Xin Xin Department Store

  Xiong Lijun's resignation caused a small stir in the Hanhua factory, but it soon subsided. Times have changed, and people are faced with more opportunities, so they have become more tolerant of all sorts of things. Before long, many people had forgotten Xiong Lijun, as if he had never existed at Hanhua factory.

  For Lin Zhenhua, Xiong Lijun's joining is a timely rain. Xiong Lijun and Lan Wufeng have high complementarity, one is slick and the other is straightforward, most importantly, both of them are extremely loyal to Lin Zhenhua.

  To put Xiong Lijun at ease, Lin Zhenhua took out 2,000 yuan and gave it to him as a settlement fee. Unlike his usual self, Xiong Lijun did not use the money to satisfy his own desires, but instead handed it all over to his parents in the countryside, telling them that he was going to venture into society, and if anything went wrong, this money would be used for their living expenses.

  Xiong Lijun went into the sea because of a pack of Marlboro cigarettes, but after he went into the sea, the cigarette he smoked was even worse than before. In fact, Lin Zhenhua paid him a very high salary, equivalent to more than twice his factory salary, but Xiong Lijun seemed to have lost his desire for high consumption and threw himself wholeheartedly into work.

  The license issued in the name of Xiong Lijun corresponds to a store called "Xinxin". According to Lin Zhenhua, this name means that the business will be prosperous. However, Xiong Lijun secretly told Lan Wufeng: "Xinxin" is actually the name of a little girl, whose full name is Yang Xin, and she is the candidate for the boss's wife.

  Running a store is also very troublesome, Xiong Lijun and Lan Wufeng are busy day and night, selling goods during the day, counting, settling accounts, and closing the store at night. Lin Zhenhua said several times to hire another helper, but they refused, thinking it was unnecessary to spend this extra money. These two people are extremely stingy, grasping every penny tightly in their hands.

  After the electronic table was hot for a while, it slowly cooled down. After all, the purchasing power of a county town is very limited. When those who wanted to buy and could afford it had bought it, the original hot scene no longer existed. Fortunately, at this time, the sales of Mack mirrors began to pick up again.

  This was in May 1980, when the American TV series "The Man from Atlantis" was broadcast on CCTV, and the image of Superman Mike wearing a pair of large sunglasses became popular in China, directly triggering a market for products called "Mike glasses". Lin Zhenhua had foreseen this, prepared two boxes of Mike glasses in advance, and as soon as they were put on the market, they were snapped up. Almost all young people in Fenghua County wore a pair of Mike glasses, all from Xinxin Store.

  The profit brought by the first move of chess is very rich. By the time other individual households come back to their senses and rush to Guangzhou to buy large quantities of Macau mirrors, this hot trend has passed, and the price of Macau mirrors on the market has plummeted, making little money.

  Xinxin Store also launched a best-selling product, which is the calculator. This was also a rare item at that time. The main users of calculators were various units, and their purchasing methods were different from those of ordinary consumers. Lan Wufeng did not dare to go directly to each unit to sell, while Xiong Lijun thought it was nothing. He carried the big canvas bag on his back, packed with calculators and electronic watches, and started going door-to-door to sell them to each unit.

  Xiong Lijun's silver tongue can bring dead things to life. A small calculator in his hands can be interpreted as four essential modern equipment, making it seem like any unit without a few calculators would be abandoned by the times.

  In addition, he also brought some low-priced but exquisite and lovely small gifts, paired with calculators, to carry out "buy one get one free" promotional activities. Although these small gifts are of low value, they are very attractive to department heads of various units. Because the money for buying calculators is paid by the unit, while these "gifts" do not need to be accounted for and can be owned personally.

  After the first batch of goods were sold out, Lin Zhenhua sent Xiong Lijun to Guangzhou again to purchase new goods. Before leaving, Lin Zhenhua instructed Xiong Lijun that after arriving in Guangzhou, he could go to an organization called "Zhongyi Group Guangzhou Office" which would provide him with necessary assistance.

