Making Money

  The Da Chengzi brothers' feed factory opened soon after, and at the beginning, Fang Mo Nan asked Old Man Lin to teach them some simple management, accounting methods and tricks. Through practice, they quickly remembered them.

  At the beginning of reform and opening up, most domestic operators were content with their current situation, never thinking about developing further. On the one hand, they were isolated from information and had limited vision; on the other hand, their own knowledge and cultural level were not high, so their vision was not long-term. Mr. Lin's appearance is to expand their horizons and boundaries.

  People use "frog at the bottom of a well" to describe narrow vision, and pursue "small gains" to describe low horizons. The eagle soaring in the vast sky is used to describe far-sightedness and lofty aspirations, which expresses the significance of vision for one's horizon. Without broad vision, it is difficult to have a noble horizon. Vision determines one's horizon, and vision is the premise of one's horizon.

  Mr. Lin is not an ordinary person, in the first half of his life he devoted himself to family business overseas, and after returning home he had a deep study on traditional culture. His lectures are more story-telling, especially when it comes to management systems, he uses Jin merchants as examples, from rise to prosperity, and then decline. Studying predecessors, reflecting on history is to learn from history, surpassing predecessors. Although some regulations of Jin merchants' management system seem outdated today, their pioneering spirit, vision to transform commercial capital into financial capital, business ethics of integrity, flexible operating strategies, selecting and recommending talents, separation of ownership and management, etc., have benefited Dachengzi greatly.

  This is indeed a hard-won entrepreneurial, self-made golden age. In the 80s and 90s, they were glorious and limitless, driving big cars and using big brothers, eating abalone and shark fin, but by the 21st century, their companies went bankrupt, heavily indebted, and even struggled to eat plain food, some of these "first rich" people were lucky, but due to their own cultural literacy limitations, they failed to keep up with social development and lost their hard-won gains, also a batch of "unlucky" people.

  Most of the people who got rich first had low education, relying on a strong momentum to get rich through hard work and perseverance. As the market became more perfect and developed, competition intensified, and they were gradually beaten down on the beach. Fang Mernan tried his best to provide them with management books so that they would not be eliminated, trying to break their narrow-mindedness and broaden their horizons, allowing them to explore and understand through practice.

  Liangzi found out and loudly criticized Fang Mernan's partiality. Later, they also came to listen to the lesson, and after combining it with their own practice, they gained a lot of insight. They also borrowed many books from Fang Mernan.

  It's no longer an era where "good wine needs no bush", but rather one that requires widespread advertising. In the village of Dachengzi, you don't need to worry, they will loudly shout for you.

  I've come up with a clever advertising method that's low-cost but effective. I've created small flyers that not only have the name and address of the feed factory, but also feature a Q-version illustration of a piglet growing up, corresponding to each month. In just five months, the pigs can be sold on the market. At the bottom is a calendar for all 12 months. Originally, I wanted to print out wall calendars, but unfortunately, we didn't have enough money, so we had to cut corners.

  After printing, send it to the long-distance bus station, pay a little reward, and let them take it to various places. The effect is very obvious, and the benefits of the feed factory are rising rapidly.

  Liang Zi and his friends also helped to distribute small advertisements, as they were going to Yangcheng to purchase goods, so they walked and distributed them along the way. They also detailed the benefits of their feed to people who came to inquire.

  A few months later, the original poor and newly established team built a large factory building, and even invited a feed expert from the Provincial Agricultural University.

  When the county head heard the song and understood its elegant meaning, he also saw a way to increase farmers' income. The breeding industry in rural areas can be done by every household, as long as they have a yard, build a pigpen and a chicken coop, and they can raise animals. The breeding industry can flourish everywhere, combining with other industries, all villages in the county can be mobilized. Promoting 'backyard breeding' throughout the county, after the livestock are raised, the county will uniformly purchase and sell them. Of course, like the greenhouse vegetables, the strict and serious team of cadres do not allow cheating farmers, actually there is no need to cheat, those who come to buy livestock are waiting with cash in hand!

  Time flies from early spring to early summer. Da Chengzi or his grandson sends a letter every month, specially sending the account book to Xian to let Fang Mennai check the accounts.

  The small shop also has a good income every month, fearing that it will be envied by others, so all this money is handled by Liangzi on behalf of Fang Mennai and her family, opening several accounts. At that time, there was no real-name system for saving money, and the bank only recognized deposit slips and seals. Fang Mennai used her own name and that of her family members to let Liangzi deposit money on their behalf, and then took the deposit slips back into her own hands. The feed factory's money continued to be invested in production, and future dividends would also allow Dachengzi to follow Liangzi's method.

