The scorching July sun shone down on the land.
At the open space of Shanchi Vehicle Industry's workshop, vehicles drove in and out, and employees driving forklifts and moving goods occasionally wiped the sweat from their faces, muttering something under their breath.
In the general manager's office on the third floor of the office building, the occasional cool breeze from the air conditioner was exceptionally comfortable.
At this moment, the office was unusually quiet, with nothing but the occasional sound of keyboard clicks.
Gu Qingqing, sitting behind her desk, would occasionally look up to see Tan Jincheng in the sofa area opposite.
When their eyes occasionally met, Gu Qingqing would quickly retract her head back to the computer screen.
Boss Tan gave her the desktop computer and the office desk, while he himself, holding a laptop, sat in the sofa area.
After several stolen glances, Gu Qingqing noticed that Tan Jincheng was working very seriously, his eyes fixed on the computer, and occasionally frowning.
She didn't know what he was doing.
Although they were in the same room and no one was speaking, Gu Qingqing didn't feel awkward.
This state was somewhat like listening attentively in a classroom.
Just as Gu Qingqing was lost in thought, a voice suddenly came:
"Focus a bit more. I'll be checking it later. If it's not up to par, I won't hand it over to you."
"Oh, okay."
Gu Qingqing quickly replied, blushing.
Not speaking wasn't awkward, but speaking up was a bit awkward.
It seemed Boss Tan had caught me slacking off.
Hmm, the term 'moyu' (slacking off) was also learned from Boss Tan.
It's quite fitting for describing not working seriously.
Over the past six months, Gu Qingqing had often learned some new and interesting words from Tan Jincheng.
Seeing Gu Qingqing's flustered look, Tan Jincheng smiled knowingly.
He had actually noticed earlier that the girl wasn't concentrating.
"Every weekend is taken up. Don't you feel like your college years are being wasted?"
"Not really. I feel quite fulfilled. I can learn a lot of things, and it's also a way to adapt to society in advance. What do you think, Boss Tan? I see you rarely rest on weekends either."
"Me? I'm busy because I have no choice. I've been this busy ever since I 'landed' (started working). Another thing is that my time is relatively free. If I don't want to come in one day, I'll just sleep at home or go out and play."
"Then, Boss Tan, where do you usually go for fun?"
"Usually..."
After a moment of recollection, Tan Jincheng realized that since his rebirth, he hadn't rested for a single moment.
He went home for the Mid-Autumn Festival last year, after which a short Mid-Autumn and National Day holiday was also spent in Yicheng, without going anywhere for travel.
After that, he returned to Beicang to start his own business.
By this year, he had become increasingly busy.
To be honest, the time he spent on the cruise ship was the most leisurely.
"I really haven't been anywhere for fun, business trips don't count."
Tan Jincheng couldn't help but smile wryly.
As for his previous life, he had even less time to go anywhere for fun during this period.
Online novels often say that rebirth is about making up for regrets, but at least so far, it didn't seem to be the case for him.
Tan Jincheng sighed inwardly:
"I hope things change in the future."
Subconsciously, Tan Jincheng glanced at Gu Qingqing.
Due to the change in business direction, the business partners he knew in this life and his previous life were all different.
But in the business world, it's normal for everyone to help each other out and go out drinking and socializing together.
However, if that's all it takes to be called friends, Tan Jincheng largely disagreed.
"Are we considered friends?" Tan Jincheng asked in a deep voice.
Gu Qingqing somewhat dared not meet Tan Jincheng's gaze, but for some reason, she saw a sense of sadness in Tan Jincheng's eyes.
Yes, in the eyes of Tan Jincheng, who was not yet 20 years old, full of youthful vigor, with a flourishing career, she saw a sense of sadness.
She was not mistaken.
Gathering her courage, Gu Qingqing looked up and replied:
"I think we should be, right? What do you think, Boss Tan?"
"If the scenario were different, for example, if I went bankrupt one day, could we still sit together and chat calmly like this?"
Gu Qingqing hadn't thought about this question.
After a moment of contemplation, she smiled and said:
"If Boss Tan went bankrupt one day, and I couldn't earn money from you anymore, my mindset would definitely change. After all, we initially met because I wanted to earn your money."
After a slight pause, she continued:
"But, as you know now, my family background is good. Earning money is one thing, but I can still live well even without earning your money. So I think we should still be able to chat calmly, face to face, just like now?"
"Of course, this is just a hypothetical situation. Perhaps on that day, both your mindset and mine would be different from now. So, for now, we should be considered friends, right?"
Tan Jincheng smiled.
She was right, asking this question was a bit redundant.
If that day truly came, perhaps his own mindset would be different.
But Gu Qingqing had thought seriously about the question and given the most reasonable answer, making Tan Jincheng also feel that they should now be considered true friends.
That is to say, this was his biggest change since rebirth.
In 2005, in his previous life, in Beicang, he only had one friend, Zhang Xupeng, but now he had two.
