Chapter 438: Visiting Hu Shiyou Again

Chen Yang didn't believe Liu Qingqing would really call the police. Even if the police came, he wasn't afraid. After all, this was Su Mingyue's house, and he and Liu Qingqing were merely guests.

But Chen Yang still had to visit Lin Wei's maternal uncle Hu Shiyou; he couldn't stay too long at Su Mingyue's house. If Xiao Jian couldn't wait and also came over, seeing Liu Qingqing would cause big trouble.

Xiao Jian is a member of the Hu family; since it concerns Liu Qingqing, he will surely report to Hu Qingwan.

To avoid creating family conflict, Chen Yang took two bottles of Maotai and two packs of Zhonghua cigarettes from Su Mingyue's storage cabinet and then left.

After arriving at Hu Shiyou's home, Hu Haiquan and his wife Xue Jiaja were already waiting at the door.

Chen Yang hurriedly got out of the car to greet them, and meanwhile took the packaged Maotai liquor and Zhonghua cigarettes out of the trunk.

Seeing this, Hu Haiquan quickly stepped forward, took the cigarettes and alcohol from Chen Yang's hands, and said with a smile, "Chen Yang, my mom has recently been supervising my dad to quit smoking and drinking. Your good cigarettes and alcohol will probably end up cheap for me."

Chen Yang laughed and said, "I came in a hurry, didn't prepare anything. If you like it, I'll bring more next time."

Hu Haiquan waved his hand, gave a bitter smile, and said, "Chen Yang, if you get used to these good cigarettes and alcohol, it's hard to quit again. On my salary, I can't afford to indulge."

Chen Yang told him, "I'm not short of money. As long as you need it, just give me or Boss Su a call."

Hu Haiquan still shook his head and politely declined Chen Yang's kindness. "Chen Yang, I know you have money. But your money is your money. I can't take advantage of you just because I'm Weiwei's cousin."

Seeing Chen Yang say that, he didn't insist further. He let Xiao Jian drive back by himself, then followed Hu Haiquan and his wife into Hu Shiyou's house.

Hu Shiyou was reading a newspaper on the sofa; seeing Hu Haiquan holding the cigarettes and alcohol, his eyes lit up.

"Dad, you're currently in the stage of quitting smoking and drinking; I'll keep these good things for you first." After saying that, Hu Haiquan directly took the Maotai liquor and Zhonghua cigarettes back to his own room.

"Chen Yang, you're here? Come over and chat with me." Hu Shiyou pretended not to hear Hu Haiquan speaking, gesturing for Chen Yang to sit beside him.

Chen Yang called out "Uncle," then slowly walked over and sat down beside Hu Shiyou.

Hu Shiyou put the newspaper on the coffee table in front of the sofa, then asked Chen Yang, "This time you've come to Shencheng, how long do you plan to stay?"

Chen Yang answered truthfully, "Uncle, I probably won't stay too long. I'll have to return to Qing Shui after the foundation ceremony of the Old Hundreds Commercial Building project is finished."

Hu Shiyou frowned slightly upon hearing that and said, "Isn't your trading company also supposed to set up a branch here? With such urgency, can you handle it?"

Chen Yang said, "The venue for the branch has already been rented; the main work now is recruiting externally. I've already transferred personnel from headquarters to handle this."

Hu Shiyou asked Chen Yang, "What scale are you planning for your branch? Do you want me to go to the talent market and say hello for you?"

Chen Yang said, "The floating population here in Shencheng is dense, making it suitable for trade development. I plan to set up an integrated online‑offline branch here, with a scale no less than that of the headquarters."

Upon hearing that, Hu Shiyou nodded in satisfaction. He said, "I've been paying attention to your company's online sales platform lately; it's really good. If you can achieve scale, it will not only boost Shencheng's economic development but also solve part of the idle labor problem."

Chen Yang earnestly agreed, saying, "The e‑commerce platform is the future trend of trade; if it can be developed, it can at least provide several million jobs."

Hu Shiyou was amused by Chen Yang's words: "You little brat, boasting without a draft. Just those agricultural products your company sells—can they support several million employees?"

Chen Yang seriously told Hu Shiyou, "Uncle, our online sales platform doesn't sell only agricultural products. Since last month we've begun trying to shift toward diversified trade. If the transformation succeeds, our customer base could at least increase tenfold, possibly even more."

"Think about it: the Old Hundreds e‑commerce platform now delivers a thousand parcels a day in Shencheng. If that increases tenfold, it becomes ten thousand. Assuming an average person delivers a hundred parcels, we'd need a hundred workers. And that's just the delivery personnel; the logistics transfer and sorting of goods likewise require a large amount of manual labor."

"Moreover, this is still the early stage of domestic online sales platform development. As network information technology becomes more advanced, more people will use this platform to shop."

"Shencheng has over seven million people. Even if only half use online shopping, that would generate over three million delivery orders. At a ratio of one to a hundred, we'd need more than thirty thousand people to handle delivery. Even if delivery intensity is increased, with one courier delivering three hundred parcels, we'd still need ten thousand."

"If one city needs ten thousand couriers, with so many cities nationwide, how many couriers would be required?"

Hu Shiyou fell silent at once. According to Chen Yang's analysis, if the Old Hundreds e‑commerce platform could capture the national market, it might truly be able to provide several million positions.

At that moment, Hu Haiquan had already come out of his room and questioned Chen Yang's words: "As far as I know, your company's agricultural product profits aren't high. If you hired ten thousand couriers all at once, could you still make money?"

Chen Yang told him, "I only said we could provide ten thousand courier positions, not that the Old Hundreds Agricultural Products Trading Company would have to employ ten thousand couriers. These positions can be entirely handled by courier companies across the country."

"Of course, besides its own sales system, the Old Hundreds e‑commerce platform can also offer low‑threshold sales services to merchants nationwide, which also counts as providing employment indirectly."

Hu Haiquan asked Chen Yang, "What is low‑threshold sales service?"

Chen Yang explained, "Any merchant or individual with goods can open a store for free on the Old Hundreds e‑commerce platform, saving the high rent of a physical store and the cost of hiring sales staff. That is low‑threshold service."

Hu Haiquan has never done business, but he knows that shop rents in Shencheng's urban area are very high; people without economic strength simply can't afford them.

If that rent could be saved, it would indeed greatly reduce business costs.

At this moment, he began to harbor a little hope for the Old Hundreds e‑commerce platform.

"Chen Yang, keep it up—I hope the day your company becomes famous across the world comes soon."

Chen Yang repeatedly thanked Hu Haiquan.

The Old Hundreds Agricultural Products Trading Company seized the initiative before other major e‑commerce platforms rose, breaking new ground. The road ahead is destined to be lonely; in this process, having someone cheer and encourage brings greater motivation.