  Now Fang Mo's days are spent leisurely, with more time devoted to the homework arranged by Lin Lao and cultivation and learning in space.

  Cheng Shigui's clothing factory business is booming, as revealed in his letter. Fang Monan had told him early on not to send her any more money, the feed factory has a good income every month, and there is also a lot of money in the small shop.

  Fang Mernan's money in HSBC Hong Kong should be over $2 million by now!

  The county's greenhouse vegetables have had a bumper harvest, and because of the good sales preparation in advance, the farmers' days are clearly getting better. The breeding industry is also booming, and the county is also unified in procurement and sales. Farmers' income has increased, so Fang Mernan's small shop benefits have also risen with the tide.

  Early summer sunshine filters through the dense layers of branches and leaves, casting copper coin-sized patches of light on the ground. The air is filled with the sweet fragrance of jujube flowers, and pomegranate blossoms are blooming fiery red.

  Fang Mo Nan's mood was as bright as the summer sun. He bid farewell to his grandma and left.

  The sunlight poured down harmoniously and quietly from the branches, warmly sprinkling on her shoulders. The azure sky was like a crystal ball, closing her eyes, the gentle breeze of early summer brushed against her ears, blowing her hair into disarray on her face. The green leaves swayed, the wind of early summer wrapped around the trees on both sides of the road.

  Fang Mengnan arrived at the post office, where the staff warmly welcomed her. It was natural for them to be enthusiastic towards such a big customer who didn't care about the cost of making phone calls.

  In addition, the postmaster here found many monkey tickets for her before and after the New Year. After counting, there are nearly 800 pieces in a whole sheet, plus scattered ones, there are almost 1000 pieces. So every time Fang Mennai comes to receive enthusiastic hospitality, she sits in a small compartment, picks up the phone, Lin Lao Yezi is retired and can only make calls here, fortunately, her relationship with the postmaster is not bad.

  With the current foundation of Fang Mo Nan, as long as he grasps the overall direction well, he can just wait and collect the money. Since there is money to be made and opportunities to make it, why not make it?! After three rings, the other party picked up the phone, "Hello! I'm Fang Mo Nan."

  The other party took a deep breath and exclaimed happily, "Wow... I'm surprised you thought of calling me, Nansister." Cheng Shigui said with a playful tone. Normally, she still prefers to use letters, although she doesn't have to worry about phone bills now. The two often exchange letters, so there's no feeling of unfamiliarity in their conversation, and sometimes they even joke around or set puzzles for each other to solve.

  "No need to say more, this year is 1982, the World Cup year, now European bookmakers have already offered odds for this World Cup!" Fang Mengnan said.

  "Ah! You know this too, how can you think of playing around? I think it's better to give up, the probability of winning is very small. And even if we win a lot, we won't make much money." Cheng Shigui frowned upon hearing this and disapproved. "Besides, your money isn't even enough for others to use as pocket change."

  "This World Cup has expanded to 24 teams, so the chances of winning are even smaller." He continued, hoping to dispel her idea of gambling.

  "In that case, the odds should be very high, and it's worth a try. Ah Gui, don't worry, since I dare to gamble, I won't fight without confidence." Fang Mo Nan said confidently.

  "If you really want to play." He confirmed with concern. He really didn't want her hard-earned money to be lost completely.

  "Otherwise, why waste so much money on the phone call!" Fang Mo Nan tapped his fingers on the phone, "Put all my money on it, the champion is Italy and the runner-up is West Germany."

  Cheng Shigui listened to her being firm and resolute, with no room for play or refusal, and couldn't help but sigh, "Alas!"

  Fang Mo Nan knew what was on his mind, and he also thought that she was being reckless in front of him. "A Gui, are you interested in making a bet with me?"

  "What does it mean?" He sat up straight, listening carefully. From the letters that had gone back and forth, he knew his opponent was not someone to be underestimated. It could be said that this self-proclaimed genius would also have to admit defeat in front of her.

  "I see from your letter that you're interested in the financial market. You want to fight and struggle in it." Fang Mo Nan paused for a moment, then continued: "Let's make a bet on this World Cup. If I win, you'll work for me for the rest of my life at an investment company I'll open in Hong Kong. If you win, I'll work for you for free for the rest of your life."

  Cheng Shigui held the phone in silence for a long time, "Nan Jie, you're serious." He had never admired anyone, not even his grandfather, he thought he could surpass them all, but only towards her, he felt uncertain, always feeling like he couldn't see through her. When he heard this bet, he was also tempted. "Alright, I'll take the bet,"

  "Have you been watching the stock markets in Hong Kong and Japan lately?" Fang Mo Nan ended the previous topic and started talking about Hong Kong and Japan.