However, it must be said, the rich girl was quite intelligent.
She thought about problems very rationally and didn't deliberately string him along.
"You're right, we are friends. So, if I go bankrupt in the future, when you open a company, I'll come work part-time for you to earn money."
"Alright. If such an opportunity arises in the future, I will definitely hire Boss Tan to work for me and ruthlessly exploit you then."
The atmosphere in the room immediately lightened.
Tan Jincheng seemed to have let go of a lot, and Gu Qingqing was no longer embarrassed.
"Boss Tan, why did you bring up bankruptcy? When I secretly watched you earlier, I noticed you frowned several times. Is it because you're short on money?"
Tan Jincheng lay back on the sofa, subconsciously touched his pocket, but after glancing at Gu Qingqing, he sighed inwardly, 'never mind, never mind.'
"Yes, that's right. When I used to eat with some bosses, I often heard them say that factories are difficult to run. I didn't feel it then, but now that I'm doing it myself, I realize it's truly difficult. I'm very short on money now. Let's put it this way: it's not even certain if we can make it through September. By then, I might actually need you, a rich woman, to support me."
"Ah? That serious? Not sure if you can make it past September?"
Gu Qingqing automatically ignored the latter part of the sentence.
Tan Jincheng nodded:
"Hmm, if Shanchi's market feedback is poor, it's really not certain if we can make it past September. By then, we would be facing bankruptcy. But now that the arrow is on the string, we can only grit our teeth and continue."
This is based on the current self-owned funds.
By next Monday, once Jinpeng Trade's bridge funding arrives and another two bank loans are secured, they can roughly last until October.
However, the most ideal situation is to smoothly launch Shanchi into the market.
That's the key.
No physical enterprise can be sustained by the boss's endless transfusions of funds.
The ability to generate its own 'blood' (revenue) and sustain itself is crucial.
"Very short on money? I remember Boss Tan saying Jinpeng Trade's business is doing well. You should have money."
Gu Qingqing asked, a little puzzled.
"Jinpeng Trade is Jinpeng Trade. Even if the companies are all mine, they still need to follow proper accounting procedures. Besides, that's not just my money. Being short on money is one aspect, but selling the vehicles is the key."
"My frowning just now wasn't entirely about being short on money. I was thinking about the marketing plan."
"Marketing plan? Boss Tan, you understand this too?"
Gu Qingqing was a bit surprised.
"I wouldn't say I understand it very deeply. I've handled business before, so I can try to do it."
Everyone says that the top salesperson is awesome, has strong influence in the company, and even dares to say things like 'I'm paying the boss's salary'.
But little do they know, the most awesome top salesperson in a company is always the boss himself, otherwise, the company won't last long.
Tan Jincheng, whether in his previous life or this one, had strong business capabilities.
Writing a marketing plan was not a problem for him.
Of course, for Shanchi to quickly open up the market and establish a foothold, Tan Jincheng designed three plans.
The first was to actively avoid the luxury electric vehicle market primarily targeted by Xinri in terms of design and performance, and focus on more cost-effective simple electric vehicles and second and third-tier cities.
The second was to offer profits to distributors.
This had to be done aggressively.
In addition to the profit margin on the price itself, there also needed to be some kind of gimmick.
During his 10-day business trip, Tan Jincheng had also been communicating with Beicang.
With the gradual enrichment of purchase orders, the total costs for Shanchi's high-end (60V) and low-end (48V) versions had been calculated.
Including component costs, logistics, transportation, and so on, the current total cost for Shanchi's high-end version is approximately 960 yuan, and the total cost for the low-end version is approximately 760 yuan.
There might be some discrepancies in costs, mainly due to logistics, transportation, and other uncontrollable factors.
However, the overall cost control was still very good.
Being able to keep the high-end version below 1000 yuan, Tan Jincheng was already very satisfied.
One must eat one bite at a time.
Once they establish themselves in the market and gain a reputation, they will have greater bargaining power with suppliers.
Then they can gradually reduce costs, especially in areas like batteries and motors.
Once they have money, they can do it themselves!
This can give rise to core technologies.
Once a certain scale is reached, independent research and development is a must.
The third was to hire a celebrity endorser.
According to Tan Jincheng's thinking, Jay Chou would naturally be the best.
However, for such a small brand currently, Jay Chou probably wouldn't be interested, and they couldn't afford him anyway.
These days, celebrity endorsements are still highly recognized by everyone.
Don't mind that Jackie Chan's endorsements often lead to company bankruptcies, but his appeal is truly strong.
Ordinary people really respond to that.
But he couldn't afford Jay Chou or Jackie Chan.
First-tier celebrities like them wouldn't be interested in a company the size of Shanchi.
Which celebrities aren't popular now but will be relatively popular in the future, and won't step on any landmines (get involved in scandals)?
"Which celebrity do you think is the hottest right now? And which celebrities do you think have the potential to become popular?"
(End of chapter)
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