Chapter 391: Refusing Liu Jianghua's Invitation

With Chen Yang's reminder, Liu Jianghua immediately had the members of the reform group open their computers to search for information on the Alibaba website.

In less than half an hour, everyone found the raw material suppliers and product purchasers needed by the enterprises they were responsible for.

Having found the targets, the next step was to make phone calls to communicate and negotiate.

Chen Yang, to prevent these online shopping newcomers from being deceived, specifically reminded everyone: "Ladies and gentlemen, when you call the other party to communicate, it's best to obtain their detailed phone number and address. No matter what price is agreed upon, you must go to the site in person to learn about their background before making a transaction."

Liu Jianghua greatly approved of Chen Yang's cautious attitude. In today's world, business fraud is rampant in reality, and the virtual world is even worse.

Since Wu Junhui left, the reform group consists only of young people in their twenties to thirties, all lacking experience. If they do not raise their vigilance, they are likely to suffer a major setback.

"What Chen Yang said is correct. When you go to negotiate, you must first investigate the other party's background thoroughly. If needed, the provincial government can also step in to coordinate with the local government. Strive for a win-win situation."

With Liu Jianghua's instructions, everyone immediately had a direction for their work. In one morning, each project team successfully negotiated cooperation with several enterprises.

Although the final results have not yet been obtained, Liu Jianghua is still very satisfied with Chen Yang's spur-of-the-moment suggestion.

A young person who has just graduated from college, yet conducts affairs with more steadiness and experience than most merchants who have wandered the market for many years. Each time he thinks about this, Liu Jianghua finds it unbelievable.

"Chen Yang, are you interested in becoming the deputy leader of the reform group?" After everyone had dispersed, Liu Jianghua specially kept Chen Yang behind for a private talk.

"Governor Liu, being deputy leader brings no benefit and only invites a heap of trouble. Please just let me go!" Chen Yang immediately rejected Liu Jianghua's suggestion.

Liu Jianghua stared for a moment, because many people strive for that deputy leader position but cannot obtain it. For example, Wu Junhui had previously hinted several times that he wanted to be the group's deputy leader. Yet Chen Yang considers it a burdensome redundancy…

But he quickly realized. Chen Yang is not an insider of the system, so this deputy leader's résumé would indeed be of little use to him.

"Chen Yang, as long as you are willing to work within the system, the provincial government can reserve a position for you here."

Upon hearing this, Chen Yang couldn't help but feel a stir of interest. Working under Liu Jianghua, his promotion speed might be faster than Lin Wei's.

But this thought merely flashed through his mind and was quickly rejected.

"Governor Liu, thank you for your kindness. Our family already has one person working within the system. If both of us were in the system, we would seldom be together and often apart, easily causing family conflicts."

Liu Jianghua still wouldn't give up, and urged again: "As long as you are willing to work here for me, I can intervene to have the Lin family's young lady transferred to the provincial capital as well."

Chen Yang smiled and said: "Governor Liu, thank you for your good intentions. During the Spring Festival, a leader also wanted to keep my wife in the province, but she refused. She prefers to go to the grassroots to train herself, and I also do not want to obstruct her dreams."

Upon hearing this, Liu Jianghua immediately guessed the person's identity and shook his head helplessly. At this moment, he found it somewhat hard to understand Chen Yang and Lin Wei as a couple: one is indifferent to power, the other clearly has a strong background yet insists on going to the grassroots to seek hardship for themselves.

Of course, he also likes this young couple.

Chen Yang not only runs his enterprise well, but also has a strong sense of social responsibility. Their company's products can basically bring genuine benefits to the common people. They donated masks worth over a hundred million yuan, saying they would donate and they did.

And Lin Wei is willing to set aside her prominent background, actively take root at the grassroots, and seek a path to wealth for the lower-class common people.

Such young people are the future of the nation and the hope of the people.

"Chen Yang, since you don't want to be the deputy leader, I won't insist. But I still hope you can help the other members of the group more. As long as this state-owned enterprise reform proceeds smoothly, the province will not forget your contributions."

Chen Yang nodded and said: "Governor Liu, I don't mind either way, but I fear that the more I help, the busier I'll get, and if I don't do things well, I'll only cause trouble for everyone."

Liu Jianghua gave Chen Yang a sideways glance and said displeasedly: "You kid, you're being overly modest. In the entire work group, you are the only genuine entrepreneur. If you can't do something well, how could they possibly do it?"

Chen Yang smiled without speaking. Besides him, everyone here has backing from provincial government departments. Even if he doesn't help with planning, there are plenty of experts behind the scenes offering guidance.

Therefore, he truly has no need to vie for others' limelight. Honestly seeing the reform group's work through to the end is the best outcome.

After leaving Liu Jianghua, Chen Yang went straight to the Old Hundreds Agricultural Products Trading Company.

Under the lure of money, the user base of the Old Hundreds e-commerce platform has successfully exceeded ten million, and daily sales volume has likewise broken through ten million.

Although this achievement cannot compare to those e-commerce giants of later times, for Chen Yang it is already sufficient.

If daily sales volume can consistently stay above ten million, the annual turnover would be 36.5 billion. Looking across the entire Dongjiangsheng, these figures are astonishing.

Moreover, the Old Hundreds company not only has the e-commerce platform but also offline physical stores. Assuming each store's annual turnover is 30 million, a hundred stores would yield 3 billion.

Of course, the Old Hundreds Agricultural Products Trading Company engages in low-margin sales. No matter how high the turnover, the profit obtainable is also limited.

Therefore, Shen Anna feels torn every time she conducts promotional activities. She constantly worries that one day Chen Yang might not be able to hold on, and the company would collapse immediately.

"Boss, during this period the prices of agricultural products on the market have all risen; should we also raise ours appropriately?"

Chen Yang waved his hand and said: "Now is the best time to enhance the company's brand; the more abnormal the external prices, the less we should raise prices. Once people equate the Old Hundreds brand with affordability in their minds, then we can appropriately increase product prices—but never exceed market prices."

"Alright, you're the boss, you decide!" Shen Anna sighed helplessly. The purpose of a business is to maximize profit; persisting in charity like Chen Yang does is extremely rare.

The company's current profit accounts for only ten percent of turnover. After deducting employee wages and advertising expenses, the actual income is negative.

That is, Chen Yang can earn money in the stock market to offset the losses; if anyone else did this, they would eventually go bankrupt.

Chen Yang could hardly fail to see Shen Anna's worry. However, for a nascent enterprise to quickly establish a foothold in the market, losing money is indispensable.

Only by first occupying the market can one grasp the right to speak.