  "Ah! Nothing." Cheng was taken aback by her sudden change of subject, "The global economy is not doing well and has been declining, no entry." He majored in finance and would occasionally play the stock market to observe the situation in various markets.

  "That's the best, Hong Kong should be at its worst by the end of the year. Japan's economy should also recover." Fang Monan was very familiar with the Hong Kong stock market, no wonder, her good friend was from Hong Kong, they had known each other for ten years, after drinking and complaining, they would daydream about what they would do if they could start all over again. This was a piece of information that Fang Monan gave to Cheng Shigui as an extra.

  "Right, Ah Kui has been living in Europe for a long time, so he pays more attention to the European market. Help me collect some information about Italy." Fang Mo Nan finally got to the point, as for the Asian market, it's up to Cheng Shih Kui's own choice.

  "Ah!" Cheng Shigui was caught off guard by her sudden change of topic, and he responded sluggishly. "Italy, what's going on?" He muttered to himself, "Didn't we just talk about the World Cup? Hong Kong, Japan? This is a big jump."

  "Alright, let's not talk about it anymore. Remember to place a bet for me and don't forget our wager. I've written down some specific details about the World Cup betting situation in the letter, and I'll have Liangzi hand it over to you directly. He should be arriving in Yangcheng around this time too."

  "Ah! Liangzi is coming again! He really is a changed person after three days, he has already shed his rustic image, what a quick transformation!" Cheng Shigui said.

  "Really? That shows Liang Zi's adaptability is really strong. I didn't pay much attention to it, anyway. Alright, let's not talk about it anymore. Phone bills are expensive, nothing else to say, I'm hanging up!"

  Cheng Shigui was still holding the receiver in a daze, thinking about the content of the phone call. She really dared to gamble, and he accompanied her in madness.

  "Hey! Who are you talking to on the phone? Why haven't you spoken for half a day?" Han Zhiqian came in, poured a large tea pot of water, caught his breath, and curiously looked at him and said.

  "Oh! Nothing? It's a call from Nansister." Cheng Shigui said casually and hung up the phone.

  "It's strange, how did she think of calling?" he said with surprise.

  Then Cheng Shigui told him the contents of the phone call, and unexpectedly Han Zhijian had a look of "You're done, you're ready to work for free for someone else's whole life." He scolded with his fingers tapping on the table: "Look at you, how many times have you won against Nan Jie? And this time, she even dared to bet her entire fortune, and it's still a sure win." He also reached out to touch his forehead, "Really, your brain isn't even hot!"

  Cheng Shigui suddenly came back to his senses, still with a hint of luck. He raised his arm to block the other person's hand and said, "She won before, maybe she learned from it. This time, she bet on someone else. Who has the ability to interfere with the outcome of the game?"

  "Hmm! That makes sense. You're right. Why don't we take out our own money and play a round?" Han Zhiqian said with great interest, eager to give it a try.

  "Hmph... play by yourself." Cheng Shigui looked at him with a serious face, "The work is done, I think you're quite energetic, huh?"

  "Wait, let me take a break, I'm almost exhausted. It seems like you need to find some more management staff, otherwise we'll both die from exhaustion." Han Zhiqian patted his waist, tired and leaning on the office desk. Although counting money every day was fun, there was hardly any time for meals. Especially with the advertising effect, their factory was packed with people coming to pick up goods, no goods, but people were willing to wait here. In order to increase production capacity, he had run to several processing plants again, and in order to prevent quality problems, he ran to the factories every day, constantly reminding and warning the people below him, fearing that mistakes would be made.

  "Alright, university students are about to graduate soon, let's recruit some people. During this idle period, go to the workshop and find some old folks to come and help you keep an eye on things." Cheng suddenly seemed to remember something and said: "Right, in Nanshi's letter a while back, she asked us to look for high school review materials from mainland China and send them over to her."

  "Oh! It's already been sent." Han Zhiqian hastily said, as for the matter that 'Nan Jie' solemnly mentioned in her letter, it was simply a piece of cake for them and was quickly taken care of.

  "Zhiqian, call Yang Fan's phone, I remember he works as a business officer in a Japanese securities company, gather some information about the Japanese stock market." Cheng Shigui said.

  "What's going on in Japan?" Keen sense of smell made Han Zhiqian excitedly stand up.

  "Hmm! Sister Nan said on the phone that Japan's economy should also recover." Cheng Shigui said.

  "If it's true, then that's a great opportunity." Han Zhiqian rubbed his hands together and walked back and forth. "I'll act immediately."

  "Matthew, did you take the money?" Han Zhiqian continued to ask curiously after they finished discussing the main issue.

  "Let's get down to business!" Cheng Shigui picked up his file folder and pretended to hit him.