  At that time, when Lin Zhenhua's Xinxin Store was developing prosperously, Qi Zhongmou's Zhongyi Store in Chongqing developed even more rapidly. Relying on the 5,000 yuan worth of goods that Lin Zhenhua had sold to him on credit, Qi Zhongmou earned his first pot of gold. This business genius, after obtaining this startup capital of several tens of thousands of yuan, was like a dragon entering the ocean, and began to fully display his skills.

  Chongqing's market is much larger than Fenghua County, and Qi Zhongmou's business ability far surpasses that of Lin Zhenhua, Xiong Lijun and others. So when Lin Zhenhua and others had just earned tens of millions of yuan, Qi Zhongmou already had a net worth of over 100 million. He set up an office in Guangzhou specifically to contact smugglers, purchase cheap goods, and then ship them back to Chongqing for sale.

  Qī Zhòngmóu was a man who cherished the old, he knew that he could rise to wealth so quickly, mainly thanks to Lín Zhènhuá's help. After making money, he quickly repaid the goods loaned by Lín Zhènhuá and also told Lín Zhènhuá that he had such an organization in Guangzhou, if Lín Zhènhuá had anything to do in Guangzhou, he could find this organization for help at any time.

  With the help of Qi Zhongmou, Xiong Lijun figured out the wholesale channels for goods in Guangzhou and also established relationships with various departments such as public security and railways. In terms of dealing with people, Xiong Lijun was much stronger than Lan Wufeng. He could put down his airs and wear a smile on his face to everyone, so he could get along well wherever he went.

  Box after box of smuggled goods were transported from Guangzhou to Fenghua, filling the shelves of Xin Xin Store to the brim. In addition to traditional electronic watches and other products, Xiong Lijun also purchased a variety of fashionable items such as bell-bottom pants, nylon stockings, nylon-lined shirts, gas lighters, and plastic pencil cases based on the needs of Fenghua residents. These goods were absolutely unavailable in state-run department stores, but were exactly what people with a little extra money were eager to buy.

  Xin Xin Store's reputation quickly grew, earning it the nickname "Little Hong Kong" in Fenghua County, meaning that goods available in Hong Kong could also be found at Xin Xin Store. Xiong Lijun was delighted with this rumor and even specially purchased large posters of Hong Kong pop stars and movie stars from Guangzhou to display in his store, attracting fashionable men and women who would often drop by the store just to take a look around.

  Lin Zhenhua watched Xiong Lijun's various tricks, operating a store with great success, and couldn't help but secretly admire him. He felt that he was unworthy as a time-traveler, and his business skills were not even comparable to those of people in the past. It seemed that Xiong Lijun's laziness in the past was only because he hadn't found a suitable career for himself. Given a platform, he could surprise the world.

  The ownership of Xinxin Store belongs to Lin Zhenhua, but he insists on giving Lan Wufeng and Xiong Lijun a portion of the shares. After repeated negotiations, the two men agree to each accept 10% of the shares, leaving Lin Zhenhua with 80%.

  At first, Lin Zhenhua was still worried that Xiong Lijun would think that the shares he held were too small. Unexpectedly, Xiong Lijun felt that he had gained 10% of the shares for nothing and was very uneasy about it.

  In the first month of opening, Xinxin Store earned a profit of over 50,000 yuan. Under Lin Zhenhua's strong recommendation, Lan Wufeng and Xiong Lijun each took away 5,000 yuan in dividends, and the two people suddenly changed from being extremely poor to becoming half-millionaires.

  After receiving the dividend, Xiong Liming went to the black market and bought two packs of Marlboro cigarettes. He then returned to the Hanhua factory and gave a pack to each of the workers he had previously bummed cigarettes from. This move naturally sparked another small stir in the factory, but Xiong Liming no longer cared about such gossip. He felt that he had completely transformed himself and broken away from his past self.