  The phone on the table rang. Cheng Shigui picked up the phone and said, "Hello! I'm Matthew."

  "Matthew!" Liang Zi held the receiver, wondering if he had dialed the wrong number, and quickly checked the phone number again. No mistake! He heard a "Hello?" on the other end of the line. "I'm Liang Honglie, Liang Zi. I'm currently at Yangcheng Train Station. I'm looking for Cheng Shigui, Mr. Cheng."

  "Ah! Liangzi arrived so quickly. I just hung up Nanjie's phone." Cheng Shigui continued, "I'm in the special zone now, wait for you at the station entrance, and let Yan Guangxing pick you up. We'll meet again tonight."

  "Alright, see you tonight."

  Cheng Shigui hung up the phone and called Yan Guangxing to go to the station to pick people up, reminding him in the phone call to entertain Liangzi and others well.

  "How was it? Big brother." The thin monkey looked at him and asked after he put down the receiver.

  "The person we are looking for is now in the special zone and will come over tonight. He told us to wait at the train station entrance, and Liang Guangxing will be here soon." Liang Zi picked up his luggage, "Let's go! Go to the train station entrance and wait."

  "Big brother, it's only been a little over a month since we came, and there seem to be many more people at the station." Thin monkey looked out at the sea of people, saying that people from all over the country had arrived.

  "Hmm! It's getting crowded, looks like there are more people competing with us for business." Liang Zi gazed at the passing crowd, lost in thought.

  Liang Zi and they waited for about half an hour before seeing Yan Guangxing running over with a big sweat, then the two of them walked towards the small sedan on the square.

  Yan Guangxing sat in the driver's seat and drove the car. "Brother Liangzi is coming to stock up again so soon, didn't the letter say it would be tomorrow?"

  "Ah! I have something to ask Mr. Cheng, so I came a day early." Liang Zi didn't want to say more and looked at Yan Guangxing, "Alright! Guangxing hasn't changed cars for several months. But why does this car look familiar?"

  "Familiar? This was given to me by Cheng Shao, you don't know about the new car Cheng Shao just bought, that's what really makes people jealous!" Yan Guangxing is a bit younger than Liang Zi, he came from the clothing factory recruitment. Cheng Shigui thought he was enthusiastic and a local, so he let him receive Liang Zi and others. After getting familiar, they knew they were valued by Cheng Shigui, and after interacting with each other, they felt that Liang Zi was a righteous person, a good friend. They called each other brothers."

  "Not all of them are just a means of transportation, what's different." The thin monkey chimed in from the back seat.

  "Of course it's different now, Cheng Shao's new car is a Mercedes imported from Germany, that's the symbol of success. Look around and see if there are any others like that?" Yan Guangxing said, with admiration for Cheng Shi in his eyes.

  "You're just letting us see, I don't know either!" Liangzi said with a smile, "Mr. Cheng is noble, the car he drives can't be bad."

  "Never mind, you'll know when you see the car," said Yan Guangxing, it's all the same to them, seeing is believing.

  "Where are we going?" The thin monkey looked at the street scene and changed the subject.

  "Yangcheng Hotel" Yan Guangxing is a warm and hospitable person, not looking down on outsiders, but with a subconscious sense of superiority as a local, which naturally comes out.

  Liang Zi and others got off the bus, "Taller than where we used to live." Thin Monkey measured it and said.

  The main building is 27 floors high, with a height of 86.51 meters, and was completed in 1966. It used to be the tallest building in the country, but that's all yesterday's news now! Still, it's quite impressive. Yan Guangxing led them up the elevator to the tenth floor, where he picked up the key at the service desk.

  Liang Zi took a look at the decorations in the house, and the price was definitely not cheap. Yan Guangxing let them wash up, then went to eat. After dinner, without rest, Yan Guangxing drove the car, leading them to purchase goods.

  In the evening, Cheng Shigui and Han Zhikui hurried over. In the hotel room, Liang Zi and Shou Hou sat on the bed, while Cheng Shigui and Han Zhikui sat on the sofa. Liang Zi took out a letter written by Fang Mosheng to Cheng Shigui.

  Cheng Shigui tore open the letter, and there was not much content in it. It was about this World Cup, such as: The Italian national football team finally won the championship, and the Golden Ball Award was won by Rossi (Italy).

  About the upsets: The opening match saw an upset, defending champion Argentina lost to Belgium; West Germany lost to Algeria; Northern Ireland defeated Spain.

  Cheng Shigui is also a soccer fan and knows that Fang Mo Nan wrote these things which in his opinion only an idiot would say.

  But Fang Mo Nan finally wrote in the letter: Football is round, anything can happen. According to her writing, when placing a bet, be sure to look at the odds and win more.